• Basic Writing questions is not a crit forum. All crits belong in Share Your Work

What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

fairybee

We just don't know.
Registered
Joined
Sep 9, 2017
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Oregon
I am very good at outlining important story beats and very bad at connecting them! Yikes!!!
 

iszevthere

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
320
Reaction score
15
I dusted off my first play and sent it for sensitivity reading feedback. I'm glad I'm so tired, weird as that sounds; it means I won't worry about every single thing ever, and I can just be grateful the person said yes to reading it. It is a baby step in a long, long process. I have a complex because I go for eight months on average without touching the play. I've been working on it for six years and I really want it performed, but there's lots to do to get to that point.

My second play is slowly coming along. I have a complex but am stubbornly determined to get it performed someday. There is a pattern.

Writing my novel is going along incredibly well. I'm so pleased. I've been working on it nearly seven months, and I'm so happy.
 

Taylor Harbin

Power to the pen!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
3,078
Reaction score
1,499
Location
Arkansas
Pulled a thirteen hour work day yesterday, but had today off. Made some good edits to a short story I'd filed away. Working on rough draft of current short. Seventeen handwritten pages in thus far.
 

Marumae

Queen of Quixotica
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 12, 2010
Messages
255
Reaction score
19
Location
Fantasia
Website
www.instagram.com
Work's been kicking my butt and writing is my escape and way to relax and release all stress. However with this kerfluffle going on with the antagonist of the novel I'm having to rethink everything. Which is frustrating but I know it's all part of the writing process. I mean I'll probably end up rewriting the whole damn thing in editing right? :greenie So I've been doing more world and history building to flesh out details and working on scenes that I know will end up in the novel regardless of how the antagonist goes about his business. As long as I'm doing something I think. I've also been, trying to find a second story to work on when I need a break from this one and picking one is hard.

Before I used to never finish anything, never stick with anything other than a short story for a long period of time. I let myself get distracted too which is a big thing that I didn't want to realize but had to admit to myself. I will say though, on a personal note I've been getting some therapy with some past issues I've had (I'm okay and all) and it's really helped me on a personal level achieve some serious growth and some old destructive habits I had, died finally.

It was then I realized this novel is different, I think I saw a post on here (not sure where) where someone was talking about how I'll never actually achieve my dream of being a published author if I don't just suck it up and write, write, write even though I don't want to write I want to watch Netflix now/Sleep/Read my new book/Color/Watch youtube. It really stuck with me, and for months I just thought about that until something in me finally broke and I found it. That discipline, that drive to write that I was ignoring for stupid reasons and I started working hard.

Regardless it's really helped me and for the first time I felt positive about this, I think my dream is possible. I wish I remember who wrote the post I was thinking about, I want to thank them. :)
 

Blinkk

Searching for dragons
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 23, 2012
Messages
4,528
Reaction score
591
Location
CA
omgf I haven't been on AW in MONTHS. I've been going through so much recently. I was kicked out of my living situation, lost my two jobs, had to move to a new town in a place where I don't know anyone, and started talking to a therapist. I got diagnosed. Wow it's been a wild few months.

Anyways, I think I'm back now. Hi guys. It's been awhile. How has everyone been?

As for what's on my mind...I'm really close to finishing my second draft of last years Sisyphus story. I'm pretty excited for that. :D Trucking onward.
 

Punk28

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Messages
456
Reaction score
6
Location
Dinwiddie, Va
Worked all day yesterday on chapter 13 and found myself removing more than 2,000 words from it (woohoo!). Now that I'm going back to read through it for consistency, polishing, and added changes, I see where I need to tweak some issues with the names given to some of the characters and with how Raal constantly says or refers to his wife without giving her name (throughout the chapter, he just says/references her as 'his wife' instead of 'Malakay' which makes her seem unimportant when she is important to both him and to the chapter).

Here's to removing another 500+ words from this beast!
 

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
15,472
Reaction score
767
Location
Missouri
Welcome back, Blinkk!

On my end, I want to write whenever I don't have time to write. Then, as soon as I do have the time, I have no idea where to go next with the story. Maybe I should focus on editing other projects for a while.
 

Taylor Harbin

Power to the pen!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
3,078
Reaction score
1,499
Location
Arkansas
Made good progress typing final draft of my newest short. Also had a kind of breakthrough with another story I've been wrestling with for a long time. In this, I want to use a fictional American town, but incorporate fantasist elements so it's not really fantasy, not really allegory, not science fiction per se....just weird I guess. Won't know if it works till it's written, but I think I've at least decided how to tackle the first draft.
 

Punk28

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Messages
456
Reaction score
6
Location
Dinwiddie, Va
Been fighting myself to work on chapter 13. I start, then I get the feeling that the chapter's raw and get distracted. This comes on top of a new idea sparking and me writing its basic details down then trying to distance myself from it so I can work on this story (no go; this new idea has just kidnapped me these past couple of days).
 

