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  1.  

    Well, you can always post it.

    As far as the voice aspect and whether it works or not, one can’t really say it’s good or bad strictly as an idea. It all comes down to the execution.

  2.  

    As far as the voice aspect and whether it works or not, one can’t really say it’s good or bad strictly as an idea. It all comes down to the execution.

    Exactly.

    I think if I take a look at it tomorrow, I might be able to sort some things out. I’m not sure posting is such a great idea, if it might end up being published (even in a school magazine) but I can definitely email it to you.

  3.  

    Also, I used a lot of one word sentences/ one line paragraphs. Is that always a bad thing? I wanted to create a broken-up kind of flow of words, but now I’m worried that it’s too much. XP

    Sometimes that happens to me. I look back and realise that not one of my sentences is a complex one. Anyway, let us know how it goes!

  4.  

    Sure, feel free to email it.

    Also, if you ask me, complex sentences are overrated when it comes to storytelling.

  5.  

    Yeah, but short sentences can get really repetitive after a while.

  6.  

    I tend to use a bizarre mix. XP

    •  
      CommentAuthorLeliel
    • CommentTimeSep 27th 2010
     

    I hit 400kb on my novel earlier this week, including copious notes on worldbuilding, conlang, etc.

    Pasted the story sans notes into Word (I use Notepad2 now that Windows Notepad is unhappy with the file size) and it was 186 pages and 63,300 words. First non-kilobyte measure I’ve taken, reasonably pleased with progress but I wish I could think of things to add more often. Who doesn’t wish that though amirite D:

    •  
      CommentAuthorPuppet
    • CommentTimeSep 27th 2010
     

    Through Impish Writing I wrote 12,435 words over the summer.

  7.  

    Bizarre mix is good, SWQ. And congratulations Leliel and Puppet!

  8.  

    Wrote a review for a website that’ll probably be posted in a day or two.

  9.  

    10,387 words plus rewrites with Impish Writing.

  10.  

    Wrote some more on my novel… and surprise, surprise, I’m actually enjoying it!

  11.  
    Double post and general question: Anybody else find that they're most inspired to write when they have the most pressure on themselves?

    I got up last night at twelve thirty because I was so stressed, and went and wrote nearly a thousand words before my laptop ran out of battery and I ran out of stamina. It broke the block I'd had on a story I thought was never going anywhere, because I didn't know where to take it next, and I had to figure out how a telepath could make a seer's vision collapse in on itself.

    Last night, I did. It was a proud, proud moment. :)
    •  
      CommentAuthorMiel
    • CommentTimeOct 4th 2010
     

    That happens to me too. I find that late-night stupor writing sessions are the most productive. The feeling of writing so much is awesome, even if I end up with a mass of words I don’t remember writing the day after.

    I’m stuck on rewriting part 3 of my Dunsanian short story. I’ve finshed 4 paragraphs. That’s as far as I can follow my first draft. I need to implement big changes after that, and I’m stuck with how to transition from scene to scene since so much happens. Hopefully inspiration will strike soon and then I can get back to planning this year’s NaNo :3

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeOct 4th 2010
     

    Oh, that happens to me all the time! That’s how I work in November, anyway…

  12.  

    Yeah, that happens to me. Also, the more other stuff I’m supposed to be doing, the more I enjoy writing and have the desire to write.

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2010
     

    I was doing a writing project that took a term to gather all the important pieces of information/data. The project was set in my school, about the students.

    For some crazy reason, I decided to throw out the hard copies of the data. And then a few days later, when I was working on a story for the project, my computer crashed.

    ;_;

    All the data, files, folders were erased, including the ones on my USB.

    ;_;

    I can’t start again as in the last quarter of the last semester, I will be very busy with duties and all the other school stuffs.

    tears I wanted to work on my story and finish it…

  13.  

    All the data, files, folders were erased, including the ones on my USB.

    :( That sucks.

    •  
      CommentAuthorTakuGifian
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2010
     

    That’s why you always keep a hard copy.

  14.  

