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

Challenge Writer's Block Discussion and Challenge Thread- Block Breaker 7 - 3/15/15

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by mavjade , Jan 11, 2015.

  1. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

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    Feb 27, 2014
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  2. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 31, 2014
    Wait, hasn't the deadline for the later passed? I was confused, now I'm double-confused.
     
  3. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

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    Feb 27, 2014

    Hmm, I thought the deadline was extended till the end of the month... the thread title says "Winter challenge due Jan 31," which I'm guessing applies to the mini-challenge thing too. (Kahara, might you be able to confirm?)
     
  4. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

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    Mar 3, 2001
    Findswoman and Ewok Poet: The deadline has been moved and things are now due on the 31st. Probably should post a reminder in the thread now that I'm reminded of how close it is.

    Okay, back to the topic (vaguely.) Something I've been trying lately is to skip ahead and write the beginnings of chapters as far in advance as I can get, and see if that helps. The jury's still out on whether it works.
     
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  5. taramidala

    taramidala Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jun 18, 1999
    Kahara good luck! I just did the same thing last night. I've been stuck on the same segment of chapters for so long to no success, but when I tried to write a different part of the story last night I was very productive! It was nice to accomplish something for once.
     
  6. Cushing's Admirer

    Cushing's Admirer Chosen One star 7

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    Jun 8, 2006
    Cushy has a title for next chap and a basic idea what it will entail. :) Am excited Cushy finally gets to write Toru and Thimen on her own! :D
     
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  7. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 10, 2005
    Yeah, that's perfectly fine. :) I'd just put it's being used for both in your user notes with the fic.


    Kahara - That's a good idea! I usually jump around in a story, but I've never tried to just write the beginnings. It's kinda like outlining, but not really. I'm terrible at outlines, but maybe I'd be better at that. :)
     
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  8. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Apr 4, 2011
    You know when you start what could be a series of stories, and you already had the ending in mind? And then you write toward the inevitable conclusion and suddenly you realize that you actually don't want to write that? And not because DWB came by to kick you in the crotch, but simply that you don't want to write that part of the story? That you'd rather leave it alone, as you haven't hammered out all the details, anyway? And that writing it is just something that you don't do?

    Yeah, I just got there. There are certain things that I will not write. I will write up to the moment of them, but I won't write them. I cut away and either change the scene or end the story. Suicide is one of the things that I will not actually write.

    It's not the icky bodily harm thing that keeps me from writing it. I've written death and gore and violence and characters slaughtering each other without a problem. I'll write splatterpunk to see how many senses I can use in descriptions of icky bloody stuff. I'm fine with writing that stuff!

    But... the thing is... Suicide is an emotional concept. I don't like writing it because I don't feel that I could give it the respect and gravitas that it deserves. I don't feel that I am qualified to write such heavy subject matter, despite having personal experiences with it. I don't like to write it.

    And that's where DWB comes in. I get to a point in a storyline where I have to either tackle a difficult subject, or skip it entirely. I don't like doing either, because it's a subject that shouldn't be ignored, but also shouldn't be used lightly. It's on my blacklist of stuff that I write.
     
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  9. jcgoble3

    jcgoble3 Chosen One star 6

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    Nov 7, 2010
    8:45 pm on Saturday night. A little over three hours to go in the week. And I have... nothing. Not a single word, not a single idea. The ideas I had gotten from the block breakers earlier in the week have been forgotten, in part due to an unexpectedly busy real life this week.

    Where can I buy a new muse, and how much does a basic muse cost? :p
     
  10. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 10, 2005
    Week 2 of writing, yay! :)
    What started as just a short letter for Block Breaker 2 has turned into a small series of stories! Once I started writing it, the ideas just started coming, that hasn't happened to me in quite a while. It was a lovely feeling!

    Anyway, for Block Breaker 2: Letters of Life






    TrakNar - I think it's perfectly fine to have things you don't write or aren't comfortable writing, but I can see that making it hard when that's the idea that comes to you. Other than what you've already said about just ending a scene before the subject matter happens, I don't know what would help. :( I will say that if the only thing keeping you from writing about something is that you feel as though you couldn't give it the respect it deserves, that shouldn't stop you. I think most everyone has some experience with suicide, be it a family member, a friend, or your own personal experience and your own thoughts and feelings are just that, your own and never wrong. Everyone experiences such things in very different ways, so they will be expressed in very different ways. If you don't want to write it because of the feelings it causes you, that's perfectly fine, but don't let what others might think sway you from writing something so personal if you want to.
     
  11. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 31, 2014
    A quick question: if one was to post one block breaker together with the one from week or two before, would that still be OK?
     
  12. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 10, 2005
    Yeah, perfectly fine! They don't have to be done in any order. If something inspires you from week 1 in week 10, that's great! If you want to write something that uses prompts from multiple weeks, that's great too!
     
