Fiction Writing Advice and Discussion: Read. Write. Crit. Repeat.

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CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I have multiple finished novel-length stories. Maybe a couple of them have good ideas. I think one of them might even have a second draft. But I have zero attention span for rewriting. It's just not as fun as churning out new stuff, and I have to go through old writing where I have no idea what's good and what's bad, and I'm really bad at plotting with no idea how to improve. I'm thinking that next November I might try pounding out another draft of that story because it has good potential and I know I can focus with a deadline.

# ¿ May 19, 2017 01:00

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 10:09

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I'd offer to trade but I'm the worst editor in the world and I'm not willing to put up if I can't give back proper.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 05:47

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

This thread is stickied, I wouldn't worry about losing track of it. But if you are that worried, you can always bookmark it.

Developmental is the one I struggle with in both writing and reading and where all my insecurity with writing comes from. I can't recognize pacing issues in my own work, much less someone else's.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 18:53

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

After The War, if you ever want to do a big genre breakdown effortpost, I would love to read it.

Sociopastry: I think 1k a day is pretty good output. That's way better than I'm doing.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 21:43

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

HIJK posted:

I like behindthename.com

I have this and the sister site for surnames bookmarked. It's really handy if I want an "exotic" bunch of names because then they have the internal consistency of all being from the same place. Also fun for looking up your friend's names and seeing what they mean.

haha "friends"

# ¿ Jul 24, 2017 05:16

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I name my stories after what I feel is the most important element in them, which is why the serious ones have dumb names like Blue Star. Although last year's Nano novel was Have Phylactery, Will Travel, which is dumb for different reasons and not all that accurate to the feel of the story.

Relevant to discussion: Neural network makes story titles.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2017 02:56

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

Sitting Here posted:

So what's going on with Blue Star anyway?

It's been sitting, mostly, while I write other stuff. I reread what little I have of the third draft yesterday so it's been on my mind again. It's been hard to get back into it for a number of reasons- plotting, pacing, tightening up characters- and I can't seem to get my thoughts in order. I've actually been thinking of doing the post-it note method to try and get things ironed out but I'm leery of trying that until we get moved into our new place, and I want to use the deadline of Nano to push myself into actually writing the drat 3.5 draft but before then I have to have things plotted so that I know where I'm going. I still have some really good emails saved from- what, two years ago? (Three? Jesus.) that I'm using as my current basis for reworking but it'll be a lot easier if I have someone sitting down with me and talking it out chapter by chapter. Whatever. That's probably editing and I'm getting ahead of myself.

I've tried rewriting Star multiple times but every time I try I get overwhelmed and go immerse myself in writing new stuff instead. I'm honored that you remember it.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2017 04:03

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

What does that have to do with non-genre fiction writing?

Also there is nothing new under the sun, good writers borrow great writers steal, etc etc. Just write it.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2017 23:14

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

fridge corn posted:

most of the topics discussed in this thread seem to be about character development or plot progression. my question was about style, which is generally not very important to genre fiction

~~I think you might be wanting nonfiction instead if you don't care about plot or characters, bub.~~

wow you're dumb

edit: More seriously, why do you think style isn't important to genre fiction?

CantDecideOnAName fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Aug 29, 2017

# ¿ Aug 29, 2017 23:27

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I have no idea how to talk about my personal style and voice. I ape some of what I read but a lot of it is just how it evolved. If I want to influence my story towards a certain style then I'll read things in that style.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2017 01:19

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I guess I'm just a simple country writer without any of that fancy city book lernin' on account of I don't quite get what you mean there. Can you give me a more concrete example?

# ¿ Aug 30, 2017 16:49

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

Yeah, I was wondering how Lovecraft's style, love it or hate it, was generic.

You don't develop a style without writing. Even the breakneck, breathless, stream-of-consciousness style you referenced wasn't pulled out of thin air. The guy practiced and honed that, likely through multiple drafts. Stop making excuses and get writing.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2017 19:58

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

There's a lot of back-to-school stuff on sale. Go pick up a notebook from the dollar store for cheap.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2017 20:35

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I don't tend to write stories by hand because I press too hard with the pen/cil and my hand cramps up, but I will write notes. I carry around a notebook explicitly for this purpose. It's really handy for when I take a walk to clear my head and come up with some interesting idea or thoughts I want to pursue later in my writing or stories.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2017 22:09

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I get story ideas from different things. Sometimes it's questions like why is necromancy always bad? What if the police used it to find killers? Sometimes it's little things that I find interesting. I jot them down in an idea list (what's known as a commonplace book, actually) and let them simmer and then I pull from it if something strikes me. Here's a little chunk:

code:

key gun
corvid
number station
witchghosts/witcheaters/witchmen
alien hand syndrome
"spiderweb" dreamcatcher sunglasses
two ambulances, one in an alley, lights flashing

Sometimes I come up with something for them, and sometimes I don't. That's fine.

