The Writing (and Artistic) Ranting Thread

One of these days, you'll get wise to the fact that everyone lavishing you with praise are a bunch of sycophants. One of these days, you'll stop believing all their bullshit praise, and realize they are the absolute bane of your writing career, because they are not helping you in the slightest. One of these days, you'll start paying attention to the one or two people who aren't patting you on the back or bowing down like you're their frigging Queen, but trying to give you actual, constructive feedback.

And one of these days, you'll stop acting like you've had such a hard go of it, when you haven't even be working on your novel for a year, much less the 3, 8, 10+ years everyone else has been struggling, and realize just how frigging insufferable you've been these past 10 months.

But that won't be today now, will it? No. I'm so glad you're making queries with trad publishers; I have a feeling a rejection or two will be what finally wakes you up to the fact that you aren't yet ready, and that the people who really care about you could have spared you from the crippling self-doubt you'll suffer, if you'd just given their words credence.

I adore you, hon. We've been friends a long-ass time--but damn it all, are you ever ****ing me off with your attitude, lately.

I finally get to sit down and write!
Even though it's not what I want to be writing, but still, at least I'm doing it.

My mentor likes my worldbuilding but i'm not so sure about the main character and his arc. He feels weak so i should do those character breakdowns before i start on the teaser.

I don't know where it's coming from, but so much writing-related anxiety right now: Anxiety over my current work on the prequels, anxiety over what to expect when it comes to WoN's edits, and a big heaping dose of, "I suddenly want to drink an entire bottle of cheap wine" related to its eventual publication.

Mainly, it's this crippling fear that, no matter what I do, no matter how hard I've worked on it, I'll fail. It's ridiculous, I know; I've put a lot of work into it, and have at least one more edit planned. I'm damn near close to being a perfectionist, but I keep feeling like the part of me that isn't as concerned about perfection is the part that's going to screw this whole thing up.

*Deep breath* One day at a time.

my mentor tasked me to write the teaser of the episode. He thought my ideas were good and it was time to turn it to a story. I've been avoiding that part because i'm scared of the story being bad. Ideas are the easy part of writing but putting them out there is scary.

But every writing advice starts out with you gotta be bad before you can be good. So i've been trying to face that fear by doing some character breakdowns. I want to do one for the main character because they are the viewpoint of the world. If no one likes the viewpoint than they wont give your world a chance which is something i've done before and Iron Fist suffers from it right now.

I'm worried the MC's arc might be underwhelming so i wanted to map out a few alternatives as backup.

>.> So, been trying to write a Ilvermorny fanfic, but it is proving to be very difficult....as I expected since there is not a lot of information about the school beside the short story and what's on the wiki pages. <.< Oh well. It is fun reading up on the Harry Potter world. I just need to fill in the gasp. lol

Why is it that, when you know how the story is supposed to end, it becomes that much harder to write? I have everything planned out, I know what I want to do, so why am I struggling to do it?

+ "Try expanding your fandom base", they said. "If you write for more fandoms, you'll get more readers", they said. Yeah, I see how my follower count is unchanged and the only like on it is from someone who likes all my writing. That worked real well. :/

I find myself reminiscing about the good ol' days whenever a story i liked was "good" to me (Bleach/Kingdom Hearts/Once upon a time/ MARVEL/DC etc) and now its fallen on hard times or so i think.

This video is a reminder that we can celebrate the good times of our favorite stories not through endless nostalgia or pining for the good ol' days (if they ever happened) but by being brave and writing our own stories.

DISCLAIMER- I HAVE NOT SEEN GAME OF THRONES PAST THE FIRST 5 EPISODES AND AM ONLY USING THE VIDEO FOR EMOTIONAL CONTENT.

Not so much a rant as thinking out loud (er, figuratively speaking). ^^;

Hard to say if this is a passing fancy or if it is something I should/will do (either after the first drafts are completed, or by reworking the material currently typed) but I've been giving consideration to first-person POV. More so for Arcane Guardian than Shadow & Flame, though if I decide to do it for the latter as well, I'll have to slip into third-person during Reeves' parts. I mean, yeah, a book can be done in first-person from the perspective of different characters (I've seen it done) but 1) Not sure if I really have Reeves' "voice" entirely figured out to pull it off, and 2) It's so seldom done I'm not sure how it would be received. Hell, I'm not sure I could write from Phenex's POV as if I'm him, either.

So I guess what I need to ask myself is this: Do I stick with what's safe and familiar with these projects, and put off first-person experimentation for a later project? Or do I take a leap and try something different, fully aware that it might revert back to the safety I've enjoyed in third-person for so long?

Rebel Dynasty said:

I don't know where it's coming from, but so much writing-related anxiety right now: Anxiety over my current work on the prequels, anxiety over what to expect when it comes to WoN's edits, and a big heaping dose of, "I suddenly want to drink an entire bottle of cheap wine" related to its eventual publication.

Mainly, it's this crippling fear that, no matter what I do, no matter how hard I've worked on it, I'll fail. It's ridiculous, I know; I've put a lot of work into it, and have at least one more edit planned. I'm damn near close to being a perfectionist, but I keep feeling like the part of me that isn't as concerned about perfection is the part that's going to screw this whole thing up.

*Deep breath* One day at a time.

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Did you say you were going to release onto a platform like Amazon? I don't see how you can fail there... or really be rejected. You would just need to put a lot of effort into the marketing and networking side of things? Does everything depend on a scheduled release date or anything like that?

Victor said:

Did you say you were going to release onto a platform like Amazon? I don't see how you can fail there... or really be rejected. You would just need to put a lot of effort into the marketing and networking side of things? Does everything depend on a scheduled release date or anything like that?

