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What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

Melanii

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I was an advanced reader, and my mother was forever getting mad at me for checking out the Babysitter Club books from the library. They were age-appropriate! But she wanted me to read bigger, more advanced works since I was capable of reading and understanding the bigger words. Honestly, though, I think even half the books I read in high school were books I was way too young for. I'd get a lot more out of Madame Bovary now that I've got a failed marriage behind me.

I devoured those books as a child. Was obsessed! Part of me wishes there were a series where the characters are a bit older so I can see them grow. Haha.

The funny thing (to me, anyway) is that despite loving those books, I don't really like reading anything contemporary unless it's humorous or has like mystery in it. o.o

And although I love fantasy, I realize that I also like drama, lols.

Magical realism... I want to read more books like that, and maybe I'll have an idea for what to write about soon!
 

auzerais

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Okay, so one of my main characters is a little girl. At some point in the novel, she tells her father a story about something that happened to her. Right now I am writing a scene where the girl tells her mother the same story, but with different nuances. I need both scenes (the whole book hinges on the relationship politics between these three characters) but holy fracknathering cripemonkeys is it difficult to finagle this so that it's not too repetitive.
 

cgrinds

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Okay, so one of my main characters is a little girl. At some point in the novel, she tells her father a story about something that happened to her. Right now I am writing a scene where the girl tells her mother the same story, but with different nuances. I need both scenes (the whole book hinges on the relationship politics between these three characters) but holy fracknathering cripemonkeys is it difficult to finagle this so that it's not too repetitive.

Sounds cool, if you can make it work. Reminds me of the movie "He Said, She Said". Rick Riordan did something like that in one his books.
 

Filigree

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Miss Strawberrii, I have a book possibility for you to track down: magic realism, funny, contemporary to the early 70s though published ten years later, and brilliant at weaving depth, philosophy, and fun. Track down David James Duncan's The River Why.

Amazon (not on Kindle, dammit, but you can get the paperback through the library).

It might be your thing, it might not, but when I first read it in '83 it was a revelation to my 17-year-old self. Hint: it's not really about fishing.
 
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Reziac

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We're figments of our own imagination... :e2bouncey

Back around 1960 mom got me a subscription to these monthly biographies: Madame Curie, Mozart, I forget who else (those two were obviously my favorites). She soon canceled it because "you never read them". No, no, NO! You never saw me reading them because they only take a bit over an hour to read!!
 

Axl Prose

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The cross we bear. The cross we share.

So, what do most do in these situations? This is the first time it's hit me this hard, to the point of not being able to concentrate on my current WIP. The more I tell my brain to shut up about it the more it bugs me :D
 

Papaya

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I think I may have finally fixed my problem with beginning a chapter. This is huge. I'm almost afraid to type that, lest I jinx it, because that has been my fatal flaw when it comes to writing in novel form.

On another positive note, I think I'm re-finding my voice, after losing it in a fit of insecurity for a few years there. A while back, I found a poem I wrote when I was eleven that's probably the best poem I've ever written. It's certainly the most humorous and clever poem I've ever written. All the other ones have been the opposite of funny...

So what I'd like to know is: where the hell did that come from, and how do I get it back? Realistically, I'm afraid that ability might be lost for good, considering I'm more than two decades past eleven now.

Putting that tragic loss aside, I actually think my writing might finally be maturing past my fear of failure. I'm not sure where that will lead me, but it's really nice to be enjoying my words again.
 

WriteMinded

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So, what do most do in these situations? This is the first time it's hit me this hard, to the point of not being able to concentrate on my current WIP. The more I tell my brain to shut up about it the more it bugs me :D
I never tell my brain to shut up. It might take me seriously. I trick it by making notes, tucking them away, and promising to get back to them as soon as possible. Then I go back to the WIP.

Now I think of it, I'm none too tidy about it. My little idea gems are scattered all over my computer, stuck in various books, and lying around on torn off scraps of paper.
 

Katharine Tree

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I'm about 1/3 through line editing my first novel, and I might have reached my breaking point.

I can remove all the extraneous commas in the world, improve the dialogue attribution and blah blah blah, but the fact is that without a total re-write of a much longer length, the novel isn't going to improve.

And I'm not going to re-write it. Not now. Not without promises of pecuniary reward for doing so.

So maybe I should just let it be. Finished. Done. Moving on.

