Ok, I need to get my Writing Groove back

The Core Media Forum
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I’ve better admit it to myself: I have a problem writing lately.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing anymore, it’s still one of my favorite hobbies.

It isn’t that I don’t get ideas, I still do it all the time.

The problem seems to be with my mental endurance. I just get tired of writing, far more quickly than I used to.

Why? Not sure. I used to think it was due to the stress I occasionally get in my life; things like working overnight, babysitting, etc. That still happens (and unpredictably, which only pisses me off more.) But now, in addition to just getting writer’s block, I find myself unable to write a story for long. My head will actually hurt if I try! (Note that by “writing”, I mean “writing fiction”- other stuff, like articles and reviews, still flow easily. Weird, huh?)

I have a few theories: one is that it may be a side effect of the medicines I take for my epilepsy. I’ve been taking them for years without apparent effects (my own doctor seems surprised about that) so maybe they’re finally catching up on me?

Or it could be my eyesight. I have different problems on each eye; I got prescribed bifocals last year, but those gave me SUCH eyestrain I just went back to my regular glasses. Which I only wear when I’m away from the computer (I can’t see clearly up close with them.) It could be my headaches come from staring at the screen too long when one of my eyes isn’t focusing well? (I can see well up close, but that’s because my brain compensates for it- I might still be straining my right eye and not noticing.)

But those are questions I’ll have to deal with when I go to my next doctor’s appointment. The important thing is, what do I do about writing now?

I have left many -too many- stories unfinished, and that really bothers me. Even if it’s a common Fanfic problem, I still feel bad when I leave you people hanging. :frowning: Especially when I write stories meant for the RPGC folks.

I’m going to do a little self-analysis of my writing process here. Feel free to jump ahead or grab some snacks.

Ok… I write on impulse, most of the time. I see something I like, I’ll probably get ideas about it. I actually carry a notepad with me, so I can write my ideas while they’re still fresh.

Next, I work at developing them. I ask myself, “What do I want to do with this? A story? An article? Or just an online post?” I usually end up writing a whole proposal on a sheet of paper.

Next comes research. For example, if I want to do a Final Fantasy story, I’ll go online (God bless the Internet!) and read about the game until I feel I know all the details I’ll need.

Then I sit down to write.

(No, all of this doesn’t happen at the same time, mind you. That’s why I note things down for. :wink: )

I either start from the beginning and just make things up along as I go (I don’t really like this, but sometimes it fits) OR just write down the plot, THEN I start filling more detail in until it becomes the full post/article/story/whatever it is intended to be.

Then I start correcting spellings, and rewriting the thing until I’m satisfied with it. (Yes, even my posts.) This is probably the most tiring part; I’m a perfectionist, I know it’s silly but I can’t help it. You have no idea how many times I’ve rewritten the chapters that I’ve posted here- that probably only helps me get tired faster.

OK, having established the process, and given the problems I now face, how do I adapt to them?

-The process for getting ideas and writing them down will likely stay the same.

-I think I should NEVER give myself any kind of deadline. That just adds stress. I really need to get used to the idea of starting something and then picking it up later. (This is why I admire Galloway so much: HOW does he keep juggling all those stories at the same time for so long?)

  • I’ve found that TVTropes.com (along with Wikipedia) are great sources for ideas and research. The only problem is that often I get sidetracked reading stuff. :stuck_out_tongue: Mental Note: STICK TO THE STUFF BEING RESEARCHED!

  • When writing, should I go with the flow? It’s easier, but I don’t feel secure not plotting things ahead.

  • Here’s the most controversial part: should I go ahead and post first drafts, instead of beating myself up over details? I mean, it isn’t like this is professional work. I can just fix errors or even change the material after posting it…

-Finally, should I write everything in single-chapter formats, in such a way that, if I feel I have the energy, I can add more to it later, or just leave it to stand alone as it is? For example, I still feel like writing about my composite All-The-FF-Games-In-One world, but instead of a big epic, just write short stories, with possible running plots on them?

What do you folks think? I can really use your feedback here. It’s certainly been encouraging the past. :slight_smile:

Sorry if that was boring. :stuck_out_tongue: I just needed to get it out of my system.

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Daylight-saving-time site: You look at it and next thing you know it’s one hour later.

As for your questions, experiment with stuff. No way is inherently better; you just have to find what suits your mood. Good luck.

