What are you writing about now?

[WatcherWraith]

I have no idea, my friend. I don't even know what name to take "el" from, nor, oddly, what "el" means, whether it be that arrangement of letters, or the one letter making that particular sound.

 

[david_wendelken]

Well, the riddle game now has twelve riddles in it, asked and answered. There are six people going up against a dragon. Each person asks and answers a riddle with the dragon. The unconscious person has asked and answered their two of that number. (Such fun!) I only have the fidgets written for a third of the riddles, but I'll get there. Still have a few more riddles to do before I declare a winner and go back and fill in the fidgets.

I'm really having fun with this chapter.

No takers on my riddle about how the unconscious person is participating?

 

[david_wendelken]

I have no idea, my friend. I don't even know what name to take "el" from, nor, oddly, what "el" means, whether it be that arrangement of letters, or the one letter making that particular sound.

You take it from an entity's first name, add water to what's left, and that gives you that entity's last name. But you can't say that name, it's not how they act.

 

[david_wendelken]

24713 words (up from 22,208) in the 13 chapters of the Great Quest. Such fun!

(I hope these posts don't annoy you all, they're really motivating for me.)

 

[WatcherWraith]

No irritations here! I think we're all impressed :]

 

[david_wendelken]

Decided to split the final chapter in the quest into two chapters. The one with the riddle contest is first draft ready. That means I've successfully told myself what's in the story and it has correct grammar and spelling. It still needs lots of editing (as does the book as a whole) to tighten up the text, avoid redundancies in word usage, speed up pacing here and there, etc. But I'm pleased with it so far, it will "clean up well".

All that editing I've done in the past has paid off. I have half the percentage of "thats" compared to when I started editing book 4. Still too many, but a whole lot less to clean up! Ditto with the verb "to look". My percentage of slow-paced paragraphs is pretty low and transitions between and within scenes are much cleaner, too.

Word count on these 14 chapters is now at 25,960, up from 24,713. I'm particularly pleased that I've introduced two new variations to an old (but effective) trope.

Time to work on other chapters!

 

[david_wendelken]

Up to 26,863 words from 25,960 on these 14 chapters. Did some editing of prior writing and made a good start on another chapter.

Oh, and I went to the dentist to get a crown. Whoopee. Tomorrow I'm going to the oral surgeon. Double whoopee. May not feel up to writing tomorrow.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I thought there were some good points in this Instagram post: "What makes writing feel cheesy?"

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I think the one I most strongly agree with is about the forced, on-the-nose moral statements. Nothing makes me cringe like lines such as, "The real treasure is the friends we made along the way!"

The points about overly elaborate prose were interesting to think about too. I guess I'd never really thought about it before, but sometimes overly detailed and/or formal sounding language can come across as cheesy. It's something worth watching out for, I think.

 

[david_wendelken]

I thought there were some good points in this Instagram post: "What makes writing feel cheesy?"

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I think the one I most strongly agree with is about the forced, on-the-nose moral statements. Nothing makes me cringe like lines such as, "The real treasure is the friends we made along the way!"

The points about overly elaborate prose were interesting to think about too. I guess I'd never really thought about it before, but sometimes overly detailed and/or formal sounding language can come across as cheesy. It's something worth watching out for, I think.

It's very good advice.

But, to consider an opposing view, characters should talk in a way that's appropriate to them. A pedant is going to pedant, a bombast is going to bombast. They aren't going to notice (or care) if neither behavior is appropriate to the situation (unless they witness some other character doing it!)

Someone that's blunt and direct will talk differently (or describe things differently in internal monologue) than a poet, or a diplomat, or a peasant, or a noble, etc.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

But, to consider an opposing view, characters should talk in a way that's appropriate to them. A pedant is going to pedant, a bombast is going to bombast. They aren't going to notice (or care) if neither behavior is appropriate to the situation (unless they witness some other character doing it!)

That's true, but I think this post is more talking about the narrative making forced on-the-nose moral statements. If it's in character for a certain character to say something like that, and even better, if it annoys other characters, I think we can all agree that's a different story than the author/narrator thinking this is a normal way to talk.

 

[Laurë]

I thought there were some good points in this Instagram post: "What makes writing feel cheesy?"

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

I think the one I most strongly agree with is about the forced, on-the-nose moral statements. Nothing makes me cringe like lines such as, "The real treasure is the friends we made along the way!"

The points about overly elaborate prose were interesting to think about too. I guess I'd never really thought about it before, but sometimes overly detailed and/or formal sounding language can come across as cheesy. It's something worth watching out for, I think.

These are good points, but I think they come back to a singular principle that should be applied at all times: Set vs payoff, (as well as exposition vs characterization, for smaller details).

We think something's cheesy because it feels out of place in an embarrassing way, or like the 'author is trying too hard.' The solution is not to be nonchalant in your writing--you don't want to come across as disingenuous or uncaring about the subject. Instead, the focus should be put on making whatever ridiculous or emotional thing you need in your story feel natural. Usually, this is best pulled off by the ability of an author to set up an explanation for why something is the why that it is.

For example: the over-the-top names thing. A name won't feel out of place if it's intentional. In one of my favorite fantasy series, there's a sentient talking sword that was made specifically to destroy evil, but has a terrible cost, killing almost anyone who draws it.

It's name? Nightblood.

An incredibly edgy name, if we're being honest, and it would come off as cheesy if the author hadn't made it clear that Nightblood is actually meant to poke fun of the tropes it's based on. This sentient sword has a very silly and friendly personality to contrast it's purpose. That and, because it was a inanimate object before gaining consciousness through magic, it has no concept of what evil actually is despite it's main purpose being to 'destroy evil.' The author establishes that it's a bit ridiculous in context, so it's ridiculous name feels natural alongside everything else. (Not to mention you could see it as a deconstruction of the tope it's based on, as well as a reflection of the personality of the magician who made it--deepening the context).

