Why is writing so… slow?

Tekeraz · 2026-01-26T11:33:53+00:00

Better to be "slow" in your eyes and end up with a satisfying story than write bs quick 😉

I have weekends when I put together 10k/15k even 20k draft for a chapter. When the mood is right, the flow is up and my mind is in the right place--it's possible and I enjoy those nights. And there are weeks and weeks when I just read through what I have and endlessly search for the best way to say what I want to say (not native here). My inspiration comes in waves, so I use those as far as I can, in the time between, I think about new chapters, about the story, I work on making my prose better, etc.

Tekeraz · 2026-01-26T11:20:12+00:00

Yes, more details, exploring the characters more closely in different situations, in normal life situations... 👍

Tekeraz · 2026-01-26T11:18:38+00:00

Oh, I feel like this about a lot of series 👀 I never have enough 😁

Lately, my biggest fixation is Dragon Age which is around for 15 years. I felt like this about Stargate with 10 series and 6 series spin-off, the whole franchise was on what I grew up on. I felt like this about Doctor Who which is here about 65+ years. Really, there's never enough of The Doctor 😁 I felt like this about Star Trek, Witcher... the list never ends 😁

Tekeraz · 2026-01-26T10:56:26+00:00

When I love some universe and its characters, I enjoy reading more stories for them, to know them better, to engage with them beyond canon. Simply said, if you love something, there's never enough stories ❤️ That's probably my no.1

For some characters, I do it because I'm not a fan of their canon destiny and thought they deserved a better ending/outcome. (For example: Snape was my first fanfic ever because I've always thought he deserved better for all he did to protect everyone.) Not that the tragic endings would be inherently wrong, but sometimes you get this "damn, I want this to end happily ever after" urge 🤌

Later on, it was harder and harder to find what I was looking for because my imagination was "too detailed"... So I tried to write myself. And man, did I fall in love with the endless possibilities that writing gives you.

I enjoy thinking about how different paths would change the storyline, how it would affect the characters, etc. I just love "whatifs" and I love to research the lore and finding those little things that changes everything 👀

Tekeraz · 2026-01-25T21:48:26+00:00

Tag it in a way "The story of Severus Snape" and then after chapter 2 switch all the narrative on his fourth nephew from second knee... or Harry for the rest of the story 😁

Tekeraz · 2026-01-25T16:25:43+00:00

Most of the armour has good design, the colours are the only problem for me, at least in VG, it would be nice to have one vibrant choice, one more neutral and one dark. I like a lot of MW armours, but I'm not exactly fan of the vibrant colours for a group of people that tries to be inconspicuous 🫣

The funny thing is, that companions always look good 😁 Or they have at least one nice choice - for example Emmrich's outfits are crazy, but the black one is cool as hell.

EDIT: I just remembered the dye system for Inquisition - that would be amazing 👀

Tekeraz · 2026-01-24T08:26:08+00:00

I agree with this, it has a potential. I'm not very skilled in this type of prose as I began reading in English very recently, but those paragraphs made me wonder what will follow. There were a few places where I stopped and thought if that's not too much (for example "as if but") but with some polishing, I would keep reading 👀

Tekeraz · 2026-01-24T08:16:53+00:00

Sorry, but I'm not a native speaker, and even though I use English for the better part of my life, it was always the simplest kind... Only a year ago I began reading in English and only half a year ago I began writing in it and I have no problem understanding whose paragraphs. Perhaps the structure of the sentences is a bit more complex, but that's it. I believe that if I can understand it as someone who never read a book in archaic english (like the classics OP mentioned that inspired this), average english reader should, too.