    You could also try saving your work in your e-mail account, or mailing it to yourself. I’m not 100% sure how hack-proof that is (and how paranoid you are about someone stealing your ideas) but that’s what I usually do. Though I guess it’s best if you have as many back-ups as possible in as many formats as possible.

  15.  

    I’m trying to do NaNoWriMo during Oct since Nov gets a lot more busy for me in general.

    Up to chapter 4 already…

    •  
      CommentAuthorPuppet
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2010
     

    How many words?

  16.  

    You could also try saving your work in your e-mail account, or mailing it to yourself.

    That’s what I do, so it’s accessible from multiple computers should the worst happen.

    I’m really not writing enough, so I do want to do NaNoWriMo…I just have to distribute my time, that’s all.

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2010
     

    X(

    I know! I already got bitten out by that girl in regards to keeping hard copies and copies.

    shrinks into shadowy corner in shame

    I need a brain scan.

    •  
      CommentAuthorPuppet
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2010
     

    I just do email method, for me it’s the most convenient.

  17.  

    How many words?

    I haven’t really kept track. Chapters, developments, plots, etc are what I kind of have to go by. Though I usually average between 1-2k words.

    I need a brain scan.

    Not funny after we just got ya back. =(

    ;-)

    •  
      CommentAuthorMiel
    • CommentTimeOct 6th 2010
     

    I usually write in Google Docs and keep another copy saved on my hard drive. It’s good to have an offline copy in case my internet goes down (which it does a lot).

    Is it bad that I’m planning filler for NaNoWriMo before I’m finished planning the novel? I have chapters labelled ‘filler’ that are completely unnecessary, but can take up pages and pages. My NaNo this year is based on RPG tropes, so I’m including the filler tropes, like the Sewer Level, the Odd Jobs Quests, the Tavern Conversations, etc.

  18.  

    I don’t think you should think of it as filler. Even if it doesn’t advance plot, you can have characters talking about Chicken McNuggets and still advance character.

  19.  

    Wrote another review for a website about the Superman/Batman movie. Allow me to shamelessly self-promote myself and some other guys by posting said site.

    Also, I have very vague plans for the NaNoWriMo. All I know is that it’ll be a reconstruction on superheroes and all the various eras (Golden Age, Silver Age, Dark Age). Now I just have to skim through 20th century history and see how events would change.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeOct 7th 2010 edited
     

    Another suggestion for backing up information (although I know it’s no use now… I’m so sorry! I’ve lost information before, but never like that!): Dropbox. It’s free to store up to 2 gigabytes of information, and you can access it anywhere. If you install it on your computer, it can even watch files and automatically update them with changes, and it saves previous versions for… 30 days, I think? Anyway, it’s pretty handy for syncing your work or saving important files.

  20.  
    bq. My NaNo this year is based on RPG tropes, so I’m including the filler tropes, like the Sewer Level, the Odd Jobs Quests, the Tavern Conversations, etc.

    *grins* I have ALWAYS wanted to do a tropes novel.
    •  
      CommentAuthorMiel
    • CommentTimeOct 8th 2010
     

    I’ve been literally rolling characters. I have their starting stats and equipment written down. I lost my only set of D&D dice, though, so I’m debating whether I should buy a new set in preparation for NaNo.

    I also have all sorts of charts for stock characters, archetypes, and clichés, and I’m re-reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

    If I get really into it, I might start drawing dungeon plans on grid paper.

    It’s great fun to plan, but I think it’ll be hell to actually pull off >.<

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeOct 9th 2010
     

    You can always use an online dice roller. This one’s pretty nice, it even allows you to put in any modifiers and stores previous rolls.

    •  
      CommentAuthorMiel
    • CommentTimeOct 9th 2010
     

    That’s great, thanks! Now I can get back to creating characters in the nerdiest way possible :3

  21.  

    My NaNo this year is based on RPG tropes, so I’m including the filler tropes, like the Sewer Level, the Odd Jobs Quests, the Tavern Conversations, etc.

    grins I have ALWAYS wanted to do a tropes novel.

    I totally agree, Steph! It sounds great, Miel!