Let's go back to the first idea I mentioned about police necromancers. That's all very good but where's the conflict? If you can just talk to the dead to see who killed them, where's the struggle to find a killer? Well, what if something makes it so that they can't do their job? From there I ironed out the details of what they could do, and something from my idea list (a typo someone made that stuck with me: "mindbottling") created the conflict: someone is killing people and making their minds inaccessible to be read. Tada!

Figure out a neat world and throw a wrench in it. Write down things that create interest in you from everywhere- wikipedia articles, things you see in real life, things you see in dreams, typos that catch your attention. Look through it every now and then and see if something strikes your fancy. Don't just read; find new things. Watch movies you wouldn't normally watch, look at new hobbies, play different games. It's all material for the mindgrinder.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2017 17:53

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I should probably get back into TD, it's been a long time. I had to quit because the kayfabe got into my head and really messed with me.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2017 19:46

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

flerp posted:

imagine the im permabanned poster fyad post but w/ kayfabe instead of irony im too lazy to do that

It's too easy to imagine everyone else hates you when you hate yourself. :smith:

Also magnificent7, you've had that avatar for as long as I can remember. Was that four years ago? Yikes.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2017 21:18

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

Burkion, I just wanted to say that even though it feels like you're getting savaged in your crit thread, you're not. I have been in exactly the same place as you, when I posted my first chapter of Star in this very subforum years and years ago. I wish I could find that thread again so I could look at the crits with fresh eyes but I don't have plat.

This is gonna sting. But After the War is right, we just wanna help you get better. (I say all this as if I'm not going to yell DON'T TOUCH MY BABYYYYY when I inevitably post the reworked first chapter of my story. Writing takes a thicker skin than I've got.)

# ¿ Sep 13, 2017 06:08

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

Burkion posted:

No, I know.

The only thing that really gets me is when I think I have plot points laid out but I'm clearly too close to the thing to tell when they're not working and I'm trying to get other people to see it the way I am.

That's not going to work and that shouldn't be how I approach it. I just need to find a way to distance myself from it enough to figure out how to properly rework it.

Could take a break. That's usually recommended for clearing your head and getting some distance. How long is variable; some people can take a couple of weeks and be fine. Mine seems to be a matter of years. If it helps you can work on something else in the meantime, if you've got other ideas you want to iron out. Otherwise just put it in the proverbial drawer and let it sit.

# ¿ Sep 13, 2017 07:19

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I still have a copy of a self-published book an ex-friend gave me (and a goon at that, although I don't know her name) and oh man. It is not good. I didn't see it at the time but when mutual friends of ours read it they were like "yeah, this is bad" and that's why self-publishing is a last resort kind of thing.

I don't know if I'll selfpub or what, but considering that I don't have anything worth publishing yet I haven't even bothered thinking about that stuff.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2017 04:18

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

Speaking of marketing, the fact that you have to do all the publicity and stuff yourself is the primary reason I haven't looked much into selfpub. I can't sell poo poo.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2017 06:18

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I like http://www.behindthename.com for looking up names. They even have a random name generator if you don't want to go poking through a big list.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2017 19:23

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

MockingQuantum posted:

You could also come up with dumb white people names and see what, if any, equivalents exist in other languages. Behind the Name is good for that too.

I love seeing what regions and languages names are native in. Biblical ones like CC suggested tend to be in a lot of goddamn languages.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2017 03:24

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

As Mark Twain once said, "Substitute 'drat' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be."

My problem is the same in writing as in speech; I hedge my bets with 'probably' and its ilk. I'm trying to get better with this in both forms.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2017 20:12

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I just wanted to say that this weeks TD stuff had some stuff that was pretty hard to get through. Very grim, horrifying stuff. Posting this here because praise don't belong in the 'Dome.

