Aspiring and experienced Writers' discussion thread

[Alex K]

Well, since the topic came up in the Dan Brown thread, and it turned out that a lot of people here have written at least fragments of fiction, and apparently like to talk about it, I thought why not have a dedicated thread!

It is intended to ask for and share advice, discuss tropes and devices, maybe to share some extracts of something you currently do to collect criticism.

I'll start with a question: if you had the time to spend on it starting now, what book project would you tackle? A novel? About what?

[Neo-Scholastic]

I remember some advice that says talking about what you're writing can easily become a substitute for actually writing.

[Exian]

Yeah right. Give up details about my goldmine. Blow me Uncle K! You'd just love to get your mitts on my giant cartoon bug that hangs out in children's bedrooms, singing horrible songs, and moving about stiffly, wouldn't you?!

[TheRealJoeFish]

I took a number of writing classes in college. I got some recognition for (what I thought was) a pretty neat piece I wrote called "Numbers," with each section of the (approx. 15-page) semi-autobiographical piece increasing in complexity similarly to different classes of numbers (the wholes, integers, rationals, reals, and beyond). I'll post it somewhere (in thread maybe?) if anyone wants to read it.

I very much enjoy writing, and crafting a piece of writing, but I don't do it nearly as often as I should. Not enough hours in the day for work and chess and writing and guitar and japanese and football and eating and sleeping. Much of my writing is roughly stream-of-consciousness-ish, what I might call pseudoautobiography, maybe a sort of fantastical magical visceral interpretation of the experience of living. (?) I'm sketching out parts and scenes of a novel right now. If I get a little deeper into it (deep enough that I'm convinced I won't abandon the project!) I'll post more about it.

[Faith No More]

I have eight chapters of a story outlined that I would return to, but I would probably start over from scratch. I'm hesitant to post all the details openly like this(not that I necessarily think someone would steal it), but suffice to say it's a sci-fi story about a timid guy that was aused by his mother but has completely repressed all of his emotions due to it. He receives a futiristic treatment for his psychological issues, and there's an acciddent during one of these treatments that causes him to experience something "supernatural" that forces him to confront all of the anger and pain he has repressed.

I'm big on exploring phsychological themese with sci-fi, and I also try(emphasis on "try") to incoporate metaphorical layers into the plot. The best sci-fi are the stories that use impossible scenarios to make statements about reality. It's sad to see the genre so cluttered with shallow attempts to cash in on laser beams and exo-skeletons.

[Faith No More]

I very much enjoy writing, and crafting a piece of writing, but I don't do it nearly as often as I should.  Not enough hours in the day for work and chess and writing and guitar and japanese and football and eating and sleeping.

So, that's what life without kids is like? I had entirely forgotten.

[Athene]

Screenwriting and teleplays. I've heard that a completed work shouldn't be read or re-examined by the author for at least 2 weeks once it's finished, in order to critique one's own work from a proper perspective.  So true......and sometimes sad.

[rexbeccarox]

It would be fun to start an AF writers' group. When I lived elsewhere, I went to a group every week, and I loved it. Here, people are way snobbier about their groups and you practically have to be a Pulitzer winner to get in.

I agree with Chad: talking about writing can be detrimental; if you have a specific purpose, however, it can be extremely productive.

Now that I'm thinking about it: would you guys participate in a writers' group subforum if I petitioned for it? The way I see it is a dedicated thread to each member's piece(s) where we can comment and critique.

[Iroscato]

It would be fun to start an AF writers' group. When I lived elsewhere, I went to a group every week, and I loved it. Here, people are way snobbier about their groups and you practically have to be a Pulitzer winner to get in.

I agree with Chad: talking about writing can be detrimental; if you have a specific purpose, however, it can be extremely productive.

Now that I'm thinking about it: would you guys participate in a writers' group subforum if I petitioned for it? The way I see it is a dedicated thread to each member's piece(s) where we can comment and critique.

Absofuckinglutely I would. It would also give me a hefty bit of motivation to really start churning my own insane ramblings out properly

[Alex K]

It's worth a try!