❛ the lazy writers ❜ V2

[Zeena]

Hey everyone! ^^
Just wanted to find somewhere to discuss my writing laziness lately! I've been writing something for the past two years or so and I'm actually exciting about the potential it has. It started off as a short story but somehow kept going and now it could possibly be something worth the effort. However I've had a severe case of writer's block on the last chapter to finish off the story. I've never talked much about my writing because I've mostly done it for fun and I'm always so nervous sharing anything I've created. It's my first large story and I'm really proud of it so far, but now I just need to finish it. It's nice to see everyone here also gets writer's block every now and then, and it's not just me. xD
Hoping to push through and actually finish the story before the end of the year. I have an idea for the ending but the problem is now trying to execute it in a way that's done nicely and doesn't sound rushed or random, among getting rid of this writer's block.

Figured I could answer a few questions as well. c:

For anyone starting school soon, are you already taking or going to take a creative writing course/club? (And if your school doesn't have one, would you sign up for it if it did?)
I would love to join a creative writing course/club, but unfortunately my school doesn't have one of those. Since my classes take place on a completely different campus from the main campus, all the writing clubs and stuff aren't really available to me. My old university did have a creative writer's course but it was a third year course with prerequisites and I didn't have the time to backtrack and take the prereqs to take the course.

How do you name your chapters, if at all?
I actually name them first for some reason, before I've even written the chapter. I kind of have an idea of what will happen and usually a theme to the story (ex. nature-based chapters) so I'll choose a chapter title and then write and go back and fix things if needed.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

(Gave me a heart attack to see a mod had posted on our thread)
Good luck with that last chapter Zeena! Honestly if I get stuck like that, I might just write anyways and then after it's 'finished' let it sit for a while, then go back and edit it if the writing isn't all that good.

[Silver Pandorica]

Do you have a favourite word?
I have a list, actually! Among my favorites are fluorescent, olive, vigilante, wish, and a lot more.

What are your least favorite words/phrases to use in writing?
Pluck is one of my least favorite words of all time. I just...don't like it. Also, panties, plump, and bunion are all icky words.

For anyone starting school soon, are you already taking or going to take a creative writing course/club? (And if your school doesn't have one, would you sign up for it if it did?)
I did take a creative writing class my junior year, but I'm starting college now, so my schedule is a bit packed and I don't have room or the time for that. I might find a club though? I'm sure they have one like that, haha.

Do you prefer stories that are written more casual/conversational, sophisticated, or somewhere in the middle?
Definitely casual. You know the way Rick Riordan and James Dashner write? I love that feel. It makes it a lot more relatable, imo. And far more fun X3

How do you name your chapters, if at all?
I don't! I just number them for simplicity's sake. Although, I might consider doing fun, goofy titles. Maybe not for the book I'm writing right now, but maybe in the future. Kind of like someone mentioned on the previous page - PJO has the best chapter titles XD

[BucketORandomness]

Hey everyone! ^^
Just wanted to find somewhere to discuss my writing laziness lately! I've been writing something for the past two years or so and I'm actually exciting about the potential it has. It started off as a short story but somehow kept going and now it could possibly be something worth the effort. ((snip))

oh lordie do I know that event. I was looking through Luoma ((my current project)) and realized I wrote the first short story segment in 2016, thought "That was cool! Never coming back to it." As of today, I have almost 20 "chapters" in the same thing, and it is definitely "something worth the effort." You got this, though!

One thing I've figured out is if I know where I want the story to go, but I'm having trouble getting the words out, I write out a plot summary basically. "John throws pancakes. Suzie retaliates. Mike supports from the kitchen. Kelly is stuck in the middle and has to mediate." Pages of that. Then, when I'm feeling more writerly, I go back through and make it sound nice. Add descriptions, put in some dialogue, maybe a bit of character thought if the scene warrants. It gets the idea on paper without feeling like a final draft you'd hate to mess with. I've also heard that the issue can sometimes be in the paragraph before, so you could try rewriting that bit to see if it helps any.

@Silver, yes. Bunion is a terrible word, but bunny isn't. Strange.

[Dama]

Hey everyone! ^^
Just wanted to find somewhere to discuss my writing laziness lately! I've been writing something for the past two years or so and I'm actually exciting about the potential it has. It started off as a short story but somehow kept going and now it could possibly be something worth the effort. However I've had a severe case of writer's block on the last chapter to finish off the story. I've never talked much about my writing because I've mostly done it for fun and I'm always so nervous sharing anything I've created. It's my first large story and I'm really proud of it so far, but now I just need to finish it. It's nice to see everyone here also gets writer's block every now and then, and it's not just me. xD
Hoping to push through and actually finish the story before the end of the year. I have an idea for the ending but the problem is now trying to execute it in a way that's done nicely and doesn't sound rushed or random, among getting rid of this writer's block.

-psst-
if you wanna talk about it let me know o: always willing to do a bit of proof-reading too ^^ I did it all the time with my flatmates' essays, even if I understood nothing about the subject lol

I haven't posted here in a while so hello again! I hope everyone's writing processes are coming along well c: I currently have a few ideas that have been fleshed out but I'm not sure which one I want to expand on first. hng.

