Doing the 'boring' chapters...

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Maple-Leaf

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Well, self-discipline is an easy word to say, but hard to actually do. I mean, I've struggled myself as well in writing for the past few weeks...

Had to disconnect with a lot of people and other distractions to focus on my writing. But it paid off in the end.
It'll all come together in the end...hopefully. But for now I'll just sigh loudly.
 

Queenfisher

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I recall a book with the scene that has roughly the same function in the story. Then I reread such scene and look out for what works and what doesn't in it. The structure, the cadence, the tone, the ratio of description/InnerMonologue/action. Works by other authors are an invaluable source of learning because they're like a free tutorial that has been proven to work ^^.

Usually, it takes time to find such scenes as my reference because if the scene's job in the story is done well, it's inner workings are invisible. Movies/anime also work because they can inspire creativity in translating their visual storytelling into verbal one.

The anti-version also works. I can look out for scenes in books that did NOT work for me and analyze why and then try to avoid those exact points in my current "boring" scene. Really, other authors/books for me = endless treasury of learning :blob_aww: .

But when I was fully rested, I went over that 'boring' chapter again, to find that my ideas were actually good.

+___+ it happens to me all the time, :sweating_profusely:. I am afraid that during writing a scene I hate I artificially lower my future expectations of what is written. But since I somehow convince myself I write shit 99% of the time, my expectations are so low about my writing that it always "pleasantly" surprises me later.

But what if... that's only a trap of my own insecurity???? And the "pleasant" surprise for me is just a general meh for everyone else???

At the same time, it is a nice surprise so it keeps me inspired to write more, and that is always a plus. No one can edit an unwritten scene, so everything that pushes you to keep writing is GOOD.

Yay! for lowering our own expectations about ourselves! :blob_highfive:
 

yansusustories

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Honestly, I just power through. I'll cry while doing it but the chapter needs to be written so what can I do? Since I have a pretty rigid posting schedule (aka, each project is at least posted once a week on a specific day, some two or three times, and another one even daily) and only a minimal stockpile of maybe 3 chapters if I'm lucky, I can't push it off for too long either. So when I come across a part like that, I'll write all other chapters for the day first, then sit down and write the difficult one in small installments with some procrastination in-between until it's done.
 

Queenfisher

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Honestly, I just power through. I'll cry while doing it but the chapter needs to be written so what can I do? Since I have a pretty rigid posting schedule (aka, each project is at least posted once a week on a specific day, some two or three times, and another one even daily) and only a minimal stockpile of maybe 3 chapters if I'm lucky, I can't push it off for too long either. So when I come across a part like that, I'll write all other chapters for the day first, then sit down and write the difficult one in small installments with some procrastination in-between until it's done.

Yeah, I think discipline is essentially just starting. And having deadlines helps immensely because you have no choice.

Or if you have an OCD, also works ^^. I coerce myself to write at least 1 (!) sentence of fiction every day, which is not that hard, yes? Like the aphorism of "no day without a line".

But after that one sentence, it's already easier to coerce myself to write just this one paragraph till the end. All of a sudden, this paragraph can be cut in an interesting way down the middle for dramatic emphasis, and you need to write the second paragraph for the first one to make sense. And then you're just writing and it seems silly to stop because you are already in the middle of it...
 

yansusustories

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Yeah, I think discipline is essentially just starting. And having deadlines helps immensely because you have no choice.

Or if you have an OCD, also works ^^. I coerce myself to write at least 1 (!) sentence of fiction every day, which is not that hard, yes? Like the aphorism of "no day without a line".

But after that one sentence, it's already easier to coerce myself to write just this one paragraph till the end. All of a sudden, this paragraph can be cut in an interesting way down the middle for dramatic emphasis, and you need to write the second paragraph for the first one to make sense. And then you're just writing and it seems silly to stop because you are already in the middle of it...
Oh, yes, I'm doing something similar but I'm counting words. Like, I have an average chapter length for each project and a minimum word count I want to write each day. So there's something I can work toward and reaching the quarter- or halfway-point is definitely motivating :blob_melt:
 

Maple-Leaf

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+___+ it happens to me all the time, :sweating_profusely:. I am afraid that during writing a scene I hate I artificially lower my future expectations of what is written. But since I somehow convince myself I write shit 99% of the time, my expectations are so low about my writing that it always "pleasantly" surprises me later.

But what if... that's only a trap of my own insecurity???? And the "pleasant" surprise for me is just a general meh for everyone else???

At the same time, it is a nice surprise so it keeps me inspired to write more, and that is always a plus. No one can edit an unwritten scene, so everything that pushes you to keep writing is GOOD.

Yay! for lowering our own expectations about ourselves! :blob_highfive:
Right? I feel like I always get proud of my writing every once in a while, then I suddenly get self conscious and start beating myself up only to go back and check and then the whole cycle starts again.
 

