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The Writing (and Artistic) Ranting Thread

therogis

ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ғᴏʀ ғʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ
1, I'm interested.

2, Okay, so you're not counting the 80% first draft as a first draft at all. How complete is the new draft? Regardless of how complete it is or even what draft you're counting it as, write it out anyway. Make completion the first priority, because the entire point of a first draft (or a second first draft, or a third....) is to suck donkey nuts while you hash out what it is your story is saying. After you've gotten what the story says, you can chisel out how it's said. Sometimes it's difficult to think of a problem if it's still in your head, and writing it out is the rubber duck debugging of the plot and its mechanics. Put anything you're not sure of in [brackets] with some text like FIGURE THIS OUT LATER (for goofy bonus points, if you're typing out the draft and can Ctrl+F the text, put [MOOOOOOOO] or something ridiculous in there so you can find it easier.).

3, Put the story in perspective a bit. Is this for a general audience that likes science fiction, or is this aimed at actual experts on gamma radiation and dystopian settings? Because the average reader is A) not an expert on these things enough to call you out: as you've said, they can't prove it wrong, and in general B) they're coming in with a basic suspension of disbelief because the setting is not real life, only imitating it in certain parts. The reader expects at a basic level, compelling characters and a good plot, and that the setting has internal consistency with itself. If teleporters and fast methods of travel haven't been invented, characters shouldn't cross entire continents within a day even under harsh weather because that's "basically teleporting". Something like that.

The average Star Wars fan didn't (and still doesn't) care enough to pull out their nasally nerd voice about how "actually, parsecs are a unit of distance and not time, so there's no way that the Millenium Falcon could clear the Kessel Run in "12 parsecs" because it's like saying it cleared a mile in two feet", but they were still invested in Obi Wan successfully recruiting Han and how well the Millenium Falcon could fly in the interests of getting Luke from point A to point B. Adding midichlorians in the prequels to justify Anakin's power in the Force made the worldbuilding worse. So just don't say anything blatantly stupid like "the west coast of Brazil" and you're good. Don't overexplain worldbuilding that doesn't matter to the immediate settings and the characters, and you're good.

Or you know, figure out what exactly it is you're prioritizing. Is the science a pivotal character in its own right in the plot, more than the people with the names and going the places and doing the things? Some things need to be in the background where they belong. Futurama was great for having actual [ex-]scientists on their writing staff and even then, they bent the rules a bit to land jokes because "one of the first rules that Matt Groening and [David Cohen] agreed upon for writing Futurama was, “Science shall not outweigh comedy.”". Is, and should, the science outweigh the drama of the story? If it's the science, how willing are you to get into contact with physicists in real time and pick their brain?

I'm feeling a bit sick (once again) but I just came by to say thanks. I've read this like 4 or 5 times to let it sink in. Being a coward in terms of writing facts is a major problem for me. Let's be honest: I'd love to write historical fiction, but I'm terribly afraid of historical inaccuracies – and even historical accuracies that sound like an inaccuracy, such as nipple piercing in Medieval Era (Yeah, it was a thing faaaaar before 1960s).

Rubber duck debugging is great. I use Silent Husband Debugging instead of that. I just explain my problem to him, he doesn't get the chance to say a word, and I'm like "Oh NOW I know how to do it!" and rush to the keyboard shouting "Thanks love" over my shoulder :ROFL: It works like a charm!
 

Morgan

Well-known Member
Premium
Xen-Ace 2021
Wow I'll have to check that one. One part that worries me in my WIP the most is if I've managed to create a realistic "new world order" after a massive crisis.
Go on~....

Edit: Me trying to keep track of my characters and how their goals are reinforced or shifted through the story

Life-series-1-1.jpg
 
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Angel

Is not rat, is hamster
Admin
Moderator
My writer's meeting is next week and I've got nothing.

Not a single word on paper.

I don't know if it's a time thing, a procrastination thing or I'm just not going to manage it full stop.

I've got the ideas and I've got the framework, but it's filling it in and putting it all together that's stumping me. It shouldn't be this hard, should it?
 

therogis

ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ғᴏʀ ғʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ
Aaaaand once again I'm getting consumed by my fear of failure, drifting away from my desire to create. At the same moment I'm missing those phases where I was able to hit a word count of 8k during one weekend, or when I wrote a whole damn novel during my evenings in those 8 weeks when I studied 5 days a week from 8am to 7pm for law school entrance exam.