The same principle apples to the other tips I'd say.

It's very good advice.

But, to consider an opposing view, characters should talk in a way that's appropriate to them. A pedant is going to pedant, a bombast is going to bombast. They aren't going to notice (or care) if neither behavior is appropriate to the situation (unless they witness some other character doing it!)

Someone that's blunt and direct will talk differently (or describe things differently in internal monologue) than a poet, or a diplomat, or a peasant, or a noble, etc.

Completely agree! Tolkien played around with the contrast between higher speech, flowery and elegant, and lower speech, simple and blunt, for comedic effect as well as characterization.

I sincerely apologize for the long reply, but I like thinking too hard about things 😅. Whenever I see writing tips like these, I've gotten into the habit of looking for an underlying principle to remember, instead of the individual tips. It's a bit more practical then jotting every 'don't do this' thing I've ever heard, and then trying to apply them all at once on a project. 'Rules' are often in place to help us find these principles easier, instead of being hard and fast taboos that every successful author ever has followed. The same is true for most skills, I'd think.

anyway

 

[david_wendelken]

I like all the comments made about the cheesy writing vid!

 

[david_wendelken]

Bumped the corner of my laptop against something in my studio whilst I was moving it into another room.

Dropped it on the floor.

Knocked over the plastic thing of drawers I bumped it into. On top of that was a book press. If you were withing 100 miles of me, you thought there was an earthquake. Not quite that heavy, but you get the idea.

Ordered a new laptop tonight, the old one is dead.

BUT I didn't lose any of my writing!

 

[david_wendelken]

Staying up late to get in some writing on my lovely bride's computer.

In the interim, I did some on-paper editing of book 2 and realized I had given Mardil the wrong job title in the new material. I was referring to him as Steward, but he didn't become Steward of Gondor for about another 10 years, in 3A 2029 when his father died. Oops!

Had to edit the new chapters to use the previously made-up title I had given him in earlier chapters, the "Lord of Foreign Speakers", i.e., the head of the Foreign Service. He deals with relations between Gondor and other nations and tribes. (My main character would deal with him since she is an emissary of her people in Lorien.) She thinks it's an hysterical job title because the court language of Gondor is Sindarin, not Adunaic. So, he's dealing with her as a foreign speaker, but he's the one speaking a foreign language.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I have just finished Arc 2 of my fanfic, Ill Chances and Strange Fates!

As some of you are aware, I'm structuring this fic by dividing it into "arcs" or sub-stories within the bigger story. Arc 1, which is fully published, was only 4 chapters and about 18,000 words in total. Arc 2, on the other hand, really ran away with me and turned into a 10 chapter, 50,000 word monstrosity! I initially intended it to be a fairly simple story about Maitimo getting into a horse riding accident and interacting with Aranya more within her role as a healer. But, the characters ran away with me, and all kinds of conflicts and drama sprang up. It took me 2 chapters, each about 6,000 words, just to resolve all the conflicts and tie up the loose ends. So, Arc 2 technically could be a novel of its own, which gives me some doubts regarding how I want to structure its publication on AO3. Initially I wanted to make IC&SF a long-ish but single novel with several sub-stories within it, going from the early Valinor days to the Nirnaeth Arnoediad. But, given how I accidentally wrote basically a full 50,000 word novel just about a horse riding accident and the drama arising therefrom, I don't think that's going to happen.

Anyway, my focus now is to start Arc 3, but more importantly, edit and publish Arc 2. So be on the lookout if you're interested in reading it, since I will be publishing the chapters from Arc 2 fairly soon.

I always love getting new readers, so please feel free to check it out if you're interested!

 

[david_wendelken]

I've been going through my first three books and getting the timeline solidified. Not quite there, but getting closer!

 

[david_wendelken]

Got the timeline issues in the series sorted out.

Took part in an online writer's group. Our mentor covered a way to write a synopsis of your story. His approach made it very easy to get a good result fast! I'm not perfectly happy with it but it's close. Not bad for 3 minute's work! I'll see if I can't spiff it up the rest of the way tomorrow.

What's more, it helped me see what was and wasn't needed to be in that book. I've just cut my writing requirement to finish that book by 50%. (Of course, I don't expect to get those results in the other books as I try this technique on them. I'll only need to move one scene from one intended setting to another, simpler one, to make it happen.

 

[david_wendelken]

My new computer is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. It will be so nice to get back to a computer of my own instead of borrowing my wife's!

I've been going through some ProWritingAid reports that I haven't used before to see if I can make good use of them.

One is a Diction, Vague and Abstract Words report. It's interesting and good for fine-level wordsmithing. It also tells me how many times I use that word or phrase so I can focus on the worst offenders.

There's another feature that lets me focus on just passive voice sentences. Needs a bit of work to make it easier to use, but it's pretty handy. I'm working my way through it. The first 20 conversions from passive voice to active voice were pretty hard, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. I figure by the time I convert a couple hundred it will be second nature!

Hoping to feel up to making forward progress on my quest chapters once my new computer is here. My wife's keyboard is too hard to type on to do that.

 

[david_wendelken]

A daily love poem from one character to her husband, in the form of an elven linnod, a two-line poem of seven syllables each.

A blazing bonfire shares no heat,
Your smile enfolds and warms me.​

 

[WatcherWraith]

Aw 🥰🤗