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tvc4hu | writing_train | 0.97 | How to write accents? So, during dialogue, are you supposed to go all in with a characters accent? Do you keep it to a minimum? Or do you just not include it? | i38u8wi | i39b4tl | 1,649,006,468 | 1,649,013,409 | 3 | 10 | Minimum. Use some verbal habits and the occasional non-English word if you want to make clear how the character might sound. Go to youtube and look up the language you need an English rhythm and tone for. But, use just enough to suggest a difference for any character who speaks often, or you're going to annoy a percentage of readers. Please do not make them make dorky language mistakes. Non-speakers of a language always get those insultingly wrong. Readers, once you know the character's accent, look it up to 'hear' how they might speak. | Lightly. Differences in syntax and construction, more than phonetic mimic. | 0 | 6,941 | 3.333333 | ||
tvc4hu | writing_train | 0.97 | How to write accents? So, during dialogue, are you supposed to go all in with a characters accent? Do you keep it to a minimum? Or do you just not include it? | i39p0j0 | i38h2c6 | 1,649,019,174 | 1,649,001,002 | 6 | 5 | two things: 1) STUDY THE DIALECT! Literally just google it and learn how the vowels shift and how the consonants are articulated. Rely on actual data, not stereotypes - even if you yourself are a speaker of said dialect. Most Southern US speakers, for example, don’t realize that they merge words like “pin/pen,” “him/hem,” and “win/when” even though it’s one of the hallmarks of their dialect. Too many authors don’t do this. -.- 2) GRAMMAR AND LEXICON! Spelling every word “phonetically” can get really confusing and annoying for readers (plus it’s often inconsistent). Learn about the lexical and grammatical differences and write those in dialogue instead. You can describe pronunciation in an introduction paragraph or something. | Everyone has an accent, so what do you mean? | 1 | 18,172 | 1.2 | ||
tvc4hu | writing_train | 0.97 | How to write accents? So, during dialogue, are you supposed to go all in with a characters accent? Do you keep it to a minimum? Or do you just not include it? | i38u8wi | i39p0j0 | 1,649,006,468 | 1,649,019,174 | 3 | 6 | Minimum. Use some verbal habits and the occasional non-English word if you want to make clear how the character might sound. Go to youtube and look up the language you need an English rhythm and tone for. But, use just enough to suggest a difference for any character who speaks often, or you're going to annoy a percentage of readers. Please do not make them make dorky language mistakes. Non-speakers of a language always get those insultingly wrong. Readers, once you know the character's accent, look it up to 'hear' how they might speak. | two things: 1) STUDY THE DIALECT! Literally just google it and learn how the vowels shift and how the consonants are articulated. Rely on actual data, not stereotypes - even if you yourself are a speaker of said dialect. Most Southern US speakers, for example, don’t realize that they merge words like “pin/pen,” “him/hem,” and “win/when” even though it’s one of the hallmarks of their dialect. Too many authors don’t do this. -.- 2) GRAMMAR AND LEXICON! Spelling every word “phonetically” can get really confusing and annoying for readers (plus it’s often inconsistent). Learn about the lexical and grammatical differences and write those in dialogue instead. You can describe pronunciation in an introduction paragraph or something. | 0 | 12,706 | 2 | ||
mnljwa | writing_train | 1 | How to write with accents (help) How are you supposed to write with accents? I have a German character in the story I'm writing but I don't speak the language nor do I know anyone that has that accent. I don't want it to seem like I am making fun of the accent or not doing it right. Can anyone help? | gtyarhd | gty9zx3 | 1,617,988,934 | 1,617,988,604 | 16 | 1 | I think you are somewhat overthinking it. "Hi. How are you?" he said with a slight German accent. Is perfectly fine 99%of the time. | Honestly, unless the person is rather old, most people don’t have such extreme/pronounced accents anymore. Th is difficult for German speakers as well as ch vs g and v vs w. Sometimes a vs e (eg bed vs bad) are problematic as well. But please don’t write something like “Sis is very vell done, yes?” - it’s a pain to read and no one really speaks like that. Just mention that they have a German accent and maybe sometimes comment on how a certain word sounds. I am a German speaker (from Austria). If you need anything you can ask me. Here is a link that might help. | 1 | 330 | 16 | ||
mnljwa | writing_train | 1 | How to write with accents (help) How are you supposed to write with accents? I have a German character in the story I'm writing but I don't speak the language nor do I know anyone that has that accent. I don't want it to seem like I am making fun of the accent or not doing it right. Can anyone help? | gtyb0gi | gtyeww6 | 1,617,989,043 | 1,617,990,754 | 2 | 3 | There are a few different techniques you can use here. One is respelling words to match how they're pronounced. This should be used cautiously and sparingly, and only if the character's accent is really pronounced. I recommend against this one unless you really know what you're doing, because there's a lot of potential for it to sound unintentionally comical or even offensive. Two, and this is something you should probably do regardless of what other techniques you use, is to be clear where the character's from and describe the accent indirectly. For example, you could have a line from another character during dialogue: "Sorry, what was that?" Ivan asked. Johan's thick German accent made him a bit difficult to understand when he spoke quickly. Third, and this is my favorite, requires more research than #1 and still has to be used with caution but I think it's both more effective and more subtle: language transfer. Anyone speaking a language other than their native one, even at a very advanced level, will transfer features from their native language into the second language. For example, as Russian lacks articles, Russians speaking English will often drop them, for example: "I have book you gave me," said Max. "I read it yesterday on train. Quite good!" Listen to videos of Germans speaking English and try to develop an ear for it. That will make the dialogue natural and the characters will hear it even if you only mention it once and are very subtle about it from that point forward. Mix and match as needed. | Don't try to emulate the accent by warping words. Instead, research idiomatic German expressions that your character can use, that aren't so common in English. Everything Is Illuminated does a great job of this kind of thing. | 0 | 1,711 | 1.5 | ||
mnljwa | writing_train | 1 | How to write with accents (help) How are you supposed to write with accents? I have a German character in the story I'm writing but I don't speak the language nor do I know anyone that has that accent. I don't want it to seem like I am making fun of the accent or not doing it right. Can anyone help? | gtyeww6 | gty9zx3 | 1,617,990,754 | 1,617,988,604 | 3 | 1 | Don't try to emulate the accent by warping words. Instead, research idiomatic German expressions that your character can use, that aren't so common in English. Everything Is Illuminated does a great job of this kind of thing. | Honestly, unless the person is rather old, most people don’t have such extreme/pronounced accents anymore. Th is difficult for German speakers as well as ch vs g and v vs w. Sometimes a vs e (eg bed vs bad) are problematic as well. But please don’t write something like “Sis is very vell done, yes?” - it’s a pain to read and no one really speaks like that. Just mention that they have a German accent and maybe sometimes comment on how a certain word sounds. I am a German speaker (from Austria). If you need anything you can ask me. Here is a link that might help. | 1 | 2,150 | 3 | ||
mnljwa | writing_train | 1 | How to write with accents (help) How are you supposed to write with accents? I have a German character in the story I'm writing but I don't speak the language nor do I know anyone that has that accent. I don't want it to seem like I am making fun of the accent or not doing it right. Can anyone help? | gty9zx3 | gtyb0gi | 1,617,988,604 | 1,617,989,043 | 1 | 2 | Honestly, unless the person is rather old, most people don’t have such extreme/pronounced accents anymore. Th is difficult for German speakers as well as ch vs g and v vs w. Sometimes a vs e (eg bed vs bad) are problematic as well. But please don’t write something like “Sis is very vell done, yes?” - it’s a pain to read and no one really speaks like that. Just mention that they have a German accent and maybe sometimes comment on how a certain word sounds. I am a German speaker (from Austria). If you need anything you can ask me. Here is a link that might help. | There are a few different techniques you can use here. One is respelling words to match how they're pronounced. This should be used cautiously and sparingly, and only if the character's accent is really pronounced. I recommend against this one unless you really know what you're doing, because there's a lot of potential for it to sound unintentionally comical or even offensive. Two, and this is something you should probably do regardless of what other techniques you use, is to be clear where the character's from and describe the accent indirectly. For example, you could have a line from another character during dialogue: "Sorry, what was that?" Ivan asked. Johan's thick German accent made him a bit difficult to understand when he spoke quickly. Third, and this is my favorite, requires more research than #1 and still has to be used with caution but I think it's both more effective and more subtle: language transfer. Anyone speaking a language other than their native one, even at a very advanced level, will transfer features from their native language into the second language. For example, as Russian lacks articles, Russians speaking English will often drop them, for example: "I have book you gave me," said Max. "I read it yesterday on train. Quite good!" Listen to videos of Germans speaking English and try to develop an ear for it. That will make the dialogue natural and the characters will hear it even if you only mention it once and are very subtle about it from that point forward. Mix and match as needed. | 0 | 439 | 2 | ||
mnljwa | writing_train | 1 | How to write with accents (help) How are you supposed to write with accents? I have a German character in the story I'm writing but I don't speak the language nor do I know anyone that has that accent. I don't want it to seem like I am making fun of the accent or not doing it right. Can anyone help? | gty9zx3 | gtyflpw | 1,617,988,604 | 1,617,991,054 | 1 | 2 | Honestly, unless the person is rather old, most people don’t have such extreme/pronounced accents anymore. Th is difficult for German speakers as well as ch vs g and v vs w. Sometimes a vs e (eg bed vs bad) are problematic as well. But please don’t write something like “Sis is very vell done, yes?” - it’s a pain to read and no one really speaks like that. Just mention that they have a German accent and maybe sometimes comment on how a certain word sounds. I am a German speaker (from Austria). If you need anything you can ask me. Here is a link that might help. | It's usually better to just state the character is German, or has a German accent, than to try to reproduce it. If you know several German English speakers and have a feel for how they speak the language (not the accent, but the phrasings, musicality, and so on), then you can reflect that, but the goal in representing any culture that is not yours is to do so respectfully. Altering spelling to make it more phonetic doesn't do that, and often has the opposite effect, by making them seem less than literate. | 0 | 2,450 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0mi755 | j0lm0re | 1,671,307,800 | 1,671,294,391 | 42 | 16 | You seek forbidden knowledge and must first prove your worth by completing the twin trials of Readalot and Writealot. If you survive these dread tasks, you will emerge prepared for the journey ahead. | Don't think it through. Just write. A little trick I use (to kickstart a blank page) is to simply start typing stuff like you just did, like: *"ok..I want to write. I have no idea about what. I'll just,keep writing, and perhaps something will come up..otherwise, this will get very boring, but at least I'm writing. Oh look. There's a little gnome entering my room, asking me what I'm doing. Let's have a conversation !"* At a certain point I usually suddenly discover my flow, delete the first paragraph and then keep writing. | 1 | 13,409 | 2.625 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0l9xb4 | j0mi755 | 1,671,288,879 | 1,671,307,800 | 13 | 42 | Step 1: Start writing Step 2: Keep writing If you want to get better at something, do it and keep doing it. | You seek forbidden knowledge and must first prove your worth by completing the twin trials of Readalot and Writealot. If you survive these dread tasks, you will emerge prepared for the journey ahead. | 0 | 18,921 | 3.230769 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0mi755 | j0l99j6 | 1,671,307,800 | 1,671,288,556 | 42 | 10 | You seek forbidden knowledge and must first prove your worth by completing the twin trials of Readalot and Writealot. If you survive these dread tasks, you will emerge prepared for the journey ahead. | You probably already have started. Writing is an art, just like painting and music. For those, you need to learn the language of music and the theory of color. For writing, you start by learning written language. You've done that, or you wouldn't have been able to post. After you learn these things, just like in any art, you practice. For music, you pick an instrument, for art, you pick a style. Then, you practice. For writing, you pick a style/genre. Poetry, short fiction, long fiction, non fiction. Just write something. It doesn't have to be good. It probably won't be. Just ask any parent who has to endure their kid practicing French Horn or the Violin. In music and art you study the masters. You learn from those who have come before. In writing, you read your chosen style/genre, and you learn from them. Just as in music and art (mostly music) you might collaborate with others. Co-write something with another author. Treat writing just like any other art and you'll be fine. | 1 | 19,244 | 4.2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0mi755 | j0l80un | 1,671,307,800 | 1,671,287,932 | 42 | 3 | You seek forbidden knowledge and must first prove your worth by completing the twin trials of Readalot and Writealot. If you survive these dread tasks, you will emerge prepared for the journey ahead. | Step 1: Find out what you want to write. Fiction? Novels? Short stories? Biographies? Instructional Manuals? Non-Fiction? Poetry? Step 2: Google "How to write (Insert your choice here)" | 1 | 19,868 | 14 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0ly7p0 | j0mi755 | 1,671,299,513 | 1,671,307,800 | 1 | 42 | pen, paper. write. | You seek forbidden knowledge and must first prove your worth by completing the twin trials of Readalot and Writealot. If you survive these dread tasks, you will emerge prepared for the journey ahead. | 0 | 8,287 | 42 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0mi755 | j0lqkrl | 1,671,307,800 | 1,671,296,308 | 42 | 1 | You seek forbidden knowledge and must first prove your worth by completing the twin trials of Readalot and Writealot. If you survive these dread tasks, you will emerge prepared for the journey ahead. | Reading and writing. | 1 | 11,492 | 42 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0l9xb4 | j0lm0re | 1,671,288,879 | 1,671,294,391 | 13 | 16 | Step 1: Start writing Step 2: Keep writing If you want to get better at something, do it and keep doing it. | Don't think it through. Just write. A little trick I use (to kickstart a blank page) is to simply start typing stuff like you just did, like: *"ok..I want to write. I have no idea about what. I'll just,keep writing, and perhaps something will come up..otherwise, this will get very boring, but at least I'm writing. Oh look. There's a little gnome entering my room, asking me what I'm doing. Let's have a conversation !"