Writer's Block Daily

Anyone here struggling with confidence about their writing?

I'm not a voracious reader, and I often hear that avid readers make the best writers.

I do read, just not traditional novels as my attention span is too short.

Will this disqualify me from ever being a good writer, even if I choose to write in a different medium other than novels (webcomics, screenplays, short stories, etc?)

I wonder, since I'm not too much an avid reader. However, I prefer screenwriting as I'm not great with prose IMO.

hhhhhhhh I haven't write anything for my games in a while..

Productive day so far today!

I wouldn't worry about it too much (and not just because if it is disqualifying, then I am doomed). Granted, reading can only help in a lot of cases — as a content creator or otherwise — because it can help build and polish your technique. I found my long-lost copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I'm learning so much from it — and enjoying it — that I've been smuggling it into work and sneaking in reading sessions. I mean I'm totally concentrating on doing my part for the team.

On the other hand? My personal theory is that as long as you're learning from something, then no matter the source or the medium, you can improve. Games, movies, comics, whatever; take inspiration from anything and everything around you. Engage with it. Analyze it. Figure out what works/doesn't work, and why. And of course, practice to hone your craft.

Feeling unconfident? I am, too. So are plenty of people on this site. But don't worry if it seems like you're bumbling. Keep on bumbling until you make bumbles you can be proud of. That's (presumably) the key to being a true artist.

Hello everybody. Well, I've been warmly welcomed by Chihuahua0 who suggested that I introduce myself in Writer's Block Daily.

I'm a 51 year old woman currently living in Cardiff Wales, but wants to move back to Surrey England. Can't see that happening for a good while now, though; fuck you, Covid.

Like I've said elsewhere in this forum, I used to love writing stories as a kid; I went through a stage of being obsessed with The Famous Five, also, kids LOVE gore... so just think Enid Blyton with blood and guts in it!

(Sidenote: Someone made a post on "Ask Reddit" asking "If authors covered novels the way musicians cover songs, which covered novel would you be most excited to read?" My reply? I would love Irvine Welsh to cover Blyton's Famous Five series, in the style of "Trainspotting" and "The Acid House"; so complete with swearing, sex and violence, drug references, psychological backstories, etc... Especially "Five Go Off In A Caravan"! No end of potential there for Mr Welsh to develop dark psychological backstories, littered with Freudian Excuses, for the villains of this particular novel "Lou" and "Tiger Dan")

Sadly, I didn't keep up with the story writing as an adult; had a lot of confidence knocked out of me at school by one or two teachers who went into the profession basically because they enjoyed exercising power over kids, in knocking them down instead of building them up.

However, being forced into lockdown has encouraged me to finally really get my teeth into my blog and I've been getting more creative with my posts. Buzzing with ideas for future blog posts; such as throwing in the odd bit of fiction, in a "Story within a story" kind of format. At the moment, I'm working on a post about using "TV Tropes" as a blogging tool.

Nice to be here. Stay safe and well, everyone x

Edited by wossnim on Feb 9th 2023 at 10:13:34 AM

Welcome to the forum! I'm sorry to hear that you were so discouraged from writing during your school days—but I'm glad to read that you've found a return to writing after all. I hope that you're enjoying it! ^_^

Random story thoughts:

You know how Autumn gets fired because of something her brother did? I just realized that maybe the manager who fires her hates her because she's the sister of the guy who bit his son's ear off, but he has been keeping quiet about it. Maybe he gives a sigh of relief or something after he fires her, as a simple implication.

Since last month was so packed with stuff to do, I decided to do a sort of Nanowrimo lite and continue the writing project I started last summer. Jesus Fitzgerald Christ it's difficult to get back into the groove.

I tried to make the screenplay I’m writing longer (it’s 36 pages, but is supposed to be ~45), but the scenes I added ended up making me need to cut other scenes, so it’s still the same length. I’m so frustrated— I have no idea what I can do with these open 9 pages. sort of ironic— usually I write too much, now I’m not writing enough.

So, I'm now planning on making one of the stories I'm making into either a book, a Roblox game, or both. Though the very first one seems to be the most likely outcome.

Meanwhile, I'm worrying my screenplay is too long. I'm writing on a format that makes it about 60 pages long in its current state; it'd probably be around 70 with the proper formatting.

No, as in, it's about 70 pages with formatting, and it's not even halfway done.

Edited by TheWhistleTropes on Nov 12th 2020 at 2:22:06 PM

Blunt talk: If you're just writing for yourself, or for practice, or if you're younger than 21, screw length. Your first and most important goal should be to tell a good story. After that, get the formatting down. Your story should only be as long or short as it needs to be, and page counts only matter if you're writing for someone else and they have a target goal in mind.

Based on your page goal, it sounds like you're writing an hour-long TV episode. In that case, have you tried adding a subplot? Each story thread should play out like its own short film, interweaving with the others on a narrative or thematic level.

70 pages is perfectly valid for a shorter feature-length film. Take this with a grain of salt since I haven't actually read it, but you could probably add 10+ more pages and still be fine. But also keep in mind that fantasy films tend just work better in the 100-140 range.

My attempt at a screenplay ended up being around 25 pages. I still need to go back and revise, though.

It'd be the appropriate length for an episode of a TV show.

Unfortunately, I'm a slow writer, as it took a month to write that many pages. Mostly because I write in short bursts, usually a few paragraphs at a time.

Oh, same here! Although really I kind of am much shorter at that.

It is a TV draft, but it’s the pilot, and the a-plot already has so much going on that I think a b-plot would overwhelm it. I’m trying to think of ways to give the side characters more screen time.

Edit: Just hit 40 pages!! It's not perfect, but I feel better having just gotten there.

Edited by audgetrouble on Nov 13th 2020 at 8:26:30 AM

I emphasize with my characters so much that if I'm writing a sad or intense scene I'll feel it physically, like in my stomach. Just now, writing a pretty crazy scene, my gut is all nervous even though I know what's coming and the crazy thing hasn't even really happened yet.

I do believe that I've been there. Just thinking now of one particularly heartbreaking scene prompted me to mist up a little...

Wait until you have to kill off one of them.

Here you go folks; my blog post about using TV Tropes as a blogging tool. Hope you all enjoy having a read, also, please feel free to point out here any "Tropes" I've missed highlighting and linking, in my blog post. Cheers x

Oh, there's a character in my novel my friend and I know we need to kill but we're both dreading it so much. It's become a meme between us to invent scenarios in which this specific character lives Happily Ever After because we're already both so upset about it even though at this point in the story she's very much alive.

As it happens, that scene that I mentioned comes after, and is in reaction to, the deaths of three characters (I think that it was).

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Nov 17th 2020 at 12:48:17 PM

I have a NaNoWriMo YWP account now! Yay!

Just wrote a pretty emotional scene, I think. I would like to see your thoughts.

I've reached 101% of my NaNoWriMo target!

Yay!