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Compare and contrast. Maybe throw in some anecdotes about who they used to be, or some other sort of evidence. I've got a story where a man's meek behavior is contrasted with photos of him being a party animal in past years.
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Feb 17, 2017 02:03
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flerp posted:yeah theyre gonna write doodoo (poo) plz leave my fanfic out of this
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Feb 28, 2017 21:11
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All writing is autobiography. Sometimes writing becomes an excruciatingly detailed confession.
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Mar 10, 2017 19:52
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Chairchucker posted:Here's some fiction: sebmojo is a good writer 
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Mar 17, 2017 00:43
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Here's some advice that may not be bad: If you're stuck in your draft, stop trying to write the story and plan out what happens next. You'll solve the problem a lot faster and you'll avoid frustration trying to work through bad prose.
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Mar 17, 2017 02:41
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I vote for spelling it out.
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May 7, 2017 21:55
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Sitting Here posted:Yeah, I'm basically just using this thread to vent. The lovely reality is that the editing process requires you to buckle down and treat your novel or short story like any other job. I think that's what I've been struggling the most with. It's pretty much just a matter or cultivating and maintaining discipline, which suuuuuucks. Do you have anyone else that can look at it for you? It blows if you're the only one looking at your work. This is where a writers group comes in handy!
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May 19, 2017 02:12
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Sitting Here posted:Yes! I am fortunate to have access to lots of frank critiques from the fine goons of these very forums. Plus I will often read excerpts at literary open mics and such. The issue really is just me and my brain's reluctance to commit to things that aren't video games and Netflix. Sounds a bit like you're psyching yourself out. Try to relax, editing isn't a personal indictment. Try chopping the editing time into tiny bits of time, just be consistent about it.
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May 19, 2017 02:42
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That's also where a professional editor comes in handy because they can cut down the bullshit fast.
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May 19, 2017 16:51
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The pros and cons of my project: Pros: the epistolary format is really nice, it gives me the first POV without having to wrote everything as it immediately happens, I can get some distance from the action and focus on the creepy aspects more in the "the more I think about this the worse it becomes" sort of way. And I'm finally getting the story down! Cons: Making a distinctive narrative voice is so difficult with the first POV, all I can hear is my own voice talking back at me. The meandering letters let me map out the story events as I go but I'm frustrated because I'm having such a hard time developing this protagonist because he sounds just like me and he really shouldn't.
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May 23, 2017 17:30
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That's the thing, he doesn't share my views, he shouldn't think anything like me, I'm just having a hard time making him sound different in terms of word choice, etc.
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May 23, 2017 18:13
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sebmojo posted:Good points. When I'm GMing and want to change my native voice it can be good to keep it simple - pick a movie star you know, change something significant about them, and write as though that's the character. Oceans Eleven George Clooney, but a beaten down accountant. Aliens Ellen Ripley as a suburban mum. This is a good idea, thanks! Dr. Kloctopussy posted:Some possible things to try: This sounds like the best idea since it lets the chracter grow without getting bogged down in plot detail. quote:2) If you think you can plot out the novel with the actual choices your character would make, etc. while writing in your own voice, maybe go ahead and write the story, then fix the voice in post. It will be a major rewrite obviously, since the words are the story, but it would be another way to separate writing the voice from the rest. Or you could treat it almost as an outline for developing the rest of the elements of the book. I have doubts about this option, because I can't imagine being able to feel/experience/write a character without hearing their voice in my head. Maybe you are different. This isn't a bad idea but it also sounds like a quick way to burn out, fixing stuff in post is hard, I can't imagine having to rewrite the whole thing  And since character influences story so much, I'd end up flubbing the plot too. Nooooo.....quote:I don't know if any of these would work for you, but I will say that personally, I would hesitate to keep working on this before figuring out the voice. The voice is very practically who a character is. It's both HOW they think and WHAT they think and WHY they think like that, and I don't think you can write a story from their perspective without knowing that. Ha, exactly, I've skidded to a halt a bit because of this. I think I'll try the first method and see how much it helps. Thanks for the suggestions everyone 
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May 24, 2017 01:08
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Have a scene where they go to the cops and then get Baker Act'ed for obviously being high.
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Jun 1, 2017 18:13
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Sitting Here posted:borrowed words are only helpful if they're ubiquitous enough to convey the same meaning to lots of different people, otherwise you sound like that dumb "all according to keikaku" meme * "keikaku" means plan
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Jul 4, 2017 07:33
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I like behindthename.com
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Jul 23, 2017 00:13
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it's probably a good idea to write out the origin story so you know what happened, but don't include that whole thing in the story. Start where the character is at his most interesting, don't start out boring and then try to force him to be interesting.
