Every morning I either go for a walk, where I take the dog with me, or I go for a run1 and I lure myself into the running part by listening to the Zombies!Run app, which is a fun little soap opera way to do your exercise. However, there's long stretches where you're supposed to be listening to music, and I also only listen to music or to the birds and the wind on the "walk" days (which are "off" days)--so I have time with just my brain and whatever song I'm hyperfixated on at the moment.( https://youtu.be/7CoOLtQbmJI) Here is a thing I'm noticing. If, as you trudge along through the early-morning dodging cars backing out of driveways, you start rolling your story around in your head, you'll often get some plot kinks worked out. But! Also! If you decide "I am going to find some things to love on the walk today" - by which I mean, a weird bird, a little frog, a pretty weed, someone's hot wheels car that has been left in a gutter for three weeks now but it's hanging on, that one house with the themed light bulbs - you'll often get a little burst of inspiration or joy about your story. Now, maybe that's just the exercise endorphins talking. (I don't think so; I pretty much only get those at the end of a workout when I push for one more rep, while listening to songs where my ancestors call me to defend Themyscira or whatever.) It sounds woo-woo, but I really do think that setting yourself to love something you encounter that day opens your heart to love your own story. Try it and let me know. 1: A weird walk/jog hybrid that is mostly walking and some "what if a duck could run?" type movement |
When I begin a book I tend to reread a bunch and tinker, and tinker, and tinker with the first three chapters at the same time that I push forward with new words. With This Summer's WIP I find I am tinkering, tinkering, tinkering with the last three chapters too, while trying to write the chapters between the body of the manuscript and the end. And I'm noticing a funny thing: 1. I have a super low tolerance for the part in a romantic story--and it is an inevitable part--where the main couple have to navigate The Distress. This is usually an emotional rupture that results in one or the both of them having to apologize to each other. It's not that I don't recognize that this part of the story makes the story work well, it's that I get so emotionally invested in these mooks that I read this part through my fingers, as if it was a horror move. Yet, apparently, I'll write these scenes without the same "oh no, oh dear" feeling. Weird, yes? 2. I don't get scared by horror. I don't mean this as bragging--I'm not brave. It's literally that whatever button, say, Saw or Se7en or Halloween or suchlike hits in people's "that's so scary!" brain--it doesn't hit for me. I have a weird brain. (Suspense, like Rear Window, yes. Straight horror, no.) Yet, I am told, I write horror okay. (I often don't quiiiiiite realize I'm doing it, but that's a separate discussion.) Your discussion prompt, then, is: what, if any, story elements or genres do you experience very differently when you're the audience vs. when you're the writer? Go! |
There are *so many* story elements that I struggle with that this is a complicated question. Humor, for example. I love reading stories with humorous elements, but when I *try* to do that, it always falls flalt. Like you, horror movies don't scare me (yawn), but suspense does. So do surprise twists. I don't watch movies *looking* for twists, but when the Big Reveal comes (as in Sixth Sense), I get a tingly feeling. On the other hand, I put tons of foreshadowing in what I write--whether it's effective or not, I can't say. |
Amethyst Angel 🌼 ![]() |
Max Griffin 🏳️🌈 ![]() I admit, I *do* watch movies looking for twists. I can't help it--and I usually spot them from the first clue drop, alas. When a movie really does surprise me it's a rare delight. (Surprisingly, one that did it? A Big Hand For The Little Lady. I hadn't been spoiled on that and watched it totally blind one afternoon on TCM, and actually clapped when the twist happened. In my defense, that movie doesn't try particularly hard to give you clues.) |
I decide to take this week to go through all the rooms of my house that were sort of crouched at 85% unpacked and get them to 100%. Not that the *house* is 100% unpacked--but right now the only boxes left are in closets, which alleviates the "feeling perched in the house" sensation quite a lot. I painted the walls of the bathroom-that-was-a-heinous-color. (No, I will not tell you which color. Because what if you just painted YOUR bathroom that color and you love it? Who am I to tell you that your bathroom is ugly? This bathroom was ugly for me and I had to paint it.) I am also concentrating this week on getting the housework done on time, which I know from experience will start to pay you back almost immediately, and on reading the paper books that I have promised one person or another to read. (One for book club. One for my agent. One because it's about a nonfiction thing I should be studying. One because it's about moving to a new place and making friends/not hating it. Etc. Etc.) The aggravating thing about all this is that I had, nobly and sadly, told myself "well, it's okay if doing all this means you just don't get much writing done. We cannot go on perched in the house! This will surely take all week!" Gang, it is Tuesday, all the rooms are done, and most of the heavy housekeeping chores for the week (groceries, laundry, mopping) are done. Dinner's in the crockpot. I have even written a little bit. There seems to be some kind of lesson here for me to learn, but I have a dreadful feeling I will not learn it. Anyway, I'm off to try to write chapter 24. (I have not finished reading those books. But I'm chipping at them.) |
Charles 🐾 ![]() I fear I would keep looking around the room and whispering "BORDELLO" and keeping myself awake snickering. |
We paid off our house today. We've been sacrificing to make double payments for years now, and then when we sold our old house (in our old state) we were blessed that it went for more than the new house cost. So today we went in and had the bank wire the mortgage company a truly obscene amount of cash that came in from the sale, and now we have no more mortgage. So I'm feeling A Way about that, and I did buy us a bottle of prosecco for tonight, because gosh. In writing news, This Summer's WIP decided to pony up the next sequential chapter, "Twenty-Three" ![]() |
Yay, you! It's an amazing feeling to be out from under that debt. I bought my first house for a tiny, tiny amount when I was just a baby of 24 and when I sold it 19 years later, the value had increased so much, I bought the house we're in now without needing to get a mortgage. And damn, ddid that feel good! X V14 |
Congratulations, that's great news! I can't write when I have Big Life Things going on, which is frustrating. I should try and take advantages of that creativity spurt after the next Big Thing comes along! |
Okay, I opened my mouth and challenged Joto-Kai ![]() ![]() Well, great literature this is not, friends, but if you'd like a serial exploring what it's like to live in that dome city full of people with blinky hand lights, come on a trip with me:
I'll publish this here, as a serial. Comments welcome--this is fanfic, remember, so this is one time when readers can actually steer the story. No passkey, because fic is by definition not sellable--so come one, come all. First chapter is up: "Francis - Day 1" ![]() (GC rating is for cussin'.) |
Figured if you're interested, you could check out ""Chapter 1: Bitter Pill" ![]() Mine is Star Trek, set in a post-apocalyptic time (for humans). |
It's hot and damp as Satan's armpit here, but at least I got a chapter of This Summer's WIP written: "Twenty-Two (revised)" ![]() Did it do everything that I had in the outline for chapter 22 to do? Heck no! Have you met me? Now I have to find my physical, paper notebook so as to plan out a running battle for chapter 23. You know how difficult it is to write a running battle that is *interesting*? Well, at least, when you're me. I generally get very bored by big fantasy battles. You can't use spectacle in prose the way you can in a movie, and on an individual level--which is pretty much all you've got narratively--the sweep of epic battles comes down to an individual panicking and grinding through mud for multiple hours. This particular battle I have backed myself into a corner about means I have: ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Sigh. Definitely one for the ol' legal pad and scribbling. How do you write battle scenes? |
Heavens, I hope I never have to ![]() |
Amethyst Angel 🌼 ![]() |
I have no idea why the end of This Summer's WIP has decided it wants to be written in reverse order. Last week I wrote chapter 31 and chapter 30. I got most of chapter 29 written today. I suppose at least this means when I get it posted, my reviewers can read to the end all in a gulp if they want? |
With all due respect, which in this case is a lot (even if it doesn't sound like it) it's cause you're a weirdo. But I mean, that's what we're here to do, become even more of a weirdo. Gonzo and Daffy. At least I hope so. ![]() But writing backward in time is a time honored method. You have a result then you look for the cause... |
It's not weird. I always write "an" ending pretty early on so I have something to aim for. And I write out of order and all over the place all the time. You just gotta do what the story tells you to do. And sometimes, writing the ending before the stuff that comes before it makes it easier because you know what needs to be set up to get to the end. |
Sometimes juggling something around from one file to the other helps. I've told you all before that I tend to compose chapters in separate MS Word files (for easier uploading to WDC) and then, when I've got the chapter how I like it, I copy/paste into the main manuscript file. (Yes, this means I've got a cluttered folder with PILES of files for each book. Yes, I could do this all much more efficiently in Scrivener. Writers are a rich tapestry.) ANYWAY-- I've been writing the end of This Summer's WIP despite being at the top of the third act, where what I really *should* be writing is chapter 22. But brains are weird. I thought to myself, "well, since I've written the last chapter and the second-to-last chapter, might as well paste them in the ol' Master Document and just see how the ol' wordcount is going". And then I thought, "but I wonder how many chapters to go? What if I put in the chapter numbers and then just some events placeholders, just so I know if the last chapter is number 30 or what". Friends, I have been TRYING to outline the end of this dang book for DAYS. Maybe weeks? But for whatever reason, doing it like this is how I was able to finally get the outline done today. So I can tell you, the book's going to have 31 chapters, and now I finally know what will happen in each of them, and all we gotta do is write them. Well, that and find the Lego people so I can do the choreography for the set pieces. |
All right, gang. I need to check my terminology and I can't even figure out how to word this query on Google. I'm going to tell you a joke below, and then I want to know how you'd categorize the joke, with the technical name if possible. Here's the joke: Jester: Well, you know what they say about the Italian court. King: What? Jester: What better place to court Italians? This is, of course, from The Court Jester, a glorious hallucination of a movie where Angela Lansbury is a double-talk comedy princess just like a year separated from being the horrible mother in The Manchurian Candidate. Anyway-- Would you call this structure of joke 1) a pun or 2) something else? If 2), what is it called? Bonus points for any more of this style of joke you care to drop in the comments. |
