Yeah and no. Yeah, you do improve words and phrases, but there is a point where you take the character out of your story and it’s just plain vanilla.
It’s like writing colloquial: if your character calls people eejits instead of idiots, you don’t try to perfectly spell the words or correct their sentences. You leave the first thing that flows out.
The other problem is that perfecting is editing. If you’re at the point of editing, then you need to be that concise. But if you’re doing that when you’re still writing chapters, you’re going to be perfecting this one paragraph until it doesn’t fit anything else you’re doing.
I don’t write on the same level for each story. So sometimes early chapters don’t fit the end. Editing needs to be targeted to what the book overall needs, and not this one thing.
Heh, starting the morning with deleting a few boring paragraphs I typed at the end of the day and doing a skip into the last scene of chapter 17. It might end up on the longer side, but I want it all handled in one chapter, because I am dead setting on chapter 18 starting with Harris turning around and ah! She came, she came to see him! Jitters!
I was gonna sleep in today because I promised my kid to go watch sunset, but the cat elected to hack out hairball bright and early—and as close to my bed as possible—so I am up and finishing this damn chapter 17!
That is probably why one of my husband’s sister’s cats used to come find his feet when he slept and peed on them. Unfortunately, that crazy thing has to become an outdoor cat, which is a free life, but often shorter around here. I’m surprised this latest batch of ferrals has migrated out here.
This. SO much this! I’ve literally stopped watching shows, reading western comics, and even a lot of books because of this. Schools are not teaching children to be critical thinkers. They’re not teaching them empathy which would be the one quality that would solve a lot of the bias’ they’re trying to “teach” in the first place. They’re not teaching history from all sides, “good” or “bad” guys, the oppressors, and the oppressed. Everything is politically tainted now, and it’s just plain brainwashing.
Capitalism is definitely at play here too. People can’t afford to exist these days, so most of us are hustling/working/doing what we can to get by. They don’t have time for hobbies, and if they do, there is only so much attention span/energy left because it all goes to survival. In the US especially, so they always give us these “quick/fast” solutions. “30 min recipes for dinner!” vs addressing the root problem as to why someone doesn’t have time to buy quality groceries/cook healthy meals in the first place. Work life balance from toxic jobs. Everyone being overworked and underpaid. Rents going up, but not wages etc.
“Read this quick, shallow book” that’s just a time waster for people too tired and/or brainwashed to want to exercise said brain. To consider POVs other than their own. Books want to hammer some kind of politics into readers instead of addressing the actual problem with knowledge, history, and empathy.
As the saying goes:
Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.
Obviously we can’t control what human beings do/think. They can pretend to be what society wants them to be sure, but in the end, there’s only so much control we have. Even if we do teach people these things so they can hopefully develop open minds, and be critical thinkers, it doesn’t necessarily mean we can prevent all biases they develop. Buuut the entertainment industry is definitely trying anyway. Escapism is almost non-existent now. I know the world is on fire, but must you rub it into my face every second of the day even when I’m trying to de-stress? And how does doing these things help the actual people in said groups that they’re “making a difference for”?
It’s gotten to a point now where I go to book stores, and they have books “featured” on shelves, and I have to ask myself, is this book actually good, a fond story/set of characters I’ll remember for years to come or a book that’s going to change me as a person? Or is this book here because it checks off diversity checkboxes, and the quality suffers as a result. Assuming said quality is there to begin with.
I dunno, my kid is actually having troubles to cope with social and English because so many assignments are pushing them to search for this and that on a topic than write their assessment of it as a pov piece. My husband is also grateful he teaches physics, because he doesn’t have to endlessly change his curriculum to accommodate this or that enlightened government initiative. She’s been through fur trade and First Nations since grade 3 multiple times, yet has not been taught the elementary bits of geography or world history. At some point when she told me Palestine was in South America (while playing Assassin Creed) I had to grab atlases from the library and torment her with smatterings of world culture and history.
I still remember seeing in shock that she rated the book they were made to read in school, Marrow Thieves as zero on my library account. It’s a First Nations own voice book… so I remember being distinctively worried about it, ‘cause cancel culture. And it doesn’t matter that the book’s plot sounds preposterous and limits the world to Eastern Canada….
History is immense subject. I was interested in it all my life, and I always read something, plus watch art history and history feeds on social media, so I realize that unless education starts leaning towards liberal sciences vs math and natural sciences, there is no way they can provide wide enough perspective.
The education here, in Alberta, is advanced in some areas past what I expect, and in others, well, it makes me grateful I went through straightforward schooling of memorizing and regurgitating stuff.
Okay, finished chapter 17, though might need filling in a little between dialogue lines in the end… or maybe not. I will decide later.
Anyway, the draft now sits at 37K, and given how many big scenes are coming now… I am cautiously optimistic that 60K is going to be there for me in the first draft!
Yes of course. There are two sides to every story, and everyone deserves to be heard and to learn the full picture, and think for themselves. Omitting details is unfair from the freedom POV, and detrimental to critical thinking, and analyses. Empathy is another important skill too, definitely.
Yes, this is unfair too. A lot of people will be homeless/living beyond their means through no fault of their own, which is unfair. Inflation without compensation. Soon working in itself will be worthless when AI catches up with us too. But that’s a topic for another time.