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Jul 24, 2017 21:12
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Agent355 posted:So my intent behind this serial is to do 2-3 part short stories of spy/espionage poo poo in a fantasy setting with a fun protagonist. Just fluffy for fun poo poo. The expected meta plot that crosses the individual episodic plots is the personal struggle of the character that all stems from who she is/where she came from. Some chapters between the more action filled ones might just be long character dramas where she ends up facing some personal truth or w/e. This sounds like Burn Notice to be honest. That's a show that starts out pretty much exactly this and the protagonist's past where he got his skills is only revealed in bits and pieces and we never get the entire picture. You don't have to show how she got her skills or why her personality is the way it is. Just show us her and if your writing is good enough then you don't need reams of backstory to make it interesting because she'll be compelling by herself.
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Jul 24, 2017 22:15
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Well, I wish you luck
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Jul 24, 2017 23:34
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Agent355 posted:Is that goonspeak for 'this rear end in a top hat isn't listening to advice, he must be one of those, get him out of here?' because I'm not trying to be that guy. I'm not trying to brush you off, you're just asking a lot of broad questions that are difficult to answer without your prose in front of us. If you want in depth feedback about what you've got feel free to PM me, I'd be happy to take a look.
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Jul 25, 2017 23:02
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1) Start wherever you want and see if it works since this is only a draft. 2) Start with something happening to kick off the plot or introduce a plot element like the humorous books. Remember, Star Wars starts off with a princess being attacked before we switch to the actual protagonist.
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Jul 27, 2017 06:03
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outlining always makes me lock up and I can never think of something to write down for "conflict 1/2" then I try to just write a summary this does not work either, I scribble swirls while unable to think of anything gently caress outlines
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Jul 27, 2017 21:10
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Make more art.
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Aug 8, 2017 05:33
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I understand how you feel. But the important part here is to develop self-discipline. You can't start over on a work every time you hate it, and sooner or later we all hate what we write. Also if you start over now it will take even longer to get to the end. Think of the time you've already invested and ask yourself if it's worth it to start over. That's not to say you can't start over or that it's a bad idea but there's cost/benefit analysis that you have to do.
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Aug 21, 2017 17:34
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MockingQuantum posted:For sure, I follow what you're saying. This isn't so much about developing self-discipline, for me, as much as it's been about learning how to even structure a story well and develop characters that are worth writing about. I don't hate what I've written so far, I'm just more excited about what I think it could be, and that's a lot easier to write than forcing myself to muscle through a "test book" that I'm not going to do anything with. I'd say finish the current chapter or section you have and take a break from it for a week or so. You might feel differently coming back orrrr you might feel the same. If it's a test book then yeah, I can understand wanting to abandon it if you think you've gotten all you can from it. If you think you learned what you needed then there's no shame in dropping it IMO.
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Aug 21, 2017 18:07
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MockingQuantum posted:This is actually the tail end of a week away from it already. Sounds like a typical first draft to me 
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Aug 21, 2017 18:47
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The whole point is that you don't know what the story is so sometimes you have to tread water for a while to make that happen. Stop over thinking this. Almost everything we put down is poo poo on the first draft and you will not be the exception to this.
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Aug 21, 2017 22:13
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MockingQuantum posted:On another note, for you more discovery-writing types, how do you approach structuring a book? Do you even bother thinking about pacing and tension and hitting specific structure beats until you're done with your first draft? I keep Dan Harmon's story chart on my phone and I consult it regularly so that I put in a story beat whn it feels right. Then I just continue until it feels like I should hit the next beat. I figure I can cut or expand parts in editing.
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Aug 25, 2017 16:27
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yeah that one. Though I don't course correct while writing, that's for editing.
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Aug 25, 2017 19:03
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MockingQuantum posted:Course correct is probably the wrong way of putting it. I more mean I like that diagram a reminder that nudges you more towards a structure that will take you somewhere useful. I've been adamantly refusing to actually go back and change anything until I'm done with the draft and I think I'll continue to do so. I have a whole lot of notebook pages filled with notes of how I might do things differently, but I haven't actually applied them. I think I'd run in circles if I did. Sorta yes, sorta no. I've tried doing the "okay time to insert this story element here" thing before and it paralyzes me for some reason, I can't figure out why. The story circle works because it is tenuous, like you said, and that's much less pressure. But the way I write things is a lot more uh, instinctual. You're not wrong per se but if I think about it in too structured a way then I can't get anywhere. The relationship between me and the wheel is super super vague. I trust myself enough to get the bare points of the story down without thinking too hard about it. I do have occasions where I remove massive sections of writing because it doesn't serve the story but that doesn't bother me because fitting what I've got into a structure afterwards takes so much pressure off instead of worrying about it in the moment.
