Open thread: Writing waterloos?

[confusedkayt]

Hi, folks! How's the writing going this week? I am all over the place with story projects, and seem to be doing many things, none of them well. Hope it's going better for you

Comments

[bogwitch]

I'm back from Canada, but I haven't really picked up my pen apart from a little last night.

Sex scenes. Personally, I think the maybes and not quites are more interesting than the event. Sex scenes are often very samey, it's hard to keep them fresh, which is one of the reasons I avoid them in the main. I'll put them in if the story needs it, but I'll only write porny stuff if I can come at it from a twisted angle (tentacles!.

My waterloo is getting the pen to paper in the first place. I also struggle with dialogue. I don't enjoy writing it much.

[quinara]

I also struggle with dialogue. I don't enjoy writing it much.

I'm the complete opposite; on a good day I can love writing dialogue, though I hate all the fiddly bits in-between line of speech that you need to make sure people are imagining it right. Every sentence wants to start with he/she or a person's name...

[bogwitch]

Yeah, the fiddly bits are a big part of the pain. You needs the characters to be doing things to avoid the he said/she said, but sometimes there's only so many times they can sip their tea.

[quinara]

*nods vehemently* That's when you have to break out looking at the ceiling/floor, which gets old even quicker...

[quinara]

ZOMG endings, how I hate thee. I always get to the point where I've said everything I've wanted to, told the story I've wanted to tell, and then the ending refuses to write itself, leaving the whole story feeling truncated. I think I have a problem with wanting to keep too many story-details close to my chest anyway (everyone hates info-dumpy expostion, right?), so it probably comes from there. I just don't see the point in writing until the situation has been juiced utterly and completely, leaving everyone bored and the situation out of your control...

Writing generally is going pretty well though - yay!

[brutti_ma_buoni]

I have something almost opposite - premature endings syndrome. When I've done the fun things I wanted to write and I know what the resolution will be and I just want to get out of there nownownow without some kind of transitional sense. My worst ever fic has this in spades, and I've tried to learn from that. I'm all about the buildup and not about the follow-through.

[quinara]

We should work out how to combine together and TAKE OVER THE WORLD... Though I fear we might actually be pretty similar, since pretty much all of my endings feel premature. I'm sure some people get the impression that I'm there wanting to end my fic 'early', whereas I just think it's the end!

[bloodypoetry]

I have two. Starting a story (I make it way more complicated than it has to be, especially in fanfic), and sex scenes. Seriously, I can disembowel people till the cows come up, but the moment things start turning slightly sexual, I start blushing. I can read the nastiest sex scenes on the planet, and enjoy the hell out of them, but have oddly the same reaction to writing it myself as I do to watching it visually. I am one odd cookie. Trying to break into it though, slowly.

[lily_diablo]

It's not weird at all to have the same reaction writing smut as you would watching or reading it. That just means you're doing something right (I assume the reaction in question isn't projectile vomiting or anything...).

[bloodypoetry]

Hee! No, it's not that :p

I have the same reaction writing and watching it (very uncomfortable, blushing, having to hide my eyes, etc), but I LOVE to read it, and have uh...the same reaction as most people to reading it. That's what I find odd as hell :p

[lily_diablo]

I've always wondered if reacting differently to reading porn as opposed to watching it (or listening to it) had something to do with whether a person was more of a visual/auditory/etc. thinker....

[maryperk73703]

Writing is going fine. Have most of the chapters from last week back from beta. I'm slowly posting them. I've sent a few more to her, and now I am concentrating on finishing two stories I actually have outlined.

Ah, Waterloos. I had a problem with sex scenes so I wrote a bunch of smutty oneshots.

I love, love first chapters. I have lots of these. LOL.

Like quinara, endings are hard for me. I have problems getting it all wrapped up and not looking for a way to make it sound like it needs a sequel. Not that it helps, since every story has at least one reviewer who asks for a sequel. (Seriously, am the only one with that problem? How do you politely say no, no sequel planned?)

I guess my biggest waterloo would be; fight scenes. I'm not into fights. I don't know the technical terms so I tend to gloss them over.

[deird1]

I've had two sequel requests (err... un-asked for ones, anyway - I also offered sequels-by-request at one stage), both for things that really wouldn't work with sequels, as far as I could imagine.

I ended up replying with "If I get inspired..." and hoping they'd leave it at that.

[maryperk73703]

I seem to get them for every story. At least one per story. Now yes, I have stories that do scream sequel or I finished on something that makes it sound like I can do one. But I'm talking PWPs that get a request for a sequel. Not every story talks to me for one, no matter how I may have ended it.

[deird1]

I'm still stuck halfway through my remix, and am starting to hate the sight of it...

[lavastar]

Aww. Poor baby.

(Would it be rude and/or awkward if I offered to take a look at it at any stage in the game? If so, ignore me.)

[deird1]

*smooches*

Not at all rude or awkward. I'll keep it in mind...

[lavastar]

Cool! Lemme know, whatever.