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The Awakened Salad

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I just realised we don’t have a thread to talk about writing in general (unless I’m just really bad at finding threads). Since so many of us here are writers, I thought it’d be good to have a space to do just that. Post about anything writing related here: what you’re working on, things you love about writing, things you don’t love about writing, and those times when you have ideas but then can’t figure out what to do with them.

Here are some prompt questions as well:

What’s your favourite part about writing? Is it developing an idea into something more? Making your characters suffer and putting them through eternal torment? Staring at the roof for two hours wondering whether you’ll ever finish that first draft? 

Why do you write? What motivates you? 

What’s your least favourite part about writing? Because let’s face it, nothing is 100% enjoyable all of the time. (Unless it is for you, which in that case, can you please teach me your ways?)

Are you more of a plot or character driven writer?

Do you like hard or soft magic systems, or something in between? Or no magic system at all?

What’s your favourite genre/subgenre to write in? Do you only stick to one genre, or do you write across genres?

Happy writing! 

Edited by The Awakened Salad
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2 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

Because let’s face it, nothing is 100% enjoyable all of the time.

I contest this. The only bad part about writing is the block times, where you're not actually able to write. Other than that, being able to revel in spinning a story from your fingers is the most relaxing and enjoyable thing ever. Runner's high doesn't hold a candle to writer's high. 

2 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your favourite part about writing?

Being able to weave a world from bits of ideas floating around my head, but torturing characters is a close second.

2 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

Do you like hard or soft magic systems, or something in between? Or no magic system at all?

Something in between. The rules are hard, but there's no solid way to tell other than character experience what the limits of those rules are.

2 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your favourite genre/subgenre to write in?

Fantasy is hands down my favorite. Hooray for messing around with entirely new worlds!

Gotta turn all those back on you, though! What's your answers to your own questions?

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1 hour ago, Invocation said:

I contest this. The only bad part about writing is the block times, where you're not actually able to write. Other than that, being able to revel in spinning a story from your fingers is the most relaxing and enjoyable thing ever. Runner's high doesn't hold a candle to writer's high. 

I agree, I was mostly referring to those block moments when I wrote that. They can be incredibly frustrating. Additionally, for me, it’s my inner critic that stops me from enjoying writing some of the time. I’ve gotten pretty good at ignoring it, but it comes back every once in a while to make me question myself.

3 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your favourite part about writing?

It’s hard to pick just one, but right now I’d say the freedom it gives me. Writing is how I express myself, so it can be extremely cathartic to just sit down and write. It makes me happy.

3 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

Why do you write? What motivates you? 

See above answer. I also have things to say, and I like saying them through stories. 

3 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

Do you like hard or soft magic systems, or something in between? Or no magic system at all?

I definitely lean more towards soft magic. I like reading about hard magic, but I find soft magic so much more malleable and full of wonder. It depends on the story as to how soft the magic is, though. 

3 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your favourite genre/subgenre to write in? Do you only stick to one genre, or do you write across genres?

Fantasy (though that’s probably obvious :P). Where else can I write about dragons and magical forests? 

I’m pressed for time so I’ll have to stop now, but I’ll probably finish answering these later.

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17 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

I just realised we don’t have a thread to talk about writing in general (unless I’m just really bad at finding threads). Since so many of us here are writers, I thought it’d be good to have a space to do just that. Post about anything writing related here: what you’re working on, things you love about writing, things you don’t love about writing, and those times when you have ideas but then can’t figure out what to do with them.

Here are some prompt questions as well:

What’s your favourite part about writing? Is it developing an idea into something more? Making your characters suffer and putting them through eternal torment? Staring at the roof for two hours wondering whether you’ll ever finish that first draft? 

Why do you write? What motivates you? 

What’s your least favourite part about writing? Because let’s face it, nothing is 100% enjoyable all of the time. (Unless it is for you, which in that case, can you please teach me your ways?)

Are you more of a plot or character driven writer?

Do you like hard or soft magic systems, or something in between? Or no magic system at all?

What’s your favourite genre/subgenre to write in? Do you only stick to one genre, or do you write across genres?

Happy writing! 

I'm just going to... use all of these.

Favorite part of writing? Probably the fact that nobody sees the disgusting, nasty goohole that is a rough draft. They only see the pristine and perfected end result... that or making my own love arcs that NO ONE CAN ARGUE WITH.