  22.  

    Was anybody else really disappointed when they found out that the tvtropes tv show wasn’t about tropes, but just crazy crossovers?

  23.  

    The last thing I wrote was a really long e-mail about robert stanek.

    yeah.

    I haven’t been writing much.

    •  
      CommentAuthorMiel
    • CommentTimeOct 23rd 2010 edited
     

    I feel happy that I’ve worked out some major plot points for my NaNo, but I’m still panicky because I haven’t figured out the most pivitol point, the one that the plot revolves around and point that starts the plot off. I’ve got a week left to come up with something, or I won’t have a novel to write >.<

    •  
      CommentAuthorNorthmark
    • CommentTimeOct 24th 2010
     

    I’m struggling with the temptation to start my first NaNo early. Even though the beginning is going to be extremely annoying to write.

  24.  

    Right now, I’m basically writing out mini ‘stories’ of me just thinking about specific people’s backgrounds and such. Concentrated word-vomit? Whatever, I think it’s helping.

    And I found new music to write to! My dad introduced me to Arvo Part. Apparently he’s quite famous but I had never heard of him previous to this. Anyway, his piano songs are so relaxing and pretty- try ‘Fur Alina’ and ‘Spiegel Im Spiegel’.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeOct 25th 2010
     

    @Northmark – I know the feeling! I want to start writing so badly, but I’m not going to give in to the pressure. I’m not even just going to scribble down a brief overview of what I’ve been thinking about writing. I’m not going to start until November 1, I won’t let myself!

    •  
      CommentAuthorNorthmark
    • CommentTimeOct 25th 2010
     

    @Swenson: It’s even worse because I just know I’m going to struggle with the commitment and if I started now, I could skip a few days and still not be behind in word count.

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeOct 26th 2010
     

    Dropbox. Hmmm…

    I’ve been nursing this idea for a story, but I’m a little too busy to start writing now. I was just wondering whether switching between a few main character’s PoV would be too confusing for the reader, but if I don’t do it, the plot will not advance very well.

    What do you think?

  25.  

    Well, you can always change it later…

    And I can’t stand NaNo for the reason that you don’t get to just leap in and do it right away. You have to wait! Aurgh!

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeOct 26th 2010
     

    And this is why I don’t join in NaNoWriMo.

    you can always change it later…

    Still, I would like to be able to switch between character PoV without confusing readers… if possible.

  26.  

    Fair enough.

  27.  

    Finished my second draft. It took way, way too long.

    Time to take a break for a few days, finish critiquing SWQ’s story, watch some black and white samurai flicks, and then get back to the grind.

  28.  

    Good on you, sansa!

  29.  

    Thanks, Steph.

  30.  

    It took way, way too long.

    Pshh, no it didn’t. You seemed to work at a pretty regular pace, even if you were off on your projections of when you finish a chapter now and then.

    And congratulations! I will read the last chapter by Thursday, and that’s at the very latest.

  31.  

    Pshh, no it didn’t. You seemed to work at a pretty regular pace, even if you were off on your projections of when you finish a chapter now and then.

    Or almost every time :x At least I didn’t end up taking more than a week off, compared to this spring, where I ended up slacking for multiple weeks between chapters. I think it helped a lot that you got pretty into critiquing, since I didn’t want to leave you hanging for too long, so thanks.

    And congratulations! I will read the last chapter by Thursday, and that’s at the very latest.

    I look forward to it :3

  32.  

    I think it helped a lot that you got pretty into critiquing, since I didn’t want to leave you hanging for too long, so thanks.

    Awesome, I helped motivate… and no problem. I am anxious to read the finale. And now I have to go finish writing write my essay.

    Maybe in a couple of weeks I’ll actually write book stuff and post it. One can only hope…

  33.  

    Finished my second draft. It took way, way too long. Time to take a break for a few days, finish critiquing SWQ’s story, watch some black and white samurai flicks, and then get back to the grind.

    And I…still have to critique your story. And lookingforme’s. I need to do better than this. XP

  34.  

