04-28-2003, 05:50 AM | #21 |
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
Posts: 2,476
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Writer's block is the bane of my life. I have the plot, the characters and what I want to say about them, and I sit in front of the computer and can't work out how to say it. Then I feel like a failure . Somehow I only write freely when I have other things I'm supposed to be doing...
I feel lucky that I don't have all your problems with names. I'm not a fantasy writer, so my main characters are currently called Alice, Jonathan, Claire... It's much easier that way (though I did stretch a point and call one character Dorian, in a weak moment )
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And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
04-28-2003, 12:32 PM | #22 |
FloraAzul
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Anywhere as long as there is a library in a one mile radius of here
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A cup of coffee usually cures writer's block for me. Or people watching. I get stopped in the middle of stories when I'm not sure how to end it but I don't stop writing. I write a poem or a descrip of something or thought writing to get myself thinking so I don't think I really get Writer's Block that often (but I still like the coffee)
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Atheism: A Non-Prophet Organization Yet many shall be amazed when they see Him-yes even far off foreign nations and thier kings; they shall stand dumb-founded, speechless in his prescence. For they shall see and understand what they had not seen before-Isaiah 52:15a Civil War- 498,332 dead WWI-116,708 dead WWII-407,316 dead Korean War-54,246 dead Vietnam War-58,665 dead Persian Gulf-372 dead War on The Unborn=35,000,000 dead and counting |
04-28-2003, 02:00 PM | #23 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: N?n in Eilph (Belgium)
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I don't think I've actually experienced a writer's block before but then again I'm probably not writing long enough to have one. I'm sure it'll come up when I write bigger parts and for a longer time.
What I do have from time to time is plot blocks, when you realised something is screwed up in your plot and to remove the error is to remove a part that you really want in it. In this stage writing is not involved yet. Having to figure out a way around the problem without removing the parts that you like, tends to happen annoyingly often with me. So far I've always found a way around it. But it happens often that I simply let that part of the story be for a while and think out another episode of the story or simply another story. When I return to the first problem, sometimes after months, a solution tends to come more quickly.
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04-28-2003, 02:53 PM | #24 |
The Elvish Temptress
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Vienna, Austria
Posts: 3,055
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No, I didn't really have Writerus blockitis, but I suffered from being stuck in the story. You know you have different parts of a story and if one part is told to it's end, you have to think of a new one. That was rather difficult for me. I had no problems when I found a new storyline, but without ... uh, can't think of it.
I hope you understand what I mean.
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What I am and what I would are as secret as maidenhead. |
04-28-2003, 07:33 PM | #25 |
The Redneck Elf
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: In a house
Posts: 539
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We had a substitute teacher in Agriculture class today, so I figured it would be a good time to work on my story. SoI sat there and the whole period the only words that would come to my head were "Mim the Petty-dwarf". Of course once I got to softball practice, I had plenty of ideas.
Writerus Blockitis is cured at the most annoying times.
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04-28-2003, 07:36 PM | #26 | |
The Buddy Rabbit
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Trapped in the headlights..
Posts: 3,372
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Quote:
I've kept a notepad in my bedside cabinet for years..........inspiration has an annoying habbit of hitting just as I'm drifting off to seep. I once had a great idea for a story while I was at the dentist......couldn't remember it after the tooth butcher had finished working on me.........but I know it was a great idea |
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04-29-2003, 06:09 AM | #27 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Valinor, right next to Telperion . . . what did you expect, Michigan?
Posts: 1,315
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I suffer constantly from that dreaded disease! I stare blankly at my paper/screen and say, what next? Then after a while I find some way to put off working on it. Which is what I'm doing now . . . .
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04-29-2003, 06:32 PM | #28 |
Enting
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: new jersey
Posts: 80
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omg, sometimes i think i have perpetual writers block! I'll start writing, and i'll get to page 5, and i won't know what to put next! i like to think of it as stop drop and roll: you stop writing from lack of ideas,
you drop the story, and procrastinate as long as possible until you get an idea, and then when you know what to put next, you read what you've qritten so far and end up rolling on the floor laughing at the stupidity of what you wrote before! |
04-29-2003, 11:37 PM | #29 |
The Potato sack... er elf
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sailing between the stars is a white ship with silken sails...
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Yeah, I see what you mean. I started a novel when I was eleven, I think, and worked on it for months, got to twenty pages, and couldn't get back to it. Still, every time I look at it, I get no writing done because it sounds so juvinile I change everything.