Why do I write? Because I don't know what else to do. It's the only thing I'm good at.

Least favorite part? You mean aside from the week-long blocks? The people who don't believe in me. "What do you write on, fandom.com?" "If that's your life choice, then you've made some pretty bad decisions." Half my motivation is SHOWING THOSE COWARDS.

Plot or character? Uh... yes.

Hard or soft magic? Also yes. My opinions on magic are very complicated and I'll probably go into them on my RightingWrite thread (speaking of which... when was the last time I posted there...?)

Favorite genre? Fantasy! Fantasy! Fantasy! I also like sci-fi Fantasy!

3 hours ago, Frustration said:

Also I suffer from WorldBuilders disease, anyone have a cure?

Does this mean you Worldbuild all the time, or you're not good at Worldbuilding?

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48 minutes ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

Does this mean you Worldbuild all the time, or you're not good at Worldbuilding?

All the time, like compulsively. For example just today I spent a good half hour or so learning where biomes should be placed relative to each other, fortunately I don't have it bad enough to implement currents and wind, and other things. I have seven main magic systems and a bunch of other things too. I have plotted where most major resources on the map can be found and other things, and I haven't written a single word for the book(though I am getting there, just need to name all the countries) but then I'm probbably going to stop to build a language, or religion for this one line of dialogue. 

So yeah that's my problem.

18 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

Do you like hard or soft magic systems, or something in between? Or no magic system at all?

Oh, well I like them both and they both have their uses, but a decent chunk of the fandom really pushes towards hard, so I'm going to say soft.

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Just now, Frustration said:

All the time, like compulsively. For example just today I spent a good half hour or so learning where biomes should be placed relative to each other, fortunately I don't have it bad enough to implement currents and wind, and other things. I have seven main magic systems and a bunch of other things too. I have plotted where most major resources on the map can be found and other things, and I haven't written a single word for the book(though I am getting there, just need to name all the countries) but then I'm probbably going to stop to build a language, or religion for this one line of dialogue. 

So yeah that's my problem.

The cure is just to don'tThe only people in the world who are going to fact-check your weather patterns are the people on Game Theory or a side character from a RomCom. Editors will tell you what to fix with your story, not your nitpicky realism biome placements. Critics are going to point out the mistakes of your story (because that's what they do), but they probably won't point out weird language patterns unless they're desperate.

Now, I can't say all of this for sure, because I do the same thing myself. I compulsively study worldbuilding even in stories that aren't fantasy, so... yeah. I understand your frustration.

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17 minutes ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

The cure is just to don'tThe only people in the world who are going to fact-check your weather patterns are the people on Game Theory or a side character from a RomCom. Editors will tell you what to fix with your story, not your nitpicky realism biome placements. Critics are going to point out the mistakes of your story (because that's what they do), but they probably won't point out weird language patterns unless they're desperate.

Perhaps that's for the best....... now to convince my brain about that.

19 minutes ago, Channelknight Fadran said:

Now, I can't say all of this for sure, because I do the same thing myself. I compulsively study worldbuilding even in stories that aren't fantasy, so... yeah. I understand your frustration.

:D

5 minutes ago, Negative_Null said:

I worked on a project with some people for a while, but I discovered 6 months in we all suffered from serious Worldbuilder's disease. We never got anything done, but it's a really cool world! Maybe I should make an rp out of it...

I'm down

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4 hours ago, Frustration said:

All the time, like compulsively. For example just today I spent a good half hour or so learning where biomes should be placed relative to each other, fortunately I don't have it bad enough to implement currents and wind, and other things. I have seven main magic systems and a bunch of other things too. I have plotted where most major resources on the map can be found and other things, and I haven't written a single word for the book(though I am getting there, just need to name all the countries) but then I'm probbably going to stop to build a language, or religion for this one line of dialogue. 

So yeah that's my problem.

I’m the complete opposite, actually. I don’t worldbuild at all before I start writing. I have the general idea of where the characters are, but I mostly make it up as I go along. If I come across something that requires more worldbuilding, I usually just leave a note and come back to it later. 

Not saying you should use my method, it has so many drawbacks, but I just found it interesting our approaches are so different. 

