Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 08:40:29 PM ---It would be tough to wait for the weekend if you were really inspired, though I know late writing nights aren't fun the next morning.
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It's more that I'm usually exhausted by the end of the work day, and all I wanna do is veg out in front of the TV or play on my phone. Writing takes too much mental effort. But if I'm really inspired and don't have to think too much to get the words to flow, then I'll write on weeknights. At my most inspired, I've even written before school.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 08:40:29 PM ---Yeah, I'd had my PBox deaths all squared away by chapter twenty out of fifty as well. I think deciding later than halfway gets too rushed.
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Agreed. If I changed my mind just before the end, I would worry it was an impulsive decision I would regret later. I once changed my mind about how I wanted to write a death (having it happen "on screen" and described in detail vs. having it happen "off screen") a few chapters before I wrote it, and I wish I had stuck to my original plan.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 08:40:29 PM ---I'm considering it, but it's in the questioning phase. Poor Gobosei, haha. Loopholes are my favorite! Like I said, that's how Nick got around dying like I planned.
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I'm happy to hear that! Poor Gobosei indeed, but that's usually how it goes for me too. Some shiny new idea comes along and distracts me away from going back to an old one.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 08:45:45 PM ---Also, I apparently should have described this chapter as "I'm not crying, you're crying, Nick! (Just kidding we're both crying.)" Man, anyone who ever read this probably got to the end and thought "Well, that was a downer."
Because I did that story structure thing where you establish "Character x wants thing y," but you'll never give them thing y. However, you will give them what they need, thing z. And thing z ends up being really different from thing y. Except... Character x figures out that they didn't actually want thing y, they really wanted thing z all along. And so you say, "Oh no, now you get neither!"
Poor Nick...
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LOL That is depressing! But sometimes depressing works best. Not everything can be wrapped up in a shiny bow at the end.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 09:11:26 PM ---It's more that I'm usually exhausted by the end of the work day, and all I wanna do is veg out in front of the TV or play on my phone. Writing takes too much mental effort. But if I'm really inspired and don't have to think too much to get the words to flow, then I'll write on weeknights. At my most inspired, I've even written before school.
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I feel you on that! The kids really take it out of you sometimes. Maybe that's why I've gotten my writing mojo back. This school year hasn't been nearly as exhausting as they usually are. I don't think I could write before school. I like to continue sleeping until sleeping is no longer an option.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 09:11:26 PM ---Agreed. If I changed my mind just before the end, I would worry it was an impulsive decision I would regret later. I once changed my mind about how I wanted to write a death (having it happen "on screen" and described in detail vs. having it happen "off screen") a few chapters before I wrote it, and I wish I had stuck to my original plan.
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Did you change from on screen to off or off screen to on?
I think that's tricky with a lot of things, especially death scenes. But there's always that "Does this actually happening for the readers really do what I want it to in story" or would it be better to just summarize it later and get to whatever the fall out is? Sex scenes came to mind right away, but I'm sure there's something else I'm not thinking of right now.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 09:11:26 PM ---I'm happy to hear that! Poor Gobosei indeed, but that's usually how it goes for me too. Some shiny new idea comes along and distracts me away from going back to an old one.
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I wonder if it's possible to do them both at the same time. I feel like I used to try to do that and everything got jumbled in my head. That's part of why I stopped writing everything but PBox back in the day.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 09:32:06 PM ---I feel you on that! The kids really take it out of you sometimes. Maybe that's why I've gotten my writing mojo back. This school year hasn't been nearly as exhausting as they usually are. I don't think I could write before school. I like to continue sleeping until sleeping is no longer an option.
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Very true! I feel the same way about this school year. I'm the same way - not a morning person and will snooze till the last possible minute and leave my house at the last possible minute. But there were days, especially when I was in the midst of my end-of-story streak for A Heart That Isn't Mine, when I would wake up early just so I could write for half an hour, or I would put my chromebook on the bathroom counter and write a little as I dried my hair and got ready in the morning.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 09:32:06 PM ---Did you change from on screen to off or off screen to on?
I think that's tricky with a lot of things, especially death scenes. But there's always that "Does this actually happening for the readers really do what I want it to in story" or would it be better to just summarize it later and get to whatever the fall out is? Sex scenes came to mind right away, but I'm sure there's something else I'm not thinking of right now.
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I went from off screen to on. I had my reasons for doing it that went beyond "I'm gonna show, not tell," which involved the narrator being around to witness the death when originally he wasn't going to be, but actually seeing it play out on the page was almost too sad for me, and I've written a ton of sad stuff. I don't think it was necessary to show it.
I agree about sex scenes too.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 09:32:06 PM ---I feel you on that! The kids really take it out of you sometimes. Maybe that's why I've gotten my writing mojo back. This school year hasn't been nearly as exhausting as they usually are. I don't think I could write before school. I like to continue sleeping until sleeping is no longer an option.
Did you change from on screen to off or off screen to on?
I think that's tricky with a lot of things, especially death scenes. But there's always that "Does this actually happening for the readers really do what I want it to in story" or would it be better to just summarize it later and get to whatever the fall out is? Sex scenes came to mind right away, but I'm sure there's something else I'm not thinking of right now.
I wonder if it's possible to do them both at the same time. I feel like I used to try to do that and everything got jumbled in my head. That's part of why I stopped writing everything but PBox back in the day.
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You could try writing both before posting anything and see how it goes. I have a hard time balancing more than one story at a time anymore, but I usually go through a period of WADD (Writer's Attention Deficit Disorder) after finishing a story where I flit from project to project without being able to focus on any one of them. But in the end, writing bits and pieces of different stories helps me figure out which one I want to keep working on.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 09:12:37 PM ---LOL That is depressing! But sometimes depressing works best. Not everything can be wrapped up in a shiny bow at the end.
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It was inevitable. It had to be depressing at the end, because there was more story to tell. I'd rather end depressing and get gradually happier as the story goes than end happy and make it depressing again only to get it back happy. Too much of a rollercoaster.
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