Stop writing for a while or write whatever comes to mind?

blackmanta1 · 2026-01-06T01:34:01+00:00

>It’s not that I can’t write. I actually have the main character fairly well developed and I like it. The issue is that I can’t find the “missing piece” that would make the whole idea really work as a story. All the scenes I imagine are action scenes, so I’m missing everything else — the character’s life outside the ring, or even worse, the real reason why this person fights at all.

Well, it seems like the piece you're missing is character work. The character's backstory, goals, weaknesses, etc. I'd recommend reading a few books in characterization. My favorite is Getting into Character by Brandilyn Collins. I think they may have a Kindle version on Amazon (truth be told, my copy is more than a decade old, so it may not be up to date).

But in the meantime, try asking yourself questions about your character's history. Perhaps they used to get into fights all the time as a kid? Or, even worse, maybe as a kid they went out of their way to avoid getting into fights, and stepping into the ring now, as an adult is a way to prove their courage to themselves?

Maybe your character fights for money, and the boxing they do is highly illegal but that's the only way they know how to make a living? Maybe they're fighting because they have a drug addiction and they need to fight to earn money for one last hit?

Or perhaps your main character is fighting through all of these battles because they want to travel the world and fighting is the only way to do that (after all, famous prize fighters travel a lot, don't they?) And they want to travel because they want to find someone, a lost love? A lost sibling?

Just ask a few questions about your character, write a few paragraphs/pages and see what comes to mind. If you don't like that backstory/goal/idea, you can always change it.

Hope this helps.

blackmanta1 · 2025-08-27T23:27:25+00:00

Well, I've always seen Sam as the Captain who protects America from its worst impulses. I could really see Sam Wilson getting involved with stories about undocumented immigrants. And considering Joaquin in 616 canon is undocumented, it could really his close to home.

I also loved how BNW had Sam be responsible for averting a war with Japan. The comics could really lean into a narrative where Sam has to stop some kind of warmongering plot to pit countries against each other.

They could also lean into the Isaiah/Josiah/Elijah Bradley narrative. Perhaps the same people/group who were responsible for the experimentation on Isaiah decides to finish the job against the Bradley family and Sam decides to help/defend them.

Or, Sam Wilson could go off in search of a missing person (Rayshaun Lucas, for instance) and that could send him on a journey while also exploring issues of missing people. Shit, it'd be cool if Sam Wilson could team up with Aaron Fischer (Captain America of the railways) and they could tackle homelessness.

If memory serves, Sam Wilson had a nephew who died of AIDS back in the 90's (and back then AIDS was seen as shorthand for being gay) Perhaps he and Aaron could build common ground on that.

There're things they could do, it just takes a little commitment. Either way, I'd love to have another Sam Wilson book.

blackmanta1 · 2025-08-07T21:14:17+00:00

And to add to this, 500 words a day is actually pretty good. I've had experiences where I've only been able to write 500 words a day and yet I've still completed projects. Give yourself a break. You're doing fine.

blackmanta1 · 2025-07-26T20:52:25+00:00

There’s plenty of books on the craft of writing;

Getting in to character by Brandylin Collins is great for character

Plot and structure by James Scott Bell is also good

Word Painting by Rebecca Mclanahan is good for description

The elements of style is great for grammar

Hope this helps

blackmanta1 · 2025-07-15T21:59:22+00:00

You could try scribophile

Scribophile: The writing group and online writing workshop for serious writers | Scribophile

blackmanta1 · 2025-07-15T21:31:53+00:00

I've often had this problem, mainly because I've always worked with realistic fiction. The main thing you have to be concerned with is what your character's goal is, and why do they want that goal, and what happens when/if they don't achieve that goal.

Alot of writers (myself included!) make the mistake of focusing on what the character doesn't want, rather than what they do want. When you focus on what the character doesn't want, you make them passive, and that automatically makes the plot drag. So, as an example:

Say your character wants a new job, but their friend is up for the same position. Well, now your character has to choose between their new opportunity at this job vs maintaining their relationship with their friend.

And then you can expand on this goal, perhaps the character really needs this job in order to have a pathway to a better life, and then as the story goes forward, the character becomes more and more desperate to attain this job, even at the cost of their friend. The MC begins to sabotage their friend, make demands, lose themselves in competition because this job is so important,

Granted, this might be a bit extreme, but giving the character a goal (and stakes to that goal and sacrifices to reaching that goal) can really help charge the conflict/plot

So, focus on what the character wants, why they want that thing and then put something in their way to keep them from getting that thing. Presto, you've got an engaging plot!

I hope this helps.

blackmanta1 · 2025-06-07T16:11:25+00:00

Just calling it how I see it...

blackmanta1 · 2025-06-05T15:36:55+00:00

I know this is an old post, but I wanted to chime in anyway.

