❛ the lazy writers ❜ V2

[Aliria]

What's the last thing you researched for a story?
Names of flowers. I decided to name all the characters in my latest story after flowers, then decided the world it's set in has no concept of gender. These are perfectly reasonable decisions on their own, except for the small problem that it's really hard to name characters who aren't female after flowers, and since none of the characters are female, I need to find non-gendered flower names. For every single character. No matter how minor. This was a terrible plan but I refuse to go back.

Do you tend to have a lot of characters in a story, or just a few mains?
I usually have 2-4 main characters, and not a lot of side characters. There are a few exceptions though, like Impossibility which has seven main characters.

When/if you make up a language, do you just whip it all up as you go, or do you take already existing words and mix them up with other words (made up or not)?
I usually completely make things up as I go. Occasionally, when I want a fantasy place to be clearly inspired by a real place, I'll throw a bunch of random words into google translate, and combine bits and pieces of words into a name that sounds like something from that language.

Do you tend to have detailed side characters, or just ones with vague personalities? How much effort goes into the story of your non-mains?
Like Worst, my side characters either only exist briefly to fill a purpose, or become main characters, with no in-between.

[Klain]

➥ marking!
i always loved writing, and i think this thread will be great for me !
nice to meet y'all <3

Hey you!
I just see you everywhere

[BucketORandomness]

@Ranger, love the new Google. You get really great results with this new update!

Do you tend to have a lot of characters in a story, or just a few mains?
Normally? Well, my short stories tend to--for some reason--only have 2-4 characters total. I mean, some other being may be referenced as having an impact, but no actual, legit appearance. My longer two are a different story. The one I actually planned out has about 10 characters who will make an appearance, with many of them being mains to one extreme or another. The un-planned long one has upwards of 120 characters in the works, though only, what, 8 have made appearances yet? More of them are mentioned, but there's a lot going on in PTEN *sigh*

When/if you make up a language, do you just whip it all up as you go, or do you take already existing words and mix them up with other words (made up or not)?
Yes. No? I haven't actually made up a language, but I've made up how to write accents, and I make rules like "this guy doesn't say the g in -ing endings" so it stays consistent. That, and I love making up words by mashing preexisting words together to make new words, usually using two completely different languages as providers of the words I smushing together.

Do you tend to have detailed side characters, or just ones with vague personalities? How much effort goes into the story of your non-mains?
Well, my short stories get almost all of the attention on their narrator/POV character, leaving the rest to dry ((whoops. I should work on that)) My longer works both have developed side characters, though. At least, they do in my head/the note paper I'm keeping track of them on. The planned one has character traits, personality, age, their role in the story, their appearance, and a couple of them have legit backstory. PTEN ((with all 120+ of those)) is definitely a work in progress. The main characters have their backstories, the current side characters have theirs, and at least most of the others have genders, names, ages, powers, orientations, and a number of other traits. I even have personality quirks, sheets for personal histories, likes/dislikes, habits, etc. for a couple of those.

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[b]Have any of you started writing something that turned out larger than you had originally planned on?[/b]

Yes. PTEN. Started as a dream with literally two people. Now look where it's gone!

[Klain]

Have any of you started writing something that turned out larger than you had originally planned on?

This might be surprise you, but no. No this nerver happend to me. I have just this " Maybe I can ad 2-3 more lines to this story." and then it turns out that I wrote a half page.

[Silver Pandorica]

Not feeling very motivated, haha. Just want to answer these.

@Randy- Just wanna let you know I got your pm, and I've read it, but I currently lack the motivation to send a full length response c': I'll reply later if I can!

Have any of you started writing something that turned out larger than you had originally planned on?
Uh, heck yes. My main story, the one I'm hoping to get published someday if I ever finish, was thought up on a whim. It was supposed to be just a short story or something to get my mind off my current story, but it turned out to be something much more.

Do you tend to have detailed side characters, or just ones with vague personalities? How much effort goes into the story of your non-mains?
Uh...not much. I haven't focused a lot on my side characters, it's bad, I know, but I'm working on it.

