Jump to content

Writer's Rant Thread


irishfino

Recommended Posts

Has writing gotten you down?

Is the story not flowing how it should be?

Is the story not letting you write it?

Is writing a stupid son of a bi- *cough*

 

 

Rant here! Encourage others!

 

 

It goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway): Follow the forum guidelines and be nice to each other.

 

 

I'll start us off with a quick rant:

 

Damn it, story, you keep going off on an entirely different path than I had planned. Sometimes, I think I let you have too much free reign...

 

I don't think I'll ever be satisfied with my written works. I think that comes with the territory though. Ugh, I've already started going through and editing Ninety Seven Percent and I'm no where near done with that story.

 

*humph*

 

 

 

Edit:

 

And I found a typo. Stupid fingers...

Edited by irishfino
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 141
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Recreational ranting is one of my favorite pastimes! I will gladly participate in this venture! :D

 

Okay... *clears throat*

 

"Afterimages", you're great and I love you, but sometimes you're a pain! Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to force a round peg of idea through a square hole of that part of my brain that controls motor functions such as typing. I look at the outline and anticipate chapters...then I get to those chapters, and it's like NOPE.JPG.

 

Why can't I think of a plot for Arc 3? I have the major events, but I need something to lead up to those events! I can't just have an ending! There has to be more! I'm sure that something will come to me as I go through Arc 2 but right now my outline is full of holes surrounding the climactic chapters and it's driving me crazy! :mad:

 

And you! Yes, you! You know who you are! You're those other ideas, the ones that float around in my head and keep me from concentrating on "Afterimages". Yet whenever I sit down and try to write you, I draw a blank. WHY? Damn it, "Switching Places", I'd love to write you, and you keep occupying my brainspace, but you get so very horribly dark... I don't know if I could make myself write some of that stuff. I don't want to shock people. Of course, they might like it. You never know. Hell, it's probably not even really that dark. Compared to all the other stuff I've ever written ever, though...

 

I tell myself, "No starting anything new until I'm done with "Afterimages!"" And so far it's worked. But "Afterimages" might have a sequel, and then what am I going to do?

 

No, there's no "might". There will be a sequel. There will be a sequel and it will have its own thread and it will be glorious. GLORIOUS, I TELL YOU.

 

Once "Afterimages" is done. Then, and only then, will I consider you, "Switching Places." And once I give you a snazzier title. Maybe something Latin. I like Latin. Or something poetic. I like poetic. Poetic would be easier than Latin.

 

*huff* *puff* Wow, I feel better now. :rolleyes: Time to go write the next chapter of "Afterimages", then. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could use a little ranting...

 

 

Damn it, words. Why U so hard? I know you're in there, bouncing around my head like crack addled gerbils. When I'm in the shower, or falling asleep, or sitting with Nana (in other words, no where near the computer) you eloquently creep into my head and give me ideas for great stories and little scenes. You sound so nice and I know other people would want to read you.

 

But you go away the minute I sit before the keyboard, diet coke at my elbow, my kitties snoozing on the futon next to me. I have the general idea you left behind, but the pretty prose, the stunning scenery, the wrenching emotion leaks out behind your sneaky exit. Where do you go? Did you pop off for a drink at the pub? (Are there pubs in my neighborhood?) Did you get called on to babysit the dictionary? Just once I want you to stick around so I can get you down. I just want to share and let the madness out of my head so it doesn't itch so bad.

 

I resent the words I have to replace you with. They never quite sound the same. They get the job done, but it's like going to the community theater rather than the opera. Entertainment is entertainment, its just not as pretty.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ranting is good for the soul.

 

All these unfinished stories in my files are not!! Argh, how am I ever going to write anything decent if I can't FINISH anything decent?!? I get grand huge ideas, interesting characters, nifty plot twists, all whirling around in my head and then I sit down and get stuck in world building and research and more research and how on earth am I ever going to write a believable villian with believable details when I have NO idea how one goes about even getting a fake ID??? And I'm sure as I do research on how one goes about getting a fake ID that the FBI or the CIA or some clandestine black ops organization is taking detailed notes. I'm doomed.

 

Maybe I'll be able to focus in prison.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could use a little ranting...

 

 

Damn it, words. Why U so hard? I know you're in there, bouncing around my head like crack addled gerbils. When I'm in the shower, or falling asleep, or sitting with Nana (in other words, no where near the computer) you eloquently creep into my head and give me ideas for great stories and little scenes. You sound so nice and I know other people would want to read you.

 

But you go away the minute I sit before the keyboard, diet coke at my elbow, my kitties snoozing on the futon next to me. I have the general idea you left behind, but the pretty prose, the stunning scenery, the wrenching emotion leaks out behind your sneaky exit. Where do you go? Did you pop off for a drink at the pub? (Are there pubs in my neighborhood?) Did you get called on to babysit the dictionary? Just once I want you to stick around so I can get you down. I just want to share and let the madness out of my head so it doesn't itch so bad.

 

I resent the words I have to replace you with. They never quite sound the same. They get the job done, but it's like going to the community theater rather than the opera. Entertainment is entertainment, its just not as pretty.

