Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Creative writing

Whether you enjoy writing sci-fi, fantasy or fiction, join our Creative Writing forum to meet others who love to write.

Original poster

Please come and talk to me. Just for some general writing chat and support...

858 replies

BiglyBadgers · 30/12/2017 13:47

I am about a third of the way through editing my stupidly long book (this'll teach me for writing epic fantasy) and need some chat!

I really loved the chat and support on the nano thread, but now novel writing month is long gone and I am alone! There must be other people out there bumbling along needing a friend to chat to...surely....I can provide coffee, cake and excellent free WiFi Smile Brew Cake

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Witchend · 22/01/2018 18:37

I've never understood the point of fanfic if you go wildly off character. You might as well just write your own thing with your own characters,

I agree with that. I find it odd if you look at a fanfic and it starts with something like.
"This is set just after HP and the Philosophers' Stone, but he was adopted by a kind family that's really excited about him being a wizard. Hermoine's parents are magical dentist btw..."
I feel the same about film adaptions that ignore the original plot. I would like them to be renames something along the lines of:
"This is not The Little White Horse, it's our own story and although we've used the names of the characters, they're not the character's you love from the books. Just we realise actually if we produce it without a famous name to fool you into coming and watching, no one will see it."
Unfortunately I've been told this method of titling films is considered too long winded. Wink

QueenHalloween · 22/01/2018 19:31

I've never understood the point of fanfic if you go wildly off character.

I don't read much but on the odd ocassion it can be fun to go off character. Cupcakes, anyone?

On the flip side I've spent far too much time ranting about a very asexual character having a child in a franchise storyline. It just makes no sense for him.

Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 22/01/2018 19:51

On the subject of going off character rants my pet peeve is when you have these super capable female characters who kick arse, make wise cracking one liner, defeat demons and such like, but are apparently incapable of dealing with the thought of having sex with a hot guy without collapsing into a pitiful mess of self doubt. Seriously, she's just defeated the demon hoards and overthrown the evil ruler of doomville, I'm sure she can manage a quick shag without swooning FFS.

...see you've got me started now. Grin

OP posts:
Honeybooboo123 · 22/01/2018 19:59

Err... one of my characters took naughty advantage of a man tied to a chair and shot someone in cold blood who got in the way of her plans. I liked her.
I also got comments saying it was nice i wasnt trying to redeem the baddy in the story, i wrote him as still bad...not as 'i was bad but one shag with you and i want to become good and save the world!'

QueenHalloween · 22/01/2018 20:10

I dunno. I reckon I could punch a demon and still not be able to look a crush in the eye. I did read as a full time occupation for much of my childhood though so maybe that's where it comes from Hmm thanks a lot, fiction.

Honeybooboo123 · 22/01/2018 20:18

I think it helps make a character relatable and it works for both male and female characters...

Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 22/01/2018 20:54

That sounds like a pretty awesome story Honey Grin

I don't mind the occasional swoony woman when it is done right, but when it in no ways fits their character in any other respect it is tiresome. I find it happens lot to female characters in fantasy, in fact to almost all female characters in fantasy. I can only think of one female MC in a high fantasy, off the top of my head, who just had sex and enjoyed it without any particular drama. It matched her character perfectly, she was awesome. I sometimes think there is still this odd idea that women don't really like having sex.

OP posts:
Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 22/01/2018 21:03

I did read as a full time occupation for much of my childhood though so maybe that's where it comes from hmm thanks a lot, fiction.

So did I, though from my mid-teens I did start taking the occasional break for sex. I think this is why I can't get on with YA. I just find all this dithering about men bears no resemblance to my teenage years at all. I just want to shake them all and tell them to get on with it. Maybe I was just way to relaxed about the whole business. Grin

OP posts:
QueenHalloween · 22/01/2018 21:21

Afaik one of the just-won't-die erotica tropes is blurry / no consent and I wonder if it plays into that. I do think strange views about women and sex are still very common though. I am still disturbed by the amount of people who thought fifty shades was romantic. What I read was 100% creepy and abusive. I actually wondered if I have the same book but didn't dare buy a paper copy to find out.

Honeybooboo123 · 22/01/2018 21:25

blurgh 50 shades. Excuse me though I have to go back to my character trying to shag evil space ginger, she's decided to jump on him, but is having trouble with the uniform...

TippetyTapWriter · 22/01/2018 21:42

Fifty Shades is the pits. The whole thing is bizarre and creepy. And whatshisname Grey is just weird and pathetic and whiny and entitled. And just awful. And urgh.

In other news, I may have made a teeny tiny bit of progress. Though I now have half a dozen scenes in scrivener called 'REWRITE' or 'MOVE'. One step forward, fifteen back.

Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 22/01/2018 21:53

Afaik one of the just-won't-die erotica tropes is blurry / no consent and I wonder if it plays into that

That is another big one in fantasy. It can be very rapey. Yuk. It is really easy to fall into though. I am doing a massive amount of rewriting because I realised one of my characters stories was just a bit too unnecessary on the abuse side. It all got a bit game of thrones and there is really quite enough of that already out there. I also have another bit that involves the most outrageous set of coincidences that my eyes roll just thinking about it. All in all, I seem to be rewriting the entire blooming thing at the moment. Hmm

OP posts:
Honeybooboo123 · 22/01/2018 21:54

have never tried scivener, but may have to start. Have decided a character needs to have a Japanese tattoo on his wrist, as a big reveal but I might forget this!!!

So far I'm surviving on a notebook, for the creative cafe coffee drinking moments and Google docs.

QueenHalloween · 22/01/2018 22:00

Grin I was watching dark tower at the weekend and couldn't stop doing this Hmm Because it was just all too convenient. Apparently the books are huge though so they probably skipped a lot.

