Writing goals

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

Idk if anyone is interested but I thought it worth at least mentioning because I’ve been enjoying it

There’s an app called SnipFic that just came out created by an author I follow on IG and it’s like you write based on a daily prompt (or just anything else) a short 100 word max snippet and then post it and other people can read it and stuff

I’ve been liking it so far because even when I don’t find time to sit and hash out 500+ words in my WIP, I still intentionally wrote something each day and it keeps my writing brain switched on

It’s only on iOS rn but it’s in development for android

View attachment 4267103

That looks insanely fun

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

The only thing i saw that i would change personally is the word ‘waves’ appears twice.
But i didnt notice it first read-through so it probably doesnt matter and is more personal preference

I didn't notice that myself, but good point. I think that is more of a personal preference, as if I didn't want to use the word twice, I would have needed to use the Thesaurus. But then again, if the sentences weren't part of the issue, that word might not have been used twice.

OK. So first things first, who's the main character (narrator)? Maybe if you're doing 3rd person limited (I'm assuming), perhaps include more of what he's feeling (fear, adrenaline) to create a sense of immediacy in the scene?
I dunno just a suggestion

Kostas. He's the narrator, and it's in third person limited. Very good point! I was kinda noticing that, but didn't put much thought into it. Thanks so much!

This is a true saying and worthy of all men to be received.


This isn't a hard fix. You just need to vary your sentence length and core structure. So far, every sentence is sharing the same grammatical structure of, "The subject 'verbed'," so to speak.

What I would do is chop it up in some areas and combine others, this is very lyrical already and can have even more rhythm if you pace it a tad different.

Just for your first few sentences--
"The ship leaped from the pool. Fighting against the drag of waves on the skiff, Kostas cut power, turning sharply."

Make some shorter, make others longer. Try reversing the sentence order.
Ooh, and my favorite-- give certain sentences their own paragraph. It really ups the ante, makes it read even faster too.
Like this.
See?
Dramatic, amiright?

That... is perfect! Thank you so much for that! I needed this, and I'll need to see how, and if, I can put this into practice. I'll probably need to use your sentence as a "blueprint" until I can get it to register more. (I hope you don't mind; I would be using different words, etc, just copying your sentence structure to learn my own.)



On a side note, I think that was probably another, but more underlying problem in that piece... There's two separate boats there, and two separate crews. Kostas was driving a yacht (hense "ship"- me trying to differ my wording), and a skiff is a much smaller boat and might not be called a ship. Kostas is a captain, but when captain is mentioned, it was referring to what appeared as the leader on this skiff, as these were all strangers to Kostas.
It was a short paragraph, and there was enough work to show there were more than one boat and crew, but taken out of context, it couldn't be read alone without being confusing. So even on that note, thank you for pointing that out, even though it was indirectly (and possibly not intentional).

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I need to post more in this thread.
Somebody hit me with the "No-lurking" baton . . .

Update on my current progress.
I have only 685 words left to hit my 95k goal. However, ah, um, I definitely cannot end the story in only six hundred words, so it'll probably land in the 100k+ range.
Now, I'm actually pretty excited by this, I've got a lot of fun scenes to work towards that I will be reaching in very little time.

And, on that note, does anyone here use the Pomodoro technique to write?
I was really running up against a wall, (only getting out about 150 words in a day. Yuck.) but once I broke out my little, green, EXTREMELY LOUD I MIGHT ADD, timer set to twenty minutes, I've been able to write at least 600 words a day.

It might be the fear and anticipation of that evil tolling bell of doom that spurs me on.

I've never tried it, but I am aware of it and might have recommended it before, just under a different name. (I've never heard it called that.)

I wrote myself a lovely note to fix my story. Every time I find something like this, I cannot be bothered fixing it but know if I don't note it, I'll just forget...

I might write in the car in a bit. I'm on a quest to find a capybara to photograph today though.

"Deary," I love that.

I do feel like I've written similar notes. Oh the pieces from the writer that nobody will ever see. Sometimes they're the most priceless things ever written!

Very well said! Varying the sentence structure was going to be my suggestion, but knocked it out of the park with your examples.

If you're ever trying to explain something to me, examples are always the best tool. I learn the best from examples, whereas anything else is just words. (Her giving me an example really helpful me a lot.)

If there is anything else you'd like to add, no matter how small it is, I'm welcoming it. Everyone who responded gave something that was helpful.

