Koakuma's Writer's Parlour ~ Have some tea and discuss fiction and writing here!

[IBakaChan]

I see, Nobu, I see BV

Fav yaoi-pairing? I'll do anything except RussiaxAnyone other than China or UK/USxJapan. I refuse to do Japan.
DenSu and GerIta are a big +.

[Nobu]

F-Fav yaoi pairing? But they're just all buddies, right?  :ohdear:

[IBakaChan]

Sure, sure... *Cue evil cackling*

And Russia is only giving China a massage now and then...
And those funny noises Japan hears almost every night is just Germany and Italy playing Twister...

Srsly, no pairings you like?

[FinnKaenbyou]

Since we're talking fiction, I may as well get something out of the way.

Am I the only one here who's never really confident in anything he writes? With every update I make to Rising Star I find myself wondering 'Crap, have I blown this? Have I taken the story down the wrong direction? Did I miss a bunch of silly looking typos? Am I going to look bad for screwing this segment up?', and I can't calm down over it until someone comments saying otherwise.

Is that part of the job description, or am I just paranoid?

[Tengukami]

All part of the process, Rou.

[Iced Fairy]

I can work myself into feeling confident about a piece, but even then there's lingering doubts.  I'm pretty sure it's standard writing procedure really.  If you use it as a reminder to proofread your work it can be a useful reaction.  Otherwise try to ignore it.

[Bias Bus]

Since we're talking fiction, I may as well get something out of the way.

Am I the only one here who's never really confident in anything he writes? With every update I make to Rising Star I find myself wondering 'Crap, have I blown this? Have I taken the story down the wrong direction? Did I miss a bunch of silly looking typos? Am I going to look bad for screwing this segment up?', and I can't calm down over it until someone comments saying otherwise.

Is that part of the job description, or am I just paranoid?

All part of the process, Rou.

Seriously.

I used to feel this way, until I stopped caring and wrote what I felt was the best. If I think I need some help, then I ask for it. Plain n' simple.

[Esifex]

I'm still halfway through that phase myself - anything that doesn't get positive feedback starts to wither, a la Everlasting Wanderers. Is that on the third page by now? Hah.

[Hello Purvis]

Feedback and useful criticism helps a whole lot. I try to leave it whenever I read something.

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

Yeah ... sometimes, when I finally release, I'm feeling like "argh, but I still need to ... BAH SCREW IT I'LL JUST PUT IT OUT NOW IT IS TIME TO PUT IT OUT NOW"

[Bias Bus]

Having little to no feedback on your written work is the same as folks saying "We're too concerned with other stories to care about yours, keep writing and we'll continue to not care."

[IBakaChan]

Having little to no feedback on your written work is the same as folks saying "We're too concerned with other stories to care about yours, keep writing and we'll continue to not care."

You just made me think "Then I might as well just forget about my fanfic and do something else."

...But then again, it is Hetalia, and this forum is generally for Touhou, so... >_>

[Tengukami]

It may also mean that they have nothing to add, that they doubt their critiquing abilities, that they prefer to just read, etc.

[Dead Princess Sakana]

I'm with Ammy here. A number of fics get few comments, but the View-count indicates that a lot of people are reading it. Don't let lack of comments discourage you.

[Jana]

I run a text-adventure game on the RPG board, and even if there are only a few regular players/posters, both the viewcount and some private comments let me know that people are continuing to read it. It's not fanfiction, but it's still related to what you're talking about, so...

[Hello Purvis]

Indeed, don't discount the viewcount.

[Nobu]

New feature proposition for Bizarro MotK: the Like button.

[IBakaChan]

I'm gonna start another Hetalia fic~
...But IDK who's gonna be in it.

...
...
...NOOOOOBUUUUUU. What characters do you want me to useeee~?
I won't make yaoi out of it :3
Maybe...

[Tengukami]

New feature proposition for Bizarro MotK: the Like button.

I've been thinking Favorites - like Metafilter's system, where they serve as both Likes and bookmarks - for comments and threads would be good for MotK, too.

[Iced Fairy]

New feature proposition for Bizarro MotK: the Like button.

Okay so we need to implement the feature, so I can Like the post, so we can encourage the mods to implement the feature....

[Netwarrior]

Since we're talking fiction, I may as well get something out of the way.

Am I the only one here who's never really confident in anything he writes? With every update I make to Rising Star I find myself wondering 'Crap, have I blown this? Have I taken the story down the wrong direction? Did I miss a bunch of silly looking typos? Am I going to look bad for screwing this segment up?', and I can't calm down over it until someone comments saying otherwise.

Is that part of the job description, or am I just paranoid?

I feel this, too. I'm writing the "Touhou - The so-called Baby Boom" in an English version based on the Portuguese version I made previously. The versions are somehow very different from on to another, because I feel that I screwed up the plot on thew Portuguese version, so I'm reiventing the plot on this English version.

I have a thing that I say to mimself when I'm writing, and I'm not sure if it's true, but...
The thing is: "If you have fun when writing something, the reader will have fun when reading that."

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

"If you have fun when writing something, the reader will have fun when reading that."

It depends, I suppose, but that sounds about right.

[Bias Bus]

More or less. Of course, then you get into things people don't think are fun even though you know it's awesome to write it...

[Dizzy H. "Muffin" Muffin]

Well, assuming "skilled writer," it more-or-less works. Though yeah, I've found myself capable of writing things I wouldn't want to actually read/consume ...

[Coin Spire]

More or less. Of course, then you get into things people don't think are fun even though you know it's awesome to write it...

It's called eccentricity isn't it? It's a fun trait to have, in my opinion.

[Bias Bus]

It's called eccentricity isn't it? It's a fun trait to have, in my opinion.

Sure, whatever.

[DracoOmega]

Don't you just hate it when you have a bunch of material that you want to work with, have written outlines for a number of scenes you really like, and yet you're missing that one important plot thread that allows them all to fit together logically? I know where I want to arrive, I'm just not sure how to get there in a way that's internally consistent. =/

[Iced Fairy]

Don't you just hate it when you have a bunch of material that you want to work with, have written outlines for a number of scenes you really like, and yet you're missing that one important plot thread that allows them all to fit together logically? I know where I want to arrive, I'm just not sure how to get there in a way that's internally consistent. =/

Sounds like every story over a page I've writen ever.  Writing the connecting lines between the punch scenes is always a pain.  It's especially hard if those scenes aren't the beginning and end, so you need to create something to draw in the audience.  And sometimes scenes get altered a lot from the connecting bits.  You just have to roll with it.

My only suggestion is to sit and beat at them until something forms.  Occasionally I'll skip to the part I can write and work from there, but I've burnt a lot of hours staring at the screen. 

The only thing I hate more are the times when I have a scene, but don't know how to write it.

[Hello Purvis]

The only thing I hate more are the times when I have a scene, but don't know how to write it.

This is me all the time.

Also holy shitballs that avatar.

[Iced Fairy]

Also holy shitballs that avatar.

I only wish I'd found it for the contest, so I could have Marisa pouring out a bottle of 40 for Reimu.