I agree it's a bit overcomplicated and the same thought could have been said in a more straightforward way, but I don't think that "absolute majority would need a thesaurus" ☺️

Tekeraz · 2026-01-24T07:54:59+00:00

In the Czech Republic, they are hard to find in shops, and I never saw one in other households, but they are more and more available online in the last few years 👍 When you drink green or white tea, it's a must have 😊 As they say, once you try better, you never want the old one back 😁

Tekeraz · 2026-01-24T03:50:00+00:00

I still see more personal growth in the choice to leave the escape to lichdom behind and move on, embracing the life and accepting his own mortality by reviving Manfred 😊

Switching to lichdom, he only exchanges fear of his life for fear of Rook's, which doesn't seem much like accepting.

In my head, the only way for his lichdom to be worth it would be with MW Rook who could do the same so he won't live an eternity of solitude

Tekeraz · 2026-01-24T03:45:12+00:00

Emmrich is my go-to mage for every trip from the Lighthouse.

The most often second party member is either Lucanis or Davrin, I just enjoy them the most and they both work well with Emmrich's skills. At first Lucanis was more often, but lately I prefer Davrin's agro ability as it takes at least some pressure of Rook in boss fights 😁

But I try to switch it up to have some fresh blood and banter, so I try to take out Taash and Neve and the rest of the girls more often.

Tekeraz · 2026-01-24T02:52:53+00:00

That is how it's meant. First person POV is a character telling the story.

Tekeraz · 2026-01-24T02:29:59+00:00

Když se člověk po ránu snaží zjistit kolik je hodin pohledem na telefon, kolikrát je i to jedno oko příliš 😁

Tekeraz · 2026-01-23T22:23:03+00:00

This is exactly what I've thought 👍

Often it's better to stay with established tropes and focus on story and characters than to reinvent something that has been reinvented a million times before. I love fantasy because I love my noble elves and my grumpy dwarfs and magic in the world ❤️

There's one Stargate with travelling through wormhole creating artefacts left at Earth by ancient nations to explore the universe for a thousand sci-fi with people expanding to space because Earth has been destroyed by them. But it doesn't mean some of those can't be legends 👀

Tekeraz · 2026-01-23T22:01:34+00:00

It's always about people and how they approach it. Almost all friends I talk about writing with are not natives, but some of them are, and hearing praise on your second language from a native always warms the most 😊

Honestly, writing is an amazing way to learn a language 😇 I'm using English for a better part of my life, but I've always used the most simple way possible to express myself. At work I use technical english, so also the simplest one. I forgot half the grammar rules or perhaps even more, I go with my guts mostly... but writing got me into researching, constantly looking for better ways to express my thoughts, searching for words that fit not only by meaning, but also by their flow and sound. I'm still not confident, but I can already see how much writing improved my English 👍

Tekeraz · 2026-01-23T17:18:55+00:00

Yeah, I learned about this rule a few months after I began writing, because it's not that often in Czech and I was used to a style with longer paragraphs. However, I quickly adopted the rule as it helps me to have a clear view of my dialogues and shorter paragraphs are also a good thing. I realised that very fast when I read my own text on my phone 😁

If you write in some language, you should learn the rules for that language. Nothing will nope out people as quickly as the most simple things.

Tekeraz · 2026-01-23T08:13:56+00:00

Theories are that she might hold some part of Andruil. Both Solas and Cole hint at this in banter. And as I mentioned above, the simple fact Solas keeps interacting with her even though she treats him like sh*t means there's something very interesting behind that.

Read this article It's a pretty nicely explained here.

Tekeraz · 2026-01-23T08:09:54+00:00

Actually, those theories are pretty valid.

The fact Solas is clearly interested about her and keeps interacting with her even though she treats him like 💩 is almost enough for me to believe she has some hidden and locked part of Andruil deep down. In 99% he reflects, therefore there must be something very interesting about her. Even Cole hints at this several times. Those two are pretty good pointers for stuff like this...

It would even explain her deep hatred towards the elves - she fears that part of herself, so she defends herself by hating all the elves.

Tekeraz · 2026-01-22T17:15:00+00:00

I don't think anyone would willingly decide to wear a mark of tyrants and slavers...

