General Writer's Block thread

Edited. She would be the kind of elf unsure wheter humans were still around or not. I wanted her not to fear humans, but to be curious about 'em.

Of course, she would be living with a magic user human, so even if she feared humans, maybe she would see not all of them are cruel, slowly warming up to the human heroine with the help of the local mage.

edited 8th Apr '11 9:27:49 PM by risingdreams

Random writing insecurity:

I'm afraid I have never exactly done enough research, and that to the hardcore historian my work would look like a stereotypical Hollywood history piece that isn't worth half a cent.

But only to the hardcore historian, based on the impression I've got from you. You can live with that.

I just got this insecurity today after checking out the Europe 1200 mod thread and went "Holy shit, that is a LOT of research!" I'm talking a mod team that attempts to write a historically-accurate mod that entails ALL European countries as they appeared in the aforementioned year, and they are fully capable of retorting against everyone who say they are wrong, citing their sources and all.

Compared to them, in one way my ideas are much more ambitious yet my research are much more iffy - Kinkajou can testify that. What is worse is that there might be parts where I am convinced that my research is already enough while in reality it is not.

In that case, you probably need some help. Have you tried asking another persons to collaborate on your idea or something like that? That much research is too much for one person.

What I intend to create is a complete fictional history, since the classical antiquities, of two breeds of vampires and three breeds of werewolves, that are closely intertwined to the historical events of the human world, that makes sense, that still manages to explain why all of them are, in the modern world, political powers rather than secretive covens or packs, while their existence remains out of grasp of any human who (i) is not privy to sensitive information, or (ii) is not involved in their society (as associates, slaves or serfs). And that is entertaining to read.

I think I've nailed it, but yeah, after reading how much work the Europe 1200 team had done, I feel... deeply insecure.

So the answer is, yeah, maybe I'll need some help to plug in my holes. But then again, I do want this to remain my work, as in, not collaborating with anyone for all the troubles that may cause.

edited 9th Apr '11 3:03:17 AM by ArgeusthePaladin

What you'll have to do is what all writers have to do in that circumstance; run it past the experts. Lay out what you're trying to do, and show enough of your work that they won't feel like you're being lazy. A lot of experts love to use their expertise, and if you promise to credit them especially so.

Academic writers do this too. Part of the reason the experts get it mostly right when they publish is because they run their work by other experts to make sure things are caught.

Which would indeed be a sound solution, had I not have this crippling fear that most serious experts will laugh at my concept. That I know no one in RL who can play such a role doesn't help.

Take it to your town's largest library, first off, and ask for the head librarian. If they can't help you, they will at least direct you towards somewhere you can get help. They may even be able to arrange a visit to a professional for you.

Well, who am I kidding? This project may not even see the light of day, or may be completed only to be shredded when I myself deem it unworthy. And even if it is, I would much better squeeze more mileage out of it by concentrating on the story instead of the backstory anyway. Doing so may be in sound judgement, but on second thoughts may not be worth the effort.

... yeah, I am not even sure what I am talking about now, or whether I need help of any kind at all. Just needed to get some steam out of my chest, is all.

And yes Cyggy, once again you've earnt my respect for your boundless optimism. I don't have that sort.

edited 9th Apr '11 3:33:47 AM by ArgeusthePaladin

Well, all I can say is; you either have dedication to it or you don't.

There are ways you can dedicate yourself further- but honestly? I think you'd do better putting this on the backburner, just for a little while, as you work on another project, to get that enthusiasm back.

The thing is, I've put this aside for too long. I have to resume ASAP, and this sort of anxiety does me no good. General worries about the quality of my writing does not help at all.

Sorry for rambling, it's just that I feel sort of stressed at the moment, even though I do not have any right to complain.

It's cool.

All I can say is, try word counts again,

Argeus— I think the important thing about research is that you have to love doing it. There is no point in getting details right if you have to drag yourself through the gutter to do it. So long as you love to do it, then even miniscule efforts will be appreciated.

I like researching, actually. Sometimes I research just for the sake of researching - like the entire episode I learnt about the Kalmar Union, the Mameluke Sultanate, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Oprichnik, and a lot more that has to do in one way or another with my work. What I fear is that I haven't done enough.