It's not that it's the best novel idea I'll ever have. Okay, it's a damned good idea. But there will be more. Look at the WIP: maybe a less original concept, but written so much better, and Perry and Malcolm are frankly every bit as lovable as Alex and Anna for being so well-written. Even if nobody's being trephined.

So maybe ixnay on the line edit. Because I feel like I have better things to do with my time than flog a dead horse.
 

neandermagnon

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Okay, so one of my main characters is a little girl. At some point in the novel, she tells her father a story about something that happened to her. Right now I am writing a scene where the girl tells her mother the same story, but with different nuances. I need both scenes (the whole book hinges on the relationship politics between these three characters) but holy fracknathering cripemonkeys is it difficult to finagle this so that it's not too repetitive.

If the adults ask her leading questions, then the conversation can end up being very different.

Young children tend to answer with what they think you want to hear, whether that was how it happened or not. Questions like "Did daddy give you vanilla ice cream?" is a leading question (the child might interpret that as you wanting her to tell you about daddy giving her vanilla ice cream, whether daddy gave her vanilla ice cream or not) - ones like "Tell me about your visit to daddy's." isn't. The younger the child the more likely this is to happen.

Apologies if you already know that... it just occurred to me that it might be a way to get two radically different conversations (and maybe add an extra complication to the family politics) from the little girl telling both of them about the same event.
 

ArachnePhobia

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Been working on R&R.

One of the suggested revisions requires me to redo transition between chapters four and five, which will mess up a lot of chapter five, so this may involve a ground-up rewrite. I'll just have to note any essential things lost, but now that I think about it, some characters who got separated a chapter ago finding each other again is the only really essential thing going on, so maybe I needed to lose chapter five all along.
 

auzerais

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If the adults ask her leading questions, then the conversation can end up being very different.

Young children tend to answer with what they think you want to hear, whether that was how it happened or not. Questions like "Did daddy give you vanilla ice cream?" is a leading question (the child might interpret that as you wanting her to tell you about daddy giving her vanilla ice cream, whether daddy gave her vanilla ice cream or not) - ones like "Tell me about your visit to daddy's." isn't. The younger the child the more likely this is to happen.

Apologies if you already know that... it just occurred to me that it might be a way to get two radically different conversations (and maybe add an extra complication to the family politics) from the little girl telling both of them about the same event.

Thanks! I do not have children myself, so this character is occasionally challenging to write. But my little girl is eleven, initiates both conversations about the event, and is giving a confession to both parents (she feels she is to blame for the event.) She has the first conversation with her mother, who doesn't feel the girl is blameworthy. Her father was present for the event, blames himself, and is so guilt stricken that he reacts poorly to the little girl when she "confesses." So I'm doing this complicated thing where the girl is using a lot of the same phrases with her father as she did with her mother, and not realizing that her father blames himself and not her and, cue clusterfuck.
 

Reziac

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I can remove all the extraneous commas in the world, improve the dialogue attribution and blah blah blah, but the fact is that without a total re-write of a much longer length, the novel isn't going to improve.

That's when I'd set it aside for several months (or even years, depending how long it takes your memory of it to fade somewhat) and come back to it totally fresh. Makes rewriting SO much easier, because when you're fresh, you're less likely to get hung up on what's already there.

When you've spent so much time with a piece that you're tired of it isn't a good time to make decisions about its future.
 

Katharine Tree

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Thanks, Rez. I have been away from it for several months--in which time I've grown leaps and bounds as a writer. I have already re-worked this book several times. It's time to put it to bed and move on with my life.

After all, I do this to entertain myself. I am not trying to make a living by my writing. Hell, I'm not even stuck on being traditionally published. I just want to have fun and get better. And I think I get better by (1) working on new stuff, (2) submitting stuff for critique, and (3) looking back on the old stuff to identify what's lacking in it.
 

Reziac

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I need to convert my "mindless activity during which most of my writing actually happens" from "cleaning the kennel" to "clearing brush" since that's the mindless activity that is presently most prominent!
 

AngelaG

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You know, like Facebook? But instead it's AWbook...lol

Anyway, I thought I would start a thread like that since I haven't seen one. If there is one, you can move this then.

What's on my mind about my writing? Well a lot. I can't seem to stop thinking about writing. Sometimes it sucks thinking about it so much and writing too on top of it! ha!

Anyway, I'm writing my 5th novel right now. It's my third YA book. My first two are with my agent, which she's been great about. I was blessed to find one to represent both of my YAs. So I figured to write another while I wait on my submissions. I'm up to 38K words and nearing the end. I'm hoping to get it up to 50 but I feel like I barely have 10 left in me. I wrote an outline which is helping too but I feel like I'm crawling to write out the rest of it now.

