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[Carter]

I have been writing fan fiction gosh for 13 yrs or something rather and I think I have tried it but it failed miserably...li ke tanked really bad so I just stuck to writing what I know and that seems to work some what I am not completely talented unlike some of you other ladies here but I try and write from experience and then take it to other places...for example "All Of Your Life" most of that happened...I met my current fiance in World Of Warcraft...mov ed with barely knowing him and had a couple of miscarriages but no other kids other than the two current ones from a previous relationship, but my next stories could be different but I mostly write on experiences..i t seems to help in ways with dealing with a lot of stuff that i dealt with as a child

[Carter-Orange]

I'm not sure if I attract different readers, and it's been so long since I actually wrote anything

I've also written stuff that came from personal experiences, like places I've been etc. 

[Sakabelle]

Maybe this question has already been asked, but I might as well ask again to hopefully spark some discussion.

How do you feel about giving spoilers away in your summary? How do you decide what to give away and what to keep until it's actually revealed?

I'm writing something right now that will have a pretty significant twist. While I definitely don't want to give it away in the summary, I don't really want to blindsight anyone into thinking that the story is going to go one way when it's going down a completely different path.  So yeah, let's discuss lol

[mare]

Yay! A new question and a good one too!

Personally, I think the summary is always the hardest thing for me to write. I spend way too long thinking about it. I'm not a big fan of giving too much away. I hate when I feel like I don't need to read a story because the summary just basically told me exactly what was going to happen but at the other end of the spectrum, I tend to shy away from stories that give a really vague summary and get annoyed when they give a misleading one.

I think if you have a major plot twist in the story, to keep it authentic, and a real twist you shouldn't give anything away in the summary, except maybe to say there are some twists and turns along the way. The thing is, if you really are going in a completely different direction then what the reader may think, and it's written really well, the reader will still follow along. You can always say something like "Things aren't always as they seem." maybe not as cliched as that, but you know what I mean?

I'm about to start posting a new story myself but the thing that's really keeping me from doing it is the stupid summary as well lol Seriously, it's my real weakness. I need a course like summary 101 or something.

[RokofAges75]

I don't like to give anything away.  I am all about that mind-blowing moment when the reader finds out the story she thought was going in a certain direction has just taken a huge turn in a totally different direction.  Granted, in my stories, that twist usually comes in the form of some deadly disease or another, so that's probably starting to become predictable.  Maybe someday I'll do the opposite and write a cancer story that turns into some crazy suspense thriller.

Just keep it vague, Steph.  The summary doesn't have to be misleading, but it also doesn't have to give any direction for the story.  Think of it more as a tagline or a teaser, rather than an actual summary.

[Carter-Orange]

I like to keep the summary a little vague, I don't really give much away.

[Carter]

I myselg try not to reveal anything important...ca use to me that would defeat the purpose of reading but i try to come up with a summary where there is enough information and then also not a lot. I am not good with summaries either so it can be hadd for me sometimes.

[RokofAges75]

Just read an interesting article that suggests people express themselves better when writing longhand instead of typing.

The Joys and Benefits of Cursive Writing: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-dagnalmyron/john-boy-was-write-the-jo_b_5440013.html

As a teacher, I think children should still be taught cursive, as well as typing, but as a writer, my experience has been completely different from that of the author and the researchers quoted in the article, who say that writers are more creative and productive when writing by hand.  I find writing by hand to be tedious and frustrating.  For me, it takes longer than typing, it makes my hand hurt after awhile, and it's much harder to edit as I go.  I never write stories by hand, unless the power is out or my computer's down and I have no other option.

What about the rest of you?  When it comes to writing stories, do you prefer typing or writing by hand?

[Sakabelle]

I'm pretty sure if I wrote anything by hand that notebook would be a complete smudged mess of erased and rewritten words.

I definitely feel much more creative when typing! Maybe if I was writing in cursive I'd think a bit more before writing down that sentence, because I go back and change things and rewrite sentences a couple times before I'm satisfied with them.

I also like to change things around, go back into paragraphs and add more detail. And yeah, my hand would also hurt after a while. When typing I can go for hours. (I will probably end up with carpal tunnel due to how many hours of the day I spend typing.) And that is when I personally feel the most creative, when I have a large chunk of time to sit and dedicate to writing without interruption. Which I could only accomplish with a computer so yeah lol

[RokofAges75]

Same here, on all points! LOL

[Carter]

Lol i am the odd ball...i cannot stand to type while i am writing....i like it on paper..so everything i write is put onto paper and then when i type it out in word document i will make my edits, add or change something at the last minute. I dont know why i do it this way cause my hand hurts like a mofo afterwards but i feel i gues my creative juices flow better...i have a whole three ring binder full of fanfictions, plots, lyrics i have used for stories...i am starting to think i am just a tad ocd lol....but also i think a lot of it is too its my back up if i lost something on the computer and i couldnt get to the internet... i am just reallllly weird like that lol

[mare]

I do not have the patience to hand write anything anymore. I like to change and add things as I write and typing makes that so much easier. I used to have such nice penmanship but ever since I really started writing via the computer, it's gone downhill! Lol

[RokofAges75]

LOL Same here.  Ironically, though, I took an old notebook from college that I thought was virtually unused to school and opened it up today to find several pages of handwritten fanfic in it, I think part of "Footprints."  I don't know if I thought I was being creative writing on paper or if I wrote it during a power outage, but I had forgotten all about it!  Glad I found it before some kid did LOL.

[FrickingKaos]

I have a whole stack of notebooks from when i wrote in high school. I then moved onto computer, on one of my old hard drives is the original draft of Figured You Out, I had been browsing through some files when i decided to finally publish that story. I liked writing in the notebooks but computer was easier for editing. 

[Rose]

I don't write longhand as much as I used to. But when I'm really stuck and I can't seem to do anything I'll sometimes grab a notebook and just write. I don't always use it or I change a lot of it later. But having that pen and paper can help me really channel a character at times and get into their heads the way I want.