Are you a swooper or basher? - Page 2

Willow Oran · 04-30-2003, 10:48 PM

Well... I can swoop when I need to but only if I've already bashed it out in my head which usually occurs when I'm in bed and half-asleep. Most of the time though I'm a basher. I wonder... could the style have something to do with who our favorite writers are? I know that I for one like to read and re-read books that I like and then pick out the things I like about that writer's style. The end result is a mish mash of all sorts of styles that works well for me. Does anyone else do this? Does any one else suspect that being a fan of Tolkien might contribute to any perfectionest or 'basher' tendencies we might might have?

**Nurvingiel** · 05-12-2003, 04:17 AM

It's possible Tolkien swooped and revised heavily.

I like to swoop because I enjoy editing. I end up being a basher it I don't get on a good train of thought.

Sometimes I write out the key plot points so I can keep advancing.

Laurus Nobilis · 05-12-2003, 04:26 PM

I'm definitely a basher. I'm an extremely slow writer, but I just can't move on to the next paragraph until the current one is the best I can do.

I even tried to swoop from time to time, but it never works for me.

I can't just write the main ideas and correct them later; no, I need to find THE word that goes in that place. *sigh*

Eruviel Greenleaf · 05-14-2003, 06:28 AM

I am definitely very much a swooper, my only problem is it takes a lot a lot of willpower to make myself go back and edit. Sure, I get plenty of ideas for editing and changing, but because I write so quickly, it seems such a daunting task and I get overwhelmed. Alas. And my current project is in serious need of a major re-write. More alas.

Elfmaster XK · 05-14-2003, 08:30 AM

Swooper. Majorly.

I can spew entire 27 page chapters in a day, and then ignore it for a week, and then revise it all again. This only works if I have all my character outlines, maps and backstory pages around me or in another window, though, or else I get distracted, lose the thread...

Swooping works for me though, but on reaching the final full stop at the end of my novel I left it for a few months, and am now into the revising, and this is taking up the time. Damn chapter three to hell, it won't behave.

***Tessar*** · 05-14-2003, 04:11 PM

swooper. I'll sit down for a few hours and slap out a short story , then go back the next day or so and refine it a bit.

Starr Polish · 05-14-2003, 07:52 PM

I'm a bit of both, but when I get past my writer's block I'm usually a swooper. I find that it works better for me, because if I use the basher style I'll get stuck on a certain word or sentence and concentrate too much on that, thus forgetting important plot points and characterization that is zooming through my head very quickly.

Legolas_Frodo_Aragorn · 05-16-2003, 08:41 AM

well....i am a "swooper" when i am writing a piece...usually the words just flow..but then between pieces and good ideas im more like a "basher"

Snowdog · 05-16-2003, 11:43 AM

I would have to say I do my best writing as a 'Swooper', though I have periods of 'Bashing'. The Bashing periods are where I work out conflicts in storyline and plot to get them to meld, whereas when I Swoop, I lay down whole sections of the story in its various times.

Lizra · 05-16-2003, 02:39 PM

Swooping all the way! I wish I could speed type cause I worry I won't get it all down fast enough before muddling, or forgeting. I should "talk it" into a tape recorder!

I really enjoy the editing. Eliminating useless sentences and words is very fullfilling. I have to watch that I don't go to far when I'm on the computer. Picking paragraphs is annoying to me. The editor at the paper would do it for me, to suit the copy needs, and that suited me just fine!

Linaewen · 05-20-2003, 10:41 AM

Undoubtedly a basher. I cannot write anything without it being perfect. Then, I edit it viciously afterwards. Take for instance the time when my friend and I had to write something for History. We had to work together but I basically kept twisting everything she said so that it was good enough.

However, I am becoming somewhere in the middle now. Very glad - it took me only a 45 min class to finish this English essay- whereas previously it would have taken me that time, and much of that night as well to perfect it.

And if it's just normal writing, not for school, it still takes me ages to decide what I want to write. I hate awkward parts in my writing.

04-30-2003, 10:48 PM	#21
Willow Oran Deus Ex Machina Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,951	Well... I can swoop when I need to but only if I've already bashed it out in my head which usually occurs when I'm in bed and half-asleep. Most of the time though I'm a basher. I wonder... could the style have something to do with who our favorite writers are? I know that I for one like to read and re-read books that I like and then pick out the things I like about that writer's style. The end result is a mish mash of all sorts of styles that works well for me. Does anyone else do this? Does any one else suspect that being a fan of Tolkien might contribute to any perfectionest or 'basher' tendencies we might might have? __________________ "5. Plain Rings with RUNES on the inside. Avoid these like the PLAGUE. -Diana Wynne Jones Tough Guide To FantasyLand ...it's not much of a show if somebody doesn't suffer, and preferably at length. Suffering is beautiful in any case, and so is anguish; but as for loathing, and bitterness... I don't think they belong on the stage at all. - Isabella, I Gelosi

