POPULAR: Simple Questions, Simple Answers

[diamondpearl876]

I've struggled with this for a long time, and as it has become quite severe, eh, why not ask for advice:
I'm terrible when it comes to actually getting to write, like I need a spark for it to happen at all. When Im preoccupied wiith other things (like now), draining my mental energy, it makes it really hard to do anything at all, and I'd like to, just for a distraction.

Do you have any techniques to get yourself into a writing mood?

I try to do something for writing everyday. Even if I'm not producing actual content, I'll dedicate at least a half hour or an hour's time to doing notes, reading articles that relate to my story, anything to keep myself feeling productive in the writing department. If I actually want to write, literally blasting music into my ears to drown out everything else gets me going most of the time. The days I feel mentally drained like you mentioned are the days I spend mostly on reading or idly thinking about stories, because it works for me as a distraction.

 

[Beth Pavell]

A matter of graphology this time - ship names are commonly italicised, as in SS Anne, well and good. But are possessives italicised as well, as in SS Anne's, or should it be SS Anne's?

 

[Jaypom]

I never realized they italicized ship names... I could be wrong by doing this, but I personally would drop the italicization and just keep it as the SS Anne's since its the ship's name.

 

[AetherX]

A matter of graphology this time - ship names are commonly italicised, as in SS Anne, well and good. But are possessives italicised as well, as in SS Anne's, or should it be SS Anne's?

Found this:

Possessives of a title in italics

The "'s" should not be italicized. I imagine it's the same deal for book/movie titles, ship names, scientific names, etc. If you italicize it, you're implying it's part of the ship's name.

 

[canisaries]

i'm a very visual person, being a visual artist primarily, and because of this i imagine my scenes as clips of film and then go from there. and with film, there's the thing that everything, even unnecessary details and actions, is visible at the same time and priority is assigned via cropping, lens focus, contrast, etc. but with writing, there's a strict chronological order.

as a cause, i seem to have problems describing situations where someone is doing some task that involves multiple different consecutive steps and usually something else happening at the same time. it comes off as really repeating and mechanical, even if i try to change the verbs and expressions. are there any tips on improving the "flow" of your writing so that it won't be so clockwork, even if the task is monotone, and how should i weave in monologue and dialogue in the middle of this?

 

[diamondpearl876]

i'm a very visual person, being a visual artist primarily, and because of this i imagine my scenes as clips of film and then go from there. and with film, there's the thing that everything, even unnecessary details and actions, is visible at the same time and priority is assigned via cropping, lens focus, contrast, etc. but with writing, there's a strict chronological order.

as a cause, i seem to have problems describing situations where someone is doing some task that involves multiple different consecutive steps and usually something else happening at the same time. it comes off as really repeating and mechanical, even if i try to change the verbs and expressions. are there any tips on improving the "flow" of your writing so that it won't be so clockwork, even if the task is monotone, and how should i weave in monologue and dialogue in the middle of this?

You do the same with writing as you would with a movie: only put the necessary parts. If multiple things are happening at once, you're going to have to skimp out on the unimportant details to make the writing flow. As for changing verbs/expressions, it doesn't matter what you change them to if the verbs and expressions are basically synonymous. For example, if you write about facial expressions over and over (smiling, eyebrows raised, squinting eyes), yeah, it's going to feel repetitive because it all revolves around the face. Try putting other expressions with other body parts: arms, tone of voice, shifting the position they're facing, etc. Even description of the setting can help here (ie. the lights in the room can be very dim for a more solemn, serious scene, or some upbeat music can be playing in the background for a more lighthearted scene).

Dialogue is a little trickier. I think the main thing to remember is that the more consecutive dialogue there is, the faster the flow. So you get to control when you want the flow to slow down or speed up. It's okay to just have dialogue without an action following it, but if you want some emphasis to be put on a piece of dialogue, an action will help with that.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I need some synonyms for "nagging" as in "to keep up a constant litany of small complaints or demands".

 

[Ghostsoul]

I need some synonyms for "nagging" as in "to keep up a constant litany of small complaints or demands".