 

Are you me? The exact same thing happens to me all the time. I think of such lovely phrases when I'm falling asleep with my Siamese mix pillow. (Just one of the many services that particular cat offers.) Sometimes I wonder if the ideas fall out of my head and get lost in her fur.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love...

 

The Force...

 

And Everything...

 

I HATE YOU!

 

So many days of blood, sweat and tears and you simply refuse to end!

 

I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!

 

ONE MORE NEW THREAD! Only one more! Then I will be done!

 

Oh... Wait... the epilogue... *cries*

Edited by kalenath
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am so sleepy from school! Organic chemistry, analytical chem and calculus 2 are a lot of work. I hope I still have time to write...it really helps me recharge.

 

Also, I really really wish that I didn't second-guess my work so much. Oh well - I think we all do that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Writing,

 

Pretty sure I hate you. Why, oh why, do I have twelve different notebooks, all of which must be written in with a specific type of pen or nothing comes out?

 

Why have I written the next part seven different ways?

 

You're just... GAH.

 

 

Coldest regards I can manage to write,

 

 

-Fino

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Afterimages", your title is stupid. IT MAKES NO SENSE!

 

*goes and flips through OED*

 

"After-image (n): An impression of a vivid image retained by the eye after the stimulus has ceased."

 

What the hell does that have to do with the story? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I guess it kind of makes sense from an exterior perspective--after the stimulus of the Warrior story ceased, I retained a vivid image in my mind which inspired me to write this thing. But the title still has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the story itself.

 

NOTHING.

 

WHAT.

 

SO.

 

EVER.

 

...

 

Let's see, what else is irking me? Oh, I know. SYMBOLISM! I want there to be symbolism in this story, and there IS, kind of. It's just very, very, very, subtle, which is to say OCCASIONALLY NONEXISTENT. Same goes for the foreshadowing. It's THERE, I swear. But how do I know if you wonderful people who read this thing pick up on it? I don't! I guess we'll see what happens when I get to that climactic chapter that all of the symbolism has been building towards. What little symbolism I managed to cram in, that is.

 

I cannot wait to post that chapter. I would write it in advance, but I can't, because I need a context for it that I haven't been able to come up with yet! GAH! :mad:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Afterimages", your title is stupid. IT MAKES NO SENSE!

 

Story of my writing career! When I started There Is No Death, There Is Only Wrath, I had no idea what I was doing, I just pasted the story text into a new post and realized I needed a catchy phrase under which to dump words. And then people read it and I thought "wow, maybe if you'd put sixty seconds' thought into it to begin with, the title wouldn't suck, but now people are looking at it and JUDGING YOU for your crappy post title." Rinse, repeat, for every storyline I do.

 

Seriously, writing. How can you give so many excitingly varied ideas, then dump the same words, phrases, and sense of humor on all of them? I need at least one voice per story setting, thanks, not 'Bright Ephemera's' (by the way that's a stupid name and you should've thought of a better one) uh, 'Bright Ephemera's Preferred Semblance of Wit Says the Same Thing in a Slightly Different Setting.' Oh, and why can't you think of ideas for your most popular thread? Furthermore, would it kill you to maybe give me an idea of what's coming down the pike more than 1000 words from now? No? Both Ruth and Nalenne sort of spilled out as I went, which was a hilarious ride but means that I'm sitting here now racked with regret, wishing I had made pretty plot arcs and consistent thematic contributions and stuff. I didn't, because I didn't even think to use the superb planning bits of my brain, because my muse just ran up and smacked me with a baseball bat until I agreed to post something right that minute. Then wandered off for a couple of hours, then came back and did it again.

 

Why do you toy with me, words? When I carry a notebook, inspiration only strikes when I'm driving. When I put a voice recorder next to the driver's seat, inspiration only strikes when I'm showering or otherwise still unable to capture thoughts. (I have been known to hop out of the shower to write two or three really promising/evocative words on the fogged-up mirror before getting back to washing up.) I'm sure you enjoy making me sprint past my husband repeatedly mumbling a good turn of phrase so I won't forget it before I reach pen and paper once I get home from work, but my husband would probably enjoy not having quite such a difficult time share with you.

 

Oh, and could you not prompt an alternate universe that makes my inner feminist cry as a bunch of men do active interesting things around a completely helpless woman? Did you spend even two seconds thinking that through before the words started spilling out? No? Well, could you just stop it where it is? No? Figures.

 

Finally: In three months you've generated 250,000 words of more or less coherent stories. Could you consider doing something original? Like I always dreamed of? Pretty please?

Edited by bright_ephemera
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could you consider doing something original? Like I always dreamed of? Pretty please?

Argh this so much this. Alternatively: Fan fiction, you're great and I love you, but now all my original ideas have gone on the backburner. Although I suppose that's okay, since right now I'm in the "all my ideas suck!" phase of Vesaniae's Cycle of Ideas .

 

Writing, I love you dearly, but sometimes it feels like I'm trying to push a square peg through a round hole. I stare at the page and the words, they do not write. Also, dear writing, I would like to be able to produce stuff just a little faster...please?