Do you tend to have a lot of characters in a story, or just a few mains?
Usually I have two main characters, often a boy and a girl, and then some side characters. Although, I think it'd be really fun sometime to write a story with 5+ mains and have it switch points of view. Maybe one of those stories where they all tie into each other's lives? That'd be cool. no silver, focus on CITR

What's the last thing you researched for a story?
Uh...Anorexia. But it was just for a story idea. The last thing I researched for one of my actual stories was PTSD, I believe.

[your blanket]

➥ 'Have any of you started writing something that turned out larger than you had originally planned on?'
oh my goodness yes!! Especially when i'm ranting about something, or sharing a very serious opinion.
I found one of my old comments on a video i watched awhile back, - i wrote a freaking essay,
and i don't even remember ! that poor fellow had to read all that haha

[The Worst Username]

@badger
Hello! Welcome to the thread.

When/if you make up a language, do you just whip it all up as you go, or do you take already existing words and mix them up with other words (made up or not)?

I don't really do either? I try to set phonotactic restraints on my conlangs (those are the rules, in a language, that say what can or can't be a word, which consonants can cluster with which, et cetera). So I'll have rules like "vowels can't be at the beginning or end of words", "all words follow a strict consonant/vowel/consonant pattern", and "these are the possible consonant combinations: rtc, wr, kf, and qrn, and they sound like..." yada yada yada. I'll also make up some example words to get a feel for what the language sounds like; sometimes I'll also make descriptions of the language "'k's and 't's are common, but 'a's, 'p's, 'q's, and 'i's are rare..." all that shmutz. Oftentimes I'll have whole documents dedicated to conlangs.

Have any of you started writing something that turned out larger than you had originally planned on?

Everything turns out longer than planned. Sure, I'll say "this is a one-shot!" "this is a short story!" "this is a novel!", and I'll follow the plot outline and all that, but my stories end up many thousands of words longer than intended. In short: I'm one heck of an overwriter.

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[b]Which parts of worldbuilding do you tend to focus most on? (Geography, culture, language, religion...)[/b]

[Silver Pandorica]

Which parts of worldbuilding do you tend to focus most on? (Geography, culture, language, religion...)

Definitely culture. I don't really write stories that don't take place on earth, save for my nano story last year that I quit, but I still have different mythical creatures and places in them. I really like to emphasize the differences between our culture and whatever creatures' culture I'm writing about. Also, differences in appearance and abilities as well ^^

[Klain]

Which parts of worldbuilding do you tend to focus most on? (Geography, culture, language, religion...)

I mostly focus on culture, just a little on geography. It's important to me. It really builds the world, in my opinion. Sure, the language to, but I tried it once and I'm so bad in it.
And I never had any religion in my storys.

[Woogwoo Wren]

➥ marking!
i always loved writing, and i think this thread will be great for me !
nice to meet y'all <3

Hey! Welcome to the lazy writers! Watch out for carrots, they're deadly. (Guys, come on. You haven't warned them against this yet! smh)

Oh boy. Time to answer some questions. pfft, who needs to do school anyway? XD

Have any of you started writing something that turned out larger than you had originally planned on?
Umm.... Misfits maybe? Not sure, can't think of anything off the top of my head.

Do you tend to have detailed side characters, or just ones with vague personalities? How much effort goes into the story of your non-mains?
I want my side characters to be really real. I want them to all have stories and histories and families etc. Maybe not exact personalities, but they will have a personality. I aspire to be like J.K Rowling, all of her side characters - no matter how minor - have a story. And even if it doesn't get into the book, it's still there!

Do you tend to have a lot of characters in a story or just a few mains?
I dunno... it varies a lot tbh.

What's the last thing you researched for a story?
Umm.... aside from Doctor Who character wiki pages? Probably trying to find a flower. I found a really cool one... Can't exactly remember what it was like tho... can you Ranger?

Which parts of worldbuilding do you tend to focus most on? (Geography, culture, language, religion...)
I try to draw up a map, at least to give me a rough idea of what the land is like. (problem is I'm not very good at drawing landmasses. XD) I love the culture and religion etc though! It's really fun to work out.