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

Discussion The Scribble Pad (Fanfic Writing Discussions)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Briannakin , Jun 18, 2017.

  1. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    So random shower thought, does anyone else feel like sometimes they HAVE to write something bad, just to get it out of their system? A "muse vomit" if you will. My muse has been pretty dormant all summer but (THANK GOD) the colder weather is starting to make it peek out a bit more. I've been working on my Autumn bingo fic and I'm just not doing the challenge (I love autumn) or my story idea (it's an amalgamation of a couple old plot bunnies) justice. It's basically not good. But I just have the desire to finish and post it just to clear out the cobwebs so I can move on to better things.

    Or - and this also had happened to me before - a plot bunny JUST WILL NOT LEAVE YOU ALONE even though you feel like you cant do it justice for some reason or the idea just isn't that good, but you just have to write it so it will leave you alone so you can move onto other things.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2020
  2. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    I have not had that with something bad, but I have ideas, plotbunnies, AU-concepts, and similar that I found myself not stopping thinking on untill I had written them down.
     
  3. amidalachick

    amidalachick FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 5 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2003
    Ugh, yes! I had a productive couple of months earlier this year but my muse has really slowed down and lately when I do get an idea this happens. Except the stress and anxiety from everything else in my life is bleeding over into fanfic so I can't even just write it down without being convinced it's all complete garbage and pointless to even try, so it ends up just kind of constantly nagging at me instead and being one more thing to stress over. GOOD TIMES, YAY! /sarcasm

    Good luck with your muse and your fic!
     
  4. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Oh my god are you me?

    Because I too had a productive few months earlier this year, especially from March till about end of May (which was really nice during the whole wave 1 lockdown phase to have my muse giving me something to write/something to do to get through the anxiety and pure boredom of not leaving my condo for weeks). Then summer hit and between my summer job, nice weather, restrictions loosening, my muse decide to take a vacation, and yeah, when I would get an idea and begin to write I'd basically go "this is trash and pointless not worth my time or effort or my reader's time." Thankfully now that the weather is starting to get colder, I'm facing a fall/winter probably unemployed (my contract is up in October and theres issues renewing the grant due to covid) and unable to leave my condo much, at least my muse is peeking back out and I'm having the motivation to write, even if what I'm writing is bad.

    Thanks. Hopefully yours cooperates soon again too.
     
  5. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    This. So. Much. This. I struggle with periods of depression where I feel like everything I write sucks during the best of times, but this pandemic is making it exponentially worse. I’m immune suppressed because of my heart transplant, so I can count the number of times I’ve been out of my house on one hand. My special needs kid is distance learning and let’s just say it isn’t optimal for either of us.

    I want to write so much, but I’m constantly cranky and depressed. I don’t like anything I’ve managed to write lately and I keep taking new challenges to try to jumpstart the moose, but nothing seems to click. And like @amidalachick the inability to write is wearing on me and adding to the stress. I wish I could find a way to break this vicious circle. :(
     
  6. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Try just juting down small sentences, ideas or concepts, things that don't need time but that you can return to later and exand on when you have the time. Maybe that will help
     
  7. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    When it comes to muse vomit, I definitely have that feeling sometimes especially when I haven't written anything for awhile. Sometimes if I haven't written anything for awhile, I feel the need to just write something, anything, and if I do manage to produce that something, anything (which doesn't always happen because my muse is a creature not under my command) then it might very well end up not being as great as I feel it could be. But sometimes that seems to be the price of unblocking the muse as it were.

    The pandemic has been weird for my muse. At times, I've been very productive with my writing because there hasn't been much else to compete with my leisure time, but at other times, it seems as if being trapped inside and not allowed to really socialize (even though I'm an introvert) has sapped me of strength, creativity, and inspiration. When my muse is in the latter mood, I'm just trying to be forgiving with myself because these are crazy times, and sometimes my muse will just need tender loving care.

    Bottom line for me is my muse is sort of like my rescue dog. She is not all that interested in obeying me, but every once and awhile she pretends to do so.
     
  8. Mira_Jade

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

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    &
    Yes! A thousand times THIS. I feel like every last word of these comments was spoken right from my mouth.