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Aug 25, 2017 19:34
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MockingQuantum posted:Honestly I'm drifting in that direction. It's hard to say given this is my first really dedicated attempt at a novel, but I'm finding I can't structure things out all that well ahead of time. I do find moments or scenes or plot points that I know will fit in there somewhere, but it's a bit like seeing a distant landmark on the other side of a dense wood. I know where I'm going, but who the hell knows how long it'll take me to navigate the forest or what'll be in there. Stuff like the story circle or Dan Wells' 7 Point Story Structure work with my brain because more often than not I'll get to whatever landmark scene or moment I pointed myself at and kinda get a little lost on where to head next, and they're vague enough that I will just look at them and go "oh hey I haven't really hit this idea at all yet, things are going well for this character, time to gently caress poo poo up" or whatever.  I do this all the time. What I've found useful is writing out specific scene ideas on notecards or post its and then consulting them at specific times when I'm stuck or need something to happen or need inspiration for a specific kind of scene. Otherwise you just have to....go and hope your brain doesn't poo poo out on you.
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Aug 25, 2017 19:52
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So long as it gets word down on paper, it works!
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Aug 25, 2017 20:56
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It may also be that the moment hasn't arrived for your book or something. Keep sending it to agents, the market is always changing.
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Aug 28, 2017 16:54
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changng my username to SWORD TROMBONE
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Aug 28, 2017 20:11
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The only way to develop a style is to write more.
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Aug 30, 2017 00:09
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Every time we talk about style someone just recommends The Elements of Style and then the conversation collapses. No one wants to talk about the tiny author foibles, or how different people have different sentence construction habits, or the kind of plot elements different authors gravitate to.
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Aug 30, 2017 01:00
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For example: I use a lot of commas to use sub clauses that extend sentences past their due date. I also tend to use the word "tend" and other similar weasel words because I "prefer" to "imply" "concepts" instead of outright stating facts or certainties. I also have wordy sentences as opposed to short and simple declarations. This is useful to pad college essays but it's a chore to read in prose. I also use "I" a lot.
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Aug 30, 2017 03:02
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See what you can do with the back of a receipt. Surprisingly versatile those little receipts.
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Aug 30, 2017 20:25
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A lot of it just has to do with skill. Authors who can pull stuff out of thin air can do it because they have a lot of practice pulling stuff out of thin air and thus have developed a knack for it. 1) I would recommend you figure out what kind of stories you're good at writing. That doesn't mean you can't write other kind of stories but if you should develop what you're good at first so that you have something firm to stand on when you tackle more difficult ideas or subjects. There's no shame in starting out as a comedy writer even if you want to write grim hardboiled detective stories. 2) Everyone has lovely ideas, I promise. Every single person who has put words down knows the feeling of only spitting up flat characters, bad and cliched plots, and the frustration of not being able to come up with something that is interesting, even if it is only interesting to you. The idea is that if you come up with enough bad ideas eventually you'll come up with something good. This is known as statistics. I recommend a daily writing journal for you to write ideas into. Write as many ideas as you can. Review the previous entries when you start a new day so that you don't repeat yourself. This will force your brain to come up with something new after you have gone to the trouble of making your ideas concrete. This will be an infuriating stop-start process. 3) When you're not so frustrated, take one of those lovely ideas or bad characters. Start thinking of ways to modify them to make them interesting, even if you have to crib ideas from other authors or stories. "This character would be more interesting if s/he had super strength like Superman/Wonder Woman. This plot would be better if the parents died tragically. This would be cooler if the character turned into a dragon." is a valid writing exercise. Once you are used to building up bad things into good things then you will have a much better understanding of how to create. Do not show anyone the results of these exercises. They are strictly for your personal enrichment. This is to find out what you like and what you are good at. I recommend you do this for a month, and then go back to the well and try to come up with something original. See if anything changes the results of your characters or plots or whatever. 4) Do not try to write something you think you should be writing or that you think should be cool or what you perceive to be "adult" or "mature." Write what you want and pursue your interests. This may be silly romcoms or it may be horror stories involving cannibals. Only you can know and you can only know if you pursue what you want to see more of. In short: write what you like don't be afraid to steal from people who are better at this then you, because you will learn a lot by copying them. just don't publish it, savvy? write what you like just because something may seem stupid or bad to you now doesn't mean it has to stay that way write what you like keep a daily writing journal write what you like HIJK fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Sep 6, 2017 |
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Sep 6, 2017 17:44
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magnificent7 posted:Thank you ALL for your incredible input. I'll commit to two of those immediately: FWIW I know how you feel and it's a really frustrating cycle to know what you want but still being unable to reach it. This Ira Glass quote really helps me when I get down in the dumps: quote:What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.
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Sep 6, 2017 21:52
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anime was right posted:thats a lot of words for "write more" Then go out and write more and stop wasting time here.
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Sep 6, 2017 22:36
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