Writer's Block Daily

Maybe the war just doesn't go nuclear for whatever reason. India and Pakistan have had wars while both have had nukes, and India's been in a border dispute with China while both had nukes, and they haven't nuked each other yet.

I mean, it's no secret that everyone knew that a nuclear war would be a disaster. I can't honestly imagine the nukes being dropped at the first signs of conflict unless the leaders are just that trigger happy or paranoid.

Well, the premise of this story is that the US and the Soviet Union both invested much more heavily into space weapons in the 1980s than they did in our timeline (think the Strategic Defense Initiative/“Star Wars” program). Eventually an American space shuttle is shot down by a Soviet anti-satellite weapon, and everything goes pear-shaped from there. The protagonists are two military astronauts—one American, the other Soviet.

In that case, maybe nukes won't be a solution if you let the battles themselves happen in space, at least to some degree. It's like... nuking the country won't help anymore if the important people can just flee to the moon!

That works perfectly along the removal of the nukes. They don't have that easy mass destruction weapon, so they start developing other means.

Okay, I had finished the plot outline. Or rather a plot outline for the first set of adventures.

I also had managed to get 20 or so characters in, but I will be asking around for trying to make character arcs for them.

I'm prolly gonna be more active on making posts on the world building forum for the next few weeks.

(oh and I had made an account on NaNo and RoRo)

I should be using October to prep for NaNoWriMo but I still can't figure out which novel to write. I have a bunch of novel ideas and argh, I can't choose.

I'm OTOH am already using October to prep for nanowrimo, and do have have an idea on what to write

But to be helpful, can you share some of those ideas with us? we might be able to help you find a premise to stick with.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Oct 9th 2023 at 9:31:44 AM

I have an idea, still trying to flesh it out but I have a whole month

~Morning Star 1337 some of my ideas are kinda complex, so bear with me. This is ranked from those that'll require loads of research to write to those that'll only require a bit of research at minimum (this is an important factor; research is a taxing thing for me to do and I have an entire month to do research alongside outling the story)

1. A novel taking place in a Dystopia Japan where the reincarnation of Queen Himiko and super-powered descendents of historical figures rebel against the tyrannical Emperor of Japan. This one would require the most research to the point it would be foolish to write the novel without doing it beforehand and I only have a basic idea of the plot that'll only be fleshed out with said research.
2. A novel set in The Roaring '20s where people have souls that grant them superpowers, with the catalyst for such a phenomenon occurring in World War I. Zelda Fitzgerald, who in the novel's setting, never married F. Scott Fitzgerald and is a famous writer/artist, serves as The Mentor to the protagonist.
3. Scripts for a webtoon whose characters are based on classic literature characters and has loads of literary allusions. The plot is basically about a Jay Gatsby Expy joining a super-powered group of vigilantes who are determined to stop the selling of a dangerous street drug made from Fairies. I would have to read a lot of books so I can properly understand and write the characters who are based on those books' characters.
4. A second draft/rewrite of last year's NaNo, which is about a troubled high-school artist who has supernatural art powers.
5. This is a much older idea that I'm recently considering; it's about an ex-assassin's baby getting kidnapped, so she goes out of her way to rescue her, killing a lot of people in the process. Basically Taken with elements of John Wick thrown in. Quite a straightforward story.

I'm personally leaning towards 2 and 5 myself.

@Cutegirl920fire:

If you're stuck on which to choose, and there's no clear way to pick between them (none would be easier, or clearly more fun, or includes some element that you've long wanted to work with, etc.), then let me suggest a method of choosing:

• Take a six-sided die (or five playing cards) and assign a story to each potential value
• Roll the die (or pick a card), and select the story that is thus indicated
  • Since you have five options, just re-roll the die on a roll of a six
• If, on doing so, you find yourself remorseful over the choice, then that story may not be a good selection—set it aside and repeat the above without it
• Continue until you're happy with the selection

If you go through all of the stories and aren't happy with any, then think about how you felt on selecting each: choose the one that you felt the least remorse over, or the most excited about.

IDK if that would work, because I keep changing my mind about which idea to write for in NaNo. I already used a online roulette wheel back when I already considered 3 potential ideas, wheel picked something, and then I became unsure of the choice and became undecisvie again.

That's part of the idea here: to have an external source of part of the decision.

That's the thing: if you're finding yourself unsure of the choice, then pick again. And again, and again, and again, if called for.

Then, if you're still unhappy after all possibilities have been spent, take the one that you were least unsure about. Note: not necessarily one that you weren't unhappy about at all, just the one that you were least unhappy about.

I'd also suggest the following thought: Which is worse: to make a choose poorly in picking which story to write, or to not write any story at all? If the latter is worse, then even a poor choice is better than not choosing.

Further, if you err in your choice here, well, you may be able to write one of the other stories later! And at least you'll then know how you feel about the story that you picked.

