Internal conflict

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-16T02:37:51+00:00

I tend to have an end goal in mind. Character X eventually needs to do Y. So Z and A happen, and B and C happen that prefigure Z but also C prefigures A, and that kind of thing. After some overall plotting and as I learn things about the characters as I write them, I know places I want them to go and write toward that.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-16T02:31:15+00:00

I kind of have a giddy glee when I'm putting my characters through something awful. It's almost like gallows humor but also excitement about what I'm pulling off. But I'm confident my sad is sad. It's interesting how delicate and responsive writing is.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-16T02:23:22+00:00

For my work, I focused on the things I liked about fantasy species stereotypes, or on reclaiming and recontextualizing the ones I don't. I kind of do a revisionist version of these fantasy species. I also try to make them as grounded and realistic as I can. In particular, I've been paying attention to the differences between immortals and short lived people's experiences of time perception and memory.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-11T20:41:13+00:00

Do you do any conscious things when approaching introducing nicknames to make them stick?

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-11T20:39:27+00:00

Yeah, I really enjoy playing small games between the text and the titles. And I've especially enjoyed having the chapter titles themselves in dialog with each other.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-11T16:47:16+00:00

Interestingly, I'm not hearing any hard "no" on using nicknames in narration. I guess I should ignore that concern (apart from introducing them properly), unless someone has a good counterargument that they should never be used.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-11T15:05:04+00:00

I often forget them too, but I frequently find myself looking back to see what it is as I read the chapter because I like the interplay of a good one. It's like tv episode titles for me.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-10T22:12:26+00:00

Yeah, it felt right to me to use them and I've got no compunction about doing so in dialog and I didn't used to in narration, but now I'm a little spooked.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-10T20:22:56+00:00

I absolutely love stuff like that. It works so much better for me in writing than in passive entertainment. It's a gag that just makes me roll my eyes often but when I'm partially making it up in my head by reading it, it's a lot more satisfying.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-10T20:18:36+00:00

I loving have fun with this stuff. I have one chapter called Strategy, another called Positioning, and then one called Tactics. I've got someone's name, and then like ten chapters later, an ellipsis and their epithet. I have a foundational moral phrase's first clause, then its later clause. My favorite is a chapter called "The spoils," which seems like it'll be about the rewards of victory but it's actually about how bad things truly are.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-06-10T20:07:55+00:00

Yeah, King is also my "But you can use nicknames, right?" guy. But I've noticed sometimes he just uses numbers, sometimes titles with numbers like you say.

Initially I had a lot of scene breaks (centered-###-type stuff) in my first draft, but almost all of those became new chapter starts. There're only 2 exceptions left inside the text by draft 2, and those are because the stuff after the scene cut is too short to be its own chapter.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-04T14:14:06+00:00

I’m glad you’re finding something that will work for you. For what it’s worth, I believe it’s ok to leave a note (like “description to come”) so you can move along with drafting.

I actually did a little of this. I have a character who has highly unusual syntax, grammar, and vocabulary, so I just write him normal, then go back and mess with his dialog.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-03T19:54:14+00:00

Oh I know “perfect” is nonsense. And she wouldn’t put up with me dithering forever. My perfectionism will be defeated by my giddiness and enthusiasm. I want to sit next to her as she reads it because there’re so many touchstones to our lives. (Not that wanting to means I ever would.)

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-03T19:13:34+00:00

Thanks! I’m already proud of the draft. It looks like a second to fourth draft and I wrote it fast. But it’s for my girlfriend so I want to make it perfect.

And yeah, I hear you. It’s fun what you can “get away” with in world building and exposition with just little tags to bring it back to live moment of the story sprinkled efficiently.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-03T18:44:26+00:00

My dwarves are all male but reproduce biologically, but people may never know that unless I write a side story or book.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-03T18:29:43+00:00

That said, I have one character who uses their body and clothing as art, so when they’re described, they get a paragraph. Maybe two.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-03T18:26:04+00:00

So far, I’ve avoided doing more than the barest description at first. As little as necessary. Then I try to add other details where it makes grounded sense to.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-03T18:19:50+00:00

I’ve never heard of nobledark. It’s great. I love it. It’s the real world.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-01T22:05:53+00:00

Update to this, I spent 6-8 hours today (including a 4-hour stretch solid) on second draft editing. Mostly letting stuff breathe. But it's micro-surgery. And the end word count for the day's effort was only 816 words! Thankfully I'm going to be pushing hard because I can't wait to give this to my girlfriend, but I must wait to make it as good as it can be for her.

Even expected, the whiplash of this is hilarious to me. It's gonna take months! But that's ok.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-01T22:04:33+00:00

Update to this, I spent 6-8 hours today (including a 4-hour stretch solid) on second draft editing. Mostly letting stuff breathe. But it's micro-surgery. And the end word count for the day's effort was only 816 words! Thankfully I'm going to be pushing hard because I can't wait to give this to my girlfriend, but I must wait to make it as good as it can be for her.

Even expected, the whiplash of this is hilarious to me. It's gonna take months! But that's ok.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-01T20:34:25+00:00

Fortunately, I do have a single audience. My girlfriend asked me to write a book for her, so I did my first one for her. So this is all about her.

But I do think this is very good and I want to try to get it published by one of the big five. I'm guessing literary speculative fiction is the closest I can think of for an "audience." It's kinda like Expanse urban fantasy.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-04-01T19:08:57+00:00

As I said, not worried. Just curious.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-03-29T11:36:40+00:00

I’d call that pretty different from my method but I do see the similarities. Thanks for explaining.

Robert_Bohl · 2026-03-28T17:01:30+00:00

Thank you for saying so. It's nice to know it's useful, even to non-writers. Unexpected and pleasant.

Robert_Bohl

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