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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2016 1:18:31 GMT -5
If you are having trouble writing, you've come to . . . maybe not the right place but a place that will help. Writer's block is the bane of our existence and even without that hovering overhead, there's always the fear that things just aren't turning out right. So I'm here to offer snippets of advice weekly to help you get the ball rolling, keep it rolling, or dear God make it stop. Some of this advice you may have heard before. The rest, perhaps not. Enter this thread with a hint of bias, as the majority of these tips have worked for yours truly but may not work for you. Feel free to ask me questions in this thread as well. With that, here is my first tip: Creating protagonists plagues a writer more so than creating antagonists. Anyone who has read Paradise Lost can safely say Satan was much more interesting than the Heavenly Father. You definitely don't want your protagonist to come off as distant and mysterious as Milton's God. Why? Well for one it's been done before. Two it's boring and flat and unless you wanna root for Satan, how about no. So here's a handy workaround for this issue, one that actually helped me in Tea's development. What is it? Wait for it . . . . Put your protagonist in a situation where they are the antagonist. One of the reasons antagonists are so incredible is because they have to justify their actions, either to themselves or others. They can't afford to fall flat. They need reasons for their behavior, points they want to prove. Give your protagonist the opportunity to be the villain at least once in their lives and you'll see them start to come to life and justify themselves. Remember, you are the villain in someone else's story  |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2016 13:58:20 GMT -5
Writer's block is the bane of every writer's existence. Here are 7 ways I have found to get around it: - When working on a lengthy story, such as your character's backstory, get up. Walk away. If you are stumped, give it a break. Come back the next day. If nothing, then the next. Give it a week. If things aren't looking up in a week, it's time to change something. Start a new document, that way you don't discard what you already have just yet. If you've outlined everything and can't find the connectors to each bullet point, try changing the order of events. When all else fails (and I mean all else, this is a last resort), pull a Stephen King: blow up half the cast and see how the remaining pieces fit together. Remember, rewriting is a natural if not necessary process of writing and therefore you can rewrite at ANY TIME.
- If you're having trouble just writing drabbles in general, get out your iPod (or in my case the obsolete Zune) and put it on shuffle. Look over the first ten songs. Think of a situation in which your character would find meaning and truth in the song. Yes, any song. Even if "I'm Sexy and I Know it" were to pop up, find a situation where your character would be listening to that song. Write it down. Whether it becomes canon or not is up to you!
- Reread. Reread everything you have written thus far. Try to recall what you were thinking while you were writing certain parts, ideas you may have gotten in the middle of writing but couldn't put down afterwards because you forgot. Reading over something you have already written or read is the best way to recall what it was you were supposed to be doing or wanted to do. If you were listening to a certain artist, album, or playlist while writing, put that music on again to further jog your memory while you read.
- Do the thing that band Incubus did to come up with a band name: throw a dictionary in the air and slam your finger down on the first word that catches your eye. That word is your prompt. Figure out how to engage your character with this word. If you land on a really dumb word, don't hesitate to throw that dictionary again. Dictionaries can take abuse, just look at the history of the dictionary and you'll see what I mean.
- Put your writing down and watch your favorite movie. Think of why that movie is your favorite. Is it the plot? The characters? Is it the acting? The dialogue? Is it the feeling? Think of all these things, all the wonderful things that make that movie your favorite. Imagine incorporating those things into your story. How would it work? How could you make it work? What you come up with may not be the final product, but by learning to find what YOU like in your own writing, you may learn what you'll need to grab the reader's eye.
- Have someone you trust read your writing and say what they think it needs.