To make it discussion-worthy, how do you write horror? Should you go for the stuff that freaks you out, or stuff that you know freaks other people out?

# ¿ Sep 19, 2017 01:18

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

You got me interested in your progress. Might get me going on my owahahahaha who am I kidding I'm not making progress on anything

# ¿ Sep 19, 2017 06:38

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

magnificent7 posted:

oh hey! NANO-WRIMO IS COMING UP IN 45 DAYS

Y'all better start getting your nummers up. Get ready to do word sprints - 2500 words per day come hell or high water.

For me, my word count today is... (mumble mumble counts words in this post) 33.

I LOVE Nano. LOVE IT.

I'm looking forward to it. Since I did a pantser new novel last year, this time I'm doing a planner rewrite. At least, I plan to. THIS year I'll rewrite Blue Star!

# ¿ Sep 20, 2017 04:25

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I'm real bad at judging, which is why I've never offered, but maybe I should give it a whack. When it comes to TD, as long as I don't lose I'm happy, but I really hate that I didn't have more time to write and fix my entry because I was out of the house all Saturday. Just thinking about it right now I can come up with a handful of problems that probably got me points docked without even looking at the drat thing.

I'm so loving out of practice, but with moving house coming up I can't afford the stress of a deadline.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2017 06:28

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

Dunno if it'll help, but I always c/p my TD crits to the end of my submission document so I can look them over at a later date if I ever revisit the story. Might help you find patterns. Plus it's always kinda nice to see the rare praise again.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2017 22:15

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I hate planning. I always feel like there's something I'm forgetting in the outline and it gives me a rotten headache.

# ¿ Oct 3, 2017 03:58

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

It's a losing proposition. Give up now.

# ¿ Dec 20, 2017 22:34

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I've tried those character sheets before when I just started writing, and they weren't very helpful. Recently I decided I needed to "get to know" a bunch of my characters, so I wrote interview questions. "What is something that irritates you", "what are you afraid of", "what do you want to be remembered for", that sort of thing. Obviously I'm working under the assumption that they would be willing to answer touchy questions because even if it's in character for them to say "gently caress off" and nothing else, it's not helpful.

I like this because it allows for exploratory writing and some wiggle room with details while hopefully keeping the core of the character intact. It's good practice writing their voice to have them answer it, and the fewer but more meaningful questions you have, the fewer things you have to keep in mind when writing.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2018 21:26

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

You can't. As far as I know there isn't a depository of ideas somewhere on the internet. Everything's been done already, anyway. Ultimately, it's not about the idea, but the execution. You and I can take the same ideas and (hopefully) come up with different stories.

Other than that, the only way to know is to read, read, read. Know the cliches and plots and tropes of the genre you want to write in so that if you happen to fall into one you'll be aware of it instead of thinking that no one has ever done this particular subversion before.

# ¿ Jan 28, 2018 18:58

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I thought he was talking about King's short story.

Just goes to show how ideas aren't special.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2018 00:14

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

sebmojo posted:

I know/see all, from within my Omniscitron.

But can you see why kids love the taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

# ¿ Jan 29, 2018 00:54

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

feedmyleg posted:

Guys, I just finished my first novel's first draft. I'm so excited

Congrats! That's a big accomplishment. Do you have any plans for first readers?

# ¿ Mar 7, 2018 19:50

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

I think the escalation is distance. The killer might not be doing everything personally, but the attacks are getting physically closer and closer. An arrow is from far away. Poison is closer, but still distant. A knife is very close.

# ¿ May 24, 2018 06:12

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

There are a couple of irc channels, if that's your style. One is the Thunderdome channel #thunderdome but that one is generally for competitors and not general writing talk. The other channel is #thewritersSA which is admittedly not very active but has non-goons as well.

# ¿ May 31, 2018 20:45

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

If you want to hang out with other writer goons in a non-TD setting, there is also the discord server. We have a crit channel if there's anything in particular you wanted people to look at.

Good luck in the 'dome.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2018 01:22

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 10:09

CantDecideOnAName: Jan 1, 2012; And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?

Stuporstar posted:

There's a discord? poo poo, how did I miss this?

https://discord.gg/mft2Myj

It's pretty new, only a few months old. Someone in here was asking if there was one, and since there wasn't, one was made.

# ¿ Aug 17, 2018 03:22

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Creative Convention > Fiction Writing Advice and Discussion: Read. Write. Crit. Repeat.

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