Lakey

professional dilettante
Staff member
Super Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 20, 2017
Messages
2,714
Reaction score
3,965
Location
New England
While brushing my teeth this morning I had a sudden insight about combining two minor characters in a way that raises the stakes for my main character, solves a little technical problem I was worrying about, and rings true to the time period.
 

Taylor Harbin

Power to the pen!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
3,078
Reaction score
1,499
Location
Arkansas
I feel guilty for putting my novel aside to write shorts...but I love shorts and think I have a good chance of getting published in the big magazines if I keep at it.
 

sideshowdarb

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 15, 2017
Messages
352
Reaction score
73
Started a new short story last night around midnight and finished it today. This one came out of nowhere, but I like it a lot.
 

Emermouse

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Messages
896
Reaction score
89
Age
38
Location
In America
Currently bingeing baby names websites, trying to find a name for a character. It's trickier than I thought it would be. I'm searching not so much for a name, but for one with a specific meaning. Character is going to have a baby. I've already decided that the baby will be a boy. Character decided to keep her child after having a dream about flames, so I've been searching for names with meanings having to deal with fire or flames. But it's turning out to be trickier than I thought, given that baby names websites tend to have a lot of woo in their contents.

It's enough to make me wonder if I should go with my original idea and have her name the baby, Flame, but then I started wondering if that was too silly to be taken seriously as a name for a person. Kind of wish I could Google and find out if there are any people with that name, but there's an obvious problem when it comes to looking up a common noun.

I have a few names floating around, but I'm not entirely happy with them. I want the name to be pronounceable and be tied to fire or flames, but at the same time, again, I don't won't the name to be too silly. Yeah, it's a Post-Apocalyptic work, so people have more pressing things to worry about than baby names, but still.
 

Cindyt

Gettin wiggy wit it
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
4,826
Reaction score
1,954
Location
The Sticks
Website
growingupwolf.blogspot.com
I added two new scenes to Chapter 27 of the historical. Still under 109K word count with 279 pages. Not bad. I'm not going to add anymore. I hope. Lol.
 

Punk28

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 25, 2015
Messages
456
Reaction score
6
Location
Dinwiddie, Va
Made 2 changes to the start of chapter 13 before bombing, so think I'll let this chapter sit for a while before I work on it some more. With me reading/working through 87,000 words, I do need a break and I think my mind is telling me this in the most frustrating way.
 

indianroads

Wherever I go, there I am.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Messages
2,372
Reaction score
230
Location
Colorado
Website
indianroads.net
Almost half way through my much dreaded backward revision. Wife is traveling so I have lots of time on my own, so I'm a bit ahead of schedule. Had time to to a preliminary cover. Right now everything is looking good.
 

Taylor Harbin

Power to the pen!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
3,078
Reaction score
1,499
Location
Arkansas
Trying to figure out how to end a short I had put aside because of blockage. It's a survival-in-space story about aliens, and it ties into Fermi's Paradox. Everything worked well up to the BIG REVEAL that's suppose to spell disaster for the stranded crew, but the whole thing just kind of fell apart...and I'm left thinking "Ok...so now what?" It all sounded so much better in my head, but looking into the Paradox further, I don't feel confident in my ability to pull this off any better than other writers. Can't figure out if the plot doesn't make sense, or if it's being told from the wrong POV, or if it's just not that good to begin with...
 

CalRazor

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 30, 2017
Messages
379
Reaction score
19
Trying to finish a novel is like enduring WWI trench warfare. That's what I get for writing a book loosely inspired by Pet Sematary.
 
Last edited:

Taylor Harbin

Power to the pen!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
3,078
Reaction score
1,499
Location
Arkansas
Trying to finish a novel is like enduring WWI trench warfare. That's what I get for writing a book loosely inspired by Pet Sematary.
Probably my favorite King novel. And yes, finishing a novel is very hard work, but you're capable!
 
Last edited:

CalRazor

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 30, 2017
Messages
379
Reaction score
19
Probably my favorite Kind novel. And yes, finishing a novel is very hard work, but you're capable!

Thanks. I certainly hope so.

Never read the book, though I'm thinking I should. The movie scared the crap outta me when I was little! Haven't gotten over that yet, but figured it was sufficient inspiration for a novel.
 
Last edited:

kevincnorris

Registered
Joined
Aug 22, 2017
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles
I often write in the first person POV, as I find it fun to deal with a characters take on situations with as few filters as possible. That said, it does force me to write narrator characters that a reader wants to read. That said, I'm writing something right now where I've got a main character/narrator who is a serial murderer turned demon fighter with not remorse and an active bloodlust. As an antagonist I feel like he would be easy to write, but as a protagonist, particularly in the first person narrator role, I have to deal with a character who is thinking about his mission to save a kidnapped senator's daughter and actively fantasizing about slitting the throat of the woman sitting next to him on the metro.

I think I can make him interesting, I don't know if I can make him likable or even relatable.

It's a challenge.