Problems we all have

[Michelle]

gah, figuring out what to write. particularly for The Day That Never Comes and Gypsy...

and having a really great idea, but i cant fit it in b/c my characters wouldnt do that particular thing...

[Brigid ✩]

Wow. Well, where do I begin?

Occasionally I'll use the passive, although I get SO MAD at myself when I do that.

I use way too many dashes, ellipses, and semicolons.

My writing sometimes gets repetitive.

I often don't know how to end my stories.

I rant a lot. Like, my main character will just think for an entire page. Like, I wrote a scene once where a character was literally just staring at a wall.

I sometimes forget to pay attention to little details, like where my characters get their food, clothes, etc.


yeah ... I kill myself over a lot of these things. lol

[Michelle]

XD sorry... methinks brigid has read some of them...

but, yeah, sorry, those are stories im in the middle of and i dont know how to continue with my idea and eventually get to where i want to end up. does that make sense?

[Seth, The plan is simple--stay alive.]

Oh, problems with writing . . . there are too many.

Choosing how to actually start a story

dying story ideas

elipses . . . XD

character flaws

gah.

[Michelle]

gah!

lolz i forgot about that one!

[Michelle]

hahaha nice one! XD

youre welcome

and you probably shouldnt feel honored... oyure in the prescence of a person that suffers from schizpohrenia and OCD...

[Michelle]

XD is a smiley face. tilt your head to the side and you can see it.

and i randomly throw words that i made up in the middle of sentences, so be warned...

[Catamorandi]

I don't know where to begin...

coming up with an idea that will attract people to it.

trying to keep it in the mood it is supposed to be in (humorous, depressing, etc..

not having the foggiest idea what you want to do next.

Not putting stuff in the story just to put something down in the story.

Keep the flow of the story in tact.

[Veronica, What the neck!?]

David--

It's interesting that you've struggled with dialogue in the past, while I feel that dialogue is a strong point of mine. Perhaps this is because my characters usually react how I would (as far as thoughts. However, wether or not they voice those thoughts depends on the character).

As far as my own writing, I tend to focus more on plot and less on details such as, oh, let's say, the setting. I also have issues with characterization. But I'm working on those things!

[Veronica, What the neck!?]

Randi, I would start with finding an idea that YOU like, and then maybe readers will like it as well.

As for your other issues, have you ever tried doing an outline? Even if it's a brief, bulleted list, it might help. And you can add to it as you get more ideas.

[Brigid ✩]

Ooh, also I use a lot of useless adjectives and adverbs ... gah

[[deleted user]]

Let's see . . .

Detail.
I am absolutely horrible at detail. That's what editing's for anyways.

[Seth, The plan is simple--stay alive.]

oh, roni i never describe the setting!

[Seth, The plan is simple--stay alive.]

SBG is one of the oldest in the group who actually participates in the conversations (besides you now) and she goes to college.

[Brigid ✩]

haha. i always find time to write. i don't care if it means i have to write at midnight or at five in the morning, but i'm determined to write EVERY DAAYYYY. of course, i also happen to be obsessive and insane.

[Seth, The plan is simple--stay alive.]

yes you do. :D

btw, shades rocked! post more!

[Brigid ✩]

Seth . . . wrote: "yes you do. :D

btw, shades rocked! post more!"

okay okay. i have another chapter done ... and i started chapter 10 when i was bored in study hall today. yaaaay. just need to post it ... which i'll do later, cuz now i'm supposed to be working on this history essay and i'm waaay behind and it's due TOMORROW so i'm FREAKING OUT!!! AAHHHHH

srry that was off-topic. everybody go back to talking about your problems. lol

[Brigid ✩]

oh, and i hope you're happy seth, because i put off my history essay last night so i could work on Shades!!! gaaahhhh!!!

okay i'll really shut up now

[Paige]

Overcomma-ing
Procrastination (duh)
Character dumping
Death of Stories

[Brigid ✩]

ah, yes. Death of Stories is a problem for me, too.

[Seth, The plan is simple--stay alive.]

