General Writer's Block thread

Man, I really like writing emotionally evocative character-driven stuff, but lately I feel like I've been slipping into melodramatics, and I'm not sure what I can do to mitigate that given I'm primarily a "bursts of inspiration" writer. Thoughts? (if any )

I'd suggest passing some of your recent writing to a beta reader for feedback: it seems to me worth testing the feeling that you have, in case it's off—and if it the feeling isn't off, some feedback may give you some promptings towards correcting your work.

I think my problem might be that most of my "beta writers" are my friends who don't write much.

Is there a beta reader sign up thread?

There's the old Writer/Critic Dating Service, but I have no idea how many writers have actually gotten themselves a beta reader through it.

Plus, I'm not looking for a full readover—I trust myself as an editor enough to not consider that necessary—but mostly just a "hey here's a paragraph does this sound like a trashy airport novel or nah".

I mean, I doubt that one needs to be a writer themselves in order to spot melodramatics. A friend who knows that you want critique might well be perfectly fine for the task.

Another option is to post a sample of your writing in the critique thread. We could at least comment on your general style there.

Would it be okay to necro it from six months ago, though?

If no one commented on it then, yes.

Necroing is allowed if you're meaningfully participating in the thread, yeah. No stuff like "bump" or "lmao bestie so true".

Quick question

Female lead (early 40s) has been asked to 'formally date' by male lead who is her best mate.

Emotionally she wants to, but intellectually she talks herself out.

Assuming the question is along the lines of 'do you want to date him?' does the 'No' block the 'Yes', or the 'Yes' override the 'No' in her head?

The actual answer she gives is non-committal, but I want to show the reader the natural instinct is to say yes, but she is scared to, in case she loses her friend.

Have you considered using internal monologues with italic text?

I am actually writing the internal monologue - I thought I knew what to write, and then as I came to write it I went 'hold on, which way round do these sentences go?'

I basically need a 'readers Block thread'!!

EDIT

"Her tongue started to say 'ok', but her brain overrode it, and she ended up with just a 'nn' coming out."

Edited by Last_Hussar on May 25th 2022 at 3:45:13 AM

Oh wow. That's some unexpected thought.

Yeah, its a bugger!

This is the lead up, if it helps

Alex looked at Izzy's near empty glass. "You staying on the wine?"

"Yes. Stop!"

Alex, half out of his seat, stopped moving. "What?"

"My round."

Alex straightened. "I do believe I said I was taking you out tonight."

Izzy gave a tight, humourless smile, "No, that bloke who took me out to dinner said that. Now I'm with you, and it's my round."

Alex sat back down. "Don't move. What you thinking, Trouble?"

Izzy stared over Alex's head, and into the wall behind the bar, a bemused look on her face. "I...," she paused again, "it's just, I dunno. Everything was very nice, thank you for dinner, but, I dunno. Y'know?"

Alex rubbed his chin. "I know what you mean. Maybe we shouldn't worry about doing the whole first date thing. We are mates, so why not go on being mates?"

"Would it be dating then?"

Alex just shrugged. Izzy paused. She thought she knew what she wanted to say. She thought she did, she was pretty sure what she wanted. She thought she wanted to date Alex. But… But this was Alex, this was her best mate. Could you date your best mate? How would that be different to how they were mates? Well, there would be the sex, she imagined.

"What you smirking at?"

Izzy shook herself from her reverie. "I'm not smirking. I never smirk."

"You’d better tell your face off for lying then."

And that was it. She couldn't sleep with Alex, because they were mates. That would be weird. If he was her boyfriend, he wouldn't tell her off like that. That's not what boys – men, she corrected herself – did. It would all be too serious. Wouldn't it?

Edited by Last_Hussar on May 25th 2022 at 3:56:14 AM

I think the pacing is fine enough.

Her tongue started to say 'ok', but her brain overrode it, and she ended up with just a 'nnn' coming out.

Alex looked at her with confusion. "I don't speak 'nnn'." He held his hands forward as if to say 'and?'

Izzy shrugged. "I'll get them," she said and walked towards the bar. She didn't see him look at her retreating form with melancholy eyes, wondering if he had upset her.

How's that as an ending?

Edited by Last_Hussar on May 25th 2022 at 4:13:31 AM

Hmm, may need a bit more of witty type. Like, something wondering if it'll turn out bad or worse.

Sorry, not understanding what you mean.

Like, you can write this instead: "She didn't see him look at her retreating form with puffy eyes. Was it something upsetting for her? Or something worse?"

Ultimately, this is going to come down to her individual thought process, I think. In short, what is her first instinct—her immediate, gut reaction?

As it stands, it seems that you've written her first instinct to be to say "yes", with second thoughts overriding that instinct.

Would "worried" be accurate in the place of "wondering"? If so, that might carry a little more emotional impact, perhaps.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on May 26th 2022 at 9:56:31 PM

Yes, that's it, "worried".

Over in the "Why you shouldn't use Tropes" thread, we're looking for input from those who consider themselves to be "plotters" (i.e. writers who include a fair amount of pre-planning in their writing process).

(Unfortunately, we've ended up with nothing but "pantsers" in that thread, leaving us only speculating on how it is for "plotters".)

Specifically, there are a few questions regarding the extent to which you "plot", the degree to which you find the story or characters going in unexpected directions, and how you respond to such unexpected changes, should they arise.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on May 30th 2022 at 10:11:50 AM

So, I sent the letter to the first three editors. And my parents said that if their answers prove to be unsatisfactory to me, then I could send it the remaining four.