Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[unrepentantAuthor]

Finally getting things done the way I wanted to the last week and a half. Mind you, I had to take a nap earlier today because I decided to go one goddamn day without dosing up on caffeine, and my brain couldn't take that standing up, so to speak. Regardless, I'm sure I'll be writing briskly very very soon indeed. The more I promise here that I'm writing, the more likely I am to do it, is the way I see it. Aheh.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I think I write anthologies better than serialised stories because I don't have to worry about changing my mind about the plot's direction, when there's not much of a direction to begin with.

I bring this up because I just wrote the first chapter of a Pokémon/Fullmetal Alchemist anthology. Anyone know where I can get a banner commissioned?

 

[Beth Pavell]

You could buy one as a prize from the Review League

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

@Nitro Indigo I have too much free time. If the Review League is too time-costly for you, I'm willing to make a banner in exchange for a review on any poem in my poetry grab bag or any chapter of KAIJUMON. Links in my description; they both have banners that demonstrate my style. I've also made these banners for a past project I now regret:

Spoiler: What they thought the campaign was

Spoiler: What the campaign actually was

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I started reading Kaijumon, but I don't think I finished the first chapter. I'm not old enough to read your poems.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

I'm not old enough to read your poems.

Ooooooohhhh.

For my poetry collection, I individually rate poems. I think it's a 3-4-5 split between EVERYONE, TEEN, and MATURE, respectively. And they're all completed poems capable of being read individually in no particular order...

...but the fact I'm explaining this in General Chat says I'm doing something wrong. I'll see about renaming the thread to explain all this. Thank you for sharing this, and thank you for reading my other fic!

On the poetry subject: I found a full album of music put to WWI poetry. All the poets were killed in action. It's the saddest, darkest thing I've ever witnessed by ear. All my poems feel hollow now. It's a polka album. It's stuck in my head. Help.

Spoiler: MATURE: Correctly predicts the author's own death

I'd post other songs, but one is enough to make me curl up in blankets and stare at a wall. I think I'm taking a break from poetry.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

@Snuggle Tier List I'm re-reading Kaijumon, and it turns out that I did read at least the first two chapters.

What are you good at drawing?

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

@Nitro Indigo Absolutely nothing! I'm 100% Photoshop (well, GIMP). For instance, that claw in those banners I posted above? That's a shadow of a Therizinosaurus's claw, AKA "the world's biggest claw":

Spoiler: Source image

I then combined it with some public-domain scratch marks, cut out a background "plate", typed specialty-font text, then applied a coarse texture to imply depth.

This process does mean I have to be super-careful with copyright laws (I've you seen me dive deep into legal stuff, banner art was the spark).If I did do a banner for you, I'd probably use imagery associated with both Pokémon and Fullmetal Alchemist in a mash-up; either non-copyrighted stuff, or highly-edited symbols commonly associated with both franchise, i.e. a logo from Fullmetal Alchemist in Poké Ball colors + texturing, background, and fonts associated with both franchises, plus some public-domain images that'd make good symbolism. Just a rough idea based on what I know of your fic; DM me if you're interested.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

The idea I had in mind was a drawing of the main character, if you're good at drawing both Pikachus and robot bits... but I need to give you a review first.

Also, the first time I saw a Therizinosaurus in a book about dinosaurs that I've long since lost, I laughed. It had lanky arms, giant Edward Scissorhands, and was coloured like a zebra.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

@Nitro Indigo I'm no drawer, but I could probably give Pikachu some robit limbs/eyes/etc. Sending you a DM to continue this conversation with more examples of what I can and can't do.

Edit: forgot to mention: dinosaurs are cooler with feathers. Everyone that says otherwise is a sentient alligator on a keyboard who's just jealous. It's the only explanation with no holes whatsoever.
/s

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

Anyone here ever preview a fic they were writing to make sure the BBCode was okay, only to accidentally hit "Post Thread", so you spend a minute trying to find the delete thread option only to find there isn't one, so you copy/paste like mad before someone stumbles on your supposed-to-be-in-progress fic including a jillion attachments you have to insert?

...asking for a friend. His name's, uh, Buggles. Buggles Tier List. Yeah.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

@Snuggle Tier List Well, it's better than people I've seen on forums over the years who don't seem to preview their posts, leading to things such as broken BBCode tags and HTML in places where it doesn't work.

