Does everybody do this?

[brainofck]

starting_gate commented to me:

your fic makes me want to see pictures

Now, she may have just been saying she would really like pictures of explicit man on man action and my stories really make her crave that.

But it also made me think something. When I'm writing, it's a little movie running inside my head, and I just describe what I see, like relating what's happening on a TV screen to someone over the phone. It's a very visual and aural experience. I just try to be as descriptive as possible getting it down in a written form.

Does that happen to everybody when they write?

Also, and I think I've said this in other posts and comments, when I'm writing the most fluently it does feel very much like the story is coming to me from the outside. I suppose that must happen to a lot of people - that's probably why the Greeks invented Muses to govern creative activity. When I actually feel like it is me writing, I am usually very unhappy with the process and the result, though there have been a few stories I finished that way anyway and people liked them.

Anyway, more thinking.

Comments

[melayneseahawk.livejournal.com]

Mm. *puts on thinky hat*

I'm weird, because I don't visualize things in my head, really. Never been able to, actually. (You know in kindergarten when they'd as you to picture an ice cream cone or a puppy or whatever? I could never do it.) That being said, I try to mentally slot things together to make sure they work, especially for very physical things like sex or fights. So in as much as someone who can't picture things in her head can, I try to imagine what I'm writing as I do it.

And as the the muse thing, I consider that the inspiration is coming from somewhere, but I'm the one writing it, as opposed to someone giving it to me fully-formed. I've more than once described the idea of having an idea banging on the inside of my skull, or that my mental imaginings of the characters want to change my story, but I'm always in control of what is (or isn't) going on the page.

[zats-clear.livejournal.com]

honey, your fic often makes me see pictures in my heart

[lady-adrian.livejournal.com]

Being primarily an artist (as in the draws-stuff kind) I see the pics before I write the stuff (if ever, lol).

Sometimes I see things happening as I write, but it doesn't always work like that. And anyway, if you need someone to draw you stuff, look me up!

Adrian

[alessiana.livejournal.com]

When I write good poetry, this is very much the case for me as well. I write from beyond.

When it sucks, it's because it's me forcing myself upon the words and meter(s). People can't necessarily tell the difference, but I can. To me, it sucks.

:/

.

[green-grrl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I see the movie of what I'm writing. Which makes it difficult for me to balance -- did I describe enough of what I see? Did I describe too much?

And absolutely ditto on the Muse flow versus working at writing. *sigh*

[starting-gate.livejournal.com]

I don’t know if I should be depressed or proud. It wasn’t the man on man action I was referring to. :) More like, I can picture him, but I’d really like to see Jack’s reaction to “insert moment here.”

I also recreate the movie in my head. I find that I visualize it more when I read, than write. Maybe because reading is more relaxing. Writing is work and besides the visual, there are many things to focus on all at once.

[princessofg.livejournal.com]

your process sounds exactly like mine -- when i'm really in what i experience as The Zone, i am seeing and hearing a movie in my head and it feels exactly like taking dictation. the characters sometimes say things i do NOT expect and that I feel I WOULD NEVER HAVE THOUGHT UP.

Julia Cameron said it feels like "getting it down" not "thinking it up." i know others have a very different process, yay diversity, but your proces is just like mine. so that's fascinating.

i had to think my way through the darkfic, paragraph by painful paragraph, and i did read it months later and it wasn't nearly as bad as it felt like at the time, so that was instructive. i'm sure you are in the same boat -- i adore hunt and peck, i think it IS some of your best work, for example, yet you have that big disclaimer right at the top of it! so not needed. it's a wonderful story.

let me also add here -- i have been very remiss about commenting about the little one's milestones, and yours, but i'm reading along and cheering. my kids are 7 and 9 and i'm really revisiting some lovely and some frantic memories by reading your posts. thank you.