Any Other Writers Here?

[wingchun100]

With the amount of times I have mentioned that I do freelance writing on this site, I can't believe I never thought to ask this.

Does anyone else around here do creative writing? Personally I do poems, short stories, novellas, screenplays, novels, and even the occasional stage play. Just looking to talk about writing with people...see what kind of stuff they write...maybe even share.

 

[Flying Crane]

I keep feeling like I ought to be able to write a novel, but somehow a complete story never seems to come to me. Just vague ideas.

 

[wingchun100]

I keep feeling like I ought to be able to write a novel, but somehow a complete story never seems to come to me. Just vague ideas.

Like what?

 

[Flying Crane]

Like what?

Oh, ya know, sci-fi fantasy adventure sword-and-sorcery kind of stuff. I read a lot of that when I was younger, and a bit more as an adult. I learned to distinguish the quality stuff from the sea of garbage in that genre. I get snippets of a scene in my head that I think could read well, but no overall story to tie it all together. I find that writing dialogue is challenging as well. A good story cannot simply be narrated, or it will read like a history book. It has to be told through nuanced dialogue.

A few years ago I did a bunch of research thinking I might write a book on my system of Tibetan White Crane Kung fu. Life took me in other directions and I never completed it after a brief start. I still have my sources, tho.

 

[wingchun100]

Oh, ya know, sci-fi fantasy adventure sword-and-sorcery kind of stuff. I read a lot of that when I was younger, and a bit more as an adult. I learned to distinguish the quality stuff from the sea of garbage in that genre. I get snippets of a scene in my head that I think could read well, but no overall story to tie it all together. I find that writing dialogue is challenging as well. A good story cannot simply be narrated, or it will read like a history book. It has to be told through nuanced dialogue.

A few years ago I did a bunch of research thinking I might write a book on my system of Tibetan White Crane Kung fu. Life took me in other directions and I never completed it after a brief start. I still have my sources, tho.

I have had that happen too, and I agree you really need to master dialogue. However, it is also possible to have too MUCH dialogue in a novel.

I mean, to me the whole point of a novel is you can get inside a character's head in a way that you can't in a movie. If a book has too much dialogue, then it might as well be a screenplay.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

With the amount of times I have mentioned that I do freelance writing on this site, I can't believe I never thought to ask this.

Does anyone else around here do creative writing? Personally I do poems, short stories, novellas, screenplays, novels, and even the occasional stage play. Just looking to talk about writing with people...see what kind of stuff they write...maybe even share.

I used to write quite good poetry. For some reason, it stopped flowing in my 30's. I've written other stuff off and on since then, though most is business-related. I started a fantasy novel some time ago. I have some character work completed, and parts of the plot. I go back to it from time to time (did so this morning), but it never really seems to come together. If I didn't have to work (or worry about not working), I would take a writing retreat to work on it, and either get it moving or figure out it won't work.

My wife is more the writer than I am. She also translates works from Russian to English and illustrates children's books.

 

[Flying Crane]

I have had that happen too, and I agree you really need to master dialogue. However, it is also possible to have too MUCH dialogue in a novel.

I mean, to me the whole point of a novel is you can get inside a character's head in a way that you can't in a movie. If a book has too much dialogue, then it might as well be a screenplay.

Yup, it's a balance that I've not been able to find.

 

[wingchun100]

I used to write quite good poetry. For some reason, it stopped flowing in my 30's. I've written other stuff off and on since then, though most is business-related. I started a fantasy novel some time ago. I have some character work completed, and parts of the plot. I go back to it from time to time (did so this morning), but it never really seems to come together. If I didn't have to work (or worry about not working), I would take a writing retreat to work on it, and either get it moving or figure out it won't work.

My wife is more the writer than I am. She also translates works from Russian to English and illustrates children's books.

That's the hard part for me: admitting when something won't work, especially when I sink a lot of time into it.

I remember writing a novel about a guy who had a complete psychotic break from reality and imagined he was a spy in a James Bond-style movie. It was kind of like my take on DON QUIXOTE, who thought he was a knight but was really just a crazy guy running around with a sword and his little enabler buddy Sancho Panza. The difference in my story is that he wrote his spy adventures in a journal entry.

After a certain amount of time, there would be a narrative break, and a Narrator would enter. The Narrator explained that everything the reader just read was all a crazy man's fantasy. Then the Narrator would go on to explain how he heard about this crazy guy and thought it was an interesting story, so he tracked down the family and asked if they would mind him publishing a book about their relative. They say okay. And the rest is history.

At this point, so is the book, because I could never figure out how to write it. At first I was going back and forth between crazy guy's journal entries and then Narrator explaining what really happened, but that was too boring and long-winded for me. Then I thought, "Hey...maybe write this book as TWO SEPARATE VOLUMES!" One would be the journal, the other would be the Narrator.

In the end, I just abandoned it. Maybe it is a cool idea, but for the moment I don't know what to do with it.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I've written a ton of stuff; poetry, short stories, random philosophy theories I've come up with (none of them useful in any way), and the starts of about 3 different stories. For each of them I got 100-200 pages in, then decided to scrap them because I didn't like how they were turning out.

 

[wingchun100]

I've written a ton of stuff; poetry, short stories, random philosophy theories I've come up with (none of them useful in any way), and the starts of about 3 different stories. For each of them I got 100-200 pages in, then decided to scrap them because I didn't like how they were turning out.

When you say those philosophy theories were useless, I have to ask: who was the judge of that though?

 

[wingchun100]

I just had an interesting idea....well, interesting to me anyway.

A couple people have already stated they have story fragments. I would like to read a summary of these ideas.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I've written a couple of words here and there.

 

[Steve]

Im not too surprised that so many here write for pleasure. Posting to forums kind of lends itself to that.

I've written many short stories. Wrote some poems in college but not great ones. I wrote a screenplay in 30 days as a part of a challenge similar to nanowrimo. Considered trying that, but haven't yet.

I write and edit a lot professionally, so I don't write for fun often anymore.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I just had an interesting idea....well, interesting to me anyway.

A couple people have already stated they have story fragments. I would like to read a summary of these ideas.

I'll look. I might even have portions of an outline. I'm not big on outlines, but sometimes I need them to organize my (oh-so-wandering) thoughts.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I just had an interesting idea....well, interesting to me anyway.

A couple people have already stated they have story fragments. I would like to read a summary of these ideas.

Give me a couple days to find them, and I'll send you a message with them. What's the idea?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

When you say those philosophy theories were useless, I have to ask: who was the judge of that though?

I was my own judge, so if your point is I might not be critiquing myself fairly, you are probably right.

 

[wingchun100]

Give me a couple days to find them, and I'll send you a message with them. What's the idea?

The idea was simply to read what kinds of stories other people created. I always enjoy that because it's fun to not be so alone in my writing LOL. Plus you never know...something of yours might spark an idea in MY head. I don't mean stealing of ideas; I mean I might find your idea interesting, and it could my creative juices flowing to come up with something completely different.

 

[wingchun100]

I was my own judge, so if your point is I might not be critiquing myself fairly, you are probably right.

Yes, most writers are their own worst critics.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Yes, most writers are their own worst critics.

And those few who aren't their own, need one badly.

 

[wingchun100]

And those few who aren't their own, need one badly.

Yes, it's kind of like when you meet someone who is really kind, caring, and sweet...and they think they are the worst person possible.

Then you meet the biggest A-hole in the world, and somehow THEY think the world of themselves.

Never understood that. Why do people who are the worst at something (writing, being a human being) think so highly of themselves?