* At a certain point I usually suddenly discover my flow, delete the first paragraph and then keep writing. | 0 | 5,512 | 1.230769 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0l99j6 | j0lm0re | 1,671,288,556 | 1,671,294,391 | 10 | 16 | You probably already have started. Writing is an art, just like painting and music. For those, you need to learn the language of music and the theory of color. For writing, you start by learning written language. You've done that, or you wouldn't have been able to post. After you learn these things, just like in any art, you practice. For music, you pick an instrument, for art, you pick a style. Then, you practice. For writing, you pick a style/genre. Poetry, short fiction, long fiction, non fiction. Just write something. It doesn't have to be good. It probably won't be. Just ask any parent who has to endure their kid practicing French Horn or the Violin. In music and art you study the masters. You learn from those who have come before. In writing, you read your chosen style/genre, and you learn from them. Just as in music and art (mostly music) you might collaborate with others. Co-write something with another author. Treat writing just like any other art and you'll be fine. | Don't think it through. Just write. A little trick I use (to kickstart a blank page) is to simply start typing stuff like you just did, like: *"ok..I want to write. I have no idea about what. I'll just,keep writing, and perhaps something will come up..otherwise, this will get very boring, but at least I'm writing. Oh look. There's a little gnome entering my room, asking me what I'm doing. Let's have a conversation !"* At a certain point I usually suddenly discover my flow, delete the first paragraph and then keep writing. | 0 | 5,835 | 1.6 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0l80un | j0lm0re | 1,671,287,932 | 1,671,294,391 | 3 | 16 | Step 1: Find out what you want to write. Fiction? Novels? Short stories? Biographies? Instructional Manuals? Non-Fiction? Poetry? Step 2: Google "How to write (Insert your choice here)" | Don't think it through. Just write. A little trick I use (to kickstart a blank page) is to simply start typing stuff like you just did, like: *"ok..I want to write. I have no idea about what. I'll just,keep writing, and perhaps something will come up..otherwise, this will get very boring, but at least I'm writing. Oh look. There's a little gnome entering my room, asking me what I'm doing. Let's have a conversation !"* At a certain point I usually suddenly discover my flow, delete the first paragraph and then keep writing. | 0 | 6,459 | 5.333333 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0l99j6 | j0l9xb4 | 1,671,288,556 | 1,671,288,879 | 10 | 13 | You probably already have started. Writing is an art, just like painting and music. For those, you need to learn the language of music and the theory of color. For writing, you start by learning written language. You've done that, or you wouldn't have been able to post. After you learn these things, just like in any art, you practice. For music, you pick an instrument, for art, you pick a style. Then, you practice. For writing, you pick a style/genre. Poetry, short fiction, long fiction, non fiction. Just write something. It doesn't have to be good. It probably won't be. Just ask any parent who has to endure their kid practicing French Horn or the Violin. In music and art you study the masters. You learn from those who have come before. In writing, you read your chosen style/genre, and you learn from them. Just as in music and art (mostly music) you might collaborate with others. Co-write something with another author. Treat writing just like any other art and you'll be fine. | Step 1: Start writing Step 2: Keep writing If you want to get better at something, do it and keep doing it. | 0 | 323 | 1.3 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0l80un | j0l9xb4 | 1,671,287,932 | 1,671,288,879 | 3 | 13 | Step 1: Find out what you want to write. Fiction? Novels? Short stories? Biographies? Instructional Manuals? Non-Fiction? Poetry? Step 2: Google "How to write (Insert your choice here)" | Step 1: Start writing Step 2: Keep writing If you want to get better at something, do it and keep doing it. | 0 | 947 | 4.333333 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0l80un | j0l99j6 | 1,671,287,932 | 1,671,288,556 | 3 | 10 | Step 1: Find out what you want to write. Fiction? Novels? Short stories? Biographies? Instructional Manuals? Non-Fiction? Poetry? Step 2: Google "How to write (Insert your choice here)" | You probably already have started. Writing is an art, just like painting and music. For those, you need to learn the language of music and the theory of color. For writing, you start by learning written language. You've done that, or you wouldn't have been able to post. After you learn these things, just like in any art, you practice. For music, you pick an instrument, for art, you pick a style. Then, you practice. For writing, you pick a style/genre. Poetry, short fiction, long fiction, non fiction. Just write something. It doesn't have to be good. It probably won't be. Just ask any parent who has to endure their kid practicing French Horn or the Violin. In music and art you study the masters. You learn from those who have come before. In writing, you read your chosen style/genre, and you learn from them. Just as in music and art (mostly music) you might collaborate with others. Co-write something with another author. Treat writing just like any other art and you'll be fine. | 0 | 624 | 3.333333 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0n736f | j0mwou8 | 1,671,318,511 | 1,671,313,947 | 3 | 2 | Jump. Build your wings on the way down. | You can start by reading the FAQ of this very sub where there are pages and pages of material that are designed for this very purpose. | 1 | 4,564 | 1.5 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0n736f | j0ly7p0 | 1,671,318,511 | 1,671,299,513 | 3 | 1 | Jump. Build your wings on the way down. | pen, paper. write. | 1 | 18,998 | 3 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0n736f | j0lqkrl | 1,671,318,511 | 1,671,296,308 | 3 | 1 | Jump. Build your wings on the way down. | Reading and writing. | 1 | 22,203 | 3 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0mwou8 | j0ly7p0 | 1,671,313,947 | 1,671,299,513 | 2 | 1 | You can start by reading the FAQ of this very sub where there are pages and pages of material that are designed for this very purpose. | pen, paper. write. | 1 | 14,434 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0lqkrl | j0mwou8 | 1,671,296,308 | 1,671,313,947 | 1 | 2 | Reading and writing. | You can start by reading the FAQ of this very sub where there are pages and pages of material that are designed for this very purpose. | 0 | 17,639 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0npczi | j0ly7p0 | 1,671,327,099 | 1,671,299,513 | 2 | 1 | Learn story structure. How to organize your story to be compelling. It’s the basics 101 of writing. There are several different theories, such as the hero journey, or Dan Harmon’s story circle. But learn what exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, falling action are. After that learn narrative structure. How to format dialogue, what “person” it will be written, how the story flows. It’s not really that hard to learn. I would even suggest a few YouTube channels for filmmakers since film is a condensed story arc. I personally love Studio Binder. This will make it easier to follow everyone else’s advice of “just write” | pen, paper. write. | 1 | 27,586 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0lqkrl | j0npczi | 1,671,296,308 | 1,671,327,099 | 1 | 2 | Reading and writing. | Learn story structure. How to organize your story to be compelling. It’s the basics 101 of writing. There are several different theories, such as the hero journey, or Dan Harmon’s story circle. But learn what exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, falling action are. After that learn narrative structure. How to format dialogue, what “person” it will be written, how the story flows. It’s not really that hard to learn. I would even suggest a few YouTube channels for filmmakers since film is a condensed story arc. I personally love Studio Binder. This will make it easier to follow everyone else’s advice of “just write” | 0 | 30,791 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0npczi | j0nkwl4 | 1,671,327,099 | 1,671,324,913 | 2 | 1 | Learn story structure. How to organize your story to be compelling. It’s the basics 101 of writing. There are several different theories, such as the hero journey, or Dan Harmon’s story circle. But learn what exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, falling action are. After that learn narrative structure. How to format dialogue, what “person” it will be written, how the story flows. It’s not really that hard to learn. I would even suggest a few YouTube channels for filmmakers since film is a condensed story arc. I personally love Studio Binder. This will make it easier to follow everyone else’s advice of “just write” | Read lots in the genre(s) you want to write in. Pay attention to patterns and things you like/don’t like. | 1 | 2,186 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0npczi | j0nnzag | 1,671,327,099 | 1,671,326,417 | 2 | 1 | Learn story structure. How to organize your story to be compelling. It’s the basics 101 of writing. There are several different theories, such as the hero journey, or Dan Harmon’s story circle. But learn what exposition, inciting action, rising action, climax, falling action are. After that learn narrative structure. How to format dialogue, what “person” it will be written, how the story flows. It’s not really that hard to learn. I would even suggest a few YouTube channels for filmmakers since film is a condensed story arc. I personally love Studio Binder. This will make it easier to follow everyone else’s advice of “just write” | Just start writing anything at all until something good comes then delete the bad stuff. | 1 | 682 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0oo94g | j0ly7p0 | 1,671,346,352 | 1,671,299,513 | 2 | 1 | A good idea would be the classic who,when,what,why and how. It is a technique I learned in primary school but it has stuck with me. To put it into a better perspective who are the characters, when or where is this set, what the characters motives are, why do they want to do those things and how will they accomplish it. I also find that world building is a good start to if you know we’re the story is set it’s easier to make the characters or it could also go the other way round! But overall the best advice is just write. What ever you feel like just jot it down. And you don’t have to write something in order. If there’s a chapter you really want to write then you should! | pen, paper. write. | 1 | 46,839 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0lqkrl | j0oo94g | 1,671,296,308 | 1,671,346,352 | 1 | 2 | Reading and writing. | A good idea would be the classic who,when,what,why and how. It is a technique I learned in primary school but it has stuck with me. To put it into a better perspective who are the characters, when or where is this set, what the characters motives are, why do they want to do those things and how will they accomplish it. I also find that world building is a good start to if you know we’re the story is set it’s easier to make the characters or it could also go the other way round! But overall the best advice is just write. What ever you feel like just jot it down. And you don’t have to write something in order. If there’s a chapter you really want to write then you should! | 0 | 50,044 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0nkwl4 | j0oo94g | 1,671,324,913 | 1,671,346,352 | 1 | 2 | Read lots in the genre(s) you want to write in. Pay attention to patterns and things you like/don’t like. | A good idea would be the classic who,when,what,why and how. It is a technique I learned in primary school but it has stuck with me. To put it into a better perspective who are the characters, when or where is this set, what the characters motives are, why do they want to do those things and how will they accomplish it. I also find that world building is a good start to if you know we’re the story is set it’s easier to make the characters or it could also go the other way round! But overall the best advice is just write. What ever you feel like just jot it down. And you don’t have to write something in order. If there’s a chapter you really want to write then you should! | 0 | 21,439 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0nnzag | j0oo94g | 1,671,326,417 | 1,671,346,352 | 1 | 2 | Just start writing anything at all until something good comes then delete the bad stuff. | A good idea would be the classic who,when,what,why and how. It is a technique I learned in primary school but it has stuck with me. To put it into a better perspective who are the characters, when or where is this set, what the characters motives are, why do they want to do those things and how will they accomplish it. I also find that world building is a good start to if you know we’re the story is set it’s easier to make the characters or it could also go the other way round! But overall