Contrast-Necrobat In reply to leiyue [2016-04-21 08:17:02 +0000 UTC]

Oh no, where? I looked through my entire gallery, but all the 44's are there and accounted for. Which Part are you referring to?

I remember that Part 3: Subchapter 43 was too long for DA (I kept getting a "maximum length" error, or something like that), and I had to post a link to SoFurry instead. Maybe that's the one you're talking about? If so, that was the end of Part 3, so the next subchapter would have been Part 4: Subchapter 1.

Could you maybe link me to the subchapter before the missing one? If there's an error somewhere I'll fix it right away.

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leiyue In reply to Contrast-Necrobat [2016-04-22 01:33:24 +0000 UTC]

Whoops! I meant 54! Sorry! But huh, that's odd   

I guess it doesn't show up on the mobile if it has a mature content filter. Sorry for making you look through your entire gallery haha I should have been clearer. 

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to leiyue [2016-04-22 08:09:48 +0000 UTC]

It's no problem.

Yeah, I've never put a mature content filter on any of my subchapters before, but for that one I sort of felt like I had to. It's definitely the most violent thing I've ever written and I didn't want to risk breaking any of DA's rules. I've heard they can be rather strict about stuff like that.

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leiyue In reply to Contrast-Necrobat [2016-04-26 04:46:54 +0000 UTC]

Ah yeah, better be safe than sorry

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to Astralseed [2016-02-02 17:44:50 +0000 UTC]

Oh my word, thank you so much! This is such a wonderful surprise.
I really, really appreciate this.

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Astralseed In reply to Contrast-Necrobat [2016-02-02 17:48:44 +0000 UTC]

You're very welcome

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to leiyue [2016-01-31 07:14:16 +0000 UTC]

Thank you! I'm glad you like it.

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to Eastern-Fox [2015-08-07 17:10:35 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. I hope you'll enjoy my story, and good luck on getting past that block. Those can be super annoying.

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Eastern-Fox In reply to Contrast-Necrobat [2015-08-07 18:08:04 +0000 UTC]

Ah, you're quite welcome , dude! I'll definitely check it out when I can and tell you my thoughts . As for my block, I've been in it for several months. There's just so many details in the story I'm unsure about.

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to Eastern-Fox [2015-08-07 18:45:55 +0000 UTC]

Every writer is different, but I've found that whenever I'm unsure about what should happen next, it's best to just plough ahead and do whatever feels most natural at the time. Don't try to think too much about it or plot stuff out in advance. Just make it up as you go along and let the story write itself. Then, afterwards, it's much easier to go back and see if there's anything that doesn't work.

When you write something new, you do it word for word, which can make it hard to spot errors, but once your'e done, you can step back and look at it as a whole. Changing stuff that's already there is way easier than creating stuff from scratch.

A lot of people have accused me of being full of shit when I say it's best not to think too hard about what you're writing, but it's worked out pretty well for me so far. Also makes writing a lot less stressful. xD

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Eastern-Fox In reply to Contrast-Necrobat [2015-08-10 02:43:04 +0000 UTC]

Ah, I've heard that said before. ^^ For me, the biggest problem is fear and doubt; fearing that my story will end up as nothing memorable or even or good read, and the doubt of my writing skills. I try to plough ahead through the writing, but I always stop on questions like: "Should he really die in chapter 3? Is there too much bloodshed this early on? Would he/she even react this way or am I just trying to reach a certain point?"   I get stifled by such things, and it makes me afraid to push on.

The editing is much of a problem, but I find that if I write a chapter and let it sit for a while, then come back to it, I get repulsed by what I wrote in some places and change it. I feel like if I don't keep going, I'll be caught in that endless cycle of correcting myself until the story comes out nothing like I envisioned it. I fret too much about continuity, too much about how things are set up at first in the early chapters. My own novel, for instance; I started writing it when I was in high school, and now I look back on some of the early chapters and cringe at some parts, mostly wondering why I thought the details made sense.

I don't know. I suppose by the end it's the fear that gets to me. I'm sorry for rambling. ^^

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to Eastern-Fox [2015-08-10 11:53:29 +0000 UTC]

No need to apologise. All artists feel like that from time to time. The great Yahtzee Croshaw once said that 90% of artists hate the work they did five years ago, and the other 10% are %&*$% liars.

