Resource Fanfic Writer's Desk: Your Place for Writing Discussion, Questions, and Advice

In terms of outlining and storyboards, I do that by hand in notebooks. Well, the outlining, anyway. I never draw storyboards for fics. I draw storyboards for films, if I'm not jumping straight into animatics, and I'll storyboard an audioplay for the sake of speaker and sound placement, but I don't storyboard fics.

I do everything by hand and if there was a way that I could just transmit my scrawlings directly to the computer (OCR can't read my writing), then I wouldn't even bother with a word processor.

 

So, I noticed that the Scrivener 30 day trial was for 30 non-consecutive days (so if you don't use if for like a day or week, it isn't counted) so I decided to download it. WOW. It is a lot to learn, and you do HAVE to go through some of the tutorial to know what is going on (I'm the kinda person that learns as I go and if I want to find out something, then I read the instructions, so it kinda annoys me). I'll definitely be referring back to the tutorial A LOT, but I love it already. I can see myself using it for both papers and stories.

As a history student, footnote citations are the bane of my existence because you put a number with what you are citing and if you move or delete one quote or one paraphrase, you have to change ALL THE OTHER NUMBERS (it doesn't sound like a ton of work, but when you are working with 50 citations, it becomes a royal PAIN). But with Scrivener, footnotes are just sort of linked with what they go with, so numbers are not added until you export the document.

I do like outlining my stories by chapter (but you can also do it by scene with Scrivener), so it will be so much nicer than having 2 or 3 windows open.

But thank you Mav and whoever else that suggested it. It will come in handy for stories. I have finished gushing now.

 

MS Word should be able to do that, Bri. It also takes a bit of a learning curve, but MS Word 2010 and 2013 definitely have that capability along with linking everything to a TOC and it can make an index and all in all, it's pretty handy. I also am learning Zotero and Evernote for academics, though I can't see much of a use for those in fic writing.

Personally, I like MS Word and Google Docs. I have and use Open Office on occasion, but I don't like the color screen or the "feel". I just don't like looking at that program, for some reason. On the other hand, I write everything in single-spaced Times New Roman pt 12, and the default for Word is 1.5 Calibri 11, so I get annoyed because no matter what I do, I can't figure out how to change Word's default layout. And I cannot write like that -- it has to be TNR, single spaced, pt 12. Google Docs is just handy because it's online and when I was worrying about my computer crashing any second, I liked knowing that I automatically had a backup. Plus I like the "feel" of it.

I don't outline. I keep a vague outline thing in my head when I work, but I rarely write more than a few points down. I had to do an outline for a class last semester and I hated it. Plus outlines for me tend to get really detailed, so to cover everything in the outline it ends up being a fifty page chapter/paper.

I tried Scrivener once and didn't like it, but this was 1) at least 7 years ago, so I'm sure they've done a lot with it since then and 2) I didn't really spend the time getting to know it well. I'm like you, Bri -- I tend to learn by doing, so having to go through a lot of tutorials isn't really my thing. I don't know -- maybe sometime when I have some free time (hahaha) I will try it.

Has anyone ever used Write or Die? Or another similar application? I have found that to be quite helpful (though you seriously need to save your work ALL THE TIME).

 

MS word can do footnotes IF you buy it (and to spend 140 dollars on ONE feature I need, isn't worth it) but you still have the issue of rearranging footnotes and not having the numbers in order.

I used to hate outlining, then I learned how to do it in a way that works for me. It makes writing so much easier.

I've used simmilar programs to write or die, I don't like them. They stress me out, plus edit as I go, which makes me a slow writer, but my first draft often does not need a ton of editing. I've tried the 'write now, edit later' approach and it's just not for me.

 

I edit and revise when I type up my stories, mostly. I also read through them repeatedly and edit them before I type them up, so all of my handwritten drafts are filled with crossed-out stuff, rewritten lines over other lines that were crossed out, sections circled and with arrows pointing to where they should be, additional stuff in the margins... It's frightening.

My outlines go from simple bulleted lists to having stuff written over them, in the margins, sections moved, crossed out, rewritten, little doodles in the margins...

I don't do the "write now, edit later," either. I find it daunting.

 

I do outlines in excell with who is doing what and at what time and day. It works great. And I have a character list

 

Glad you like it! I use it for everything I have to write; for work we have to do a yearly Clinical Narrative (I think I'm the only person in my department that doesn't mind doing this) as part of our yearly evaluation, I've done resumes/cover letters, etc. with it.
I need to go back and look at the tutorials again because I know there are things I didn't learn at first that I could do and just haven't figured it out.

The same company has a new thing called Scrapple for taking notes, outlining, etc... it looks like it might work better for me than traditionally outlining because this is pretty much how my brain works.



I have used Write or Die. I use it sometimes during NaNoWriMo when I'm really distracted and can't write as I normally would. It works really well for situations where you are just trying to get the words out and not caring what actually goes down on the screen.

 

More about Write or Die, please.

 

I find Write or Die wonderful if you're having trouble getting anything down. It's especially handy when I've gone a long time without writing and therefore need the extra encouragement to get writing. And I use it for college work as well, again just to get a start if I'm having a hard time.

That said, I usually am a "write and edit as you go" and then of course I'll go back and edit one last time before I post anything.

earlybird, I can't say I've ever heard of Excel being used for outlining, but I am now intrigued. How do you do it?

