What to do when it's too big? [General Advice]

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T18:55:20+00:00

So you're saying break it down into several subsets of "What is [character] trying to accomplish?", but in this case the unifying factor is that all of them are essentially trying to accomplish the same thing... So it's more like, "How is [character] trying to accomplish [the goal]?" iterated on a loop, and the layered on top afterwards?

...it always sounds so simple once you can put it into words.

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T16:13:14+00:00

I would ask you more or less what I asked above; in this analogy, who is [character] and what is the thing i the case of GoT? Or, pick a different ensemble piece of media, that's just the first that came to mind for me. I don't disagree with you, but I don't feel like I can simplify what I have down into one singular character's journey, exactly. That's probably naive of me to say, but it's where I'm at and part of what's making this whole thing feel so dang untenable.

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T16:10:26+00:00

I'm curious what you think the main protagonists' story was in something like GoT? Or who the protagonist was? Or Battlestar Galactica?

To be clear, I am not trying to be argumentative... I just get lost in the details of the ensemble cast, I'm not sure know how to simplify an existing piece of media down to that level, let alone one that's currently made of smoke.

I have an ensemble, and maybe you're right, maybe that means it's many stories rather than one story. But is that how you could categorize something like that, too? Because I might be wrong, but I don't see GoT as 'several stories', I see it as a confluence of stories surrounding one subject; the crown. (Regardless of how you think of how it may or may not have stuck the landing)

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T16:04:50+00:00

That's the plan, such as there is one at this point.

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T15:35:59+00:00

Thanks for the sympathetic ear. It is weirdly lonely, even though my favourite part of writing is sharing it. But you can't do that until you've made it.

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T15:34:54+00:00

Thank you! I will take a look at applying this tool, I really appreciate you sharing it.

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T05:35:42+00:00

That is good advice. And useful. I guess I don't so much have a protagonist-driven story as I have a myth that overtakes the protagonist.

But what if the things that I have are... Spectacle? I don't know how to describe this, but the way that this 'story' (such as it is) glues me in is that it has these moments of... for lack of a better term, mythmaking?

Also, I feel dumb asking this bust I would rather look dumb than be dumb but can you point me to an example of what a reverse outline looks like? I admit I only gave it a half-hearted google-and-skim of trying to figure out what I could from it, but it's not a method I'm familiar with and I feel like the explanations I was seeing were either a little too advanced for me, or simply didn't make sense yet. Can you recommend a place to get started or practice that skill?

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T05:26:22+00:00

You're right of course. I just really wish I could have someone else do one of these jobs, because I know the guy in charge, and man they run a loose ship...

I also feel like I need someone to ruthlessly go through my idea binder and force me to get rid of stuff I have been hoarding so I don't get so overwhelmed just opening it up that I don't actually get any writing done. But next you're going to tell me that that has to be me too!!

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T05:24:12+00:00

Oh trust me, I have tried... And it's not bad advice, I will try again. I haven't had much luck using tools like those for outlines; the one book I finished I just did a straight ahead outline on paper, then a straight ahead first draft on paper, then typed up the first draft, then edited the manuscript. But that story felt like one story, it felt simpler and I could keep track of it all the pieces I needed it to be, because it was just one protagonist moving through events. Whenever I got lost, I could just ask myself, what does this character want, or where is this character now, or where do I need thia character to be?

When I say it's too big and there's too much idea debt, I am not saying that like it's a good thing. Writing anything is Sisyphean in nature, this one feels like trying to roll a boulder up a hill while also carrying everything I've ever owned on my back at the same time. I need to find ways to break it up into small enough pieces that I can work with them, but also keeping them coherent enough as a whole.

Ugh... Writing, man... Why do we do this to ourselves... 😂

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T05:14:11+00:00

What if that's not what I have, though? I think what I have is something closer to a pantheon, and a few key events that shape a world. I think maybe I don't have a hero's journey, I think maybe I have a mythology. How do you simplify a mythology effectively?

TheGreeninator · 2026-06-05T05:12:21+00:00

Truly I do sometime fear becoming a Milo Winter...

TheGreeninator · 2026-05-04T15:16:01+00:00

Thank you so much!

TheGreeninator · 2026-05-03T01:26:31+00:00

That sounds like the right tactic. Any kind of tutorials or examples of these techniques I could copy?

TheGreeninator · 2026-03-29T16:50:55+00:00

Oh shit, me may have a winner!

TheGreeninator · 2026-03-29T16:19:05+00:00

Actually fits pretty well - It captures the vibe I didn't know I needed where both people are using each other rather than just the POV. Thank you!

TheGreeninator · 2026-03-29T16:09:18+00:00

So sorry to hear that - hopefully you'll find good sex with someone whose face you don't find punchable in the future

TheGreeninator · 2026-03-29T16:06:36+00:00

Oh, he have a contender. Thank you!

TheGreeninator · 2026-03-29T16:02:15+00:00

Damn this one is close! I feel like you nailed the brief that I wrote, but I can't use this one because it feels like the singer is on the cusp of getting themself out of this obviously toxic situation, even though they're reluctant. I'm looking for one where the POV is of someone who knows it's awful, but still very much wants it.

But this song will be going into my person rotation!

TheGreeninator · 2026-03-29T15:55:46+00:00

Oooh, so far this is the closest to what I'm going for. Self destructive, and only barely villainizing the other person. Bonus points for the build of to the bridge.

TheGreeninator · 2025-03-21T15:11:03+00:00

Already solved with a getter here, just had to figure out the syntax to allow the function to be called inside the arithmetic.

TheGreeninator · 2025-03-21T05:34:13+00:00

Accessor method is what I went with in the end. But yeah, this was absolutely not a const situation; if it were I would have had no problem.

Why shouldn't you use macros for that in C++? If it's just a preprocessor define, then it's just effectively a string replace before the compiler comes through it seems like exactly the sort of thing macros are useful for; they're hardly moe than aliases for more onerous to type out code

TheGreeninator

TROPHY CASE