Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
RokofAges75:
I think I figured out what is making me so slow with these Nick-on-tour chapters I've been struggling with lately. It's the transitional stuff that becomes the bridge from one part of the chapter to the next. My current chapter starts with Nick going out drinking and waking up the next day hungover, which I show a little of... then he heads to the concert venue for soundcheck, which I don't want to show because it's not important, so I sort of gloss over that... and then he and AJ need to have a conversation which is important to the plot, so I'm trying to transition into that... and then later I want to show a snippet of the concert. Once I'm in the middle of an actual scene where I'm showing not telling, I'm fine, but it's getting from scene to scene that is the hard part. I feel like I'm summarizing too much, and the words aren't flowing the way I want them to, so I allow myself to stall and get distracted by other things. This is why I can't skip around, because I would hate going back to write the filler parts between all the big scenes. It's bad enough writing them in order, but at least I know I have better scenes to look forward to if I can just get through this stuff.
Anyway, that's my rant/revelation for tonight.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 25, 2021, 09:28:23 PM ---I know! I really thought the time was right for Fallen Angel and wrong for MBK, but apparently I was wrong. I don't really care, as long as I'm writing and making progress on something. That's the worst part of true WADD, when I hop around from story to story, writing a little bit here and there but never actually finishing anything worth posting.
It is nice to see a few of us on the Most Recent page at the same time. I miss the days when it was multiple pages and we had to worry about people spamming by updating a ton of stories at once though.
--- End quote ---
I'm glad you're making productive progress as well! I get that. I didn't necessarily WADD before, but I definitely just started writing any old thing that came to mind and made very little progress on most of them. So that's my version of WADD, I guess, lol.
I do miss the multiple pages and worries about people posting too much. I wish more people were updating too.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 25, 2021, 09:28:23 PM ---At least it's productive WADDing when you're working in a different place on the same story.
Ugh, I really do. Here I sit again, after taking a two hour evening nap, yawning with my eyes watering. I'm feeling that "There's no tired like end-of-year teacher tired" meme this week.
--- End quote ---
You're right. I think I need to stop trying to avoid it, haha.
That was me last night (minus the nap). I was so glad that I woke up early enough to write before work yesterday to keep the streak going. Today... I gotta find the inspiration to write something and keep the streak alive. I'm very tired again today. The end of this week can't come soon enough.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 25, 2021, 09:28:23 PM ---Yeah, that's a good point. I think as long as you post actual stories, links to extra content are fine. But yeah, just links would be spam.
I love the next of kin idea! Is that something you can actually set on AO3 like you can Facebook, or would someone have to contact AO3 after your death? Being morbid, I have thought about that before. I would want my stories to stay online after my death, so they'd be fine on AO3, but my site would be the problem. Eventually my webhost wouldn't be able to charge my credit card anymore, and it would go down. I would want someone to at least be able to post an update and let people know before that happened.
--- End quote ---
I had a long one today announcing my new update schedule, so I'll do it next week possibly.
You contact the abuse team and provide both your usernames before your death. It's in this section: https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq?language_id=en#specialized_faq
I think it's nice to have it as someone in the fandom rather than family since I feel like so many people are very private about their fanfic careers.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 25, 2021, 09:30:14 PM ---You were right about replacing more than completely cutting and adding more than you take out!
--- End quote ---
I know how I edit, lol! I'll have to share again if I ever have a chapter I hack and slash more of.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 07:45:37 PM ---I think I figured out what is making me so slow with these Nick-on-tour chapters I've been struggling with lately. It's the transitional stuff that becomes the bridge from one part of the chapter to the next. My current chapter starts with Nick going out drinking and waking up the next day hungover, which I show a little of... then he heads to the concert venue for soundcheck, which I don't want to show because it's not important, so I sort of gloss over that... and then he and AJ need to have a conversation which is important to the plot, so I'm trying to transition into that... and then later I want to show a snippet of the concert. Once I'm in the middle of an actual scene where I'm showing not telling, I'm fine, but it's getting from scene to scene that is the hard part. I feel like I'm summarizing too much, and the words aren't flowing the way I want them to, so I allow myself to stall and get distracted by other things. This is why I can't skip around, because I would hate going back to write the filler parts between all the big scenes. It's bad enough writing them in order, but at least I know I have better scenes to look forward to if I can just get through this stuff.
Anyway, that's my rant/revelation for tonight.
--- End quote ---
That makes sense! I feel like chapters with more transitions are always my least favorite ones too. And that's probably only compounded by the fact that you don't really like writing "on tour" sections, or at least concert chapters. If you're writing "real time canon BSB," it's hard to avoid the concerts. But I also feel like, we all know what a BSB concert is like and unless something is happening at the concert (that makes a difference in the story), it's unnecessary to show the entire thing, just the important bits, like you said.
