Writing: Placeholders.

[caffienekitty]

Random question for writers out there.

When you're writing, do you have things you use as 'placeholders'? Like there's a phrase or scene or line that you haven't got yet, or something is needed to transition from one thing to another and you haven't got it yet, but the next section is jumping up and down for attention, or you're hitting a wall. What do you use in the spot where something is missing?

In the last few things I've worked on today (it's one of those days) I've had:

-Dean or Sam *reactioned* or *expressioned* or *bitchfaced*
-*emo!nutbar Hamlet is emo and nutbar*
-Rows of asterixes blocking out lines or sections that need serious work.
-([character] does [x], [y], and then [z])
-A row of 'ARG!' repeated. Also, one long Aaaaarg.

I noticed this the other day and thought it might be interesting to find out what other people's habits are. I also tend to type straight to text file these days when writing as well, so maybe handwriting the first draft doesn't lend itself to a need for placeholders?

So, what do you do?

Comments

[spuffylvr3.livejournal.com]

Generally I'll just throw in some asterisks and write out a brief description of what needs to be there (ie: **Sam and Dean disagree re: blah blah**)

However, with my multi-chap, I bothered to actually write each section/scene (and brief details) out on index cards (for the first time ever!) and so if I want to jump to a different scene, I'll put **insert card #7.1 here**, or something similar. :)

As an aside, I happen to be currently re-watching Monster at the End of This Book, and Chuck just whined, "Writing's hard!" Made me laugh :)

~Nicole

[caffienekitty]

I bothered to actually write each section/scene (and brief details) out on index cards (for the first time ever!)

Wow! *bows before your organizedness*

Chuck just whined, "Writing's hard!"

*sigh* Chuck! I need icons. I need more icon space.

[spuffylvr3.livejournal.com]

Wow! *bows before your organizedness*

Oh trust me, this is the first time I've felt the need to do the index card thing. My multi-chap has 2 kinda-paralleling storylines (5 years in the past and the current story) and I was going crazy trying to keep them straight in my head. Plus, I needed them to intersect at the right time and in the same chapter... ahh, it was driving me nuts until I tried the card thing. It's working really well. :)

And I hear you in the icon thing. I don't have a paid account, so I only have 15 icons here on LJ, but I have a lot more stored on my computer and I just switch them out every once in a while. :)

~Nicole

[caffienekitty]

The thing with switching icons is that if you remove one or change it's name, anywhere you've used it reverts to your default icon. Not usually a huge problem, but annoying.

[spuffylvr3.livejournal.com]

yeah, that really bugs me, too. But, I'm too cheap to switch to a paid account right now. LOL
Someday I will though, 'cause there's just too many good icons out there not to have them all! :)

~Nicole

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Generally, it's a word (adjective or city are the most common) where I just can't come up with the right one or will be driven to do MapQuest research later. Those are usually "xxx" highlighted in red font, but sometimes they're descriptive phrases of what I'm trying to say like "intellectualSciFiBook" or something of that ilk.

The red font is key, because I can pick it out easily later as "needs fixing".

Sometimes I'll also do summaries of what events need to happen next. Sometimes it's "things to the end of the story" or "ideas that need to be filled in" (the notes for the Wincest Pirate AU had something like "sirens, Jack Sparrow, zombie cave, ghost ship"). Once in a blue moon, a much beloved blue moon rarely seen, it's the fill-in-the-middle action/events where I've actually written the beginning/skip-with-detail/ending.

Yay for the ending!

[caffienekitty]

The red font is key, because I can pick it out easily later as "needs fixing".

That would be helpful, yeah. I'm using a straight-up text editor, so color isn't available. I tend to throw in boatloads of extra asterisks instead.

Yay for the ending!

Endings are indeed nifty, although sometimes they'll make it harder for me to keep the bunny hopping, because subconciously, the end's already been written. Plot-as-you-go fic is nerve-wracking though.

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Those rare times when the ending comes, it's usually for a vignette rather than something plotty. In a short piece, the mood/moment usually starts itself and you write forward. Sometimes, midway through, there's this "clarity" regarding where the story's mood will end (and how it will be expressed).

I write that down immediately, knowing exactly what I'm working toward. Wish it happened more often!

[caffienekitty]

Does sound lovely. :-)

[quettalinde.livejournal.com]

I don't do placeholders as often in fiction as I do in non-fiction (my university essays were rife) but … when I use 'em, it's usually bold-faced blithering along the lines of "then they go downstairs and there is humourous banter and another allusion to wars and then something blows up". If I don't bold-face stuff, I tend to forget it's there… >>

[caffienekitty]

Bold-face capacity would be an asset. *nods* University papers! Hee! I forget some of the stuff I had placeholding in those, including entirely blank files with only three words in them until 12 hours before the paper was due.

[quettalinde.livejournal.com]

My university papers had things like "insert intelligent quote from X here", "big table! This'll take up room" and "crapineedasummary". ;) They also had huge amounts of white space until shortly before they were due, of course. Especially in fourth year… Ah, fourth year. ^^

[anniehow.livejournal.com]

I usually just leave space between one bit and the other, but I try and force myself to write in order. Not that that always happens :-)

[caffienekitty]

Forcing fic is like trying to push a rope, I find.

[teithiwr.livejournal.com]

I'll have something along the lines of

[insert witty comment here]

or [X does blah, blah and blah]


And I'll usually highlight the bits that need my attention, so I'll be sure to notice them when editing.

[caffienekitty]

[insert witty comment here]

Hee! I think I need a button with that on it. :-)

And I'll usually highlight the bits that need my attention, so I'll be sure to notice them when editing.

