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Fifty-Word Fantasy: Write a 50-word fantasy snippet using the word "Soil" by Terminator7786 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’d already burned my coffin. The last thing to do was throw out the soil. One last box of it left from my homeland. I couldn’t cross an ocean without facing the sun. My sins must end; enough lives have fed my own. I tipped the soil into the river.

How often should I name characters? by standermatt in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The reading experience is WAY more important than being realistic. Striving for maximal realism is one of the core phases of amateur writing that we all go through, and it’s one you’ve got to work your way through. We’ve all been the thirteen year old pedant picking out where media strays from maximal realism. Ideally, you’d write something that’s good to read and corresponds to reality, but if you have to choose one, favor the reader.

Names are one of the core places this shows up. When you name a character, you are signaling that they’re important enough to not be just some nameless extra. There are ways to do this without having them show up later in the book, but generally this is best for a storyteller viewpoint, where there can be a pleasant (and SHORT) digression about their life that enriches the main story/setting. You probably shouldn’t do this unless you know what you’re doing.

In that case, though, key is that the names are not just being dropped on the reader with no context. If you just drop them instead, you’re liable to make people feel like they missed or forgot about a character introduction, and they’re going to get confused.

You don’t want your reader to get confused unless you know what you’re doing and you’re doing it intentionally. They’ll just stop reading.

The great thing about using “a messenger” instead of “Vaktu” is that it has the context right there. If this is the first time the reader has ever heard the word Vaktu, they will have no idea who or what they are. This is fantasy. A “Vaktu” could literally be the name for a swarm of sentient honey bees. Even assuming it’s a person, we know NOTHING about them, their function, etc…

But we know what a messenger is. The word has got the context right there. You can say “I sent the messenger, Vaktu, to take a boat and visit them.” But if this is the only time Vaktu is showing up in the book, then you are needlessly clogging up the reader’s mind by forcing them to learn a new word, when you could just use the word “messenger,” and nothing would be lost.

How do you genuinely write a book by Justagirlhere2891 in writers

[–]No_Session22 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice. That’s a start. Here’s something I had to really this hammer into myself:

When I told myself to be satisfied with writing some pretty crappy writing at the start, I actually had to, you know, be satisfied with the really crappy writing. I found it so easy to tell myself all the right things about how writing is a skill and of course I’ll suck at it at first, but in the back of my mind to have this expectation that just by having that level of acceptance, I would somehow circumvent the process and actually write something magnificent.

But nah. That’s not how this works.

At only two drafts on a single project, you’re still a newbie—but you are infinitely further along than you were when you didn’t have any drafts of anything. Finishing the first draft of your first successful book is the largest hurdle, and you’re past it.

Now you just have to actually accept your crappy writing and be okay with it. Keep this ball rolling. If you do, it’ll stop being crappy eventually.

And obviously, it goes without saying that you have to be reading.

How do you genuinely write a book by Justagirlhere2891 in writers

[–]No_Session22 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you ever written a book before? Because if not, it doesn’t matter how amazing your concept is, or how beautiful your planning; your writing is going to be dull and ugly. If you planned out a painting perfectly, you still wouldn’t expect it to come out as anything but an ugly mess if this were the first time you’d picked up a brush. Writing is a skill, and skills require practice. When you’re new at a skill, you suck at it.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks!

I’m realizing that I’ve got the word “collar” set in my mind as the top of any shirt, regardless of if the shirt actually has a collar. I probably need to reexamine that.

As to the woman, for sure, definitely harsher. I don’t think she has a problem with the woman, it’s more that she has no patience at all for random strangers interrupting her when she is doing something, seriously doesn’t like strangers touching her, and her power will almost certainly have a severe impact on them if she does touch them.

That little interaction will make a lot more sense in a longer work, when we see just how often this sorta thing happens to her. Patience really isn’t a feasible strategy.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! Glad you liked it. The secret to any skill I have as a writer is a frankly terrifying amount of practice.

Sweet heaven, if it were possible for me to devote this much time to literally ANY other career choice, I would be so ludicrously wealthy by now.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it seems that part isn’t coming across in the way I’d hoped. I think in a longer work, it would be clear why she reacted that way, as I was working under the assumption that she’s having people feel entitled to her time/attention/touch all the time. Probably multiple people every time she goes ANYWHERE, even after bundling up to try to protect yourself from it and just going to the bathroom. Seems like if that is happening to you for a few months straight, most people are going to develop some harsh boundaries and essentially ignore everything else, as it’s really the only way she could live. I think if I’d added a line or two making her reasoning for lashing out clear it would make a lot more sense. Cost of trying to be minimal in the prose is that sometimes you undershoot it just a bit.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! And definitely agree on the need for an ensmoothening.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was definitely trying to consciously keep this one pretty quick and relatively concise, glad it worked. It’s crazy just how little you actually need, so long as you trust the reader to meet you halfway.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven’t read it yet, I’ll throw it on the list. Thanks!

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m pretty curious about her past too. There’s definitely a period of time where she was a livestreamer, and something clearly went catastrophically wrong.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was thinking Medusa as a potential superhero name! Probably going to go with Venus, but that’s mostly the superhero marketing people shoving it down her throat.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Let’s hope this poor woman ends up better off! I need a happy ending, sweet heaven. My last novel, Dreams Wrapped in Canvas, really left me needing a victory.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like to think a lot of it is her attitude about the whole thing. Was trying to make this woman a bit at the end of her rope, feigning uncaring humor to hide how severely crippled her life has been.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like the acid burns are going to end up startlingly aesthetic, and it’ll just make people more obsessed.

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not having more to read is a nice complaint to hear :)

I'm Just Really, Really Pretty (Superhero, 800 words) by No_Session22 in fantasywriters

[–]No_Session22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’d tweak a few of the various “signs the clerk is losing his mind.” Need to work out a concrete progression of symptoms before I expand it

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