At four in the morning....

[shade184]

.... I write. Or at least I type. I hate being unable to sleep. :/

So, going to see Avatar tomorrow. In 3D. This'll be my first-ever 3D movie. It'll probably be my last for a while too, considering how damn expensive tickets are.

I hope it lives up to the reputation everyone's giving it.

GAH!! I WANT TO WRITE AGAIN!! *sigh* This is ridiculous. I've had so much writing inspiration forced by various sources into my mind over the last few weeks, and all I have the time to do is shove it to the back of my head, and get on with other things. It'll just sit there, stagnating, until I (finally) find time to write. In the last couple weeks, all I've managed to produce are two paragraphs. Two. I feel like a fucking eight-year-old. P'raps I'll write on the road to Brisbane and back. I'll have time then.

Question to anyone reading this (even if that's only one person - you know who you are XD ): When writing a longish story, do you, personally, have some sort of synopsis, either written or merely mental, before you start? Or do you just have a basic idea of where you want to go and head in that general direction?


Birthday's in less than a week. To my surprise, I'm feeling rather meh about it. True, I feel meh about all my birthdays. But this one's my 18th. I'll finally be a legal adult, and can do whatever the hell I please. But noooo, my mind has to get all "NVM j00 will onlee B 8een. nufin speshal".

Killjoy.


Alrighty then, I'm tired. Finally. At long last, perhaps I can get some shuteye.

'Night all

- Joseph

Comments

[fluffysilver.livejournal.com]

I go in with more than that - I have a list of scenes, complete with summaries and conflict and maybe even notes. I plan like crazy before I write.

Which is probably why I never got past the planning stage. :P

[shade184.livejournal.com]

Never get past the planning stage? Whatever happened to "64k words"? I know that was during NaNo, but geez, I probably haven't written that many words in my entire life. :P

[fluffysilver.livejournal.com]

True, true, but that IS nanowrimo we're talking about. :P And I winged that whole thing, I barely planned at all.

Still, when I DO finish plans those are the only drafts that I finish entirely, and very quickly at that.

[shade184.livejournal.com]

Yeah.... "winged it" and "hit a brick wall" after "only" 64k. *jealous jealous* :P

But I do understand what you mean :) In my case, most of the problem comes from having well-developed characters, but no context at all. No universe, no villans, and only a couple have motivation. Heh, I need to do some RPing, or maybe some char-dev memes.

[fluffysilver.livejournal.com]

You mean, you have premise, but no conflict or plot?

[shade184.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that'd be a better way to put it. I have premise, and a generalised idea of conflict, but that's about it.

[fluffysilver.livejournal.com]

I can't really talk because this is always the bit where I get stuck too, but I'll try...

I think that's where you work out how your characters conflict and go off that. See the premise, look for what an antagonist may take advantage of, what an antag may want or fear and play off that. Make characters face their fears or suffer them in order to get what they want. (For example - maybe A and B are in a relationship. A is terrified of the antagonist, C, but won't face them, but B wants to confront them and lure them out of hiding. You could write about them splitting up as B goes on alone, and then A realising s/he really misses B and then going after them - only to get captured by C instead and having to face their fears to get out of there without B.)

See what I'm getting at? Bah, if only I was better at conflict... it's a matter of pushing characters to and past their limits. Seeing what they will sacrifice to get what they want. In the example above, B sacrificed his relationship with A, and then A undertook the risk of being exposed to C to get B back. Some characters will realise that what they sacrificed/wanted/feared isn't worth it (A realising she wants B more than she wants to avoid C), and then try to fix things. Usually they'll make it worse - in a lot of stories the entire story is about things getting worse and worse and worse before they're fixed to be even better than before. Sometimes people can't fix things. Sometimes people die, sometimes relationships are permanently shattered. But, ya.

[shade184.livejournal.com]

Hmm.... I guess what I really need to do is make some time, sit down, and just write for a while. Or plan. Or something like that. I've never has much opportunity to play with conflict, and I'm naturally better at characterisation. But practice'll help.

Thanks :)

[fluffysilver.livejournal.com]

Aye, practice WILL help... speaking of which, I need to practice too.

[shade184.livejournal.com]

Let's get to it then :D