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POPULAR: What Did You Write Today?

Some tweaks today on lights, camera, action and wrote the summary.
I've scrapped the initial idea for the story and kinda lost motivation to write it. Yall pump out multiple pages daily and I can't write one in a week.
Honestly, I’m lucky if I can make it past two pages every once in a while, let alone write daily. Don’t be so hard on yourself — we all go at our own paces, we all get our writing highs and lows, and this ain’t a contest.
 
I've scrapped the initial idea for the story and kinda lost motivation to write it. Yall pump out multiple pages daily and I can't write one in a week.

Don't worry about it. Ideas come and go. And who knows? Maybe you can salvage some ideas from the scrapped plan and rework it into a new one. That's how my current series, Dawn of Courage, came to be. And not all of us can do things daily. I, for one, tend to do things in bursts. For a bit I may be able to pump out a chapter a day while other times I may go weeks without writing a single page. My previous series, Chaos Rising, was one such example where I could go a good month without writing anything before finally getting the inspiration. Basically, it depends when you've got your muse or not. But it's not like writing is a race. We all go at our own pace and styles so whatever works best for you is the way you should do it. And just because you scrap an idea doesn't mean it can't be reborn in a new form. But writing isn't easy. Sometimes an idea can just click and everything will fall into place while other times it feels like you ran headlong into a brick wall. But if you keep at it and keep experimenting with ideas you may find the idea that works and put it into motion.
 
Don't worry about it. Ideas come and go. And who knows? Maybe you can salvage some ideas from the scrapped plan and rework it into a new one. That's how my current series, Dawn of Courage, came to be. And not all of us can do things daily. I, for one, tend to do things in bursts. For a bit I may be able to pump out a chapter a day while other times I may go weeks without writing a single page. My previous series, Chaos Rising, was one such example where I could go a good month without writing anything before finally getting the inspiration. Basically, it depends when you've got your muse or not. But it's not like writing is a race. We all go at our own pace and styles so whatever works best for you is the way you should do it. And just because you scrap an idea doesn't mean it can't be reborn in a new form. But writing isn't easy. Sometimes an idea can just click and everything will fall into place while other times it feels like you ran headlong into a brick wall. But if you keep at it and keep experimenting with ideas you may find the idea that works and put it into motion.
Some tweaks today on lights, camera, action and wrote the summary.

Honestly, I’m lucky if I can make it past two pages every once in a while, let alone write daily. Don’t be so hard on yourself — we all go at our own paces, we all get our writing highs and lows, and this ain’t a contest.
Alright. I'll try continuing. I'll post a prologue for a new version soon.
 
I've scrapped the initial idea for the story and kinda lost motivation to write it. Yall pump out multiple pages daily and I can't write one in a week.
I'm very likely going to repeat some of the things that Rockium and CynthiaLover said, but I also want to throw in my two pence.
  • Scrapping a story can suck, but it's not a horrible thing to do. For instance, I have several scrapped stories because they were inspired by something (a dream, movie, etc), and it took me a while to understand and be comfortable with the fact that they didn't work out; scrapped stories are, at the very least, practise. As CynthiaLover said, scrapped stories can be used to rework into something workable later. There's also the possibility of taking characters, scenes, ideas from scrapped stories into new ones. The most current personal example I have is that I took the two main characters and the basic premise from an old scrapped story to write Katakura: Aerosteel, which isn't really a rework since the worlds are much different. I've also taken the main character from an old scrapped story to insert into another story that also got scrapped (but hey, now I have more characters that I can steal if I need to XD).
  • Losing motivation to write something also sucks, and I think it sucks double with ADHD (which I have). Depending on how important the story is to you, it might be worth pushing through because even if it's not that good, it can be made better later. From experience, it's also worth making a habit of writing as often as you'd like to write, more in the point after next.
  • Basing progress on page count can be quite misleading due to page sizes (if using a word processor) and what kind of text was written. For example, I use A4 for paper size and 12-point font in my word processor (don't get me started that font sizes can differ between fonts), and in one page can fit about 232 words of dialogue or about 702 words of narration. I believe I used to track progress by page count sometime ago, and I don't know what made me switch to word count or when (perhaps it's when I switched from letter to A4 paper size), but I daren't turn back. If you feel that counting pages helps you visualise your progress, continue using it, but be aware of its pitfalls.
  • Personally, I've written whatever I can each day (before I had serious migraine issues and such, somewhere in the history of this thread), and am trying to get back on track with it. unrepentantAuthor has had (and might still have) set a minimum of 50 words per day (and seemed to have raised it to 100 words later), which helped them get them writing every day for 6 months (also their daily word count surpassed the minimum and the daily average word count steadily increased). Beth Pavell has had a habit of writing daily, probably way longer than I've been in the writing Discord channel, but if it's something comforting, Beth does have to rewrite a chapter from time to time.
  • I think this is the last point, but I get that it can be a little daunting as a new (or newish) writer to see all these other writers write chapters or write numerous amounts of words daily. Like Rockium said, it's not a contest, and write at your pace. Instead look at the other writers' progress as something to work towards, as in "this is something I might be able to achieve if I keep at it" and not "I want to be able to write as much as everyone else". Metaphorically, you're looking at others' goalposts that seem to be quite far to you, but isn't far to those respective writers, and you're not focusing on your goalpost that might've been set a little too far.
I know it's a lot compared to what Rockium and CynthiaLover said, but I guess it's a little hard for me to see someone give up so easily. Sometimes it's worth taking a break, but don't give up unless you're entirely certain that it's what you want.