[polysaccharide]

just finished writing this. don’t know where it came from, and don’t know where it will go, but i think i might want to write horror now because this was way more engaging than anything i’ve tried to do for months. please give me some feedback on it if you read it all! i really want some pointers on what works and what doesn’t! :)



cautiously, i pushed the door open and looked around the room. the sign on the door hadn’t been false advertising; this really was just a supply closet. the wire racks hammered into the walls were cluttered and dirty; old spilled paint colored the white metal and the supplies below, damaged canvases and abandoned clay projects stared out at me from behind watercolor palettes and piles of paint rags.

the one clean thing in the room was an oil painting of a quaint little house on a lake; it leaned against a massive cardboard box labeled “still life objects”. the bold brushstrokes caught the light from behind me and made the water almost move. i’d have to ask the art teacher who had painted it.

everything in there was normal.

but something stank. there was a foulness in the air, something bitter and sharp that made my hair stand on end; every bone in my body really wanted to leave, get out, never think of that place again...

but something stopped me. something held me in place as my eyes followed the waves of blue and grey, swept over thin blades of grass like wind over an open field, almost caught the reflection in the glass of the window of that house on the lake. i couldn’t help myself; i reached out to run my nail along the peaks and valleys of the thick paint; when did it get this close? the air was thick now with the merciless stench, coating my throat and stinging my eyes, but i just kept tracing, breathing deeper now, faster, the wind picking up into a hurricane, blackening the sky, whipping across the water and into my face, the scent growing ever stronger, the scent of something old and endless and forever, the scent of something so powerful it would never still, the scent of death filled my lungs and closed my throat, choking me until the only thing in the world was that house on the lake, that wind on my skin and the roaring of the waves pounding in my ears, the deep black water rising up and filling my lungs, choking out the last of my air and snuffing out the life within me, filling my soul, killing me,








i closed the door. absently i stared through the grain of the faux wood, my hand still on the freezing handle before walking backwards to lean against the mural; the cold concrete under it felt hot against my shaking hands, and i tilted my head back to slow my breathing.
i was alive.
dry.
warm.

and i would never be myself again.



my goal was to have it build up through that long sentence, then just stop dead in the middle of the page. that’s why there’s such a break; i couldn’t really fit a page break in since my note app doesn’t have pages...

[grey matter]

Hnn this topic is a big mood


I'm a large procrastinator for recreational fanfic writing


I should really write chapter three of that fic

[OutFoxed]

Hello!

Would this be an appropriate place to find help with a Word?

I'm in the middle of typing up a document and am in desperate need of phrasing + word choice help.


The document is a discussion topic to be proposed to an educated forum (attempting to keep it smart sounding)
- Context:

[Job seeking advice regarding] how to market yourself (what to put in your adverts/resume), how to find jobs, and how to valuate your work appropriately

With the last phrase being the problem area; attempting to say - how do you determine what you should get paid (the value of your work).

Every time I try to reconstruct the phrase - I keep rambling and seem to just circle the point without hitting the mark simply.

Any help would be greatly appreciated - I'm just hitting a tiny roadblock that feels massive.

Thanks!

(also if this is not the right place - any direction to find a better thread to ask this question would be marvelous!)

[BucketORandomness]

just finished writing this. don’t know where it came from, and don’t know where it will go, but i think i might want to write horror now because this was way more engaging than anything i’ve tried to do for months. please give me some feedback on it if you read it all! i really want some pointers on what works and what doesn’t!



snip >^.^<



my goal was to have it build up through that long sentence, then just stop dead in the middle of the page. that’s why there’s such a break; i couldn’t really fit a page break in since my note app doesn’t have pages...

That was really good! That long sentence really did what you were hoping it would. I felt like we were actually moving in toward the picture! I do wonder, however, what happens to someone who doesn't back off. It's intriguing. Are they moved to another dimension? Do they just become part of the painting? This really reminds me of something that happens in a book called "What Came From the Stars" by Gary D. Schmidt. One of the characters makes a painting that actually lives and breathes, though that's more of an artistic style. I wonder if yours is an alien thing, cursed, haunted, or if it has some other explanation.

Hnn this topic is a big mood


I'm a large procrastinator for recreational fanfic writing


I should really write chapter three of that fic

Welcome! Watch out for carrots, and always write brownies. Which fandom are you writing? I know Voltron was real popular for a while there, but there are some I would consider more "traditional" fandoms like Batman or LotR. The long-standing "we've been around forever and will never die" fandoms. Also, you posting it anywhere? I know a couple people on the thread appreciate a good day of reading every once in a while.

Snip >^.^<

[Job seeking advice regarding] how to market yourself (what to put in your adverts/resume), how to find jobs, and how to valuate your work appropriately

snap

Aight. So, first up, this phrase may sound awkward because it sounds like you're going for "evaluate your work" even if that's not what you're doing. I would just use plain, simple English. "how to find jobs, and how to appropriately determine the value of your work." Remember, using superfluous hefty locutions leave an immense possibility of causing the author to appear muddle-headed.

Just because people are educated doesn't mean the bigger word is the one you want. There are smaller words because they can sometimes portray more directly what a larger word can't. With the crazy sentence I posted above, it sounds absolutely ridiculous; however, if you use the simpler words and a more direct approach, it's much easier to understand. Instead of "superfluous hefty locutions leave an immense possibility of causing the author to appear muddle-headed" you can get "too many big words can make you look silly." The same issue happens when you attempt to make one word hold the meanings for too many other.

Currently, your "valuate" is attempting to do all the heavy lifting for "to determine the value of" which can muddle up what you're actually trying to say. Like I've mentioned before: don't be intimidated by the "educated forum" and just write to communicate your message. In my experience, "attempting to keep it smart sounding" tends to leave your message in a tough spot. The point of writing is to get a message across, so use the words best suited to the task. Good luck, watch out for carrots, and always write brownies!

[grey matter]

My works are on my AO3 in my profile!