Frustrated Writer Support Group

[Gak he/him]

I started a story that I've worked on on and off for a year or two, but every time I get around to writing I make a new magic story and get distracted outlining a vague narrative for a new world with said new magic system. (on the bright side I have a solid backlog if I ever finish.)

I like hiding sentences for no reason, if there is a dark mode then this is a lot less hidden

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

1 hour ago, Gak said:

I started a story that I've worked on on and off for a year or two, but every time I get around to writing I make a new magic story and get distracted outlining a vague narrative for a new world with said new magic system. (on the bright side I have a solid backlog if I ever finish.)

I like hiding sentences for no reason, if there is a dark mode then this is a lot less hidden

its not a bad thing to have a back log of ideas. have you thought about writing lots of shorts for different prompts. maby try using the same set of characters and see where its goes

[Ookla she/her]

3 hours ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

its not a bad thing to have a back log of ideas. have you thought about writing lots of shorts for different prompts. maby try using the same set of characters and see where its goes

Y'know, that's not a bad idea! Throw the same characters into a bunch of situations, thread them together along a plotline, and you will have a story. I can totally see that method working for some people! Not sure if my own brain would accept it, but it's definitely worth a try next time I get stuck! :)

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

3 hours ago, Ookla said:

Y'know, that's not a bad idea! Throw the same characters into a bunch of situations, thread them together along a plotline, and you will have a story. I can totally see that method working for some people! Not sure if my own brain would accept it, but it's definitely worth a try next time I get stuck!

its the idea that i am starting to trial. if i can get 50k words of unconected stuff in the same world with the same characters i know that my brain can connect them. just need prompts... *hint hint*

[Ookla she/her]

On 3/9/2024 at 12:04 AM, RoyalBeeMage said:

its the idea that i am starting to trial. if i can get 50k words of unconected stuff in the same world with the same characters i know that my brain can connect them. just need prompts... *hint hint*

Well, apparently your plotting method has inspired me--but not in one story. Oh, no, that would be too boring!

My one-shot novella has now turned into a full quadrilogy of novellas, with one related sequel, one standalone sequel, and one standalone prequel, because I had 3 "unrelated" story ideas that all decided they wanted to be connected in a series (and the first sequel was necessary to provide context for the second).

Furthermore, the work I've been doing writing the prequel has explained about a bajillion things in the original novella, mostly relating to the magic system and ancient history. So now I have another big revisions pass to do on the original novella (at least once I finish the current draft) because there are now reasons why things are working the way they are. I guess there's a reason I work in chronological order!

The only thing that feels a bit weird about this is the fact that the book intended to be read last is the one I'm finishing first... Then again, that's sort of how plot twists work.

Anyhow, now that my mind has been totally blown, I'm off! I either have writing to do or a bed to return to for what little time remains of the night. (Thank goodness for Spring Break!)

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

1 hour ago, Ookla said:

Well, apparently your plotting method has inspired me--but not in one story. Oh, no, that would be too boring!

My one-shot novella has now turned into a full quadrilogy of novellas, with one related sequel, one standalone sequel, and one standalone prequel, because I had 3 "unrelated" story ideas that all decided they wanted to be connected in a series (and the first sequel was necessary to provide context for the second).

Furthermore, the work I've been doing writing the prequel has explained about a bajillion things in the original novella, mostly relating to the magic system and ancient history. So now I have another big revisions pass to do on the original novella (at least once I finish the current draft) because there are now reasons why things are working the way they are. I guess there's a reason I work in chronological order!

The only thing that feels a bit weird about this is the fact that the book intended to be read last is the one I'm finishing first... Then again, that's sort of how plot twists work.

Anyhow, now that my mind has been totally blown, I'm off! I either have writing to do or a bed to return to for what little time remains of the night. (Thank goodness for Spring Break!)

i still have both school and no time to write. as soon as i get some time i can start working again. has anyone got any good prompts for sub plots in a heist story?

[Hmmm lies she/her]

I have been having trouble writing my 13th chapter, so I decided to use the forbidden technique.

I just skipped it, and will go back to it later, since I know what happens in the 14th chapter.

[Edema Rue she/her]

9 hours ago, Hmmm lies said:

I have been having trouble writing my 13th chapter, so I decided to use the forbidden technique.

I just skipped it, and will go back to it later, since I know what happens in the 14th chapter.

*shrugs* I write as unchronologically as possible, so…huzzah!!

[Ookla she/her]

3 hours ago, Edema Rue said:

*shrugs* I write as unchronologically as possible, so…huzzah!!

I'm glad that works for you! My brain, however, is dead set on me writing in perfect chronological order, because if I don't I get lost since I don't know what came before, and so have no foundation to build on. That's part of what's contributing to my current writing adventures; the novella I thought was the first book chronologically turned out to be the second, and it's been my work on the actual chronological first that's cleared up a lot of my problems.

