Ookla she/her Posted January 8 Report Share Posted January 8 This is a club for any and all authors who need to vent about their Works in Process (WIP, for those unfamiliar with the terminology). Are your characters doing unexpected things? Is your plot full ofbholes? Is your super-awesome worldbuilding somehow not working out? Come and talk about it; you might work through your frustration to inspiration! Real-life example: I'm on the fourth major re-write of my novel, just got my latest round of beta-reads back. I've been going through and making the changes, and, foreseeing a problem with my new plot adjustments, introduced a new minor character so I'd have resources on hand to solve the future complications with. Now, Rockwell is a very nice man. However, he's also a very dutiful man, and at the moment, him fulfilling his duties to the King Regent is messing with all the plans I had for my runaway-princess MC. My plot hath been thoroughly derailed, and I now somehow have to work around the complications Rockwell has introduced, because he started doing things much earlier than I was expecting. Sigh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pruning the Blackthorn he/him Posted January 8 Report Share Posted January 8 That sucks. I am an outliner who, for reasons I can't remember, decided to discovery-write a novel. It's...not going well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla she/her Posted January 8 Author Report Share Posted January 8 I can imagine. Writing outside one's normal process is, I hear, very difficult. (I don't have personal experience on the matter, though, because I'm still trying to figure out what my process is to begin with.) The best I can do is wish you good luck! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pruning the Blackthorn he/him Posted January 8 Report Share Posted January 8 58 minutes ago, Ookla said: I can imagine. Writing outside one's normal process is, I hear, very difficult. (I don't have personal experience on the matter, though, because I'm still trying to figure out what my process is to begin with.) The best I can do is wish you good luck! Same to you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edema Rue she/her Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 ... Hello wait hi I think I belong here I can't write in chronological order and it's really screwing with me because I write my book like...doing a puzzle, only I have a couple pieces on each side and I don't even think they're from the same puzzle but I'm trying to connect them anyway. ... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBeeMage he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 hi i have somehow thrown all my characters into a blackhole and it is still the first few chapters. sorry lets try again. hi i am a discovery writer who keeps getting off track. i tried outlining once. did not work. help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weaver of Lies he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 Hello! I am trying very hard to write consistently, but each I start, I read a few sentences from before and hate my own writing. It’s making it hard to get stuff done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBeeMage he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 @Lightweaver2 are you more of an outliner or discovery writer. if it is the latter try writing an outline and going from there. it might help. tehnagain it might not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weaver of Lies he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 3 minutes ago, RoyalBeeMage said: @Lightweaver2 are you more of an outliner or discovery writer. if it is the latter try writing an outline and going from there. it might help. tehnagain it might not. I don’t really know. I’m kind of doing edits right now on a draft I finished, but it’s pretty much just rewriting at this point. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBeeMage he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 ahh. the fun of editing. though tbh i find editing easyer than actually writing. proberbly because I'm a discovery writer. when editing i find all the little holes in the plot or dry parts and flesh them out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Honorable One he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 I've started the same book four different times. I can never get past chapter six. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Dagger she/her Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 32 minutes ago, The Honorable One said: I've started the same book four different times. I can never get past chapter six. You will get there! What worked for me was moving on and writing the rest of the story, and then coming back and changing the first chapters last. Perhaps, you could try that as well? I am struggling with predicting how much time and words I need to write a story in my head. My current WIP was supposed to be about 80k, but is already almost twice that and it's still nowhere near the end... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Honorable One he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 53 minutes ago, Little._.Dagger said: You will get there! What worked for me was moving on and writing the rest of the story, and then coming back and changing the first chapters last. Perhaps, you could try that as well? Thanks for the advice, I will try that! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Dagger she/her Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 6 minutes ago, The Honorable One said: Thanks for the advice, I will try that! Good luck! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla she/her Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 2 hours ago, The Honorable One said: I've started the same book four different times. I can never get past chapter six. I feel that. The number of stories I have started, and that I've restarted and rethought way too many times, is much bigger than I'd like. But I believe in you! You can do it! Do you know what it is about chapter six that's getting you stuck? For me it's always that I don't know what happens next, and/or don't feel like writing the thing anymore because I don't know what happens next. 2 hours ago, Little._.Dagger said: You will get there! What worked for me was moving on and writing the rest of the story, and then coming back and changing the first chapters last. Perhaps, you could try that as well? I am struggling with predicting how much time and words I need to write a story in my head. My current WIP was supposed to be about 80k, but is already almost twice that and it's still nowhere near the end... I wish I had that problem! My stories always finish at about 1/2 the length I thought they'd be. Is your story ending up long because you have a lot of subplots, or because the characters go off the rails, or just because everything takes more words to write about than you expected? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Dagger she/her Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 1 hour ago, Ookla said: Is your story ending up long because you have a lot of subplots, or because the characters go off the rails, or just because everything takes more words to write about than you expected? A combination of factors, actually. First, wordbuilding turned out to be more detailed than I'd planned, though I think I only put things that are relevant for the story. Second, I mostly discovery-write, so subplots certainly show up with enviable regularity. Third, I underestimated the complexity of the plot with 4 POVs and multiple magic systems. But, at least, it is a whole lot of fun despite all the surprises 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBeeMage he/him Posted January 12 Report Share Posted January 12 2 hours ago, Little._.Dagger said: Third, I underestimated the complexity of the plot with 4 POVs and multiple magic systems. *sitting at the back of the room quietly taking notes on how to fit more content into my book* (i have 2 povs and it is set in space so there is not much room for magic. i want to start again with a large complex magic system which i have about 6 of just lying about my computer but i feel i need to finish at least 1 book even if it never gets to editing.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla she/her Posted January 12 Author Report Share Posted January 12 Ah, surprises. And POVs. And subplots. Ain't writing such a joy? Good luck, guys! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Dagger she/her Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 4 hours ago, RoyalBeeMage said: *sitting at the back of the room quietly taking notes on how to fit more content into my book* Haha, I love how writing can be hard in diametrically different ways for different people 3 hours ago, Ookla said: Ah, surprises. And POVs. And subplots. Ain't writing such a joy? Good luck, guys! It is! Thanks! Good luck with Mr Rockwell! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasimir he/him Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 Persistent writer's block ftw 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla she/her Posted January 13 Author Report Share Posted January 13 33 minutes ago, Kasimir said: Persistent writer's block ftw Ouch. I hate writer's block. Always feels like I'm pounding my head against a wall, and usually breaking my skull more than the wall. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasimir he/him Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 4 minutes ago, Ookla said: Ouch. I hate writer's block. Always feels like I'm pounding my head against a wall, and usually breaking my skull more than the wall. Yeah. I have a few projects that are plotted out but everything's just not really flowing. Frustrating as hell 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBeeMage he/him Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 yeah. i just started a new book so i can ignore the writers block. if i get an idea for my old book i will go back to it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla she/her Posted January 13 Author Report Share Posted January 13 13 hours ago, RoyalBeeMage said: yeah. i just started a new book so i can ignore the writers block. if i get an idea for my old book i will go back to it. That's how I usually do things, too! The only problem I run into is if I get writer's block on the new project and start another new one, and so on and so forth until I have way too many. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyalBeeMage he/him Posted January 13 Report Share Posted January 13 yep. i currently have 4 projects. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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