I don't know how well this will taken by the rest of the FFML, but I
figured I toss my two cents in about the writing process since I seem to
be a kind of idiot savant when it comes to writing.  Stress the idiot.
^_^;;

Writing a fic for me is a big project.  I usually try to work an outline
of what I want to happen as soon as possible.  Usually it comes from an
initial idea that I suddenly flesh out and play like an OAV or a movie in
my head.  I take what I see in my mind's eye and transfer it to paper as
the OUTLINE.  

>From there, I usually go on and sketch out a few characters if they're
new, and a few others for the good old mainstays of the series.  It helps
me get a handle on who's who and how I feel about them in the fic.  If I
do a good job with that and feel comfortable with it, I go on and draw a
few story boards of my fic.  A rough paneling job that describes in
pictures some of what I want to write.

Once I have a rough storyboard set, I go back and do the actualy writing.
This is where it's toughest for me, being able to convey an image in words
rather than differing lines on paper...  Needless to say, I run through a
-lot- of revisions from other people before I consider it done.  On the
other hand, I usually post a draft to get a feel for what people think of
it along the way.

After getting initial feedback and some initial revisions done, I go back
and do more drawing to see if I can get a final grip on who's who and how
I want them to appear.  If I get that down, I go for the final revisions
and editing before considering it done.

That's it.

Ja ne!

*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Ethan Tsai
1 N. College Street
Northfield, MN 55057

TSAIE@Gridley.ACNS.Carleton.edu
http://public.carleton.edu/~tsaie/ethan.html

Quote of the day:
"You do not lead by hitting people over the head-that's assault, not
leadership." 
     --Dwight D. Eisenhower