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Then I start correcting spellings, and rewriting the thing until I’m satisfied with it. (Yes, even my posts.) This is probably the most tiring part; I’m a perfectionist, I know it’s silly but I can’t help it. You have no idea how many times I’ve rewritten the chapters that I’ve posted here- that probably only helps me get tired faster.
Writing is an art. What you write depends on what you want to express and how you want to express it. Spelling is important, but you should abandon the idea that your grammar has to be tighter than a gnat’s ass in order for it to be good. Trying too hard is stressful and usually just makes your writing sound dry. Rewrite things here and there, remove parts you don’t need, make sure words are spelled right, but otherwise just write how you speak. The ideas are what’s important, not the grammar. Look at James Clavell.

(Note: I’ve never written anything serious in my life. My advice may be shit.)

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Grammar and spelling ARE important, but not in the first draft. Write down what you have. Don’t edit it, not even one word. Take a day, maybe a couple of days after you’ve written it and do something else (write something else, browse TVTropes, whatever). Afterwards, take a look. You’ll notice things you thought were errors actually worked, and you’ll also notice some errors you can’t believe you didn’t notice before.

But it sounds to me like you have some organizational problems. If you’re writing a longer work, I’d suggest the Snowflake method: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php (I wouldn’t pay this guy anything, the article in itself is helpful enough).

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That “snowflake method” sounds a lot like what I mentioned above (of how I write by starting from a short plot, then expanding it.) But, it does lead me to think that working on multiple ideas at the same thing might be the best way for me- I would just stop working on one story when I feel I’m getting bored, and just return to it when I feel like it later. Combined with my doing one-chapter-stories-with-possible-sequels idea, I might get around my mental stamina problem. Worth a shot…

(Oh, and thanks!)

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Ok, let’s take a look at some ideas I’ve had floating around my head for a while, to figure out what I’ll work on next. Some of these are several years old…

THE COMBINED DC/MARVEL UNIVERSE: Every comics fanboy has thought about this at one time or another: what if all the DC and Marvel characters coexisted? In fact, the comics themselves have attempted it a few times. But none of those attempts have satisfied me. Most simply presented the characters as being essentially the same as in their current series, as if coexisting would not have any impact in their lives. What fun is that? The whole point of Alternate Universe fics is to see how the characters’ lives would differ. Would they exchange enemies? Powers? Teams? Friends? Lovers? That’s what I want to do: not just write team-ups, but figure out how the very history of the universe would differ. This is my Holy Grail, the one writing project I want to do above all else. It is however, very daunting- both the Marvel and DC Universes have very, very long and complex histories. While I do know a lot about them, and have several sources at hand, it’s still tiring work. (The fact DC has been thoughtlessly rewriting their history for the last two decades doesn’t help either.) I’ve been trying to come up with a way to simplify things. Maybe some of my ideas for Final Fantasy Infinity (see below) might help…

AN AMERICAN SUPERHERO IN JAPAN: If the DC/Marvel thing is the writing project I want to do most for the challenge of it, this is the one I want to do most simply out of personal enjoyment. The title pretty much says it all: This is about a young superhero (Note: no names yet, because I SUCK at coming up with names) who, not feeling very successful with his life, decides to take a vacation to Japan to relax and think things over. Of course, this turns out to be Japan as seen in Anime, with all the classic stereotypes and cliches. He finds out that the country is under attack by an Evil Organization, with the Self Defense Force hard pressed to deal with it, as the local superheroes won’t cooperate with the military. The SDF offers to pay The Hero in exchange for his help against, uh, The Bad Guys. (Geez, this is pathetic! Mental note: come up with a way to create good, original names!) He agrees, and decides to stay in Japan until the villains are defeated. This, of course, means finding a place to live, dealing with neighbors, keeping his identity secret, and all the other hijinks you’d expect in an Anime Action Comedy. I have several scenarios already worked out in my mind, including the ending. Other than being based on existing stereotypes, ALL of the characters here are my own creation, and I feel that, if I ever had the chance to get something published, it would be this. It even fits several mediums: Anime (natch), webcomics, comic books, etc. Too bad I can’t draw worth a damn…

FINAL FANTASY INFINITY: Some of you may remember this project, I even used it as a basis for a Board Roleplay here. Basically, it’s “What if all the FF characters existed in the same world?” While this may sound too convoluted, the way I handled it was by inventing my own, original world, and then fitting the FF characters in, in a case-by-case basis, instead of just throwing all the stuff together from the start the way I’m doing with Marvel/DC. Of course, this is easier because I’m not really using the existing histories, unlike with M/DC. This still requires a bit of research, but I’m also willing to make stuff up as I go along. In fact this may be my next project here: writing it as single story chapters rather than one massive epic, though there might be running plotlines.

