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WritersEra |OT| Publish before you die, writing writer writes
- Thread starter weemadarthur
- Start date
- OT
So people in my Facebook started talking about nano and now I'm all antsy for it. Also I recently finished Hollow Knight which has some fun lore but not a lot of answers so I've turned back to the Dark Souls Lore hole and I'm thinking I might do a big dumb fantasy story this year. I'm kinda in the mood to create a ton of dark lore.
I just google random writing prompts tbh. Or at least I used to do that. Now I tend to go back through old challenge archives and see some of those since I get a lot more fun doing the secondaries than the actual prompts proper nowadays.
I just google random writing prompts tbh. Or at least I used to do that. Now I tend to go back through old challenge archives and see some of those since I get a lot more fun doing the secondaries than the actual prompts proper nowadays.
I've been doing short stories off an on since early August and I've been gradually increasing the word count. It's like writing endurance training.
I'm hoping to actually do NaNoWriMo this year.
I'm trying to hype myself up for NaNoWriMo. Was able to complete it for the first time last year, but there were definitely lots of "bad" writing days where what I wrote was just not usable at all.
I need to plan better this year!
Is there not a NaNoWriMo thread yet?
I need to plan better this year!
Is there not a NaNoWriMo thread yet?
amusingly, everyone actually spelled it fully out to nanowrimo instead of just nano :P
I hope you've played dnd/most board games cause it's time to get out that dice!!!
Like there's a dozen ideas and I'm just trying to pin down which would be best fit for NaNo.
I also have a pretty biting case of being afraid to start writing something long term. I've only done short stories so far.
Alright I've decided to give another shot to the story I failed to write last year. I'm going to spend more time outlining the plot this time to hopefully smooth out the experience, and I think I've improved at endurance writing since then.
It's the story I feel most comfortable being my first real work if that makes any sense.
It's the story I feel most comfortable being my first real work if that makes any sense.
In theory, you can only do better with it this time. Also in case you missed it cause I like to bury my links in jokes, we have an official Nano Thread you're more than welcome to post in too.
I've ramped back up to writing more frequently for this month in preparation for next month. Trying to shotgun as many ideas onto paper as possible to give me some sort of ideas for this year's NaNo. did 4 prompts today which is exponentially higher than I have done in each month prior this entire year!
Probably a frequent question, but where do you draw the line between inspiration and plagiarism?
TLDR: Five years ago I wanted to create a story about dragons, and it ended up being a carbon copy of Panzer Dragoon, both featuring
- Arid, surreal sci-fi fantasy settings with industrial trappings.
- An evil Empire using the highly advanced technology of a long lost Ancient race.
- Said Ancient race being the creator of the dragons.
- Insect-like machines that guard the underground vaults of the Ancients.
It seemed like every idea I came up with eventually found its way back to Panzer Dragoon.
Basically, how do you massage a story into its own identity without sacrificing what it made what you wanted it to be in the first place? Is it worth continuing if you feel it's too derivative?
TLDR: Five years ago I wanted to create a story about dragons, and it ended up being a carbon copy of Panzer Dragoon, both featuring
- Arid, surreal sci-fi fantasy settings with industrial trappings.
- An evil Empire using the highly advanced technology of a long lost Ancient race.
- Said Ancient race being the creator of the dragons.
- Insect-like machines that guard the underground vaults of the Ancients.
It seemed like every idea I came up with eventually found its way back to Panzer Dragoon.
Basically, how do you massage a story into its own identity without sacrificing what it made what you wanted it to be in the first place? Is it worth continuing if you feel it's too derivative?
God I feel that quandary. I guess it really depends on 1) the degrees of separation and 2) how comfortable are you with the similarities. Like we focus a lot on the similarities but also what are the differences? Got to keep those in mind because I think when we get really inspired by something, it's what we decide to do differently that really defines the individualness of our stuff.
I'm fine with being similar, even if Panzer Dragoon is an arthouse punk epic it's still ultimately a work of fiction that was itself inspired by Jean "Moebius" Girard and Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind, but I don't want to look at this and think "yep this sure is a thing I like."
