Discussion The Scribble Pad (Fanfic Writing Discussions)

I often have a tendency to play with plot bunnies in my head for hours on end, but procrastinate actually writing anything down.

 

I am so guilty of this. sometimes I'll have a fully formed fic in my head... but transferring it from my brain to the page is the hardest part.

I had a day that was both mentally and physically exhausting. I would like to write something... anything really just to get my brain in order so I can maybe get some mental peace from all the work stuff ping-ponging around up there. But because it was so physically exhausting I just cant bring myself to sit down and write.

It really sucks.

 

Then just lie down and think of the story. Just tell it to yourself.
Maybe that's enough right now.

 

Ad my to the club

 

I wish it were that easy and sometimes it is. But sometimes there are just too many thoughts in my mind that it makes it hard to just concentrate on just one thing. Sometimes I just need that physical element of getting words out on a page. (So I ended up listening to an audiobook that I’ve read before - it was enough to keep my brain occupied without giving it more information to digest).

 

If you are going to go to Coruscant, and you have a space ship - where do you park it?

There isn't enough space for the thousands of spaceships to part on the surface of the city planet, so do they just park them in giant, constructed parking lots in space?

Ahh, the weird questions that keep you up late into the night....

 

Possebilites:
* many of the larger ships stay in orbit and what they transport is send down/back by smaller freighters
* the moon function as a port for many ships that don't have right papers/bribes
* many of the SW 'ships are not that big so I can see many of them being parked like the freighter we saw Anakin n' Amidala taking in AotC, maybe there is a system where you wait in orbit untill a parking space is avalable
* could be that many of the megabloks on Coruscant are 50% parking space.
* while many ships constantly arrive to Coruscant do usually just as many leave, creating a constant shift of parking space - having your own private and permanent spaceship parking spot on Coruscant, that's luxery.

 

I figure it's fairly classist.
If you are rich or a Senator you get to use the cool helipad on top of a building, as we saw a lot in the movies.

But those building are ridiculously tall, and the poorer or more illegal you are, the further down you go, negotiating the traffic until you are landing in the Underworld. Like the Martez sisters.

 

Or the other way around depending on the area. SW have enough underground dwelling species for there being areas on Coruscant where the lower levels are the good part of town - many of the spacer species probably also like it there since they don't need to see open sky.

 

@amidalachick If I hadn't read your post, I never ever would've guessed you struggled with writing. Your Stranger Things fics are totally amazing since they're character driven and give the characters the endings you would want for your RL friends, as they triumph through the struggles and losses.

I also go through periods when I think "what am I going to write?" Am I going to have enough juice to go through this long challenge? That especially applies to year long challenges. For that flexible outlining helps and writing a couple sentences of narrative or dialogue or ideas as soon as they occur so they don't vanish.

I find the magnificent challenge "First Draft" a wonderful repository for ideas that are hanging around but feel like they'll never get written.

 

I know a lot of people are struggling to write at the moment (myself included) but we aren't alone! I found an article that talks about how professional authors are struggling right now.

Writers blockdown: after a year inside, novelists are struggling to write

 

Thanks for sharing that mav.

So... basically people who write to pay the bills literally have to slog through if they want to eat and those who write "for free" because they're great at it and they enjoy it are having problems.

Since we have no control over our external circumstances, unfortunately, this just makes the frustration stronger. Because of that, what could a person locked in that crazy endless loop do to break free and turn writing into the fun /rewarding thing it was originally?

Because as anyone knows, if we waited for the world to change to a conducive environment again, it'd be like, don't hold your breath, you're turning blue!

 

This oddly makes me feel so much better about not being able to get anything out of my head. I think -like a lot of people - I roll through phases of either being super productive and super creative because my brain wants that distraction and phases where my brain just doesn't have the mental energy to create. I really feel for people who have to be creative for their jobs right now because it's like Lazlo's hierarchy of needs: it's hard to get to that "self-fulfilment"/creative tier when the lower tiers of "relationships" or even "safety" aren't being met.

 

From what I read, their issues fell into two broad categories:

• Their home and work space being overcrowded and boundaries blurred, like when the kids are interrupting with demands and questions.

• Not being able to use things like overheard conversations on the bus/train, nonverbals of a couple in a restaurant, jokes and interactions amongst friends as jumping off points for plot.

