fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3370 ]

[ SECRET POST #3370 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3370 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 070 secrets from Secret Submission Post #482.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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01. http://i.imgur.com/7TmZI8A.png

Yeah, I'm quite similar.

Sometimes I come up with great ideas for stories and interactions (to my mind, anyway) and just never find myself executing them well. After a while I just stopped trying. :\

I'm sorry that was a disappointing experience for you, but I hope you keep in mind that every single book you see at the library or bookstore or on your shelf was written by someone who didn't give up trying. Nobody writes an amazing story on their first try, nonny. NOBODY. The only way to become a good (or at least better than you were) writer is by trying and failing and trying again and again.

This is why I write PWP.

This. PWP is the one thing I can write because you don't have to do too much plotting.

Same here. I can pull off enough plot elements to pepper throughout a PWP fic, but I can't create my own worlds or anything like that. And I'm okay with it.

I can really get into charters and write perfectly IC interactions, but it's emotionally draining for me and I don't like doing it. But I can't come up with an original character to save my life so fic is my only outlet for writing :(

I used to have this problem with creating original characters too, but a lot of encouragement from a friend and constant practicing got me to the point that writing a full-length novel doesn't just seem plausible, it's something I'm working towards with pleasure. If you really love writing, OP, I hope you can find your groove and keep working to it!

That's pretty awesome. Good luck with your writing!

If you don't mind me asking, were there any particular exercises or prompts to use on developing your characters? Or did you just write, and then figured out what worked or didn't?

I did all kinds of things like trying out prompts to see if they were things I could do, and joining challenges to force myself to write original stuff (the one thing I can't stand is letting people down, and it was for an exchange that I wrote my first full original piece for). It was a lot of practicing old things and trying out new things and it's still a process I'm going through. The important part is to try out new things and never give up, I think :)

I'm not at my computer rn but there were a lot of blogs and sites I found really useful that I can post links to when I get back if anyone wants.

Cool! Thank you for the tips! And I would love to see those links when it is convenient for you.

This character development blog is one of my favourite things, it posts all kinds of questions daily to help develop characters and even world-building. They're not just arbitrary questions either, there have lists of questions for different aspects like politics in a world, or dragons as a species, and things like that.

This prompt blog has lots of interesting prompts to try, there's a lot of variety and they can get very creative!

I've found that

fandomweekly is a really fun community, it posts a theme every Monday and people have til Friday to answer the theme with a fic that's 1000 words or less. It accepts original universes too. Somehow the challenge of writing concisely really helps me, and whenever I write something original for a theme, I almost always end up expanding on it later as a longer story.

I'm pretty new to Scribophile, which an anon here introduced me to, but so far I've had a great experience with it. You can post original work to get feedback on it, so if there's anything you have trouble with, you can discuss it on the forums or get people who critique your work to help you out with it! They have a really great system in place to make sure that everything has its fair opportunity to get critiqued and that everyone participates in it as a community.

Hope some of these help :)

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2016-03-26 23:44 (UTC) - Expand

Those puppets are terrifying.

Indeed.

Nobody is born with those skills, OP. Some people might find writing easier than others, but it's still something you acquire through practice. Even the best, most brilliant writers you know didn't start out that way.

What is it about being an author/writer that appeals to you? If you can figure out what you like about it, you might be able to do something similar that suits you better.

Also, you can experiment with different writing styles--you don't have to stick to typical story-length fiction or even character interactions. You can still make fanfic or original fic in very strange formats. Write an all-dialogue story. Write haiku. Construct a collage. Use only sentence fragments. Use only punctuation. Write in all emojis. Someone will find it interesting.

OP, I too am not by any means a natural author. However, I found that once I perservered at it, the words started coming easier over time. It's a tough learning curve but if you think it's worth working for then keep at it. It might take you years but it doesnt mean it's impossible.

many authors aren't that good at writing characters and let them react in any which way to fit the plot, humor, or desired emotional effect. see even beloved authors like Terry Pratchett and any big Space opera author ever.

it depends on your writing and how you want to appeal. trope bundles of characters are absolutely serviceable. readers are very good at filling in the blanks.

(but yeah, I'd also like to be better at it)

If you want to be an author that badly, don't let something like this stop you. Some people are naturally gifted writers, but the vast majority of us have to work at getting better. Character profiles and maps help me develop my characters and the way they interact with each other.

The best way to learn is by doing.

And maybe it's better to get away from fic for your problem. Then you don't have to be constrained by what the character is when they interact with others. Let the other character redefine themselves. So many authors talk about how their vision for something did a 180 as they were working.

Character creation is a skill that takes practice to build.

How is this fandom?

Writing is like drawing. People who get good at it are the ones who practice. They weren't born good at it, as someone said in the thread above.

The thing is, the people who get good are usually the ones who enjoy it enough to practice a lot, and not worry that they're not very good. They're having too much fun to worry about that.

If it's something you want to do...practice, but for fun.

It's not for everyone. But it is an AMAZING hobby!

Writing is hard. Keep practicing. You don't even have to do a fic or ficlet. Sometimes when I'm having trouble getting words out or feeling like I have the grasp of the character I'll do a drabble. There is a lot you can do with 100 words and sometimes that's all I need to get the words flowing.

The magic of writing is in the editing. Stories do not spring, full-fledged and perfect like Athena from the forehead of Zeus, from our keyboards. It takes blood, sweat, tears, swearing, and sometimes copious amounts of booze before the finished product hits the shelf in a readable form. You know that brilliant bit of foreshadowing in chapter two that makes chapter ten come together? Yeah, it wasn't added until the fourth draft when the author slapped her forehead and went OH DUH I SHOULD DO THIS.

Keep drafting until you have something you like. Yes, it's work. No, it's not necessarily easy. But as you exercise that muscle, it'll get stronger.

Good luck.

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