Yeah, I know right? I like to read a lot of diverse POV. I have translated books, I have memoirs, I have non fiction, some fantasy, some romance. All sorts of books because I want to understand other POV, and I want to also figure out why I didn’t like a book’s message, and review and analyse them.
Yeah, we do only have so much control. Biases are unfortunately always gonna be a thing. Yeah, I know right? It annoys me when someone bigoted apologizes half assed on Twitter, say and is like I’m trying tobe a better person when they only reason they apologised was because they got caught.
Or when someone says they are doing allyship but aren’t doing anything. I would prefer if people were more honest, but that’s not gonna happen.
Yeah, we have Waterstones here (which is basically Barnes and Noble), and I see this BookTok made me buy it tables and I avoid those like the plague now. Especially romances there, and most YA. Wealso have so many cheap, disposable fiction novel paperbacks on display in the supermarkets too, and they aren’t even the ‘Mommy Porn’ romance ones now. They’re actual, legit published novels.
Definitely. A lot of stories (especially YA) do seem to suffer because there are boxes being ticked off. The quality lacks because it’s not coming from a place where the writer wants to write it a lot of the time. A lot of them are rushed for money. Take Aiden Thomas, for example, his debut, Cemetery Boys was universally given great reviews but his second book, Lost in the Neverwoods got a lot more mixed reviews and it came out about six months later. Now a lot of people aren’t sure, which is a shame.
They try to hook you in with the marketing, but a lot of the time, it’s a ruse and that’s annoying. You want to spend your money on something that’s entertaining and not like paint drying (We Were Liars and The Spanish Love Deception, I’m looking at you). Occasionally, I will buy books very cheap to see if they are worth the hype, but mostly they aren’t, which is a shame.
As for pure romance, I do like to write what I want to read about, as far as that goes, and I also am getting better at knowing what I will enjoy/do enjoy and why. Which is a start. I find it interesting that I am starting to read them, because I usually find them a bit blergh. But tastes change over time, and that’s okay too.
As I lay down to bed with having written nothing again, it’s become crystal clear that I have got to develop a new writing routine because lately I am not finding the opportunity at all. And it’s not a matter of time but space. I need space away from the distractions, namely my husband because lately he’s always occupying my favorite writing spaces. He used to work longer hours before so I always had a few hours to myself during the week. Now I’ve got none.
My only option is a desk upstairs, which would need a thorough clean up to get it to be work friendly (too much stuff). it’s not an ideal space as there’s no door for me to close, I can hear everything, but at least I wouldn’t have to see it.
Really, either I find a way to make this work or I’ll have to find someplace out, maybe a library or something, I don’t even know.
It just sucks because I’m a total homebody. I like having the comforts of my home but at this rate, I’ll never write anything in here.
I just wanted to make a disclaimer before I offer advice by saying that I’m going to assume you’re a woman. So said advice is based on that assumption. I was having this conversation with my therapist only days ago, asking her what magic trick existed that would allow me to focus on writing, and make consistent time for it etc. As a woman, at least in a somewhat traditional relationship, I have a lot more “have to’s” that my partner does not have. And it’s this reason why a male writer like Stephen King can sh*t books out whereas it took J.K. Rowling several years to write her books because she was a mother, and was also working part time or something like that before “making it big.”
So there are a lot of elements we can’t control, and the only way to “make it” is one of two ways. First way is to be strict about setting boundaries with family, making sure you get all the “have to’s” out of the way ahead of time so you can be like ok, on this day, I’m doing nothing, but writing between these hours in this location. Don’t bother me between these hours unless the house is on fire. If you’re hungry there are cold cuts/a casserole whatever in the fridge. Now, if you’re like me, that option isn’t truly feasible. Like I never have a day where there are no “have to’s” for me to do. Even if I try to plan ahead. So!
Second option. Grab snippets of time that you know you do have. I work remotely so I’ll use my lunch break sometimes or while I’m cooking, instead of watching water boil/something fry, I’ll set a timer so I don’t burn down the kitchen, and squeeze in a few paragraphs. I have a set up where my dining room and kitchen are open, and connected. So for me, I can still “watch” the food without being too far, but it still enables me to sit when I can, and write whatever I can get out.
Unfortunately my therapist confirmed that what I was doing was really the only way if the first option isn’t feasible for some reason. Just grabbing little snippets of time here, and there. Sometimes like now, I’m staying up a little late to write too. It’s a little discouraging, but unfortunately with our roles in the family/household, it can be tough. Not impossible, but definitely tougher than others.
Still writing fanfiction. I’ve been really into it in recent days. I did finish editing a chapter of Without Parole, and updated my complete story on WattPad. I’ve been giving Lancet’s henchmen (Lancet is a mob boss/racer) some much needed fleshing out. They don’t really say much throughout most of the story, and don’t really have distinguishing characteristics/personalities until later. So I’ve worked them in much earlier in the second draft. I also mention in my first draft how these men trust Lancet with their lives, and visa versa. But I feel like the first draft still made the respect/fear a little too one-sided. So I’ve (hopefully) adjusted it to show that his men do fear him, yes, and respect ofc, but Lancet respects them as well so long as they’re loyal to him/the family. I didn’t want to give the impression that Lancet was too heavy handed when it came to authority. Something I’m still fine tuning in my second draft.
i woke up slow and energiless and stayed that way the whole day :s but I hope you got lots of writing in today!