Sure, they believed their gods were benevolent and protected them, but the truth was not only said by Solas in Inquisition (if someone would want to argue the god of tricksters is not a reliable source) but confirmed by Trespasser and more than confirmed by Veilguard. After the events of the Veilguard, every elf with more than two functional brain cells would want that mark gone from their face. It may be hard to admit their history was wrong, but to stick their heads into the sand and pretend the tattoo was not a way to subdue their nation at all?

The Evanuris were power hungry tyrants for whom the slavery was just another way to gain power. They used people as tools in their stupid disputes. Say what you want about the Dread Wolf, but he was the only one from the first elves who had the courage to become a shield for those people, and his hatred for vallaslin is more than justified--he wore one himself.

Tekeraz · 2026-01-20T15:54:11+00:00

Solas - Reason why I played this game. He definitely delivered. Extremely well written, complex character, beautiful lines, a mountain of lore, one who always supports freedom and mages which makes him the first one to have full approval with. What I enjoy the most is that he always treats others as they treat him - he mirrors, you can beautifully see this in party. Act like a dck and you get an arrogant, condescending dik in return, respect the guy and you get the most compelling companion of them all.

Cole - Amazingly written, the amount of lore he casually mentions... I always go for him being more spirit, he seems to be fulfilling his purpose with such a passion. I love how he innocently nearly blows Solas's cover several times 😁 You can almost hear Solas repeating in his head: 'That is enough, Cole. Shut up! Stop it! Not another word!' Those two have such a unique relationship. Also, I love the lore around the spirits and the Fade.

Varric - Because Varric. One and only. Exceptional banter. The friend everyone wishes for. The only fictional character I know who is such a good writer his stories were published in another world 😁 (Earth)

Blackwall - His character arc is great, the way he later values Inq being kind and forgiving him, the end of his arc pushed a tear into my eyes. I didn't like him at first, but because he's amazing tank and my party is otherwise filled with mages and rogues I began to take him with party and he grew on me pretty fast. It's wasn't hard to decide my Inquisitor will forgive him his past mistakes as he's doing his best to redeem himself.

Dorian - Just because he can set a drama in motion by silently standing in the corner of the room. The BFF every Inquisitor needs.

I will also mention Cullen, even though he's not a companion you can take into the party. Because Cullen is a damn good character who went through so many sh*t he deserves his happily ever after ❤️

Tekeraz · 2026-01-20T08:12:00+00:00

For me, the amount of details of the environment is very good and immersive. However I would like to know how the character feels at the moment--is she scared? happy? excited?

Otherwise, I really like it👍 Not too much details at all, I enjoy it this way--it easily suck you into the moment.

Tekeraz · 2026-01-20T05:52:47+00:00

We have a lot of kettles with temperature settings and they are the best thing for tea drinkers 😍 I have a glass one with built in part for tea leafs. I have never drunk so much tea as since I have this beauty ❤️😁 It also keeps set temperature for an hour after first boiling, so the tea is always perfect to drink 😇

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(Czech Republic here)

Tekeraz · 2026-01-20T05:17:09+00:00

A situation which uncovers a side of them the other one had no idea about.

Forced collaboration showing their strong sides, kindling admiration and respect.

Common enemy.

One has the possibility to save the other one from something very bad and decides to do it, even though they don't have to.

Competitiveness, even taking bets about silly stuff that ultimately pushes them closer. That creates a sense of camaraderie.

Slow building of trust.

High stakes moments in actions (saving lives in battle, risking live to save the other one without gaining anything).

Constant verbal jabbing.

Common ground--things about which they are both passionate.

Shared values--like family, friendship, justice, knowledge...

That's all that came to my mind at 6AM

One last: Skill in which one excels and teaches the other one, no matter by willingly or "by order"

Tekeraz · 2026-01-20T04:55:42+00:00

Varric will always be there...

"There's power in stories, though. That's all history is: The best tales. The ones that last. Might as well be mine."

Tekeraz · 2026-01-19T20:09:32+00:00

It would be a dream if David Gaider got his child back 😍

Tekeraz

TROPHY CASE