I've not progressed much but did give the first chunk a first pass edit with sister's help. I'm still trying to find my motivation to write since the sinus-thing-of-death minor cold.

TippetyTapWriter · 22/01/2018 22:11

I rewrote part of my abandoned fantasy novel because a female character got threatened with rape twice in the first third... it was just such a lazy way to create conflict etc and I fell into doing it without realising.

It seems I can only read fantasy books written by women these days. Not a conscious choice but when I look back at what I've enjoyed it's all female authors. I'm not a fan of grimdark stuff and I like reading about women in general because I'm sick of having to act like only men have stories worth telling. One of the strangest moments I had recently was reading a book where two women were having fun diving into a pool and I realised a) it's so rare to see two women in a book having fun and b) for that fun to be physical/sporty. And ne'er a male character in sight...

Hah yes, the first edit at least is really rewriting. I think of the first draft as just working out what the story is about. The second draft is working out how to tell the story. And maybe by the third draft you can start worrying about what actual words you use to tell the story...

honeyboo I use scrivener mainly because I can navigate around a novel easily and also because Word crashes on my laptop over about 40k words! I do like it but the spell check is crap.

Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 23/01/2018 07:29

I read the first couple of books of the Dark Tower series after loads of people raved about it to me, but I just couldn't get on with it at all. On paper it sounds like just my sort of thing, but for some reason it just really wasn't. I haven't seen the TV show, I was pretty excited about Idris Elber as Roland, but the reviews were so bad I haven't got around to giving it a go. Currently watching the Last Kingdom (which is hilarious Viking fun!) and Alias Grace (which is very good and I would absolutely recommend).

My problem with Scrivener is that I do all my writing on my tablet and it doesn't have a decent mobile version. I need something I can use mobile without lugging a laptop about. Currently making do with Google docs, but now I am in serious rewriting I am starting to see the value of something more specialised.

OP posts:
Honeybooboo123 · 23/01/2018 10:21

ooh I love the Last Kingdom, there is a character in the first series who the actor is my model for one of my characters in my book because he's lovely.

Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 23/01/2018 11:40

I am enjoying last kingdom far more than I expected. I live down Wessex way so particularly enjoying being able to shout 'For Wessex!' at regular intervals. Grin

Today I have the most god awful cold that has been getting steadily worse for a few days now. Just can't concentrate on anything so have decided to sort out my versioning and filing in Google docs. It was becoming a bit of a problem when I realised I had made a lovely edit to the end of chapter 2 on the wrong version (cue general panic because I thought it had disappeared). I now have lovely folders and a table for keeping track of each chapter. Feeling much more organised!

OP posts:
Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 23/01/2018 16:08

Hah yes, the first edit at least is really rewriting. I think of the first draft as just working out what the story is about. The second draft is working out how to tell the story. And maybe by the third draft you can start worrying about what actual words you use to tell the story...

I've been thinking about this and realised I am getting tied in knots worrying about making the words perfect when I am basically still rewriting massive chunks from scratch. I think I need to step back a bit and treat this as a whole new rewrite rather then just the editing I had thought I was doing when I started. Once I've got it rewritten I can then come around again and try and tidy it up a bit.

OP posts:
Honeybooboo123 · 23/01/2018 18:06

Those warm fuzzy feelings that only comments on your fanfiction can bring... it's like a drug people...

Witchend · 23/01/2018 19:24

Finally got the nerve to post one of my writings on Scribophile. Not by November one, as I don't think that's ready.
Got two good reviews Smile so it wasn't worth the worry where I sat there with it ready to send and not quite daring to press the button.

I'm quite enjoying doing critiques, but not sure I'm offering anything useful to people by doing them.
Standard of writing generally seems really good, but maybe that's because I've read a few fan fiction recently that I'd have like to go through with a teachers red green pen and write "full stops and capital letters and a few paragraphs please." Grin

Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 23/01/2018 19:28

Ooo...which one is yours Witch? I'd love to read it. Smile

I have found everyone is genuinely really nice on scrib and very encouraging. My freak outs about reviews say more about me than the reviewers (except the one who corrected all my spellings to American version. Some things are just unforgivable Wink ). I've also read some really very good pieces on their as well. I really need to do some crits so I can put up my chapter 3 fight scene and get some feedback on it.

OP posts:
Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 23/01/2018 19:44

Ooo....it's OK, I think I've found you (unless you are cunningly disguised as some guy called Mark). Liking it so far! The group description in the second para is delightful Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
BiglyBadgers · 23/01/2018 20:52

I'm quite enjoying doing critiques, but not sure I'm offering anything useful to people by doing them.

I do often find myself just chatting away happily when I do them and then feel a bit bad someone will end up reading my ramblings. I've had some good feedback on some crits I've done though, which is always nice. I've found I'm quite good at picking up inconsistencies (like one where a sheep somehow transformed into a goat halfway through), but am crap at grammer so don't even bother with than unless it's really obvious.

Personally I've often found the more general ones about plot and feelings about the work have been really helpful. They often highlight stuff that has been quietly bugging me, but I haven't been able to pinpoint until some mentions it (like the ending of chapter 2, until I had people talk about it I couldn't get a feel for what it needed, though I knew it needed something).

OP posts:
Witchend · 23/01/2018 21:56

Yes you have found it. Smile Thanks for the critique. Really helpful points that you've picked up on, particularly the dialogue. I think I got a bit afraid of having "X said" all the time and cut back too far.

1&2 were great, 3 was a bit rubbish, and I felt a bit bad-then I looked at the others critiques she's done and realised she wrote very similar for them too. SO it was nice to have another nice one afterwards.

I have to admit to nearly correcting an American spelling to UK at one point on a critique, but realised in time. It wasn't one of the usual colour/color ones either.