~Ars Thaumaturgis

Problem is, I am literally incapable of thinking. My parents are aware it's a problem and have pointed it out to me several times. I act on impulse and autopilot and I barely if at all think through my actions.

So expecting me to think is like expecting a fish to be able to walk on land. Don't count on it.

then maybe, just maybe, you should consider going in with no plan and go all in on pansting? To paraphrase Ars, which is worse? to write a Random Events Plot that is nothing more than stream of consciousness or to not write anything at all.

I do not think NaNo cares for coherentness, but instead word count, so even a Penny Dreadful is better than nothing.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Oct 9th 2023 at 4:52:18 AM

But like I need to choose at least one of my ideas for my NaNo and I do plan to edit and publish them someday.

If November comes and I haven't settled on a story idea, I'm screwed. Random Events Plot stories aren't my thing, as I prefer plot-focused ones.

I don't want to rely exclusively on pantsing, especially for research-heavy stories, so I must learn how to plan stories in advance before writing them down.

I used ArtFight, an online art event where you draw art of other people's OCs to get points for the team you're on, to improve my art, so why can't I use NaNo to improve my writing? Writing completely nonsensical stories, which sounds like you might be suggesting, seem to defeat that purpose.

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Oct 9th 2023 at 4:59:44 AM

Okay, if I may make a suggestion. Try to find some people in RL that can help you focus if possible. I don't think there is anything else I can do to help you, sorry.

as for NaNo. I'm also using it to improve my writing, but I had already settled on a premise early on and am laying out the groundwork....

Maybe you can try my method. Try to make an outline of your plot (lets used the Taken/John Wick one as an example), a list of characters, backstories and arcs, (you can skip most of the worldbuilding as you mentioned it would be set on earth). Then ask any local historians about inaccuracies in the setting and go from there?

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Oct 9th 2023 at 5:03:07 AM

WDYM? I don't understand what you're trying to suggest there.

Part of the fun of Nano is that it's just about getting literally anything down on paper and worry about how good it is later. So you always could go all in on the plot and come back to edit it and correct misinformation later. No first draft will be flawless, especially not during Nano.

I see, but I still would have to do a lot for research and I need to flesh out a lot of things before writing, so the writing process would be easier for me even if it means pulling shit out of my ass.

There is not a single local historian in my area AFAIK nd I can't drive, so I can't just go drive to museums and such (I don't have money for Uber and there's no local transportation outside of my school bus I can use). Also the Taken/John Wick idea takes place in modern times, so I'm not sure why you thought it's a historical setting

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Oct 9th 2023 at 7:12:27 AM

prolly got them mixed up. sorry

Fair enough.

Okay, then it seems to me that you're not likely to know which is better for you, so you may as well just pick one at random and run with it—even if you're unsure of the choice.

After all, if you're not inclined to think it through, and you have (I gather) no impulse or instinct pushing you to one or another story, how else are you going to select?

Now, we here can of course vote for which option we like the most—but that won't necessarily speak to which you'll enjoy working on the most, nor which will turn out the best. (After all, execution tends to be paramount in the outcome of a story, I believe.) So I'm not sure that the result will be all that much better than random chance.

We could also lay out some of the pros and cons that we see in each story-idea—but that would then call for you to consider those points and make a decision based on them. And if your mind is not designed for such a process, then this may not be useful to you.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Oct 10th 2023 at 12:53:18 PM

But then, I'm likely to change my mind and come back to square one. Just do the pros and cons thing and see if it'll work out or not for me.

If you're likely to change your mind, are you not likely to change it regardless of pros and cons...?

I mean, my thought is to take the view that "the dice have chosen, for good or ill".

Still, in case it helps, here are the pros and cons that I see offhand:
(And I invite others to chime in, as I don't presume that I've spotted all of them!)

Story 1:
Pros:

• A neat setting

Cons:

• Seems to require a great deal of research—do you have the time and inclination for that?

Story 2:
Pros:

• An unusual-sounding setting!

Cons:

Story 3:
Pros:

• Allusions to familiar characters may help in drawing an audience

Cons:

• That sounds like an awful lot of reading to do in a month of preparation. Is it stuff that you'd enjoy reading...?
• Even with that reading, I fear that if the body of literature involved is one that you're not familiar with, there's the risk of the allusions seeming superficial, or of retreading well-worn paths.

Story 4:
Pros:

• You already know the story somewhat, which I imagine may ease writing

Cons:

• Will familiar subject matter hold your interest well-enough to motivate you towards your writing goals?

Story 5:
Pros:

• You say that it's straightforward: that should ease writing, I imagine!

Cons:

• Is it as interesting to you as the other options?

~

Does anyone else see any pros or cons to add?

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Oct 10th 2023 at 6:01:04 PM