A friend recommended I use Microsoft's One Note for note taking, but usually I just use Word, or Google Docs. Scrapple looks interesting, but it's for Mac only, and I am staunchly a PC girl. I tend to prefer to brainstorm by hand when necessary, which leaves me with tons of little pieces and scraps of paper with various story notes on them. I used to have two story notebooks, but I've misplaced them over the years. I cannot write by hand -- I'm dysgraphic, for one, and my wrist bones are irregular so it causes me great pain to write for any prolonged amount of time. Yet sometimes I prefer to take notes by hand, so I have to juggle which way works the best from a pain vs getting stuff done point of view.

Jade, if you want to learn more about Write or Die, I suggest the website, Write or Die

 

Thanks, Alethia!

 

Well, I have a question about a storyline. I originally wanted my story to feature time travel, but I think it might be too much of a bizzare plot twist. I thought of changing the plot in general, but what I try lessens the " willpower vs. fate" conflict, and makes the main character look a little bit immature( which is OOC for her) . My question: will the whole time travel thing look legit in a fanfic that is not a humor or a crossover( though it originally was intended to be) ? I' m also thinking of expanding the plot and focusing it not only around the altered events of TPM, but what followed them shortly after, because I feel like the original storyline made the character forcused too much on * you might guess who the character mentioned below is, so spoilers beware* saving a certain person she barely knows, but who she certainly knows is going to die unless she interferes( besides, that character is also a Jedi Master, so she has no right to command him what to do, and she also knows that according to the Jedi Code sacrafice is natural for a Jedi, another reason for her to keep her mouth shut) . She has enough guilt in herself to motivate her to save the one mentioned above just out of a personal " Not allowing an ally being harmed through inaction. " pledge, ( which has a reason behind her backstory) , but it' s not enough for her to question whether to " Be Lawful Or Good" , decide to be " Neutral No Longer", and screw destiny regardless of the consequances. So I also decided to add another antagonist from her backstory to furthen the obstacles she has to face in order to break her morality boundaries and fight for a better future. Only I' m thinking if readers will be able to comprehend such an amount of information. The story itself seems very simple to me without the plot changes, but it might seem very difficult to the readers if I expand it. So should I keep the time travel? And should I expand the story?
Also, I' m thinking of using Write or Die as well, because of the Writer' s block.

 

Time travel can be used just as seriously as any other Trope out there. For example, take a look at Terminator and Back to the Future. Both make heavy use of time travel, but feel very differently. Same with any old fic. Time travel can be used seriously, or it can be used for some comedic hi-jinks, or whatever else your heart desires.

Besides, thanks to Crosscurrent we've even had time travel show in canon, now. So go for your life.

 

Time travel is hardly sillier than laser swords and space battles where you can hear all the ships. I don't think it affects the suspension of disbelief any more than those things. And I like those things!

 

Isn't that type of time travel possible according to Einstein? I remember something about if a person is going at the speed of light and travels to the nearest star and back everybody on Earth would have aged but the astronaut would still be young because time slows down. I think that is what the author was trying to explain. I really liked that book and Riptide.

 

Yes, I think it's called time dilation. The closer you get to the speed of light, the slower time moves. So, you would age very slowly while everyone here on Earth would age considerably while you were gone.

 

I think they proved that theory using photons or electrons or something. They know the half-life of these particles and then they shoot them in one of those big centrifuge electron collider thing-a-majigs until they are going almost the speed of light. When they looked at the particles they decayed at a much slower rate.

Don't you love it when I talk all technical?

 

Yeah, they sort of did. At CERN in Switzerland using a particle accelerator. In 2010, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN crashed two proton particle beams into one another and created a micro second of antimatter, (just like in Angels and Demons). It all requires protons, neutrons, anti-protons, anti-neutrons, ect. All very confusing, but also very interesting.

Master Elaine Nega As far as time travel in your fic, I say go for it. It lends itself to some really great stories. I've read some good ones here in the past.

 

I've read a few very good Star Wars time travel fics. It's not the trope used; it's how you use it. Keep track of your plot, pay attention to the details, and have at it!

 

Time travel can make things incredibly complicated, but I don't think there's anything wrong with using it if you want to. It all depends on how you use it. I say go for it! It sounds interesting, the way you've explained it.

 

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, so sorry if it's not. I did look for other Resource threads but this seemed like the best one.

Does anyone know if there are any small and fluffy animals in the GFFA that could be kept as pets?

 

Whisperkits and pittins. Also Mookas and spukamas.

 

Speaking of pets. When I was looking up some I came across creature called an aak dog. A force sensitive lizard type beast often could be used as companions to ajedi reported to he as big as a land speeder

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

 

I just realized that I have continued to misspell pittin in my Journal of Talon Tantiss even though I caught the error pretty much right away. I never went back and changed it and then forgot and continued to write it wrong. Oh well, Talon doesn't know how to spell pittin right. Maybe he'll mention it in his journal and start writing it correctly.

 

Chitliks, too. They're small and fit in your pocket.

 

Hi, I'm curious about the Sith. I've read only four novels (I've seen all the movies); there's a lot I don't know about the expanded universe. I was wondering if anyone can give me the Sith in a "nutshell" so to speak. Is their main goal to gain as much political power as possible? Do they act like the mafia (are they into selling illegal things and trading slaves and selling women)?