'Droning on' or 'Drumming on'?

 

[Misfit Angel]

Depending on the context of how "nagging" is used, I've always been a fan of "she pestered him ceaselessly with inconsequential matters like a harpy"

 

[canisaries]

idk that above one makes me think a harpy is an inconsequential matter...

but "pestering sb with sth" is good, i was just going to say it myself. of course, there's always the more crude "bitching" if your narrator is edgy

 

[Misfit Angel]

I suppose "Like a harpy, she pestered him ceaselessly with inconsequential matters." would be more grammatically correct. It's hard to break away from the semi-unintelligent ways we naturally learn speech. I'd certainly talk like that, but maybe I shouldn't write like that.

 

[AetherX]

Speaking of harpies, "harping" is a good word for that too.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Another one in quick succession, I'm afraid. So I suppose it's fairly well known that I like to refer to specific types of tree a lot in the narrative - I'm aware that to many readers that it doesn't make a tremendous difference whether I refer to oak or hornbeam or alder ... so in that case, does it matter if I sometimes use less common names, like quickbeam, for instance?

 

[AceTrainer14]

I feel like you would run the risk of the description becoming a distraction rather than aiding the story. Oak is fine, but describing a tree as 'quickbeam' without any context of it being the species and having it randomly in there I imagine would throw someone out of the story. I recently read a book where the author really overdid it with descriptive metaphors for everyone, with at least melodramatic metaphor shoved into every page, and it simply got tiring as a reader. The best books are usually the ones that balance beautiful and eloquent writing with readability, and putting in words that only serve the author doesn't help with that.

 

[Misfit Angel]

The best books are usually the ones that balance beautiful and eloquent writing with readability, and putting in words that only serve the author doesn't help with that.

While I agree, I don't see "quickbeam" throwing anyone but the largest idiot for a loop while they're reading.

Personally, I wouldn't mind the use of less common names for minor details. That's all they are, minor details. If it bothers me that much, I google it.

 

[Ghostsoul]

How would this forum get along with a 'choose your own adventure' style of interactive fiction?
In other words, the actual readers of the story decide from a selection of options what will happen to the character in the story next.

 

[AceTrainer14]

While I agree, I don't see "quickbeam" throwing anyone but the largest idiot for a loop while they're reading.

Personally, I wouldn't mind the use of less common names for minor details. That's all they are, minor details. If it bothers me that much, I google it.

I personally had never heard of the word quickbeam before then. Usually if I have to stop reading a book in order to google it in order to know what I'm reading, I stop reading it for the day/night whatever as it becomes more of an exercise than a moment of relaxation, and with fan-fic I find it harder to concentrate anyway when staring at a glaring white screen, so if I lose that interest I am not going back to it. It is just my view, after all

How would this forum get along with a 'choose your own adventure' style of interactive fiction?
In other words, the actual readers of the story decide from a selection of options what will happen to the character in the story next.

Based on recent experience, I don't think there would be that much excitement around it. However, I think if you wrote it like a proper story and only had the options after a decent chunk of text as opposed to using a CYOA as a kind of live planning event, you could get people interested and excited for it.

 

[Ghostsoul]

Based on recent experience, I don't think there would be that much excitement around it. However, I think if you wrote it like a proper story and only had the options after a decent chunk of text as opposed to using a CYOA as a kind of live planning event, you could get people interested and excited for it.

Ah yes! That was largely the idea. It was certainly more on the story aspect than the 'text adventure' one.

 

[canisaries]

there's an expression i'm thinking of, but i can't remember what it was exactly. something like "broaden my horizons" but instead of being as abstract as that one, it's more concrete? like geography-wise.
full quote:
"In any case, he’s gone for the moment, which means I can snoop through his maps. I already decided yesterday that I’d focus on Pewter. It’s further beyond my usual range, but I’d like to think my trip to Celadon [broadened my horizons]." (spoken by someone from pallet town)
so something like "made my world bigger" but less clunky. help?

 

[Jaypom]

@canisaries
Maybe this page? Its all I could find that seemed the most useful aside from thesaurus.com