How & what I write - or, where am I going with this?

I started writing with pencil and paper as a child, graduated to pen and spiral notebook as a teen and later transcribed manuscripts on a - manual then electric - typewriter. I never really *wrote (composed)* on a typewriter, just typed up what I had previously written.

I moved to the computer at some point in the last century (does it sound as funny to read that as it sounds in my head?) and frankly, I don't think it has ever been the same. I like the physical and mental connection of actually writing longhand, but I rarely do it because I confess I love the editing ease of the electronic monster.

The drawback is...the temptation of the editing ease. I rewrite a sentence five times where I would not have done that longhand; I would have thought it out more carefully. I think I can get it down faster as I type fast, as long as I don't get bogged down self-editing the rough draft. (A watercolor painting instructor once taught the class to draw the basic outline in a Sharpie pen on non-watercolor paper first; then use a lightboard to trace with pencil onto the expensive paper. She said you spend more time drawing/painting and less time erasing that way. Now if I could just figure out how to apply that to writing as well. And before you ask, writing in pen didn't mean I didn't self-edit as I went.)

For that latter issue, I have challenged myself to participate in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) the past four Novembers. There's really no time to edit if you're going to meet the 50,000 words in 30 days deadline.

In a pinch (or at a "write-in" for NaNo) I can write with noise around me and tune it out, but I prefer the quiet to write. No TV, no one around. When I was young - 25 and under, I often would sit outside on the patio, even to the wee hours of the morning, to write. (One night an opossum and I surprised each other!) If I have music on, it pretty much has to be classical or instrumental songs to which I do not know the words; otherwise, I get distracted by the lyrics (and singing along with same ;p).

During NaNoWriMo, I discovered two wonderful places to write - my desk at work and my church on an other-than-youth-group-meeting night. If I turn my work computer off and my laptop on at my office, I can write for hours in the quiet without TV, housework, mail or anything else to distract me. (Okay, occasionally the cleaning crew comes in while I'm there.) For the 2008 NaNo, I volunteered to host a few "write-ins" at my church. Even though I was in the library with all kinds of potential 300+ page distractions, I really did focus. Of course, maybe those books inspired me.

In terms of outline vs. "seat of my pants", I would consider myself to write most often the latter way. If I truly follow the adage "write what you know", give me basic idea and a handful of characters and let me loose. If it requires research, I'm likely to get bogged down in that (or procrastinate starting the research). On the other hand, an outline WILL make me think about where the story goes, so I might attempt a loose one. I acknowledge the validity of, "If you don't know where you are going you will get nowhere fast." (Or how do you know you have arrived if you don't know where you are going?)

What I write varies. I had a poem published as a young adult. I have attempted several children's stories. I have written several ficlets or novelettes (too long for short story, too short for novel) in a wide range of settings. I have tried my hand at writing magazine articles.

For NaNo 2007 I used my research on my family tree as the basis for an historical novel following a family from immigration to the colonies in 1660s to present day. In 2008, I used my extensive knowledge of science fiction conventions as a framework for a mystery novel. November, 2009, saw me attempt another murder mystery, this time at a church. I achieved the 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo on each but still have yet to revisit them to polish them off.

For the past half dozen years or so, I have written most prolifically in the area of "fanfiction" (stories written by fans of a TV show, movie/movie series, book series - in my case, the SciFi show Stargate SG-1). Often these are part of a "ficathon" - where fans give prompts which a moderator assigns to the writers to complete by a certain deadline. Usually you have several scenarios from which to choose, or 3 things they want to see plus 3 things they do NOT want to see.

In 2009, I signed up to do "Script Frenzy", put on by the same folks as NaNoWriMo. I never got off the ground with that, but I hope. Nay, I PLAN, to write a script in April, 2010. I've already begun to learn how to format it, and I've taken a couple classes at writers seminars on how to do it. Since I'm such a visual person, I want to try to write either a screenplay or a play script.

So where do I want to go with all of this scribbling? I have always written because I couldn't NOT write, so this isn't going away any time soon. Whether any of it is every published (besides that 30-year-old poem) is up to God, for Whose glory I intend to write.