Thankfully it's all in the concepts stage of development (I don't even have a name; it's just called Dragon Attack after the Queen song) rather than actual concrete writing, so I'm free to make changes. I've come up with some ideas that I'm both happy with and stay within the vision of what I intended, but so far it's a rocky road.
Honestly 90% of any given story is on the execution not the ideas. All the points you've listed seem broad enough sci-fi/fantasy ideas in general that I wouldn't know they were Panzer Dragoon if you hadn't said (especially the second, which is super nonspecific).
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That's reassuring to know, especially since I've been so self conscious about it, but it's the amount of similarities I've stumbled upon that bother me.
I've actually been trying to sort of rearrange terms and words to keep the core idea of what I want, but without it being direct lifting.
Haha, seriously, you want to know how bad my luck sucks? I came up with an idea where the dragons, since they're bestial and can't speak, would impart telepathic messages onto their riders.
Guess what other series about dragons did that?
Though "psychic dragon powers" is pretty ubiquitous so I'm not too bummed about it, but at this point I wonder if I should just shell out $600 for a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga instead of writing lol
I'm confident once I break out of this funk I'll create something worthwhile.
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Anyone know where I can some kind of magazine or contest that accepts and publishes short stories? I've got a kind of horror/fantasy story I'm working on that I've got a good feeling about.
Check submission grinder. They list pretty much all publications, and whether they are open for submissions, what genre, etc. You can search by genre.
This is super helpful. Thanks! Now I just gotta parse through all the info they're giving.
Maaaan I just got a huge bummer. I was following up on some long-standing contest submissions and found out they had already announced the winners and I never even received a rejection letter. I dunno why, but not even getting one always hurts a bit more like I wasn't even memorable enough to remember to say no to.....
Quick Edit: Literally a few hours since I posted this I got the rejection letter lol. Now the thing that bothers me is if it was a personal or form.
Quick Edit: Literally a few hours since I posted this I got the rejection letter lol. Now the thing that bothers me is if it was a personal or form.
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This weird little meta-story about suicide and depression. It wasn't a challenge story. Despite having written so much for the challenges, I rarely ever touch up those and send them out.
it's been a while since I tried sparking interest in this thread.
so my random question today...
I've found that when I'm excited to get to a certain scene I go out of my way to make sure the stuff leading up to that is rather involved to make sure that I don't just rush from the scenes I want to do and compromise the journey there... if that makes sense.
Anyone else do that. Put a ton of effort in the scenes you don't want to do before tackling the scenes you want to do just so you won't skimp on them?
so my random question today...
I've found that when I'm excited to get to a certain scene I go out of my way to make sure the stuff leading up to that is rather involved to make sure that I don't just rush from the scenes I want to do and compromise the journey there... if that makes sense.
Anyone else do that. Put a ton of effort in the scenes you don't want to do before tackling the scenes you want to do just so you won't skimp on them?
So I'm coming to the end of my revisit to my first novel. It's been a very strange month with a lot of cursing and feeling pretty shitty about my abilities, but I do think I've made the book quite a bit stronger. it's not amazing--certainly not my best writing--but I still like the plot and characters. It's a fun journey, and writing it still remains the most fun I've ever had writing.
I'm going to spend the rest of the month on the first three chapters, sprucing them up just a bit more, and then I suppose I'll bother one or two small publishing houses that I missed four years ago when I first made the rounds. I don't expect them to take it, but I've grown pretty callused to the word "no." Once that happens, I'll self publish it for a couple of bucks. I'm not sure what the current market rate is for ebooks, but i plan on undercutting it by at least a dollar, if not more.
I will then buy adspace on inkbunny, furaffinity, and any big furry subredits because the book is loaded with talking animals and hey, an audience is an audience.
I'm going to spend the rest of the month on the first three chapters, sprucing them up just a bit more, and then I suppose I'll bother one or two small publishing houses that I missed four years ago when I first made the rounds. I don't expect them to take it, but I've grown pretty callused to the word "no." Once that happens, I'll self publish it for a couple of bucks. I'm not sure what the current market rate is for ebooks, but i plan on undercutting it by at least a dollar, if not more.
I will then buy adspace on inkbunny, furaffinity, and any big furry subredits because the book is loaded with talking animals and hey, an audience is an audience.
