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[FrickingKaos]

Here's some random writing questions for today:

Is it "Chapter One" or "Chapter 1"?

I always do Chapter 1.

If you have more than one scene in a chapter, what kind of scene break do you use to split them up?

I just kind of space things out a little to transition between scenes.

If you want to designate that something is a flashback or happened in the past, how do you designate it?

Bold, italics, or underlining? I use italics.

[nicksgal]

scene breaks. Is that what you're asking?

That's the phrase I was missing, thanks!

Is it "Chapter One" or "Chapter 1"?

Chapter 1.  As someone who has written stories with over 100 chapters, I don't wanna have to write out "Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Seven" in words LOL.

Boo! Lazy!

If you have more than one scene in a chapter, how do you split them up?

I use *** for scene breaks.  Or, as Text to Speech man would say, "Asterisk asterisk asterisk" LMAO.  Is that what you're asking?

Please just start typing "asterisk asterisk asterisk" for your scene breaks. I would laugh so hard.

If you want to designate that something is a flashback or happened in the past, how do you designate it?

I write ~*~*~*~*~*~fLAsHbAcK!1!~*~*~*~*~*~*~

LOL Actually, I just put it in italics.

I see your shade for my buddy "~*~"... But at least you wrote flashback correctly.

Bold, italics, or underlining?

I use italics for words that are emphasized in dialogue, as well as inner thoughts and flashbacks or dream sequences.  I don't use bold much other than for chapter titles and when describing what signs say.  I don't really use underlining in fanfics.

Poor underlining. It's the Howie of formatting.

[FrickingKaos]

Did you feel like the multiple developing drafts were helpful in your planning process and do you find them preferable to an outline? Or do you consider the timeline to be your outline?

The timeline was basically my outline, where it told me what the boys were doing at exactly that point in that year. It was super helpful to just have to fill in and interpret what I felt happened according to the story. It worked really well and made the story seem realistic. At least for me it did.

Did you have the Finding Carter outline from the beginning or just once you got to the point where you figured it out? I did that with PBox. The beginning I kind of meandered, but I had a very brief outline for every chapter from 31 on.

I didn't really outline it but I knew what I wanted to accomplish and what I wanted Nick to accomplish during the story so that helped some. The ending pretty much wrote itself once I got to it. I always have a bit of a hard time with endings.

I know the jokes are great, but didn't want this to get lost!

[nicksgal]

Is it "Chapter One" or "Chapter 1"?

Chapter One: "Title of Chapter One" of course.

If you have more than one scene in a chapter, what kind of scene break do you use to split them up?

This little guy, because it's pretty and I'm an aging teeny: ~*~

If you want to designate that something is a flashback or happened in the past, how do you designate it?

italics

Bold, italics, or underlining?

Italics for emphasis, flashbacks, other people's quotes that characters are thinking about, I've done it for text messages... I honestly don't do anything special formatting-wise to designate a thought. Is that bad? Should I start doing that?

Bold is usually signs or something like every time Nick looked at his phone to see the time in my holiday story.

I think I used an underline once when a character saw a book title? I can't remember.

[nicksgal]

Is it "Chapter One" or "Chapter 1"?

I always do Chapter 1.

Y'all and your numbers...

[nicksgal]

The timeline was basically my outline, where it told me what the boys were doing at exactly that point in that year. It was super helpful to just have to fill in and interpret what I felt happened according to the story. It worked really well and made the story seem realistic. At least for me it did.

I didn't really outline it but I knew what I wanted to accomplish and what I wanted Nick to accomplish during the story so that helped some. The ending pretty much wrote itself once I got to it. I always have a bit of a hard time with endings.

As always, I am impressed by your ability to stick to a hard and fast timeline and find it helpful.

I think endings can be hard too, because you want to make sure the characters get there. I like that Nick's accomplishment s were part of your plan as a characters over plot person.

[RokofAges75]

I honestly don't do anything special formatting-wise to designate a thought. Is that bad? Should I start doing that?

You don't have to.  I don't think it's a required bit of formatting.  I just like how italics differentiate the thoughts from the rest of the prose, like how quotation marks are used to separate dialogue.

This little guy, because it's pretty and I'm an aging teeny: ~*~

I see your shade for my buddy "~*~"

Hehe, no shade.  One ~*~ is perfectly fine!  It's the excessive use of them (especially when they aren't even in equal amounts on each side of the "fLAsHbACK") that seems teenybopperesq ue.

[nicksgal]

You don't have to.  I don't think it's a required bit of formatting.  I just like how italics differentiate the thoughts from the rest of the prose, like how quotation marks are used to separate dialogue.

That's fair. That's why I asked. I noticed the couple of times you did it and was like, "Hmmm..."

Hehe, no shade.  One ~*~ is perfectly fine!  It's the excessive use of them (especially when they aren't even in equal amounts on each side of the "fLAsHbACK") that seems teenybopperesq ue.

