Writer's Block Daily

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Did you forget to add a con for Story Idea 2 or simply couldn't think of one? Also for Story 3, I like reading classic literature, but my ADHD makes it difficult to read physical books. I already read some of the literature beforehand, so there's that.

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Oct 10th 2023 at 9:10:22 AM

The latter, I believe.

So the first "con" for that story may be both lesser and greater for you: lesser due to some of the reading having been done already, and greater because the reading is difficult for you.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Oct 10th 2023 at 7:16:19 PM

So...what programs/tools do you use to write?

Straight up google docs, along with a word-counting website mostly because it's become habit to write there and transfer my story into a doc later.

I primarily use LibreOffice Writer, with some notes hand-written either on notepads or in notebooks.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Oct 11th 2023 at 11:21:35 AM

Google Docs, because it autosaves to the cloud so I don't lose anything, and it's multi-platform so I can seamlessly write on any of my three computers or my phone. I keep both my actual writing and my notes there. I have a lot of worldbuilding notes and it's nice to be able to easily search it.

I see.

I'm using open office currently but am considering Scrivener and wanted to ask about it.

I use both Microsoft Word and Open Office Word. It’s job security.

A messy combination of Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and Celtx for more script-oriented work.

I just go straight into google docs.

Besides (presumably) reading their work a lot, how one would go mimicking/homaging an author's writing style in their own work?

It might be worth reading reviews or scholarly articles on their work—things that might describe their style and use of language.

Where can I find such articles?

No idea, I'm afraid. Perhaps someone else will know—or (if you haven't already) perhaps some searching on Wikipedia or Google will turn something up.

I have this idea I might implement in a story of mine and I'm curious on your thoughts on it:

So, the MC ends up pregnant and impulsively decides to keep the child, which her husband is fine with. They have the baby, a girl, and the MC does an OK job caring for her, but is easily overwhelmed by caring for a baby. Overtime, the MC becomes sick of the fact she's been overshadowed by her husband (who's a famous author) and she picks up ballet.

The MC ends up obsessed with ballet to the point she wants to become a prima ballerina, which is impossible for her, but she's in denial of it. As a result, she ends up neglecting her daughter while she pursues ballet. Eventually, the husband divorces the MC and manages to claim full custody of their child. Yet, the child is still a mama's girl, adoring her mother and wanting to become a ballerina like her. At the end of the story, the MC, who by then has pushed her body beyond its limits for ballet, performs one last time on the stage and straight up dies from exhaustion. The performance was filmed live and the daughter was watching it. She and everyone else who watched it didn't realized that the MC died on stage and thought her fall was just a performance until people start to realize something is wrong.

EDIT: For clarification just in case, the idea is the child; I already got the basis of the story's plot down.

Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Oct 27th 2023 at 6:18:56 AM

It's amazing how far into the legal weeds you can get if you are asking "is a video recording of the inside of a house illegal, and if so can it still be used as evidence for a crime"? Sometimes realism - a key plot aspect in my story relies on these questions - is a chore.

For many months, the Constructive Criticism thread was long-dormant, with the most recent post dating to 7the September. But next month, I want to revive the thread so aspiring writers can post up their works for critique.

What do you think?

Okay I decided to get started on my novel after work today. (While it is for nano, partially, I do not think a head start is egregious, and it might not matter if I somehow end up with 50k words before November 28-29.

That said I want to ask which would make a good prologue/hook:

• The primary protagonist learning of her new life as a Dungeon.
• an Action Cold Open showing two other protags successfully getting treasure from a different dungeon, slaying tough monsters along the way.
• or a mix of both, where sciences from A are interspersed with scenes from B?

If C is the way to go, how do I distinguish the plotlines.

(Ffr, all three are supposed to meet later and become allies)

I ask because I think the greatest hurdle for novice authors is...the beginning itself. (Something I think next exemplified by the SpongeBob episode "Procrastination"). I did have a plotline made in advance, but I need help with the order of events for the opener.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Oct 30th 2023 at 7:34:47 AM

I think that either could work.

