The SolAARium: Discuss the craft of writing - Alphabetical Index in the 1st Post

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5 - Do something small. Much like tidying a messy room it can seem daunting when faced by the entire situation. So start small. Try and think about just one plot point or character issue.

This is unbelievably helpful. I've just realised that I am planning too many plots in my story at one go.

@Director thanks
 
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I would totally agree with stnylan and Director. Writer's block can be a sickness and the only cure is to just writing something. It doesn't matter how bad it is. At least it keeps the muscles exercised. Your last post suggests that perhaps you are over-thinking but that may not be the case. I have found that many times I get blocked because I simply don't know what comes next, or don't like what comes next and am unsure how to overcome that hurdle. That can block things up, no doubt.

Take it into a new direction...change something up. I've also found that watching something close to what I am writing will give me ideas that may unlock the block. But I am cinema minded in my writing. Maybe read something close to what you are writing that may serve the same purpose. At the end of it, though, a writer writes. What gets the juices flowing is the excitement. What causes it to stall is uncertainty. Many times I have put out a less than stellar post because I simply wanted to move forward. Get over the hurdle. It's not perfect, but it kept me going. Habit is the best cure for writer's block. Force yourself to write something every day if you can. And I would also suggest, if you really want to write, to read Stephen King's "On Writing." It is a fascinating book and one could not find a more prolific writer in this age. He may not be your cup of tea, but he puts out mammoth work year in and out. Not a bad source, if you ask me.

Finally, I love that you came to this source for the question. This thread has always been a great resource and it is somewhat sad that it is no longer stickied. However, it will always remain a place to discuss the craft. Good on you for recognizing it, Creator! :)
 
somewhat sad that it is no longer stickied
No one reads the stickies. :p This is an example of "if you love something let it go, if it was meant to be it'll come back."

For the sake of a bit of color, I'll go the other way:

Honestly I've never found the "write through the block" advice to work (personally), unless I completely leave a piece alone and work in a totally different genre/medium for a while.

The things that do work for me:
- World Building in that world
- Taking long breaks
- Hiking
- Sitting on the patio
- Booze (and thus a ton of editing)
 
No one reads the stickies. :p This is an example of "if you love something let it go, if it was meant to be it'll come back."

I cannot really argue with that because by and large, that is true. However, it would (or could) be easier seen as a sticky rather than on page four. The latest forum build has much to do with that so that is no fault of anyone other than software. Still...this thread is a great resource.

And I must say, I love your suggestion number 3, Mr C. I love hiking and don't do it near enough these days. Damn smoking! :rolleyes:
 
And I must say, I love your suggestion number 3, Mr C. I love hiking and don't do it near enough these days. Damn smoking! :rolleyes:
Nothing makes me want to write about knights and rangers more than standing out in the middle of nowhere with my wife and a metric ton of biting insects. :eek:
 
Nothing makes me want to write about knights and rangers more than standing out in the middle of nowhere with my wife and a metric ton of biting insects. :eek:
Ask and ye shall receive. And I guess that is one good thing being a smoker. The bugs don't attack nearly as much. I have hiked nearly half of the Appalachian trail and have never had that issue. Now in the UP? That's a whole other thing. The black flies!
 
That's Funny...: An Unstudied Critique of Comedy AARs

Every year I struggle with the award category for Comedy AAR. What makes an AAR a Comedy AAR? Some years I just skip the category. Other years I actually apologize for not voting the category.

Does the author have to focus on comedy? Does the author even have to be consciously trying to be funny?

Today I cast a vote in the 2023 YAYAs for @Macavity116's Grand Theft Stellaris as the best Comedy AAR of 2023. But it's not a comedy AAR - it's dramatic and exciting and character driven and it's a thriller. But honestly I find it funnier than the "comedy AARs", I assume because I just don't have the same sense of humor as many of you do. :)

Some of the funniest books I've read aren't meant to be comedic. I love Lois McMaster Bujold's The Warrior's Apprentice. I love Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen by Sarah Bird (true story of a woman who pretended to be a male "buffalo soldier" in the American Civil War - great comedic scenes with General Sheridan). Both are dramatic character driven stories with danger and sadness and tragedy. But they also have situational comedy - crazy things happen and they're just funny. To me at least.

Maybe they're funnier to me because they're contrasted against all the serious stuff.

