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Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

Sorry if that was too heavy for people to want to respond to! Oh dear. No worries, we're doing alright.

Update is that my family are looking to move house this year, which will be disruptive but I see the sense in it given the circumstances.

My studies are picking up a little but I'm desperate to get the next couple chapters of DE done asap due to the awards season. Wish me luck!
Good to hear! It's sometimes difficult to suitably reply to such sensitive events, hence people may opt for silence, lest a well-meant message is received ill. And great fortune upon thy efforts!
 
I actually could've sworn I responded, but maybe that was on the public Discord... Glad to hear you're holding up, though. Lots of crazy things going on, and I'm sure it's tough.

Also, is anyone planning on doing Camp NaNoWriMo? I always remember it's a thing, like, one week into July, but this time, I have warning. :p Am considering setting like a word count goal of 25k or so.
 
Every year I say I'd like to try, and every year I either forget or I start getting busy with other stuff. I fear this year will be no different.
 
I'm currently writing a chapter in The Tides Have turned where there's a Gyarados battle, followed by some characters showing up, followed by an in-universe exposition conversation, followed by the Gyarados' backstory. I'm not too sure about how this is paced, though, so I might have the second group of characters join in the fight.
 
I did "30 hours of editing" in April. I think next month I'll do "30 hours of writing." It's gotta be a modest goal given my circumstances. November... we'll see. I won the last two, though. Be a shame not to keep up a streak~
 
Had a meetup with my local writers group yesterday and we'll all be doing NaNo in July! Today is a bright and breezy day and I have some energy so hopefully I can get a chapter up real soon!
 
I realised this morning that I skipped the desert in Alpha Sapphire by accident.

Backstory: I've been playing it in French recently to try to improve my knowledge of that language, and also to make my second playthrough more interesting. I still can't decide on a permanent 6th party member because I rotate my team so much, which is how I play Y.

Also, I have an idea for a video involving viewer-submitted content. Is this a good idea for a small YouTuber?
 
...I need to remember to play a game in French when I think I'm good enough there. Fantastic idea.

For a small YouTuber, people might prefer going to someone bigger unless you've got a really good incentive for them.

Also decided not to bother with Camp NaNo. I don't have enough socializing energy for "cabins" or whatever. xD And I don't wanna stick to one project.
 
The idea behind the video is that I'll ask people to submit their opinions on a game's boxart, either through text or a video clip.
 
I find nothing more infuriating then to publish some chapters, thinking them done, only to find minor and ugly flaws when you read it for a zillionth time. Bah.
 
I think the reason why I've been stuck trying to write The Shining Star of EverBright for so long is because I don't know what kind of story I want to tell. Every interesting hook I come up with disagrees with what I want the protagonist's starting position to be. My most common idea is that she wants to see stars for the first time... except her name means "star", so that would be on-the-nose.

It's basically a darkly whimsical fantasy adventure for children about a glylla (a flying squirrel thing) named Estelle who leaves her isolated forest home for some reason, meeting all sorts of creatures of EverBright along the way. Please can someone help me come up with an inciting incident?
 
I eventually came up with a bunch of characters from the outside world showing up because the outside world is a terrible place to live, and they want a better life, if that makes sense? Of course, Estelle is too headstrong to listen to them at first.
 
I think the reason why I've been stuck trying to write The Shining Star of EverBright for so long is because I don't know what kind of story I want to tell. Every interesting hook I come up with disagrees with what I want the protagonist's starting position to be. My most common idea is that she wants to see stars for the first time... except her name means "star", so that would be on-the-nose.

It's basically a darkly whimsical fantasy adventure for children about a glylla (a flying squirrel thing) named Estelle who leaves her isolated forest home for some reason, meeting all sorts of creatures of EverBright along the way. Please can someone help me come up with an inciting incident?
- Habitat under attack?
- Loved one that goes missing?
- Lost a bet?
- Curiousity?
- A feeling of not belonging in the society it was born into?

I eventually came up with a bunch of characters from the outside world showing up because the outside world is a terrible place to live, and they want a better life, if that makes sense? Of course, Estelle is too headstrong to listen to them at first.
I don't see how this is a reason for Estelle to leave the forest, it sounds like a perfect good excuse not to leave the forest.
 
The implication here is that Estelle doesn't credit the idea that the outside world is terrible. She could be motivated by sheer curiosity, I suppose. The issue is that you need an inciting incident, a 'why now' type of deal. If people from outside are showing up to escape, that sounds like the perfect reason to leave. But... it doesn't quite mesh with her believing the outside world is fine and dandy. Intuitively I would expect a protagonist in this situation to believe the newcomers escaping the outside, and want to change things out there.
 
It's not that she doesn't know that the outside world is bad; she doesn't know what the outside world is like, period.

The forest is protected by a forcefield, then one day some outsiders show up to try to steal the protection, Estelle chases them to try to stop them because she thinks they mean harm, the antagonist's gang try to stop her, and eventually the main antagonist tells her why most of the world has fallen to ruin. Please note that I come up with my most detailed story ideas when I'm half-asleep.

Also, I'm worried that I have a problem with pacing. When I'm writing dialogue between two characters, it eventually turns into a back-and-forth with no labels for a bit before they go off to the next location.
 
It's not that she doesn't know that the outside world is bad; she doesn't know what the outside world is like, period.

The forest is protected by a forcefield, then one day some outsiders show up to try to steal the protection, Estelle chases them to try to stop them because she thinks they mean harm, the antagonist's gang try to stop her, and eventually the main antagonist tells her why most of the world has fallen to ruin. Please note that I come up with my most detailed story ideas when I'm half-asleep.
Ok, that's definately an inciting event. I like it because it doesn't sound like there's an (attractive) alternative to stay.

Also, I'm worried that I have a problem with pacing. When I'm writing dialogue between two characters, it eventually turns into a back-and-forth with no labels for a bit before they go off to the next location.
Pacing, hmm, what I do about pacing is to keep events with minimal to no story value as small as possible (or just omit them). My common sense starts tickling when something is dragging on too long and needs to be cut with an axe. Key events, on the other hand, should be well-written out in full (such as the inciting event of course). And dialogue, heh, that's something I struggle with quite a bit. I (very) often think back what Stephen King said about writing fiction in general, it starts with seeing what is happening and describe that. Most of the time I need to work on that vision and carefully write according to how the characters act and speak.
 
Here's the me-update I guess - partner's got a part time job with daft hours, it's way too hot and there are insects everywhere, I'm extremely stressed and busy but still just doing my damn best. Gonna push myself extremely hard to get edits for chapters 1 and 4 done today and then upload Interlude I. That'll make me feel damn good.
 
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