http://forums.webfictionguide.com/ Web Fiction Guide Forums » Tag: angst - Recent Topics en Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:32:40 +0000 http://forums.webfictionguide.com/topic/how-to-freak-out-friends-and-influence-people#post-4576 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:53:31 +0000 Wysteria 4576@http://forums.webfictionguide.com/ <p>The point of this thread: to tell this story to some folks who might have had the same problem, at some point. </p> <p>This is going to be slightly incoherent, I think. I write this story called Tapestry, over here: <a href="http://wsteria.livejournal.com" rel="nofollow">http://wsteria.livejournal.com</a> and last night, I wrote up a segment that'd been holding me up for months. In it, the main character and her husband have a knock-down, drag-out fight. Without the knocking down or dragging out - no physical confrontation. Just a lot of shouting. </p> <p>Anyway, the problem that came up is that a friend of mine found it a mite (more than a mite) triggering. It was their break point, at which point they just didn't like the main character's husband anymore. He had Gone Too Far. It was Not On. </p> <p>I don't even disagree - he said a good many things that were absolutely horrific. It's just startling, because it didn't change my opinion of him one jot - I expected it of him, and thought that it was fine. Sev, the husband, and Suki, the narrator, live in a medieval/feudal setting where it is to be expected that they both grew up with certain expectations of what a husband and wife act like. For their time period / country / whatnot, he's progressive as all get out for never hitting her. Still, I can't use that as an excuse with someone who's viewing it from a modern standpoint - 'well, he did tell her to go die on the streets like a whore, but he didn't hit her.' That does /not/ make it all better, man. </p> <p>What makes it better, in my head, is that back when they were first married, Sev and Suki worked really hard to figure out how they were going to relate to each other, given that he wanted to rebel against the man and be decent to his wife, and she wanted to be feminine (by her standards). So they worked out, in their way, what amounts to a dominant/submissive framework. And she did not safeword out during their fight, and could have. By both their standards, all is cool (well, kinda touchy because they just had a fight, but cool). </p> <p>But on the other hand, I freaked a close friend right out with something I wrote, after being pretty happy to have started writing again after a long hiatus. That sucks pretty hard, right there. </p> http://forums.webfictionguide.com/topic/depressed-when-its-all-over#post-2705 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:43:14 +0000 irk 2705@http://forums.webfictionguide.com/ <p>I just posted up the final chapter of Novel 1 in The Peacock King Trilogy. I finished writing the actual novel sometime in January, so my posts have mostly consisted of that backlog plus some edits as I go. Basically when I've been posting, I haven't been writing anything new. It's been *done* for two months. After I was finished writing I felt kind of weird, like there was no more work to do and this sort of confused me, and I expected to need a break but was surprised that that wasn't the case.</p> <p>Now that I've actually POSTED the last chapter, I'm totally mopey about it. I had to force myself to finish the illustration for it today so that I COULD post it. I didn't expect to be this sad, especially since I've got a good chunk of Novel 2 already written! It's like my baby grew up, and now I get to go through the troublesome years of raising a teenager.</p> <p>Has anybody else felt like this after finishing a story, or an I just a nut? </p> http://forums.webfictionguide.com/topic/talks-on-writing-elizabeth-gilbert#post-2500 Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:58:49 +0000 NiSp 2500@http://forums.webfictionguide.com/ <p>i recently stumbled across this talk by elizabeth gilbert and thought i'd post it here for those who haven't heard her or don't know about TED.</p> <p>she discusses muses and genius and how they affect us... and suggests how to handle them - both before and after our successes. how to not become that twisted, manic-depressive, angst-riddled pile of slush on the floor. it could even help alleviate writers block, meh, gah and all their derivatives.</p> <p>the talk is interesting, funny and very well presented... well worth a few minutes!