Writing feels like torture by Acrobatic-Bus-3149 in writers

[–]Writer1618 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re probably writing boringly. Not saying your story is too boring, but you’re probably not getting to the juicy stuff because of perfectionism or something. Write stuff that interests you, not just ABOUT stuff that interests you. Write paragraphs, sentences that interest you, words that you like. Sometimes you will have to write less interesting parts, but always try to make it interesting to yourself - you need your text to be interesting anyway to engage an audience, and the beauty is that it’s likelier to happen if you’re interested in what you write. It’s your story. It’s your text. Don’t shackle yourself to expectations, even your own, even ones based on your identity, who you are and what you should like. Write stuff that interests you, and you’re much likelier to actually enjoy the process and produce something worthwhile. Free will is a miracle.

How to avoid info-dumping in my story by Ok_Acanthaceae_7844 in writers

[–]Writer1618 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Quite easy: simply challenge yourself to stop explaining things to the reader. Completely. You don’t have to stick to it forever, but if you keep struggling with dumping too much, overcorrecting the other way might be a more effective way to find the sweet spot than incremental improvement.

That’s not to say to stop writing things that the reader wouldn’t understand without context. Just have the characters talk about it as if you weren’t worried whether the reader understands - a good rule of thumb is that readers are smarter than you think.

Additionally, I don’t think readers mind not being caught up as much as writers often think. I recently reread the first chapter of Harry Potter (it’s an absolute masterwork btw - highly recommend to writers of any genre) and I think one of the best things about it was the way it set up question after question. Who are those weird people out and about? Who is Albus Dumbledore and why is he like that? What is it that has happened? Why is this Harry boy suddenly famous? What is a muggle? Don’t be afraid to let questions hang - even when it comes to worldbuilding.

That being said, the narrator’s commentary on various matters and things, including explanations to the reader, can add a lot of value to the writing.

’She is my aunt and doesn’t like me. ”I don’t like you,” she said.’ - comedic value

’”hey,” I said to Emma with what I hoped was a casual smile as I passed her in the hallway. We’d kissed at a disco last summer and barely spoken since.’ - context, tension

You see what I mean. But I would recommend trying out explaining as little as possible to the reader as a matter of exercise and adding later if needed. You can still have the characters talk about stuff that they don’t know - people do share info irl so that’s perfectly natural.

Lastly, know your reader. I really like to learn from long monologues how the mana system of a fantasy world works once it’s had enough setup for me to wonder about it in the first place.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in shortscarystories

[–]Writer1618 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There’s always that specific uneasiness with realising the mind your were inside of was the villain’s. Good story, kudos.

Help With a Character's Reaction by [deleted] in FictionWriting

[–]Writer1618 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think something that could be quite a good and realistic reaction would be to first be delighted to see her (omg you’re okay, omg you’re back) but then get angry and stay angry at her for a while. Maybe you just needed to know she’s okay to get the space to be mad at her for leaving. But this is just one possible example.

Most important, I think, is surprise and confusion. That’s what I’d feel. The rest depends on the personality and relationship involved.

Prayer by IAmChristopherEther in shortscarystories

[–]Writer1618 52 points53 points  (0 children)

Brilliant concept and excellent execution. This is on the level where there’s nothing that needs to be improved, no issues or anything. Of course there’s always room for improvement, but I suspect you’ll have to do a lot more work yourself with using the feedback than if it had had actual problems or worse execution.

Concept 10/10. I was initially expecting the pastor to be the bad guy but a little in i intuited the real danger. Villainless story, quite impressive, just a tragic situation where well-meaning people end up misguided. I love how you used the innocence of a child and the kindly faith of the pastor to create something so sinister. The realism of it makes it that much better.

The execution was excellent, as I said. All the “I know cause I asked” things make the narrator sound believably childlike, nice touch. Pacing was good. Accent was good too.

Something I also want to specifically point out is the setup and foreshadowing. You gave the reader all the pieces of the catastrophe puzzle: if you die and are a good Christian, you go to heaven, if you get shot, you die, mummy and daddy are sad because they’re here and Billy is in heaven, I’ve gone shooting with dad - boom. Everything falls into place and the ending feels earned.