This is ridiculous. I'm an artist who cannot create art. IMO that's the most pathetic state of mind an artist can ever drown into.

There's no magical cure for it, I just have to figure this out.
 

Morgan

Well-known Member
Premium
Xen-Ace 2021
*kicks the door down*

Did someone describe perfectionism-based procrastination? Which ultimately stems from anxiety/shame/a sense of future humiliation from not being "the best ever at everything"/"perfect", even though human beings are inherently flawed? Is said someone avoiding writing because "you can't do terribly if you don't do anything to begin with"?

At the risk of being facetious (sue me), does said writer's inner critic sound like their mom trying to shame them, or like themselves doing an impression of their mom?
 

therogis

ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ғᴏʀ ғʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ
*kicks the door down*

Did someone describe perfectionism-based procrastination? Which ultimately stems from anxiety/shame/a sense of future humiliation from not being "the best ever at everything"/"perfect", even though human beings are inherently flawed? Is said someone avoiding writing because "you can't do terribly if you don't do anything to begin with"?

At the risk of being facetious (sue me), does said writer's inner critic sound like their mom trying to shame them, or like themselves doing an impression of their mom?

Poor door!


Well it sure sounds like somebody needs another year of therapy anyway – luckily it's already scheduled.
It also seems familiar to the situation when the said somebody went to their Administrative Law exam, saw the first question, and handed over an empty answer sheet because "Boohoo I didn't know exactly what to answer to that and I don't mind that the 3 other questions were a piece of cake because I'm a failure so I'll just give up".

University psychologist helped with the exam problem. Now it's a writing problem. And I hate it.
 

therogis

ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ғᴏʀ ғʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ
I read a scene from a project of mine. It was actually pretty good so I started to wonder why not getting back to that.

Done some plotting. Not much, but still.

The POV is inspired by Mitchell's Black Swan Green, so I think it's time to grab that from my bookshelf.
 

Angel

Is not rat, is hamster
Admin
Moderator
My writer's meeting is next week and I've got nothing.

Not a single word on paper.

I don't know if it's a time thing, a procrastination thing or I'm just not going to manage it full stop.

I've got the ideas and I've got the framework, but it's filling it in and putting it all together that's stumping me. It shouldn't be this hard, should it?
Fixed my problem. Went old-school, ditched the computer and am writing everything in longhand on paper. My wrist and hand are wrecked, but it's worth it to see things actually happening.
 

therogis

ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ғᴏʀ ғʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ
Related to my previous ranting here

Figured out a perfect combination for "Stuff that I want to write to change the world but don't know how and when" + "How to make this one work because now it doesn't and it has no meaning as it is".

It's a bit early to say that all my problems with the craft suddenly vanished, because I've felt that before and it didn't last long, but at least I'm progressing and that's a good thing. :)

Also, I'm imagining that I'm writing it for our daughter and it actually seems to help... even though she might as well tell me "Mom, your book is crap" :ROFL:

How's it going at @V's patron ? You had something similar at your end I guess?
 

Dante's Stalker

"Outrun this!"
Premium
Supporter 2014
I should have been writing.
Instead I've been reading and browsing the forum.
And now I'm too intoxicated to write anything sensible so GOOD NIGHT.
And why am I listening to heavy metal? How did that happen? :LOL:
 

Angel

Is not rat, is hamster
Admin
Moderator
Not sure how to weave the prologue into the rest of the story. Also, when three of your characters are unable to speak, dialogue goes out of the window...think I may have shot myself on this one.
 

therogis

ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ғᴏʀ ғʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ
Not sure how to weave the prologue into the rest of the story. Also, when three of your characters are unable to speak, dialogue goes out of the window...think I may have shot myself on this one.
Not related to inability to speak, but it definitely relates to whether dialogue is necessary: something like a year or two ago I read a novel which didn't have dialogue at all. The characters talked to each other, sure, but it wasn't written as dialogue. It was written like "A and B both decided to order coffee. After that things got heated as their intercourse evolved even more political. A seemed to think that..." etc.

It was quite slick, especially when it took a while for me as the reader to even notice it's not written as dialogue usually is :D
 

Morgan

Well-known Member
Premium
Xen-Ace 2021
Inability to speak doesn't necessarily mean an inability to communicate if the point is conveying information.

Now, if they can't write, can't use sign language, and can't interpret body language or facial cues, that sounds more like a shot in the foot.
 
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