BendtedWreath

Congrats to @impunity and @Thirdly!!! What sharp eyes!

Agreed. It was an entertaining read.

I hope you enter next year, too.

I sometimes struggle to make the dialogue fit what is happening in the scene without it sounding too forced or off. Sometimes it comes off as too cheesy. But an actual conversation with a friend aloud can also come off as cheesy sometimes (depending on the friend and what's happening), so I try not to latch on too hard to dialogue. 🤣 That's amazing.

They're stunning! I know it wasn't the best time for you, but you really came out on the other end with a new skill.

Please tell me you have pictures of some of your crafts.

Oh no! 🤣

I know you were just joking, but your hugging implication just brought something to mind. That character likely never had a genuine hug from a female familial figure. If he received that kind of hug from someone he knew and cared about, it would break him. You mentioned that interactions aren't always romantically linked, and I had completely missed that fact (the interaction regarding a female familial figure)! 😲Thank you, Thirdly!! I tried creating a "deadline" of sorts regarding seasons, as it would have been fitting to have the story completed by some seasons better than others. But it hasn't worked thus far for me. I get what you mean, though. If I had to say what I feel would be the closest thing to my "drive," it would be to portray a character worth remembering. I also write as part of my therapy in recent days. So, perhaps another of my drives is to see a change in the character that I'd like to change in myself, as well. Thanks again, Thirds.

🤣I think I'm much more of a planner than a pantser, so I greatly appreciate @Jason Rimbaud's input. Even beyond writing, his dedication to his restaurant is inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing your experience, as well! Sometimes the title comes to me first, but most of the time, I have to hunt some kind of title down from what I had written. I think it's amazing that the ending comes to you first. Even strong beginnings are challenging for me. I'd have to sacrifice my focus to daydream. I can pretend to multitask all I want, but I can't. I hyperfocus so hard on whatever it is I'm doing, I tend to block too much out. That's why I try to be strict with my time, and set many alarms on my phone, otherwise I'd ignore everything else that needs to be done. I try to allocate time to "aim" my focus on one set of tasks over others throughout the day.

At 30k a year, I'd only be at 150k words in five years. 😂 You are at the very least not slower than me. I research too many things for my stories to full cut myself off from the phone and internet. But maybe I ought to give that a try, as well. 🤔 I find your method fascinating, as well, how you're able to write such a big segment that you can then cut that draft into chapters. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I greatly appreciate you, Cassie.

I'm curious to see what some of your longer work is like. I should make another reading list. Very true. Never thought of it that way. I find it fascinating that you're able to do either given the circumstances. Everyone has such unique strengths. I think part of my problem is that I have to figure out what works for me (regarding bigger projects, the small ones aren't too much of a trouble). I'm already going to try out some of the things everyone's mentioned, just to see if any of it helps me figure some things out. 🤣 Yes, no two writers write exactly the same and all methods vary behind the scenes. Even so, seeing all of the different routines and structures is inspiring. That all of you shared even that much with me makes a sap like me fight back eye allergies because it reminds me I'm not the only one who gets stuck sometimes. There is an end in the horizon and I just have to keep working my way through to reach it. Thank you so much.

On the contrary, I can't thank you enough for sharing another glimpse of your methods. You've told me before that you edit rough drafts until you're satisfied with them. I want to get to that stage, the first full draft completed, so that I can get to the 'editing about half the number of times J edits.' Not because I can't imagine myself editing as many times as you do, but because I would never be able to stop myself from endless editing. 😂 I already do have something similar to your "D heads to an island and gets blown up by a goat" written down, these placeholders for future scenes and chapters. One of the problems is that some of those scenes feel out of order, or like too many unnecessary steps. There is also too much indirect confrontation (I'm sure some isn't much of an issue, but my case feels unbalanced). Some of the side characters have no problem with their own direct confrontations. But I don’t want it to feel like a sudden personality shift when the main character does it, which means I have to show him at different levels of confronting the conflicts being gradually more and more direct. 😅 This thought was indeed in my head before I began writing, but all the details of the where, when, and "how much" just don't feel like enough for the change I want to show happening. It feels like the first half of the story is stronger than the second half, and I need to figure out how to elevate the second half.

I never thought of it that way. But it is similar to how I feel, if I stall after a certain length without something to work towards, it might as well be a short story. 🤣 It’s been a year and more for me, but I find I don't mind it, as I dont plan on posting it live until I'm fairly happy with it. I don’t have to be 💯 percent satisfied, but even 75% content is better than anything less. That just means I have to read your older work.

I... will have to hunt down that event somehow. Might have to call on some admins to help me dig it up.

I disagree there. I'm sure you would be able to match that level in the same number of words if you wanted to. But you'd have to really want to create a compact experiment. Otherwise, it wouldn't feel fun.

I'm very much still working on that. Absolutely, Sensei! 🫡

I agree. My first goal when I started the project last year was to finish it by Halloween of that same year. Then, it was to finish it by this Halloween. Now, it's just to finish it with all my might, whenever that happens. 😂 That's a fascinating way to go about it! It makes perfect sense that if an idea doesn't hold your own interest more than a couple of times, it won't feel engaging enough to write about. I also find it amusing that your idea of short is 30k, and that's almost my current word count. 🤣 I'm glad it isn't that I've fallen out of love with my project though. I love it fine, I just need to learn how to portray what I'd like it to portray. Wow, yes, I know a couple of other amazing writers who feel the same way as this. I, unfortunately, want- no, I need to know the ending clearly enough to write towards it. That's another struggle I've been facing at this "possibly midway, but I'm not sure, because this is my first multichapter story" stage. I want the ending to mean something to, at the very least, the characters, if not me. But it's just not clear enough for me yet. I can't see it. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences!

Poetry has never been in my wheelhouse, but I understand what you mean. Keep track of everything. I'm really sorry to hear that. An abundance of time is also a curse. I agree. I think that's exactly how I've been treating my project! As if each chapter is its own story of its own... and then I keep having to go back to try to make all the chapters before it make cohesive sense, and it's just been a snail's pace for me. 😂 I also agree with the balance and not too many cliffies. In my case, it's the opposite. Not enough cliffies or chapter-ending variations. I only noticed thanks to the help of other, more experienced writers (and I'm grateful to every single one of them for sparing some time for me, yourself included). Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.

Indeed, I've been noticing the differences in methods everyone has. I think the way your ideas flow is fascinating, just as all other pantsers able to translate what they envision into words. I feel I'm still at the stage where I really need to learn what "chronological order" looks like and what comes first before I try venturing outside of it. I think the "getting it all down first" has been challenging for me because I am unsure of what that order is like.

To anyone who isn't aware, I'm still very green when it comes to writing. I've noticed that when a project is small, less than 10k words, I can set aside a few ways up to a week to get it done on my off time. However, I've also been working on a multi-chaptered project with only around 13 chapters or so to show for it for one entire year now. Everyday life has many obstacles, yes, but it's not like I have no time in my day that I can set aside for writing. In fact, I have a solid 2 hours of commuting time I should be putting to good use. My questions for everyone are: 1. What is your general timeframe from the start of a project to its conclusion? 2. Do you lack focus sometimes, even (or especially) when you have the time available to you? 3. Do you write everything down first and then section it off into chapters, or do you build it up one chapter at a time?

As @Bill W said, there is a lot of entertaining content here. There really is something for everyone.

Great top choices. I had no concern over who'd be in the top regarding the theme, as everyone really nailed the theme this year. No question about it. Congrats to @Valkyrie @Inkognito @CassieQ and @Mark Arbour!!