Aug
24th
2013
Regrets · 6:26pm Aug 24th, 2013
Phew... been a long time hasn't it?
I must apologise for my lack of productivity. I log in like this after so many weeks and see all the likes I've gained, and my God I'm proud of you lot. You took it upon yourselves to read my frantic scribblings, you went out of your way to rate my story and all the little characters I've grown and loved, and I'm eternally grateful to you all. In that time I've been undergoing considerable stress, a combination of exams, results and family strife, and my desire to write faded completely, leaving an emptiness that torments me still. But I've seen your likes and comments, and I'll do better from now on. The sun is rising ladies and gentlemen ;)
If you're anything like me, journaling the bajesus out of my problems helps a bit. Writing them out, nine times out of ten, helps me make a lot more sense out of where I stand, and what I need to do.
1305960
Well for one thing, you posted a useful and extremely pleasant reply, so well done old chap! However my most pressing problem is the chapter I have in the works. I've gotten to a certain point and it's like there's a brick wall there, I just can't make myself move on from it. What does one do?
1305975
If you know where you're going with the story — as in, what you'd like to happen, and where you'd like the character to go — then figure out what the most fun/enjoyable way to get him there would be.
I usually have some sense of where I need my characters to go, to advance the plot, but the hows and whys of why they would go there are completely up in the air until I start writing them. I just figure out a few different ways they might get to where I need them, knowing what I need them to know, and pick the one I like the most.
Sometimes, I write a decent amount on one idea, decide I just don't like it, and tear it down, trying a different place, or time, or set of circumstances. Just keep in mind that you can do literally anything. Have him go anywhere, try anything, be acted on by anything, etc.
If the issue's more that you don't really know what to do with the story, going forward, then think about your main character, and what kind of adventure you'd want him to go on. Then just invent a set of circumstances that would compel him to go on that adventure.
I ran into a huuuuge fucking wall with the latest chapter of my story. I had to get Joe and Celestia into the castle, get some exposition out about Joe's history, and get them to find these two necklaces. I tried doing it one way, where both characters were separate, but it was dull and bland. I tried it a second way, where they were together, and ran into a new character I invented, that would spur them to talk about their history (getting the exposition out), but it felt reeeally forced. I finally just took parts of THAT, and reworked them heavily, so an existing character came along, spurred a conversation that propted the exposition, then they escaped into the castle.
Usually, it's not that hard, but when you hit a wall, the only way through it to write different avenues until you find the one that gets around the wall.
1305996
Again, wisdom flows from your fingers! I know the main plot, that's certain, as I carefully thought up all the important places beforehand. As you say it's the bits in-between that are causing problems. I must thank you, for yours is one of the most helpful text-walls I have ever had the privilege to experience