# Writimg Improvisions (stream of consciousness writing)



## Conker (Feb 24, 2014)

Because I have to talk at length about shit:

A good few years ago I used to really enjoy Kotaku as a game website. That's no longer the case, but oh well. See, every once a month or so, this guy named Tim Rogers would show up with these crazy articles that were somewhat about games but mostly about anything and everything. Ideas would just vomit and branch off into other ideas, and they were all very fun to read, even if they meandered and were also confusing at points.

This was my first real introduction to the stream of consciousness style of writing, and I quite liked it.

I tried to replicate it with no success. I figured some styles aren't for me and forgot about it.

Then I met this musician named Thomas who churns out musical improvisations on a weekly basis. He just kinda picks up his guitar and plays, and I really envied that ability and wanted to give it a go.

So I went back to this stream of consciousness style...sort of.

What I did was find a song of his, purely instrumental, and just write to it taking the title as a basis for what I'd write about. I wound up with a kind of crazy prose-poetry that I quite like, and the whole thing has been fun.

I've done four of em. 

Has anyone else done anything of this sort before? (Stupid question as I"m sure others have. I'm not smart enough to be the only one, yaknow?) It's quite fun. 

Otherwise, has anyone here played around with that stream of consciousness kind of writing/poetry? It's crazy what the fingers will do when the mind is forced to think only in the present and not in the future.

Basically it's just really fun.


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## nekokoi (Feb 24, 2014)

I've done this a few times. I think it's fairly useful to actually get use to write. I can't remember what I wrote exactly but it was nice to just write without thinking of the perfect word choice would be.


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## DragonMasterX (Feb 25, 2014)

Nearly all of my transformation based stories (before I started getting into series) were improvisations. That is, I put out a core goal ahead of me (the end product) and then I just decided on a name for the character. Next thing I know, the story's written and I just don't care if it made sense or not. The outline is never there, but it defines itself as the story advances, because as an author, your nonsense has to at least be understandable, so you don't just throw anything in hopes of it sticking together. Eventually, you reach a satisfying conclusion that can stand on its two improvised legs, heh. 

Have to wonder if this can mean that the story's flow can tide the author over. I know those were improvisations because now I do some research and plan ahead. Before, I just went with the first thing that came to mind and barfed it all over the word processor to see what came out. Based on that, I repeated the process so the string of cohesion wouldn't cut and eventually, the goal had been reached.

It's not the same as starting with a blank state of mind and writing to the music you're listening (I have bad memories from doing that in writing and literature back in high-school), like you're mentioning, but I believe, to a degree, it is improvisation.

Also, think that n in the topic title grew an extra leg. Watch out for the spilling of dangerous chemicals while composing thread titles please! XD


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## Hooky (Feb 25, 2014)

This is a bit like J.D. Salinger's narrative flow. (The Catcher in The Rye) He manages to create a believable teenage monologue through this technique. It's very addictive both to read and to write.


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## RedLeFrench (Feb 25, 2014)

I'm currently using a sort of mix between the stream of consciousness and the usual thought off text.

Basically I have a general outline of the main characters and situations and I stick to this skeleton while I write. Then the story kinda "writes itself" and I let the characters do what they would feel like doing and not have a say until I read it when finished. Kinda like those sim games where you just input some commands and then let the machine create situation for shits and giggles.

That way, I managed to create a character I really love to hate now and also made fun of time manipulations without thinking about it.


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## Conker (Feb 25, 2014)

RedLeFrench said:


> I'm currently using a sort of mix between the stream of consciousness and the usual thought off text.
> 
> Basically I have a general outline of the main characters and situations and I stick to this skeleton while I write. Then the story kinda "writes itself" and I let the characters do what they would feel like doing and not have a say until I read it when finished. Kinda like those sim games where you just input some commands and then let the machine create situation for shits and giggles.
> 
> That way, I managed to create a character I really love to hate now and also made fun of time manipulations without thinking about it.


I did something similar when I was working on a novel. Once the characters and basis were done, I just kinda let em take care of everything. Was really fun but continuity errors, they abound. Will be a bitch to edit.


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## RedLeFrench (Feb 26, 2014)

Conker said:


> I did something similar when I was working on a novel. Once the characters and basis were done, I just kinda let em take care of everything. Was really fun but continuity errors, they abound. Will be a bitch to edit.



That is true and that's why I reread it at least once or twice in order to see if it fits. Then again, I have a very loose continuity to keep track of and I've been working on this story for nearly a year, so every single detail planned out can be reviewed quickly. Also, since I do a lot of fourth-wall breaking, I can still make fun of mistakes if there are some. Lazy writing ? Probably, but as far as it is in the French version, people haven't complained yet, so I guess I do stuff correctly at least


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## Conker (Feb 26, 2014)

RedLeFrench said:


> That is true and that's why I reread it at least once or twice in order to see if it fits. Then again, I have a very loose continuity to keep track of and I've been working on this story for nearly a year, so every single detail planned out can be reviewed quickly. Also, since I do a lot of fourth-wall breaking, I can still make fun of mistakes if there are some. Lazy writing ? Probably, but as far as it is in the French version, people haven't complained yet, so I guess I do stuff correctly at least


If it works it works. I personally can't do the 4th wall stuff. I think some of it can be really funny, but I don't have the abilities to pull it off.


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## RedLeFrench (Feb 27, 2014)

The biggest bump as far as I know is in the pacing of it all. Drop a small gag every few pages when the reader least expects it and not overdo it. Also, it is best when you have a device within the story that blurs the line between our universe and the story's so that you cannot know if the character talks to you or something from the story.

... Yeah, it's complicated ^^'


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## Conker (Feb 27, 2014)

RedLeFrench said:


> The biggest bump as far as I know is in the pacing of it all. Drop a small gag every few pages when the reader least expects it and not overdo it. Also, it is best when you have a device within the story that blurs the line between our universe and the story's so that you cannot know if the character talks to you or something from the story.
> 
> ... Yeah, it's complicated ^^'


I wouldn't call it complicated; it's just not a style of humor I'm capable of doing right. It also depends on the tone of the book, and I'm not one for writing really humorous stuff. So fourth wall breaking wouldn't mesh well.


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## ACraZ (Feb 28, 2014)

What you seem to be getting at -writing what you think as you think of it- seems to be more like a exercise in writing just by improvising. I have done that here or there, really helps getting over a block and getting creative juices going again. 

Stream of consciousness is really intimidating, at least to me, but when it's done correctly it can be immensely satisfying to figure it all out as the reader. Only problem is when it's done incorrectly it just comes off as laziness by the writer, like they are just ignoring rules and labelling it stream of consciousness. If you are very interested then definitely a good choice is picking up "The Sound And The Fury", a fantastic(ally difficult) book (by far the hardest book I've ever read).


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## Conker (Mar 1, 2014)

ACraZ said:


> What you seem to be getting at -writing what you think as you think of it- seems to be more like a exercise in writing just by improvising. I have done that here or there, really helps getting over a block and getting creative juices going again.
> 
> Stream of consciousness is really intimidating, at least to me, but when it's done correctly it can be immensely satisfying to figure it all out as the reader. Only problem is when it's done incorrectly it just comes off as laziness by the writer, like they are just ignoring rules and labelling it stream of consciousness. If you are very interested then definitely a good choice is picking up "The Sound And The Fury", a fantastic(ally difficult) book (by far the hardest book I've ever read).


I guess I formally don't know what "stream of consciousness" means, only that when I do these it feels like that should be the right word. 

But maybe it isn't. Either way I call it "poetry" and hide behind poetic license like a coward :V


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