TheEldritchGod
A Cloud Of Pure Spite And Eyes
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2021
- Messages
- 2,926
- Points
- 153
TL/DR: I need help with a story. is a fellow author out there willing to work with me to co-write about 6k words so I can finish a book?
I've got the story all planned out, all 21 to 27 books. I got it all set up. Most of the key points are worked out, the plot arcs that have to happen, the wiggle room for when I figure out I fucked up and have to fix something I did wrong, and more importantly, I know where the characters need to be at each stage of the stories.
It's 5 different trilogies that converge into one trilogy, then the Aftermath trilogy that answers all the final questions. I got wiggle room for another 6 books if needed. Not sure. This is a VERY LONG-TERM PLAN, so I know I may have to scrap some things, change others, blah blah blah.
Here's my problem.
I don't like one of the MCs.
I NEED him to go on the path he is taking. The story doesn't make much sense without him doing what he's doing. It isn't the idiot ball. I hate the idiot ball. He is just... well... weak and a hypocrite. He grows out of it. He learns he grows, and he stops being weak and a hypocrite, but he is a flawed character, and... Fuck I can't relate.
It is a chore to write him at times. I just can't get into his mindset. At this point, where I'm almost at the end of book 2, I really can't just have him suddenly change into someone I like. I also just... don't enjoy writing him. But I NEED HIM. He is CORE to the overall story. I can't get rid of him.
So, I've been putting off writing him. And putting it off. And Putting it off. AND PUTTING IT OFF. And then I said, "I'll work on the other four trilogies. Except that one of the trilogies, I need to finish requires I finish book 2 first. So I'm stuck on THAT. I can work on the other three, and I am, I'm not just sitting on my ass. But my free time is at an all-time low, Work is demanding ALL MY FREE TIME, and I want to relax. I want to take a break, but if I DO, I know it will just get harder and harder to fix this deadlock.
The Plan:
Something I did in the past when I was ghostwriting on a deadline was work with someone else and say, "Hey, here's the outline, can you write up about 5-6k words for the next section to help kick start? It doesn't even need to be good, because I'm going to rewrite it, but just having SOMETHING to work from would help. I gave them a rough outline, of what I had so far, and said, Give me a chapter of about 1-2k words. I'll work on it, and if that's enough, I'll just finish. If it isn't, I'll kick back the rewrite, you write another 1-2k words, and hopefully, it gets done.
I'm like, at the last 6-10k words, to be honest. I even KNOW how I want it to finish. I have it in my head. I have the scene, I have it all worked out. I've gone over it a hundred times in my head, but every time I sit down to WRITE IT, I just... either find an excuse to do something else or write something for the other characters I like more.
I have a feeling if I can just put this one book in the done pile, I can move on. There's a bunch of other stuff I can finish up before I come back to book 3 for that MC. Book Three is going to be much easier to write because I'm not going to hate the MC as much in that book. I'm not going to be loving him, mind you. He still has to be at a certain point for the final story, but this is the point in the story where he's gotta hit that low point before he gets his shit together and...
It feels like a CHORE. It feels like an obligation. And it is, because it HAS to get done to get to the good part, but damn if I am just...
Well, RL is a bitch and if I was a Sim, my Fun meter has been red-lined for months now. I just... If I were to start bitching about all the BS in my life, this already too-long post would be four times in length.
So, if you are in the mood to help out, thanks. I'll explain what I need and hopefully, you can get me something to work with. Hell, just having someone to EXPLAIN how the book is supposed to end might be enough to get me motivated to finish. And, in exchange, if you need help with something in the future, I'll be more than happy to help out in return.
Ironically, I find it easy to just bust out a few thousand words around a single idea. I have so much FUTURE content written down that I just need to make the connective tissue with my other stories, but I need to get this one part finished so that I can move on to more fun crap.
I don't expect anything to come of this, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I can't even work on this for a few days. I got multiple medical appointments for my wife this week, and about 40 hours of OT coming up at work, but I figured I should just bite the bullet, admit I need a hand, and ask now, rather than continuing to put this off.