I'm not without a sense of humor. In college I even had a weekly comedy column, akin to The Onion.

I think John Scalzi's Redshirts is hilarious too (a Star Trek spoof), and while it's clearly meant to be comedic it's not all comedy and it's just different. It's sad and introspective at times. Deeply philosophical at others.

And I don't at all mean to demean the comedic AARs on our Forum. @Peter Ebbesen has an awesome sense of humor. I can tell. But I don't necessarily find it as funny as I do other stuff.

I just have a different sense of humor. I'm curious what some of your thoughts might be. What are some of your favorites? Let's highlight them! And what do you love about the Comedy AARs we have on the Forum? Maybe I'm missing some gems.

Rensslaer
 
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Thanks for reopening this space @Rensslaer . Although I have nothing to add regarding comedy (at this time), I do think it is long overdue that someone chanced necromancy and reopened this part of the forum. Glad one of the folks who cares so much about AARland finally did this. Thank you again.
 
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Well, I'm fairly certain it's only been closed for want of attention. And I'm hoping there's some renewed interest now.

In fact, the whole thread probably bears some re-reading, and if someone wanted to comment on an old comment it might spark some life into this again.

Rensslaer
 
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Hmm... I notice that @stnylan appears to have compiled an index in 2009 or so which is quoted at the bottom of @Lord Durham's initial post. And considering that this appears to have been dormant from 2011 to 2017, then again until the present it might remain pretty well comprehensive.

A good place to start if you're looking for something in particular.

Rensslaer
 
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Hmm... I notice that @stnylan appears to have compiled an index in 2009 or so which is quoted at the bottom of @Lord Durham's initial post. And considering that this appears to have been dormant from 2011 to 2017, then again until the present it might remain pretty well comprehensive.

A good place to start if you're looking for something in particular.

Rensslaer
Challenge accepted @Rensslaer .
Although there doesn't seem to be anything (yet) on what makes a good comedic AAR in general. (Although that conversation seems to be going on in a very deep way now over here, something that you started elsewhere.)
There is a post from way back in 2004 from @RossN asking about how to write comedic deaths for characters. This discussion includes ideas and examples from the @Director .
 
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It is nice to see this revived. I might have a post up soon...
 
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Well, I'm fairly certain it's only been closed for want of attention. And I'm hoping there's some renewed interest now.

In fact, the whole thread probably bears some re-reading, and if someone wanted to comment on an old comment it might spark some life into this again.

Rensslaer
Indeed true. And great to see some familiar names pop up! I almost said "old" but I do not wish to disrespect my elders. ;)

Throw out a topic and we can discuss it. :)
 
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"He said, unequivocally."

After reading through some 80 plus pages of @coz1's brilliant War of the Roses AAR, I posted a mildly humourous critique touching on elements of character development and the use of dialogue tags, or descriptors.

Which got me to thinking (and a not so subtle push from @Rensslaer and @coz1) about the SolAARium. Dialogue tags were discussed way back in the early days of this thread, though I saw no reason the topic couldn't be revisited.

There are two schools of thought regarding descriptors. Essentially it boils down to 'said' vs 'speech tags'. A quick Google search will reveal a hockey-sock full of discussion on the topic. At the end of the day, though, I believe the writer should use what they feel most comfortable with. In my case, I tend to use dialogue tags when writing fantasy, horror and historical fiction, and 'said' with YA, SF and modern settings.

Circling back to @coz1's War of the Roses, his use of dialogue coupled with an action descriptor works really well. His use of 'said' is virtually non-existent.

So, I'm curious what you writAARs prefer, assuming you have a preference at all.

Below is my post from @coz1's AAR. For shits and giggles, you may notice something unique about the post, considering the 'said' vs 'speech tag' topic. Also, there's a couple of Easter Eggs in it. Both have to do with names, though the more obscure one goes back to the Free Company days. There's a virtual case of beer waiting...

-------------------------------------------------

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Mr. York."

"Today we shall discuss '
The War of the Roses'. I trust every one has completed this assignment up to the present? Er, what are you doing, Amos?"

"I'm giving nods, Mr. York."

"Yes, well, that's quite enough nods for the day. Don't hurt yourself. Naomi, what--?"

"I'm standing tall, Mr. York."

