Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[chaos_Leader]

@chaos_Leader: Good to see you back! Are you going to be on land for long now, or you going back on the boat soon?

I'm trying to be off the ship life for a while longer than normal. It can be a hectic, somewhat brutal life. I don't plan on quitting the ship entirely, because despite how hard it is there are things about it I enjoy, like the opportunity to meet a lot of great entertainers, to overcome the challenge intrinsic to the work, and the opportunity to put my skills and training to good work. I mainly think its something that can best be tackled with a more extended time to "unwind" ashore, as not to seem oppressed by the work, if that makes sense.

As for being here, or not being here, I think I can best sum up what I think was going on thusly: a combination of factors. On the one hand, I was unproductive, and didn't have a lot of writing to bring to the community for a while. Because of that, I tried focusing, tried "forcing myself to write" as is often recommended when stuck and edit out later. That's enough of a challenge to bind lots of writers, as I'm sure many can attest to, but I think these issues get compounded by ship life. So much time and energy is drained away from work, not to mention keeping a social routine with my crewmates (because I'm on that ship with them all the time, and we really do better when we can be sociable), I'm lucky to get enough motivation to do much of anything beyond. Things just... fall to the wayside after that.

I didn't mean that to be such a downer. I've actually recently reread a lot of my older work, and read a few books of authors I've liked, and it's given me I think a different angle to come at some of my writing challenges from. In a nutshell: I think in my head I've been making mountains out of molehills, agonizing over details that in the greater scope of things aren't especially critical to the process, and in turn allowed myself to be daunted by this kind of self-doubt. It's actually happened to me before, in one form or another. I get stuck at something, and end up thinking to myself "did I lose that spark I once had?" "am I not as good as I was before?" Then I finally get something out, I look back over what I've made, and I say to myself with much relief, "I've still got it!"

I'd say, with a dose of cautious optimism (knock on wood) that I feel like I'm on the cusp of another of those "I've still got it" moments. But one thing at a time.

Man this ended up way longer than I originally intended. Well, here's to going forward.

 

[AceTrainer14]

@chaos_Leader: Well, I hope you enjoy your time on land and I look forward to seeing more of ASOTTC in the future once you've found that motivation - it can be tricky to get back into things, but sounds like you have a great approach!

 

[Nitro Indigo]

As for my whole mascot dilemma, a while ago I PMed the second artist I've commissioned before I changed my mind twice, and they've been online since I sent the first one, but haven't read either. So I'm basically stuck in limbo. *sigh* I should've just stuck with Lia-Belle...

 

[AceTrainer14]

In case y'all hadn't noticed, Bulbagarden has a new app available for Android, so you can search all the information you may need for writing/planning without needing an internet connection. Go and download!

 

[Nitro Indigo]

I'd really like honest advice about my dilemma.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Well, did you already pay the artist, or...?

 

[canisaries]

are there rules concerning how long you have to wait before posting another story? i know chapters have rules, but i couldn't spot anything about different threads (for different stories).

 

[diamondpearl876]

are there rules concerning how long you have to wait before posting another story? i know chapters have rules, but i couldn't spot anything about different threads (for different stories).

There are no rules for that, nope. As long as the story threads follow the other rules like having the first chapter within the first hour of creating the thread, you're fine. Thanks for asking!

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Well, did you already pay the artist, or...?

No.

 

[diamondpearl876]

No.

I'd say you're free to change artists, then, if the one isn't responding. Their loss for not being professional and following up with you.

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Also, I was going to pay with not real money, but a singular virtual item.

 

[Arkadelphiak]

Lol hey guys, it's been a while. How have you all been? Got anything new in the works?

 

[Beth Pavell]

Well, I've started a boring blog

 

[diamondpearl876]

Oh, hello there. Long time no see.

I've been switching between two of my main fanfic projects, and I dedicated a weekend to participate in an original fiction short story contest. Other than that, I'm just chugging away at notes, hoping someday I'll be satisfied with how I organize them.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Something's been kind of bothering me for a while now - the prevalent assumption that fantasy is somehow by default silly, stupid or childish, and that if it's not then you're looking at an exceptional piece. I can't decide how much I really agree with the idea, since it seems to inform so much of what goes into fantasy - including that real peeve of mine, the idea that a fantasy world doesn't have to make any internal sense because it's a fantasy.

I think a lot of this is down to the way nerd cultures have developed during this past decade or so. For all that being a nerd is supposedly cool now, and traditionally nerdy things are massive Hollywood cash cows, there's still this strong self-deprecatory undercurrent that it's somehow all about being overgrown boys with expensive toys. I guess it bothers me because fantasy is a big genre, whatever the medium, and it ain't all Michael Bay's Transformers. Some of it is A Wizard of Earthsea, or American Gods, or AnoHana ... well, ok, AnoHana could use some work, but you get the point.

I don't know what brought this thought on ... probably when I found myself, the other day, trying to explain why the themes of The Lord of the Rings are relevant and applicable outside the pages of the book, knowing full well that Oorlando Bland's face blandy delivering dumb lines was what I was essentially fighting against

 

[Nitro Indigo]

AnoHana ... well, ok, AnoHana could use some work, but you get the point.

I loved AnoHana, and maybe it's because I was watching a fansub, but it felt a bit... vague? I haven't seen it since 2014, mind.

It's interesting that you mentioned it, though, since fantasy is a broad genre, and it's not something I would have listed.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Well, it's a ghost story, so assuming you don't believe in ghosts, it's a fantasy. AnoHana finds a place there because it's not, as it were, a zany story along the lines of something that might be called My Landlady Senpai is a Ghost!! but a story about grief told using a fantastic conceit. Which it does pretty well, all in all.

 

[canisaries]

well, when most people think fantasy, they just think tolkien and tolkien ripoffs, especially people who dont read that much (including me, sadly). and it is true that a lot of "imaginative" kids like to make their stories fantasy (again i was one of those "imaginative" kids, except my stories were trash) because i guess they like magic and wonder and they're inspired by the infinite possibilities of leaving behind the real world which might be considered boring by them.

when they enter puberty, however, they typically begin to question different things and themselves, and stories more grounded in realism might feel like a better way of learning about the world and people around them. not to mention fantasy will probably be considered "kiddie" when preteen or teen.

however, when growing even older, stuff like symbolism becomes clearer and things such as surrealism and less straightforward poetry start to make sense, because by this age people begin to understand that there are many different ways to perceive and express things and complete straightforwardness seems uninspired. it's a sign of maturity to be able to see things from multiple different perspectives, be it in problem-solving like mathematics or art like literature. i remember when i used to only like the colors blue and black, and i also remember how hard the first real course of math in gymnasium (the school, not the gym) felt like while now its problems are a complete breeze.

then again i might completely be talking out of my ass here, i'm pretty tired rn but i wanted to just give my two cents on this

 

[CrystaI]

For these few weeks, I was trying to reply to some threads, writing a whole long essay to post, yet when I reach up to 70~80% completion, I suddenly felt like "Nah, it doesn't matter even I voice out something", delete the long essay which I planned to post, wasted myself 1 hour thinking about a reply which address to no one but just go straight to rubbish bin. I already lose count on how many time this had happened.

I find myself talking less and less in the forum. Though I don't blame anyone because indeed I found the forum contains less and less topics which I'm interested to participate. May it is the forum, or may it is just me personally, but I felt boring to reply to anything.

 

[Misfit Angel]

I do that all the time with the general questions thread. I've lost count how many times this year alone I thought about asking a question, then figured it was a dumb question and didn't ask it.