David wrote: "Seth . . . wrote: "SBG is one of the oldest in the group who actually participates in the conversations (besides you now) and she goes to college."

Sorry about that Seth, I didn't mean to imply ..."

Oh, thats not what I meant! I just explaining who she was, since you said you knew nothing about her. Not accusatory at all!

[Riley]

Hmmmm...I have problems with finishing stories. I'll start writing one, get really in to it, and then stop. Not because I can't figure out what happens next, just because...I forget about it.

[Brigid ✩]

same …

[Veronica, What the neck!?]

Perhaps you just need to not take a break from the story. Or maybe make an outline and tack it to your bedroom door so that you don't ever forget to stop writing it. Every time you enter your room, if you've taken a break from your story, you can look at the outline and be like, WAIT A SECOND!!! Why am I NOT writing that scene right now! That's going to be awesome to write!

[Riley]

I know...but I'm one of those people who are messy. :D

[T.O.L.I.]

:D

[Riley]

:D lol.

[Veronica, What the neck!?]

Haha, you don't want to see my room... it's scary messy.

[Catamorandi]

Thanks for the advice, Roni.

[Kenzie]

Yeah ... your room is a bit ... messy, Roni.... LOL

[Veronica, What the neck!?]

a bit? I have a PATH from my bed to the door, and I can't walk anywhere else.

[Kenzie]

Well, I didn't want to be specific ... but yeah. It's a mess. LOL

[Catamorandi]

My path kept having things avalanche on top of it. I had to run an obstacle course just to get from the door to the bed, much to my parent's chagrin.

[Veronica, What the neck!?]

Haha. I wonder if there's any connection between being a writer and having a messy room... maybe?

[Brigid ✩]

i think most people have messy rooms, anyway ... XD

[[deleted user]]

I don't.

[Veronica, What the neck!?]

Hmm. Perhaps size of room has something to do with it? My room is fairly large. Or perhaps it's the fact that I've gotten so much crap from my three older siblings...

[Amy]

I never know where to start and how much background information to give. Some books have a whole chapter on character information, and that just gets pretty boring, but I don't know where to fit in an explanation of a person (especially if I have a lot of characters), place, idea, etc.

Time. Obviously you're not going to write about every single minute of every day, but I don't know how fast time should go by (like I don't want three months to go by in two sentences or something), and what I should skip/not skip (like I'm not going to write about every single thing that happened to the main character, but what should I leave out?)

I suck at keeping things realistic.

Gaping holes in my plots. HOW DO YOU PLAN THEM ANYWAYS?

haha.. anyways, I doubt anyone would think their room was messy once they saw mine... you can't even walk into it... which is why I camp out on the couch sometimes. XD

[Brigid ✩]

lol. i have the same problems. especially with time. and plot holes – my plots are like swiss cheese. haha >.<

[Veronica, What the neck!?]

Here's a tip that I've heard from somewhere else that relates to what to leave in and what to ditch, as well as where to start: If you are bored writing it, your reader will be bored reading it. Usually.

As for gaping plot holes... before you start writing, as yourself the question 'why?' about everything. If you don't keep your entire plot in your head (like I have a habit of doing) then you should write down the answer to that question. It can both make things mroe realistic (so the audience doesn't think, 'wait, WHY did she randomly run into the woods for no apparant reason?' like many viewers of the movie twilight) as well as fix any plot holes before they become a problem.

[[deleted user]]

yeah, like if you want something to happen, you gotta think WHY does this happen then? It helps me a whole lot.

[Brigid ✩]

yeah i'm not good with the "why"s ... like, "why is this happening?" i'm just like, "because i thought it would be a cool story ..." ugh

[Amy]

Thanks Roni, that helped a lot! :) lol I know you're supposed to ask why and what if, but I'm not so good at asking those questions. But yeah, that part of Twilight was just weird... and how Edward just knew her walking into the forest had to do with him, so he followed her. But I liked the part before that scene where Bella reads that book she bought and all the characteristics of being a vampire where focused and were light glowing... and the music was all dramatic. :)