    No sweat, I won’t start really editing until Christmas break anyways! Send me your stuff when you have a chance :)

  35.  

    I suddenly have the urge to make my own scripts for a Batman series. I already have a vague outline for the first episode down (supposed to feature Tim Drake and how he turns into Robin), as well as some dialogue between Batman and Two-Face. As soon as I can get acquainted with how an episode script should look, as well as a little binge through some Batman books, something interesting might come out of this.

  36.  

    I finished a story. :DDDD This is so rare for me, I did a bit of excited jumping around when I finished it.

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeNov 11th 2010
     

    I’m stuck on a plot point. Either I try to find a way out of the hole or I can change it around to having Alex (main character) to collapse from exhaustion and wake up to find himself in the next plot point.

  37.  

    Argh, my draft is sucking. Oh well, it’s a firstie and I actually think I’ll eventually finish, but it’s sucking.

  38.  

    A ‘firstie’? That sounds really cute :)

  39.  

    I think it should become a technical term. :D

  40.  

    It already is. It’s what you call a first reply on certain other websites.

  41.  

    ...oh.

  42.  

    @No One – make him collapse, that’s always dramatic.;-)

    Also, as for my own progress: I’m done with the first chapter of Bad Apple.
    Just need to tweak and edit a bit, then I can plaster it unto the interwebz for all to gaze in horror read and enjoy.

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeNov 14th 2010
     

    @Marquis – yessss, Tim is awesome. More people need to be exposed to the awesomeness that is Tim Drake. (or Wayne, or whatever he’s going by these days) Would Stephanie Brown be involved? :)

  43.  

    A little over 35,000 words.

  44.  

    As of two days ago, I have officially written 100 000 words this year! Whooooooooo!

    •  
      CommentAuthorswenson
    • CommentTimeNov 23rd 2010
     

    Very nice, Steph!

  45.  

    Yay, Steph, that’s amazing!

  46.  

    In another fine show of putting the cart before the horse, I made a chapter-by-chapter outline for a sequel while bored during my conference period today. I don’t know how it’ll hold up in practice, but I at least managed to add some idea beef to the middle section. 39 chapters is a lot more space than I thought it would be, but it still seems tight at the end.

    I dunno, I’m getting ahead of myself.

  47.  

    @sansafro: I always get ahead of myself. I don’t think it’s possible not to, really. So I wouldn’t worry. Just keep doing what you do, right?

    (And thanks for the congratulations, guys.)

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeJan 4th 2011
     

    I’m still writing the same draft of the same story as mentioned before, except it sucks. A lot. I really want to rewrite, except for one, small comment that Taku left in the Editing and/or Revising thread.

    It makes a lot of sense to me and my brain is screaming that I should do what he advised.

    I’m starting to worry about my main character. Everything’s just convenient for him and he’s almost shaping up to be a Gary Stu. But I keep telling myself I’m just putting the main ideas down and I will rewrite it anyway, so I could just leave him be.

    Good choice? Bad choice?

    I need a little notepad where I can write down the other characters’ names and link them to their personality/RL counterparts so that I can remember who’s who.

  48.  

    Maybe make your main character do something really terrible? And then he has to justify it. And the answers he comes up with are not straightforward…

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeJan 22nd 2011
     

    Hmmm, that’s an interesting idea. I might have to look into it. Maybe I could make his chimera parts a suspicious mythical creature (as in, normally associated with darkness) to help with that…

  49.  

    Woah, he’s a chimera? He should be governed under the laws of Awesome, not the laws of Mary Sue! There is something wrong here.

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeJan 22nd 2011
     

    Well, no, it’s a bit more complicated than that. I think. Refer to “Umm… Your opinion please?” thread, hidden under piles of other threads :)

  50.  

    Doing so now.

    •  
      CommentAuthorJabrosky
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2011
     

    I’ve 3,300 words in my current story so far. I honestly feel much more certain that I’ll finish this than my previous projects (which I’ve put on the backburner until my inspiration returns), as this time I have a better idea of how the plot is going to progress.

  51.  