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Yup: Amazon, Kindle, and probably Smashwords, too. It's not the monetary success I'm so much concerned with as the book's reception, yeah. I mean, granted, not everyone's going to like it, love it, whatever; and that's fine. I think I initially got myself worked up over whether the good would outweigh the bad. That, and the marketing angle. Indie-publishing is harder in that way, because I have to rely on my own ability to market it, and on the support of others to spread the word. But mostly, it's the former. I know it's not going to be anywhere near as visible as traditionally published works, which is actually a big relief, lol. As to a date, not really. I have a general idea of when I'd like to get it out there (between the end of this year and early next) but nothing rigid.

I learned two valuable lessons today

A) i'm not a cram writer so i have to find a schedule and a pace and stick with it.

b) sometimes there is a such a thing as too much thinking and you should just write. Writing is scary but it can also be fun to do which is why we keep trying.

@Rebel Dynasty maybe just try it in a draft and see how it goes, you could also save it as a separate word doc and come back to it later.

Rebel Dynasty said:

Yup: Amazon, Kindle, and probably Smashwords, too. It's not the monetary success I'm so much concerned with as the book's reception, yeah. I mean, granted, not everyone's going to like it, love it, whatever; and that's fine. I think I initially got myself worked up over whether the good would outweigh the bad. That, and the marketing angle. Indie-publishing is harder in that way, because I have to rely on my own ability to market it, and on the support of others to spread the word. But mostly, it's the former. I know it's not going to be anywhere near as visible as traditionally published works, which is actually a big relief, lol. As to a date, not really. I have a general idea of when I'd like to get it out there (between the end of this year and early next) but nothing rigid.

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If you need any marketing artworks or whatever, just hit me up. I know little about the Amazon publishing process but I'm interested in it - you'll have to fill me in on your experience with the whole thing. I'm thinking of putting some novels out, but I haven't even looked into the SP platforms yet... nobody I know has yet gone ahead and used Amazon for me to know if it's worth it. (Although I did some covers for a guy who seemed to be doing alright on there a couple of years back, didn't know the guy well enough to start grilling him on his experience).

Victor said:

If you need any marketing artworks or whatever, just hit me up. I know little about the Amazon publishing process but I'm interested in it - you'll have to fill me in on your experience with the whole thing. I'm thinking of putting some novels out, but I haven't even looked into the SP platforms yet... nobody I know has yet gone ahead and used Amazon for me to know if it's worth it. (Although I did some covers for a guy who seemed to be doing alright on there a couple of years back, didn't know the guy well enough to start grilling him on his experience).

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:nailbiting: Really? Aww, thanks dude. That's definitely an offer I'll take up somewhere down the line (hopefully sooner rather than later). And of course! I've been watching some tutorials, but once I actually do it for myself, I'll be sure to let you know how my process went, if I hit any snags and where, etc. Anything that will ensure one less person gets stuck. ^^

Really really. I know how much you've put into it over the last few years. I'd like to see you succeed. Some neat posters or webgraphics or covers and whatnot can't hurt.

@Victor Maybe after this weekend (if you're not busy) you and I can talk shop? I've been giving serious consideration to tweaking my Patreon so that it fits a creator standpoint; and since I lack artistic talent, posters or prints would probably make cool rewards for some of the smaller donations--with you obviously getting a cut for each one given, of course (since free/signed copies of WoN would be for the bigger supporters). Art credit and links to your own Patreon would also be supplied. If that's something you feel you'd be on board with, of course; I know you've got plenty on your plate most days, already. ^^;

Not a rant, just a writing thought: It's nice when you're able to go through an emotionally-impactful scene, and find you only have to do the slightest bit of tweaking to it--especially when you've basically been eviscerating all of the previous ones. I don't know how I'll feel about it five years from now, but I can say with confidence that when this edit (and the subsequent read-through) are done, I'll be satisfied with it.

Well here is situation what idk if i can call it writer rant but well on example i have slight concept of making an story where slightly OC is civilian and well she is later having against her slightly assasin after her beacuse somehow she ended as fabricated witness what been used only by employers of assasin to get rid of him what even not happens as im trying to make this story as revenge one and maybe slight romance too, but well im somehow ashamed this would not slightly get okay on fanfic sites so propably i end posting thing on my personal tumblr blog i have myself.

I just finished writing my speech for my sister's wedding... does that count?

i even snuck in a doctor who reference...i wonder if anyone will catch it ?

Welp, trying to finish my short story and it has been a pain in the butt, however, it is still fun. This will help me build the world I want. Steampunk fantasy with vampires. Going to be great!

Rebel Dynasty said:

@Victor Maybe after this weekend (if you're not busy) you and I can talk shop? I've been giving serious consideration to tweaking my Patreon so that it fits a creator standpoint; and since I lack artistic talent, posters or prints would probably make cool rewards for some of the smaller donations--with you obviously getting a cut for each one given, of course (since free/signed copies of WoN would be for the bigger supporters). Art credit and links to your own Patreon would also be supplied. If that's something you feel you'd be on board with, of course; I know you've got plenty on your plate most days, already. ^^;

Not a rant, just a writing thought: It's nice when you're able to go through an emotionally-impactful scene, and find you only have to do the slightest bit of tweaking to it--especially when you've basically been eviscerating all of the previous ones. I don't know how I'll feel about it five years from now, but I can say with confidence that when this edit (and the subsequent read-through) are done, I'll be satisfied with it.

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I didn't see this till now, but you know you can get me on FB (and maybe discord, could try it tomorrow if you like?) We can talk about what you need.