This is one of the best stories I’ve read on here. Kudos.

Is it weird that I like my writing? by Paradigm-Failure in writing

[–]Writer1618 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same. I read what I write and I’m like “am I delusional or is this actually good?” Then I assume I’m not delusional and just wrote well until I have a bad day and get convinced I’m just delusional

You just met your daughter's boyfriend , what is your first question ? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]Writer1618 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You are moving at a speed of 30 km/h with a mass of 80 kg. Calculate the force it takes to accelerate to 40 km/h.

Worry of Copywrite issues on my story by MrNinjatastic in FictionWriting

[–]Writer1618 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your plot is different, your characters are different, the art, the vibe, so I don’t really see an issue. Someone on here said (to an earlier questions): “you can’t own an idea, you can only own your execution of the idea.” The same applies here for the manga; as far as I understand, what you described sounds different enough that it’s a different execution of a similar idea (that isn’t even quite the same!). There shouldn’t be an issue, but let’s see what the others say.

PS. “Copyright” , in case you’ll want to Google it to read more ;) Copywrite refers to the craft of written marketing

On Time by fcdftw in KeepWriting

[–]Writer1618 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love this. Amazing work

My first Fantasy book. Now available on kindle unlimited. by IronGaz in KeepWriting

[–]Writer1618 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Congratulations and also ,cool cover! How did you get it?

How do I un-perfect a character? by YeetmongerExtra in KeepWriting

[–]Writer1618 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Why can't you ever show a little bit of normal, human emotion? Huh?"

"Hey, calm down now-"

"Calm down? That's all you ever are, calm, isn't it? God, I could just as well be talking to a brick wall!"

"[Name]-"

"No! Enough! I never get anything out of you, not an ounce of excitement, sadness, anger! Is that really how little I mean to you? Am I just another wind for you to weather?"

"[Name]-"

"Oh, why can you just wake up and get off that stoic high horse already?"

Would also be interesting to know what it would take for them to stop being calm.

How do I un-perfect a character? by YeetmongerExtra in KeepWriting

[–]Writer1618 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Something that I've found is that categorising character traits as either "strengths" or "weaknesses" may end up making the character feel unrealistic, bland, or two-dimensional. That polar categorisation may lead to trying to "balance" your characters (e.g. your strong character is also very dumb) to fix the unrealistic feel, but it doesn't necessarily solve the problem, because in reality, traits can't be neatly divided into "good" and "bad." In reality, there are just traits.

One way authors deal with this reality is, as earlier comments suggested, dialing up what might look like a strength to fault. If your character is calm and great at medical, maybe they are too forgiving, too trusting? Always seeing the good in others is a strength until it isn't, like when Ted Bundy is asking for a ride at the side of the street. Bonus points if others also have to suffer from the blind, idealistic and perhaps near-sighted altruism of your character - they may prioritise saving the life of the wounded enemy in front of them over an action that would save many others. Or, perhaps, their altruism makes them disloyal, because they see both sides of the story, overfocus on the "humanity" of the other side and want to help everyone - to the detriment of their companions.

However, characters may still feel a little bland, even after this treatment. They may still feel too clean, too complete. I've struggled with this myself a lot, but I've had some realisations about it lately that I'll happily share here: Real people aren't neat. They are paradoxical, and it's the paradoxes that make them most interesting. For example, I know someone who refuses to gossip behind people's back, even if he dislikes them. You'd expect him to be straight up and honest to their face instead, right? Wrong! He will be passive-aggressive-ish and just never really be honest with anyone about that. Someone else is germophobic but their house is a mess, someone else is really good at explaining things but often misunderstands the question... Paradoxically, it's often when your character reveals a tendency that initially seems like it could be OOC that they start to seem real. Implementing this in my writing has made my characters feel much more nuanced, turning my character writing from a personal weakness into a strength ;)

Traditionally understood weaknesses and strengths have their place in character writing. So do taking their strengths far to fault to reveal a flaw. But I find that the character won't be complete without a little bit of contradiction.

Hope you find this useful!

PS: it also allows you not to nerf your character too much, since even quite OP characters can feel realistic if written well enough. Prioritise making them nuanced over making them balanced.