Which might work better could depend on what you want to set up right from the start, and what you think is likely to be most appealing in your story. (And, of course, on the precise content of those scenes.)

For example, the second option, as described, seems like it might suggest that the story will be action-packed; if it's not, then that opening might lead to disappointment.

Conversely, if the story is not action-packed, then the first option seems like it might be a little slow as a starting point.

But of course, there's more nuance to the matter than just that: for example, the first option could work in a non-action story if the action is defocussed and something else is set up or teased. And so on and so forth.

For additional context:

• there will be some action (as it is close to lit RPG and would therefore have mob encounters and boss fights), but I think the focus is more on adventuring overall, and would be slower pace as I try to work through the Debut Queue.
• the primary protagonist (and the one mentioned in A), while she will have a human proxy body later on, would begin in full Genius Loci mode, and would there contend with alien sensations. (At least that is the intention, but I'm not sure if that alone would make for a good hook)
• I plan on introducing a total of 20 protagonists that would eventually converge into the same party. Though of those 16 of them are secondary protagonists. They will not arrive all at once but the plotline I drafted will focus on their convergence. (Once that is realized, I'll try a more episodic approach of unconnected adventures mixed in with subplot seeding for later)

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Oct 30th 2023 at 8:48:14 AM

How about this?

The scene starts with the MC, body and all, being with a group of adventurers doing some looting. They run into a serious threat, the MC is just trying to act as support since they've already told the rest of the party that "If I try make a swing at anything, I'm dead." and they're more useful to carry all the stuff they find in the dungeon so the current party is fine with it. They fight, they win (barely) and decides to head home to base. They reach the exit where the MC stops and tells them that they dropped the house key somewhere in the dungeon and have to backtrack. The party is a bit disappointed that they won't join in on the party for a change, and tells the MC to get a new pair of pants so that blasted key stops falling out from the holes in the pockets for once. The MC laughs, waves them goodbye and as they leave, they turn around and rounds the corner...

...only to drop lifelessly down on their knees and lean up against the walls, motionless and blankly staring into nothing.

Then the MC's thoughts moves away in a long stretch of relief, upon we the readers realize after a few seconds, that they're actually the dungeon and not the puppet slumped down on the ground over there.

And from there, the adventure starts.

And why would the MC carry all the stuff that the parties gather up for them?

As a notion to the Hammerspace inventory used in dungeons. Meaning the dungeon is carrying your stuff for you until you have to leave, where you have to carry it yourself from that point and not get crushed under it if you got too greedy in there.

Just a thought.

What I'd suggest, then, is that if you choose to go for go for the action cold-open, you take care to have its tone match that of the rest of the story.

(Without knowing the story more intimately, both options still seem like they could work, depending on the specifics of both them and the story.)

I see. Thanks for the responce

Interesting, if I go for an In Medias Res option, that could work. (Worth noting that the 4th protag is a Fairy Companion to the dungeon girl, a walking tutorial of sorts as well as a Support Party Member.

I also just got an idea for a "dream" that ambiguously depicts the process of her resurrection. That could add the requisite intrigue. But I already have concerns of it being too mystery boxy as is (as my outline hadn't covered the end of the story and is basically a very Prolonged Prolouge of sorts).

EDIT: the more I think about it, the more I think the option Trainbarrel proposed has legs. It would provide a nice frame for the other aforementioned scenes, an avenue for some Early Bird Cameos, and a setup for some later twists as well (with some of the fellow adventurers in that party being in on the "joke" and are actually among the twenty protagonists, but do not live in the dungeon herself)

EDIT 2: Looks like I can manage roughly 1.2 words an hour so the daily goals should be knocked out in about 2 hours a day at least.

Edited by MorningStar1337 on Oct 30th 2023 at 3:21:02 AM

So, um, the one Nano project I'd settled on this year is basically a retelling of a novel that I gotten hooked on.

I still haven't finished the novel and tomorrow is when Nano starts 💀

I'm pretty sure the idea is to write the novel during November, not before. That means the deadline is December 1.

(I am aware of my own head start FTR. Speaking of which I managed to write around 4000 words today.)