Sorry to hear bout that. I've just about given up on contests unless the piece is an exact fit or if there is no entry fee.
Ugh, I have a Wednesday deadline and still loads of editing to do. There goes any free time for today.
Backing off some of my other duties in November so I can write again. Been too long a hiatus after fulfilling the 2017 writing challenge. I think I emptied the vessel of words, but it's been filling up again.
Any good examples of children's books that give a sense of an adventure, with main characters moving from place to place?
I'm an illustrator and I have this original character I've created. Many people have said that it would be perfect for my own children's book and I've started planning it.
I pretty much know what kind of story I want to tell, but I'm not sure on how to execute it.
I'm kind of lost on how can I effectively compress multiple story events / location transitions to a children's book format. I wonder if there are any books that have done this succesfully.
My format is something between a picture book and a novel, it's called a picture storybook I guess? Heavily illustrated, but more text compared to a picture book.
I'm an illustrator and I have this original character I've created. Many people have said that it would be perfect for my own children's book and I've started planning it.
I pretty much know what kind of story I want to tell, but I'm not sure on how to execute it.
I'm kind of lost on how can I effectively compress multiple story events / location transitions to a children's book format. I wonder if there are any books that have done this succesfully.
My format is something between a picture book and a novel, it's called a picture storybook I guess? Heavily illustrated, but more text compared to a picture book.
Sounds like you're writing a chapter book. That's the "bridge" format between pictures and Middle Grade novels, and it still tends to include a lot of pictures in it, although it's still weighted more towards text than pictures.
Wasn't able to finish writing the book before the baby got here, but I got it done before November. Yes, yes, getting done before NaNo is a bit weird, but whatevs.
Congrats! On the Book! Or the Baby! Whichever one's more important!
They're both my children, in a way!
Wait, what? Oh.
I'm sorry, I've just been informed that only the child is my child.
I was never happy with the original ending of my first novel, so recently I decided to rewrite it and make it different. But my mind is not the healthiest (depression), and the last few months were terrible in that regard because of the elections here in Brazil. I couldn't find peace of mind to write because I couldn't believe we were about to elect the biggest piece of shit we could (think of Donald Trump, but three times worse. Yeah...). He won the runoffs last Sunday, and despite the fact that I think that we're all gonna die, things cooled down a bit now that I don't have to fight with friends and relatives anymore. Sigh... So yesterday ideas started to flow back again, and damn, that feels good.
It looks like I'm going to inadvertently participate in NaNo, but not really. I'm going to try to crank out a novella in a month, no more than 40K tops to meet the submission requirements for a publisher my agent wants to try to submit to. Hopefully this works out.
another month, another goal reached.
now I have to decide if I'm going to write anymore on that project this month, or if I will focus on planning for nano.
I have what 24 hours to nano, and I'm roughly 14% done with planning for it with one project and like 10% done on the other lol.
now I have to decide if I'm going to write anymore on that project this month, or if I will focus on planning for nano.
I have what 24 hours to nano, and I'm roughly 14% done with planning for it with one project and like 10% done on the other lol.
yeah... I still need to figure out how to pace myself today, as I have a lot of work to do but I don't want to burn myself out right before nano.
doesn't help that I basically need to plan like 6 stories right now lol.
I didn't know that there is an Office online similar to Google Docs (which I'm currently using). The Word Online is surprisingly faster than Google's alternative. Should I start using it instead of Google Docs? Are there any downsides? I'm asking because I'm always anxious changing these kinds of suites because I had some bad stuff happening on my files with other alternatives.
I've used it a few times. I guess the only downside (maybe) is that it doesn't work offline.
I just read an article about it and it has some drawbacks in terms of features. Most of them I won't use anyway, but some are important to me, like searching and replacing stuff, or customizing the dictionary (or should I use "lexicon" here? I'm not a native speaker, sorry if there are mistakes. :P). I might use it, but I'll have to keep using Google Docs too, which is slower to load the file, but has these features. On the other hand, Google's Brazilian-Portuguese dictionary is really lacking, so maybe using both is the best option in the end.
EDIT: never mind, Word Online actually does offer the search and substitution options!
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