the best advice is just write. What ever you feel like just jot it down. And you don’t have to write something in order. If there’s a chapter you really want to write then you should! | 0 | 19,935 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0oo94g | j0nvbrd | 1,671,346,352 | 1,671,329,967 | 2 | 1 | A good idea would be the classic who,when,what,why and how. It is a technique I learned in primary school but it has stuck with me. To put it into a better perspective who are the characters, when or where is this set, what the characters motives are, why do they want to do those things and how will they accomplish it. I also find that world building is a good start to if you know we’re the story is set it’s easier to make the characters or it could also go the other way round! But overall the best advice is just write. What ever you feel like just jot it down. And you don’t have to write something in order. If there’s a chapter you really want to write then you should! | Keep a journal and just jot down anything that comes to you. Bullet points of ideas, overheard conversations, quick character sketches. Pay attention to the people around you. See someone on the bus and make up a one/two/three sentence biography for them. Read. Read a lot. Pay attention to sentence structure and vocabulary. Get a dictionary and thesaurus and use them while you are reading. | 1 | 16,385 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0oo94g | j0nxv0h | 1,671,346,352 | 1,671,331,205 | 2 | 1 | A good idea would be the classic who,when,what,why and how. It is a technique I learned in primary school but it has stuck with me. To put it into a better perspective who are the characters, when or where is this set, what the characters motives are, why do they want to do those things and how will they accomplish it. I also find that world building is a good start to if you know we’re the story is set it’s easier to make the characters or it could also go the other way round! But overall the best advice is just write. What ever you feel like just jot it down. And you don’t have to write something in order. If there’s a chapter you really want to write then you should! | There’s a few free online courses that you can take to get you started. The trick is to learn the fundamentals of good writing. Then try different styles to see what you enjoy, do well or feel comfortable with. Becoming good takes practice and repetition. Anyone literate can become a good writer. https://www.udemy.com/course/starting-to-write/ https://www.edx.org/learn/writing | 1 | 15,147 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0oo94g | j0o4agj | 1,671,346,352 | 1,671,334,468 | 2 | 1 | A good idea would be the classic who,when,what,why and how. It is a technique I learned in primary school but it has stuck with me. To put it into a better perspective who are the characters, when or where is this set, what the characters motives are, why do they want to do those things and how will they accomplish it. I also find that world building is a good start to if you know we’re the story is set it’s easier to make the characters or it could also go the other way round! But overall the best advice is just write. What ever you feel like just jot it down. And you don’t have to write something in order. If there’s a chapter you really want to write then you should! | Start writing. | 1 | 11,884 | 2 | ||
zo7fqy | writing_train | 0.87 | I want to learn to write but, Where to start? I don't want to be a professional but I want to be as best as I can, I want it to thinks through things more (if that makes sense). I have no idea where or how to start though | j0obdhu | j0oo94g | 1,671,338,201 | 1,671,346,352 | 1 | 2 | Do everything they say. Then after ten years ask why hasn’t it happened for me? Why have I NO readers? No agent? No publisher? Hmm. Might not be good enough. Likely. But try again. Maybe it’s a secret club they let only so many in. Once your in, you’re in forever. I’m only guessing and wishing. Dare if you will. Some get lucky. I suppose. Maybe magical. Wink wink. Good luck. When you finish your 1st book you’ll write again and it will be so much better. You’ll love it. That’s it. It’s your love. ❤️ | A good idea would be the classic who,when,what,why and how. It is a technique I learned in primary school but it has stuck with me. To put it into a better perspective who are the characters, when or where is this set, what the characters motives are, why do they want to do those things and how will they accomplish it. I also find that world building is a good start to if you know we’re the story is set it’s easier to make the characters or it could also go the other way round! But overall the best advice is just write. What ever you feel like just jot it down. And you don’t have to write something in order. If there’s a chapter you really want to write then you should! | 0 | 8,151 | 2 | ||
twv04u | writing_train | 0.71 | How do I learn to write evocative imagery? I'm dabbling in a genre of writing that requires some deep description and out of the box thinking. Authors I read in this genre often use similes and metaphors in unexpected ways, often employing adjectives and verbs that you might not really think belong in context, but just "feel right" when they use them for that purpose. How can I better develop that facility with words to make my writing come alive in a reader's mind, without feeling clunky, ridiculous, flowery, etc.? | i3hobv4 | i3hmltz | 1,649,167,095 | 1,649,166,369 | 8 | 7 | Start off writing those metaphors even if they’re clunky, ridiculous or flowery: that's okay, you learn by practice, and you get an ear fort that sort of thing by doing. No one has to see your first attempt. Then, when you’re out and about, take time to stop and observe. What do shadows look like when lightening strikes? What does dew-slick grass feel like on bare feet in the morning? How hard do you need to press to get that last little bit of tooth-paste out of the tube? How does that peeling, floral wall paper make you feel? Wherever you are, stop and take note of all five senses, jot them down even. Those little experiences can give an authenticity to your writing that makes the figurative language land, makes people say “I’ve never thought of it that way, but I’ve experienced that too and she’s totally right!” Finally, read a lot of the writing with that sort of language. Read the language out loud, copy it by hand, rephrase it in your own words. That's a good way to internalize how they feel and flow, what makes some work and others flop. | Practice, practice, practice. Actually, something from my work life that might help. We've been doing an accessibility initiative lately that places detailed, descriptive text versions of the images in our articles into the web page, so that screen readers can describe them. One of the parts of this process is, of course, writing the descriptions, which requires you to lovingly describe the image as though you're conveying it to someone who can't see it. I feel like this might be good practice for you. Find some images - they don't have to be anything in particular, even random - and practice writing out exactly what you see in them. Start off with just describing but then move into getting more abstract with it, in terms of using different phrasing, metaphors, etc. The more you do this, the better you'll get at evoking the kind of descriptions you want to see on the page. Once you get good at describing physical images, you can move on to the images in your head. | 1 | 726 | 1.142857 | ||
twv04u | writing_train | 0.71 | How do I learn to write evocative imagery? I'm dabbling in a genre of writing that requires some deep description and out of the box thinking. Authors I read in this genre often use similes and metaphors in unexpected ways, often employing adjectives and verbs that you might not really think belong in context, but just "feel right" when they use them for that purpose. How can I better develop that facility with words to make my writing come alive in a reader's mind, without feeling clunky, ridiculous, flowery, etc.? | i3hol36 | i3i5wj4 | 1,649,167,200 | 1,649,174,103 | 2 | 4 | For this kind of exercises, what I do is that I would go to the extreme. For example, to practice using similes and metaphors for description, I would write ALL descriptions in metaphors and similes. Try it. Basically you can’t say the sky is blue directly. You have use a similes or metaphor for that. If you write a few short stories like that, your ability to use similes and metaphors would get better. | Read poetry. Seriously. I took poetry writing classes in college and in tandem with writing our own poems, we read poetry books. I'm talking about poetry books that have been published in the last ten years. I remember really enjoying Alexandra Teague's books if you're looking for a recommendation. Write poems that mimic the ones you really like to practice developing imagery. And if you can find any videos of poets talking about craft, that would probably help too. | 0 | 6,903 | 2 | ||
twv04u | writing_train | 0.71 | How do I learn to write evocative imagery? I'm dabbling in a genre of writing that requires some deep description and out of the box thinking. Authors I read in this genre often use similes and metaphors in unexpected ways, often employing adjectives and verbs that you might not really think belong in context, but just "feel right" when they use them for that purpose. How can I better develop that facility with words to make my writing come alive in a reader's mind, without feeling clunky, ridiculous, flowery, etc.? | i3i5wj4 | i3hpmq6 | 1,649,174,103 | 1,649,167,632 | 4 | 2 | Read poetry. Seriously. I took poetry writing classes in college and in tandem with writing our own poems, we read poetry books. I'm talking about poetry books that have been published in the last ten years. I remember really enjoying Alexandra Teague's books if you're looking for a recommendation. Write poems that mimic the ones you really like to practice developing imagery. And if you can find any videos of poets talking about craft, that would probably help too. | First rule (imo) of metaphor: remember it's supposed to be economical. The purpose of imagery, symbolism, and metaphor isn't just to look pretty on the page - you're trying to condense a wealth of ideas and feelings into as few words as possible. Prose becomes purple when it's obfuscating the meaning and action behind the words, rather than adding to the mood and atmosphere and subtext of them. What I like to do is associative freewriting (just a string of words that come to mind, usually handwritten), or more dedicated brainstorming where I think of an object or person or concept and jot down any word or phrase that comes to mind when I think of it. You can then go through your list and pick out any ideas that fit the mood you're trying to craft in the scene. If I want to describe an idyllic summer evening walk around the harbour, I might liken the wheeling gulls in the air to drunken, dancing couples and note how the setting sun makes the masts of the boats glow like beacons as they set out for an unseen horizon. If I want to make the same harbour feel ominous I can talk about how a thick fog swallows the brave souls boarding boats in spite of it, and the way the smoke of the city behind me seems to mingle with it in the air. A good way to learn is always to study from the masters, so if you can think of any metaphors and pieces of imagery you've read that have stuck with you, maybe read them again with a more critical eye to look at why they work and how much heavy lifting they're doing in the text. An example I often point to is a line from Fahrenheit 451 where Bradbury likens the pages of the burning books to the beating of a butterfly's wing. This doesn't just put a picture in your mind, because what do you think of when you think of a butterfly? Change, transformation, freedom, beauty, sunlight, open spaces, hidden things, new beginnings. More than books is being charred to ash here; this line involves the reader in creating a picture of its world through connotation, rather than overloading them with Scrabble words and an overabundance of images. Also, if you don't already, read lots of poetry. It's the best place to learn how to think less literally and present as much information in the smallest possible space, and those are lessons that can be applied just as well to prose. | 1 | 6,471 | 2 | ||
twv04u | writing_train | 0.71 | How do I learn to write evocative imagery? I'm dabbling in a genre of writing that requires some deep description and out of the box thinking. Authors I read in this genre often use similes and metaphors in unexpected ways, often employing adjectives and verbs that you might not really think belong in context, but just "feel right" when they use them for that purpose. How can I better develop that facility with words to make my writing come alive in a reader's mind, without feeling clunky, ridiculous, flowery, etc.? | i3i5wj4 | i3i5toe | 1,649,174,103 | 1,649,174,071 | 4 | 2 | Read poetry. Seriously. I took poetry writing classes in college and in tandem with writing our own poems, we read poetry books. I'm talking about poetry books that have been published in the last ten years. I remember really enjoying Alexandra Teague's books if you're looking for a recommendation. Write poems that mimic the ones you really like to practice developing imagery. And if you can find any videos of poets talking about craft, that would probably help too. | Take five (or more) minutes to write a list of metaphors to describe one thing. It could be anything: weather, building, hair etc. The further down the list you go you'll have to be more creative. The good ones will stick in your memory and you can draw on them later. Repeat this exercise with other subjects. Try similies, or even just adjectives. Practice free writing. Set a timer and write as fast as you can. Don't stop for grammar or spelling or anything. This will help you learn to overcome internal editor and become more spontaneous. More spontaneous means more true to your voice and so you will develop descriptions that only you could write. | 1 | 32 | 2 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3qz6xr | e3qooro | 1,533,624,097 | 1,533,610,399 | 91 | 29 | Questionnaires were always too simplistic for me. But I do develop these attributes to help define each character: * Central flaw * Moral Need * Psychological Need * Desire/Goal * Social status * Talents * Inabilities * Stance on the story's central moral question * Sexual profile * Defining voice * Ghost/Emotional Wound | I know this isn't really an answer, but have you considered just writing the basics and asking why things are? I find that more useful, personally. Just throwing that out there. | 1 | 13,698 | 3.137931 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3qym5a | e3qz6xr | 1,533,623,119 | 1,533,624,097 | 16 | 91 | 1. What traumatized you? 2. What are you passionate about? 