Those are my big projects right now. Other stuff I do often are team-up stories starring my character Sijo The Interdimensional Adventurer (who is pretty much based on me, though slowly growing different) and characters from other series. You can see more about those in my TVTropes.com page here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SijoDiscussion

Feel free to post comments there if you wish. :wink: Oh, and here as well.

More to come…

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IMO you have two options:

The first is writing your own interpretation of events that have already occurred in a game or a comic you like. Breathing new life into a scene everyone already knows is appealing. Stealing characters and throwing them all into your own fantasy mashup is not. If you use other peoples’ creations, they’re going to read your story with certain expectations about them and you’re almost always going to let them down. It’s also hard to write a coherent story and maintain a suspension of disbelief when you have so many characters from so many different worlds, settings, times, and plots, maybe even impossible. The only acceptable kind of fanfiction is the kind that uses the same plots and characters as the game you’re covering, but is imbued with your own narrative and sense of style.

The seconds is to just write your own story about your own original characters. People will take it more seriously than fan fiction, without fail.

If you’re just writing shit for fun, ignore this post. I’m assuming you want to write something people will want to read and improve yourself in the process.

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Wilfredo gets turned into a Llama by a resurrected Egyptian Pharoah and goes on a quest to get his groove back from Dr. Evil, all the while trying to uncover the mystery of the Millenium items.

The Fanfic Author’s New Groove.

I’m joking, but if you SERIOUSLY want to do that, it probably wouldn’t be completely terrible.

I have no decent advice, but I try for a laugh!

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Video: That made me laugh, so thanks. :smiley:

Hades: Oh, I definitely write for myself first, always. That has always been my advice to fanfic writers: “You can never trust that anybody will like your stuff no matter how good it is, so make sure YOU enjoy doing it!” That doesn’t apply to professional writers, of course: you have people to please then, and you get paid for it, so you’d better deliver.

It just happens that in my case, making detailed, logical stories is “my thing”, -perhaps a little too much, as I discussed above. The only stories where I worry about the public are the ones that I write for a specific audience, like the RPGC stories. Anyway, of the projects above, the The Superhero in Japan is the most original, the DC/Marvel one is the least, and FF Infinity is somewhere in between.

Gotta go out now, but I’ll be back later to ruminate more on FF Inf. (anybody know how to write the Infinity Symbol in these posts?) as I feel like refocusing on it the most right now.

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The infinity symbol is available in standard HTML as ∞ and in LaTeX as \infty. In Unicode, it is the character at code point U+221E, or 8734 in decimal notation.

Or copy paste this: ∞

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Rigmarole: I’ll settle for copypasting the symbol. Thanks! :wink:

So anyway, I’ve decided to work (for now) on FF Infinity. Let’s start by reviewing the original FF ∞ basic concepts:

-The World: Both Medieval Fantasy and Futuristic Sci Fi. This is so I can accommodate characters from all kinds of genres. Think FF12. Specific towns, lands and dungeons To Be Determined.

-Monsters: All the classic FF monsters, including recurring Bosses such as The Weapons. The Summons will be determined individually (see Characters below).

-Jobs: All the Jobs unique to FF. Similarly, all Playable Races are available. Yes, that includes the Fat Chocobos.

-Abilities: Classic FF spells. Limit Breaks individually developed.

-Equipment: Typical, plus all the classic FF potions (phoenix down, soft, etc.)

-Events: NONE of the major events from any of the series have happened. Yet, anyway. Again, that’s TBD.

-Characters: Every character, good or bad, from every FF game or series exist in here, but their backgrounds will be altered to match the setting. Which ones will be used will depend on the stor(ies).

OK, let’s test this by adapting a FF character. Let’s use Yuna. Why Yuna? Well, she’s one of the best known FF characters ever. AND she’s hot. :stuck_out_tongue:

ahem Anyway: in FF12, Yuna is the daughter of a Braska, a Summoner, and the sister of Cid of the Al-Bhed race. Knowing he’ll die fighting Sin, Braska asks Auron to take Yuna to Besaid island to be raised (because he knows he’ll die fighting Sin) though it is Kimahri who ends up fulfilling that request. There she grows up along Lulu and Wakka. Yuna decides to become a summoner like her father and chooses to undergo the journey to kill Sin when she’s old enough, which is the main plot of FFX. Tidus joins her group when he arrives in Besaid.