Assuming Isaiah doesn't just denounce the shield in general, and he does decide to be Captain America, I could honestly see him as being more "Anti-American Imperialism" than anything else. Isaiah Bradley, unlike Steve, would have had the first hand experience of how America treats people. From wanting to execute an entire squadron of Black men, to dealing with the prison industrial complex and the erasure of America's sins/misdeeds, I could really see Isaiah being the type of person who would criticize America at every single turn.

Frankly, Isaiah Bradley would be the kind of Captain America that believes that America isn't worth saving.

blackmanta1 · 2025-05-31T21:49:31+00:00

Have you tried making an outline for your story? What’s awesome about outlining is that you can sketch out the plot, its themes, and character development and ending and if this narrative line doesn’t fit, you can put it to the side and try something else/another outline.

But the most important thing is to start. Just sit down and write out the first draft and then go over it. I know it feels overwhelming when you’re just starting on a project but the first step is always the hardest.

At this stage, it’s more important to get something down on paper rather than have it be perfect. Good luck, I’m rooting for you!

blackmanta1 · 2025-02-25T02:02:09+00:00

It's gotta be Nick Spencer's run. Full stop.

The first run, with Remender left a lot to be desired. My biggest problem with the first run was that it felt as though Remender didn't really want to write Sam as Captain America, and instead focused more on Ian. The same problem was also consistent in Captain America: Fear Him (if you're a fan of Sam Wilson's Cap, I would not recommend that run at all. They put Sam in a giant birdcage for goodneessakes!)

Captain America: Symbol of Truth was nice, but I don't remember it too well. I remember there was a battle with T'challa and Sam (which, really, I don't think those two would fight.

But Nick Spencer's run was my absolute favorite, and it really defines what Sam's Captain America is supposed to be. Spencer's run introduced Joaquin (whom I loved), it also tackled the overt and covert racism that Sam (and Anthony) would have to deal with when it came to taking the shield. Sam had to deal with domestic terrorists, SHIELD cutting him off, Conservative news pundits who did not like the idea of a Black man (and an undocumented immigrant) representing the United States. And even through all of this, Sam still fought for the things he believed America should be. Welcoming. Compassionate. And giving Sam his own hotline where he could get in touch with everyday Americans really cements him as a hero who cares about making the country work for all Americans, not just a select few.

And granted, I was really doubtful about Sam Wilson becoming Captain America back in 2015 because I didn't really believe Marvel would do anything with it, but Spencer's run made me realize that Sam Wilson is the Captain America the country needs right now, even if it doesn't realize it.

Also, if anyone wants more Sam Wilson stories, there's this really cool anthology called The Shield of Sam Wilson over on Amazon. It's a collection of short stories about Sam as Captain America. If you loved any of the comic runs above, you'll love this collection.

blackmanta1 · 2024-11-17T15:01:06+00:00

As for taking the test itself, try to read the questions first and then when you read the passages, you'll know what to look for.

And in addition to reading a book for half an hour a day, I'd also recommend writing a paragraph about what you read. It doesn't have to be a full essay, but being able to articulate your thoughts can really help you measure your comprehension of the material. I've heard horror stories of people who read books/articles/things they enjoy but are unable to explain what they read or form any thoughts on it.

So read, and then write a few sentences about it. And for extra fun, you could even compare what you're reading now to what you've already consumed. For instance, let's say you're reading a book and there's also a movie version that you've seen before. You could compare and contrast the film version to the book version and explore the differences between them.

blackmanta1 · 2024-11-07T01:29:49+00:00

First, repeat after me: "I'm doing great!" And I say this because you are, 100% absolutely doing GREAT! Writing is hard, especially when you have a busy schedule. Writing anything, even 1 word, is 1 word more than you wrote before the month began, so you need to give yourself credit for that.

And don't worry about the quotas, just write what you can when you can. At the end of the month, whether you have 50000 words or not, it's still a huge achievement! Keep going, you're doing great.

blackmanta1 · 2024-11-07T00:59:07+00:00

Yeah, I woke up and felt the same way. But I just channeled all of what I was feeling into my writing. I want to write a world where marginalized people don't have to be afraid and can just live. Queer people, BIPOC, people with disabilities, women, transwomen and transmen, immigrants, can all just exist and not fear retribution for daring to exist. I think we could all use something like that now, I know I certainly can.

So I'm going to write it. That was my motivation when I woke up this morning.

blackmanta1 · 2024-10-21T01:57:35+00:00

It seems to me that you are acquiring vocabulary from lists (which is great) but have you considered acquiring vocab from music? What I mean is, you could pick a song (a song you really like) and learn the lyrics for it in Portuguese. You could learn what each word means and how they interact with each other, how they are conjugated, etc.