"Ah. Well, please sit down. Good girl. OK. Actually, this is as good a place to start as any. It goes without saying this work is dialogue-heavy, as well as a little light on description. However, the author has turned a neat trick to keep the reader engaged. How is that? Anyone? Alex?"

"The author uses action descriptors to frame the dialogue, like 'giving nods' 'showing grins' and 'standing tall'".

"Very good. The use of these dialogue tags take what could be a dry reading and inject life through action and motion, helping shape a character's persona. Is there anything else that stood out from the use of these descriptors? Naomi?"

"'Said', Mr. York. The author never used the word 'said'. If he did, I don't recall seeing it."

"Good catch, Naomi. Whether that was by design or not, only the author can answer. There's a school of thought that leans toward the word 'said' as the only tag one should use, as its commonality makes the word invisible so a reader can focus on the dialogue itself. However, in this case the use of action coupled with dialogue works very well in a medieval setting. The author's word choice definitely gives the story an old English feel. Now, about the characters themselves. Any thoughts? Bobbie?"

"Margaret of Anjou is a narcissist. She's also an idiot. She only cares for herself and her needs, to the detriment of all else. And as Queen, that means to the detriment of the country. Kind of reminds me of our Prime Minister. But I digress. I thought the author did a marvellous job creating differing characters and infusing them with unique and consistent personalities. I was emotionally engaged with Margaret to the point I wanted to strangle her on more than one occasion. Kudos to the author for that. And don't get me started on Richard."

"Well, seeing you're on a roll, why not?"

"There's not much different between Margaret and Richard. He may not have narcissistic tendencies, but he's obstinate and single minded. England has just come out of a civil war. The country needs time to heal, but there's Richard, right back in the thick of it, England be damned; the people be damned; the treasury be damned. The only one with any sense at the moment is Warwick, surprisingly enough. His character has actually matured over the years, from brash to thoughtful. Again, kudos to the author."

"Interesting breakdown, Bobbie. Anyone else? Amos?"

"But war is fun."

"Thank you, Amos. How about you, Bueller. Anything to add? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller--?"

"Bueller's not in today, Mr. York. Off sick, apparently."

"Thank you, Camina. OK. Good job, class. As you can see,
The War of the Roses is a consistently enthralling work. In the meantime, until our next session, I want you all to read 'Book IV: The Free Company and the Last Bastion of Empire', a story of the fall of Constantinople. That's it for today, class."
 
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"He said, unequivocally."

I chuckled at this.

I just wanted to point out that, in vocal terms and in English, it's hard to speak unequivocally. The words you use may be unambiguous, but there just might be some better vocal descriptors to use. I could yell, whisper, or even belch the words out. But their ambiguity or lack thereof is not a vocal quality in many cases.

And that's a point I would make to novice writers (and experienced writers who are asking for editorial revisions). There's a big difference between telling the reader that the text in question means something and telling readers that the character speaking was using a specific set of vocal qualities.

Here's an example from a far better writer than I am (points to audience if they can guess who it is).

"Someone's going to have to be sick after all that," he said, raising his voice above the hubbub.

The reader is left to grasp, via context clues and other methods, what emotions/thoughts/feelings/ideas are behind those words. But the reader is made clear that the character in question raises the volume of their voice enough to be heard above the other people speaking.

It's not a hard and fast rule, but keeping this kind of thing in mind will help reduce the number of pointless or annoying dialog tags.
 
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I chuckled at this.

Not surprised you picked up on that. I could have used 'clearly', but I was just having a bit of fun, given the topic.

And yeah, I know what beer tastes like... ;)
 
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Robert Heinlein helped make science fiction into a respectable form of writing. I submit that you may or may not like his social and political views, but nobody can deny that the man can tell a story.

One of his tricks was to not explain: nobody needs to know how the blaster works. If they see it used as a gun, they know it functions as a gun. Move on.
Another was to keep in mind that he was 'competing for the reader's beer money', and that it was not good enough to be as good as others - to sell reliably, he had to be better.

Heinlein's Rules of Writing: Principles for Success
  • You must write.
  • You must finish what you start.
  • You must refrain from rewriting (except to editorial demand - no tinkering and tinkering)
  • You must put it on the market.
  • You must keep it on the market until sold.
Robert Sawyer adds a sixth rule: Start working on something else, either while you are waiting for the story to sell or if you are blocked.
 
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