July's Writers' Support Thread

Hi!

Got your notification, so I had to reply or not be able to get the rest I need. lol.

It is awesome to have you with us bubbles :slight_smile:

Is your WiP the one where you show up and get interviewed by the new owner?

Working retail (selling Apple products) a long time ago, I bet we can share lots of interesting stories. lol

@Jaybirdy – Your ability to write about autism and depression is a help to those of us unable to put those long-term feelings and their influence on us into words…

I can fangirl on your story so much we can derail this thread, so I’ll just wait to do so when you next update the WiP. I always got a Roman vibe from your work, with the protagonist being of a Rus/Viking type of people and the Pirate People (don’t remember their names) being Phoenician in nature…

This brings back another memory … one of the most egotistical guys I ever met brought his brand new Camero to the block party we were having that year, to show off and brag. Well, he brought a 1/2 stick of dynamite with him to, because… explosives fascinate all of us, right? Anyways, he sets it off across the street from his car, but forgot to secure the dynamite … so when it went off, it flew into the door of his brand new Camero, making a story, the whole neighborhood remembered thereafter. lol

lol… My sisters were in the military, so 4th of July was always a big holiday for us. Lots of military families get together on the 4th.

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I am not American so for me, It is just a simple day. I am not in a good place right now in writing but I don’t want to derail the trail with stuff doesn’t interest anyone.

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Romantically and with life in general, I’ve had…an interesting extravaganza, we’ll put it that way. :sweat_smile: So I certainly draw upon that ball of bizarre when writing awkwardness, first love, growing pains, finding yourself, etc. As far as single, special experiences go: I had a summer fling once at a scholarship/social program. The program was already unique being isolated from my parents over an extended period for the first time. But weirdly enough, when we started dating it was actually exactly like some silly teen movie unlike prom. He even tried to hold me at a movie by doing the yawn and stretch thing. That cliché. Since it was over June and July, that memory also involves a cute 4th date on a beach; however, no cruise ship for me! I admit, your 4th romance made me all sentimental.

Oh boy, I’ve worked several jobs in college so far to keep up with everything. But my first two were strange, soul-sucking, and gave me unforgettable experiences interacting with my bosses, coworkers and customers (of sorts in the second case). One of them was retail, as I was a cashier at a tiny store. The other one was a call center job. If no one here has ever worked a call center job: please maintain your sanity and keep it that way!

My father is retired from the military. Can confirm! Many of my odds and ends type memories are due to military background. Civilian vs. military life is a fascinating comparison and contrast.

As far as writing support goes, my main goal in July is 15,000 more words not including code and to solidify a true plan of action for when I’ll be writing vs. coding vs. editing vs. letting ideas sit. I’m not sure if that’s reasonable or unreasonable as a goal, but I will be gentle with myself if I don’t reach it, and celebrate if I surpass it so no harm no foul. I don’t know if it’s acceptable to include non-writing goals in here too, but I feel compelled because being in this thread has actually really helped me focus my mind and bring about progress:

  • Lose another 5 lbs, and drink water at every meal. I’m literally always forgetting to keep hydrated; meal times get me started and I can go from there.

  • Get my sleep schedule in order. 10:30 latest sleep time is probably asking too much of my night owl brain, but I’ll settle for 11 or at least before 12. So far, this one has been going well. Can’t throw parties yet as it’s only the 2nd, but still.

  • Clean the bookshelves so my messy room might finally spark joy rather than disorganized dread. Bonus points if I can sell some stuff and recover from the Steam Summer Sale financial desert.

Basically, July opens chapter two of my self-help book style, 20 something life.

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July has started off strangely for me as I’m feeling quite poorly and low in energy. Today I had a sick day and slept for most of the morning! But writing wise, what I’d really like to do is complete drafting Chapter 2. And then maybe… put up a WIP thread? :speak_no_evil:

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The second day of the new sprint (month) and cut off a major feature that I liked but slowed my writing down to crawl. Was conflicted about it for the whole last week. But now I feel at ease, but slightly sad.

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Hello! I recently finally got back to writing & updating my WIP here, Land of the Dragon! Also finally have some free time this July, so I joined up for NaNoWriMo’s July 50k words camp(?)! Are there any existing writing groups around these parts? Gotta keep myself accountable to reach anywhere near that lofty 50k word goal lol…

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Not really an experience I draw from, but my mind wanders when I’m doing mundane chores like dishes, laundry, gardening etc. I’ve come up with quite a few ideas how I can “show” and not “tell” some things in my WiP.

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Finally writing my two Marvel interactive romance WWYFF stories (Who Will You Fall For) on both AOOO and Quotev - a female one for the Sinister Six and a male one for the female Avengers/A-Force. Here’s a cover a nice lady made for me over on Quotev for the Sinister Six one:

Having to figure how whose the best choice to represent She Hulk in the A-Force one though - I figure either Angie Harmon, Audrey Plaza or Eliza Dushku are the best choices since everyone else has a MCU version (except Lady Thor and there’s plenty of fan art for Natalie as her now anyway. :grin:

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Hi hi hello hiii! I’ve been lurking, but it’s been a while since I last posted here. It’s nice to see a thread dedicated to writer support. :blue_heart:

After a year of hiatus, I’ve finally made progress on my WIP and completed the rewrite of the prologue. I’m conflicted about posting the demo because it’s been so long and I just want to get it out, but I think it’s best in the long run if I wait until I finish Chapter One.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that most of my problems were solved by streamlining and cutting the extra branches. They’re evil, I tell you. I mean, I still have quite a few, but the gremlins are much more manageable now.

But as much as I want to write this July, sadly I have to stop procrastinating and focus on my online classes. For now I’ll be happy enough if I can progress through my rough outline. It’s more or less complete, save for maybe a couple of chapters in the middle that I’ll probably figure out once I know what to do with the rest of the character arcs (and their introduction songs, hehe.).

Speaking of, is there anyone else who gets bored of their story (and starts looking for new problems) when you know exactly how everything is going to happen? :stuck_out_tongue:


Anyway, let’s have a great July, everyone!

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Speaking for myself, I don’t think it’d be derailing at all to talk about challenges we encounter, but I totally understand if you don’t want to get into the specifics, too.

Goalwise, let’s see… I think I’d like to manage 20k words on the side project this month, or finish chapter one (and post the demo, which is the prologue + ch1, in a proper WIP thread). I think a decent stretch goal would be to do whichever one of those takes longer, as it were. The prologue itself is roughly 10k/~5k per playthrough right now, so I suspect if I hit either goal I’ll probably be able to hit both, but we’ll see. :slight_smile:

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@Eiwynn
Hi! Thank you so much for your warm welcome to this thread. ^^ I really appreciate it.

Yes, it is! The one with fae and the amusement park. I’m curious - did you play it? :o

@anon21485497 @Jaybirdy
God, I bet we could swap retail working stories all day. I feel like no matter what era one’s writing is set in, customer service stories worm their way into how you portray people. In the past, a rude Starbucks customer has easily translated into a cruel Prussian Baroness for a story…But I digress :wink:

@HannahPS Best of luck with your WIP! I love your previous work, so I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on your stuff! @Franzinyte Same to you, can’t wait to see your demo when it comes out! Share it whenever you feel comfortable.

As for personal goals for the month of July: I’d really like to get at least half of chapter 3 out. I think it’d be around 20k words? (Not including coding, of course.) I really hope I don’t burn out/become dejected. Since I’m pretty new, I still have trouble seeing what is normal interaction, and I worry sometimes if I’m meeting a “standard.”

Also, a few people have mentioned that to me that they’d be interested in a Patreon for my game, which I don’t know much about. If anyone has any experience with it, I’d be open to it!

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My goals for June were to finish Chapter One of EfC, which…didn’t happen :stuck_out_tongue: We’ll see if I can do it this month. I’ve been thinking of setting word count goals for myself to keep motivated, but I’m afraid it’ll actually end up discouraging me if I end up failing to meet that goal.

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My goals for June were to finish the Prince Aursley Featherall chapter for TDUP, which I did! 27,000 words, marginally shorter than other chapters which sometimes reach 40,000, but people have mentioned that the pace felt much slower. That’s likely on account of having a tonne of dialogue choices, which slow down the game (at least in my experience) as you think of what to say.

It was a bit depressing to tackle this writing through June. This chapter had a lot of sad themes. Moving on past grief, trying to get out of self-destructive habits, loving someone even though it hurts you, letting go of past trauma, facing your own mortality — things I’ve had to do and things I’ve watched others go through in their own lives. I mean, my partner’s grandfather, who she loves with all her heart, has refused treatment for heart problems and has refused to leave the home he built for himself when he was young. There’s a sense of honour in holding on to your own house, maintaining your independence, and choosing the manner in which you face your own end, but it doesn’t make it easier. And to top it off her dog’s cancer is severe; the pup just turned 14 and only has a few weeks left at most. The characters in my story understand mortality and can talk about it, express their ideas, show fear, and give comfort to those left behind. Her dog can’t do that — she just knows that even though everything hurts, her family needs her to stay just a little bit longer, so she’s hanging on.

All the dread I feel about death has come back as well. It simmers behind my ears, only boiling over a few times a year, but when it does, it’s paralysing. Writing is one way I try to come to terms with it. But as brave as Aursley seems, accepting his death with a smile, I can’t see myself in him at all.

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3 posts were split to a new topic: A Discussion of the 7 Feminine Archetypes --Superhero Tropes

My June Goals was to finish the FHR Alpha, which I did. Now the July goals is turning it into a proper bux-fixed beta with all variables balanced and present.

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Agh, sometimes I feel like the hardest part of writing is just opening up CSide to begin with. I’m a master at distracting myself on the internet…

(Case in point - the fact that I’m on the forum right now instead of writing :sweat_smile:)

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Smashed out 3000 words today and still going strong, Ive written myself out of a route I was kinda wishing I hadn’t implemented, squashed about a hundred bugs and now my game finally passes quicktest again, for the first time in about 6 months.

I know its blasé to say it but just write whatever then edit your terrible prose later is the best advice I’ve ever been given.

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That’s awesome to hear for you! And I think I’ll try that - I have this weird anxiety about writing anything without thinking it through first, but I should know by now that sentences sometimes meet me halfway.

Thanks! :slight_smile:

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