It sounds to me like you're stressing too much about controlling your story. If you think you can actually control every tiny little thing, that makes you the God of the world you're trying to create, and that heaps up a lot of responsibility and stress, which is bad for the creative process, in my opinion.

But instead of being a God, why not just be a spectator? Let your characters do whatever it is they want to do. Don't try to control the flow, just go with it. Just sit back and let the story tell itself through your fingers.

This might sound crazy, but I do not believe that stories are created things. Stephen King says it best. Stories are found things, like fossils in the ground. It's all there, pre-existing. You don't have to create any bones yourself, you just have to dig them up.

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Eastern-Fox In reply to Contrast-Necrobat [2015-08-12 22:46:20 +0000 UTC]

Again, apologies for the late reply.

Still, I freaking love you for quoting Yahtzee, and it's definitely true. X3 He's actually another writer and critic I really admire, because his writing almost always makes me laugh no matter the mood I'm in. But I definitely agree with you, that's why I try not to let my work fester for too long.

But...yeah, that's pretty much the heart of it. I fret way too much over details, themes, and ideologies much too frequently, when I should be letting the words flow out. But I worry about consistency, and doubt myself whenever I write. To make matters worse, certain things in my life right now, and in the world, just depress or worry me greatly, which affects my mood.

But how can one find a story that comes from one's own creativity and vision? I find it hard to not focus on intricacies in a story.

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to Eastern-Fox [2015-08-13 11:38:56 +0000 UTC]

Your problem might be speed. If you go too slow, you might get bogged down and never progress. Then your story will get stale and you'll get bored with it.

Since I upload a subchapter of my story three times a week, I have to be rather speedy and that forces me to progress whether I like it or not. Also, once a chapter is up, I can't go back and change it. Maybe you need something similar.

Why don't you try giving yourself a "cut-off" limit? Make a rule that says you won't go back and edit or change anything more than thirty pages back from where your story currently is. That way you'll have no choice but to go forward and get it done. That's the most important thing, getting to that final page and writing "The End". Once that's done and the skeleton for your fully completed story is in place, editing becomes a breeze.

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Eastern-Fox In reply to Contrast-Necrobat [2015-08-24 00:06:50 +0000 UTC]

Ah, I think you're right. I've been trying this, actually, and to my surprise, I actually pushed on a bit from the block I had. Not too much, but it still stunned me because for once it a long while, I wrote without thinking about the previous events, only looking forward, and just letting words flow. It was invigorating. ^^

It's still tough for me to settle down enough to write, but small steps as they say. It really depends on my mood. But nevertheless, I can't thank you enough for your advice, Necro. Truly. It was really helpful to get a writer's opinion that was outside of my personal circle for once.

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to Eastern-Fox [2015-08-24 10:15:07 +0000 UTC]

That's great! I'm so glad I could be of help.

Now you need to keep that momentum going, because the more you write the easier it gets. But don't burn yourself out, though. It's actually a lot like physical exercise. You need to start light (small steps, like you said) and gradually increase your limits from there. A good schedule can do wonders for this.

Also, I recommend you experiment a little to decide if you're the type of person who goes by time or by wordcount. It makes a huge difference, trust me on this. Some people do their best work by devoting a certain time of day to writing, and nothing else. These people have a varying wordcount day by day, but the schedule is constant and won't interfere with their other activities. Others (like myself) try to go for a certain wordcount per day. They sit at their computers and they do not get up until that goal is met. This means that, on a good day, they can finish early. But on a bad day they might end up staring at that screen far longer than a time-based writer would. The plus side is that the progress is constant.

I wish you the best of luck with your story.

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to Ander-BloodEyes [2015-03-02 08:54:57 +0000 UTC]

Cool!
I got the name for the protagonist of my novel from the Afrikaans word "anders" which means "different".

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Contrast-Necrobat In reply to MagpieSharkbait [2014-11-07 14:36:53 +0000 UTC]

Lol, I dunno. Thanks for the watch.

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