I've got the story all planned out, all 21 to 27 books. I got it all set up. Most of the key points are worked out, the plot arcs that have to happen, the wiggle room for when I figure out I fucked up and have to fix something I did wrong, and more importantly, I know where the characters need to be at each stage of the stories.
It's 5 different trilogies that converge into one trilogy, then the Aftermath trilogy that answers all the final questions. I got wiggle room for another 6 books if needed. Not sure. This is a VERY LONG-TERM PLAN, so I know I may have to scrap some things, change others, blah blah blah.
Here's my problem.
I don't like one of the MCs.
I NEED him to go on the path he is taking. The story doesn't make much sense without him doing what he's doing. It isn't the idiot ball. I hate the idiot ball. He is just... well... weak and a hypocrite. He grows out of it. He learns he grows, and he stops being weak and a hypocrite, but he is a flawed character, and... Fuck I can't relate.
It is a chore to write him at times. I just can't get into his mindset. At this point, where I'm almost at the end of book 2, I really can't just have him suddenly change into someone I like. I also just... don't enjoy writing him. But I NEED HIM. He is CORE to the overall story. I can't get rid of him.
So, I've been putting off writing him. And putting it off. And Putting it off. AND PUTTING IT OFF. And then I said, "I'll work on the other four trilogies. Except that one of the trilogies, I need to finish requires I finish book 2 first. So I'm stuck on THAT. I can work on the other three, and I am, I'm not just sitting on my ass. But my free time is at an all-time low, Work is demanding ALL MY FREE TIME, and I want to relax. I want to take a break, but if I DO, I know it will just get harder and harder to fix this deadlock.
The Plan:
Something I did in the past when I was ghostwriting on a deadline was work with someone else and say, "Hey, here's the outline, can you write up about 5-6k words for the next section to help kick start? It doesn't even need to be good, because I'm going to rewrite it, but just having SOMETHING to work from would help. I gave them a rough outline, of what I had so far, and said, Give me a chapter of about 1-2k words. I'll work on it, and if that's enough, I'll just finish. If it isn't, I'll kick back the rewrite, you write another 1-2k words, and hopefully, it gets done.
I'm like, at the last 6-10k words, to be honest. I even KNOW how I want it to finish. I have it in my head. I have the scene, I have it all worked out. I've gone over it a hundred times in my head, but every time I sit down to WRITE IT, I just... either find an excuse to do something else or write something for the other characters I like more.
I have a feeling if I can just put this one book in the done pile, I can move on. There's a bunch of other stuff I can finish up before I come back to book 3 for that MC. Book Three is going to be much easier to write because I'm not going to hate the MC as much in that book. I'm not going to be loving him, mind you. He still has to be at a certain point for the final story, but this is the point in the story where he's gotta hit that low point before he gets his shit together and...
It feels like a CHORE. It feels like an obligation. And it is, because it HAS to get done to get to the good part, but damn if I am just...
Well, RL is a bitch and if I was a Sim, my Fun meter has been red-lined for months now. I just... If I were to start bitching about all the BS in my life, this already too-long post would be four times in length.
So, if you are in the mood to help out, thanks. I'll explain what I need and hopefully, you can get me something to work with. Hell, just having someone to EXPLAIN how the book is supposed to end might be enough to get me motivated to finish. And, in exchange, if you need help with something in the future, I'll be more than happy to help out in return.
Ironically, I find it easy to just bust out a few thousand words around a single idea. I have so much FUTURE content written down that I just need to make the connective tissue with my other stories, but I need to get this one part finished so that I can move on to more fun crap.
I don't expect anything to come of this, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I can't even work on this for a few days. I got multiple medical appointments for my wife this week, and about 40 hours of OT coming up at work, but I figured I should just bite the bullet, admit I need a hand, and ask now, rather than continuing to put this off.
took me a while though! I reread the original author's work to imitate their style and writing as best as I could, that way my input wouldn't feel so jarring as a transition. Fortunately, his fans couldn't tell that someone else wrote them!