To those who have trouble with names: a.String together letters until one sounds right. It usually works. b.Make nature names like Wintersky or Snowfire. c.Find a cool name in a book and use it, or change a few letters d. Be liberal with apostrophes. They add new pronunciation to a name. ex. Darian ---- Dar'ian Tobias----Tob'ias or T'obias
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04-29-2003, 11:44 PM | #30 | |
FloraAzul
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Anywhere as long as there is a library in a one mile radius of here
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Quote:
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Atheism: A Non-Prophet Organization Yet many shall be amazed when they see Him-yes even far off foreign nations and thier kings; they shall stand dumb-founded, speechless in his prescence. For they shall see and understand what they had not seen before-Isaiah 52:15a Civil War- 498,332 dead WWI-116,708 dead WWII-407,316 dead Korean War-54,246 dead Vietnam War-58,665 dead Persian Gulf-372 dead War on The Unborn=35,000,000 dead and counting |
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04-29-2003, 11:49 PM | #31 |
The Potato sack... er elf
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sailing between the stars is a white ship with silken sails...
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It's a real pain. sigh.
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To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow To run where the brave dare not go To right the unrightable wrong To love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star |
04-30-2003, 03:58 PM | #32 | |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Here. For the time being.
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Quote:
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XIAN- for hating Wiccans. MURDERER- for hating vegetarians. PREP- for hating Goths. These are a few of my favourite things, the hypocritical stylings of the most "liberal" groups. |
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04-30-2003, 09:47 PM | #33 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: My heart is forever in Mirkwood
Posts: 429
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There are times when I just get the biggest block a writer has ever faced...to get me back in the mood, I listen to music, go outside, read a book with the same genre as the book I'm writing, or just take a break...inspiration strikes in the wierdest moments...
Like right now, I am beginning my fourth book in a series of 5. I've been working on this project for like 2 years already, you'd think I'd be finished by now, especially since the books are too short for a novel, yet too long for a short story... Oh, well, that's the life of a writer/student
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I'm a Jesus Freak and proud of it... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us." -Gandalf, FOTR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Nobody tosses a Dwarf." - Gimli, FOTR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Save Ferris!!!!!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My true Elven name is Idril Anarion, but I misspelled in the username, and now I can't fix it... Oh, well...now you know... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't be afraid of death....Be afraid of the unlived life- Tuck Everlasting |
05-01-2003, 12:28 AM | #34 | |
The Potato sack... er elf
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sailing between the stars is a white ship with silken sails...
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Quote:
Really, the name Tom started as someone stringing sounds together. Sometimes the best names come that way. I think the name Janera, for example, is lovely, and I made it up two seconds ago. And the nature names actually come directly from a series of Mercades Lackey books. These may not work for you, but they've yet to fail me.
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To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow To run where the brave dare not go To right the unrightable wrong To love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star Last edited by Kalile : 05-01-2003 at 12:30 AM. |
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05-01-2003, 12:29 AM | #35 | |
Fowl Administrator
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: Calgary or Edmonton, Canada
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Quote:
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All of IronParrot's posts are guaranteed to be 100% intelligent and/or sarcastic, comprising no genetically modified content and tested on no cute furry little animals unless the SPCA is looking elsewhere. If you observe a failure to uphold this warranty, please contact a forum administrator immediately to receive a full refund on your Entmoot registration. Blog: Nick's Café Canadien |
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05-01-2003, 12:31 AM | #36 |
The Potato sack... er elf
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sailing between the stars is a white ship with silken sails...
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Ok then, scratch that last. At least there weren't two and three apostrophes - I've seen that. Ouch!
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To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow To run where the brave dare not go To right the unrightable wrong To love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star |
05-01-2003, 12:32 AM | #37 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
Join Date: Dec 2002
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I personally don't think the apostrophes are that bad. I've used them on ocassion, to try and get across the correct pronunciation.
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Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle |
05-01-2003, 12:35 AM | #38 |
The Potato sack... er elf
Join Date: Mar 2003
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Well, I like Dar'ian, but some people do get a little weird. A while back, I knew a girl named E'leshia who would yell at whoever didn't pronounce it right.
Moderation in apostrophes!
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To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow To run where the brave dare not go To right the unrightable wrong To love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star |
05-01-2003, 09:13 PM | #39 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Fountain Valley, CA
Posts: 6,343
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I don't think it's bad either. I used the name Drarian once for a character in an RPG. Apostrophes aren't that bad either, though I don't use them at all often. The only character I can think of in my book who has an apostrophe in his name is It'Madiv.
But I do always try to fit the name to the personality, so that makes finding my names a little more complicated than your finding yours, Kalile. Though the process is basically the same- stringing together cool letters, and such . |
05-01-2003, 09:40 PM | #40 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA
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That's pretty much what I do, though for some in my stories I use a form of rudimentary language (no doubt even more boring than my pantheon stuff ), and in Tolkien I always do my best to make sure that my names fit in well with him.
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Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle |