Who's ready for another Q & A session??? For the second round, I added in a question for Poets. I had A LOT of feedback this go around, so I really hope I didn't miss anyone! Read on to see what Authors, Readers, Editors, and Poets had to say! Enjoy!

 

 

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Authors: Do you use an outline? Why or why not?

 

@Thorn Wilde -  I used to be terrible at outlining my stories, but I found that it resulted in a lot of unfinished novels and novellas. I don't do outlines for short stories, because to be honest, I tend to finish the rough draft in one sitting, but for longer stories I'm getting really good at outlining chapter by chapter. It helps that I use Scrivener for writing which makes it really easy to organise and outline your chapters, cork board style (literally). I find that doing keywords per chapter works much better than writing a single long outline for the whole story, as it makes it seem much more manageable and less daunting.

 

@Valkyrie - Sometimes.  I like to outline longer works and will sometimes outline a chapter or a short story.  It depends on how smoothly the writing process goes.  If I'm struggling, then jotting down my thoughts helps keep me focused and organized.

 

@Mikiesboy - Yes, my own sort of outline. I've tried several kinds of outlines, none of which did anything for me until i discovered my newest favourite thing. It's Office 365's One Note.  I fell in love with it. I can open a page under the title of the book, for each chapter. It is simple, fluid and i can easily move between the pages to add more details as i think of things. Love it.

 

@Krista - No, I don't use an outline. I create a character sheet, ages, character quirks, plot dependent things that are, 'set in stone,' going to happen. That's it, short and sweet. If they're in High School and I'm writing in-depth about their high school experience, I make up a class schedule for them so that I don't forget how their school day goes along day-to-day with teacher names, so I don't forget those. Maybe that is a little bit of an outline, for the most part though, I don't outline. I have a base idea in my head of what I want to cover within the story and how I want to end, everything else that happens comes from randomly spawned ideas that pop into my head. I am getting better at keeping the spontaneous more fitted with the general theme of the story, I think. I just know (as I have attempted in the past), that if I do in-depth A leads to B that leads to C outlining that my motivation for the story falters as it already feels to me like I've wrote it. 

 

@CassieQ - Most of the time, I don’t use an outline.  I’m a pantser/discovery writer and I like starting off with an idea and a character and seeing where it takes me.  When I started Touch, I knew I wanted to write about infidelity and a workaholic main character and that was all I had.  The rest of the story came to me as I wrote it.

 

I actually dislike outlines, even though most writers swear by them.  Part of the fun, for me, is figuring out what my characters are going to do next.

 

I will sometimes use a vague outline for longer works, just to make sure I get all I want to get across in there.  But I’ve never done a meticulous outline where I outline every single scene.  I tried that, once, and the story is still unwritten if that tells you anything.

 

@Disjecta Membra - I don’t use an outline in writing my stories, at least not in a traditional sense.  When I’m plotting things out, I generally have another Word document open besides the one I’m writing my story on.  I’ll jot down plot points and ideas I want to incorporate, but I don’t utilize an official template or any standardized planning method.

 

Personally, I find that I back myself into a corner if I use an actually outline.  I get myself stuck in a rut trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B, and my muse is stubborn and won’t let me move on once I’m stuck like that.  But with my “(Story Name) Ideas” document, I can incorporate preconceived concepts at any point, and oftentimes my story goes in a different direction altogether and many ideas are scrapped.

 

For me, it allows my story to unfold more naturally and things that are meant to fall into play do so when the time is right.  I know for many authors an outline does just that, but for my personal writing style I like to keep it less organized.

 

@Superpride - I don't use an outline for two main reasons.  The first reason is I mostly develop the plot of a story as I write it, meaning I don't know the climax of a story until I'm actually typing in my computer for example.  The other reason is what I have planned for a story usually changes, so creating an outline beforehand is useless to me if the direction of my stories changes as I write them.

 

 

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Poets: What do you find is the most difficult part about writing poetry?

 

@Valkyrie - For me, it's rhythm and meter.  I can count syllables and match syllable counts and follow those kind of patterns, but I struggle with finding the right rhythm and meter.  I usually need someone help me out with it if I attempt a form where those two elements are important.

 

@Mikiesboy - Oh to me none of it is difficult. Well, writing is hard altogether, but i love poetry, it was what i cut my writing teeth on. i love the process, the hunt for the right word, bending them into what i want the reader to experience.  as i've grown and learned i've found time is the most important thing, for all writers. The time you leave your work sit, lets it mellow. And let's your brain work on it too, in the background.  So waiting to post it, is hard!

 

You know, i think the hardest thing about writing poetry is finding people to read it.  Poetry today is not like it used to be. It's not all sonnets by Shakespeare (which are wonderful).  They are in plain English for the most part and can bring much more emotion than prose. There are poems like the Haibun which is part prose and poetry and lets you tell a story.

 

Poetry saved me i think, because it let me express things i had no other place to. So, yeah, for me not difficult at all.

 

 

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Readers: What is your favorite trope? What draws you to it?

 

@CassieQ - I love the enemies to friends trope.  I’m fascinated by seeing how a relationship between two enemies can mellow and eventually turn into friendship.  Something about it is so warm and pleasing to read, especially compared to things like friends turned enemies.  I also like situations where two enemies have to work together towards a common goal.  I also like reading about platonic friendships in general.  I guess I just like friendship!

 

@Valkyrie - Cia has a name for my favorite trope, and of course I can't remember the whole thing.  It's hurt/heal/something. Or something hurt/heal.  Where the characters meet, one goes through something horrific, then the other helps the hurt character heal and they eventually get their happy ending. 

 

 

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Editors: What is your biggest pet peeve when editing? And why does it bug you so much?

 

@Kitt -  Simple spelling errors.  Come on guys, turn your spell check on!

 

@Valkyrie - I have several, but I would say my biggest pet peeve is not being thanked.  Whether it's editing/beta reading/proofreading, a lot of time and effort went into reviewing, commenting, and correcting spelling and grammar.  Whether an author agrees with the comments or suggestion is irrelevant.  Thank your editor/beta reader/proofreader.  I shouldn't have to say this, but you'd be surprised at how many times I haven't been thanked.   

  

As far as the actual editing process, my biggest pet peeve is misused words.  Their/they're/there.  Loose/lose makes me grate my teeth every time.  Ball/bawl.  Another common error I see and hear frequently is "I seen it." It's not correct grammar.  "I saw it."  or "I have seen it."   

 

 

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There you have it! Whew! That was a lot of answers. Let's see how we do for Round 3!  You can find the questions here!