Because I was tagged and Tia says this is productive. 

WARNING: All content is not to be taken seriously and only applies to the Keeper. Read at your own risk.

The When, Where, How and What of Keeper's writing

WHEN

Dear readers/subscribers, when does the Keeper write? And all will say, "When she feels like it." Yep, I write when the urge to write takes hold of my body, mind, heart and soul. I should have a schedule but the closest I have to a routine is Friday late afternoons or late evenings. I'm a night owl and Friday's child.

However, plot bunnies or ideas won't fit themselves in a schedule. They just barge in whenever they feel like it and they do this in the most inconvenient of times:

1. when my cute head meets my green pillow. So I always keep my phone or a mini notebook and pen next to me.

2. when buying groceries or dinner. Once, I had to write at the back of a receipt.

3. in the middle of an exam. Use the scratch paper (lol).

But what if I'm in the shower?

Well, I realized that I don't have to play with all the bunnies. This is the reason why I have unfinished fics. Ideas need incubation. After a few days and the bunny is still jumping in my head, that's the time I give bunny my undivided attention. It is the same for scene ideas.

WHERE

I write a chapter mostly inside my room, in my laptop. But Keeper learned to be flexible. I can now update a chapter anywhere as long as I have my phone and a wifi signal. I write everything in my notepad app or a blog, complete with html codes. It is just a matter of copying and pasting everything.

I don't even require a quiet place. Guess where I am right now.

HOW

I type the words? Just kidding.

I write both original and fanfic stories and I notice that I deal with them differently. Both start with an idea or a prompt. (All my originals are written for the anime forum's short story contests and they are based on prompts.) If you want to write a story but you don't have an idea of what it is about, either you meditate on it or search the Web for plot generators or prompts. KaHae is birthed from piano covers of 2ne1's I Don't Care and SNSD's Gee. Both videos show the hands of the pianist as they glide and dance over the keyboard. MTP is from the music video of Zhang Liyin's Moving On featuring Donghae. The plot bunny for my first Jaejoong three shot came to me when I was cleaning my drawer and I found old letters from my penpals. (My godfather entered me into that program when I was in gradeschool.) The plot for Kahae's RW&B was formed while I was walking home from the university; remnants of Valentine's Day festivities were everywhere I look.

Now that I have an idea, it's time to play! It doesn't matter how simple or vague it is because my next step takes care of it. I write the word or phrase in the middle of a paper then refine or delimit the scope of my idea by adding more words that branch off from the main idea, complete with circles and lines. This doesn't take that long because after only a few branches, I can come up with one statement or two that summarizes the story. It should contain the major conflict, a thing or two about the characters and the setting. Most of the time, I do this mentally before I physically transfer it into paper. Hehe.

I usually don't have a title at this point. But I eventually come up with one while I do all this planning.

Next would be the characters. It is quite easier for me to create characters for original stories. It is like making dresses for my paper dolls. I could put an unnie's dress on her paired with a dongsaeng's sandals. The objective is to make the characters real or believable enough for the readers. Since these are based on contest prompts, the main character is me. Hoho. Those who have read them have seen Keeper in fiction form already. With fanfics, I have to match the dresses with the wardrobe of a real artist. I do casting. MTP is originally a KaHae fic but after the first chappy, the clothes I made didn't fit them. It could also be the other way around if I want to feature a certain artist in a fanfic. I am confusing like this. But no matter if the character is an original or a KPOP artist, I do research in order to fill up their biodata or info sheet. Nothing fancy. Bullets will do. Hoho.

For the setting, the where and when, I have one word: research. 

Now that I have my cast and the venues, it is time to write the script. I start with an outline. We were all taught that a story or the plot has these following parts arranged in a triangle or pyramid:

1. Exposition (where you introduce the characters and setting; a bit of the conflict, but still makes readers ask questions)

2. Rising Action

3.

4. Denouement (Resolution)

5. End

The events or scenes in my outline should be arranged roughly in this order. As I write each scene, I ask myself if it is logical or not. Lol.

Except for my science-fiction entry, all my originals are in first person pov since I am limited with a word count. For fanfics, I go with third person pov - either omniscient or limited but I stick to one all throughout. Changing povs and multiple first person povs are my pet peeves, Hoho, so I don't do them.

With originals, I don't have to write romance or fluff. Haha!

I also prepare a description and foreword after I write the outline because AFF requires them. The description is my plot statement that ends in a cliffhanger, sort of. I should provide readers the storyline without giving too much, just enough to make them want to read more. The foreword is either an author's note or a scene before the first chappy. 

Posters. I don't have them from the very beginning. Most of my fics lack posters. Lol. I want to give readers 50% of what my characters look like through the text.The other half is left to the reader's imagination. Hoho. So I don't really need posters. A wrong photo might ruin the reader's imagination just like when books are turned into movies.

Breaking the wall. Sometimes, I just have to destroy that block by force. If I don't, the story won't go anywhere. I write another story or do other activities that would take my mind off that story but eventually leads me back to it with a new perspective. I read. I watch tv. The wall can be broken. I'm just lazy, haha. Or busy.

INSPIRATION

I have several heroes that serve as my inspiration in writing. I forgot their names but it is their lives that touched me - how they became writers. If they can do it, I can do it too. Read autobiographies and be inspired :)

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Okay enough. This is just my second year in writing (on September 26) so don't take me seriously. Haha.