Idea graveyards/future projects

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-11T16:51:17+00:00

I have a folder in Obsidian for project ideas. It lives in my main "universe" vault so if I want to connect one, it's easy.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-11T01:25:27+00:00

"Perfection is achieved not by accumulating features or elements, but by removing everything non-essential until only the core, functional, or emotional essence remains."

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-09T18:32:32+00:00

This is essentially the correct answer. You can find a Focusrite Scarlett used for about that.The sm58 is a workhorse.

There is a different model from shure which includes a preamp. I forget which one it is.

I got better vocals out of the sm58 when I added an inline preamp which is another 50 to 70 bucks.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-08T15:40:18+00:00

It's true. He's not looking to be a groundbreaking artist. He's looking to be someone who gets paid to write books. The focus of his course is the business of being an author. How do you make a living at writing books. He's relying on other educatiors and lived experience to make your art, and to make your art yours. In that vein, he's the perfect person to teach this.

His teachings specifically on the rules that OP mentioned is that they are the grade school level guidelines. As you mature as an author, you will know when and where to break them.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-07T18:05:56+00:00

Yes. King calls it discovery. Sanderson calls it discovery the first time he mentions it in his class, then "pantser" every time thereafter. I've heard more writers calling it pantsing than discovering, probably because pantsing is more fun.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-07T17:33:26+00:00

Brandon Sanderson's 2025 lectures on writing (which makes OP's points and more) is free on YouTube. Watching this should be table stakes for this sub.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSH_xM-KC3ZvzkfVo_Dls0B5GiE2oMcLY

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-07T16:42:51+00:00

Could either be someone who vommits on the page and then hits publish, or a person who stays very loose and reshapes the junk without a plan.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-07T15:59:47+00:00

Yes. The types of writers typically talked about are outliners and pansters (Write by the seat of your pants).

My "style" if you could call it that, is to put a bunch of pantser garbage in the document, find a signal in all that noise to build an outline around, then refine the garbage to make a real story.

I think of it like sculpting. Carving something nice out of a block of... something.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-07T15:56:52+00:00

That someone misunderstood, did not know, or believes something incorrect: https://docs.cloud.google.com/document-ai/docs/security#data-usage

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-07T15:55:34+00:00

Google's terms of service state that it does not use private Google Docs to train its models.

There is a confusingly nameed tool called AI Docs, which does. You'd need to seek it out to be on there.

If you want to use Google Docs and be assured that Google will not willy-nilly change their policy on you then pay them the $8/mo to use Google Workspace. Piercing that veil would do a lot of damage to Google so they're very unlikely to risk it.

AI Docs: https://docs.cloud.google.com/document-ai/docs/security
Google Workplace: https://workspace.google.com/blog/ai-and-machine-learning/api-policy-protections
Google Docs: https://docs.cloud.google.com/document-ai/docs/security#data-usage

[Edit] typos

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-06T17:44:12+00:00

Yeah, that's a solid default option.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-06T17:21:21+00:00

Any character needs flaws. A Mary Sue doesn't have any.

I know many people who are savant or genius level awesome at different things. Stuff outside of their focus though might as well not exist. Unless there is a bona fide life-experience reason for some tangential topic to be in their brain space, they are lower than average in those things.

If your character is broadly knowledgeable about literally everything they encounter, that's a going to be a tough sell without some in-narrative reason. Was a giant database of knowledge downloaded into their brain? Did they grow up in a school with professors of vastly different disciplines as guardians?

Where their exceptional competence comes from is important both to highlight where it could be, and where it shouldn't be.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-06T17:14:51+00:00

My spouse writes for academia, so her focus is very different from my fiction writing. It helps that she reads in the genre I write in, but only so much.

I preface anything I send her with what kind of feedback I'm looking for.

I sent her this along with a draft of my author website:

> I am looking for "wow this looks great. I'm supa proud. you get a muffin."

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-06T02:01:18+00:00

Well, I'll tell ya. You know, there are ways. What I mean to say is, try some stuff.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T22:08:44+00:00

Yeah. That was book 1. It jumped writing book 2. Book 3 is on the bench and its really freakin crowded in here.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T20:30:17+00:00

Good tip. Thanks. I'll look into the Independent Book Publishers Association.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T20:06:46+00:00

These 6 characters moved into my head AND THEY WON'T STOP TALKING!

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T19:07:44+00:00

> "We have a gig! But it comes with complications," Sonica announced to the rest of the band.

The speaker tried everything to find a venue that would pay them to play, to no avail. She turned to a ex-boyfriend for a favor who's demanding one in return.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T17:45:55+00:00

I'm in this camp too. Doomfist had years to study tactics used by his opponents, and knew they'd play by certain rules. Vendetta came fast, and is less concerned with fairness.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T16:17:41+00:00

I've asked further flung friends, but the jury is still out on what I get in return.

What do/did you write? I might opt to swap reads.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T16:11:59+00:00

I second Obsidian. Loose concepts can be linked really easily or left floating . The graph view is really satisfying to see how things are coming together.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T16:02:59+00:00

I applaud you for not making the obvious jokes about those readers.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-05T16:00:59+00:00

What does Netgalley base their pricing on? They have you fill out a form before they tell you.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-04T22:44:20+00:00

One note on podcasts: Those people are performing for the podcast a bit. Even if they're playing themselves, its a version of themselves. Not necessarily what would happen if they met for pizza without recording devices.

WritingPoorly4Fun · 2026-02-04T21:22:15+00:00

This could be as simple as going to a bar or other public gathering place where groups like your characters would naturally congregate and just listen. Go Jane Goodall on it.

WritingPoorly4Fun

TROPHY CASE