My writing process is a coffeemaker. The little bits of ideas for a story are the coffee grounds, and I dump them into my brain, where my hot-water imagination flows into the ideas, initially just mixing with them and percolating, getting the ideas to mix together and get warm and tasty. Then slowly the story itself starts to drip out, leaving the idea-grounds behind and forming a pot of steaming story. When other people drink in my story, they can add their own cream and sugar if they want to, bringing their own perspectives and preconceived ideas with them, or they can just imbibe it fresh and black--undiluted and potent.
fanfic = Folger's Instant Crystals?
ReplyDeletebeta readers -- just like to smell the grounds roasting?
I thought the grounds were more important than the coffeemaker for the final product, but otherwise it's a good metaphor.
I like to think of the stories (and this is true of all my writing, not just fanfic, which is all you've read of my stuff...but I do write other things!) more like fresh-ground Amaretto Roast. Not instant coffee, but slow-drip.
ReplyDeleteBeta readers are the taste-testers who help me improve things, like tell you to up the perk-time, or make it stronger or weaker. And then my general readers are those who just get to enjoy sipping or gulping.
The grounds and the coffeemaker are both really important. If the grounds are low-quality, then the coffee will suck. If the coffeemaker is el-cheapo, the coffee won't be great even though the grounds were top-notch.
PS Do you have a Blogger ID now, or are you able to log in with your LiveJournal ID? Cuz you're not anonymous anymore...
They upgraded Blogger's comment system in the last couple days. Now you can choose Blogger, Anonymous, or supply your own name and website. You can also see the other comments and the original post while you're composing, which is great. I still don't get e-mail notification of comments, though.
ReplyDelete