On a completely unrelated note, I've wanted to write a story about someone who becomes a big, scary, unintelligible monster and has a friend who's the only one who "understands" them for a while now, but I've lacked the inclination to think of one because I'm currently more focused on AUs. Which is funny, because such a story would be a perfect fit for that certain MLP/Pokémon crossover verse I've been losing interest in.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

@Nitro Indigo Your review you linked made me legitimately LOL. I will now be imagining all your posts narrated in that same non-stop high-tempo voice, it's amazing. If you ever review one of my fics, please do it in that style.

 

[UselessBytes]

Whew lad, I've been gone for a hot minute. Haven't been able to write more than about three pages all month. Finals season is a bitch, peeps. Hopefully I can post something in early may.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

@Nitro Indigo Your review you linked made me legitimately LOL. I will now be imagining all your posts narrated in that same non-stop high-tempo voice, it's amazing. If you ever review one of my fics, please do it in that style.

Thanks! I was worried that I enunciate things weirdly when I'm reading off a script, but I'm quite proud of "for the love of guacamole and all things holy."

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

I really love Trainers of Fanfiction so far. All the featured authors seem to be really talented and smart and hard-working and 100% have killer abs probably [citation needed]

EDIT: Link to non-archived thread

 

[Beth Pavell]

So, I've been watching Bojack Horseman recently, thinking a bit about tropes and storytelling. It occurs to me how ironic it is, that a show that ruthlessly tries to avert the usual sitcom/drama tropes still manages to fall into them. Five seasons of story and nothing really changes - there's always a reset button pushed in the penultimate couple of episodes and a hope spot in the finale, which after five-season-long pattern will invariably be torn down next season.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

@Beth Pavell the rate of change in that show is agonisingly slow, it's true. I feel like it should be, since the whole idea is that toxic people don't change rapidly, but it's pretty rough to have Bojack take multiple seasons to move from "I don't have a problem" to "I have a problem but it's fine" to "my problem isn't fine but I got it" and finally to "I need help to be better" while being fundamentally the same category of asshole the entire time. I really hope there's not an enforced status quo going forward.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

but it's pretty rough to have Bojack take multiple seasons to move from "I don't have a problem" to "I have a problem but it's fine" to "my problem isn't fine but I got it" and finally to "I need help to be better" while being fundamentally the same category of asshole the entire time. I really hope there's not an enforced status quo going forward.

I think Bojack's wealth is slowing his development. No matter how badly he might mess up, he's always got a fancy home to return to. That doesn't make him happy, but it does soften the blow whenever he royally fucks up. If things go completely south, he can just bail to his own home, which is a luxury (and reset button) most people can't afford.

That said, ignoring the show's attempts to "ignore the sitcom formula", I think it makes a good sitcom. Especially the one-off "gimmick" episodes, such as flashbacks or events that don't advance the plot/characters in any way. I noticed they tend to be more experimental because they aren't worrying about advancing anything, which leds to some misses but also some gut-punch hits (i.e. character backstory episodes).

Perhaps the problem isn't development, but the fact he's being developed in the first place. "Jerk who has problem but also a guilt complex" could work as a static character if he rationalizes awsy everything that might violate his persona, both for better or worse. Then the show could focus on how that type of person with that amount of reset buttons wealth doesn't change, and how other people can avoid falling into that trap/deal with others who have.

Or maybe the show's already doing that and we're disappointing ourselves by expecting Bojack's character development ¯\(ツ)/¯

 

[Beth Pavell]

The problem I have with the plot's general stagnation is twofold. On the one hand, while it's not really unrealistic for someone to declare they'll change themselves and then fail to do the hard work of actually doing it, from a storytelling perspective it loses its steam after the first couple of times. You can't expect to pull the audience's heartstrings every eleventh episode and then spend the next ten sending the message that some people are jerks forever.

The other issue is that outside this, the supporting characters never really change either - or at least, their stories are just as glacially slow and are wrapped up in the same "rinse and repeat" sitcom formula. It seems like I've been watching the same wacky B-plot about wacky business ideas for two or three seasons now.

I've noticed that bubbling under the surface is an indecisiveness in the writing. Bojack Horseman wants to be socially responsible media (Which admittedly I find patronising anyway), and I think this is causing some inconsistency in the storytelling.