Last month’s post talked about figuring out what to write. Once you’ve got an idea in your head, it isn’t always easy to stop having ideas, even though you’ve already chosen one. Many people will tell you to record those ideas, because you never know what could be useful later, then continue on with your current one. But what happens when you like the new idea better?

First, ask yourself why you like it better. What about that new idea is catching your attention in a way the current one didn’t? Maybe you like the characters or the setting better. But if the only reason is that it’s new and different, then write it down, remind yourself you made a commitment to the current idea, and keep going. If you can, find a way to add those bits you liked about the new idea to the current one.

Second, remember that you’re in the weeds on your current idea. Writing always seems hard when you’re doing it, but easier when you’re starting out or finished. As I work on my current novel, I’ve been rereading Girl in Red, and enjoying it more than writing the new work. Fortunately, I still remember what it was like writing Girl in Red, and it was a lot like this. It’s like looking at the rain forest. It’s pretty when you’re far away, but once you go inside, it’s muggy, there are bugs bigger than your head everywhere, everything’s trying to kill you, and your water bottle ran out an hour ago. Once you get to the other side, you can look back and laugh about it later, but you’ve got to press on. If you stop at every turn and think that another path looks better, you’ll only end up walking in circles.

Finally, if you absolutely hate the idea you’ve got, and everything else looks more interesting to you, take a break. I got burned out writing Girl in Red more times than I can count. I remember a time, about a year before I finished it, asking myself “What will it feel like to have it finished?” It brought me down when I realized the answer would be relieved. I got burned out on it, and after a time, I reminded myself that I had committed myself to seven years at Hogwarts, so I started writing again. It can be hard to take a break when you’re working on something, because sometimes, it feels like you’ve given up, but you’ve got to let yourself have a break. If you don’t, you’ll end up with a bad final product, and that feels even worse.

It can be hard to stick with your main idea. I often had to put Girl in Red down, as I’m trying to do now with my current work. It paid off in the end, and I’m hoping to remind myself of that once more.

#Essay #Planning

© 2023 Sky Starlight CC BY-NC-SA

Before one begins to write a story, one must know what one wants to write. As I realized Girl in Red was coming to a close, I started taking note of all the random story ideas I was having.

But even having several ideas didn’t help as much as I’d hoped. Few made it past the initial “pop into my head” stage. Only one of those (“Idea 1”) had lasted much longer than that, and the more I looked at it, the more I didn’t like it. I eventually scrapped that idea, but another came to mind back in September 2019. It’s since changed a lot, but there are two methods that shaped this.

Write What You Love

The first method is simple: write what you love. If you wouldn’t read the story you’re writing, you shouldn’t be writing it. That’s the philosophy I had with Girl in Red: Even if no one else enjoyed it, I did.

It’s easy to know what you enjoy. Just ask yourself: what are your favorite books, movies, TV shows, or other content medium of choice? Anything that’s caught your attention that forms a narrative can help you here. You don’t have to analyze one book or movie; I can’t tell you what my favorite movie is, but I can tell you the top five. It’s the same with books and TV shows. For each type of content (books, movies, etc.), make a list of your favorites. It doesn’t have to be long, just give you a sense of what it is you enjoy. You don’t have to do this, but I’ll reference it later.

That’s the easy part; the hard part is understanding what it is about them that you enjoy. Is it the characters? Something about the plot? What about that book had you saying “this is my favorite”?

Of course, visual media isn’t as helpful here. For example, RWBY is one of my favorite shows, but part of that reason is because I enjoy the visuals. When you start to analyze what you enjoy, if you realize that the visuals are the only reason you enjoy something on that list of yours, then it won’t help you here.

If you want to dig deeper than just your instincts and vague recollection of something, there’s a website you can use. Before you do, set yourself a timer for 20 minutes. The moment it goes off, close every tab you opened in that time. I tell you this because the site is TV Tropes, and its very easy to get sucked in and lose track of time. Look up your favorite content on there and read the list of tropes (Again, 20 minutes, tops). A “trope” is like an ingredient for a story, and the point of this is to understand the ingredients you enjoy in a story. When you read one and think “Oh! I loved that part!” then that’s part of that content that you enjoyed. I didn’t use TV Tropes when I was working out what I wanted to write, but I did start looking harder at my favorite movies and books. I did something else that helped me figure it out as well.

Look Over Your Past Work

I’ve mentioned before that writing every day is helpful. One good use of this is going through whatever it was you wrote and figure out what stuck and what didn’t. Especially look at the snippets you wrote that got you to keep going. What about it did that?

