July 2023's Writer's Support Thread

It took months but I finally finished writing a chapter for an old project that I’m eager to wrap up. And I’m still not at the ending of that arc because it was becoming too long. collapses

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I’m a terrible one for starting something, feeling it’s not quite right, and then starting all over again. My advice would be to just believe in your idea and hammer out a first draft of the story. You can go back and change whatever you like afterwards, so just focus on sharing the story that’s in your head. No one else will ever get a chance to enjoy it if you never write it down :slight_smile: .

It’s really tough facing a blank page when you start, so don’t tie yourself in knots trying to be perfect from the beginning. Just pour those ideas out and tidy them up afterward.

You can do this!

Yeah, the middle can be a real problem. It can feel like you’re just stuffing filler in to get your word count up sometimes. My best solution so far is to think of a couple of ‘high points’ I want to put into the middle of the story. Something memorable and exciting. I write those scenes first. Then I can fill the rest of the middle naturally: how do my characters get to those points, and what happens as a result of those highlights that will point my character towards the climax.

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I am thinking starting a group to help people who has problem to plan and end stories I have more than 30 games ended many of them doing for contests and events with deadline.

I would love helping people, however. I don’t know if someone. would want participate due I am not a popular person.

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I’d participate in something like that. Learning new tricks to stay organized when writing (or even just to get myself to write in general) is always welcome. I tend to hit walls creatively a lot which can be rather… discouraging when trying to finish things.

This IF project I’m working on now is also the first time I’m actually taking steps to plan out things rather than just winging it and seeing what sticks.

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If someone wants to joing our friemdly chat send me a pm we maybe make a server if there is enough. people interested

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Plan? How do you plan? What is this planning you speak of?

Jokes aside, I’m so scatterbrained it’s a miracle I even function. I wasn’t even taught how to take notes growing up. How have I written anything like this?!

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I am one of those. That does not. limit you in the slightest.

I wrote a 100k game for a contest in a month.

Planning is not writing schedules and graphics .

Planning is have a clear goal and knowledge what you can feasible do in a timeframe or deadline.

I want to write this story and for having that I will need like an example 40k

I have a job and I can write lije 1k a day so being safe I can say with editing i will do a overall 600 words day

You have your plan and a deadline; no need fancy stuff I don’t. even know how it works… You only need your head and a goal is the magic of writing

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And it’s important to remember that your planing doesn’t need to be one of those super detailed outlines. Personally, I write one or two sentences per plot point. Then I expand that into a paragraph when I get to it. Then I expand that into the actual story

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I took months just to push out something under 5k because of my procrastination. 100k in a month? Are you Stephen King in disguise?

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It was rushed and unedited but it is still public online in the if site so It is possible if you write non stop more 10 hours a day during an entire month.

I am not a planner, But I have a very clear idea of where my limits are, and know where cut the word account BEFORE starting writing.

That is for me the key. Now what I can do in the timeframe. Anything else should be skipped no matter what cool sounds.

It can be added later but if you try to pushing a word account you can’t manage You will never end a project.

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This is really excellent advice, and I struggle so hard to follow it. Probably the main reason I haven’t written at least two novels already, combined with the infamous “Act 2 problem.” (Namely, struggling to figure out what happens and how in the middle of a story even when you’ve got the beginning and the end in mind.)

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I’m personally not a big wattpad fan. It is very social media-y which means that the exisiting popular authors will get heaps of attention, but unless you’re lucky or know how to play the popularity game, it’s hard to break through into that realm. If you just want somewhere to post stories, then go ahead, but don’t let it demoralise you if it turns out you get little attention. Also be aware, there always seems to be drama going on there (or at least there was when a friend nagged me into creating an account there years ago to try it out.) Seems to frequently have blatent plagerism issues and author drama. I can only imagine it has gotten worse since the advent of AI tools with what is getting posted.

Personally, I’d pick a nice writing based forum. Believe it or not, reddit has some decent prompt sites where you can post short stories to get in practice.

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I’m starting out this July housesitting for my mom while she’s at a conference, which means I’m working on my laptop, which is ergonomically less than ideal. Still, I have some strict goals for the start of the month and some looser goals for the latter half.

The first and most important goal is to wrap up the edits on Turncoat Chronicle. I do feel that the edit notes that I got have been very helpful and have allowed me to elevate the story. However, yesterday’s edits also revealed to me a potential bug in my timekeeping, so I need to set aside some time to thoroughly test that hypothesis. I’m glad I entered into the timekeeping of my second game with a more organized frame of mind. It should hopefully prevent these types of problems, in the future.

Speaking of which, I have been laser-focused on bringing TC over the finish line for so long that The Flower of Fairmont feels like a recollection of a dream. And it’s time to change that. My task for the second half of July is to revitalize my outline for chapter 3 of FoF.

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That’s the sort of dedication I’m working towards having myself :slight_smile: . Very impressive. How did you feel after you’d done it? I think 10 hours a day for a whole month might leave me feeling very burned out. Also, I’d have to spend the next month with my hands in an ice bucket.

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I just realized something. The monsters in my story feed off of humans’ stress, and most of the story takes place at a school. God! Imagine midterms week!

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Like a person with chronic. anxiety and depression I was sad and angry with myself about the quality of it.

But with time and perspective It was a key moment for me in building a confidence. I can feel my writing is crap, but I have no doubt that I will end the game in time.

But I won’t lie it is a process that requires hard work and discipline.

It is set a I have to write this number of words and hell if I will no matter that.

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Do you guys think brandon sanderson is a good writer?

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Yes! I wouldn’t have thought anyone could finish WoT after Jordan’s death. Awesome author.

Hey group! Nice to see that this support thread is still going strong.

I haven’t been posting, but I’ve been reading. I have lots to get caught up on.

I’m ready for a final push to get Daria: A Kingdom Simulator out of alpha, into beta, and off to publishing.

Here we go!

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Yes but I hate his worldbuilding. But I can recognize his talent simply is not my cup of tea.

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Hey, everyone!

Thanks, @Eiwynn for keeping these posts up as usual. I plan to start engaging more directly with them each month.

I’ve got some lofty goals this month ahead, and I’m unsure as to what milestone they’ll all be completed:

  • Finish the Equipment System’s implementation for Estheria: A Realm Divided.
  • Upon completing the equipment system, finalize the Inventory System.
  • Begin proper development of the Item’s Database, plotting out the initial items set for Update 1.
  • Create curves for XP to level, combat formula curves, and a general theorized ‘progression’ curve.
  • Finalize the remainder of party data, passing it over to my engineer to finalize the component of combat that determines turn order.
  • Once the above is completed, begin developing the required subroutines for combat.
  • If successful before the month’s out, begin preliminary testing and finalize Scenario 1 of the Combat Simulation for Update 0.5.

All in all, quite an ambitious month ahead. Much of it’s system development and coding, but I’m hoping to sprinkle some work on content as I do so. I’d enjoy getting back to writing :sweat_smile:.

Cheers!
~Zach

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