3. Who was the one that got away? 4. Where is your happy place? 5. Who haunts you? 6. What are you ashamed of? 7. What are your hangups? 8. What do you deserve credit for? 9. Are you spiritual? 10. Are you driven by pleasure? 11. What can’t you forgive? 12. Who do you wish revenge upon? 13. What stereotypes proved true? 14. What did you dream of doing? 15. What did you learn the hard way? 16. How did you rebel? 17. What makes you relatable? 18. What makes you unique? 19. What Freudian psychosexual stage is unresolved? 20. What’s one promise you made and intend to keep? | Questionnaires were always too simplistic for me. But I do develop these attributes to help define each character: * Central flaw * Moral Need * Psychological Need * Desire/Goal * Social status * Talents * Inabilities * Stance on the story's central moral question * Sexual profile * Defining voice * Ghost/Emotional Wound | 0 | 978 | 5.6875 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3qz6xr | e3qqmv1 | 1,533,624,097 | 1,533,612,468 | 91 | 11 | Questionnaires were always too simplistic for me. But I do develop these attributes to help define each character: * Central flaw * Moral Need * Psychological Need * Desire/Goal * Social status * Talents * Inabilities * Stance on the story's central moral question * Sexual profile * Defining voice * Ghost/Emotional Wound | I don't know the rest of the questions, but the last two you ask yourself: when are they lying when they're answering these questions, and when do they don't know they're lying. | 1 | 11,629 | 8.272727 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3qyb4n | e3qz6xr | 1,533,622,624 | 1,533,624,097 | 8 | 91 | What is your favorite music? Then I tend to listen to it while writing in the pov so I can get the feel. An excellent source is Character and viewpoint by Arthur C Clark....teaches you so much about this, | Questionnaires were always too simplistic for me. But I do develop these attributes to help define each character: * Central flaw * Moral Need * Psychological Need * Desire/Goal * Social status * Talents * Inabilities * Stance on the story's central moral question * Sexual profile * Defining voice * Ghost/Emotional Wound | 0 | 1,473 | 11.375 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3qqmv1 | e3qym5a | 1,533,612,468 | 1,533,623,119 | 11 | 16 | I don't know the rest of the questions, but the last two you ask yourself: when are they lying when they're answering these questions, and when do they don't know they're lying. | 1. What traumatized you? 2. What are you passionate about? 3. Who was the one that got away? 4. Where is your happy place? 5. Who haunts you? 6. What are you ashamed of? 7. What are your hangups? 8. What do you deserve credit for? 9. Are you spiritual? 10. Are you driven by pleasure? 11. What can’t you forgive? 12. Who do you wish revenge upon? 13. What stereotypes proved true? 14. What did you dream of doing? 15. What did you learn the hard way? 16. How did you rebel? 17. What makes you relatable? 18. What makes you unique? 19. What Freudian psychosexual stage is unresolved? 20. What’s one promise you made and intend to keep? | 0 | 10,651 | 1.454545 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3qym5a | e3qyb4n | 1,533,623,119 | 1,533,622,624 | 16 | 8 | 1. What traumatized you? 2. What are you passionate about? 3. Who was the one that got away? 4. Where is your happy place? 5. Who haunts you? 6. What are you ashamed of? 7. What are your hangups? 8. What do you deserve credit for? 9. Are you spiritual? 10. Are you driven by pleasure? 11. What can’t you forgive? 12. Who do you wish revenge upon? 13. What stereotypes proved true? 14. What did you dream of doing? 15. What did you learn the hard way? 16. How did you rebel? 17. What makes you relatable? 18. What makes you unique? 19. What Freudian psychosexual stage is unresolved? 20. What’s one promise you made and intend to keep? | What is your favorite music? Then I tend to listen to it while writing in the pov so I can get the feel. An excellent source is Character and viewpoint by Arthur C Clark....teaches you so much about this, | 1 | 495 | 2 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r0akn | e3r369q | 1,533,626,026 | 1,533,631,503 | 4 | 6 | One big one I always ask is this: How did your habits form? This one can go past the morning coffee habit, too. It can be the 'hating your neighbors' habit or the 'drinking too much' habit. Why do they do the things they do casually? | What do they want? What do they need? Why can’t they have both? | 0 | 5,477 | 1.5 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r0tei | e3r369q | 1,533,626,972 | 1,533,631,503 | 1 | 6 | Usually I'll first begin with a personality profile so I'll focus on: Name and meaning What MBTI are they? What Enneagram? Closest moral Alignment type? Hogwarts house? Zodiac? Animal? What would they do if they were in say Westeros? Birth order among siblings if any Some questions Does anyone hold a grudge against them and why? Vice versa What was their education like? Favorite and least favorite subjects How do they respond to authority figures? Relationship with parents? Biggest regret, achievement, failure, loss, doubt, conviction, belief, Favorite movie genre and why What are they afraid to lose? Power: What would they do if they were president or king? If they had the Elder Wand? Invisibility cloak? Ring of Gyges? Infinity Gauntlet? Mjolnir? The last time they had an argument What kind of friend were they? Is there a principle they absolutely do not break? | What do they want? What do they need? Why can’t they have both? | 0 | 4,531 | 6 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3recqw | e3r0akn | 1,533,648,616 | 1,533,626,026 | 5 | 4 | Why. Then why again. Then 18 more times. | One big one I always ask is this: How did your habits form? This one can go past the morning coffee habit, too. It can be the 'hating your neighbors' habit or the 'drinking too much' habit. Why do they do the things they do casually? | 1 | 22,590 | 1.25 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3recqw | e3r0tei | 1,533,648,616 | 1,533,626,972 | 5 | 1 | Why. Then why again. Then 18 more times. | Usually I'll first begin with a personality profile so I'll focus on: Name and meaning What MBTI are they? What Enneagram? Closest moral Alignment type? Hogwarts house? Zodiac? Animal? What would they do if they were in say Westeros? Birth order among siblings if any Some questions Does anyone hold a grudge against them and why? Vice versa What was their education like? Favorite and least favorite subjects How do they respond to authority figures? Relationship with parents? Biggest regret, achievement, failure, loss, doubt, conviction, belief, Favorite movie genre and why What are they afraid to lose? Power: What would they do if they were president or king? If they had the Elder Wand? Invisibility cloak? Ring of Gyges? Infinity Gauntlet? Mjolnir? The last time they had an argument What kind of friend were they? Is there a principle they absolutely do not break? | 1 | 21,644 | 5 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3recqw | e3r4v69 | 1,533,648,616 | 1,533,634,888 | 5 | 1 | Why. Then why again. Then 18 more times. | I tried this a long time ago on a really bad project I had. I asked stuff like their thoughts on the overall situation. I also took a certain person that the character had lots of interaction with(good or bad), and asked for an opinion on them. | 1 | 13,728 | 5 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r5lrb | e3recqw | 1,533,636,350 | 1,533,648,616 | 1 | 5 | OP if having a standard list of questions gives you the framework you need to develop a given character, then by all means go for it But I personally find that I learn a lot more pretty goddamn quickly if I just listen to them talk about whatever they want to, and then use that information to tailor any questions I have left | Why. Then why again. Then 18 more times. | 0 | 12,266 | 5 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3recqw | e3r78fa | 1,533,648,616 | 1,533,639,374 | 5 | 1 | Why. Then why again. Then 18 more times. | The problem I have with most of the questions here is that they don't differentiate between what the character thinks what his biggest fear is, and what actually is his worst fear. This fuels more imaginative scenarios than 'literary' therapy sessions and might introduce interesting interior conflicts. | 1 | 9,242 | 5 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r8ggo | e3recqw | 1,533,641,373 | 1,533,648,616 | 1 | 5 | I just have the one. "What would they do in that situation?" But a TON of psychological/medical/psychosocial research goes into that. | Why. Then why again. Then 18 more times. | 0 | 7,243 | 5 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3ra894 | e3recqw | 1,533,643,866 | 1,533,648,616 | 1 | 5 | I don't know the answer to the question specifically, but I have a piece of advice: Generate a character's backstory extensively, because a person is a collection of his experiences. If you want a character with nuanced reactions to things happening around him, then he needs a nuanced history that sets a precedent. | Why. Then why again. Then 18 more times. | 0 | 4,750 | 5 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3reju3 | e3rhe9x | 1,533,648,817 | 1,533,651,496 | 3 | 4 | I usually don't bother asking specific questions anymore. I write three paragraphs, one each on who they present themselves to the world as, what their place within the setting is, and what their internal psychological/emotional landscape is like. Then I write a short 1-2 page first person monologue in which they explain themselves and justify their attitudes. | When conducting an investigation, many people use a technique called the 5 Whys. The concept is if you ask Why? 5 times through on the point, you will get to a clear answer or 'root cause'. You don't need to take this literally to 5 iterations every time, but it is a great exercise to get answers when prying. So you come from the West - Why? That is where my militia disbanded. Why? Because our leader was killed. Why? Because of a bugbear group we were trying to hunt down. Why? They burned 3 farms and killed a family. Why? Because the village was encroaching and hunting on the bugbear's land. | 0 | 2,679 | 1.333333 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r0tei | e3reju3 | 1,533,626,972 | 1,533,648,817 | 1 | 3 | Usually I'll first begin with a personality profile so I'll focus on: Name and meaning What MBTI are they? What Enneagram? Closest moral Alignment type? Hogwarts house? Zodiac? Animal? What would they do if they were in say Westeros? Birth order among siblings if any Some questions Does anyone hold a grudge against them and why? Vice versa What was their education like? Favorite and least favorite subjects How do they respond to authority figures? Relationship with parents? Biggest regret, achievement, failure, loss, doubt, conviction, belief, Favorite movie genre and why What are they afraid to lose? Power: What would they do if they were president or king? If they had the Elder Wand? Invisibility cloak? Ring of Gyges? Infinity Gauntlet? Mjolnir? The last time they had an argument What kind of friend were they? Is there a principle they absolutely do not break? | I usually don't bother asking specific questions anymore. I write three paragraphs, one each on who they present themselves to the world as, what their place within the setting is, and what their internal psychological/emotional landscape is like. Then I write a short 1-2 page first person monologue in which they explain themselves and justify their attitudes. | 0 | 21,845 | 3 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3reju3 | e3r4v69 | 1,533,648,817 | 1,533,634,888 | 3 | 1 | I usually don't bother asking specific questions anymore. I write three paragraphs, one each on who they present themselves to the world as, what their place within the setting is, and what their internal psychological/emotional landscape is like. Then I write a short 1-2 page first person monologue in which they explain themselves and justify their attitudes. | I tried this a long time ago on a really bad project I had. I asked stuff like their thoughts on the overall situation. I also took a certain person that the character had lots of interaction with(good or bad), and asked for an opinion on them. | 1 | 13,929 | 3 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r5lrb | e3reju3 | 1,533,636,350 | 1,533,648,817 | 1 | 3 | OP if having a standard list of questions gives you the framework you need to develop a given character, then by all means go for it But I personally find that I learn a lot more pretty goddamn quickly if I just listen to them talk about whatever they want to, and then use that information to tailor any questions I have left | I usually don't bother asking specific questions anymore. I write three paragraphs, one each on who they present themselves to the world as, what their place within the setting is, and what their internal psychological/emotional landscape is like. Then I write a short 1-2 page first person monologue in which they explain themselves and justify their attitudes. | 0 | 12,467 | 3 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r78fa | e3reju3 | 1,533,639,374 | 1,533,648,817 | 1 | 3 | The problem I have with most of the questions here is that they don't differentiate between what the character thinks what his biggest fear is, and what actually is his worst fear. This fuels more imaginative scenarios than 'literary' therapy sessions and might introduce interesting interior conflicts. | I usually don't bother asking specific questions anymore. I write three paragraphs, one each on who they present themselves to the world as, what their place within the setting is, and what their internal psychological/emotional landscape is like. Then I write a short 1-2 page first person monologue in which they explain themselves and justify their attitudes. | 0 | 9,443 | 3 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r8ggo | e3reju3 | 1,533,641,373 | 1,533,648,817 | 1 | 3 | I just have the one. "What would they do in that situation?" But a TON of psychological/medical/psychosocial research goes into that. | I usually don't bother asking specific questions anymore. I write three paragraphs, one each on who they present themselves to the world as, what their place within the setting is, and what their internal psychological/emotional landscape is like. Then I write a short 1-2 page first person monologue in which they explain themselves and justify their attitudes. | 0 | 7,444 | 3 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3reju3 | e3ra894 | 1,533,648,817 | 1,533,643,866 | 3 | 1 | I usually