    Yay, Brandon!

    waves pompoms

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2011
     

    My mum just told me that if I want to write the story with the hybrids and all the genetic-combining thing, I’ll have to research on genes first.

    Problem is, I already researched on genetic manipulation for cloning and I know it’s very hard to find some good materials that holds my interest for longer than 10 minutes, and most of the time I find it a little difficult to understand. :(

    Do you guys have any suggestion on what materials and how can I go about learning about genes and genetic manipulation?

    •  
      CommentAuthorTakuGifian
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2011
     

    Look through the New Scientist Magazine archives, I guess. There’s quite a lot of written-for-students articles about genetic manipulation, cloning and hybrid-creation.

    •  
      CommentAuthorJabrosky
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2011
     

    I’m at 4,350+ words now and will probably add much more by the end of the day. I am really plugging along!

    • CommentAuthorDeborah
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2011
     

    I never do a word count. I do more of a ‘scene count’. Like ‘I did the scene where Eydan meets his fiancee in the market’. Well, now I have done part of the Council-arguing scene, and part of Theresa’s nightmare.

    •  
      CommentAuthorApep
    • CommentTimeFeb 23rd 2011
     

    Might not count, as this is for academic reasons, but I’ve got the first two pages of my senior thesis written. It’s just the introduction, but it’s more than I had at this time yesterday.

  52.  

    @ No One: Why don’t you try a biology textbook? That’ll give you the basics at least.

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2011
     

    Biology is not until year 10, and I don’t have any year 10 friends, and I have not the slightest clue which teacher teaches what at my school. But I think I can still get one…

    @Taku: On the internet?

    Thanks, SWQ and Taku!

    •  
      CommentAuthorTakuGifian
    • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2011
     

    At any rate, the library should hold copies of the school textbooks for reference purposes.

    The New Scientist website is a fine resource, but you might actually have to pay a bit to look through it. If your school is as fancy-pants as you’ve implied (nyah. :P), the library might well have an archive of New Scientist magazines, or the Scientific American at the very least.

    Also, asking around won’t hurt. If you ask your home room (?) or science teacher about biology, and mention that you have some questions/are doing research, they will definitely be able/willing to help. No teacher ever turned down a student who actually wanted to learn their subject, regardless of year level. Be brave, speak up!

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeFeb 25th 2011
     

    Be brave, speak up!

    whimpers But I don’t want to!

    OK, thanks Taku! :)

  53.  

    A friend of my cousin who I think is a pretty cool guy wants to read my story apparently, so I’m hopefully gonna use this as incentive to start doing shit again after taking a break that was way, way too long.

    Said guy has what’s probably my favorite drunk quip uttered by somebody in my presence: “Originality is just the art of hiding your sources.”

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeAug 29th 2011 edited
     

    Well, I’ve got the ball rolling with my story, and I explained the plot to a friend of mine, who’s also writing a story of his. He’s having trouble with his story, and then he suggest we co-write our stories together. He suggested that maybe his story is the story of what happened before my story, so basically one huge timeline split into two different stories.

    Now, I’m okay with supporting him and helping him with his story, but I’ve done co-writing before and I know it rarely works. I also don’t want to share my story with anyone else; I already have it all worked out. However, I don’t really want to tell him that no, I don’t want to co-write, especially since we’re good friends and he’s so excited about the idea. He’s already talking about both our stories, coming up with new ideas.

    I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I don’t want to co-write. I especially don’t want to say no to him. I don’t even know how he writes. What can I do? Just reject him? But that’ll hurt his feelings, and we’ve only been friends for a year…

    •  
      CommentAuthorTakuGifian
    • CommentTimeAug 29th 2011 edited
     

    “Originality is just the art of hiding your sources.”

    Very well said. Especially as he is not the first person to have said it. (Does that make it ironic, or merely demonstrative?)

    @ No One: I know completely how you feel. My work is my own, and if anybody else tried to add their ideas to it, I can get extremely defensive about it. Like a mother wolf, except my ‘cubs’ are intangible. Also I’m a dude.

