Sometimes when I write, I can see the entire story from start to finish in my head (like the one I'm going to start working on TODAY). I see body movement, hear the inflection in their voices when they speak. I have to convince myself not to write down every single tic and expression.
Other times, I have a vague notion of what's going to happen. I might know that John and Teyla are going to be captured by Wraith. Why? How? Where were they when it happened? I have to work backward to figure out where to start. Does that make sense?
In "An Infirmary Christmas" my prompt was the gang celebrating Christmas in the infirmary. So I knew the ending. I needed sufficient trauma to keep them all there. So, what happened? The scene where John "sees" his team killed jumped almost fully formed in my head. It's the middle of the story and the first scene I wrote. I had to go backward to figure out where they were and why and then go forward to get them home and to the celebration. Some parts of it (Teyla pressing her forehead to John's when he wakes) were crystal clear before I even got there - even the dialogue. I just have to get them where I want - transitional stuff.
Sometimes the characters learn things I didn't expect. I generally have an idea of where I'm going, but I don't let it keep me in the box if they decide they want to go somewhere else. Usually the moments of inspiration (such as sending John a care package in "Fields of Green" or Rodney building John a golf course in "A Matter of the Heart" or Rodney ripping his diplomas off the wall and replacing them with Ronon's painting in "Until Under a Better Sky") are what I get the most comments on.
Now that I think about it, I almost always know the ending first (maybe not the last line, but where the story is going) even though it's subject to change. Story set up is the hardest thing I do.
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Other times, I have a vague notion of what's going to happen. I might know that John and Teyla are going to be captured by Wraith. Why? How? Where were they when it happened? I have to work backward to figure out where to start. Does that make sense?
In "An Infirmary Christmas" my prompt was the gang celebrating Christmas in the infirmary. So I knew the ending. I needed sufficient trauma to keep them all there. So, what happened? The scene where John "sees" his team killed jumped almost fully formed in my head. It's the middle of the story and the first scene I wrote. I had to go backward to figure out where they were and why and then go forward to get them home and to the celebration. Some parts of it (Teyla pressing her forehead to John's when he wakes) were crystal clear before I even got there - even the dialogue. I just have to get them where I want - transitional stuff.
Sometimes the characters learn things I didn't expect. I generally have an idea of where I'm going, but I don't let it keep me in the box if they decide they want to go somewhere else. Usually the moments of inspiration (such as sending John a care package in "Fields of Green" or Rodney building John a golf course in "A Matter of the Heart" or Rodney ripping his diplomas off the wall and replacing them with Ronon's painting in "Until Under a Better Sky") are what I get the most comments on.
Now that I think about it, I almost always know the ending first (maybe not the last line, but where the story is going) even though it's subject to change. Story set up is the hardest thing I do.