That would be handy. I use a text editor because I write the LJ coding in at the same time and actual word processing programs tend to put in invisible kludge, but I can definitely see how stuff like highlighting and bolding to see the working areas would be handy.

[teithiwr.livejournal.com]

Make an icon! *puppy eyes* It'd be cool beans!

Yeah, I get a bit OCD and do the LJ coding later (unless I'm writing a really long fic), because when I'm writing, I get distracted by the coding. So word processing programs are fine for me. :)

[caffienekitty]

Make an icon! *puppy eyes* It'd be cool beans!

I bet there's one out there already, but I'll think about it.

Yeah, I get a bit OCD and do the LJ coding later (unless I'm writing a really long fic), because when I'm writing, I get distracted by the coding. So word processing programs are fine for me. :)

I'm weird in that I think in code. Even if I'm writing a random note to myself, I'll put html code tags in. I think it's from having to learn to code webpages manually in the mid-nineties. I used to do all my writing in Word, but for me it's such a pain to convert it back to HTML, because word inserts font tags and meta tags and stuff and nonsense. Text is just text, and easy to swap between Mac and PC :-) Like I said, I'm weird.

[teithiwr.livejournal.com]

Yay!

I'm a bit weird in that I think that's pretty cool! I'm still stupidly proud of having mastered a bit of html code and the basic use of IRC. :P

[weesta.livejournal.com]

I usually do [insert something here] in a different color font so it stands out when I go back to read it.

[caffienekitty]

*nods* That seems to be a widespread approach.

[aescu.livejournal.com]

If I write an english story there are sometimes words that don't get to my mind and I have to look them up. As I tend to write on my way to work on my iPAQ (answer to your second question) I have no way to look them up so I end writing "(Austrian Term like 'Rostlaube')". As soon as I get the chance to consult dict.cc this placeholder is removed and sometimes the otherwise finished sentence expanded. But except from that I tend to write in cronological order with no scenes missing. It happens very rarely that when reading through my story I notice there is something missing or Dean/Sam wants to say/do something I havent written yet. So all in all you could say I dont use placeholders and I dont use handwriting (for my stories).

If I hit a wall I tend to write another story and keep thinking about this wall. The last story where that happened is from february and I think I should continue writing, the wall has crumbled to dust quite a while ago. What was it with Sun Tzu and waiting long enough for your enemy to fall dead? I think it's a bit like that ;)

[caffienekitty]

If I write an english story there are sometimes words that don't get to my mind and I have to look them up. As I tend to write on my way to work on my iPAQ (answer to your second question) I have no way to look them up so I end writing "(Austrian Term like 'Rostlaube')". As soon as I get the chance to consult dict.cc this placeholder is removed and sometimes the otherwise finished sentence expanded.

*nods* I can't even imagine writing a story in a language that I'm not a native speaker of. I really admire you for that. :-)

If I hit a wall I tend to write another story and keep thinking about this wall.

I've been doing that too, except the new ones have been getting walls too, and now I have a stack of walls of varying degrees. :-/

The last story where that happened is from february and I think I should continue writing, the wall has crumbled to dust quite a while ago. What was it with Sun Tzu and waiting long enough for your enemy to fall dead? I think it's a bit like that ;)

Hee! The Art of War as applied to fanfic? That's awesome! :-D

[lnhart.livejournal.com]

I use this [XXX: ] and inside the brackets I put a note about what's missing. I can search for that oddball series of characters and know I haven't inadvertently left any holes in the piece. (I write in Word.) I also have a planning file where I stick things I want to use but haven't found a home for yet. Some of them don't make it in, but they almost always give me insight into character, etc.

I used to hate writing out of order but I've gotten a bit more confidence and now I can do it when I have to. It's not my preference, but it's a possibility.

[caffienekitty]

I use this [XXX: ] and inside the brackets I put a note about what's missing. I can search for that oddball series of characters and know I haven't inadvertently left any holes in the piece.

That makes a heck of a lot of sense, using the same notation each time, and a lot easier to search for. I tend to just throw in boatloads of asterisks at random.

I also have a planning file where I stick things I want to use but haven't found a home for yet. Some of them don't make it in, but they almost always give me insight into character, etc.

You too? I've got a bunch of those. I don't know if I've ever used anything from them, except for a couple of the summergen prompts I left.

I used to hate writing out of order but I've gotten a bit more confidence and now I can do it when I have to. It's not my preference, but it's a possibility.

It's kind of become my standard operating procedure, mainly because if I only write in order I'd be blocked far more than I tend to be. I find sometimes working on a later scene reflects what had to have happened in the intervening scene and by writing the later scene what's missing starts almost writing itself. Sometimes. *sighs wistfully*

[ciaranbochna.livejournal.com]

Well, I am usually a fan of the bracket(which I used on something last night). Most of the time because it is the wee hours of the morning and I cannot for the life of me think of the right word(s), so I leave that for later.

Sharon

[caffienekitty]

I have a bad habit of dropping into parentheticals, so brackets don't stand out.

I am so, so, so very thrilled you have an LJ now! \o/

[auriliawestlake.livejournal.com]

Considering the fact that I post my fics primarily over at fanfiction.net, I've taken to using a placeholder for the horizontal section break lines I can add in when I post over there (it's 123456789 if you're curious). As far as placeholders for stuff that's actually happening in my fic, I tend to leave notes within the body of the story in a different font color - red for something that really needs a lot of work or for scenes I need to add in, green for 'I like how this is phrased, but it doesn't sound right yet', and blue for 'Do I even know where I'm going with this???'

[caffienekitty]

Colours really are helpful. I don't use them inside the text file, but in the file window, because I have a Mac, I can color code files. Red for active, orange for semi-active, green for reference material, blue for non-fic.