 

Yeah. I definitely agree on everything. Even though there was a lot of anxiety early on, there also was this element of "Oh! Now I have time to work on fics all day long and not feel guilty about it because I cant leave the house anyway." I was surprisingly productive in those early days because I was working on things I had already been inspired to write or experimenting with writing stuff I had put off for a long time because I just never had the time to do.

But now that life has pretty effectively transitioned onto all online, time we have to just "kill" is less and less - which is a good thing, but - at least for me - I'm back to just writing in my spare time when I have the energy. Plus - yeah, the lack of inspiration from any outside sources really means all my ideas feel stale. Combined with the mental exhaustion, depression, and all that.

Its totally understandable why writers are struggling and why we need to be a bit nicer to ourselves. I'm all for trying to find new fresh ideas through challenges or whatever... but I'm also just a big fan of just letting the brain chill and just consuming all the brainless netflix binging.

I've recently stared a new story (its more like a story told through vignettes). It's brainless, it's plotless, it has almost zero physical description (something I really struggle with). It, by all my personal standards, sucks in terms of its "literary value". But I'm getting some sort of creative outlet which is nice. I'm just trying to convinced myself to ignore how bad it is and just see where the story takes me.

 

It keeps getting harder for me to write. Some of you may know that my daughter is autistic; we’ve been dealing with issues of increasing anxiety and physical aggression at home and at school for almost a year now. When I have the time to sit down, I feel like I have to be hyper vigilant for the Next Bad Thing to happen and that makes it almost impossible to relax enough to be creative. And even in the moments when I used to be able to plan stories (like when I’m laying in bed at night), I can’t seem to get into the headspace where I can think of the mishaps of Jedi kids and the dating dilemmas of teen!drama!Mando. I almost feel guilty thinking about such things when I’ve got so much going on—like it’s all kind of pointless. And I’m not really sure why I’m even posting this except to get these feelings off my chest...

 

That's hard and I'm sorry. It really sucks. We are all going through frustrating and anxious times and it's hard when we cant even turn to our outlets. And sometimes all you can do is try to rant and get things off your chest.

I dont want to suggest random things if you dont want that, but I've recently tried guided meditation (you can find a bunch on Spotify and I'm sure theres loads on YouTube... but ads). It surprisingly helped quiet and focus my mind long enough for me to get out a blog post last night and I'm hoping if I keep at it, it might 'lube' some creative gears in my head.

 

I sympathise, too.

And being stressed enough to be creative is...definitely a thing. Feeling guilty of having any kind of fun, even.

 

I can relate. My muse and general productivity is starting to peak out after weeks of just being a grump. Not sure if it's the transition to spring or the general roller coaster ride of my mental health these days, but the warmer weather and more sunshine certainly doesn't hurt! Usually my muse is most active in the winter (when there's little else to do) and takes a vacation once summer starts when there's other things to do, but we shall see what this Spring has in store.

I dont know if I can relate on the mush stuff. My muse has had like 15 different reactions to the external situation. Right now it just wants just brainless plots. I'm working on some comedy and some family drama stuff. Not exactly classical mush, but similar sector I guess.

 

I can't relate to the mush thing at all, but that has been an issue for a couple of years for me now. I expected 2020 and being apart from real-life mush, in lack of a better word for a platonic thing with romantic undertones, would make me crave content of that kind in general or write something lovey-dovey. On the contrary - I became angrier. And I know, spring = love, but I only want real-life mush. Not even wish fulfilment type of stuff would help. Nothing.

The other thing is relatable, yes. And annoying, since the warmer part of the year should be spent outside, given that the rest of the year is the worst for depression, anxiety and just feeling generally hopeless.

 

@devilinthedetails -- Great discussion questions.

1. I don't think the change in seasons helps but I do think that reading great SW content DOES! Both in fanfiction and happily in profiction, I have been inspired behind some great plots and likeable characters.

2. As for mush, I'm always up for that, in any shape or form, between couples, between family members, amongst friends. The fluffier and sunbeamier the better.

 

In the past few (sunny, clear-skied, noticeably longer daylight) days I've written more than I have since before Christmas. Nothing else has changed, so I think there's definitely something to this. I guess time will tell!

I tried experimenting with some different genres back in the fall, and it helped for a while but after that not so much. Right now I'm just sticking with simple, familiar things - which means mush and fluff because I live for all that.