Just some tweaking today.
 
Another bit of advice is to know your strengths and limits when writing. A lot of my previous ideas from earlier years died because they became too ambitious for my skill level. While I've been writing since middle school, and it took a college course to refine my skill into a more honed form, I still occasionally fall into potholes due to the ambition of the idea overwhelming me to the point it's unworkable in its current state.

The idea that eventually spawned Dawn of Courage is one such example. The plot was much more complex, consisting of a several centuries old cold war between three enemy factions: the Alliance, the Empire, and Medea's monster army. The man protag was a coward with a dark, dangerous side who was forcefully dragged into the mess, while the main heroine was a anti-heroine deserter from the monster army and is using the main protag to help her achieve her end-goals. She didn't like him at first, as she hated cowards, thus tolerated him at best, but needed him in order to get the leverage needed to talk to higher-ups about the main villain's plan, while she's being hunted down by both the monster army and Empire for reasons she doesn't know. She comes to love the main protag after he reveals is dark, dangerous secret protecting her. And all other fun stuff like that. I realized that, despite my skill level, I could not achieve this idea. Worst of all, anytime I got a brain spark I threw the idea spawned from it in to the pot, until it exploded into one great mess. At that point I figured it was better to wipe the slate clean and start fresh than try to perform this idea.

However, Dawn of Courage recycled several ideas from the doomed project: the main protag is forcefully isekai'd who is a coward with a dark side and learns courage, the main female is a renegade from her kind and is capable of strong magic and is the only flight-able member of the party, a knight from a high-ranking kingdom is the leader of the party, familiars are part of the main setting, and the war between the alliance and, in this case, Muu has gone on for centuries, fluctuating from hot to cold every few decades, and so on. I came to see that this more stripped down version was easier to execute without overloading it with concepts, mechanics, and other stuff that doomed the first one. While several more complex concepts got into the mix, such as the use of Shaman magic, a rare branch of magic, and its associated forms (which I admit took some time to cook up), I was able to make it work more easily than the previous ginormous mess that was my first idea.

The point I'm getting at is that while sometimes you may have to scrap an idea because of things like ambition outstripping your skill level or an idea becomes unworkable because you threw everything and the kitchen sink into it, you can still figure out a way to recycle some ideas in a more workable form. And don't let your skill level be used as a measuring stick compared to others. I've been writing for years and yet I know my skill level can't match more talented writers. Do I let that bother me or do I let it discourage me? No. I have my own way, my own style, and my own methods that work for me, as everyone is different. I know I won't be the next Stephen King or JK Rowling but that doesn't bother me. So don't feel you need to compare yourself to other writers, as everyone is different. You can use them to give you a bit of a push to slowly but surely grow to that level, gently pushing your boundaries each and every time you sit down and write, but it's not a competition by any stretch of the imagination.

