Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 09:39:36 PM ---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.
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Yeah, absolutely. The tour is not really important, but because it happened and I'm following a real life timeline, I had to include it. I'm trying to focus on the important scenes and cut out fluff that doesn't have anything to do with the plot, but I feel like I'm skipping ahead a lot. I cannot imagine writing an entire concert - OMG, that would kill me. It's just never the same trying to describe something with words that is meant to be seen and heard.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 09:39:36 PM ---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.
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I can see how the chapters of them walking in the desert would get boring to write. There's only so many ways to describe the desert, and if you run out of conversation for them to have, then what? It's definitely more fun to write parts of the story with more action and events happening.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 09:39:36 PM ---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.
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I think some transition scenes are necessary, especially when you're skipping a significant chunk of time. I just skipped about a month from the end of the last chapter to the beginning of the next one, so my first paragraph addressed that and oriented readers to where in time we are now.
I like my transition/summary parts best when I can add in a line of dialogue or two to help bridge the gap between telling and showing, so it's not just all telling. And if I'm going to mainly tell, I at least try to make the transitions seamless, so that one paragraph flows naturally into the next until I get into the next actual scene.
Another strategy would be to start in the middle of a scene and weave in the parts you would have summarized as the transition before said scene. I feel like this works better in third person POV than first. I'm writing this story in first person, which is meant to sound like the main character is telling the story - and most people don't start in the middle of the action when they tell a story. They give background information to set the scene first. Third person gives you more flexibility with writing style.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 10:06:39 PM ---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.
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Yep, exactly. It feels productive if it turns into something worthy of posting, but when it doesn't, then it just feels like wasted time. I know it's really not a waste, or I wouldn't bother saving all my little story starts, but it's definitely better when I can keep them going and get far enough on a story to start posting it. Once I hit that point, any writing I do on that project feels productive.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 10:06:39 PM ---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.
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I'm addicted to caffeine LOL. Just as I write best in the morning when I make coffee, I write best in the evening when I drink soda. So I guess I just have to choose between two bad habits - drinking soda or taking a nap in the evening. I only drink diet soda and usually only one a day, so I guess it's not that bad of a habit, especially if it helps me write.
LOL I don't think kids realize we teachers look forward to our summers and breaks just as much, if not more so, than them. Some of my sweet students are like, "I don't want school to end! I'll miss you!" And I saw, "Aww, I'll miss you too!" but inside I'm thinking, "I love you, but I can't wait to tell you 'Have a great summer!' on the last day!"
--- Quote from: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 10:06:39 PM ---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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That's a good idea.
RokofAges75:
So I made it through the transition part I was on when I posted earlier and got to the start of my Nick and AJ conversation, but instead of getting into that scene, I decided to spend an hour backdating all 90 chapters of Curtain Call to their original post date in 2010-2011 so it wouldn't say it was finished in 2020 on AO3 anymore. Is that OCD or ADHD? LOL. Oh well... that had been bugging me since last summer, so I'm glad I finally fixed it. And it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.
I need to figure out a plan for backdating before I start posting another novel. I like to backdate so my stories show up in the right order, but I also want them to show up among the recently updated stories when I'm actually posting them so they get seen. So I think what I'll do with the next one is not backdate the chapter I'm posting, but backdate the previously posted chapter each time I update so that at the end, I can just backdate the last chapter after a while. That will save me from having to do 90 chapters in a row. Thankfully, none of my stories since CC have been quite that long... and I'm still undecided about posting Broken and BMS on AO3 because of how long they are.
Edited to add: As I was looking back through my updates archive to see when I actually started posting Curtain Call, I realized I wrote the first 16 chapters of that story in July. So when I said I could never write 14 chapters in a month, that was a lie. Apparently I can if it's summer and I'm writing a Nick cancer story LOL.
RokofAges75:
I officially made it to summer vacation! It's cold and rainy here; I came home from celebrating and turned my furnace back on LOL.
Happy Friday to everyone! It's been quiet here the last couple days. Hope everyone is doing well. Update us when you can!
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 10:17:17 PM ---Yep, exactly. It feels productive if it turns into something worthy of posting, but when it doesn't, then it just feels like wasted time. I know it's really not a waste, or I wouldn't bother saving all my little story starts, but it's definitely better when I can keep them going and get far enough on a story to start posting it. Once I hit that point, any writing I do on that project feels productive.
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I think that's the way I feel now, since, like I said before, I definitely had a period where I would start posting any old thing that came to mind. But after so much time away, that's probably why the couple times I thought "Maybe I'll try out Gobosei and PNecklace," I ended up giving up since it never felt like it got far enough to be something. I'm glad something finally stuck though. Not really sure what the difference was!
I think it definitely important to save those things too though, since you never really know when they'll come back around and stick enough to be something.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 10:17:17 PM ---I'm addicted to caffeine LOL. Just as I write best in the morning when I make coffee, I write best in the evening when I drink soda. So I guess I just have to choose between two bad habits - drinking soda or taking a nap in the evening. I only drink diet soda and usually only one a day, so I guess it's not that bad of a habit, especially if it helps me write.
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Same. I'm having a two coffee day today to try and get myself into the writing groove (it seems to be working, lol). I used to drink sooooo much soda as a kid, like a regular coke a day so much soda. Then I thought about it and was like, this is a terrible habit, switched to caffeine-free coke, then decided it wasn't worth it for all the sugar and none of the happy caffeine, lol. I rarely drink soda anymore, like once in a blue moon, but I'm definitely team bubbly water. Then college hit and I was like "ooh, caffeine!" again and now I'm a coffee-addict, lol! A friend's sister does one of those wellness MLM brands (but on the scale of shady MLMs, it's on the better end, since you just order everything from the representative via "catalog" or their website, then it gets delivered to you later and she doesn't have to pre-buy her stock for samples or orders... off topic). Anyway, she was talking about their health cleanse program and mentioned how terrible coffee is for you and said something to the effect of "Whatever it is you like about coffee, I can help you find a more natural alternative to satisfy that craving." And I was like... everything at once. You can pry my terrible for me coffee out of my cold, dead hands, lol.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 10:17:17 PM ---LOL I don't think kids realize we teachers look forward to our summers and breaks just as much, if not more so, than them. Some of my sweet students are like, "I don't want school to end! I'll miss you!" And I saw, "Aww, I'll miss you too!" but inside I'm thinking, "I love you, but I can't wait to tell you 'Have a great summer!' on the last day!"
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They really don't. They were saying the same thing to me and internally I was thinking about how much I was looking forward to not seeing their faces for a hot moment in my new role. Come to find out that the other teacher coming in for our summer camp can't come until Wednesday next week... so guess who gets to see them again on Tuesday! At least there's no tutoring involved in this one, haha.
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