The Diary of A Simple Man

I never heard back from that possible collaborator. I guess she must have decided that our writing styles weren't compatible...hope she wasn't offended by any of my stories!

So I guess I'm back to thinking about looking for a collaborator.

(Edited because I originally wrote "possibly collaborator". I need sleep!)

In the Narnia series, C.S. Lewis prefered to use the word "toward", as in "he went toward the wolf" (not an actual quote, just an example).

In The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien used "towards" far more often than "toward".

I find the distinction between "toward" and "towards" a difficult one to make. I'll admit that I prefer "towards". Which do YOU prefer?

I'm working on the sheetless roleplaying article as a Google doc. It's nowhere near finished, but I thought you might find the work in progress interesting. I'm open to feedback, of course.

I haven't been using boldfacing or italics because I'm going to add those later on, when I convert it to a webpage.

( Read more... )

I just had a kind of insane idea.

Since I'm kind of stalled on fiction, why not try writing a story in the form of a journal by a fictitious character?

Maybe that would be a way to break the creative logjam in my mind. Has anyone tried that?

I know that a lot of people on my flist write fiction, at least occasionally. In fact, I suspect that virtually EVERYONE does. I don't know if anyone here has had any fiction published professionally, but it wouldn't surprise me.

I've been thinking a lot about writing, lately.

Fiction is so - okay, wait: positive, informative. No whining.

I've been trying to think of ways to write more successfully. To avoid choking up, procrastinating, and writer's block. While I was re-reading a Brust book, it crossed my mind that it might be smart to consider changing my approach.

Maybe I set the bar too high for myself. Perhaps, instead of seeing a story as some sort of hugely complicated project that I have to have all smoothed out in my mind before I start...maybe it would be better to simply start writing, and see what happens. If I can find a way to adjust my inner monologue enough to be able to simply let it flow into the form of a story, writing would be a lot easier.

Or I might simply start producing a lot of crap. :D

On the other hand, it's not like I'm writing much now. So what do I have to lose?

I recently re-read Heinlein's Grumbles From The Grave. I admire his writing ability, but thought that he was self-indulgent in his later books and seemed both arrogant and p*****-whipped. But it was interesting to read his letters in which he talked about "hearing" the voices of the characters, at which point stories developed on their own. That has almost never happened to me. Perhaps I'm over-thinking my stories before I start writing them.

So here's a question (finally!) for those who write: what's your process? Do you plot things out in advance, or simply let the words flow? Or do you do something entirely different? Have you ever deliberately decided to change your style or approach to writing, and if so, how did that work out for you? Do you have any tips or tricks to share?

If I were braver, I'd ask for suggestions about my own writing style. But I'm not feeling very brave today, and I don't want to end up crushed. :(

Incidentally, I DO have a story in mind. Well, not exactly a story; it's an idea. The "punchline" for a story, more than anything else. The problem is, I have the punchline, but not the story itself. So I'm sort of stuck.

Maybe I should just start writing with the punchline in the back of my mind, and see what, if anything, develops. I've also wondered if I should run an online scenario to see if I can develop a story that way.

Lots to think about.

Okay. I have two stories on tap. Unfortunately neither of them is a short story, which is what I'd prefer; they're both novelette-length, at a guess. They're also both roleplaying campaign concepts that I've had in the back of my head for at least ten years, incidentally.

So now I have to decide which one to tell.

One is relatively standard-format fantasy, with a pulp noir tone. The other is also fantasy, but not at all standard. Oddly enough, now that I think of it, both of them are mysteries - sort of.

Okay, I'll be honest: the decision isn't a hard one. I'll go with the non-standard one to start. I should start it in the next day or two, and I'll try to keep up with it.

Here's something that's sort of funny: for all that I complained that writing here was a waste of my life, the recent period of relatively low activity taught me something that I should have already known.

I like to write.

Even thought it's not as good as I would like it to be, even though I'm not "accomplishing" anything, writing scratches in itch in my psyche. I'd love to create stories and essays that I could be really proud of. You have no idea how badly I need to be creative, but the inspiration just hasn't been there lately. But even the usual crap that I produce makes me feel better than writing nothing.

And I haven't forgotten what I said in a voice-post a while back, about thinking of writing as a toy. I've been teetering on the edge of an insight, I think; somehow there should be a relationship between writing fiction and gamemastering a roleplaying game. I was a good GM; there must be a way to take the story-creating elements of GMing, the things that made GMing fun, and translate them into writing fiction.

Last night I realized something: I get more pleasure out of an hour spent writing fiction than I do out of an hour spent playing Diablo.

That said...it seems pretty clear that my journal is not the place to get much feedback on my writing (or, indeed, on anything at all ).

I am not discouraged.

I am not discouraged.

I am not discouraged.

Actually, I'm really NOT that discouraged. Perhaps I've lost my mind, I don't know.

But anyway, the thought struck me recently that I should, perhaps, be posting my writing in some more appropriate place (as well as in my journal; you won't escape that easily ). Someplace online that's designed for writers to get feedback.

Of course, I should probably watch out what I ask for; I'll probably get the most hurtful feedback imaginable. But still, I just might give it a try.

So here's my question: can anyone recommend a good place to post my fiction? I noticed that there are a BUNCH of writing communities on LJ, but I don't know which ones are good and which ones are crap. Nor do I necessarily want to be limited to LJ. So if anyone out there knows of some good sites for writers, please let me know!

I thought Teri was asleep next to me when I suddenly laughed to myself.

"And just what is so funny?" She sounded far more awake than I expected.

"I just figured out the end for "Grand Obsession". And I told it to her.

And she laughed too. I think that's a good sign.

On other frontiers...I'm sick as a dog (bad chest cold since Thursday evening). Sebastian fell on a shovel when he was out visiting, and scraped his cheekbone below his right eye - he'll have a black eye for sure, but he's okay. Funny, Teri and I both injured ourselves badly around or beneath the eye when we were little, too.

I've been thinking about that novel (or novellete, or long short story) that I am going to do in installments here. But a short story idea pretty much jumped into my head tonight, and started dancing around. I was cooking and doing the dishes, and the lines just started coming into my head, non-stop. It took me about half an hour before I realized that I was going to have to write this thing tonight.

And then the thunder started. I have to turn of the computer ASAP. So it looked like I'll just have to make a few quick notes offline, and see if I can pick it up tomorrow.

Just a reminder that all or almost all of my fiction here will be friends-only.