05-12-2003, 04:26 PM	#23
Laurus Nobilis Enting Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina Posts: 73	I'm definitely a basher. I'm an extremely slow writer, but I just can't move on to the next paragraph until the current one is the best I can do. I even tried to swoop from time to time, but it never works for me. I can't just write the main ideas and correct them later; no, I need to find THE word that goes in that place. sigh __________________ "...So the essential Quest started at once. But I met a lot of things on the way that astonished me. Tom Bombadil I knew already; but I had never been to Bree. Strider sitting in the corner at the inn was a shock, and I had no more idea who he was than had Frodo. The Mines of Moria had been a mere name; and of Lothlórien no word had reached my mortal ears till I came there. Far away I knew there were the Horse-lords on the confines of an ancient Kingdom of Men, but Fangorn Forest was an unforeseen adventure." ~ J. R. R. Tolkien

05-14-2003, 06:28 AM	#24
Eruviel Greenleaf Alcoholic Villain-Fancying Elf Pirate Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Lyonesse Posts: 4,547	I am definitely very much a swooper, my only problem is it takes a lot a lot of willpower to make myself go back and edit. Sure, I get plenty of ideas for editing and changing, but because I write so quickly, it seems such a daunting task and I get overwhelmed. Alas. And my current project is in serious need of a major re-write. More alas. __________________ Eruviel Greenleaf in a past life. "Whoever has come to understand the world has found only a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is superior to the world." -The Gospel of Thomas SQUAWK!

05-14-2003, 08:30 AM	#25
Elfmaster XK Possessive Villain Fancier Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: On my ship, riding the waves YARR! Posts: 2,008	Swooper. Majorly. I can spew entire 27 page chapters in a day, and then ignore it for a week, and then revise it all again. This only works if I have all my character outlines, maps and backstory pages around me or in another window, though, or else I get distracted, lose the thread... Swooping works for me though, but on reaching the final full stop at the end of my novel I left it for a few months, and am now into the revising, and this is taking up the time. Damn chapter three to hell, it won't behave. __________________ My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies, Fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die, I can fly - my friends. XK

05-14-2003, 07:52 PM	#27
Starr Polish Elf Lord Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Slow down and I sail on the river, slow down and I walk to the hill Posts: 2,389	I'm a bit of both, but when I get past my writer's block I'm usually a swooper. I find that it works better for me, because if I use the basher style I'll get stuck on a certain word or sentence and concentrate too much on that, thus forgetting important plot points and characterization that is zooming through my head very quickly. __________________ “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” –Bertrand Russell

05-14-2003, 04:11 PM	#26
*Tessar* Master and Wielder of the Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: IM IN UR POSTZ, EDITIN' UR WURDZ Posts: 6,433	swooper. I'll sit down for a few hours and slap out a short story , then go back the next day or so and refine it a bit.

05-16-2003, 08:41 AM	#28
Legolas_Frodo_Aragorn The Elven Queen Of All Pyros Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Im like a little bug stuck in the lamp...never going anywhere Posts: 795	well....i am a "swooper" when i am writing a piece...usually the words just flow..but then between pieces and good ideas im more like a "basher" __________________ Would you judge my future based on what i did in the past? Procrastinators Unite!!!.....tomorrrow.... Kids in backseats cause accidents...accidents in backseats cause kids As long as there are tests..there will be prayers in school

05-16-2003, 11:43 AM	#29
Snowdog Dúnedain Ranger of the North Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: The Ruins of Arnor Posts: 892	I would have to say I do my best writing as a 'Swooper', though I have periods of 'Bashing'. The Bashing periods are where I work out conflicts in storyline and plot to get them to meld, whereas when I Swoop, I lay down whole sections of the story in its various times. __________________ "I am an outlaw, I was born an outlaw's son. The highway is my legacy, on the highway I will run."

05-16-2003, 02:39 PM	#30
Lizra Domesticated Swing Babe Join Date: May 2002 Location: Reality Posts: 5,340	Swooping all the way! I wish I could speed type cause I worry I won't get it all down fast enough before muddling, or forgeting. I should "talk it" into a tape recorder! I really enjoy the editing. Eliminating useless sentences and words is very fullfilling. I have to watch that I don't go to far when I'm on the computer. Picking paragraphs is annoying to me. The editor at the paper would do it for me, to suit the copy needs, and that suited me just fine! __________________ Happy Atheist Go Democrats!

05-20-2003, 10:41 AM	#31
Linaewen Fair Dinkum Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 2,319	Undoubtedly a basher. I cannot write anything without it being perfect. Then, I edit it viciously afterwards. Take for instance the time when my friend and I had to write something for History. We had to work together but I basically kept twisting everything she said so that it was good enough. However, I am becoming somewhere in the middle now. Very glad - it took me only a 45 min class to finish this English essay- whereas previously it would have taken me that time, and much of that night as well to perfect it. And if it's just normal writing, not for school, it still takes me ages to decide what I want to write. I hate awkward parts in my writing.