    I wouldn’t be able to stand the idea of being associated with another writer for the same project, especially if they were co-writing a sequel or prequel to mine. NOTHANKSBYE!

    The last time I tried to co-write, we were working on a slice-of-life modern suburban realism drama. “I think we need more jedis”, he says. Yes, “jedis” in the plural. “And gundams, too. We need gundams.”

    ಠ_ಠ

    • CommentAuthorNo One
    • CommentTimeAug 29th 2011 edited
     

    .... Oh god. It’s a little worse than I thought. English is his second language, and he wants to make his story Shakespearean, and while his writing is not bad, it’s not exactly great either.

    This is his first story he’s written, too. Even after I dropped two major hints (more like bricks) that I may not like to co-write with him, he’s dense enough to plow on and say we can do it.

    This is not going to go down well.

  54.  

    Poor No One. I have the hardest time saying no to people. I’ve done a few co-writes, but they were just nonsense stories with almost no plot.

    In my writing, I just hit 77,000 words. Oh yeah.

    •  
      CommentAuthorYorkshire
    • CommentTimeAug 29th 2011
     

    Been working on my third novel over the summer. I’m a little past page sixty/30,000 words. And I’ve promised myself that I will re-write two of the beginning chapters of the first novel right after college starts…and then, of course, book two needs another re-write…

  55.  

    I’m gradually knocking down the idea that I need to have an epic battle between heaven and hell as the main focus of my novel. I do not need to completely restructure the laws of the universe (in-universe) by the end of the book to have made a story worth reading that does justice to my premise. Leaving the tensions in the background is more tantalising and the reader can imagine things like this much better than I could write them. In any case, I don’t want to write that batttle.

  56.  

    woo, I’ve got 80,790 words. :D

    Everybody’s feelin fine, cause it’s party time!

  57.  

    Wow, go you!

  58.  

    I’m a very slow writer, but with my current WiP I’m so slow that I feel like I got thrown out of the time-space continuum.

    The reason for this is that I’m making my magic system (rules, research, etc.), and writing the pilot, and piecing together episodes 2 and 3 scene by scene, and fleshing out characters (the way they are when the reader first meets everyone of them, before It Gets Worse), and jotting down notes for future episodes as well… all at the same time.

  59.  

    I’m still doing way more planning than actual writing. And I can’t just stick to one project. I finally started getting into writing chapter TWO of my main story and randomly stopped. Then I wrote a screenplay of episode 1 of the time travel thing I wanna film which probably won’t work because of limited resources. And now I’ve gotten back into my comic/graphic novel thing.

    For this comic I am kind of purposely going out of my way to fit in as many tropes as possible that could work in the world I’ve created. But going through TVtropes there are just so god-damn many. I feel like I should plan ahead enough to introduce most main people early on so they don’t just come out of nowhere to fill a trope. Like creating tons of students at a school so they can each fit a stereotype and such. And now I’m looking at lots of tropes about homosexuals and wondering if I should create some gay characters mostly for the sake of covering some gay tropes… Probably not a good idea.

    Yeah… I need to get back to chapter 2 of my fantasy thing. I am ashamed how little writing I’ve done compared to you guys.

  60.  

    happycrab, did you miss the ‘Token Gay’ trope, by any chance?

    Also, yeah, I do too much planning compared to writing, as well. Especially when you consider that a lot of the time my best stuff comes from just seeing where it goes and letting the bits all join up naturally.

    And don’t feel too bad. I’ve done practically no writing this year, either.

  61.  

    Hmm apparently that’s not a page yet. It needs to be written. But there are tons of pages on different token characters. I do need a token black guy. If this comic is ever done it’ll have Loads and Loads of Characters.

    Maybe I should just start the comic and make it up as I go along and introduce new characters whenever I want to. If this was to actually get serialized or something I would probably purposely stretch it forever and just make it keep going and going for the sake of parodying series that go on forever. And if I create plotholes by introducing things later on that make things in the past not make sense then maybe that’s the point.

    Yay let’s be non-writing buddies together! Wait no how about we encourage each other to actually write? You can do ittttt!!