- The final thing that makes me write is sitting down, putting on some instrumentals, and staring at a blank document until you think of something. Anything. Stream of thought. A dream you had. Just write it. Just WRITE IT.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2016 10:36:51 GMT -5
As stated previously, these are tips that have helped me. Take em or leave em. I felt the need to readdress this as I am about to put my hands ALL OVER a touchy writing subject. That's right. It's Mary Sue talking time. So once upon a time I read somewhere that Mary Sues could be useful. How is this? Well first of all, what is a Mary Sue? When I googled Mary Sue, this is what came up: A Mary Sue is an idealized and seemingly perfect fictional character, a young or low-rank person who saves the day through unrealistic abilities. Often this character is recognized as an author insert or wish-fulfillment. Unfortunately nowadays (through personal experience primarily) it has come to my attention that Mary Sue is just used as an insult for a female character that particular reader doesn't like. Pretty dumb, right? The unfortunate reality is that the world is made up of three parts dumb and one part genius. We can dream of better days later. Let's break things down here based on the definition of Mary Sue and not the insult Mary Sue. Mary Sues as idealizations is easily picked on. Idealizations are criticized for being unrealistic, notably those who are (as stated above) young and low rank. But where have idealizations been useful, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you. The Bible. Even though there is evidence that a great deal of the events in the Bible actually did happen, we are looking at this from a textbook/work of art standpoint. You may skip this section if it offends you, as I'm majorly glossing over thousands of years of detail. Moving on with the program, let's face it: Jesus matches the description of a Mary Sue. He is young. He is low rank. He has performed unrealistic acts such as walking on water and turning water into wine. He is all in all a normal human being when just surface glancing. He is CALLED the Son of God that will save (but never actually SAYS he's the Son of God that will save). I love Jesus (as both a part of my own personal beliefs and as part of idealization). Why? Because despite being a "Mary Sue" he still inspires people to do the right thing and be good people. So what's wrong if you have a Mary Sue who does that in your own stories? Someone who performs "miracles" and advises you to do the right thing? Someone young and lower than royalty and yet is treated like royalty? What's wrong with that? Not a damn thing. Not a damn thing is wrong with it. So if we go with Mary Sues being self-insertions, how have they been useful to me? Here in the lovely Candle Cult, there's no disguising we're living in self-insertion central. I will openly admit that three of my chips (Tea, Dextra, and the Bard) are basically me as a skinwalker, witch, and a god. How have they helped me? Lemme give ya the remix: - Tea: My beloved trash giant, catcher of all my pain and upset and trauma. Writing him and watching him grow has greatly improved my own health because his story of recovery is paralleling my own.
- Dextra: I made her with the intent of making her everything I wanted to be. She looks like me just as Tea acts like me. She is studying how to become better at her craft and despite the loneliness she has had to face, she's improving. She's making huge steps in her journey just like me.
- The Bard: I firmly believe every writer has a god complex mostly because I have a massive one, and he's right here. My god complex in one character, as well as the culmination of everything Dextra and Tea could be (not necessarily what they SHOULD be).
I have a couple other chips who work similarly for me. Eros is my shame child, filled with all the poor qualities I see within myself. Sinistro is my imaginary friend and my motivation (and like my motivation, he won't stop running the fuck away). How have these guys helped me? Well, my mental health has greatly improved with their progress. Though that isn't central to writing improvement, if you are not at your best your work often is not either.
So let's have a fast recap.
TL;DR Mary Sues are useful as idealizations because they not only inspire others within or without the story to reach their full potential, but also blatantly provide solutions to plots that otherwise were not happening. As self-insertions they can help you improve your own self-image which thus ties into helping you feel more comfortable with yourself and your work.
So go make a Mary Sue if you haven't already! Honor that inner thirteen-year-old who wanted to make another wolf demon star child who could explode the world with their pinky. Honestly, it's hurting you more to withhold than it is to indulge. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2016 9:53:59 GMT -5
Are you like me in that you feel the need to prioritize what you write and such? Do you have schoolwork and workwork but would rather be doing cultwork? Are you just a lister who has a 100 year old list of prompts that you want to write but just don't know where to start?
Today's your lucky day.
Once again I'm telling you my secrets.
Because I work in a public school system, I'm going to straightup tell you to put schoolwork and workwork first. I know it's annoying as hell, but that always takes precedence. Not only will your work suffer if you don't do it, but you will also stress more thinking of what you have to get done as opposed to enjoying what you're doing right now.
One way to enjoy your schoolwork and workwork more is to do, say, 30 minutes of serious boring work but then give yourself 15 minute breaks to write, draw, or headcanon what you want to be doing instead. Set timers, then go right back to work. Honor your timers. Your timers are making you get the stuff done! Or, if you're more like me, buckle down and bulldoze through that boring shit so you don't have to worry about it anymore. You'll feel better in the long run.
Now one of the ways I have gotten myself to do those age old lists of prompts was to number them and have someone pick or draw numbers for me. Then I would star the chosen prompts and write them (either till I reached a page and a half, 1000+ words, or just wrote til done like Hank Moody). Or you can go through and prioritize based on order of events.
The sky is the limit on how you wish to do things, but the most important thing I can stress is writing daily to make sure the juices are still flowing properly for you.
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