Writing Habits
Writers are different. Each of us writers have their own habits and differences when it comes to our habits, style, voice, routine and such. As far as I’ve known, there are three classifications of writers, the pantsers, the plotters and the plantsers. I do not qualify for a specific classification but I always more of a pantser – a writer who always freewriting without a meticulous plan, figuring out where I was going with my writing or with the story that I am writing but also, I’m quite a plotter, since I need to know the important plot points of my story, even the ending so wherever I go with the events happening in my story – I know were I am headed, which is the ending of course. It’s 90% pantser and 10% plotter. I can write stories without an outline and even a list or any guide or vital information that outline everything about the story. I instantly write a chapter, remember the characters and their qualities and keep in mind the important plot points and the ending as well. I sometimes jot down scenes and subplots. But it can be a rare occasion since I always write on the go. Why follow an outline anyway if you won’t follow it religiously in the end?
Well, it can be a bad habit because this can be prone to plotholes. It happened to me a lot of times, forgetting that the mother of the main character was dead and suddenly, she had a dialogue in the latter parts of the story. That story was my first isekai/transmigration novel and it is currently gaining reads now despite the fact that I wrote it for entertainment and cathartic purposes. I just want to write one. Going back, the plotholes can be terrible and forgetting some vital information too or even the supporting characters. That’s why a document detailing all of the information in your story including your plans for it is very important and very crucial especially when you forgot some names, even the characters’ qualities. So little by little, I have to put out this laziness of mine of outlining. This will be a blessing to me in the long run since I will know of the world that I created for my story. One of the things that I did was to create an archive collection where I stored all of the information of my stories in different universe. This also serves as a guide for my readers.
I always love backups. Whether it’s good writing or bad writing for me, I always make sure I have backups. Whenever I deleted any stories from writing platforms, I secured copies of it, turning it into softcopies in different writing formats – so Google Docs, Scrivener and Reedsy come in, including WriterPlus. WriterPlus app doesn’t have sync features and whenever I need to replace my phone, I have to transfer the files first until my phone no longer functions.
I am used to typing and writing phone because it’s convenient. Whenever I wanted to lie on bed, I could type while holding my phone compared to typing on the laptop. But if you want faster typing and want to catch the flow of your brain in writing your story, using a laptop is a convenience. Now that I have one, I have two options. At first, the transition from phone to a computer screen or laptop was strange to me because my ideas would float away when I was in front of the screen. It was a struggle but that was years ago, now, I can handle writing or typing on a laptop. I finished early in writing a chapter than I am writing on my phone.
Writing Drive
Sticking to a writing schedule was not my thing. I don’t have exact days or particular days when I write. It’s bursts of energy, mood or I am inspired to write something for my ongoing stories. So, it may take weeks, months, or even years for me to finish a story. I don’t want to limit myself in
If my writing drive is on, I write continuously, everyday and every hour. Until I ran out of ideas. Since I don’t outline that much and only rely on when my writing drive comes back, the flow of my story depends on the ideas that I have at that moment. Honestly, my first isekai story did not have a solid plot or an outline but I only rely on the ideas that I have. I did not even know how to end and where it gets? I finished the story last month.
I take advantage of my writing drive. If I am in the mood, I always find time to write and abandon doomscrolling or reading or anything else before losing my drive again. The latest chapters of my latest finished story were written everyday for the weeks and labeled it as completed. The maximum chapters that I can write are five chapters and above with maximum of 1.5k word count in every chapter. When I exhausted myself for the day, I would continue the next day.
My writing mood depends on whether I want to write or not. Outline or planned scenes and subplots cannot motivate me enough to write unless I am in the mood.
As of this moment, I have stopped writing because I need to strategize. The thing about writing an isekai story mixed with political, there must be strategic plans and I can’t just write anything based on the ideas that I have. Research is important and when I am stuck, I stop altogether.
Then after, I have to let days or months passes by until I pick up the story and recap the events.