UYScuti

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Every chapter needs to have something that’s at least a little exciting. If the author, who knows the story, has to slog their way through, then imagine what the reader thinks. Even if it’s not filler, the reader will gloss it over and move on. Add something small.

If you’re writing a chapter where the adventurers travel to a city, add a scene in the middle that breaks the monotony. For example, they’re traveling down the boring-ass road to the next town, when a naked farmer streaks across. Moments later, his wife follows, and they get into a fight. He falls into a bramble bush, and she beats him with a broom. In her curse-laden shouts, you find out he was cheating on her with the farmhand.

The adventures pretend to ignore it and carry on their boring-ass trip. It’s just a small thing, perhaps two or three paragraphs. A small thing to add a little humor so readers don’t fall asleep.
 

yansusustories

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Every chapter needs to have something that’s at least a little exciting. If the author, who knows the story, has to slog their way through, then imagine what the reader thinks. Even if it’s not filler, the reader will gloss it over and move on. Add something small.
I think these might be two different things though. Just because a chapter is strenuous to write, doesn't mean it'll read like it as well. We all have different things we're good at or like so some chapters might be a bit more uninteresting for the author themselves but not for the readers.

Also, I think it might depend on the chapter length: If you write chapters that average 5 or 10k words, then yeah, it shouldn't be 'boring' for the whole span of the chapter even for the author. But if it's shorter chapters with only 1k words or so, then I don't think you'd necessarily need to add anything. That kind of short transition would rather be bogged down by adding something that doesn't add to the actual storyline.
 

UYScuti

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I think these might be two different things though. Just because a chapter is strenuous to write, doesn't mean it'll read like it as well. We all have different things we're good at or like so some chapters might be a bit more uninteresting for the author themselves but not for the readers.

Also, I think it might depend on the chapter length: If you write chapters that average 5 or 10k words, then yeah, it shouldn't be 'boring' for the whole span of the chapter even for the author. But if it's shorter chapters with only 1k words or so, then I don't think you'd necessarily need to add anything. That kind of short transition would rather be bogged down by adding something that doesn't add to the actual storyline.

OP said boring, not strenuous. If you’re writing a hard science space opera, then a chapter can be strenuous, requiring a lot of research and becoming hard to piece together. It might take you a long time, and writing it will be frustrating. The author might want to scrap it, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. That extra work will go miles for the reader and exhaust the author.

But a boring scene that only serves as a bridge to get to the next needs to have some form of excitement added.
 

JohnHKnight

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I don't know, I never had that. Sure, some chapters are less intense because there is no fight or something, but I use them to build the world. I somehow always find the will to write what's next because one way or another it's always interesting for me.
 

Queenfisher

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OP said boring, not strenuous. If you’re writing a hard science space opera, then a chapter can be strenuous, requiring a lot of research and becoming hard to piece together. It might take you a long time, and writing it will be frustrating. The author might want to scrap it, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. That extra work will go miles for the reader and exhaust the author.

But a boring scene that only serves as a bridge to get to the next needs to have some form of excitement added.

You're probably right, but this doesn't always apply.

Some authors told me writing some of their "boring" chapters was troublesome for them but for me -- reading them wasn't. So it can be a thing. For example, I find writing all smut scenes boring and tortuous because they rarely add much to the story or the characters (and the things that do add stuff would work just as fine without smut). It's just something you have to do in certain genres and it can feel by-the-numbers if you read/write it for a long time. But what comes across as boring to the writer doesn't necessarily mean the same to the reader.

Like the OP said -- " you just don't like writing the part and would rather skip it for a more interesting chapter".

I would rather never write smut or action in my life ever again +_+. Especially action that requires MC to have an epiphany of a cool maneuver to outsmart the opponent with. I hate writing those! I would rather only write setting and worldbuilding porn and fluffy slice-of-life which is the most interesting stuff for me personally to write. (But not to read, incidentally ^^)

Yet I know that maintaining the balance for the readers is more important than me enjoying it or not...
 
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You're probably right, but this doesn't always apply.

Some authors told me writing some of their "boring" chapters was troublesome for them but for me -- reading them wasn't. So it can be a thing. For example, I find writing all smut scenes boring and tortuous because they rarely add much to the story or the characters (and the things that do add stuff would work just as fine without smut). It's just something you have to do in certain genres and it can feel by-the-numbers if you read/write it for a long time. But what comes across as boring to the writer doesn't necessarily mean the same to the reader.

Like the OP said -- " you just don't like writing the part and would rather skip it for a more interesting chapter".

