TheEldritchGod
A Cloud Of Pure Spite And Eyes
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2021
- Messages
- 2,935
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- 153
Just as Ai-chan has said that writing is a hard business, and I am pretty sure every author has to go through that phase where he finds himself lost in ideas of what to write.
My suggestion? When you are at a lost for ideas, come here to the forums and pick section and go down answering every topic that is brought up to the absolute best for your ability in as detailed a fashion as you can muster. Research a topic if you don't have an answer and formulate an opinion.
1. You doing your part to support the community by providing content on the forums which makes the site seem more active.
2. You are improving your writing skills by... duh... writing.
If you have been here, you may have noticed my WALLS OF TEXT posts to various topics. I do this when I'm stuck or need a break. The answer or topic isn't important, it is the writing that is. Learn to type faster, organize your thoughts better, formulate opinions on subjects you don't care about.
A writer needs to be NOT HIMSELF. Every character cannot be you based on your life or your opinions. You need villains. You need antagonist. You need foils. You NEED to think different. If your MC is the same in every story, then your stories will suck.
For example, In HKN, the MC is absolutely fanatical about the TRUTH. To the point he has a really hard time lying. If he is going to lie, he has to stick to the truth as close as possible and in his head justify it some how. There is a kernel of truth in every "lie". I would go so far as to say he doesn't lie, he only makes up deceptions.
In FTS, the MC is a VERY GOOD liar. He lies ALOT. He is great at lying and makes up lies without a second thought. He is a great actor, flipping from one 'persona' to another without so much as a second thought. He was a professional negotiator and spent a lot of time making deals and over the years he became a very good liar.
I am not a good liar.
And you might THINK that's simple to do, but I have recently discovered that, following my story to it's logical conclusion, I'm going to have to have the MC do some things that... I hate. I mean, I REALLY, in my core of my being, despise what the MC is going to do. I doubt the readers will care much, but... well... the MC is flawed and if that flaw never manifests, he's not REAL. Most people will not be that upset, but I am of the opinion that what he is about to do would be unforgivable. But the character is the character.
I hate lies. I really hate lies. HKN's MC is far more like me than FTS's MC. I absolutely HATE that aspect of FTS's MC, BUT... I can't make every MC the same with the same values. So FTS's MC is a liar, the other one is not. I have improved my ability to lie by going on other sites, picking a forum at random, and just typing complete BS then standing by my insane nonsense position as fanatically as I could. Yes, a form of trolling, but I need to know how to troll to write a troll.
And since in the end the forum has the pleasure of proving me wrong, it's not the worst thing one could do.
And I must say, answering bizarre topics or taking a position I don't normally support has given me great story ideas.
Like I say, writing is a numbers game. Writing a reply in a forum is writing. You want to improve? Get writing.
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