Ookla

Yeah, maybe just a few minor changes.

That is actually a real thing! Look up Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake plotting method; he's super good at explaining stuff, which I really appreciate. Taking inspiration from the masters is a perfectly normal, valid and historical technique--artists have been doing it for thousands of years. Plus, even if you and Sanderson were told to write a story with the same basic plotline and worldbuilding ideas, you'd still end up with two very different stories because you're two different people with different messages for the world. Don't stifle your voice! It's okay if it sounds like Sanderson while you're figuring out what your style is.

I'm glad that works for you! My brain, however, is dead set on me writing in perfect chronological order, because if I don't I get lost since I don't know what came before, and so have no foundation to build on. That's part of what's contributing to my current writing adventures; the novella I thought was the first book chronologically turned out to be the second, and it's been my work on the actual chronological first that's cleared up a lot of my problems.

Well, apparently your plotting method has inspired me--but not in one story. Oh, no, that would be too boring! My one-shot novella has now turned into a full quadrilogy of novellas, with one related sequel, one standalone sequel, and one standalone prequel, because I had 3 "unrelated" story ideas that all decided they wanted to be connected in a series (and the first sequel was necessary to provide context for the second). Furthermore, the work I've been doing writing the prequel has explained about a bajillion things in the original novella, mostly relating to the magic system and ancient history. So now I have another big revisions pass to do on the original novella (at least once I finish the current draft) because there are now reasons why things are working the way they are. I guess there's a reason I work in chronological order! The only thing that feels a bit weird about this is the fact that the book intended to be read last is the one I'm finishing first... Then again, that's sort of how plot twists work. Anyhow, now that my mind has been totally blown, I'm off! I either have writing to do or a bed to return to for what little time remains of the night. (Thank goodness for Spring Break!)

Not personally, but my workplace currently has four bunnies that I get to help take care of when I'm on shift as a cashier! TPBM attended a fantasy writing convention/event in the last 12 months.

No. I prefer to use cheap ballpoints and accept the fact that all mistakes have to be scribbled out. TPBM shares my loathing of cheap pencils with crappy erasers that have the same problems as the aforementioned "erase-able" pens. (Seriously! Do you have any idea how much sheet music those things have ruined at this point? And that's not even mentioning the math homework...)

Depends on my situation. If I'm on Roshar, then definitely. If I'm literally anywhere else, no. I'd rather have magic powers that I've got the resources to use, thank you very much. Also, I think it'd be awesome to be able to just Steelpush off cars on the highway to get where I need to go. Don't you? I know this is a wee bit farther back in the thread, but I'm excited to announce that I will soon be dying my hair! Well, dip-dying, in red Kool-Aid. I'd rather not have to use bleach. TPBM knows how to draw a dragon.

Hope it's okay that this is not a movie, but it's watchable and highly entertaining. Here you go. :)

"Molly Ban" from The Chieftains "The Willow Maid" from Erutan "Moorlough Shore" from Celtic Woman Most songs done by Ella Roberts "Arwen's Vigil" from the Piano Guys "Love and Honour" from Celtic Woman "Mise Eire" from Celtic Woman (definitely gotta look up the translation and history for this one to get the full effect) You might notice that I like Irish music...

Y'know, that's not a bad idea! Throw the same characters into a bunch of situations, thread them together along a plotline, and you will have a story. I can totally see that method working for some people! Not sure if my own brain would accept it, but it's definitely worth a try next time I get stuck! :)

Working on revisions for my novella. Last round, it capped out at about 56K words. This time, I've just hit 25K and I'm already a lot farther forward in the plot than I was last time. I've heard the advice that says to write the thing as long as it needs to be to tell the story the way it ought to be told, but it's very discouraging to realize that I'm so much shorter than I was before, particularly in a format that's already really short. It's possible my brain is just sick and tired of this project (actually, that's probable; I've started jumping back to other stories when I'm bored instead of the one I'm trying to finish revising), and I might need a break, but I want to be writing and I want to be writing this project so I can finally try and get something published. The other thing that's bugging me is that, due to plot changes, I've lost most of my favorite scenes from the previous draft. My poor MC has about gone through hell and back, and she's not done yet, and she hasn't gotten a chance to sit back and chill for a chapter or two. Unfortunately, I can't quite see how to give her the break she deserves before I, ah, kill her unicorn and make her sit through the volcanic eruption that results (It's magic system stuff; in this world, unicorns are so pure that when one gets killed the earth responds--usually violently. And they're going to be on an island that formed volcanically, and technically the volcano is only dormant, so... yeah). Gah. Aight. Back to work for a few minutes before I have to leave for school...

