Writer's Block Daily

I never mention This Very Wiki in my narration, and I've got a single character who name drops tropes. He's intended to be somewhat obnoxious, though: he's read the Evil Overlord List many a time, and is certain he's the most Dangerously Genre-Savvy Magnificent Bastard around. He's not.

edited 18th Apr '11 6:23:43 AM by KillerClowns

Some days, I hate that story thread—just not all days, or that would be a problem. Forum clutter.

I wonder if it's incompatible with this medium simply because it's too long to critique (if not too long to read at all). Posting it in one of those kinds of threads would be hilarious if not a rules infraction. Without critiques, you're not writing so much as just talking.

Maybe I'll just pick out a piece of it to do that with, though nothing in it stands alone very well.

edited 18th Apr '11 1:44:08 PM by SPACETRAVEL

whoever wrote this shit needs to step on a rake in a comedic fashion

I always struggle with troping stuff. I sometimes make minor characters jokes to amuse me while the plot is going on, and some of the jokes involve tropes (others do not).

My biggest problem though, is that my story starts with a framing device of a guy telling a story, but he only names one specific trope, which I am planning on replacing with a more general term.

Read my stories!

I never write by tropes but only refer to them when I have an established part of my story that the trope applies to. I then take the trope and read the article to see what else I could try and/or learn what to avoid when using this person or part of the story.

It's not copying, really, it's reverse engineering something very similar to something I already have.

In other news in the last three days I have been suffering really bad heart palpitations.

as of the 2nd of Nov. has 6 weeks for a broken collar bone to heal and types 1 handed and slowly

I'm not referring to any tropes by name. I am going to do much worse.

And, sorry for whining. I'm bitching about my stuff everywhere today. :/

whoever wrote this shit needs to step on a rake in a comedic fashion

^This is Writer's Block, everyone here whines and bitches about their stuff everywhere. You've got nothing to apologize for.

I only use tropes by name when they're actually legitimate things to say, like some dialogue tropes. Any other name dropping of a trope, though? That would just seem really wrong — it insults my sensibilities as a writer or something.

I have about… 300 words today. I haven't been doing so great a job keeping up to my word count standards, the last three days. Not totally sure why, but I'm going to blame the weekend anyways.

Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit Deviantart.

Meh, I've only name-dropped Big Damn Heroes intentionally, might just shorten that line to "Damn heroes," though. Most of my other in-story troping is accidental from writing while intoxicated or sleep deprived.

No one believes me when I say angels can turn their panties into guns.

I feel like writing The Most Pretentious Story Ever.

I am writing something more pretentious than the public thing...but it is not public.

whoever wrote this shit needs to step on a rake in a comedic fashion

I revise the intro for Character Carnival and motified the Author's Note from Character Hike. The AN is 159 words according to my word count, while the intro itself is 401 words. The whole thing is shorter than Beach, so that's a plus. I look forwards to Friday Afternoon.

I am yet to ask one of my parents to rent a movie.

Oh yeah, one more thing, I'm tempted of embelbing Emily Browning's version of "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This" during Character Carnival. Should it go in the OP, or near the end? I lean towards the latter.

edited 18th Apr '11 7:07:48 PM by chihuahua0

How do you guys keep writing? Is it worth it to write everyday? Do you guys not ever get worn out of it?

How do you keep up? I am not good at keeping daily goals and routines, how do you guys do it?

as of the 2nd of Nov. has 6 weeks for a broken collar bone to heal and types 1 handed and slowly

You need to build up your endurance and discipline in writing just like any other skill. Writing every day, even if it's only for ten minutes, is a good thing and builds discipline.

Of course, if you only write for ten minutes a day like I do, you'll be really sore after your first real inspiration strikes and has you writing for four hours straight. But it's better than not writing at all.

I normally just get into a writing fit and yack out whatever I have. Normally this starts by me jotting down a couple words stringing together a sentence as I form the scene or plot in my head, then it becomes a few sentences and before you know it I've written 3 pages of material and closed off a chapter.

And usually all I have for when I start jotting down is the idea how to end a part and then figuring how to begin it and let the plotting between the two run their natural course for what I can come up with.

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

Use the keyboard. This is truly the most serious answer I can give to that question--just to start and keep going in a most basic way.

Don't expect it to always be. It's not.

Often worn out with certain parts of it, or even most parts, but rarely all.

whoever wrote this shit needs to step on a rake in a comedic fashion

As one author said: "Butt plus chair equals write".

Well since my one prose work that is active is that... only one... when I get stuck I do not know what to do. Maybe I can try writing something else randomly, but they tend to make little sense and happen in voids with no environment.