Everyone starts somewhere, and not everyone is born with a keyboard or notepad and pen in their hands. I didn't even know I had the ability to write fiction until my stress levels and depression started taking over my life, which led to some experimentation with different activities before finding out that, yes, I can write fiction, and I can use it as an outlet for my stress and anxiety. It has since taken a life of its own but it's still one of my two main methods for stress relief. So don't let things like scrapping an idea or feeling inadequate to another person's level of skill/output drag you down. Even if an idea burns to ashes, there's still a chance something can rise up from those ashes and become roses of success. Do things your own way and at your own pace, and over time, you will grow as a writer. That's enough out of me, as this post has gotten too long-winded.
 
I'm probably gonna repeat some things that others have mentioned. It's okay if you loose inspiration for piece, and it's totally fine if you scrap it. Heck, I have somewhere around 60-70 separate documents of scrapped ideas from over the years, and I probably only started writing half of them. And in 12 years of writing, I have completed maybe 10-12 fics (including short stories that usually end up being 9 or 10 pages). Even if you scrap a piece, it always makes for good practice.

Something I do that helps if I'm having trouble with a piece but I want to keep going with it is I write a scene that's further in the fic, something that maybe I've had in my mind since the very beginning. Or I'll do a character building moment, or even just practice working with the characters in their world by writing a one-shot with a prompt. Even if that still doesn't inspire anything, it feels nice to be able to write for those characters. I have a couple of characters I made almost a decade ago now (that felt crazy to type), whose fic I abandoned years ago, and I still write them sometimes. Some of your ideas will be scrapped completely, and sometimes you might find that you can use them in other works. Whatever you do with them, that's okay. It's all good practice.

And as for not being able to write everyday, don't worry about it. Sometimes the ideas don't flow, sometimes you'll have hundreds of ideas but no inspiration to write them. Sometimes you'll have the inspiration, but way too many ideas and you might be unable to decide on any of them. It happens, we all go through the various points of writers block, but it does go away. You'll get through it.
 
Sorry for the double post, but the first was getting to be a little long. (Edit: Oop it just looked too long on mobile but it was fine lol)

I started writing more for the fic that I came up with yesterday, but quickly realized I needed to take a second look at it and fix some things, so I worked on that today during my free-time. I think I have it mostly fixed now, so hoping to restart it this weekend.
 
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Reworked an idea from my planning documents. Long story short, Dominic would fully cement his status as a villain by working alongside the Undead Army in an attempt to best Nova and make himself look like a big hero. The Undead Army will go along with it because it's convenient to their plans before predictably stabbing him in the back at said event. This would cement Nova's hatred of Dominic, prove that they're foils to each other, and show just how dangerous Nova can be when sufficiently enraged. The original idea was for Nova to use Armageddon Mode on the Demon King Ring for the first time and combine it with Dragon Strike to obliterate the Undead Army in an attempt to murder Dominic in retaliation (who survives due to having a Soul Gem save him), as his stunt caused severe damage. However, because Nova will be going through a short training arc before then I've decided to use the special skill that he acquires during that arc as a substitute, as this skill is capable of destroying entire civilizations even at low levels, effectively outclassing even an Armageddon Mode Dragon Strike by a huge margin. And it's unavoidable, as once it locks onto a target there is no running away or dodging it, effectively making it a homing nuke. The catch is that Nova can't usually use the skill upon command, as the Demon King Ring can't replicate it like other skills/spells (though it can fuel it with mana and enhance it with the various power settings it has), instead requiring Nova to draw upon certain intense emotions/feelings to use it. But since he'll be overflowing with intense emotions/feelings he'll be able to use it then and there. The end result is the same but the method will be far more impressive and impactful due to the nature of the special skill.
 
Wrote the next chapter of Dawn of Courage today ("Gaia Knight Rising"). This one took a bit of time to iron out the idea but in the end I got it done.

Anyway, the party is heading toward the next Undead Base, knowing it's led by Captain Bonechill and a fairly large Undead Army platoon. Nina sends Phantom to investigate to see what they were up against before the party decided on a plan. They attack the Undead Base, with Nina, Zeeker, and Kettu using their Shaman forms to even the playing field. Kettu in particular would be the main force against Bonechill, as he's not only immune to the Dark element in his Shaman form, but he's also immune to illusions and hallucinations, which are Bonechill's specialty. After the Undead Soldiers are dealt with the party tries to gang up on Bonechill, only for him to trap them all (sans Kettu) in illusions that prey upon their greatest fears. However, Sir Reginald breaks free of it by using a new Shaman form: the Earth/Light Gaia Knight. He then proceeds to free the rest of the gang and completely decimate Bonechill, ending the battle. The party raid the Undead Base, collecting the large crate of Mana Stones it had, before Sir Reginald uses Tectonic Fissure to destroy the Undead Base. Satisfied at another victory over Muu the party moves onto their next target. The next chapter, "Defending Fort Aquatica", will feature party needing to return to Fort Aquatica to defend it from Muu, along with reuniting with a certain witch.
 