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  13. WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

    WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Chosen One star 8

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    Aug 31, 2004
    jcgoble3 - eek! That bites! I've been keeping tabs on these breakers to use later on in my 2015 diaries. Had no clue what for until yesterday and then put down brief notes - because they won't come up till later but I don't want to forget. Some authors have jotted down lines of dialogue and images that ideas have sparked or prompts have drawn out, so that even if the gist of the ideas vanish, the things that sparked in the moment can jog the memory and even if it's totally different than what was originally intended, you still feel things were productive. (The notes can be put in a paper notebook or in a Word doc.) @};-
     
  14. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

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    Jun 29, 2004
    I have to second Nyota's Heart with the jotting down lines and images as they strike you. I have a notebook that I carry around with me everywhere I go, and jotting down those things as they occur to me, even in bits and pieces, really helps when I am sitting down and looking to write later. Most stories for me start as a piece of dialogue, or a 'picture' I can see, and go on from there. I hope your inspiration comes back to you, though, jcgoble3 [:D]

    That's something I can empathize with in the sense of 'I know what needs to happen next in a story, but the words just aren't coming' . . . but you need to get through that part of the story to write the next. It can be the worst to work through. :oops:

    In your more specific case, though, I agree with Mav - if you are shying away from writing a scene because of fear of not doing it justice, or worrying for the reactions of others, then I would still urge you to tackle it. Such emotional subjects can be experienced and conveyed in so many different ways, and you have already shown a deft hand with such heavily emotional subjects! I can understand the pressure of writing such a weighty, charged subject bringing on DWB, but I can't really think of anything helpful to say but for this: trust that you are a better writer than you think you are, and don't let feelings of 'not being up to the task' hold you back from writing something you want to write. Oftentimes, forcing through the heavy hitters produces some of our best work - sometimes, even to the surprise of ourselves. I hope that proves to be true for you. :)
     
  15. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

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    Nov 30, 2005
    True for me too. And you don't know exactly how that will turn up, either. I have saved those snippets and they have wound up in completely different contexts. As your characters develop and the relationships between them shift, you as author may see the scene differently.

    That's where a solid, trusted beta or other friend comes in to read your work. Writers of fiction CAN write these topics because we literally create the characters and scenarios, so we control them. The truth comes through the believability of the characters. If I read your post correctly, it isn't that you don't like the topic, it's that you feel your portrayal of it would somehow lessen the subject, but I feel that if your characters are authentic then your portrayal of their crises will read as authentic too. Does that make sense? I guess I'm trying to say like Mira and Mav, write through it. Trust your characters.
     
  16. Cushing's Admirer

    Cushing's Admirer Chosen One star 7

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    Jun 8, 2006
    Cushy is stuck. :(

    I want to start writing Toru and Thimen, bring the Rebels to the table, and get Tarkin back home (all different points of tale) and none of them have words. :( I had a few yesterday but didn't write them because they didn't feel right and I couldn't see enough. I think I may cry.
     
  17. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 31, 2014

    Don't cry!

    If you have no words, or if they don't form sentences, just write whatever you have, regardless of how incoherent it may be, and look at it tomorrow. Or, draw quick sketches, diagrams, anything! And eat something you like, or watch/read one of your favourite works of art. Tension is not fun.

    That said, I am with Nyota's Heart and Mira_Jade here - it used to be a notebook, now it's Evernote on my tablet, as notebooks would get messy and dog-eared after some time. I write whatever comes to my mind and sometimes it takes a while to make sense out of it once I've returned to it, but it's useful.
     
  18. Cushing's Admirer

    Cushing's Admirer Chosen One star 7

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    Jun 8, 2006
    [:D]Thanks, Poet. I just got idea for Sir's personal starship. It looks neat. :D But still no words. :( Often watching Sir helps calm Cushy. @};- Cushy likewise not really ate much yet today.
     
  19. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 10, 2005
    I'll get the new Block Breakers up this evening, I don't quite have the time at the moment to set it up. Just didn't want anyone to think I'd forgotten! :)


    I have notebooks full of half written ideas and half written stories all over the place and sometimes you can find a gem of an idea in them from long ago. I'd stopped doing that and keeping thoughts in my head, but you guys are right, having them written down usually makes it easier to not only remember, but to let the idea continue on. :) I've also found that if you usually write on the computer, try writing by hand instead. It just enough change that sometimes it makes things flow better, it's certainly helped me recently.
     
  20. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Apr 4, 2011
    I should get a simple word processor app for my tablet. I'm using the one it came with, whatever it's called.

    And as for that weighty subject matter... I'm gathering a bit more courage to write it. However, the actual event itself has some logistical problems that make it fall apart. I do have a solution for that, though, which is my usual "write up to the point and cut away."
     
  21. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 31, 2014
    Evernote is free and pretty good, you can organise things in notebooks and notebook stacks. The only thing that bothers me about it is the impossibility of changing font size when writing (pronker, I cannot win! :p). When pasting from Word, text comes up pretty tiny, so I am solving that by pasting into Notepad first. However, sometimes this results in complete loss of line breaks.
     
  22. Cushing's Admirer

    Cushing's Admirer Chosen One star 7

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    Jun 8, 2006
    Same thing happens to Cushy using OpenOffice, Poet.
     
  23. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 10, 2005
    Block Breaker 3


    Word Prompts:
    Overindulgence
    Turning point
    Joy


    Phrase:
    A blessing in disguise
    -Something good that isn't recognised at first​


    Picture:
    [​IMG]


    Song Lyric:
    It's My Life by Bon Jovi

    It's my life
    It's now or never
    I ain't gonna live forever
    I just want to live while I'm alive

    My heart is like an open highway
    Like Frankie said
    I did it my way
    I just wanna live while I'm alive
    It's my life



    Character:
    Luke[/black]
     
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  24. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 31, 2014
    *says BOW WOW or whatever it is through the vocorder* New prompts, yay!
     
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  25. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Apr 4, 2011
    That song stanza works too well for what I've been doing... only in a less-positive way. D: