Writer Problems

[razorrabbit]

Having an rp partner getting offended because your OC doesn't like or love their OC.

Having an idea for an rp you really want to do but are unsure where it could be placed to feel natural and not forced.

One of your big rp guilty pleasures being something your partner hates doing.


EDIT: Getting really into a fandom after it's rp base has died down. (less of a writers problem though I suppose)

 

[Ethys]

 

[Brovo]

This reminds me of the pet peeves thread. Guess I'll throw in what drives me nuts about my own writing.

#1: Going through my own writing, and facepalming every time I use an emphasis word that has no actual meaning. The sentence is exactly the same with or without them, and I just look like I'm trying too hard to up the ante by using them. "Very" and "really" come to mind. (He struck very hard, and really fast.)

#2: Having one or two particular sets of actions for a character to constantly express the same, one-note emotion, or focusing too hard on a singular way of expressing oneself through body language. ("She raised her eyebrows, opening her eyes widely as she found herself staring, eyes full of fear. Her eyes are really fucking important, guys, didn't you know?")

 

[Jorick]

Spending hours researching medieval era things like how much armor weighed and what a knight's actual range on motion was, or how far someone could travel per day by horse or ship, only to later say fuck it all and just go with fantasy logic.

Having so many notes on various character and plot ideas that it takes ages to find the one you want at the moment.

Telling a non-writer about some of your ideas and having them look at you like you're a serial killer or something.

 

[razorrabbit]

Writing a very large draft down on pen and paper and loosing all of it by the time to figure it might be a good idea to put it on the computer too just in case.

Having someone read over your shoulder while you're writing and getting sent to a consular because they mistook your character's point of view for your actual thoughts.

Having someone getting angry with you and gets back at you by destroying all your notes and ideas from your note book just for those things.

Getting amazing ideas from a dream, writing some of it down, taking a very short break then forgetting the rest by the time you come back.

 

[Mu]

@Hana
Mixing lore up because we don't pay attention to past posts gg.

 

[Yatagarasu]

-Wants to write some short stories for fun...remembers the ideas BUT NEVER HAVE THE TIME TO WRITE IT orz

-Reading some of your old posts and realise ALL THE GLARING SPELLING AND GRAMMAR ERRORS LITTERED IN YOUR OLD POSTS Q~Q

-You're creative flow is on 100%, is writing an epic reply at the speed of light, but just when you are about to post your 2000+ words reply...YOU REALISE THERE'S A GIANT PLOT HOLE IN YOUR POST (legit happened to me, had to spend ANOTHER HOUR redoing the entire post -cries-)

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Having someone read over your shoulder while you're writing and getting sent to a consular because they mistook your character's point of view for your actual thoughts.

Stuff like this is why LARP groups are very cautious about doing things in public areas.
Outsider's have their comfort zone's broken very easily, and when it comes to stuff like RP this can very quickly lead to them accusing the other person as insane.

 

[razorrabbit]

Stuff like this is why LARP groups are very cautious about doing things in public areas.
Outsider's have their comfort zone's broken very easily, and when it comes to stuff like RP this can very quickly lead to them accusing the other person as insane.

Apparently. The things I've been sent to a consular over my writing while I was going to school were ridiculously stupid. You'd think after the third time the message would be clear but nope. The best was when I got sent there by my English teacher for a writing project that they assigned us and they graded it first wrote down a little 'I'm worried about you' message and then sent me to the consular. I get that's part of their job but sometimes writing is just writing. Anyway I'm derailing sorry^^;

 

[Shadon Xarian]

Choosing the wrong character for the RP

Writing something that contradicts something else you've written.

Hours later, finding out it actually doesn't contradict anything and fits right in.

 

[Ethys]

Rereading books you loved as a kid and mentally correcting poorly worded phrases.

Fangirling harder over famous authors than Hollywood celebrities.

 

[razorrabbit]

Reading a book or series that makes you want to try that genre of writing and realizing after many many tries while you loved that one series the genre itself might not be for you, or that you're just not very good at that genre.

Rereading a book you loved, still loving it but don't want to discuss it with anyone because the names of the characters are cringeworthy or because you don't want to discredit the book somehow with your fangirling/fanboying over it, Or are worried about being seen as liking a child's book.

Getting ideas for middles of stories but for the life of you can't think of a good way to start and once you get into it you never want to write an ending.

 

[Durandal]

Dealing with the feeling inside that you know you're a hack but everyone tells you how much of a great writer you are

 

[razorrabbit]

Not hearing from an rp partner for a while to the point of getting a little worried about them and sending them a message asking if they are okay only to feel like a creepy stalker when they reply back quickly saying stuff about 'life getting in the way at the moment' and realizing you probably have way more time on your hands than any person should.

 

[Brovo]

Dealing with the feeling inside that you know you're a hack but everyone tells you how much of a great writer you are

We're all hacks. Take comfort in the knowledge that you can only create from the total sum of what you know. You can only know things by wielding your sensory organs (sight/smell/taste/touch/hearing/et cetera) and capacity to disseminate what it is your sensory organs pick up on (logical deduction/how do you feel?) to create a pool of information to draw upon.

Everything you know, every thought you possess, is a result of environmental interactions and assimilation of information throughout your life--your experiences as an individual. Ergo, absolutely everything you will have ever created will always be the sum product of remixing what it is you already know. Some of the most basic ways one even begins to create a world, or wield a genre, or add emotional/personality attributes to a person, requires you understand about the same kind of information as others in order for it to even be intelligible.

Originality is a lie by the very nature of how our brains work, and it's not the golden idol everyone makes it out to be. Creativity is not about creating something from nothing: Everything we understand about the universe makes it so that the "something from nothing" concept is literally, physically impossible. You cannot create or destroy energy, for example. Creativity is about taking something that excites you and presenting it in a manner that is fresh and different from what's around it, not creating something from nothing!

Star Wars is just a stereotypical fantasy tale recycled in space. Shakespeare wrote about some of the most fundamental human emotions that everyone can understand and thinly wrapped them in the guise of human beings acting out a tale. Star Trek is just an excuse to talk about philosophy and the human condition, and sometimes social issues of the times. Tolkien's works involved recycling a lot of old mythological ideas and presenting them anew, and the ring-hobbit relationship is just the classic "great things, small packages" tale. None of these stories are truly, entirely original: They just take from before, remix it with a passion, and make it something interesting.

So, yeah, we're all hacks. So was Tolkien: The guy stole a bunch of shit from the mythos of his day. God fuckin' knows Walt Disney built his entire empire on retelling old tales with that good ole' Disney charm.

Don't beat yourself up over it mate. Just write what interests you, and don't chase after false, impossible goals. You can't be perfect, you can't create something from nothing, and we're all going to die in such a short frame of time that the universe will not have even had a billionth of a moment to even consider our existence. Enjoy yourself and only set goals that are achievable, strive for improvement--not perfection--or you will always think of yourself as a hack in a negative sort of way.

 

[razorrabbit]

Agreeing to try a new style of rp you have never done before and feeling bad when you have to ask for clarification on what to do.

 

[Durandal]

I think you got a little too smart for me there bro

 

[Brovo]

I think you got a little too smart for me there bro

Overcome the obstacle, don't become the obstacle. It's good to realize that your writing is never perfect, just don't take that as a negative either. Seek improvement, not perfection. Be water, my friend.

 

[Durandal]

I guess I said what I did from the thoughts I have whenever I read anything like the Wheel of Time for example, where I look at the author's ability to create a cohesive, intelligent narrative and well-fleshed out characters and go "Jeez, I am absolute crap at this."

It's easy to get discouraged

 

[Brovo]

I guess I said what I did from the thoughts I have whenever I read anything like the Wheel of Time for example, where I look at the author's ability to create a cohesive, intelligent narrative and well-fleshed out characters and go "Jeez, I am absolute crap at this."

It's easy to get discouraged

It is, but all it takes is practice. I'd imagine Robert Jordon probably had many sleepless nights, staring at his labour and thinking to himself "does any of this make any sense?"

Just keep persevering, is all I'm saying. If anything, look at his work and figure out what about it really makes it function the way it does. How does he describe shit? Emulate that. How does he build up the plot? Emulate that. Find ways to improve your writing by copying others, then seeing where it might be flawed, then improving on it to make your own, distinct tone.