OK, on Gaia ∞, Yuna would have the same parentage, however since Sin doesn’t rampage on this world (that’s too game-specific) let’s assume both her parents are alive. This means she is raised by Braska in Bevelle (or its equivalent in this world.) and she may not know Lulu or Wakka yet. She probably still becomes a summoner like her father, tho, just without a suicide mission to fulfill. And she hasn’t met Tidus yet either. She’s not yet a major character nor a sphere hunter as in FFX2, just the racially-mixed daughter of a noted summoner.

Hmm. Not bad, that leaves room for a lot of development. Ok, now I need to work on a specific story. Must do more thinking… back later.

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Sounds good. I hope to read it ASAP.

By the way, Wil, you should check your private messages as inbox is full.

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Fractyl: Whoops, that always happens to me. :stuck_out_tongue: I’ll correct it ASAP.

OK, as I hope you people have noticed, I posted my first FF Infinity story (not counting the RP Board stuff) not to mention my first complete Fanfic in a long while!! It was only one chapter long, but that was the idea- instead of killing myself by writing long stories, I’ll write shorter ones that are interrelated. I have no plans right now to reuse the characters I used in “Wedge and Biggs”, but if I do I already have some background events about them. See how that works? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

OK, some more details about Gaia Infinity (I needed to give it more “flavor”) :

-This world is highly magical (duh) or as they might put it “High in Mist” due to the existence of crystals- mainly the Crystals of the Four Elements, but there’s plenty of smaller ones too.

  • There’s a sort of “magic versus technology” theme, in that some people prefer Magic to Technology (it’s more powerful, but few people can directly use it) while others claim technology can be made and used more easily. Also, most of the tech is in the big cities, anyway (it’s expensive). The airships are there. Note however, this isn’t a major attitude, plenty of people use both.

-Similarly, culturally most of the world is medieval, but people in the the cities (which are basically independent city-states) use more modern fashions, ways of speaking, etc. (This is not unrealistic- there’s plenty of areas on Earth today with backwards, even primitive cultures.)

-The Ancients, a highly advanced race, once ruled the planet, but where wiped out by some (as yet undefined) catastrophe; their ruins are still all over the world (being explored by adventurers, natch.) Most of the modern tech in the cities was salvaged from them.

-Many of the monsters (including The Weapons) roaming the world were created by the Ancients as well.

  • The Summons are this world’s gods; while they are not all worshiped (or are that powerful) they’re immortal and grant mortals who pass their tests (usually by combat) a piece of their power, so they pretty much fit the role.

  • The FF Jobs are embodied here as Guilds: anyone who wants to learn the powers or abilities of a Job has to join the corresponding Guild and follow all of its restrictions, including wearing their specific uniforms (eg., wide-brimmed hats and robes for the Black Mages). Note however that if you leave a Guild you retain its powers, but cannot gain any more. Of course you can then join another Guild- this allows for multiclassed characters, like the ones in FF9. The Guilds also hold varying degrees of authority. Examples:
    -The White Mages are the medics;
    -The Summoners are the Priest class;
    -The Elementalists are an old priest class now only respected in the wilderness;
    -The Paladins, Black Knights and Dragoons are orders of Knights;
    -Black Mages are the magical equivalent of soldiers (with ranged attacks);
    -The Sages keep the records;
    -The Thief Guild controls crime;
    -The Bard Guild are the entertainment providers;
    -Monks, Samurais and Ninjas exist but on the “Eastern Lands” replacing the Summoners, Knights and Thieves;

And so on.

  • Elements usable here include Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Thunder, Ice, Holy, Dark, “Poison” (actually toxic substances in general) and Force (Non-elemental). Spells come in three levels, and include both offensive and defensive ones. Also, ALL of the Status effects (positive and negative) exist here; also Scan, Float, Warp, Heal, etc.

  • All characters can use “trance” in combat (as in FF9); this is the “default” Limit Break, but some rare characters (the PCs, natch) can develop individual ones.

-All the PC races exist here and get along well (for the most part). Some are rarer than others, though; Humes (humans) are the “main” race only because they are the most numerous (we reproduce like rabbits, natch :stuck_out_tongue: ) Oh and BOTH types of Moogles (Teddy Bear and Rabbit-like) exist here; they’re subspecies. Fat Chocobos are also a sentient race, but is rare; the normal Chocobos used for transportation are better known. Comparing a Fat Chocobo to a normal one is like comparing an human to an ape. (note: need a better name than “Fat Chocobo” though that’s what they look like.)

