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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

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

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Luna_Nightshade, Nov 24, 2011.

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  1. Bale

    Bale Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 9, 2005
    Sorry, couldn't resist:
    [​IMG]
     
  2. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    Neither could I.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Hey. My creative juices have currently run dry. I want to write, but I can't think of any plots to write (normally I'd blame it on depression or DRL but neither are affecting me at all). Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get creative juices flowing
     
  4. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    What sometimes works for me is reading books, comics, watching movies, and generally just not worrying about the story. If I'm stuck on a story, I work on something else. Anything else. Even if it's not even related to writing.

    Perhaps it's time for me to follow my own advice, as my muse has gone on vacation. And I have a diary entry due...
     
  5. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Thanks. Perhaps I'll try finishing reading FOTJ. My problem isn't that I'm stuck in the middle of a story (which I have been plenty of times before), it's that I cant think of story to write.
     
  6. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    Well... Sometimes the story isn't there. What sometimes helps me is writing character studies. I've had a few stories and vignettes evolve from character studies. Take your characters and place them in a scene and write about it. Doesn't need to be fancy or exciting, sometimes mundane works just fine. Have the characters discuss their utility bills, paying speeder payments or student loans. One character wants to visit her relatives, but her current relation is hesitant. For fun, have those characters meet the in-laws! Little character studies like that. Those sometimes help.
     
  7. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Hmm. Thanks. That's gives me an idea. I started a fic a long time ago. It was bad, I never started posting it, and it eventually got lost when my old computer crashed, but there were two scenes with the main OC that I wrote that have stuck in my mind. I'm going to rewrite them and try to construct a story (similar to the original one) from there. Even if I don;t get a story from it, perhaps it will kick start my muse, or at least keep me occupied.
     
  8. JediMara77

    JediMara77 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 5, 2004
    Try writing short stories for various anthologies or flash fiction prompts.
     
  9. ardavenport

    ardavenport Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2004
    Love the punctuation posters! Yes, punctuation saves lives. [face_laugh]

    I agree; working on small things can help get things going. Me.....I've got 134 pages into an epic that I'm slllllooooowwwwly making progress on ever if I can add only a paragraph at at time. Whenever I get it done, I can work on those other long outlines I have.
     
  10. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    I'm kinda in the same boat, though it's more the act of writing for me at the moment. Even though I want to, I find myself doing anything but. :(

    Anyway, I sometimes find that google-ing 'Writing Prompts' and finding silly little things I can write that have nothing to do with anything, sometimes helps. Or trying to write for a fandom I've never written or don't often write and just doing something like an alternative ending for an episode.
     
  11. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    I like doing the fanfic challenges here. Many of my long stories started out as one-shot challenges.
     
  12. Alexis_Wingstar

    Alexis_Wingstar Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 16, 2006
    There's also a thread here where people who have an over-abundance of plot bunnies put them up for adoption. In other words, you can borrow inspired plots that people didn't have the time to write.
     
  13. Padawan4687

    Padawan4687 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2010
    [face_laugh] There's even a thread for people with too many plot-bunnies to unload them?
     
  14. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Thanks guys. I've decided to recycle that old plot bunny, just as a short fic to keep my mind active while I wait for my next genius idea ;)

    But I'm thinking about doing this fic with mostly short scenes, because I'm still having problems getting back into writing and because I'm not going to invest my heart and soul into a silly little fic, but I'm worried that it's going to feel very "clipped" and it's bugging me. Do you guys think readers care about scene length?
     
  15. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    As long as the scene is a complete scene, there really is no restriction on its length.
     
    mavjade likes this.
  16. bellatroll

    bellatroll Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Feb 21, 2013
    I was thinking about writing a SW:KOTOR fan fic story with a DS revan / bastila theme. It would cover the K1-K2 gap years before Revan departs for the unknown regions. The story would be focused on Bastila.
    I just wonder, are there people still reading kotor fan fics?


    I will probably write it anyway as ive been obsessing over it for a month now.
     
  17. Obi-Wan21

    Obi-Wan21 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 27, 2002
    Don't worry if anyone's reading it. Write it, post it up, and I'm sure it'll find its audience. You won't even get a proper assessment here, not everyone who reads actually posts. I'll read anything Star Wars, as long as it's good. But write for yourself.
     
  18. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    I'll be honest, the reader base for anything before the movies is much smaller compared that of during the saga era and after the saga. However there are still people around who read Kotor fics. Even if you get few or no readers, still write it. Fanfic is about entertaining yourself first, then any readers you may have.
     
  19. Padawan4687

    Padawan4687 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2010
    :D There ought to be a web of KOTOR writers and readers on that board... I had a KOTOR fanfic during my first year as a member, and I managed to get a couple of faithful readers. I'll definitely read it! :)
     
  20. bellatroll

    bellatroll Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Yes, its a pity. Kotor provides much better characters and events for fan fiction than the sagas do. The EU around the PT/OT is not very good by comparison.

    Although the awful contrived mess that is SWTOR sort of balances that out.
     
    darth fluffy likes this.
  21. darth fluffy

    darth fluffy Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Dec 27, 2012
    Okay, so why, in Vortex, did the Fallassani cast an illusionary plague on those people? Just for the lulz? Or was it Abeloth?
     
    bellatroll likes this.
  22. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    I read somewhere in passing that we are allowed to repost old fics because of the truncation issue. I'm thinking about revamping one of my old fics to repost it here (and to post over on FF.N because people keep bugging me for it over there). I'm just wondering how much do I need to add to get people to re-read it? It's about a 45,000 word fic. I have a few ideas for a couple extra scenes, but I think most of it will be improving the writing. Is that enough to repost it?
     
  23. jacen200015

    jacen200015 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 11, 2002
    So i am in a mist of a rewrite and have been posting most of it so far on fanfiction . net. the last chapter i wrote i posted and then, realized, after some people had read it that i had made a mistake plotwise. I have been trying to write the next chapter that will set the plot straight but its been torturous trying to fix it. Should i remove that previous chapter and repost it with the plot fixed or continue to try to fix it with the next chapter?
     
  24. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    If it is only one chapter you need fixing then I say take it down, fix it and repost it. If the plot problem is mentioned in multiple chapters than put in a fix in the next chapter.

    In my longest story that I wrote I made the mistake of thinking a Headhunter was a shuttle and not an X-Wing. So I described it having a bathroom. :p I mentioned this ship in multiple chapters and nobody called me on it until I had written over 60K words with this reference interspersed within the story. Finally Siouxfan pointed out my mistake. And since I have OCD it drove me crazy. So I had my character tell his son, "You can use my modified Headhunter." To which the son said, "Dad, you can't take the engines off an old Headhunter and retrofit them onto a boring "Mommy-shuttle" and then call it a 'Modified Headhunter'!" :p

    So it was fixed. The character called it a Headhunter because it sounded more manly, but it really was a shuttle with added Headhunter engines. ;)
     
    Katana_Sundancer likes this.
  25. SiouxFan

    SiouxFan Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 6, 2012
    ^^^Yeah, sorry about that. My OCD could only take so much! ;)