That's how I'm feeling about where I'm at now. The other arc of the story jumps into immediate action and event after event building up to the climax. And this one has events... but it also has a lot of walking in the desert. I now know way more about desert landscapes and the science behind different natural formations, but... They're still walking in the desert. (That and no desert fact is as funny as why horses, and PBox Nick, can't travel across a desert well, lol.) Maybe it's just this chapter. The next one feels more "event" and "building" than this one does. That's part of why I got bored editing chapter sixteen too. It's not that it was a bad chapter, it just felt really transition-heavy.
I wonder if there's something you can do to make the transitions less "telly" and more "showy." I don't have a good answer either (like literally at all), so maybe this is our next discussion! What makes transition scenes or chapters feel both necessary, but also like a slog-fest? Are they necessary? What are strategies we could use to either make them feel meatier or cut them entirely?
I loved your rant/revelation, basically.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 09:13:34 PM ---I'm glad you're making productive progress as well! I get that. I didn't necessarily WADD before, but I definitely just started writing any old thing that came to mind and made very little progress on most of them. So that's my version of WADD, I guess, lol.
--- End quote ---
It's okay to start any old thing that comes to mind as long as you don't then post and abandon all those story starts. But sometimes you have to start writing several ideas before you find one that sticks. I've been there before too, but I hate it because it doesn't feel productive, even though I know it's part of the process.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 09:13:34 PM ---That was me last night (minus the nap). I was so glad that I woke up early enough to write before work yesterday to keep the streak going. Today... I gotta find the inspiration to write something and keep the streak alive. I'm very tired again today. The end of this week can't come soon enough.
--- End quote ---
I was better tonight in terms of staying awake and not napping. My problem is that my lunch is super early, 10:45, so I'm usually starving by the time I get home. I've learned it's better to just eat dinner at 4:00 like an old person than snack because otherwise I'll just fill up on crap and not feel like eating an actual meal. So I eat early, and then I usually sit on the couch watching TV or playing on my phone, and that's when I get sleepy. Today I still ate dinner early, but then I made myself get on my desktop computer and drink a soda so I could stay awake. It worked! I still haven't written a ton, but I've added another 268 words to the 100 some I wrote this morning, so at least it's something.
At least we're over the hump! Two more days this week... we've got this!
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 09:13:34 PM ---You contact the abuse team and provide both your usernames before your death. It's in this section: https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq?language_id=en#specialized_faq
I think it's nice to have it as someone in the fandom rather than family since I feel like so many people are very private about their fanfic careers.
--- End quote ---
Thanks! Yeah, that is nice because I would definitely feel weird putting someone in my family in charge of that. I would want it to be someone from the fandom who knows me as a writer and knows and cares about my stories.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 09:41:16 PM ---It's okay to start any old thing that comes to mind as long as you don't then post and abandon all those story starts. But sometimes you have to start writing several ideas before you find one that sticks. I've been there before too, but I hate it because it doesn't feel productive, even though I know it's part of the process.
--- End quote ---
Guilty! I know better now, but... yup. Been there, done that circa 2006. I think I just wanted to write about college, but wasn't sure what that looked like then. Beta Sigma Beta was the better choice, had I not retired prior to finishing it, lol. I think any writing is productive, but I get it, with nothing to post, it doesn't feel productive. Or, you abandon several false starts, which isn't great either.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 09:41:16 PM ---I was better tonight in terms of staying awake and not napping. My problem is that my lunch is super early, 10:45, so I'm usually starving by the time I get home. I've learned it's better to just eat dinner at 4:00 like an old person than snack because otherwise I'll just fill up on crap and not feel like eating an actual meal. So I eat early, and then I usually sit on the couch watching TV or playing on my phone, and that's when I get sleepy. Today I still ate dinner early, but then I made myself get on my desktop computer and drink a soda so I could stay awake. It worked! I still haven't written a ton, but I've added another 268 words to the 100 some I wrote this morning, so at least it's something.
At least we're over the hump! Two more days this week... we've got this!
--- End quote ---
10:45 is so early for lunch! Sorry you've got that, but you're right, snacking and eating a super late dinner (if you feel like it) isn't a great idea either. Sometimes I get hungry at 4pm too and always snack instead of just eating dinner. It always feels like a poor life choice. I'm glad the soda and desktop helped spike your mojo! That's great for the Wednesday hump of the last week of school!
Yes! I've been writing a countdown on our board every day. And I don't think the kids have caught on yet that I might be counting down for me and not them, lol.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 09:41:16 PM ---Thanks! Yeah, that is nice because I would definitely feel weird putting someone in my family in charge of that. I would want it to be someone from the fandom who knows me as a writer and knows and cares about my stories.
--- End quote ---
Exactly! I also had a thought about your website. You could start a will and say that a portion of your estate is earmarked to maintain the site.
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