Usually I write out 2,000 words a day, but lately it's barely 500. It seems like I can only do 500 in a sitting and then I get antsy to read it and look back on it. Like I said, I have an outline, and notes and I'm up to the 19th chapter, but I feel like I am forgetting what I write, it's nuts. Then the rest of the time, when I'm not writing, I friggin' thinking about writing. Like I said, it sucks. It's this ficious circle. And I know it won't stop till the novels is actually done, which could be a couple more months.

Anyway, your turn...

What's on your mind about your writing?

I worry that my writing will never be good enough, and that even after I self-publish, my book won't sell. I struggle sometimes with who I am as a writer.

I keep restructuring the plot of my romance novel. Maybe I should just let my book write itself as I go along?
 

Filigree

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I hear you, Angela. Some days the only thing going is that I *like* the act of writing. I remind myself I wallowed happily along for two decades without any other motivation than that.

Of course, now that I have to write to meet other people's expectations, my brain freezes up and finds every possible distraction: 'Let's tidy the house. Let's do another load of dishes. You have artwork to finish, don't you? I know, let's read fan fiction!' All that nonsense. When I know that within ten minutes of sitting down to write, I'll find the groove, chug away, and look up to find six hours gone.
 

WriteMinded

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Of course, now that I have to write to meet other people's expectations, my brain freezes up and finds every possible distraction: 'Let's tidy the house. Let's do another load of dishes. You have artwork to finish, don't you? I know, let's read fan fiction!' All that nonsense. When I know that within ten minutes of sitting down to write, I'll find the groove, chug away, and look up to find six hours gone.
Yes, yes, that's how my house gets cleaned and the deck gets swept. Anxiety hits me every time I get ready to open up the WIP. There is no rational reason for it. No expectations (other than my own) to meet, no pressure to finish, nobody leaning over my shoulder to see that I sometimes rewrite a sentence six times before going on to the next one.

I know from experience — and we supposedly learn from our experiences — that once I type a few words, maybe as few as five, the anxiety goes away. But knowing that doesn't help. :(
 

neandermagnon

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I have realised that my main character needs to eat insects.

Question is, how the bloody hell do I find out what insect species lived in Europe 40,000 years ago? There's this guy I was friends with at uni that would know, but I lost touch with him years ago.

Going to see how much the internet can help me with this question... someone, somewhere must have a blog about palaeoentomology...
 
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Katharine Tree

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Question is, how the bloody hell do I find out what insect species lived in Europe 40,000 years ago? There's this guy I was friends with at uni that would know, but I lost touch with him years ago.

I would start by asking "what insects are most commonly eaten in Europe today", and backtrack each family or genus to confirm that it lived in Europe in the upper paleolithic. I'm willing to bet money that 100% of them did. New variants of things might have hitched rides back from the New World, but your MC won't know the names of specific species, so you don't need to either.
 

Reziac

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I have realised that my main character needs to eat insects.

Question is, how the bloody hell do I find out what insect species lived in Europe 40,000 years ago? There's this guy I was friends with at uni that would know, but I lost touch with him years ago.

But your character wouldn't know them by modern names. He'd know them by lots of legs or big bodies or wings or stingers. The tasty fat white bugs that live under old logs, the nightfliers that aren't bad once you get past the fuzz, the buzzers that punish you for stealing honey. Also, insects haven't changed all that much since the age of dinosaurs, so whatever's climate-appropriate is probably good.

ETA: Red probably also eats small rodents (possibly whole, at most skinned) and other stuff we moderns might not immediately think of as food, like songbirds, songbird eggs, snakes, lizards, and animal dung.
 
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KidCassandra

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Doing an April NaNoWriMo sort of thing to finish up the WIP, but I'm already behind because yesterday I decided it would be a good idea to watch all three of the original Star Wars movies in a row.

And here in about thirty minutes, I need to leave to go to a friend's Passover Seder, and then as soon as I leave there I have to drive the hour and a half to my hometown so I can visit family for Easter.

1000 words to go today... I certainly hope my word-debt doesn't roll over onto this weekend. My folks are a little greedy for my time.


ETA: One Seder attended, one drive accomplished, one minute to midnight, and.... I did it! Hit my goal of 37K words total for the day! :snoopy:
 
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