don't bother asking specific questions anymore. I write three paragraphs, one each on who they present themselves to the world as, what their place within the setting is, and what their internal psychological/emotional landscape is like. Then I write a short 1-2 page first person monologue in which they explain themselves and justify their attitudes. | I don't know the answer to the question specifically, but I have a piece of advice: Generate a character's backstory extensively, because a person is a collection of his experiences. If you want a character with nuanced reactions to things happening around him, then he needs a nuanced history that sets a precedent. | 1 | 4,951 | 3 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r0tei | e3rhe9x | 1,533,626,972 | 1,533,651,496 | 1 | 4 | Usually I'll first begin with a personality profile so I'll focus on: Name and meaning What MBTI are they? What Enneagram? Closest moral Alignment type? Hogwarts house? Zodiac? Animal? What would they do if they were in say Westeros? Birth order among siblings if any Some questions Does anyone hold a grudge against them and why? Vice versa What was their education like? Favorite and least favorite subjects How do they respond to authority figures? Relationship with parents? Biggest regret, achievement, failure, loss, doubt, conviction, belief, Favorite movie genre and why What are they afraid to lose? Power: What would they do if they were president or king? If they had the Elder Wand? Invisibility cloak? Ring of Gyges? Infinity Gauntlet? Mjolnir? The last time they had an argument What kind of friend were they? Is there a principle they absolutely do not break? | When conducting an investigation, many people use a technique called the 5 Whys. The concept is if you ask Why? 5 times through on the point, you will get to a clear answer or 'root cause'. You don't need to take this literally to 5 iterations every time, but it is a great exercise to get answers when prying. So you come from the West - Why? That is where my militia disbanded. Why? Because our leader was killed. Why? Because of a bugbear group we were trying to hunt down. Why? They burned 3 farms and killed a family. Why? Because the village was encroaching and hunting on the bugbear's land. | 0 | 24,524 | 4 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3rhe9x | e3r4v69 | 1,533,651,496 | 1,533,634,888 | 4 | 1 | When conducting an investigation, many people use a technique called the 5 Whys. The concept is if you ask Why? 5 times through on the point, you will get to a clear answer or 'root cause'. You don't need to take this literally to 5 iterations every time, but it is a great exercise to get answers when prying. So you come from the West - Why? That is where my militia disbanded. Why? Because our leader was killed. Why? Because of a bugbear group we were trying to hunt down. Why? They burned 3 farms and killed a family. Why? Because the village was encroaching and hunting on the bugbear's land. | I tried this a long time ago on a really bad project I had. I asked stuff like their thoughts on the overall situation. I also took a certain person that the character had lots of interaction with(good or bad), and asked for an opinion on them. | 1 | 16,608 | 4 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3rhe9x | e3r5lrb | 1,533,651,496 | 1,533,636,350 | 4 | 1 | When conducting an investigation, many people use a technique called the 5 Whys. The concept is if you ask Why? 5 times through on the point, you will get to a clear answer or 'root cause'. You don't need to take this literally to 5 iterations every time, but it is a great exercise to get answers when prying. So you come from the West - Why? That is where my militia disbanded. Why? Because our leader was killed. Why? Because of a bugbear group we were trying to hunt down. Why? They burned 3 farms and killed a family. Why? Because the village was encroaching and hunting on the bugbear's land. | OP if having a standard list of questions gives you the framework you need to develop a given character, then by all means go for it But I personally find that I learn a lot more pretty goddamn quickly if I just listen to them talk about whatever they want to, and then use that information to tailor any questions I have left | 1 | 15,146 | 4 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3rhe9x | e3r78fa | 1,533,651,496 | 1,533,639,374 | 4 | 1 | When conducting an investigation, many people use a technique called the 5 Whys. The concept is if you ask Why? 5 times through on the point, you will get to a clear answer or 'root cause'. You don't need to take this literally to 5 iterations every time, but it is a great exercise to get answers when prying. So you come from the West - Why? That is where my militia disbanded. Why? Because our leader was killed. Why? Because of a bugbear group we were trying to hunt down. Why? They burned 3 farms and killed a family. Why? Because the village was encroaching and hunting on the bugbear's land. | The problem I have with most of the questions here is that they don't differentiate between what the character thinks what his biggest fear is, and what actually is his worst fear. This fuels more imaginative scenarios than 'literary' therapy sessions and might introduce interesting interior conflicts. | 1 | 12,122 | 4 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3r8ggo | e3rhe9x | 1,533,641,373 | 1,533,651,496 | 1 | 4 | I just have the one. "What would they do in that situation?" But a TON of psychological/medical/psychosocial research goes into that. | When conducting an investigation, many people use a technique called the 5 Whys. The concept is if you ask Why? 5 times through on the point, you will get to a clear answer or 'root cause'. You don't need to take this literally to 5 iterations every time, but it is a great exercise to get answers when prying. So you come from the West - Why? That is where my militia disbanded. Why? Because our leader was killed. Why? Because of a bugbear group we were trying to hunt down. Why? They burned 3 farms and killed a family. Why? Because the village was encroaching and hunting on the bugbear's land. | 0 | 10,123 | 4 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3rhe9x | e3ra894 | 1,533,651,496 | 1,533,643,866 | 4 | 1 | When conducting an investigation, many people use a technique called the 5 Whys. The concept is if you ask Why? 5 times through on the point, you will get to a clear answer or 'root cause'. You don't need to take this literally to 5 iterations every time, but it is a great exercise to get answers when prying. So you come from the West - Why? That is where my militia disbanded. Why? Because our leader was killed. Why? Because of a bugbear group we were trying to hunt down. Why? They burned 3 farms and killed a family. Why? Because the village was encroaching and hunting on the bugbear's land. | I don't know the answer to the question specifically, but I have a piece of advice: Generate a character's backstory extensively, because a person is a collection of his experiences. If you want a character with nuanced reactions to things happening around him, then he needs a nuanced history that sets a precedent. | 1 | 7,630 | 4 | ||
957b3j | writing_train | 0.97 | What are the best twenty questions to ask your characters when writing profiles and backstories? | e3rerzk | e3rhe9x | 1,533,649,045 | 1,533,651,496 | 1 | 4 | 1/. Would you kindly shut up and get on with the plot I'm trying to do here please...? | When conducting an investigation, many people use a technique called the 5 Whys. The concept is if you ask Why? 5 times through on the point, you will get to a clear answer or 'root cause'. You don't need to take this literally to 5 iterations every time, but it is a great exercise to get answers when prying. So you come from the West - Why? That is where my militia disbanded. Why? Because our leader was killed. Why? Because of a bugbear group we were trying to hunt down. Why? They burned 3 farms and killed a family. Why? Because the village was encroaching and hunting on the bugbear's land. | 0 | 2,451 | 4 | ||
fe2te6 | writing_train | 0.91 | How does one write a character with a depressing backstory without writing it terribly and romanticizing it? I have a character who was abused. His story is basically about learning to accept himself and be happy. I keep getting really anxious that this is a bad idea because it's a real problem that happens in real life, and I don't want to accidentally romanticize it and make it seem "quirky uwuwuwuuwuwuwu." I have a cousin who was also abused in this way, and it was kind of my inspiration... I want to give the message that you can get through any hardship if you try. I just don't want this message to come across as if... I'm romanticizing this character by making his father abuse him. So, any advice? | fjleh0w | fjlhkla | 1,583,445,214 | 1,583,446,745 | 5 | 12 | Show the character’s flaws. Like maybe this character doesn’t share the trauma they’ve been through so they take it out on someone else. | If your character has a tragic past(TM) that just makes him angsty and deep and different from others in an appealing way, you have romanticized it. If his past has left lasting, specific scars that interfere with his life, even if he hides them well and seems functional, it reads much better. Things like inappropriate anger, flashbacks, and self-sabotage are less prone to be read as romanticizing than things like self-hatred and depression, because they are less appealing flaws. (But if you go too far, you may then run the risk of being perceived as demonizing trauma victims.) Do research and find out what kinds of trauma can result from the abuse he survived, but don't feel confined to the most common/worst/most obvious result. People can react to the same trauma in really different ways. Good luck with your story! | 0 | 1,531 | 2.4 | ||
fe2te6 | writing_train | 0.91 | How does one write a character with a depressing backstory without writing it terribly and romanticizing it? I have a character who was abused. His story is basically about learning to accept himself and be happy. I keep getting really anxious that this is a bad idea because it's a real problem that happens in real life, and I don't want to accidentally romanticize it and make it seem "quirky uwuwuwuuwuwuwu." I have a cousin who was also abused in this way, and it was kind of my inspiration... I want to give the message that you can get through any hardship if you try. I just don't want this message to come across as if... I'm romanticizing this character by making his father abuse him. So, any advice? | fjlmtfn | fjm73tl | 1,583,449,794 | 1,583,463,137 | 1 | 2 | I would use brutal honesty. Don't romanticize it. I think this is a good question, because when abuse is romanticized, it can serve to diminish the effect of those who have been victimized in real life, which is absolutely terrible! | He may have triggers but he can still be a happy person in essence. I'm a survivor myself. I hate it when characters are always defined by their trauma. Yes, it has an effect. No, it is not our personality. We are still complete persons outside of that and we can enjoy life and have interests and ambitions and so on. Some of us may be more haunted than others, a few may be broken completely, but not every survivor should be defined primarily by their past trauma. You still need to make a full-fledged character. | 0 | 13,343 | 2 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f84lbha | f84lqlm | 1,574,253,370 | 1,574,253,801 | -1 | 8 | I’m not a regular writer, but if a character is boring, I‘d compliment them with another character that *isn’t* boring. Once that’s done, the relationship has the potential to write itself. For example, Eugeo and Kirito. Prior to Eugeo’s introduction into the SAO series, Kirito was a charming, but bland character. Since then, Eugeo helped to actually flesh out Kirito as a character and make him much more interesting. | This is a common first draft blunder. Usually the best way is to combine this character with another one. Figure out which of your other excising characters could play his necessary role, and then cut him. It may require some shifting of original plans and personality, but that’s an expected part of revision. | 0 | 431 | -8 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f84lbha | f84luea | 1,574,253,370 | 1,574,253,905 | -1 | 7 | I’m not a regular writer, but if a character is boring, I‘d compliment them with another character that *isn’t* boring. Once that’s done, the relationship has the potential to write itself. For example, Eugeo and Kirito. Prior to Eugeo’s introduction into the SAO series, Kirito was a charming, but bland character. Since then, Eugeo helped to actually flesh out Kirito as a character and make him much more interesting. | Take his non-descript, boring attributes to an extreme. Make it his identifying characteristic. You may find yourself interested in the effort to make him even more boring. Who knows, it may even open the way to use the character later. | 0 | 535 | -7 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f84mjj1 | f85nqwq | 1,574,254,591 | 1,574,279,161 | 2 | 3 | Take out your hatred on this character. Make this character worth hating. | > im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, Looks like you know what to do. | 0 | 24,570 | 1.5 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f85nqwq | f84s5nx | 1,574,279,161 | 1,574,259,346 | 3 | 2 | > im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, Looks like you know what to do. | The character can be boring if his interaction with other characters is interesting. That's the basis of the straight man in comedy. | 1 | 19,815 | 1.5 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f85nqwq | f852tyj | 1,574,279,161 | 1,574,266,418 | 3 | 2 | > im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, Looks like you know what to do. | Yeah, cut out the character. You say he's important, yet your post suggests that he is not actually important at all. There are many ways to introduce your premise and setting. Doesn't have to be through this one character. Time to get creative. | 1 | 12,743 | 1.5 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f84lbha | f85nqwq | 1,574,253,370 | 1,574,279,161 | -1 | 3 | I’m not a regular writer, but if a character is boring, I‘d compliment them with another character that *isn’t* boring. Once that’s done, the relationship has the potential to write itself. For example, Eugeo and Kirito. Prior to Eugeo’s introduction into the SAO series, Kirito was a charming, but bland character. Since then, Eugeo helped to actually flesh out Kirito as a character and make him much more interesting. | > im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, Looks like you know what to do. | 0 | 25,791 | -3 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f84lbha | f84mjj1 | 1,574,253,370 | 1,574,254,591 | -1 | 2 | I’m not a regular writer, but if a character is boring, I‘d compliment them with another character that *isn’t* boring. Once that’s done, the relationship has the potential to write itself. For example, Eugeo and Kirito. Prior to Eugeo’s introduction into the SAO series, Kirito was a charming, but bland character. Since then, Eugeo helped to actually flesh out Kirito as a character and make him much more interesting. | Take out your hatred on this character. Make this character worth hating. | 0 | 1,221 | -2 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f84s5nx | f84lbha | 1,574,259,346 | 1,574,253,370 | 2 | -1 | The character can be boring if his interaction with other characters is interesting. That's the basis of the straight man in comedy. | I’m not a regular writer, but if a character is boring, I‘d compliment them with another character that *isn’t* boring. Once that’s done, the relationship has the potential to write itself. For example, Eugeo and Kirito. Prior to Eugeo’s introduction into the SAO series, Kirito was a charming, but bland character. Since then, Eugeo helped to actually flesh out Kirito as a character and make him much more interesting. | 1 | 5,976 | -2 | ||
