Just one more thing (damn you, LJ comment limits! *g*).
I just sort of tell the story until I feel like it's done, which perhaps does lead to pedantic wandering in circles.
*nods* That's absolutely how I write, and I'm sure there is a ton of aimless wandering in my stories (some of which I manage to strip out on the revisions, and some of which stays in). But -- I guess I keep emphasizing this, but I do think it's important: a lot of what seems like aimless wandering to me (and therefore gets cut) might be exactly what some readers are looking for, and a lot of what I find to be aimless wandering in other people's writing is somebody else's idea of a perfect, emotionally satisfying story.
no subject
I just sort of tell the story until I feel like it's done, which perhaps does lead to pedantic wandering in circles.
*nods* That's absolutely how I write, and I'm sure there is a ton of aimless wandering in my stories (some of which I manage to strip out on the revisions, and some of which stays in). But -- I guess I keep emphasizing this, but I do think it's important: a lot of what seems like aimless wandering to me (and therefore gets cut) might be exactly what some readers are looking for, and a lot of what I find to be aimless wandering in other people's writing is somebody else's idea of a perfect, emotionally satisfying story.