I would rather never write smut or action in my life ever again +_+. Especially action that requires MC to have an epiphany of a cool maneuver to outsmart the opponent with. I hate writing those! I would rather only write setting and worldbuilding porn and fluffy slice-of-life which is the most interesting stuff for me personally to write. (But not to read, incidentally ^^)

Yet I know that maintaining the balance for the readers is more important than me enjoying it or not...
From my experience, I did write some chapters that are interesting to me, yet it was 'meh' to the readers. Take note, not all readers...

And, likewise, there are certain parts or chapters that I find 'boring', or strenuous to write (finally got the term right...pardon me, English is not my first language) that turned out to be interesting to certain types of readers.

I guess the actual interesting parts or chapters of the story would depend on the readers, and what they look for in the work.

However, this post is about the perspective of the author regarding certain parts of their work (which is strenuous to write). Because, like from what I've gathered in the replies here, a lot of authors still struggle to make these 'boring' parts interesting--like changing POVs, analysing their chapters, and/or adding comedic scenes, even as they manage to write it in the end.
 

UYScuti

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You're probably right, but this doesn't always apply.

Some authors told me writing some of their "boring" chapters was troublesome for them but for me -- reading them wasn't. So it can be a thing. For example, I find writing all smut scenes boring and tortuous because they rarely add much to the story or the characters (and the things that do add stuff would work just as fine without smut). It's just something you have to do in certain genres and it can feel by-the-numbers if you read/write it for a long time. But what comes across as boring to the writer doesn't necessarily mean the same to the reader.

Like the OP said -- " you just don't like writing the part and would rather skip it for a more interesting chapter".

I would rather never write smut or action in my life ever again +_+. Especially action that requires MC to have an epiphany of a cool maneuver to outsmart the opponent with. I hate writing those! I would rather only write setting and worldbuilding porn and fluffy slice-of-life which is the most interesting stuff for me personally to write. (But not to read, incidentally ^^)

Yet I know that maintaining the balance for the readers is more important than me enjoying it or not...
You're probably right, but this doesn't always apply.

Some authors told me writing some of their "boring" chapters was troublesome for them but for me -- reading them wasn't. So it can be a thing. For example, I find writing all smut scenes boring and tortuous because they rarely add much to the story or the characters (and the things that do add stuff would work just as fine without smut). It's just something you have to do in certain genres and it can feel by-the-numbers if you read/write it for a long time. But what comes across as boring to the writer doesn't necessarily mean the same to the reader.

Like the OP said -- " you just don't like writing the part and would rather skip it for a more interesting chapter".

I would rather never write smut or action in my life ever again +_+. Especially action that requires MC to have an epiphany of a cool maneuver to outsmart the opponent with. I hate writing those! I would rather only write setting and worldbuilding porn and fluffy slice-of-life which is the most interesting stuff for me personally to write. (But not to read, incidentally ^^)

Yet I know that maintaining the balance for the readers is more important than me enjoying it or not...


Perhaps I am misunderstanding OP’s post. They say that they’re leaving one scene and want to get to another more exciting scene. To get there, you need to build a foundation and bridge the gap. Often these become info-dump chapters that bog the story down and are a pain to write. Nobody enjoys writing them. Each chapter can be broken into its own three-act story, though.

In the beginning, you continue your transition from the previous chapter. In the middle, you’re relaying the pertinent information of your chapter. In the end, you’re setting up the next chapter. The ending might be a cliffhanger leading to the next, or it might resolve an arc.

Like a novel, most authors can write the beginning and end of the chapter without a problem. But the middle sags. Add some form of conflict to the middle or some type of humor. It doesn’t need to be an enormous plot point that changes the story entirely. It can be something simple, and it will help the writing process while keeping readers engaged.

As for your story, I’m not going to say don’t cater to readers, because refusing to write what readers want leaves you with no readers. But if you don’t like smut and action, why write in that genre? Do worldbuilding novels require smut? Do readers who enjoy worldbuilding look for smut? I don’t know as I don’t write/read those genres.
 

yansusustories

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OP said boring, not strenuous. If you’re writing a hard science space opera, then a chapter can be strenuous, requiring a lot of research and becoming hard to piece together. It might take you a long time, and writing it will be frustrating. The author might want to scrap it, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. That extra work will go miles for the reader and exhaust the author.

But a boring scene that only serves as a bridge to get to the next needs to have some form of excitement added.
Yes, sorry, 'strenuous' was the wrong choice of word there. For me, personally, boring scenes are strenuous to write so I wrote that but meant boring nonetheless. I'd gather it's similar for the OP as well if they take so much effort - that's just what strenuous is to me. Naturally, that doesn't negate that other chapters can be strenuous to write as well. Again, just a poor word choice here.
My point is that just because the chapter feels boring to me when writing, that still doesn't mean it'll be boring to the reader. I think the reason for that is, simply put, that I know the story. I actually experience something similar as a reader.