    First of all, I want to take a moment to share hugs and warm words of encouragement to one and all. You are all lovely souls - and equally lovely writers, and I look forward to reading whenever each of you posts! I can really relate to all of the above, more than words can express. I had a good period of productivity at the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed, but this summer I've just felt so flat and hazy, for lack of a better description. That kind of mental fugue really takes its toll on the muse, and it was hard to even read and leave reviews and interact with the community, let alone work on my own projects. Which just led to a terribly oppressive and guilty feeling; I felt like I was failing, in a sense. It truly is a vicious cycle, as was mentioned. And that just furthers the depression and the frustration. Because ain't muses - and psyches - grand that way? :rolleyes:

    I think that I may have pushed through my block, at least just a little, writing for the last OTP challenge. But it's just like @Briannakin and even @Gamiel said. I didn't think it was my best work when I started, and I almost scrapped the project a few times - even though I'm pleased with it now - and I had to pry out one painful sentence at a time. It was a slow and clunky process compared to how I normally write. But it felt good just to write something. Anything. Even if I now have a long and rambling story heavy on introspection and character study with a very slow plot on my hands as a result. (How much introspection is too much, I wonder? But that's a different topic entirely! :p) Sometimes that's just how it goes.

    I just hope that the break in both RL and the weather - for some reason I naturally write more in the fall and winter - will help my productivity increase. Until then, it's just keeping on keeping on with one hard won word at a time. But, that seems to be true with most things in life right now, doesn't it?

    [:D]
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2020
  9. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Do other people have problem with tendencies of overthinking how character dress and the different ways cultures look?
     
  10. Dark Ferus

    Dark Ferus Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Jul 29, 2016
    Right now, a few problems I’m having with my Episode VIII outline.


    I’m planning for my main character and her two sidekicks to be split from the rest of their Jedi. Kira is the daughter of Han and Leia, name comes from Lucas’s outline. I am planning for Leia to be on Coruscant for a portion of the story as a Senator, but is there any way she would not spend every minute looking for her daughter as she did in The Bloodline Heir? Also, I’m worried that Kira going off on a rescue mission is derivative of Episode VII: The Bloodline Heir when she does the same thing
     
    pronker and devilinthedetails like this.
  11. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    I can't say I have that specific problem, but I do overthink quite a lot. I tend to do it more on plot points, I get stuck in a cycle of "well if that happens, then it means this thing HAS to happen or this other thing CAN'T happen" it keeps going and going and before I know it I'm paralyzed just by the thought of it. I can see how that would easily happen with culture and dress because it very much is formed by their surroundings, their traditions, their relationships, and individuals.

    I was weirdly comforted by the Twitter of a professional author who just made a passing comment about how not everything has to happen 'on screen', you can time jump and skip some stuff or talk about how it happened in the past. I feel like sometimes I get stuck in the idea of "show, don't tell" when sometimes telling is just fine.

    Edit: My terrible sentence structure.
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2020
  12. darkspine10

    darkspine10 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 7, 2014
    Sometimes I like to bring attention to character outfits and such, but then it comes back to my large lack of knowledge of most clothing terms. Most times I encounter a description of clothing in books or fics nowadays I quickly look up what that piece of clothing actually looks like so I can actually form a mental image :p

    Looking at fanart doesn't help, since it's way easier to create a style or mood in a single image than mounds of prose could ever convey (though not myself, my sketching ability is still super basic ;)).
     
  13. devilinthedetails

    devilinthedetails Fiendish Fanfic & SWTV Manager, Interim Tech Admin star 6 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Jun 19, 2019
    @Gamiel That's an interesting question! I think in general I'm an author who naturally likes to include lots of details in my writing. Sometimes I've been critiqued by readers of my stories for slowing down or pausing the action to describe places or people in detail, or people have said that I don't need to include as much detail as I do. Personally, many of my favorite authors do include those rich details that make me really get a sense of culture, of place, of people in a story, and vivid worldbuilding is what draws me into a lot of the books that I read more so than even plot. So I've sort of come to the conclusion that I primarily write for people who are interested in the same sort of things that I am: characterization and worldbuilding more so than plot. Which means that I've kind of decided that I'm not overdoing the details as long as I'm still writing the story. Because I really think that clothing details can provide insights into characters and into cultures so there's nothing wrong with being creative and lavish with the details. At least in my opinion.