Oh yes, the unequal on each side of switch case "flashback" is not okay. They at least have to be equal. It makes the word look cuter and more sophisticated. *hair flip*

Oh! I guess when I did Beta Sigma Beta, I used the little Greek letters. I'd forgotten about that. That was a creative use of a scene break for that one. If I could add a tiny demon in PBox, I would probably do that.

[nicksgal]

Anyone else trying to do some serious writing today? I think I've changed 700 words... Ugh...

[FrickingKaos]

I did some research for my next chapter of If I Knew Then and wrote a bunch so it was a pretty productive writing day for me.

[nicksgal]

Yay research and productivity!  I got distracted by 27 Dresses.

[nicksgal]

You're offered $10million today. Catch is you now have a killer snail out to get you -- if it touches you, you die. It always knows your location, cannot die, and its sole mission in life is to find you and kill you. Do you take the money?

Most of my friends picked the money, but I (as a writer who understands the psychological stress of things wanting to find and murder you) said I would not take the money.

Yesterday, he asked us: Are snails smart? He decided that if snails are dumb, he would take the money. But he recognized that a smart snail could possibly "drag out the murder for years, so you're never quite sure if it's nearby or not." I asked "So you want to know if it's a 28 Days snail or a 28 Days Later snail, basically? I'll bite. I love researching interesting things on the internet." (As you all know.) So I looked up articles on scientific research about the intelligence of snails. (There's mixed results, if you were wondering.) And then he asked me, "You always said you wouldn't take the money. What do you think the snail would be like? If you were the snail, what would you do?" And, oh boy, were my friends not prepared for the answer! Weird research rabbit hole writing me is not the one they are used to!

Before I tell you all what I said, would you take the money or not? And why?

Since no one else bit besides Julie and it's been a week, it might be time to tell you just what I think these snails are capable of... However, I also noticed that "Took the money, stalked by snail intent on killing him" was not listed as a death Nick has experienced yet. So maybe instead of telling you all what I think, I should save it and add it to 1,000 Ways instead? 

[nicksgal]

I have two serious goals today. First, finish this first chapter edit of possibly PBox as OF. Second, finish writing Ch. 22 of PNecklace and possibly Ch. 24 if I'm really productive! I originally thought Ch.23 was going to be Ch. 22, but it's not and I have a decent chunk of what would be Ch. 24 already written, so it may happen! Everyone send me good writing vibes.

However! It's Saturday and it's been a hot minute since we had some thought-provoking discussion questions, so... Today's discussion is brought to you by arcs in a novel, since everyone chatting seems to be a different points in the writing process.

1. Beginnings, Middles, or Endings: What is your favorite part to write in a story and why?

2. Same question, but least favorite?

3. When you're writing a beginning, how much time do you like to devote to backstory or do you intersperse it throughout the story?

4. What are backstory elements you know, but don't include? Are these conscious choices or more along the lines of "We're BSB fans reading BSB fanfics"?

5. Do you always know your main character's (or characters') motivation when you start a story or does it come up later?

6. "I won't start the beginning of the story until I know: ____________."

7. What's the easiest thing about beginnings and the most challenging?

8. "In the middle of the story, I often: ______________ ."

9. What's something overrated about middles? What's something underrated about middles?

(Clearly I am having a hard time coming up with questions about middles, so you may know my answer to the second question, haha.)

11. What's the easiest thing about middles and the most challenging?

12. What's the easiest thing about endings and the most challenging?

13. "I won't end the story until I know: ____________."

14. Do you always know the end of a story when you start it? If not, when's the last possible point you must decide the ending?

15. Do your stories always have an ending or do you leave them open-ended just in case?

16. What types of endings leave you feeling most satisfied with your story? (Interpret that as you will.)

17. Do you ever leave noodle incidents in your story without a resolution for fun?

[RokofAges75]

More fun with text-to-speech.  I'm trying once again to listen to my Bethlehem chapter to help catch any typos (missing words!) before I post it.  My British narrator read "sake" (as in "for their sake") as "sah-kay," like the Japanese alcoholic drink.  He read "Dr." (doctor) as "drive" LOL.  He also sounds hilarious reading Kevin's Kentucky dialect in a British accent.  I sped him up today so it wouldn't take so long, and now he sounds like the doctor in South Park: https://youtu.be/ScriSzvc7OU  Dying!

[nicksgal]

More fun with text-to-speech.  I'm trying once again to listen to my Bethlehem chapter to help catch any typos (missing words!) before I post it.  My British narrator read "sake" (as in "for their sake") as "sah-kay," like the Japanese alcoholic drink.  He read "Dr." (doctor) as "drive" LOL.  He also sounds hilarious reading Kevin's Kentucky dialect in a British accent.  I sped him up today so it wouldn't take so long, and now he sounds like the doctor in South Park: https://youtu.be/ScriSzvc7OU  Dying!

LMAO! My suggestion to help has gone horribly wrong. You're welcome?