General Writer's Block thread

My original plan was to go for Black Comedy, Horror Comedy, or even outright Horror. Then I thought about a potential story to go with the setting and realized that it didn't really fit any of those, it was just... sad. It's definitely an angle I could go with, but I'm not sure if I'm mentally prepared for it.

As for your second question, I'm not entirely sure yet, but I'm definitely leaning towards I Just Write the Thing.

Edited by InvisibleWater on Mar 10th 2024 at 8:56:06 AM

I want my story to feature some existential horror.

In my fantasy series, one of the darkest twists is that the Empire faction devotes itself to believing in an evil malevolent god while the more heroic republic faction features many characters who believe in a benevolent and kind god. But most people in the Empire don't actually know this and think they are worshipping a powerful but good god.

And then all factions learn that the benevolent god is imprisoned and tortured by the evil god because said god won a war against heaven millenia ago. The only reason that humanity hasn't been obliterated is because the the benevolent god placed a final protection on all life. And the real kicker.

The god of death was originally a god of life, and the current god of life was the former god of death. The new evil god simply fails to understand the beauty behind life and was jealous of the power to destroy and this ended up driving said god insane, while the former god of death understood purpose, patience and wisdom that it retains even as it became a god of life.

But for all intents and purposes, in this world, the heroes have to recognize that their benevolent god that they believed to be all powerful and kind is powerless and unable to stop the evil god from going on a rampage. Their religion is a lie and they're actually up against a demonic god of horrific power. This causes many characters to have severe crises as faith as a looming apocalypse approaches since if it happens, humanity is effectively doomed.

That's fair!

Ultimately, then, it might call for some thought and reflection on your part.

You could also just try writing the thing, and see how you feel as you go. You can (I presume) always just stop if it's affecting you negatively.

Fair enough again!

If that hadn't been the case, I might have suggested changing the setting; but as it is, that may not stand.

In which case, and should you come to find that you're not happy with such a tone, then I might suggest looking for a new setting—or, alternatively, searching for what positivity there might be in your current setting.

Well, that certainly seems to feature some existential horror, I'd say! ^^;

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Mar 11th 2024 at 9:28:45 PM

I decided that for my world instead of the religious faction of my empire being an evil cult I'm instead just going to have them be an organized religion with millions of followers, if not billions, with a wide range of divine interpretations.

It's just the powerful ruling elite that know the truth of the god who is in charge (and who is not) which ends up being something of a closely kept secret.

A theme of this story is whether humanity is willing to challenge divinity or whether certain humans will betray their own humanity in order to be favored by said divinity.

Themes in general: fate or anti-fate. Greater good vs self interest. Justice or revenge. Reconciliation or retribution. Sacrificing your ethos for victory or suffering with your morality for the sake of kindness.

Would this be a good comeback/Pre-Mortem One-Liner/something like that?

The context is that Character A did a really bad thing, and is now tripping over himself to excuse, justify, and minimize it but Character B is furious and A is starting to get scared or something.

Character A: But.... You know... To err is human, to forgive is divine....^note  (It's an Alexander Pope quote, but Character A doesn't know where it's from)

Character B: Well, i'm only human. (whips out gun, puts it right in A's face, tries to shoot him)

Edited by Nukeli on Mar 16th 2024 at 10:42:43 AM

Oh, excellent!

I accidentally typed a second "Character A" for the quote instead of "Character B". The fist line is A, the second line is B.

Edited by Nukeli on Mar 16th 2024 at 10:43:29 AM