dz18rb | writing_train | 1 | I have a boring character i hate writing and have no plans for , yet he's important to the flow of the story. So, i think title makes it obvious, but im not a super experienced writer with a story plan in mind for a graphic novel, I've been doing character sheets for all main players, but when i get to one character, he's just so boring, in design and personality, i lose all motivation to draw. The obvious solution would be to cut him out of the story, however, he plays an extremely important part to introducing the reader to the premise and the world, and thats it, once he'd fufilled his purpose, i basically have no further plans for him amd write him out and the rest of the characters take the spotlight. That's the issue i have, im considering rewriting his character to be more of an active player, but im sort of stumped. Any advice? | f84lbha | f852tyj | 1,574,253,370 | 1,574,266,418 | -1 | 2 | I’m not a regular writer, but if a character is boring, I‘d compliment them with another character that *isn’t* boring. Once that’s done, the relationship has the potential to write itself. For example, Eugeo and Kirito. Prior to Eugeo’s introduction into the SAO series, Kirito was a charming, but bland character. Since then, Eugeo helped to actually flesh out Kirito as a character and make him much more interesting. | Yeah, cut out the character. You say he's important, yet your post suggests that he is not actually important at all. There are many ways to introduce your premise and setting. Doesn't have to be through this one character. Time to get creative. | 0 | 13,048 | -2 | ||
zc2kxj | writing_train | 0.66 | Good premise, no good ending and middle, should I just go with it? Okay, I have this premise, it has a promising start but no decent middle and ending. Should I continue with the flow or take a step back and find some inspo? | iyuz866 | iyvk5sy | 1,670,150,515 | 1,670,164,942 | 1 | 3 | Your Story rises and falls with the ending. People will judge your ability to craft stories when they saw your ending. If the ending isn’t a fulfilling experience for the viewer, it’ll overshadow your whole story GoT ist just one example for a good beginning and middle, but almost everyone hates the show after the ending rolled over our screens. | Absolutely. The only challenge in just following your imagination is that you have no idea where you're going. At some point you're going to discover where you are going (or you will realize you have no clue) and then you very well may end up cutting tens of thousands of words and backtracking. I did this in my first novel. I wrote it from the seat of my pants, got to 70,000 words and realized that to make it work I had to make a big change around the 35,000 word mark. I ended up deleting 35,000 words and re-starting from there. It is what it is. Writing this way can be inefficient (especially if you lack experience), so you'll go slower, but that's not the end of the world unless having to re-do work is really frustrating to you. | 0 | 14,427 | 3 | ||
zc2kxj | writing_train | 0.66 | Good premise, no good ending and middle, should I just go with it? Okay, I have this premise, it has a promising start but no decent middle and ending. Should I continue with the flow or take a step back and find some inspo? | iyv6vpj | iyvk5sy | 1,670,156,889 | 1,670,164,942 | 0 | 3 | Rewrite it. | Absolutely. The only challenge in just following your imagination is that you have no idea where you're going. At some point you're going to discover where you are going (or you will realize you have no clue) and then you very well may end up cutting tens of thousands of words and backtracking. I did this in my first novel. I wrote it from the seat of my pants, got to 70,000 words and realized that to make it work I had to make a big change around the 35,000 word mark. I ended up deleting 35,000 words and re-starting from there. It is what it is. Writing this way can be inefficient (especially if you lack experience), so you'll go slower, but that's not the end of the world unless having to re-do work is really frustrating to you. | 0 | 8,053 | 3,000 | ||
zc2kxj | writing_train | 0.66 | Good premise, no good ending and middle, should I just go with it? Okay, I have this premise, it has a promising start but no decent middle and ending. Should I continue with the flow or take a step back and find some inspo? | iyuz866 | iyvmar5 | 1,670,150,515 | 1,670,165,999 | 1 | 2 | Your Story rises and falls with the ending. People will judge your ability to craft stories when they saw your ending. If the ending isn’t a fulfilling experience for the viewer, it’ll overshadow your whole story GoT ist just one example for a good beginning and middle, but almost everyone hates the show after the ending rolled over our screens. | I was in that situation and I still wrote 50,000 words in November for nanowrimo. Sit down and write. Write scenes introducing your characters in whatever way you want to introduce them. Write the scenes that are in your mind right now that you want to write. Get it all out on paper (or a file). And when you don't know where to go from there ... just noodle. Listen to the song currently playing on your radio, and put your characters into a scene based on it. Think up some challenging situation, and drop your characters into it. Put your minor characters into a scene together to force them to interact. Just keep writing. Doesn't matter what it is. Yes, you'll probably end up with a story that doesn't go anywhere ... *but,* there will probably be seeds in it that you can use to go off in new directions. Your mind will probably have come up with new ideas without you realizing it. | 0 | 15,484 | 2 | ||
zc2kxj | writing_train | 0.66 | Good premise, no good ending and middle, should I just go with it? Okay, I have this premise, it has a promising start but no decent middle and ending. Should I continue with the flow or take a step back and find some inspo? | iyvmar5 | iyv6vpj | 1,670,165,999 | 1,670,156,889 | 2 | 0 | I was in that situation and I still wrote 50,000 words in November for nanowrimo. Sit down and write. Write scenes introducing your characters in whatever way you want to introduce them. Write the scenes that are in your mind right now that you want to write. Get it all out on paper (or a file). And when you don't know where to go from there ... just noodle. Listen to the song currently playing on your radio, and put your characters into a scene based on it. Think up some challenging situation, and drop your characters into it. Put your minor characters into a scene together to force them to interact. Just keep writing. Doesn't matter what it is. Yes, you'll probably end up with a story that doesn't go anywhere ... *but,* there will probably be seeds in it that you can use to go off in new directions. Your mind will probably have come up with new ideas without you realizing it. | Rewrite it. | 1 | 9,110 | 2,000 | ||
zc2kxj | writing_train | 0.66 | Good premise, no good ending and middle, should I just go with it? Okay, I have this premise, it has a promising start but no decent middle and ending. Should I continue with the flow or take a step back and find some inspo? | iyvoeoq | iyv6vpj | 1,670,167,026 | 1,670,156,889 | 1 | 0 | Find some conflict, like dig into the characters. How do their goals and needs collide with each other | Rewrite it. | 1 | 10,137 | 1,000 | ||
zc2kxj | writing_train | 0.66 | Good premise, no good ending and middle, should I just go with it? Okay, I have this premise, it has a promising start but no decent middle and ending. Should I continue with the flow or take a step back and find some inspo? | iyv6vpj | iyvzu3z | 1,670,156,889 | 1,670,172,015 | 0 | 1 | Rewrite it. | Sure, but sorting out the basics will make it more worthwhile. Do you really need this explained? | 0 | 15,126 | 1,000 | ||
zc2kxj | writing_train | 0.66 | Good premise, no good ending and middle, should I just go with it? Okay, I have this premise, it has a promising start but no decent middle and ending. Should I continue with the flow or take a step back and find some inspo? | iyxg9er | iyv6vpj | 1,670,192,498 | 1,670,156,889 | 1 | 0 | Write the draft. The real craft of writing is the editing process | Rewrite it. | 1 | 35,609 | 1,000 | ||
zc2kxj | writing_train | 0.66 | Good premise, no good ending and middle, should I just go with it? Okay, I have this premise, it has a promising start but no decent middle and ending. Should I continue with the flow or take a step back and find some inspo? | iyv6vpj | iz1lv8b | 1,670,156,889 | 1,670,271,361 | 0 | 1 | Rewrite it. | This reminds me of a scene from the movie Stand by Me. Stand by Me is a film based on the novella The Body by Stephen King. In the film, the main character, Gordy, tells a story to his friends about a boy who gets revenge on an entire town that bullied him. After he’s done telling it, one of the boys asks, “What happens next?” Gordy responds that he doesn’t know, maybe the kid just goes home and has dinner with his family. None of the three friends is satisfied with this ending. This story, of course, is an early “draft” of Carrie, and that story has one of the best endings King ever wrote. Meanwhile, the film, Stand by Me, has a different, better ending than the novella it’s based on. Endings are hard. At some point, you should have an ending in mind, and you will likely need to go back and change things around to stick the landing. Then it might change again. The middle should get better once you have an ending to work towards, because the middle should be all about getting from the beginning to the end. Then you can start cutting anything extraneous. | 0 | 114,472 | 1,000 | ||
tzkpuo | writing_train | 1 | Struggling with writing my novel in the third person. Attempting to write a fantasy novel on the more mature side of things, and I'm finding that whenever I do a sample from first POV, the words flow so much more easily, they sound better, I'm more connected with my character, etc. When I try to write in third person, it comes out more stale, less emotional, and overall worse. However, I really want to write this novel in third person. It's been my mind-baby for a few years now so I'm really excited that I'm finally writing it. I want to do it justice, though, and do it right. And I prefer to read things in third person as well, and I think it reads more maturely, so that is the POV I want to write it in. Are there any tips out there for getting better at writing in third person POV? Thank you. | i3zrhax | i3zrzx6 | 1,649,476,323 | 1,649,476,605 | 4 | 7 | Write your first draft and clean it up in edits and revisions. There are many ways to make third person emotional and engaging. Find your voice and let it shine through in your narration. And, as with all writing, practice. You'll get there. | Write the first draft in first person, then switch it to third in your next draft. It will be a little tedious, but you’ll end up with a stronger voice because of it. (At least until you learn how to write third as deeply as first.) This is also a great exercise if you’re struggling with character voice. Write a few pages or chapters in first, then convert it to third. It’s helped me multiple times. | 0 | 282 | 1.75 | ||
tzkpuo | writing_train | 1 | Struggling with writing my novel in the third person. Attempting to write a fantasy novel on the more mature side of things, and I'm finding that whenever I do a sample from first POV, the words flow so much more easily, they sound better, I'm more connected with my character, etc. When I try to write in third person, it comes out more stale, less emotional, and overall worse. However, I really want to write this novel in third person. It's been my mind-baby for a few years now so I'm really excited that I'm finally writing it. I want to do it justice, though, and do it right. And I prefer to read things in third person as well, and I think it reads more maturely, so that is the POV I want to write it in. Are there any tips out there for getting better at writing in third person POV? Thank you. | i424v9z | i40jy7u | 1,649,525,622 | 1,649,496,359 | 2 | 0 | A third-person narrator is a character, though a disembodied one, so characterize them. If you take cues from words like “omniscient,” you’ll tend to write with a distant, lofty, indifferent tone, which doesn’t bring home the bacon. (All the word means is that the narrator can tell every aspect of the story with confidence.) If your narrator is a character who speaks in a certain way and has a known attitude toward the main elements of the story, the rest will pretty much take care of itself. John Steinbeck uses a fond narrator in Cannery Row, for instance, one who likes all the characters and relates their adventures with relish. | 3rd persons main pro is the ability to focus. Essentially, it allows you to hone in on a single element, write about that, vary sentence length, and better control what the audience to see. I'd recommend using techniques like that to force the reader to feel specific emotions from specific objects, so they get the same level of emotional depth without having to sympathise with the characters. Essentially... use 3rd person to make the audience feel how the characters do from what the characters see. Use 1st person to make the audience know what the characters feel. | 1 | 29,263 | 2,000 | ||