 

Dear Afterimages: I am sticking to my outline, dammit! I am not going to spin off into miscellaneous little episodes that only prolong the agony! We are taking an express train to Arc 3 and it's going to be freaking awesome, dammit! Why do I keep getting sidetracked by more ideas?!?! Now all I want to write is crazy hilarious stuff with Nox and Ravage, and it's all irishfino's fault! :mad::p blaaarrrghhh and this other damn idea won't leave my head. But Afterimages is going to have a sequel! It needs a sequel! I even have a title for it which is only slightly less dumb than "Afterimages" and in fact consists the word "afterimages" followed by a colon and another word!

 

Why am I so tempted to just LOLSPOILER the entire thing? Oh, I can't wait to get to Arc 3, I can't wait! :D Except I have no idea what is going to happen when I get there because I have an end but no build up to that end! Oh, well. At least I have an epilogue. ALREADY WRITTEN, YEAAAAH!!!

 

Oh, and bright_ephemera, I think your name is awesome. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Action doesn't just happen, but it should D:<

I should just be able to convey my character's emotions and movements without it sounding contrived and pathetic, like some poorly written cheap romance novel you see middle aged women reading on the bus.

My characters are living, breathing creatures but instead of ACTING they stand around like a bunch of wooden *****!

 

And plot! Ugh! I think I lost it when I moved house :/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could complain about my lack of comments, but that'd sound a little whiny.

 

Instead, I'll complain about things I hate about my writings.

 

I feel like everything I write is really cheesy, and comes off as really boring. I lack much action in anything I write, because I'm not good at pacing. I also tend to focus on the little things, trying to put meaning into something bland and uninteresting. I can never come up with names that sound good, for people, places, or things. I can never translate the image I have in my head of something totally awesome into something written that's awesome.

 

Not really a rant, but it's the thought that counts, no?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Blarg....

 

I almost pulled down my last chapter cause it's dumb.....but I changed some of it instead, I'm less "ewww" about it now. I may still pull it down. I wish I could go play some TOR but the hubs is upgrading our computers, and it is now currently in pieces on the basement floor. So all I can do is re-read my stupid chapter, thinking of ways to make it better. Why did I post it???

 

I'm feeling the way I do when I buy bring it home, try it on......then hate it, when I loved it at the store. When I originally posted it, I was feeling pretty good about it. Then I put my kids to bed, rocking my little guy to sleep my mind start going "Ava would NOT have done that! Why did she do that? it makes no sense?"

 

"Yes, yes she would have, cause she's Ava, and she smart, and if she went through with it she would die, and I don't want to kill her."

 

 

"Well you sure didn't explain it well, cause those words explaining it, suck. Make it better, or go back to the original."

 

"You suck!"

 

Nice comeback....you gonna fix it?

 

"grumble, yes, I'll fix it."

 

One last thing....the coloured fonts, stop it, it doesn't suit you

 

"Your face doesn't suit you"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear characters, please quit trying to turn into each other. Yes, I know you all want to be intelligent, responsible, smarta**es, but you can't. You have to have significant differences so that my stories don't become attack of the clones. That means some of you are going to have to bite the bullet and be irritating, or stupid, or mean. It's a necessary part of stories. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. Love, me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear characters, please quit trying to turn into each other. Yes, I know you all want to be intelligent, responsible, smarta**es, but you can't. You have to have significant differences so that my stories don't become attack of the clones. That means some of you are going to have to bite the bullet and be irritating, or stupid, or mean. It's a necessary part of stories. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is. Love, me.

 

This x1000. I keep having to strip out jokes that stupid characters make when they're stupidly pretending to be stupid generic Bright's Standard Character. Stop that, characters!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm writing a story. It's a SWTOR story cause, duh, I don't have an original idea of my own in my head.

 

It stars characters that only the people in the short fic thread know anything about. But it has nothing to do with any of the prompts.

 

How am I supposed to share this when it's done?

 

Why don't you just write for prompts? You've already proved yourself incompetent at writing anything when you don't have a guide to hold your hand.

 

*grumblegrumble*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why can't I stop introducing new characters? There are too many original characters in this stupid story! And they're all the freaking same! AAAAAARRRGHHH! Almost every single OC in the damn story is a snarky-yet-dedicated woman who devotes herself to cussing out Quinn at opportune moments! First Merrik, then Zariel, now Drusilla... They're all the freaking same. Still, I have an opportunity here with 'Silla. I can make her different! I know I can!

 

...but how? :confused:

 

These next few chapters are going to be an absolute pain to write, I can just tell. Six chapters to go until Arc 3 and I still don't have a damn clue what's going to happen there. Maybe I should just drop rocks on everyone. *sigh*

 

Nah, that would be too easy. THE MADNESS SHALL CONTINUE! :jawa_evil:

 

I just want to get to the end, but at the same time I don't want it to be over. :rolleyes: Such are my tribulations. Or I could just make Arc 3 be fairly short. I mean, Arc 1 had 25 chapters, not including interludes, and Arc 2 will only have 14 chapters, not including interludes. *shrug* Whatever works, I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


×
×
  • Create New...