I hate describing environments. I can never figure out a concise way to do it.

as of the 2nd of Nov. has 6 weeks for a broken collar bone to heal and types 1 handed and slowly

I hate introducing more than three persons. This opening battle sequence grinded my script to a halt, because I'm completely anal about introducing everyone properly before moving beyond it.

Was Jack Mackerel. | i rite gud

In order:

1) By figuring out how my brain works and using it to my advantage to optimize output. Usually by Navel-Gazing my habits, moods, daydreams, and the writing itself, and then attacking/loopholing the weak points.

2) Yes, because it means I've gotten the ideas out of my head before they get stale, while also making room for even more ideas to build off of those ideas. Also because seeing progress on a project is a huge ego boost, and it means even on a really shitty day I can still say "Well at least I got my words done."

3) Writing every day? Repeatedly, over days and years and over and over. It's still true now, even as I'm starting to get a handle on it. But that's what stamina and endurance is all about — you keep hitting your head against a block until it budges a little, and then you give up because you're dizzy and your head is bleeding, and then you try again tomorrow. Fall down seven, stand up eight, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseam. And you never really win the war, ether, because even if you finish today there will always be tomorrow.

Hell, I still have, like, twenty words to do before midnight, and I just procrastinated for thirty minutes on it. If that's not a sign of something, I'm not sure what is.

Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit Deviantart.

Honestly, once a story has taken up space in my brain, I can't not write it. Stories are something of an obsession for me. I can't picture myself ever not writing.

I don't. I write when I have an idea, and when I have the uninterrupted time to work on that idea.

I think I'd get worn out if I didn't see it as something fun. Moving back just two months ago, you would have found me working on a novel, on planning two sessions a week of a tabletop roleplay game, writing an EWR diary, and writing a piece for Wrestlecrap.com. I think at that point I got burnt out by the number of plates I was keeping spinning in my brain, and I got tired of not being able to give any of them my full attention, rather than anything else.

Like I said, I don't have a daily word count, or amount of time. What I do instead is that my brain is constantly on the subject, and I sit down when I have a good long stretch ahead of me, and hammer out my thoughts. I've found that a set wordcount forces the words, and forcing the words is going to force the art.

Me personally, the only way I ever regularly finish anything resembling work is a routine. Not necessarily in terms of time, but doing something every day. Some amount of homework, some amount of writing, etc-it becomes much less of a chore if it's something you do every day.

Yes, because of the routine thing mentioned above, and for another reason as well-momentum. Any task has a start up time and a wind down time, and the more you do it, the smaller these times become. Writing, and consequently reading and thinking about your story and writing style every day ensures it's all right there for ready access when it's time to write. Having it in mind even means you can hone it in those odd minutes between activities, thereby keeping it even more in mind, making it even easier to write. Momentum is powerful, very powerful. It's a feedback loop that improves both quantity and quality.

Even when you don't like what you write and scrap it later, that's still writing experience. Even if it's an unrelated one of story, it's still worth it.

As for getting worn out, I did, sort of. After about 4 months or so. But that's more school-related than anything else.

1. Put butt in computer chair 2. Disconnect internet 3. Open up MS word 4. Do not leave until you write something. Much like homework assignments, it's easy to hit something hard and instantly switch to an easy, instantly available distraction (like T Vtropes). Do not give into that urge.

This is more about knowing yourself than anything else. You know that little voice that says you'll only be on the internet for an hour? It is a liar. The other little voice that says you'll only watch TV for 5 minutes? Also lying.

Little stuff like that, knowing your cognitive patterns and exploiting them to your advantage.

In soviet Russia, drug is addicted to you!

I regret nothing.

edited 19th Apr '11 8:05:02 PM by deathjavu

Look, you can't make me speak in a logical, coherent, intelligent bananna.

Instead of making something a metaphor about drug addiction, I will make drug addiction a metaphor for something.

There's a project of mine that I thought was going to be my pet, but I moved on to something else. But there's a friend of mine who thinks it's really neat, and she wants to see if she can bring it back to life. I'll give her the plot and the characters and let her do what she feels is right. On the other hand, I don't know if I can bear to watch. But I don't feel that I can really get back into this. I feel like I'm leaving my son or daughter with a friend for ten years while I take a trip to Europe or something.

Warm hugs and morally questionable advice given here. Prosey Bitchfest

Do you guys ever get that where you think you have a character down pretty well, and then out of the blue you come up with an alternate interpretation of your own character that seems to work just as well? :|

Not quite. I've had Alternate Character Interpretation happen before, but none that go "hey that works too!"

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

I would so totally read that. The idea alone makes me giddy.

Currently at 200 words, and wondering what I should do with a scene. It feels like it belongs right in the beginning, but I've got no clue what's supposed to happen during it. Been off and on on weather I should have it or not, since I can't seem to write it.

Nemo enim fere saltat sobrius, nisi forte insanit Deviantart.