Forgive the double post but I just managed to finish the next chapter of Dawn of Courage ("Defending Fort Aquatica"). This chapter will lead the story into the next small-yet-major arc.

Anyway, the party have made it to the next town, having done some shopping and Nova selling some of his homemade accessories. However, a Lunar Owl familiar appears and delivers a message to Angelo. The message is from Joy the witch and she's requesting the party help defend Fort Aquatica from a new Undead Captain and his Undead Army platoon: Captain Bonegallow. Nina teleports them back to Fort Aquatica where they reunite with Joy, who is now in love with Angelo, as she's been accepted into the Hopper Clan because of him, while also revealing that the Lunar Owl is her familiar. After getting briefed by King Kermit, where the party deduces that Bonegallow is another Undead Soldier powered by a fallen soul, they began the needed prep work before facing the Undead Captain. Nina and Angelo don their Shaman forms (with Joy providing some amusing background antics as she drools over Angelo's Tsunami Knight form) before the battle begins. The party is able to easily destroy the basic Undead Soldiers though Bonegallow proves to be tougher. Nina and Joy create a combo attack that does heavy damage, followed up with a Celestial Shot from Nova, with Angelo finishing the job with Sea Splitting Slash, freeing the trapped soul. The trapped soul is revealed to be a female Beastman named Beth, who was one of the victims of the failed Beastman Resistance. Like the past few Beastmen souls she doesn't hold that disastrous failure on Zeeker, as she feels they all made the same mistake, thus he shouldn't have to shoulder all the blame. She begs that the party save the world before moving on into the afterlife. Later Nova and Nina reminisce about the last time when they were here, where Nova had taken a shot in the dark to see if Nina would be interested in a man from another clan, which Nina says she should've realized Nova's motivations that day. They also see Angelo and Joy enjoying each other's company and flirting, much to their amusement. They retire for the night, happy to have defended Fort Aquatica from Muu once again. The next chapter, "Arrow Dynamics", will start the short-but-important training arc for Nova.
 
Wrote the next chapter of Dawn of Courage today ("Arrow Dynamics").

The party has continued their mission. Nova decides to compete in an archery tournament as the prize is not only 5,000 gold but a new and rare Starfire Bow. However, after he registers Dominic attacks him and cuts his left hand off in an attempt to sabotage Nova before fleeing. Nina is able to reconnect Nova's hand with her Magic Fire Feathers but a nearby nurse reveals that the hand is unusable for a bit. Nova, however, still plans to compete not to win but to prove that he won't bend to Dominic's will. The following day Nova competes in the archery tournament, having successfully molded his disabled left hand into place so he can hold his bow. He is able to perform extremely well despite being disabled, ultimately winning the tournament, while Nina accidentally reveals what happened to a stranger. Said stranger turns to to be Aerrow Sparrow, the Legendary Archer himself, along with being a Phoenix Clan member. He reveals to the crowd about Nova, which earns him even more admiration from the public for competing while handicapped, and is offered apprenticeship from Aerrow to improve his talent as an archer, which he accepts. Aerrow takes the party aside and reveals that he's like Nina: a renegade from the Phoenix Clan who became disgusted with how the clan operates. He left Phoenixwing Kingdom the same year Nina was born and moved to Emerald Coast Kingdom, eventually marrying a human woman and having two daughters with her. He praises both Nova and Nina for what they've done, saying Nova has the true archer's spirit and Nina should be proud for breaking the mold by falling in love with a human. Dominic attacks again but is easily subdued by Aerrow with a Petrify Shot to the lower body, allowing knights to cart the man off, as Gloria Kingdom has a warrant for his arrest after his escape. Aerrow tells the party where they can find him so he can begin training Nova, but only after Nova's hand recovers, as he wants his new apprentice to be in top form before leaving. The next chapter, "On the Straight and Arrow", features the start of Nova's training to become a better archer.
 
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