    @Emperor Ferus I sent you a PM with my thoughts as you saw:)
     
    pronker, Gamiel and Emperor Ferus like this.
  14. Starith

    Starith Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 5, 2020
    Yeah, I'm not great at descriptions in general. Describing environments can be particularly hard, especially when it's these kinds of sci-fi locations like the inside of ships or, say, a droid factory.
     
  15. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    I'm notoriously bad at NOT describing physical scenes/attributes. I always worry if I stop to describe something, the plot will slow down and readers will lose interest, which of course is wrong (I think you have to go on and on and on before you have to start worrying about that). An author once came to my English class said you have to leave something up to the reader's imagination and I think that's true, but I think I take that to the extreme. HOWEVER one easy way I find to get some physical descriptions in is with clothing!
     
  16. Kit'

    Kit' Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 1999
    I have a tendency to do that but not with dress but more with cultural structure. I can tell you everything about Eena's social structure or Zallie's Hexa's but I'm not great when it comes to describing clothes or dress standards. Even landscapes often get passed over. I blame it on the 'keep the plot moving' advice I was given like @Briannakin and the fact that when I did used to write a bunch of descriptions I'd get concrit that nothing was happening and that it could be scrapped to keep the action moving.

    That's actually really good advice and something I'm going to keep in mind for the long-fic I'm writing (I'm going to finish it before I post it so I don't get into a situation like some of my other fics where they are just languishing).

    Yesterday was a better day for my muse and I know the challenges help because I see them as deadline specific and that makes me put in the work to meet the deadline and produce something that's hopefully both engaging and coherent.
     
  17. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Is it your coming fanon posts I see before me?

    :p
     
  18. Kit'

    Kit' Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Oct 30, 1999
    Uh... *blushes* maybe?

    It would not be as detailed as the ones you put together but I can certainly try.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  19. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Oh, you old charmer [face_blush]

    Not all my post are actually that detailed.
     
  20. brodiew

    brodiew Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2005
    Kind of an odd question here, but has anyone bost ff or original drabbles, ficlets or poems on facebook?
     
  21. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    Not an odd question at all! But I can't say that I do. I think the closest I've come is just talking about NaNoWriMo, otherwise I don't tend to talk about writing on there. I think I'm a bit too self-conscious about it. I do think it would be a good medium to get your stuff out there if you want to do it.
     
  22. brodiew

    brodiew Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2005
    I recently wrote a small story based on a prompt on a fb writers group. For whatever reason I really feel good about it. I've just been thinking about how to share small time original stuff. I've never been much of an orginal writer, but I do enjoy making my own stories based on outside inspiration.
     
  23. amidalachick

    amidalachick FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 5 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2003
    Like @mavjade I don't share my writing/fandom things on Facebook (or in real life in general, with the exception of a close, trusted friend and I'm even shy about letting her see my stuff) but if you're comfortable doing that, I'd say go for it!

    And maybe you could try AO3? I'm not 100% sure about their rules or how much of an audience there is for original fic, but I know I've seen things tagged as "original work" or "original fiction". I'd imagine there are other groups and archives around too if you poked around a bit.
     
  24. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Put me in the "never will I ever talk about my writing to anyone I know in real life or let them read anything I've written" camp (which we could have a whole conversation on). BUUUUT did once share a poem on a blog I did back in my undergrad years (which no one ever read anyways).

    However, I do know about wattpad. Basically fan-fic type format but for original fic (but I THINK there's a small section of fanfic there anyway). My muse played around with the idea of original fic years ago, and while one day I'd love to drabble in it for fun, my muse is happy where it is right now.
     
  25. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    I’ve never posted on my general feed, but I did post a link to one of my short stories in one of the Rebels groups I belong to. I got a couple nice comments about it.

    If your group seems generally supportive and constructive, I say go for it.