Like, I don't know if you're a skipper and a re-reader but for me, I've only ever skipped stuff in one book and that's one I would have rated a very solid 1* on all fronts. I don't habitually re-read stuff either and only do so for some of my absolute favorites or stories that were otherwise really engaging if I somehow remember a certain scene or arc that I wanna re-read. Now, if I do re-read, I will skip scenes that I didn't like as much. It's not always those 'boring transition chapters' but sometimes actually vital scenes of a novel that I did like when reading it for the first time but because I know what's happening already, they've lost their appeal. That could be anything ranging from dialogue to world-building stuff, to action or smut scenes. Anything, really.

As the author, I'm in a very similar situation: I know darn well what's going to happen. So some scenes just don't have the same appeal to me that they'll have to someone who isn't in the know. The chapters I love writing the most are the ones that actually surprise me because I suddenly come up with an idea, not the ones that I've been preparing for an entire three volumes.
 

yansusustories

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Perhaps I am misunderstanding OP’s post. They say that they’re leaving one scene and want to get to another more exciting scene. To get there, you need to build a foundation and bridge the gap. Often these become info-dump chapters that bog the story down and are a pain to write. Nobody enjoys writing them. Each chapter can be broken into its own three-act story, though.
I don't think you're misunderstanding anything there. At least I got the same. I think the point I and @Queenfisher were trying to make was that yeah, you can add some stuff to make the chapter less boring but the question in the first place is: Would the chapter actually be as boring to the reader as it is to us? (And thus, would adding something in the middle even be necessary?)
I personally don't think it is boring to the readers. A transition chapter is interesting for them in so far that it is a chapter with high tension. Something just happened, people need to get somewhere and whether they can do so and what happens there will determine the direction the story takes. As a reader, that's actually a chapter I'd enjoy because it leaves lots of food for thought. As an author, I still hate writing them because I'm afraid they might be boring for readers because they are to me simply because I know what's going to happen. I don't feel any tension if the next ten chapters are basically half-written in my head already.
 
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Like a novel, most authors can write the beginning and end of the chapter without a problem. But the middle sags. Add some form of conflict to the middle or some type of humor. It doesn’t need to be an enormous plot point that changes the story entirely. It can be something simple, and it will help the writing process while keeping readers engaged.
True. It's easy to deal with the beginning and the end parts, but the middle chapters can be a pain to write. But then, it's like a necessary evil; you write it because it makes your story believable and logical.
 
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So just in case we're starting to veer off from the topic, the question is...

"How do you deal with a chapter or part that is 'boring' or strenuous to write?"
 

duelsharks

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Hmm, I tend to try to avoid filler chapters ( if those are what you're alluding to? ), since they generally don't add anything to the plot of the story. However, sometimes filler chapters are necessary for character bonding or worldbuilding outside of just the entire plot premise. When that time comes, I think you should think about whether not it's boring because you're not good at writing what needs to be written ( me, I'm terrible at world building without the info dump or,,,, fluff in any form ) or it's truly boring because it's not needed and will bore you and your readers.

My personal process for writing fillers is a lot of pushing through it. Set up some music for the tone of the chapter, and set a word count you want to hit for it. Eventually, I'll get caught up in the chapter, and it'll turn out alright.
 
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Hmm, I tend to try to avoid filler chapters ( if those are what you're alluding to? ), since they generally don't add anything to the plot of the story. However, sometimes filler chapters are necessary for character bonding or worldbuilding outside of just the entire plot premise. When that time comes, I think you should think about whether not it's boring because you're not good at writing what needs to be written ( me, I'm terrible at world building without the info dump or,,,, fluff in any form ) or it's truly boring because it's not needed and will bore you and your readers.

My personal process for writing fillers is a lot of pushing through it. Set up some music for the tone of the chapter, and set a word count you want to hit for it. Eventually, I'll get caught up in the chapter, and it'll turn out alright.
Hmm...more like a chapter or part or scene that's important to the story, and yet it's difficult to write for various reasons known only to the author. That's what I'm referring to.

I don't know if 'filler' is the right term for that, but I hope I get my idea across.
 

UYScuti

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So just in case we're starting to veer off from the topic, the question is...

"How do you deal with a chapter or part that is 'boring' or strenuous to write?"

I add conflict.

For example, my book is a psychological horror, and in my last chapter, the MC was leaving one area to get to the next where I set up the next arc. In the chapter, she needs to cross a river to arrive. She’s terrified of rivers, and the only bridge across has a large gap. Unfortunately for her, things don’t go the way she wants, and it nearly costs her life. Does that part of the chapter play a significant role in the rest of the story? Not necessarily. But it builds on a previous fear, and it livens up a chapter whose main purpose is traveling to a new place and weaving in some backstory.
 
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