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

7 hours ago, Ookla said:

I'm glad that works for you! My brain, however, is dead set on me writing in perfect chronological order, because if I don't I get lost since I don't know what came before, and so have no foundation to build on. That's part of what's contributing to my current writing adventures; the novella I thought was the first book chronologically turned out to be the second, and it's been my work on the actual chronological first that's cleared up a lot of my problems.

i am currently trialing out an expanding method. summarise your whole series/book in a sentence. now in a paragraph. for each paragraph write more paragraphs giving more and more detail till you get a whole book. proberbly not the best but alas i am stuck in my writing proses and have no idea what i am doing

[Hmmm lies she/her]

My inner critic is unique, in that it doesn't say I'm bad at writing or whatever.
Instead, its exclusive function seems to be to explain why everything I'm writing is just copying Brandon Sanderson.

[Little_Dagger she/her]

25 minutes ago, Hmmm lies said:

My inner critic is unique, in that it doesn't say I'm bad at writing or whatever.
Instead, its exclusive function seems to be to explain why everything I'm writing is just copying Brandon Sanderson.

Haha. Sounds familiar. But I think we all start out by emulating our idols. It's not a terrible thing to do until you develop you own style

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

24 minutes ago, Little_Dagger said:

Haha. Sounds familiar. But I think we all start out by emulating our idols. It's not a terrible thing to do until you develop you own style

Hmm *looking over my writing doc*. it sounds more than familiar.

[Little_Dagger she/her]

32 minutes ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

Hmm *looking over my writing doc*. it sounds more than familiar.

I think I write a little like Robert Jordan. Not the pacing, but the sentence structure. It's what happens when you read 14-book series. The Cosmere is longer, so... I structure stories like Brandon. There's certainly always a Sanderlanche in the end.

Edited March 14 by Little_Dagger

[Ookla she/her]

3 hours ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

i am currently trialing out an expanding method. summarise your whole series/book in a sentence. now in a paragraph. for each paragraph write more paragraphs giving more and more detail till you get a whole book. proberbly not the best but alas i am stuck in my writing proses and have no idea what i am doing

That is actually a real thing! Look up Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake plotting method; he's super good at explaining stuff, which I really appreciate.

2 hours ago, Hmmm lies said:

My inner critic is unique, in that it doesn't say I'm bad at writing or whatever.
Instead, its exclusive function seems to be to explain why everything I'm writing is just copying Brandon Sanderson.

Taking inspiration from the masters is a perfectly normal, valid and historical technique--artists have been doing it for thousands of years. Plus, even if you and Sanderson were told to write a story with the same basic plotline and worldbuilding ideas, you'd still end up with two very different stories because you're two different people with different messages for the world. Don't stifle your voice! It's okay if it sounds like Sanderson while you're figuring out what your style is.

[Hmmm lies she/her]

Thanks. I guess a big part of it is I'm doing a "It's fantasy but there are multiple inhabited planets" kind of thing. Although, I tried to make a hard magic system, but accidentally made a soft magic system, which I love to remind my inner critic of. As it happens, that's fine too.

I think I might need to change Prince Shaod's name though lol.

[Ookla she/her]

5 hours ago, Hmmm lies said:

I think I might need to change Prince Shaod's name though lol.

Yeah, maybe just a few minor changes. 

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

13 hours ago, Ookla said:

Yeah, maybe just a few minor changes. 

one or two might need to be made

[The Stormfather He/Him]

I have too many random ideas and not enough time!!!!!!

Also trying to interconnect stories like the cosmere is really hard.

Props to Brando Sando.

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

Anyone else have that moment where you look at what you've written and think "Dangit, I gave them too healthy of a relationship. That wasn't supposed to happen."

[Weaver of Lies he/him]

39 minutes ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Anyone else have that moment where you look at what you've written and think "Dangit, I gave them too healthy of a relationship. That wasn't supposed to happen."

Kind of? More of a “dang, I forgot to add any relationship drama…let’s make this fun.”

[Edema Rue she/her]

17 hours ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Anyone else have that moment where you look at what you've written and think "Dangit, I gave them too healthy of a relationship. That wasn't supposed to happen."

What about that moment when you see it and go “Stormit, that was supposed to be a healthy, non traumatized relationship”

[Thaidakar the Ghostblood he/him]

4 minutes ago, Edema Rue said:

What about that moment when you see it and go “Stormit, that was supposed to be a healthy, non traumatized relationship”

I have that one a lot-

[Ookla she/her]

19 hours ago, Thaidakar the Ghostblood said:

Anyone else have that moment where you look at what you've written and think "Dangit, I gave them too healthy of a relationship. That wasn't supposed to happen."

Nope! I usually end up with the opposite situation--in my style of writing, I'm trying to model healthy relationships because I think too many people never get to see what one looks like. Unfortunately, I am occasionally the person who hasn't seen enough examples of what a healthy relationship looks like...

18 hours ago, Weaver of Lights said:

Kind of? More of a “dang, I forgot to add any relationship drama…let’s make this fun.”

I'm not good at adding relationship drama, either--and when I do, the characters resolve it unreasonably quickly!

1 hour ago, Edema Rue said:

What about that moment when you see it and go “Stormit, that was supposed to be a healthy, non traumatized relationship”

Yup. I feel this.

[Hmmm lies she/her]

Yeah, my main characters' relationship is completely healthy. They love each other, and that's great.

Of course, it does add some tension that the two girls are living in a society in which homosexuality is illegal, and therefore must keep it completely private, also one of them is the most wanted criminal in the empire, and as such has basically 0 human contact outside of her girlfriend. (The other is a master criminal too, but she just never got caught)