-Most of the equipment you find in stores is the typical medieval one- swords, armors, shields, etc.- with guns added (actually, gunpowder weapons existed along swords for centuries, but some people don’t realize that.) Guns and other technological weapons are made by the Engineers Guild. Stranger weapons (rackets, for example) have to be made to order. Of course, all of these can have Elemental or Status Effects added. Legendary weapons like Excalibur exist but are unique and have to be found (duh.)

Potions are the typical FF ones (elixir, soft, etc.) They’re made by the Alchemist Guild. Note: Phoenix Down and such only awaken you from unconsciousness, they do NOT revive the dead.

That’s what I have for now, but it’ll help to customize the characters even more when I use them. And no, I haven’t decided which characters I will be using next. More on that later…

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Well that sounds really cool Wil, really very intricate and detailed. And a really nice way of working several details into this world, that make it sound like it could actually exist.

Will be nice to see how you work things in, in any more stories you write on this area.

Oh and for other names for the “Fat Chocobo” you could go for “Chubby Chocobo”, that is another one of their names used in the games, and sounds slightly better than fat.
Or you could go for something more like King Chocobo, since at leasat once they have been depicted being sort of ruler of the chocobos.
Or maybe even Gysahl chocobo, named after their special greens (or vice versa)
Just a few ideas for you

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Are you going to be doing a sort of “World Map” or anything, or including the Kingdoms/Towns of the games? Although Final Fantasy 8 is a bit out of place for fusing like that.

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I would have thought a World Map, although a nice idea would be a bit too complicated. Since Wil would have to spend ages mapping out continents, and then deciding which places, towns and famous stuctures/dungeons he wanted where… Would be like creating a whole atlas of our world, from scracth, by yourself.

And actuall Video, wouldn’t have thought 8 would be any harder to fuse than the rest of the series. Since you have several towns that can easily fit into this mixed fantasy/sci-fi world. Even including the highly advanced, but reclusive city state of Esthar. The key for that place being that it is so reclusive.
The military/mercanary training Gardens, would be a great fit. After all need somewhere for lots of the young solider to be trained.
Their style of magic takes the idea of fusing technology and magic, that Wil mentioned, perfectly. Since the magic in game was designed by a scientist to mimic proper magic. So works for those who want to wield some, but don’t have the talent.

So would seem to fit pretty well to me… unless you were thinking of something else more specific.

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I considered mapping out Gaia, but since I have yet to decide what major cities to include or where they are located, I decided to let the stories determine it as I write them. For now, just assume it’s a very Earthlike world.

And I don’t see any problems including FF8 stuff- as HS pointed out, there’s plenty of “modern” cities here, just without much contact with the rest of the world, so the FF8 characters would fit in easily. Remember however, that the history and events of Gaia Infinity are separate from any other version’s.

Oh, and I’m open to suggestions, btw, so if reading this gives you ideas, feel free to share. :slight_smile:

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Wilfredo Martinez: Still waiting. Until then, I suggest using the following anime in as muses in terms of the nature of the world, the powers ruling it, and its history.

  • Code Geass: The Britannian Empire, the Knights of the Round

  • FMA: Ishbal Massacure, Lab 5

  • Trinity Blood: Vatican

  • Gundam 00: The Towers

  • Avatar: Fire Nation

  • Nausicaä: Forest of Decay and insect-based lifeforms

Also, to ask, what country and respective age are you working around? FF7’s was based around post WW2 America, FFX had Japan (pop-culture japan in FFX2), and FFXII used the Meditterrian in its design.

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Also, to ask, what country and respective age are you working around? FF7’s was based around post WW2 America, FFX had Japan (pop-culture japan in FFX2), and FFXII used the Meditterrian in its design.

Really? I wasn’t aware of those facts. In any case, in order to cover both ends of the FF spectrum, I decided Gaia ∞ would both have futuristic cities with technology actually somewhat higher than the real word’s (battle robots and such) AND backwards villages with shops that sell magic items. As I pointed above, this isn’t that contradictory given the magic vs technology attitude (technology being “newly rediscovered”) and city-states being rather isolationist. So I guess you could consider this world to be both like Middle Age Europe AND Modern Day America.

One thing I’d really like to hear from you folks is suggestions on which characters to use. Who is important enough (or cool enough) to deal with first?

More soon.

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It was more the fact Final Fantasy 8 had Spaceships instead of airships >_> Even if you only ever return to the planet from space, not fly around there. It just seemed a whole lot more advanced in every way than any of the other final fantasys, even the backwater towns were at the same level of more advanced than modern technology, just less invasively. Not even including the Esther civilization being Way above modern.

And It wasn’t so much a actually drawing the map as saying “All of these places exist… SOMEWHERE in the world.”