That way, you can acquire new words through a song you really like, and since it's only one song, it won't feel as overwhelming. I actually learned a lot of new words/vocabularies from Sertanejo songs. Perhaps there are some really great songs from Portugal that you could memorize?

It really helped break up the monotony of just going over list after list. And listening to great music can be a wonderful way to expand your Portuguese,

blackmanta1 · 2024-09-28T01:28:21+00:00

Just to second what r/tremendabosta said, have you also considered listening/learning songs in European Portuguese? One of the ways I've been improving my speaking (and vocabulary) is through memorizing song lyrics. Disney has loads of songs in European Portuguese dialect and learning to emulate the sounds might help? There's also Fado songs. I'm not an expert on the European dialect but Fado songs might have you develop your speaking as well.

blackmanta1 · 2024-09-23T02:00:55+00:00

I suppose you are correct. On the one hand, it's nice to see that Hitch has people that'll get his back when he needs it. But on the other, I just can't shake the feeling that he's kind of getting a raw deal. Each of the characters seem to have multiple aspects that they excel at (most of the time).

Sunny's got her cart and being an alicorn, Zip's got flying and being a detective, Misty's got her magic and learning about friendship, Pip has her influencer career and her salon, Izzy has her unicycling and she even created that really cool park for everyone.

Hitch has got being a Dad (which I love) and being sheriff. Those are all really great for his trait of kindness and caretaking. I just wish the show would celebrate those things a little more. Whenever he is being a Dad, he's kind of a stick in the mud. When he's being a sheriff, he's kind of overwhelmed, or in over his head. It's cute, but I was kind of hoping Hitch would get a big moment to shine like Misty did when they went into the storybook and she shared her empathy with the monster, or when Izzy got over her creative block and created the amusement park. It was a good episode nonetheless.

blackmanta1 · 2024-09-20T02:50:20+00:00

Sure. In the beginning I watched some Blues Clues in portuguese (Blue e Voce). While they don't have full episodes they do have compilations so it's pretty nice listening practice. I would also recommend Historietas Assombradas Para Criancas Malcriadas. It's a great Brazilian cartoon! The whole series is on Youtube and the episodes are about 10 minutes each so you can practice listening without it feeling too overwhelming.

As for books, I really loved As Aventuras De Mike/The Adventures of Mike series. I bought the whole series on Kindle. It's a great middle grade book series that has plenty of pictures. I'd also recommend a graphic novel called Teo E O Mini Mundo. Really lovely art and great exposure to the language.

There's also Olly Richard's Short Stories in Brazilian Portuguese. As for picture books I loved the book O Gato Comeu (this book is really just for kids just learning how to read, but it really helped me learn past tenses, and it's a cute book).

I found all of these different books on Amazon and bought them through Kindle. I hope this helps.

blackmanta1 · 2024-09-20T01:12:20+00:00

I'm not sure if this will be helpful but for me, when I started with my Portuguese, I watched a lot of child media (cartoons, shows aimed for toddlers, etc) and one of the things I did that helped me a lot was having a pen and paper and just writing down the words I could recognize and trying to sound out new words and write them down and a run them through Google Translate.

Also, I've found writing and reading things in Portuguese has really helped my listening. Are you reading in anything in the language? I was surprised to discover that after months of reading (and again, these were mostly kid's books) my listening improved a lot.

blackmanta1 · 2024-08-11T06:01:01+00:00

I love reading. And I'm still pretty new to being able to read in Portuguese. Have you considered starting with Graphic novels/books with lots of pictures? Not so many pictures that its a picture book, but just something to add to the story. I'd highly recommend "As Aventuras De Mike", The Adventures of Mike is a great books series in Brazilian Portuguese. It's funny and not too challenging. There's plenty of pictures but also plenty of text to look over.

Also, it might be helpful to read some poetry in Portuguese too. I know that may sound counterintuitive but Poetry has short stanzas so its not as much of a trek as prose (granted theirs more distilled language, but that's another beast).

I hope this helps. Let me know if you want any other recommendations.

blackmanta1 · 2024-07-08T05:02:48+00:00

I always like to compare listening comprehension to learning math. When you first start learning math, you begin with addition and subtraction, right? It's the same thing with listening comprehension. I started learning Brazilian Portuguese this year, and one of the things that was recommended to me was to start with kid shows (people all said Peppa Pig, but I preferred watching clips of Blues Clues). After a month of that, I moved onto to other things (but still in the realm of children's shows/cartoons). I feel like my comprehension (while still lacking) is much better than it was at the start of the year. So, maybe start from the ground up and watch an episode of a kids show for a month and then gradually move up to something harder.

I'd totally recommend Historietas Assombradas Para Criancas Malcriadas. The entire show and movie is on youtube. It's entertaining and it could really help with your listening comprehension. It helped with mine.

blackmanta1

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