✍️ Writing
A community for writers, like poems, fiction, non-fiction, short stories, long books, all those sorts of things, to discuss writing approaches and what's new in the writing world, and to help each other with writing.
Rules for now:
1. Try to be constructive and nice. When discussing approaches or giving feedback to excerpts, please try to be constructive and to maintain a positive vibe. For example, don't just vaguely say something is bad but try to list and explain downsides, and if you can, also find some upsides. However, this is not to say that you need to pretend you liked something or that you need to hide or embellish what you disliked.
2. Mention own work for purpose and not mainly for promo: Feel free to post asking for feedback on excerpts or worldbuilding advice, but please don't make posts purely for self promo like a released book. If you offer professional services like editing, this is not the community to openly advertise them either. (Mentioning your occupation on the side is okay.) Don't link your excerpts via your website when asking for advice, but e.g. Google Docs or similar is okay. Don't post entire manuscripts, focus on more manageable excerpts for people to give feedback on.
3. What happens in feedback or critique requests posts stays in these posts: Basically, if you encounter someone you gave feedback to on their work in their post, try not to quote and argue against them based on their concrete writing elsewhere in other discussions unless invited. (As an example, if they discuss why they generally enjoy outlining novels, don't quote their excerpts to them to try to prove why their outlining is bad for them as a singled out person.) This is so that people aren't afraid to post things for critique.
4. All writing approaches are valid. If someone prefers outlining over pantsing for example, it's okay to discuss up- and downsides but don't tell someone that their approach is somehow objectively worse. All approaches are on some level subjective anyway.
5. Solarpunk rules still apply. The general rules of solarpunk of course still apply.
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For my goal, I said I wanted to write another blog article for my realname website. So while I didn't do that... I did manage to scratch out a half dozen or so rough drafts 🙈 I've been struck by the curse of creative restlessness haha, and so I find myself overflowing with ideas, starting little projects, jotting down many outlines; but ultimately finishing nothing.
In a way, I'm building up my own rough version of a story seed library. It'll be fun to pick over them and see what's worth cultivating later, when I'm a little less restless.
Oh, so like a short story collection? Sounds very exciting!
Haha it's closer to a collection of snippets that might become short stories or other projects.
Oooo I love the idea of a story seed library. It lets you harness that creative energy while its there :)
Im glad you've had an inspired month, even if it hasn't resulted in a finished project lol
I think I do something quite similar, although in different form. When I get an interesting idea, I put it down in an "Ideas' Drawer" and let them rest. If after two years they're still interesting, then they're worth writing a novel out of.
Now, this is not financial advice, but this method of sketching the prompts and see what grows can work very well and I support it!
I heard of the sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card (problematic fellow, but had some decent notes on writing) having a similar process of letting ideas germinate--I think for two years exactly, too.
But yes, I love poring over my old notes for inspiration. It's so cool leafing through them and coming across an idea that you'd forgotten and getting inspired by it.