tzkpuo | writing_train | 1 | Struggling with writing my novel in the third person. Attempting to write a fantasy novel on the more mature side of things, and I'm finding that whenever I do a sample from first POV, the words flow so much more easily, they sound better, I'm more connected with my character, etc. When I try to write in third person, it comes out more stale, less emotional, and overall worse. However, I really want to write this novel in third person. It's been my mind-baby for a few years now so I'm really excited that I'm finally writing it. I want to do it justice, though, and do it right. And I prefer to read things in third person as well, and I think it reads more maturely, so that is the POV I want to write it in. Are there any tips out there for getting better at writing in third person POV? Thank you. | i40jy7u | i43csce | 1,649,496,359 | 1,649,544,460 | 0 | 1 | 3rd persons main pro is the ability to focus. Essentially, it allows you to hone in on a single element, write about that, vary sentence length, and better control what the audience to see. I'd recommend using techniques like that to force the reader to feel specific emotions from specific objects, so they get the same level of emotional depth without having to sympathise with the characters. Essentially... use 3rd person to make the audience feel how the characters do from what the characters see. Use 1st person to make the audience know what the characters feel. | I'm having this problem as well, also with tense. I wrote my first two books very easily in third person past tense. But then I wrote a trilogy in first person present tense and discovered that is my JAM. So now I'm finding it next to impossible to go back to writing third person, but mostly it's going back to past tense that's giving me trouble. It's soooo difficult. Like almost every other sentence I'm having to pause and reassess how to phrase something and make sure it's past tense, not present. I'm about ready to just say screw it and switch back to what I'm comfortable with. I'm writing this book to pitch to Hallmark, and they said they prefer past tense, but my gosh, idk if I can do it. And if I'm miserable writing it, then it's not going to be good, if it even gets finished. | 0 | 48,101 | 1,000 | ||
tzkpuo | writing_train | 1 | Struggling with writing my novel in the third person. Attempting to write a fantasy novel on the more mature side of things, and I'm finding that whenever I do a sample from first POV, the words flow so much more easily, they sound better, I'm more connected with my character, etc. When I try to write in third person, it comes out more stale, less emotional, and overall worse. However, I really want to write this novel in third person. It's been my mind-baby for a few years now so I'm really excited that I'm finally writing it. I want to do it justice, though, and do it right. And I prefer to read things in third person as well, and I think it reads more maturely, so that is the POV I want to write it in. Are there any tips out there for getting better at writing in third person POV? Thank you. | i442pmu | i40jy7u | 1,649,556,903 | 1,649,496,359 | 1 | 0 | I think you should just write it in the first person, tbh. If you want to write something in the third person, maybe do a one-shot or something just to cut your teeth on it. Otherwise, do what flows best for you! | 3rd persons main pro is the ability to focus. Essentially, it allows you to hone in on a single element, write about that, vary sentence length, and better control what the audience to see. I'd recommend using techniques like that to force the reader to feel specific emotions from specific objects, so they get the same level of emotional depth without having to sympathise with the characters. Essentially... use 3rd person to make the audience feel how the characters do from what the characters see. Use 1st person to make the audience know what the characters feel. | 1 | 60,544 | 1,000 | ||
rljjci | writing_train | 0.89 | Struggling with my dreams of writing Hi, everyone. So, I've posted many times before on the sub and I'm doing it once again just to ask for help because I'm really tired and frustrated, especially when it comes to my dreams of creating my own fantasy series. Let me explain. Since I was young, I've always been enamoured with the unknown and things that did not exist either within my knowledge pool or in reality itself. When I found fantasy books and general stories, I found my favorite genre. I've been reading ever since those days. Additionally, I always loved writing stories and I would often try to write whatever came to my head. So, when I was thirteen, I decided that I wanted a fantasy series of my own. I created three characters: a pair of fraternal twins and their mother, and decided that they would be main characters. More or less, this was due to the fact that they had white hair and I imagined them as Gods among humanity, and I loved that. Seven years later, I have not managed to create anything. I've written short stories here and there, and even submitted one to my teachers which got massive praise, but I can never form something for these characters. I messed around with some things, but I don't know why I can't write anything. I tried so many different things, but nothing works. I'm sorry if I sound pretty pathetic or weak, I'm not the most confident or the strongest at who I am and what I do. I just wanted to explain my situation, because I feel like there really is something for these characters. I know that because they have stuck around for so many years. Can any of you offer advice? I'm willing to listen to apply them to my work, no matter what it takes. And, thank you for reading. It means more to me than anything else right now. | hpg5k96 | hph3li0 | 1,640,108,362 | 1,640,121,843 | 8 | 11 | I would say learn up on more storytelling technique and/or shelve this idea for now and write other stories. | I struggled with the same problem. I realized that my "big dream" were bogging me down. They were paralyzing me. I was so worried that what I wrote would be bad that most of the time I didn't write at all. If I did write it would be painfully slow. I would hesitate over each and every word. Worried there was a better word to use or way to phrase something. Honestly the way I got over it was by stepping out of my own way. My stories and characters were not the end all be all for anyone but me and as a writer they shouldn't be your end all be all either. You can think of a million more idea than you'll ever have time to write. This fantasy series in your head? Is just one idea. You can love ideas and not use them. You can love characters and never find a place where they fit. My best advice to you is to just write. Write everyday. Even if it's just for 15 minutes. Writing every day changed the way I viewed writing. It isn't this amazing dramatic important process that can only happen under very certain circumstances. It's just another thing I fit into my day to day life. Like feeding the animals or brushing my teeth. I don't sit at a big mahogany desk with a view of a lake out the window, furiously typing away as a fire crackles in the background. I write on my phone in the school pick up line. I write between steps when I'm cooking dinner. I write when I don't feel like it. I write as much as I can, when I can and I never get mad at myself if I can't make time. I miss a day? That's okay. I'll write tomorrow. Get out of your own head and just write. If you don't, you'll be in the same exact place in 7 years. | 0 | 13,481 | 1.375 | ||
rljjci | writing_train | 0.89 | Struggling with my dreams of writing Hi, everyone. So, I've posted many times before on the sub and I'm doing it once again just to ask for help because I'm really tired and frustrated, especially when it comes to my dreams of creating my own fantasy series. Let me explain. Since I was young, I've always been enamoured with the unknown and things that did not exist either within my knowledge pool or in reality itself. When I found fantasy books and general stories, I found my favorite genre. I've been reading ever since those days. Additionally, I always loved writing stories and I would often try to write whatever came to my head. So, when I was thirteen, I decided that I wanted a fantasy series of my own. I created three characters: a pair of fraternal twins and their mother, and decided that they would be main characters. More or less, this was due to the fact that they had white hair and I imagined them as Gods among humanity, and I loved that. Seven years later, I have not managed to create anything. I've written short stories here and there, and even submitted one to my teachers which got massive praise, but I can never form something for these characters. I messed around with some things, but I don't know why I can't write anything. I tried so many different things, but nothing works. I'm sorry if I sound pretty pathetic or weak, I'm not the most confident or the strongest at who I am and what I do. I just wanted to explain my situation, because I feel like there really is something for these characters. I know that because they have stuck around for so many years. Can any of you offer advice? I'm willing to listen to apply them to my work, no matter what it takes. And, thank you for reading. It means more to me than anything else right now. | hpg4rer | hph3li0 | 1,640,108,050 | 1,640,121,843 | 3 | 11 | Start simple. What so these characters want and what are their needs? | I struggled with the same problem. I realized that my "big dream" were bogging me down. They were paralyzing me. I was so worried that what I wrote would be bad that most of the time I didn't write at all. If I did write it would be painfully slow. I would hesitate over each and every word. Worried there was a better word to use or way to phrase something. Honestly the way I got over it was by stepping out of my own way. My stories and characters were not the end all be all for anyone but me and as a writer they shouldn't be your end all be all either. You can think of a million more idea than you'll ever have time to write. This fantasy series in your head? Is just one idea. You can love ideas and not use them. You can love characters and never find a place where they fit. My best advice to you is to just write. Write everyday. Even if it's just for 15 minutes. Writing every day changed the way I viewed writing. It isn't this amazing dramatic important process that can only happen under very certain circumstances. It's just another thing I fit into my day to day life. Like feeding the animals or brushing my teeth. I don't sit at a big mahogany desk with a view of a lake out the window, furiously typing away as a fire crackles in the background. I write on my phone in the school pick up line. I write between steps when I'm cooking dinner. I write when I don't feel like it. I write as much as I can, when I can and I never get mad at myself if I can't make time. I miss a day? That's okay. I'll write tomorrow. Get out of your own head and just write. If you don't, you'll be in the same exact place in 7 years. | 0 | 13,793 | 3.666667 | ||
rljjci | writing_train | 0.89 | Struggling with my dreams of writing Hi, everyone. So, I've posted many times before on the sub and I'm doing it once again just to ask for help because I'm really tired and frustrated, especially when it comes to my dreams of creating my own fantasy series. Let me explain. Since I was young, I've always been enamoured with the unknown and things that did not exist either within my knowledge pool or in reality itself. When I found fantasy books and general stories, I found my favorite genre. I've been reading ever since those days. Additionally, I always loved writing stories and I would often try to write whatever came to my head. So, when I was thirteen, I decided that I wanted a fantasy series of my own. I created three characters: a pair of fraternal twins and their mother, and decided that they would be main characters. More or less, this was due to the fact that they had white hair and I imagined them as Gods among humanity, and I loved that. Seven years later, I have not managed to create anything. I've written short stories here and there, and even submitted one to my teachers which got massive praise, but I can never form something for these characters. I messed around with some things, but I don't know why I can't write anything. I tried so many different things, but nothing works. I'm sorry if I sound pretty pathetic or weak, I'm not the most confident or the strongest at who I am and what I do. I just wanted to explain my situation, because I feel like there really is something for these characters. I know that because they have stuck around for so many years. Can any of you offer advice? I'm willing to listen to apply them to my work, no matter what it takes. And, thank you for reading. It means more to me than anything else right now. | hpgpqpc | hph3li0 | 1,640,116,297 | 1,640,121,843 | 3 | 11 | Start with the very beginning. I believe it sounds a little generic to say, but it helps. Don't focus on the long run, but on the first steps. You already have the characters, and for what I read in a previous comment, one of them knows what they want. Start there (what their life is, introduce them to the readers, etc.). Eventually everything will start falling into place. Something I do for my fantasy universe is that all the short stories i create are within it. Heck, even one of them evolved into a full book. But I still have the idea of a character and a main series that I've been working on for years and years that I have not started because I want to create a full world for him first. It's something you can do. Write short stories in the meantime, but implement then to your fantasy world. | I struggled with the same problem. I realized that my "big dream" were bogging me down. They were paralyzing me. I was so worried that what I wrote would be bad that most of the time I didn't write at all. If I did write it would be painfully slow. I would hesitate over each and every word. Worried there was a better word to use or way to phrase something. Honestly the way I got over it was by stepping out of my own way. My stories and characters were not the end all be all for anyone but me and as a writer they shouldn't be your end all be all either. You can think of a million more idea than you'll ever have time to write. This fantasy series in your head? Is just one idea. You can love ideas and not use them. You can love characters and never find a place where they fit. My best advice to you is to just write. Write everyday. Even if it's just for 15 minutes. Writing every day changed the way I viewed writing. It isn't this amazing dramatic important process that can only happen under very certain circumstances. It's just another thing I fit into my day to day life. Like feeding the animals or brushing my teeth. I don't sit at a big mahogany desk with a view of a lake out the window, furiously typing away as a fire crackles in the background. I write on my phone in the school pick up line. I write between steps when I'm cooking dinner. I write when I don't feel like it. I write as much as I can, when I can and I never get mad at myself if I can't make time. I miss a day? That's okay. I'll write tomorrow. Get out of your own head and just write. If you don't, you'll be in the same exact place in 7 years. | 0 | 5,546 | 3.666667 | ||
