Open Thread: Oracle Hotline

[mithen]

--If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?

Oh, I like this question! Also, I have no idea! I think a lot of it would be simple pragmatic stuff--no, really, you don't need epithets, and you can probably trim most of those adverbs and italics as well. On the other hand, I didn't follow that advice then from better writers than myself, so I would be unlikely to follow it from myself! Also, I had fun and weaned myself off them on my own, which is probably better anyway. (Okay, I did not wean myself off italics and adverbs entirely. I love them too much).

How is writing going for you? I signed up for an exchange, which I haven't done for... over a year now? Luckily the person I matched with has multiple prompts I would be happy to write, so I'm waiting for tomorrow's latest canon installment to get me jump-started. I hope everything's going smoothly and well with you!

Comments

[navaan]

Oh that is interesting!

Hmmm, I think in some ways my younger self was less accomplished but more daring than me and it took me a few years to come back to making the more daring choices, but I still feel that now!me is too self-conscious when it comes to being unrepentantly tropey (and my younger self DID NOT HAVE THAT PROBLEM), and on the other hand current fandom climate makes it a bit more risky to be daring (even though the things that people flip out over end up being the pieces you'd least expect it on, like super soft fluff ficlets. :P)

So, I would tell my younger self the same thing about epithets, maybe give them some tips for building plots, urge them to dare finish something, that I'm proud for the thousands of words of iddy drawer fic they wrote and still think about all those words and the worlds we built, and I think I'd encourage them to never lose their daring and unselfconscious love to simply tell the stories they feel like writing wherever those take them.

Writing is going pretty well that week and I have two finished things that I need to make posting read and am determined to then go through my to do list. A fic that I've been stuck on and unenthusiastic about (but it's for a thing, so it needs to be written at some point) is finally shaping up, so I hope I can finish it soon.

[me_ya_ri]

Keep trying. Study published writers. Do Not attempt to get published until you can write a story that sucks someone in when they read it. LEARN BUSINESS! Don't get a Creative Writing Degree, get one in business. For serious. Maybe study advertising, too.

And, most importantly, keep writing.

The writing's going pretty good for me. I'm partway into the last short story I need to have something to publish every single week this year. That means that in a day or two I can get back to writing the novel I started while in Japan. And! I can start researching Meiji Japan because I've had a historical mystery series bunny nibbling at me for quite a while that I lack sufficient knowledge to write.

I may, possibly, have just added about twenty books to my Amazon Wishlist on the Meiji era. *grin*

Wow, good luck on the exchange. I don't think I've ever done that. It always seemed like such a huge risk and I worried that I'd let down the person I wrote for. Hope that it goes super-well and that you have tons of fun writing for it!

[bradygirl_12]

I'd probably tell myself be careful with the adjectives, don't get discouraged, and try harder to get published while books were still a thing. :)

In that vein, I've been suddenly hit with inspiration to edit my pro manuscript. I think letting it simmer for months on the back burner has given it the flavor I'm looking for. :)

[luciferxdamien]

Man, I feel you on the current fandom climate. =X It's really hard to want to put yourself out there and not be self-conscious, if people get angry even over the most benign of fics!

[luciferxdamien]

Uhhh... Write... more porn? And maybe a 'good job on never throwing anything away and being paranoid on backing things up'.

Ah epithets! That was hard habit to break, as was switching between POVs every other paragraph. :'D. I doubt my younger self would have listened to my older self as well. XD I was and can still be very pig-headed. Italics are something I'm probably taking to the grave. But uh, I might not over use them quite so much anymore.

Let's see, did I write that week... Oh look I did! I started something to dip my toe into writing something kind of new for me, so I could wrap my head around the logistics, and then lost all writing motivation for the month. D= I'll get back to things though!!! I'm not giving up. =D

[mithen]

I still feel that now!me is too self-conscious when it comes to being unrepentantly tropey (and my younger self DID NOT HAVE THAT PROBLEM)

GOD RIGHT? Me too! Come on, embrace it, self!

I'm proud for the thousands of words of iddy drawer fic they wrote and still think about all those words and the worlds we built, and I think I'd encourage them to never lose their daring and unselfconscious love to simply tell the stories they feel like writing wherever those take them.

I love this advice, how wonderful! I'm going to try to take it myself!

[mithen]

LEARN BUSINESS! Don't get a Creative Writing Degree, get one in business. For serious. Maybe study advertising, too.

This is why I never have gotten into writing as a living, because it's basically running a small business in today's climate! I think this is awfully good advice...

And! I can start researching Meiji Japan because I've had a historical mystery series bunny nibbling at me for quite a while that I lack sufficient knowledge to write.

I love doing research so much! And that sounds like fun! :)

[mithen]

"try harder to get published while books were still a thing" is such painfully accurate advice! It's so much easier that it's so much harder now, in some ways...

I hope the work on the pro manuscript went well!

[mithen]

Italics are something I'm probably taking to the grave.

NO NOT MY ITALICS. I love them too much! I do try to limit myself to... I think two times a paragraph? One time if I'm feeling strict? But it's just impossible to weed them all out...

I started something to dip my toe into writing something kind of new for me, so I could wrap my head around the logistics, and then lost all writing motivation for the month. D=

Oh Lord, I sympathize way too much with this. D: