Current Events > Writing General

(+) Yeah! (+)

Hey Guys,

By popular request, the Writing General is back. I'm currently in the process of outlining a novel and so far I have about 4 of the characters outlined, as well as general story arcs. I won't post too many specifics but, I'll update with my progress as I go, and I encourage you to share what you're working on :)

As someone said in another topic, this should be a place to mostly report progress, vent frustrations, share tips and resources, ask questions, and just shoot the s***.

I'll start with the method that I'm using to write my novel: The Snowflake Method

https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/

---

Hi! I'm nearly 15 and beginning to write a fantasy novel (original, I know), and I'll make sure to post here when I need help!

---

NobleWill8 posted...

Hi! I'm nearly 15 and beginning to write a fantasy novel (original, I know), and I'll make sure to post here when I need help!

Welcome

---

I've set my goal at one new chapter every two weeks. Pretty slow, but my chapters have consistently broken the 7k word mark, so it's not as shameful as it looks.

I may post some of them if CE is interested.

---

marthsheretoo posted...

so it's not as shameful as it looks.

Not at all my guy. I'm lucky to get like 200 words a week these days.

---

ApherosyLove posted...

Not at all my guy. I'm lucky to get like 200 words a week these days.

Same. I'm actually a published author working on my second novel, but sometimes I can barely get anything out

---

Tagging
I haven't written anything in awhile, decided to start again today. Outlined a short story but I need one more monster to finish it I think.

Tag for later.

---

I had been writing a plot to a final destination movie that I wanted to make (but what are the odds I could even make that haapn? Lol) a few months ago but my computer died. I still have all the ideas in my head and I could rewrite at any time. I just haven't bothered. I was reminded because this morning there are 3 final destination topic here for some reason lol
---

I was doing a creative writing minor in college but I've found that I'm just never motivated to create stuff...

---

I find it super easy to get in the mindset to actually sit down and write if I workout before doing it.

---

tag

---

Usually I'll have a go at poetry and lyrics since I'm always singing random melodies and if it's cacthy I try and let the pen just flow out whatever I'm thinking.. that's really my approach for any creative writing, if I see I got a wall of good material I'll just add to it day to day (provided it fits into the main schpiel of what I'm trying to say)

Black Diamond Bay by Bob Dylan is a great example of this.. almost pulp fiction like

---

Tag, I'm going to try to write 100 words for every post in this topic.

---

There's this app called Canva that I use to mock up book covers. This is my latest one!

---

ApherosyLove posted...

Not at all my guy. I'm lucky to get like 200 words a week these days.

indica posted...

Same. I'm actually a published author working on my second novel, but sometimes I can barely get anything out

Thanks, guys. Helps me feel a bit better, but I don't really feel like I have a good excuse for not writing more.

Speaking of writing more, this fucking chapter just broke 8000 words and probably still has another thousand left in it. What the fuck, why do I write these slow-paced boring monstrosities?

@indica Do you know anyone in the biz you could point me to? I have a project nearing completion on its 6th draft that I think is finally ready to shop around and I'm looking for any leads I can find.

---

Hopefully this writing topic won't devolve into just bumps lol.
---

Nice.

Currently I'm working on two projects. Ten short stories which I'll complete over the year, about one per month, and a sci-fi/comedy novel I've been chipping away at for a few years on and off.

Tag

I've been trying to teach myself screenwriting for the longest, and now I've been going to art school for it. It's a really interesting process compared to wriring, say, novels and such.

---

Kitt posted...

I've been trying to teach myself screenwriting for the longest, and now I've been going to art school for it. It's a really interesting process compared to wriring, say, novels and such.

What are some differences you've noticed? I've been interested in that myself.

---

Joker98 posted...

What are some differences you've noticed? I've been interested in that myself.

The biggest difference being, unless a particular attribute of something is important to the story, you can't be as descriptive as you are when writing a novel or short story.
Screenwriting is more like a blueprint laid out for a show or movie, rather than a story passage. That doesn't mean you can't have fun with it though.

My rule of thumb when writing things is to treat it like I'm part of a bigger thing where other people also have a job they need to do:

So I try to avoid describing exactly what a character is wearing because that's the wardrobe person's job (though you can give a general idea on their style).
I try to avoid camera directions (unless it's important to the scene) because that's the cinematographer/director/storyboard Art's job.
I try to avoid editing notes/specific transitions (again, unless it's actually crucial to a scene) because, obviously, that's the editor's job.

That's how I'm doing things for the most part and it makes sense to an extent, but honestly, it's kind of bullshit. Screenwriting is one of those things where the more established you are, the more you're allowed to get away with those things. There's learning the rules before learning how to break them and then there's just not following these rules entirely.

Tarantino is such a perfect example. His scripts are super fun to read, but they're FULL of stuff that they look down on in screenwriting classes. Really makes you realize how much luck plays a part in all of this.

---

I appreciate these topics, I'm scheduled to be meeting with Netflix in March for a pitch and I can't wait.

Hey guys, wanted to update you on my novel.

I've been trying to write every day, but sometimes it's been every other day.

So far I have outlines for 5 characters:
The main character
Her mother
Her childhood best friend
Her adulthood best friend
Her therapist

I have a 1 paragraph summary of each character, their motivation, their goal, and the conflict for each person. I want to develop more of the characters before I build out the story line, but so far I'm liking what I have.

The therapist is going to be comedic relief in this otherwise tragic (yet hopeful) story. She is fun loving, but enjoys chaos a little too much. She is generally a good person and wants her patients to succeed, but her own inner turmoil prevents her from giving good advice a lot of the time, in favor of sowing chaos by giving bad advice, and cross boundaries. She is often drunk on the job.

---

^ sounds good so far.

So here is a question... How much detail do you all go into? Like initially I was writing 100 words at a time trying to get from one point in the story to another... But now I realize I can just do a lot to add characterization and stuff. But at what point does it stop?

---

As a general outlining/worldbuilding tool may I suggest Microsoft OneNote? It's like a streamlined version of making your own wiki articles. Good way to keep track of your own info.

---

One more chapter managed. 9800 words this time, yikes. Ran myself ragged getting through it in 2 weeks.

---

I recently published my third book and I just can't bring myself to start the fourth. Im too laaaaazy.
---

I have resumed working on my sci-fi novella series with the intention of blasting through one a week this year. That's a very doable goal if I stay disciplined because everything is either outlined or constantly swirling around in my head, just waiting to be written. I'm not going to worry so much about dialogue anymore because that's where I get too caught up. I'm simply going to maintain a serviceable enough level to get the main story down, then go back and clean everything up.

The one I'm working on right now is one of my favorites because it seems like a throwaway or "monster of the week" type story but it's actually a launching point for several different characters and plots that tie into the main story in a huge way.

---