Yeah... after looking at my story and the sheer amount of LACK of time I have, I've decided to abandon my "goal" of finishing C1. In fact, the whole universe I'm writing is going into a quiet corner where it can stay until I'm ready for it. There are other things in life currently demanding my attention, and it's not feasible for me to continue.

I'll still be lurking here, though

Noo.... Don't give up just because you're busy! Find time! Like I like to mention a lot, even if it's at 3am. Write! If you abandon it now, it might never be picked up again. (And yes, there is a thing called "the busy writers.") Write even if you are busy. Work your imagination even if it's the few minutes in the bathroom. (I'd add the commute to work, but a high action scene might put the foot a little too close to the floor, or a sad, slow scene might get an angry line of traffic behind you... Obviously not all of this is writing time, though writing time is highly important.)

 

[Isabella7Storm5]

Find time!

That’s true
There’s always time
Sometimes finding it leaves me feeling like a shell of a man
All in a good days work tho
Comes with the territory

I think tho in all seriousness
Instead of trying to take on too much or just not doing anything
Maybe making the goal smaller
Like as manageable as possible
50 words a day

Or
If you’re building a universe (which is super fun) really make it your goal to develop it

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

That’s true
There’s always time
Sometimes finding it leaves me feeling like a shell of a man
All in a good days work tho
Comes with the territory

I think tho in all seriousness
Instead of trying to take on too much or just not doing anything
Maybe making the goal smaller
Like as manageable as possible
50 words a day

Or
If you’re building a universe (which is super fun) really make it your goal to develop it

@Eroica

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

"Deary," I love that.

I call myself all sorts of stuff I used deary/dearie for other people too sometimes...

I do feel like I've written similar notes. Oh the pieces from the writer that nobody will ever see. Sometimes they're the most priceless things ever written!

I guess I've just been making my document more "me", instead of relying on my memory for those things to fix/add/etc. adding a note that catches my attention is great. Some of the notes are genuine plot points that I write down as I think of them too, cause there's just so much going on with this.
Later on I added one of the likely "solutions" to that comment

Stories are basically us talking to ourselves so why can't we talk to ourselves when planning/editing? I just really like making this whole process "fun" for me, it just makes me love it all the more...

 

[Somewhere_In_The_Clouds]

Hit 5011 words today

 

[Isabella7Storm5]

Stories are basically us talking to ourselves so why can't we talk to ourselves when planning/editing?

I do and it usually goes something like this

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I call myself all sorts of stuff I used deary/dearie for other people too sometimes...

I guess I've just been making my document more "me", instead of relying on my memory for those things to fix/add/etc. adding a note that catches my attention is great. Some of the notes are genuine plot points that I write down as I think of them too, cause there's just so much going on with this.
Later on I added one of the likely "solutions" to that comment
View attachment 4267437

Stories are basically us talking to ourselves so why can't we talk to ourselves when planning/editing? I just really like making this whole process "fun" for me, it just makes me love it all the more...

Now you've gotten me looking at my notes, looking for my funniest moments. Besides checking all my notes in extra tabs, this is the most I could find that hasn't been checked off yet:

Very true on what you're saying though. Also, when writing, we need to write everything in the POV's voice, so these little notes is where we can express our own voice.

Hit 5011 words today

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

While having my breakfast, I left my laptop open to @RDchicken99's example to come up with my own sentence, using hers as a prompt. I came up with the first easy, then I threw in a second one. (These were both done with me practicing my typing.)

This is a true saying and worthy of all men to be received.


This isn't a hard fix. You just need to vary your sentence length and core structure. So far, every sentence is sharing the same grammatical structure of, "The subject 'verbed'," so to speak.

What I would do is chop it up in some areas and combine others, this is very lyrical already and can have even more rhythm if you pace it a tad different.

Just for your first few sentences--
"The ship leaped from the pool. Fighting against the drag of waves on the skiff, Kostas cut power, turning sharply."

Make some shorter, make others longer. Try reversing the sentence order.
Ooh, and my favorite-- give certain sentences their own paragraph. It really ups the ante, makes it read even faster too.
Like this.
See?
Dramatic, amiright?

That... is perfect! Thank you so much for that! I needed this, and I'll need to see how, and if, I can put this into practice. I'll probably need to use your sentence as a "blueprint" until I can get it to register more. (I hope you don't mind; I would be using different words, etc, just copying your sentence structure to learn my own.)

They are a little different in some ways, like amount of words and what not, but I still tried my best to copy her structure.