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19 minutes ago, The Awakened Salad said:

I’m the complete opposite, actually. I don’t worldbuild at all before I start writing. I have the general idea of where the characters are, but I mostly make it up as I go along. If I come across something that requires more worldbuilding, I usually just leave a note and come back to it later. 

Not saying you should use my method, it has so many drawbacks, but I just found it interesting our approaches are so different. 

I used to do something similar, but that ends up with me adding UFO'S into my epic fantasy world.

Nothing against your method though you can get to writing really early, and I hear that discovery writing tends to have better characters.

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22 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your favourite part about writing? Is it developing an idea into something more? Making your characters suffer and putting them through eternal torment? Staring at the roof for two hours wondering whether you’ll ever finish that first draft?

For me I just love seeing a good comeback from a character (a lot like Kal's current arc). To see a character go from the lowest of lowest and somehow finding the strength to get up is just beautiful to me.

22 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

Why do you write? What motivates you? 

I geuss it's mainly I just love telling a story and I can use characters to be an aspect that I aspire to be.

 

22 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your least favourite part about writing? Because let’s face it, nothing is 100% enjoyable all of the time. (Unless it is for you, which in that case, can you please teach me your ways?)

Editing. Do I need to say more?

 

23 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

Are you more of a plot or character driven writer?

Character, by far. Although usually my ideas start as plot ideas and I'll add characters in.

 

23 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

Do you like hard or soft magic systems, or something in between? Or no magic system at all?

Hard. I read Sanderson, so I'm just a tiny bit biased.

 

23 hours ago, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your favourite genre/subgenre to write in? Do you only stick to one genre, or do you write across genres?

Favorite genre is fantasy, but I do try to only do short stories that are not fantasy.

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*appears*

I'm currently working on my worldbuilding (I have worldbuilders disease), background and plan for a story that I've wanted to right for years and years. After that is done I hope to start writing it I just need to find some good names for my characters as well as flesh them out a little more. I might eventually post some chapters  non here once I'm done with them. (I've been taking a break from writing my actual story and it's worldbuilding to write a short story as well so I want to get back to worldbuilding and planing)

On to the questions

On 8/22/2020 at 11:36 AM, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your favourite part about writing? Is it developing an idea into something more? Making your characters suffer and putting them through eternal torment? Staring at the roof for two hours wondering whether you’ll ever finish that first draft? 

My favourite part of writing is the satisfaction I get when somebody reads my writing and enjoys it and coming up with interesting ideas and then researching things and changing those ideas in preparation to write a story

On 8/22/2020 at 11:36 AM, The Awakened Salad said:

Why do you write? What motivates you? 

I enjoy coming up with ideas and reading books is why I first started writing but actually having people read and enjoy my stories (when I get around to writing them) is what motivates me, I also just find it fun.

On 8/22/2020 at 11:36 AM, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your least favourite part about writing? Because let’s face it, nothing is 100% enjoyable all of the time. (Unless it is for you, which in that case, can you please teach me your ways?)

Writers block I get it all the time and it takes forever for me to work up the motivation to write something or I'll write something and then delete almost immediately, I also dislike the time after I've given out my story/writing for somebody to read over, I constantly worry and think that they'll hate it also coming up with names i suck at that.

On 8/22/2020 at 11:36 AM, The Awakened Salad said:

Are you more of a plot or character driven writer?

 I am quite slow to come up with characters and I find think up of plots easier so I would say a plot driven writer.

On 8/22/2020 at 11:36 AM, The Awakened Salad said:

Do you like hard or soft magic systems, or something in between? Or no magic system at all?

Mix of both my magic systems are normally quite soft with much harder parts (my current world has a few hard rules that govern magic but technically you can still do a lot with magic, though I have lots of magic systems in that world and they vary in hardness and softness with on underlying moderately hard magic system governing them all)

On 8/22/2020 at 11:36 AM, The Awakened Salad said:

What’s your favourite genre/subgenre to write in? Do you only stick to one genre, or do you write across genres?

Fantasy and Sci-fi my writing is normally either one or another or a mix of both (it's also my favourite genre to read so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

That's the end of me rambling about stuff that I doubt anyone cares about people can question me on my writing process/world/stories but I don't think anybody wants to so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

*disappears*

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