Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread
RokofAges75:
Absolutely! Knock 'em down so you can build 'em back up. I love doing that.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 09:46:48 PM ---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.
--- End quote ---
I'm impressed that you can write while getting ready. It literally takes everything I have in the morning to get ready to be a functioning person and it's definitely worse in the winter. I'm pretty positive I must have SAD, but just keep plucking along. Everything's fine once I get coffee in me, if only I could keep it by the bed without pulling a Michael Scott, haha!
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 09:46:48 PM ---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.
--- End quote ---
If it was a story in 1st POV, I can see why it would be better to have the narrator around. Those are tough, but when things are sad for you, you know they're sad for the reader? If you want them to be sad... If you don't, then you're all just sad together. Is that something you would go back and change if you could?
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 09:46:48 PM ---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.
--- End quote ---
I think that's what I would do. I've enjoyed having this backlog to work from and know that if I stop to focus on something else, like PBox, that I have plenty to keep posting without lurching back into "six month hiatus" territory. I'm pretty pleased that I've been able to go on this editing adventure and not worry too much about people reading having to wait on me. Plus I like writing the interesting bits and pieces. Keeps me motivated.
I agree that the period of WADD was also my problem back when I started so many stories. I had great ideas and just wanted to get them all out, but then I never really got invested in them and they just sit unfinished. I wonder if I would have finished Beta Sigma Beta if I'd come back earlier or if it really needed to be PBox Nick pulling me back. I honestly can't even remember what my plan was with that one and I actually did hold on to the updates for a while before I started posting them.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 09:57:10 PM ---Absolutely! Knock 'em down so you can build 'em back up. I love doing that.
--- End quote ---
Same! All the warmest, fuzziest feelings.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 10:01:50 PM ---I'm impressed that you can write while getting ready. It literally takes everything I have in the morning to get ready to be a functioning person and it's definitely worse in the winter. I'm pretty positive I must have SAD, but just keep plucking along. Everything's fine once I get coffee in me, if only I could keep it by the bed without pulling a Michael Scott, haha!
--- End quote ---
Me too, because usually I'm more like you LOL. That was a rare streak of inspiration. But it did make me almost late every day I did it, so I would not recommend LOL.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 10:01:50 PM ---If it was a story in 1st POV, I can see why it would be better to have the narrator around. Those are tough, but when things are sad for you, you know they're sad for the reader? If you want them to be sad... If you don't, then you're all just sad together. Is that something you would go back and change if you could?
--- End quote ---
I wouldn't go back and change it now that it's online for the world to read, but if I could go back to when I was originally writing it, yeah, I would change it. It would have been perfect if it had played out like Jack's death in This Is Us, where you get to see the reaction but not the actual death in any detail. But I will say that writing it the way I did ended up inspiring the idea for the next novel I wrote, and I wouldn't change that, so things happen for a reason.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 24, 2021, 10:01:50 PM ---I think that's what I would do. I've enjoyed having this backlog to work from and know that if I stop to focus on something else, like PBox, that I have plenty to keep posting without lurching back into "six month hiatus" territory. I'm pretty pleased that I've been able to go on this editing adventure and not worry too much about people reading having to wait on me. Plus I like writing the interesting bits and pieces. Keeps me motivated.
I agree that the period of WADD was also my problem back when I started so many stories. I had great ideas and just wanted to get them all out, but then I never really got invested in them and they just sit unfinished. I wonder if I would have finished Beta Sigma Beta if I'd come back earlier or if it really needed to be PBox Nick pulling me back. I honestly can't even remember what my plan was with that one and I actually did hold on to the updates for a while before I started posting them.
--- End quote ---
I think it's fine to work on a lot of different things and not post them. You never know which one(s) will take off. It's when you (general "you," not you specifically) start posting a bunch of unfinished stories after only writing a chapter or two and then never update them again that it becomes a problem. I've done that too, where I post a story too soon because it's been going really well, and then as soon as I post it, I hit a wall with it or something happens to derail me. That's why hoarding chapters until you have a backlog to work with is the best way to do it.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 10:38:52 PM ---Me too, because usually I'm more like you LOL. That was a rare streak of inspiration. But it did make me almost late every day I did it, so I would not recommend LOL.
--- End quote ---
I get late enough with the traffic! I do not need something else to make me run in at the last minute, haha.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 10:38:52 PM ---I wouldn't go back and change it now that it's online for the world to read, but if I could go back to when I was originally writing it, yeah, I would change it. It would have been perfect if it had played out like Jack's death in This Is Us, where you get to see the reaction but not the actual death in any detail. But I will say that writing it the way I did ended up inspiring the idea for the next novel I wrote, and I wouldn't change that, so things happen for a reason.
--- End quote ---
Silver linings! Glad it ended up inspiring you! I feel like if I had something like that where I was on the fence, I would just write both. Especially because, like you said, you wouldn't go back and change it afterward. I think it's good to have two things to compare when you're not sure. I cried so much at the reaction to Jack's death. I thought it was so well done.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 24, 2021, 10:38:52 PM ---I think it's fine to work on a lot of different things and not post them. You never know which one(s) will take off. It's when you (general "you," not you specifically) start posting a bunch of unfinished stories after only writing a chapter or two and then never update them again that it becomes a problem. I've done that too, where I post a story too soon because it's been going really well, and then as soon as I post it, I hit a wall with it or something happens to derail me. That's why hoarding chapters until you have a backlog to work with is the best way to do it.
--- End quote ---
It's okay, call me out, I know what I used to be like. ;) :D I love hoarding chapters. It might be my new favorite thing. And then I can edit them as much as I want while they're waiting to be posted, haha. I guess I like actual hoarding too. I should have known that hoarding writing would also make me happy.
RokofAges75:
I enjoy hoarding too!
I probably should have written two versions of that chapter, but in the moment, I wasn't even on the fence; I just flat out changed my mind. It was only later, when I realized I didn't even want to go back and reread that chapter because of how horribly sad it was, that I got to thinking I should have stuck with my original plan.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version