You've got this! Just keep pushing forward!

Only 6K? You're doing good! The latest draft of my WIP has (by my estimate) at least 10-15K+ left for me to write!

Noice. I approve of this joke.

I wouldn't say I love this, but I do enjoy biting into raw onions, preferably fresh from the garden during the summer. It's only good for one or two bites, but it's definitely worth it for those one or two bites. I thoroughly hate most kinds of social media (17th Shard excluded because everyone is so nice). If you could have a warm winter drink in any unconventional flavor, what flavor would you choose?

Larkin! Well, except that I don't have the Stormlight to feed it. But Larkin are cute, and I already have a bunch of chickens. (Actually, I mean that both in a Roshar-joke sort of way and literally. I have a lot of chickens.) (Also, surprisingly, autocucumber recognizes 'Larkin' as an actual word--though not 'larkin'.) WYR attend the Church of the Survivor every day for the rest of your life or become an ardent?

Sweet! Can I PM you so we don't overflood this thread?

Hehehe. Dungeons & Dragons, but a book! Dude, I'm just getting more and more excited at this point! Let me know how it goes! If you ever need a brainstorming session, I'd love to throw out some random ideas!

Ooh! I love it! You've got an awesome conflict there!

That sounds super cool! I'd love to hear more when you're ready to share it!

I've been away all day and just got back to catch up on the thread--you guys are giving some FANTASTIC advice! TL;DR -- Let go of fears and be bold; let yourself write; build your legacy through the ideas you express and the stories you create, even if they're not very good, because someone will think it super awesome one day! Always, just keep writing. You don't have to feel like you're good at it; you don't have to feel passion for it every time you sit down at your writing-spot; you don't even have to write something publishable. Take all that pressure off yourself--let go of all your fears, because that's what these pressures really are. What matters is that you show up regularly and CREATE. The act of creation, I think, is what's important--why we all love to write so much. Sure, getting published is cool, but at least for me, it's the process of making something new that gives me joy. It doesn't matter if it's good--it's yours, and it tells your story in a small way. It shows your journey. Becomes a part of your legacy. One day, your descendants (or even you) will look at what you've written and say, 'Man! It is SO COOL that [your name here] loved to write so much! I feel like I can get to know them through this stuff, and these ideas are awesome!' I don't think they'll care if it was good or not, because it connects them to you, and that's what matters. If you don't write, though, they won't be able to get to know you that way. If you don't write, the world won't get to see how cool you are. And if you don't write, and you're a writer at heart, then the not-writing will eat away at you and make you feel worse. I've taken month-long breaks from writing before--and when I do, I feel like I'm going insane. I feel so much better, and less discombobulated, when I allow myself the freedom to imagine, to dream, and to write it down and see what happens! ... Um... I wasn't expecting this spiel to go on so long... But it's not all my ideas. The bit about fear and the bit about legacies came from presenters at LTUE the last couple days. Hopefully it's encouraging, because it's meant to be!

Yeah, I've done it too. Sometimes you've gotta learn the hard way. I'd recommend going back in your memory and trying to salvage whatever you can, as soon as you can. Even if you can only recover a few snippets, it's better than nothing at all, and they might be good seeds later on. ^This. Excellent writing advice. I was having a discussion with someone at the writing symposium today, and we were talking about the Inner Critic--specifically, that the best thing to do with the Inner Critic is to take all our creepiest, evilest, darkest, most macabre ideas and implement them on a personification of our Inner Critic. I won't go into detail--that's not family friendly--but whatever you would want to do to the character (either yours or someone else's) or person that you hate most in the world, do it to your Inner Critic and sense of perfectionism. During the initial writing process, all it's going to do is hold you back. You can bring it back out again during the revisions process, because it will help to highlight problems in your work you missed the first time 'round, but if you let it out too early it'll stifle your creativity and kill your story. Don't let it! When you're writing your first draft, the Inner Critic is your biggest supervillain, and you've got to get rid of it somehow.