Once I had a spark of an idea in my head, this is what helped me flesh it out. I kept looking it over until I had something I could use. This also helps you understand what you like to write and don’t like to write. A few examples that I’ve found from writing Girl in Red:

• After a scrapped idea from Crimson Caster, I learned I don’t like world building
  • This is the reason Idea 1 fell through: too much world building
  • At the same time, I did enjoy the little bits of world building I did with Hermione and Luna’s plot lines in Crimson Caster
• I enjoyed writing romance a lot more than I thought I would
  • The cutesy scenes in Amber Abandonment with Neville and Luna were some of my favorite parts of Girl in Red
• I don’t like dealing with a large cast of characters
  • I found a good rhythm for it with Crimson Caster, but many times, I’d leave a few characters hanging around doing nothing
    • I especially noticed this in Amber Abandonment with Ginny
• After reviewing Scarlet Sociopath, I learned I don’t like writing too much action sequences
  • I do still enjoy them; the third task in Cherry Champion is one of my favorite scenes
• I like darker writing (plot and humor), so long as there’s a light at the end
• I don’t like straight comedy
  • I prefer drama with comedy sprinkled throughout
• Having an overpowered main character was fun at first, but got old quickly

In Conclusion

It was harder than I thought to find something about which I was excited. Even looking back at Girl in Red, if I were to write it again, it’d be a different story. There were several times I wanted to stop, but the idea of what would happen next kept me going. It changed a lot along the way, but so did I.

It’s important to write something you want to read, otherwise it’ll ruin the writing, and you’ll burn yourself out.

Remember, this is your writing. It’s worth the effort.

#Essay #Advice #Planning

© 2023 Sky Starlight CC BY-NC-SA

Another common problem among writers is writer’s block. When you sit down to write, ready to go, then stare at an empty page until you give up.

There are many, many different tricks I’ve found to deal with writer’s block, enough that I couldn’t possibly talk about all of them. Instead, I’m focusing on one: write the good part first.

There have been several chapters of Girl in Red that I’ve sat down to write, and, as previously mentioned, I’ll get nowhere on them. I’ve usually got some idea of what I want to happen, I just don’t want to write whatever part on which I’m stuck.

My solution for this is to pick a different part, even if it’s a different chapter, and start writing it. You can work your way backward from there, or skip it entirely with a few lines of exposition. Maybe you realize that the story needs to take a completely different path. This has happened to me many times, which is why I recommend this.

The example I think of is chapter five in Neville Longbottom and the Cherry Champion. I was stuck on that chapter for a month (this was back when I was far enough ahead that I could afford to be stuck for a month). I kept trying to get the transition into being at Hogwarts for that year right, but I kept getting stuck.

I finally went back and started imagining what the conversation between Hermione and her parents would be like. For context, during the World Cup, instead of running away, Hermione ran toward the group of Death Eaters, getting herself a Cruciatus Curse for her bravery/foolhardiness. As I wrote the scene, I realized that there was no way Hermione was going to be allowed back to Hogwarts, given how I’d been characterizing her parents.

Not only did I finally get a chapter written, but I’d just altered the course of the entire book. Now, when I think of writer’s block, I think of that chapter and what it became.

Like I said in Finding Time to Write, it’s important that you keep writing, but when you force yourself to write, it comes out in the final product. Writing the parts you enjoy first gives you the energy to write the parts you don’t like.

Remember, this is for your writing. It’s worth the effort.

#Essay #Advice #WritersBlock

© 2023 Sky Starlight CC BY-NC-SA

Many writers will tell you that the best advice is “sit down and write”.

I tend to agree with this; my own writing has improved significantly over the years because I’ve stuck with it for so long. However, that advice is like saying “practice makes perfect” or “you’ll learn eventually”. It goes without saying.

First, you’ve got to find the time. This is where a lot of people have difficulty. I can’t offer you a perfect solution, because such a thing doesn’t exist. What I can do is offer you what’s worked for me.

Carve out a time for yourself. For me, this is first thing in the morning. I wake up, then write for an hour. Do this every day, and you’ll eventually improve.

It sounds simple, but it’s anything but. It took me a long time to get used to doing that, and I still struggle with it. It takes a lot of discipline to get right.

Why do it in the morning? Because I can’t rely on any other time, and doing this every day is critical. At least for me, habits are important. The more I do it, the more I get used to doing it, and I eventually stop trying to get out of doing it. Writing early in the morning means that I have time to write every day, uninterrupted, because no one else is awake yet. If I try writing after everything’s settled down, I’m too exhausted to write.

Another issue some people have is that the ideas don’t come to them when they want them to. There’s a reason for this: you haven’t started yet. When I sit down to start writing, chances are, I’ve got nothing in my head. But as I start writing, that part of my brain wakes up. Don’t worry about what you’re writing, only that you are writing. It can be completely unrelated to what you want to write, so long as you keep writing. Eventually, your mind will get used to it, and the ideas will start flowing.

You may notice that once you sit down to write, anything else is a better alternative. Remember that email you were supposed to write? Or maybe something else more interesting is going on somewhere on the Internet. I recommend shutting out distractions. I don’t allow myself to read emails or open up a web browser, even if I need to research something. If I reach a point where I’d need to look up something, I make a note about it in the text, and I keep going. It’s more important to keep writing.