From Google AI: "A play on words, also known as wordplay, is a literary technique that uses words in clever and humorous ways to create an intended effect or amusement. This can involve manipulating the sounds, meanings, or structure of words to generate a double meaning, pun, or other form of humor. Here's a more detailed breakdown: What it involves: Puns: Exploiting multiple meanings of a word or similar-sounding words for a humorous or rhetorical effect. Double meanings: Using a word or phrase that can be interpreted in two or more ways. Other forms of word manipulation: This can include anagrams, spoonerisms, and other techniques that play with the form or structure of words. Examples: Puns: "Santa Claus' helpers are known as subordinate Clauses." according to ServiceScape Double meanings: . A sign that says "Out of Order. Please knock firmly" could be interpreted as both a request for service and a statement about the person's state of mind. Other wordplay: . An ambigram is a word that can be read the same way from different perspectives or orientations, like the word "ambigram" itself, according to Scribendi. Aptronyms: . A name that perfectly fits the person's profession or personality, like a baker named "Mr. Dough"." |
Today I have: 1) polished the last chapter of This Summer's WIP, which is a banger you guys, this chapter is a doozy and I love it (at least for now) 2) written the penultimate chapter of This Summer's WIP, because apparently I'm working my way backwards at the moment, until I bump back into the sequential plot? At least for now? All of which means I've written like 7k words in the last few days, but can I show them to anybody? No! Not yet! Very annoying! |
Today was a very Monday of Mondays, getting (more) school stuff figured out for the kids, doing both regular chores and the long tail of moving-to-a-new-place chores, fielding phone calls from various friends-and-relations who were checking in on us after bad storms in our region. (We're fine. The region is not, but we are.) So today I made a few edits, after I got a helpful review of one of my chapters, and then instead of writing the next chapter, I wrote some of the last chapter of This Summer's WIP. I often do this, and write the last scenes wildly out of order. At this point I've decided not to feel weird about it. (Yes, I've noticed there's a theme to my posts: "here's a writing thing I do, but I don't feel weird about it now." The truth is of course I feel weird about it. I'd rather be a writer who soberly makes an outline, elegantly executes the outline, and writes everything in order, typing a standard amount of words per day. Heck, while we're dreaming, let's say I always sit ergonomically and hold my wrists they way they're supposed to be on my keyboard. But we can only work with the brains we've got, no matter how much the process bugs us aesthetically. So more accurately: I'm trying not to feel weird about it.) What's a weird writing thing you do that you're trying not to feel weird about? |
I think I'm still trying not to feel weird about writing full stop. It's such a strange, secretive thing to do, really. All those hours spent bashing away at a keyboard, and then maybe something emerges? And that's before you even start in on my crazy start with a scene that comes to me and write both ways from there approach to it, living in hope I'll find the start and/or the end eventually. And the craziness of always having multiple people living in my head and wanting to do things that the rational part of me wants to say no to, but can't. It's a weird job... |
Good evening, my friend. I've stopped by to offer one tidbit that may make you feel better about your technique. I have always been an inveterate outliner; my outlines are so detailed that I'm considered an outlier by other outliners. But I have learned that no matter how detailed and well-planned my outlines are, my characters tend to take over and start making their own changes to the plan before my fingers even get tired. I've also learned that they're nearly always right, so I have stopped outlining beyond about three scenes ahead. Yet another reason that I never hit the Big Time... ![]() |
Huttah! Finally, I have the next chapter done. "Twenty-One" ![]() Is this the one with the fight scene? No! I realized that if I put the fight scene in here, the chapter would be 7k long. So I....still have the fight to write. But fights go much, much faster for me than setup. Hopefully I got the setup done in interesting fashion with this one. We'll see what my brave critique partners tell me. In passing, if you want to improve as a writer, get thee some brave critique partners. I think we all believe, when we begin to write, that critique and editing are mostly about moving commas around. If you can find people who are willing to tell you when you need major surgery, though--and I mean major surgery, stuff like "have you considered telling this in third person, not first?" or "I think maybe chapter seven needs to be cut for pacing"--you have found gold. Cherish those people! (My crit partners: you know who you are. Consider yourselves cherished.) |
Getting there, friends. The chapter is 3200 words and counting. (This means I will probably edit it down a bunch before it's done.) It's still raining, so I'm still writing. Meanwhile, I was chatting with Jack of Diamonds ![]() ![]()
|
(I walk/run in a standard suburban neighborhood. Today the thing I loved was the very elegant tasseled seeds on some grass that the person in the Unkempt House The Neighbors Are Mad About hasn't cut.)