rljjci | writing_train | 0.89 | Struggling with my dreams of writing Hi, everyone. So, I've posted many times before on the sub and I'm doing it once again just to ask for help because I'm really tired and frustrated, especially when it comes to my dreams of creating my own fantasy series. Let me explain. Since I was young, I've always been enamoured with the unknown and things that did not exist either within my knowledge pool or in reality itself. When I found fantasy books and general stories, I found my favorite genre. I've been reading ever since those days. Additionally, I always loved writing stories and I would often try to write whatever came to my head. So, when I was thirteen, I decided that I wanted a fantasy series of my own. I created three characters: a pair of fraternal twins and their mother, and decided that they would be main characters. More or less, this was due to the fact that they had white hair and I imagined them as Gods among humanity, and I loved that. Seven years later, I have not managed to create anything. I've written short stories here and there, and even submitted one to my teachers which got massive praise, but I can never form something for these characters. I messed around with some things, but I don't know why I can't write anything. I tried so many different things, but nothing works. I'm sorry if I sound pretty pathetic or weak, I'm not the most confident or the strongest at who I am and what I do. I just wanted to explain my situation, because I feel like there really is something for these characters. I know that because they have stuck around for so many years. Can any of you offer advice? I'm willing to listen to apply them to my work, no matter what it takes. And, thank you for reading. It means more to me than anything else right now. | hph3li0 | hpgxvza | 1,640,121,843 | 1,640,119,540 | 11 | 1 | I struggled with the same problem. I realized that my "big dream" were bogging me down. They were paralyzing me. I was so worried that what I wrote would be bad that most of the time I didn't write at all. If I did write it would be painfully slow. I would hesitate over each and every word. Worried there was a better word to use or way to phrase something. Honestly the way I got over it was by stepping out of my own way. My stories and characters were not the end all be all for anyone but me and as a writer they shouldn't be your end all be all either. You can think of a million more idea than you'll ever have time to write. This fantasy series in your head? Is just one idea. You can love ideas and not use them. You can love characters and never find a place where they fit. My best advice to you is to just write. Write everyday. Even if it's just for 15 minutes. Writing every day changed the way I viewed writing. It isn't this amazing dramatic important process that can only happen under very certain circumstances. It's just another thing I fit into my day to day life. Like feeding the animals or brushing my teeth. I don't sit at a big mahogany desk with a view of a lake out the window, furiously typing away as a fire crackles in the background. I write on my phone in the school pick up line. I write between steps when I'm cooking dinner. I write when I don't feel like it. I write as much as I can, when I can and I never get mad at myself if I can't make time. I miss a day? That's okay. I'll write tomorrow. Get out of your own head and just write. If you don't, you'll be in the same exact place in 7 years. | If it doesn't work now for you writing huge works, leave it be and focus on smaller ones. It's great to focus on characters too. Think and write out,even if only outlines, of character backstories, what they are like,what drives them. Maybe doing this for multiple characters will allow you to see where they could cross. If it helps you, do some world building. At the end of the day - write short stories. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe you can later compile them together into novel, if not - you have written collection of short stories. Whatever really gets you going. | 1 | 2,303 | 11 | ||
rljjci | writing_train | 0.89 | Struggling with my dreams of writing Hi, everyone. So, I've posted many times before on the sub and I'm doing it once again just to ask for help because I'm really tired and frustrated, especially when it comes to my dreams of creating my own fantasy series. Let me explain. Since I was young, I've always been enamoured with the unknown and things that did not exist either within my knowledge pool or in reality itself. When I found fantasy books and general stories, I found my favorite genre. I've been reading ever since those days. Additionally, I always loved writing stories and I would often try to write whatever came to my head. So, when I was thirteen, I decided that I wanted a fantasy series of my own. I created three characters: a pair of fraternal twins and their mother, and decided that they would be main characters. More or less, this was due to the fact that they had white hair and I imagined them as Gods among humanity, and I loved that. Seven years later, I have not managed to create anything. I've written short stories here and there, and even submitted one to my teachers which got massive praise, but I can never form something for these characters. I messed around with some things, but I don't know why I can't write anything. I tried so many different things, but nothing works. I'm sorry if I sound pretty pathetic or weak, I'm not the most confident or the strongest at who I am and what I do. I just wanted to explain my situation, because I feel like there really is something for these characters. I know that because they have stuck around for so many years. Can any of you offer advice? I'm willing to listen to apply them to my work, no matter what it takes. And, thank you for reading. It means more to me than anything else right now. | hph3li0 | hpgxwcw | 1,640,121,843 | 1,640,119,544 | 11 | 1 | I struggled with the same problem. I realized that my "big dream" were bogging me down. They were paralyzing me. I was so worried that what I wrote would be bad that most of the time I didn't write at all. If I did write it would be painfully slow. I would hesitate over each and every word. Worried there was a better word to use or way to phrase something. Honestly the way I got over it was by stepping out of my own way. My stories and characters were not the end all be all for anyone but me and as a writer they shouldn't be your end all be all either. You can think of a million more idea than you'll ever have time to write. This fantasy series in your head? Is just one idea. You can love ideas and not use them. You can love characters and never find a place where they fit. My best advice to you is to just write. Write everyday. Even if it's just for 15 minutes. Writing every day changed the way I viewed writing. It isn't this amazing dramatic important process that can only happen under very certain circumstances. It's just another thing I fit into my day to day life. Like feeding the animals or brushing my teeth. I don't sit at a big mahogany desk with a view of a lake out the window, furiously typing away as a fire crackles in the background. I write on my phone in the school pick up line. I write between steps when I'm cooking dinner. I write when I don't feel like it. I write as much as I can, when I can and I never get mad at myself if I can't make time. I miss a day? That's okay. I'll write tomorrow. Get out of your own head and just write. If you don't, you'll be in the same exact place in 7 years. | Honestly, my personal advice is - Don't get tied to a story that is going no where. I understand that you are quite fond of these characters but you aren't going to be able to force it. Practice writing by writing other stuff, then come back to these characters later. Here is an excellent college course series on writing science fiction and fantasy https://youtu.be/-6HOdHEeosc | 1 | 2,299 | 11 | ||
rljjci | writing_train | 0.89 | Struggling with my dreams of writing Hi, everyone. So, I've posted many times before on the sub and I'm doing it once again just to ask for help because I'm really tired and frustrated, especially when it comes to my dreams of creating my own fantasy series. Let me explain. Since I was young, I've always been enamoured with the unknown and things that did not exist either within my knowledge pool or in reality itself. When I found fantasy books and general stories, I found my favorite genre. I've been reading ever since those days. Additionally, I always loved writing stories and I would often try to write whatever came to my head. So, when I was thirteen, I decided that I wanted a fantasy series of my own. I created three characters: a pair of fraternal twins and their mother, and decided that they would be main characters. More or less, this was due to the fact that they had white hair and I imagined them as Gods among humanity, and I loved that. Seven years later, I have not managed to create anything. I've written short stories here and there, and even submitted one to my teachers which got massive praise, but I can never form something for these characters. I messed around with some things, but I don't know why I can't write anything. I tried so many different things, but nothing works. I'm sorry if I sound pretty pathetic or weak, I'm not the most confident or the strongest at who I am and what I do. I just wanted to explain my situation, because I feel like there really is something for these characters. I know that because they have stuck around for so many years. Can any of you offer advice? I'm willing to listen to apply them to my work, no matter what it takes. And, thank you for reading. It means more to me than anything else right now. | hph3li0 | hph1aan | 1,640,121,843 | 1,640,120,905 | 11 | 1 | I struggled with the same problem. I realized that my "big dream" were bogging me down. They were paralyzing me. I was so worried that what I wrote would be bad that most of the time I didn't write at all. If I did write it would be painfully slow. I would hesitate over each and every word. Worried there was a better word to use or way to phrase something. Honestly the way I got over it was by stepping out of my own way. My stories and characters were not the end all be all for anyone but me and as a writer they shouldn't be your end all be all either. You can think of a million more idea than you'll ever have time to write. This fantasy series in your head? Is just one idea. You can love ideas and not use them. You can love characters and never find a place where they fit. My best advice to you is to just write. Write everyday. Even if it's just for 15 minutes. Writing every day changed the way I viewed writing. It isn't this amazing dramatic important process that can only happen under very certain circumstances. It's just another thing I fit into my day to day life. Like feeding the animals or brushing my teeth. I don't sit at a big mahogany desk with a view of a lake out the window, furiously typing away as a fire crackles in the background. I write on my phone in the school pick up line. I write between steps when I'm cooking dinner. I write when I don't feel like it. I write as much as I can, when I can and I never get mad at myself if I can't make time. I miss a day? That's okay. I'll write tomorrow. Get out of your own head and just write. If you don't, you'll be in the same exact place in 7 years. | Sit down and write down everything you know about this world. Do the same for each character. Ask questions about them until you can't think of anything else. Sleep. Sit down and work out a timeline of the world. Make a map. Write down a timeline of their lives. From here think about what stories you want to tell with them, what sort of character development you want. What sort of questions you want your readers to ask. This is how I come up with new stories in my own world. It might not work for you but keep trying things. You have made short stories so you have some answers. You might be using the wrong method of writing for you. For a series what I do next is break my story into individual arcs that fit inside a larger arc. I have an end goal, I work out how to get there. Essentially I am writing 3 books at once. This way I can set up the rules of magic and possibilities without breaking something down the line. | 1 | 938 | 11 | ||
rljjci | writing_train | 0.89 | Struggling with my dreams of writing Hi, everyone. So, I've posted many times before on the sub and I'm doing it once again just to ask for help because I'm really tired and frustrated, especially when it comes to my dreams of creating my own fantasy series. Let me explain. Since I was young, I've always been enamoured with the unknown and things that did not exist either within my knowledge pool or in reality itself. When I found fantasy books and general stories, I found my favorite genre. I've been reading ever since those days. Additionally, I always loved writing stories and I would often try to write whatever came to my head. So, when I was thirteen, I decided that I wanted a fantasy series of my own. I created three characters: a pair of fraternal twins and their mother, and decided that they would be main characters. More or less, this was due to the fact that they had white hair and I imagined them as Gods among humanity, and I loved that. Seven years later, I have not managed to create anything. I've written short stories here and there, and even submitted one to my teachers which got massive praise, but I can never form something for these characters. I messed around with some things, but I don't know why I can't write anything. I tried so many different things, but nothing works. I'm sorry if I sound pretty pathetic or weak, I'm not the most confident or the strongest at who I am and what I do. I just wanted to explain my situation, because I feel like there really is something for these characters. I know that because they have stuck around for so many years. Can any of you offer advice? I'm willing to listen to apply them to my work, no matter what it takes. And, thank you for reading. It means more to me than anything else right now. | hpg5k96 | hpg4rer | 1,640,108,362 | 1,640,108,050 | 8 | 3 | I would say learn up on more storytelling technique and/or shelve this idea for now and write other stories. | Start simple. What so these characters want and what are their needs? | 1 | 312 | 2.666667 |
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