Don’t let me fool you into thinking this always works. When I have to travel for work (not an uncommon occurrence), my schedule gets thrown off, and I start skipping this. Keep track of how often you’ve skipped your writing time, otherwise you’ll skip it all week and not realize it.

Remember, this is for your writing. It’s worth the effort.

#Essay #Advice

© 2023 Sky Starlight CC BY-NC-SA

At first, I tried adding references when I could. I’d see a chance at some reference from Frozen or RWBY and I’d take it because it made me laugh. As time went on, and I started having ideas of my own, I began to notice the problems with making references or doing a parody in general.

1. Not everyone gets it. This is the biggest problem, since part of the joke is tied to the original. Often times I’ll hear a saying or watch/read a scene in some form of media and think it seems great. Problem is, it’s great in the context of that other story. If someone’s never read/watched the other story, then they won’t get the reference, or feel the same way the original made me feel.

2. It comes off as lazy writing. This one’s not always true, but references can come off as lazy, i.e. “You’re not good enough to come up with something on your own, so you have to steal from other people”.

3. It doesn’t always make sense. I realized this one quickly, and scrapped any references I made that didn’t make sense for the time. If I wanted to have Rose quote something, for example, I wanted her to keep it in character. Of course, it can also be interesting to figure out why the character said/did it.

4. Anyone who does get it will compare it to the original. This is especially true with parodies. If I tried to mimic a scene, I can attempt to mask it, but anyone who has seen/read/watched/whatevered the original will most likely think “I liked the original better”. Why? Well if it’s good enough that I want to copy it, it’s probably better than my own work.

Unfortunately, some references are so tied in that I couldn’t remove them all. I like Rose’s character design, despite taking a lot from Ruby Rose, and I’ll never part with “Salutations!”, because in addition to being Penny’s thing (See my point? If you haven’t seen RWBY, you probably have no idea who that is), it’s also Rose’s thing and I can explain why she says it. Since the Exalted began life as actual D&D characters, most of them have references tied into their characters. Bowie and Carolina have them in their names, although Carolina’s isn’t as obvious.

“It sounds like this used to be a big problem. Why don’t I see more of these in Girl in Red?” Because I went through and cleared out most of them when I proofread each chapter. Sure, there are still some, but they just about disappear in year two. So don’t worry; I promise not to do anymore Frozen references. I’ve outgrown that. The bit in Girl in Red when Snape has a nightmare about Rose singing Do You Want to Build a Snowman? makes me laugh too much, so that got a pass.

There’s actually a scene in Chapter 10 of Scarlet Sociopath (Which, as of the time I’m writing this, hasn’t been posted yet) that made this really sink in. It was a short exchange between Hermione and Rose into which I mixed more references. What stood out was how amused I was by everything else, because the references didn’t entirely fit, and I kept thinking “The original was better”. I left them in when I sent them to my beta reader, who didn’t mind them at all, but they may be removed before I actually post it.

Moral of the Story: Try to keep references to a minimum. Instead of ripping off a scene verbatim, figure out why you wanted to in the first place. For me, it’s usually to do with how it made me feel. I then try to figure out if I can tie something similar into my own work. If I can’t, then I (try to) move on.

#Essay #Advice

© 2023 Sky Starlight CC BY-NC-SA

Emacs is a programmable text editor, which I use to do my writing. I also use it to browse the web, listen to music, check email, chat, and anything else I possibly can. I’m even writing this post in Emacs.

For writing, I use a version of Emacs Org mode, which gives me easy markup, lets me export my writing to HTML, PDF, or just about any other format under the sun. I could use markdown and pandoc, but right now, I’m sticking with Org mode, since it’s easier for me to extend it.

I’ve written a bunch of packages for Emacs (and published almost none of them) that help me with my writing. The biggest one is writing-mode. For each file type (.txt, .cpp, etc.), Emacs has a “major mode” that handles syntax highlighting, indentation, etc. Writing mode lets me keep the vast features of Org mode separate from my writing, since I don’t need even 1/10 of them.

My fiction writing setup involves a different file for each chapter, and a planning file for the entire series. The planning file is in Org mode, which lets me break each book into a separate heading, and each chapter into a subheading. I have functions in my writing mode that lets me pull up the plan for a chapter alongside the chapter as I’m writing.

I also have a counter in Emacs’s “mode-line” that tracks how many words are in the current chapter. This counter is red until the count hits my minimum word count of 4500 5000 4000.

A few general odds and ends that Emacs gives me are auto-capitalization, which automatically capitalizes the first letter of a sentence; auto-correct driven by spellcheck; abbreviations for character names (e.g. pd expands to Professor Dumbledore, hg expands to Hermione, r expands to Rose); dictionary completion; grammar tools (languagetool) and prose checkers (proselint).

#Essay #Emacs

© 2023 Sky Starlight CC BY-NC-SA