Have I accounted for all historical variables? Have I acknowledged all the historical personalities? Have I taken into consideration all relevant technological, theological, military and economic variables and models? Have I taken care of all possible unfortunate implications? And most importantly, is my researches enough to ward off possible raised eyebrows at my concept alone?

I've been asking myself these questions endlessly for the past few days, and I dread what the experts' answer would be. I am afraid of being seen as a talentless, careless and unethical hack. I really do.

I'll think about it. Certainly I'm not rejoining when I am still in a writer's block of epic proportion.

Sorry for bothering you again, but I'm kind of lacking in ideas and could use some help.

The basic premise of my story is: Death Takes a Holiday. And while I can think of plenty of motivations for living people to try to fix the situation, I can't come up with anything for the dead guys. I know it has to do with characters, but I kind of need these motivations to help me create some characters.

Death is the only one capable from going from the underworld from the world of the living and vice-versa.

If no one is dying, dead people will never get to be together with their still alive loved ones, for one. Also there would be some people that are just jealous, want to enforce justice, fix this unaturality or something like that.

So I am traying to design a charature that Fights Kinghts Tempolers, but I can't get help with her.

Wait, is English your second language? That might be the problem. Even if English is your first language, that post has too many spelling errors for one sentence.

What's her motivation? Is she Muslim?

edited 9th Apr '11 12:20:13 PM by chihuahua0

...oddly specific question.

^^ Templars, dude.

I think chihuahua thought of a character who fights the historical templars, in which case his question makes sense.

EDIT: But yeah, as always, we need more information to help with that character.

edited 9th Apr '11 12:17:48 PM by Dealan

Fixed. How hypocritical of me.

Yeah, I thought that, since the spelling there was so mangled that was the conclusion I came to. I can see more than one reason why he/she hadn't gotten help.

edited 9th Apr '11 12:22:08 PM by chihuahua0

Spider I have a dssablitly anyway I can provide info if you don't mind me Speaking in tropes. I think in trupes and in Zoidberg's Voice

She puts up a facade of being the world's ultimate villain however, what she really does is target KnightsTemplar and other people who think they are doing things for the forces of good and really they have crossed the Moral Event Horizon. Relevant to this story a group of homophobic fascists that nobody knows about. A very dark and mysterious figure. Not much is known about her, but people who think she's real fear her. She is called Spider because one of the few consistent facts about her if she loves infamous animals such as spiders and Bats usually is accompanied by one. Firm believer even evil has standards. I am going to have people believe her to be inhuman.

• Abilitlys/and Powers
  • Good swordsmanship
  • Casting a Shadow
  • Telaportishon (possibly)
  • Has either demons or Aliens that are mistaken for Demons
  • Chess Master

What I need help with is organizing my ideas into a proper characterization, I would also enjoy it if I had help with her motivation.

edited 9th Apr '11 5:20:01 PM by RandomChaos

Argeus, I think you need to find the places online where the experts on those kind of things spend time — and there will almost assuredly be such — and start to join in the conversations and discussions there. If you're as interested in the subject matter as you seem, you'll have no problem there.

Experts, by and large, love to spread their knowledge and help out. You'll find the exception, but in most fields, being ignored and obscure is the problem, not being overwhelmed by people with questions.

And you need to banish that crippling insecurity you have — or at least recognize that it is all in your head and is in fact the biggest thing standing between you and doing what you want to do. Few things are more annoying to deal with than another's insecurity — because, to others, the behaviors that an insecure person shows are more annoying than anything they could possibly be doing otherwise. Especially since most don't manage to be so insecure that they don't bug other people with it; instead, they nudge and then pull back, coming across as infuriatingly needy and passive-aggressive.

Looking like a fool is nowhere near the worst thing that could happen to you. Not doing things you stand a chance of being good at and worthwhile at IS much closer to that than looking like a fool. Also, most people don't care enough even to notice; you'll be all paranoid about what they'll think of you but in actual fact what they're thinking of you is nothing.

You are a victim, partly, of having a way self-centered view of the world; because your worries and your fears are so personal, you think others would notice or care. You are not that important. You are just another in the faceless crowd to most, and even to those who do know you, they do not pick up on such things.

Doing nothing is often the worst of all failure modes, because it doesn't even give you the opportunity to learn better.