</p> <p><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html">ELIZABETH GILBERT ON GENIUS</a> </p> http://forums.webfictionguide.com/topic/writers-meh#post-655 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:22:22 +0000 Sarah Suleski 655@http://forums.webfictionguide.com/ <p>There must be a difference between Writer's Block and Writer's Meh. Block implies, to me, that you don't know where your story should go next or you just can't get the words to flow or the scenes to play out the way they should.</p> <p>Writer's Meh is when you know what should happen, what needs writing next, how to write it, but you just. can't. seem. to. do. it. I've heard this described as burnout and that the best way to take care of it is to take a break. Thing is, I haven't done any serious work on writing in over a month. I've written a couple (what I think are) rather half assed bonus stories and a very bleh installment of Dreamers. Today I've been trying to work on the next chapter of Queen of Seven and I'm still in this mood where I just don't care.</p> <p>I mean, I want to update my site. I want to show my readers what happens next. I don't want to write, though, I just want to have written.</p> <p>I'm not sure what the cure for this is. More time off doesn't seem like a good idea, as the idea behind having a site was to, you know, post stuff to it. Working on a different project doesn't seem to be doing it either, I have two projects to choose from and they both disinterest me.</p> <p>Chris suggested, not so subtly, (:P) that I should be reading and reviewing. I feel just as "meh" about this though, and don't think that's a good way to go into reviewing. I'm in such a "blah blah who cares" mode that I'm sure any author I pick to victimize with a "blah blah who cares" review would rather I just amused myself by staring at the wall instead.</p> <p>So, in short, *whine whine bitch moan*. I'm stuck in a rut of utter apathy. </p> http://forums.webfictionguide.com/topic/update-frequency-buffers-and-pacing#post-52 Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:39:54 +0000 Jim Zoetewey 52@http://forums.webfictionguide.com/ <p>I don't know about other people, but I'm generally unsatisfied with how far I'm getting in the story on any given week.</p> <p>I update twice a week (Tuesday and Friday). I try to have an installment ready by 1 or 2 am my time (Eastern), but often I end up updating the next morning, early afternoon or even evening of the day I plan for. This isn't the end of the world because in the end, it's always up.</p> <p>It's just that it would be easier if I ever developed a buffer, of say, one post or wrote shorter updates or something... Except honestly, if anything I should be writing longer updates (because seriously I just spent two weeks in which all my characters did was talk and this is a superhero serial...).</p> <p>Mind you, all that talking had a purpose and we're just about out of it, but with two updates a week, you really can have two weeks of talking fairly easily. </p> <p>In an ideal world I'd be doing three posts of about the same length I'm currently doing, and then, (or so I tell myself) the story would move faster.</p> <p>...</p> <p>Hmmn. Well, that was a bit of a ramble. There may even be a point in there somewhere.</p> <p>Deeply hidden.</p> <p>Anyway, I guess I'm not looking for suggestions so much as checking whether other people feel my pain.</p> <p>Though I'll take suggestions. </p> http://forums.webfictionguide.com/topic/feeling-ambivalent-or-frustrated-not-sure-which#post-152 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:34:35 +0000 Chris Poirier 152@http://forums.webfictionguide.com/ <p>This week, I spent about 8-10 hours writing Winter Rain. From my logs, it looks like about 80 people have read each of those two installments. 4 bothered to comment (2 on each). It has left me trying to pin down my reasons for writing, because, this weekend, I've got other projects that need my attention, yet I'm feeling guilty about canceling today's installment.</p> <p>The way I see it, either I'm writing this for myself, or I'm writing it for my readers. If I'm writing it for myself, then clearly, I get to set my priorities, and I shouldn't feel guilty about them. But if I'm writing it for my readers, is 4 comments on 8-10 hours work sufficient reason to bother prioritizing Winter Rain over other projects? I'm honestly not sure it is. Don't get me wrong -- I have some great regulars who frequently comment, and they are definitely the reason I've gotten this far. But the dearth of feedback has me considering dropping my update frequency again, because I really do have other things I'd like to do with my free time.</p> <p>What do you think? Am I being a whiny little prick, here? Should I be thrilled to be getting the feedback rate I am getting? Or should I be considering some kind of incentive-based update schedule if I want more?</p> <p>Thanks. </p>