Dookie

I was just thinking, it has been figured out that there are a specific number of character types yes. The hero, heroin, donor and so on. So is there a specific number of writing techniques???

Or does every single person in the world that writes have a different technique? No one can really answer this but it would be good to hear other peoples views on the matter. I believe every one has unique writing techniques.

Harlequin

Technique is no different from style. I think every good writer has different techniques. Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Mercedes Lackey, they're all fantasy authors, but they have different techniques. Writing is like walking. Everyone has their own pace, their own step. You can mimic, but it's not you. There are as many techniques as there are good writers.

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Trilock

I've been meaning to tinker around with this "snowflake" writing technique: http://www.rsingermanson.com/html/the_snowflake.html

Could be interesting to try out.

horrorcrafter

My technique is to procrastinate for 90 minutes, and write for ten minutes. Kinda wish I had a better technique.
Horrorcrafter

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woodcut.evolution

I go about it much like that "snowflake technique" describes. I like to know as much possible about story setting as I can. Since I'm usually writing speculative fiction this means creating a world with a rich history and culture. Even if 80% of what I create never ends up in the story I like to have it there behind the scenes to give me direction and insight into how my character will behave.

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gohn67

Thats my technque also.

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crzywriter

technique?

are we supposed to have one?

ah...shit....


erm....maybe that's what I've been doing wrong all this time.

mammamaia

dookie...
to paraphrase billy-boy, it depends on what the meaning of 'technique' is...

as you can see from the responses, no two folks here seem to think it means the same thing...

what do YOU think it means?

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FantasyWriterAndLover

My technique is...well ><;

I come up with an idea, and write about it.

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osiris

This is about how I do it, but it's good to get some concrete pointers/reminders/checklists. The site and the method seem quite good actually!

Dookie

Technique is how you write your stories. Mamma u sure are kickin my ...bottom in all my posts today huh? Anyway my technique is to force myself to write and within twenty minutes I'll be deep in a plot and enjoying the way its going.

Oracle

My technique is to forget about the laws of prose and just scribble my story down as a giant heap of plot-notes. Then I get around to making it legible.

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Anarkos

My technique is to fire up Word, and write some. Have a break to call someone an idiot, or if no humans are available, to harass a passing cat. Occassionally, I pause for a piss. Equally often, I pause for a drink.

How very exciting.

I generally listen to music which fits whatever I am writing. For example, while writing most of Trench 37b I was listening to General Patton vs the X-Ecutioners...rather odd CD that.[/url]

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The Man in Black

I try to get a specific scene or idea in my head, and then often times I'll use that to start and try to just get going. I'll write nonstop for a while and then I'll run out of ideas and take a break (my most recent break has lasted around 5 months). Often for me the best time is at night when stuff's calmer, or right after I take a shower because for some reason the most profound stuff comes to me in the shower or while I'm trying to go to sleep, go figure.

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Anarkos

Um, yeah, one thing I should've commented on earlier: There are a number of 2D caricatures which characters are often forced into. Ideally, however, your characters shouldn't fit into either of them.

Your hero should be a compulsive masturbator. Your donor should donate whatever it is he donates because of his horrible guilty secret. Your villian should be nice to cats, children and old ladies.

'Cause, y'see, real people, they aren't ever simple. No one is ever wholly heroic or evil. You can't sum a real person up in one word. We're more contradictory conflicting heaps of emotions, with a thin veneer of 'reason' laid over the top.

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I always appreciate fair criticism, and will endeavor to reciprocate.