I've had first a very unproductive month, then it got colder and I got very productive!
I'm still heading toward revising book three, but have mostly been distracted with book two and other art forms. The covers, cool stuff I want to throw in as extras, and so on. Can't really go into detail since I like to keep this account more or less anonymous, at least on a somewhat medium effort basis, but if any of the regulars are curious feel free to direct message me! And I'm happy to give feedback on cover drafts made by others, although due to time constraints I can't really offer to make covers for you. (God, I wish there were more time in a day! Or that I would exist twice, or something.)
How?! Like, how did you come to need details on that, in particular? 😂 I wanna know, I bet it's hilarious! (No pressure though, if you don't want to share!)
It makes a lot of sense for traditional publishing!
Now, I haven't fully read the book but I heard a lot about the theories in it. And they make sense if you "write for the modern mainstream market". I don't think truly old-fashioned books followed this formula either, the Save The Cat formula from what I've heard seems - with this narrow focus - to be a more modern invention.
For example, I write these type of books where people say Save The cat applies, yet I don't consider it useful because I write for the purpose of art, not for the purpose of sales.
Edit: and I'm not entirely against streamlining. I do it as well, for aspects where I think it fits my work. However, I don't like writing books that only present the streamlined view as the correct one, I just decided against buying a similar one yesterday for that reason. I think writing books should be broad and open-minded, so that new artists choose the narrow mainstream path consciously rather than because they think that's the only option.
I recently saw a video about the water sanitation systems that are commonly used in the US, and only then I realized even nowadays a lot of houses over there are effectively "off the grid" when it comes to their entire water system. Quite fascinating as a European! (Over here the towns are so dense that you always have municipal water treatment available from somewhere.)
Wouldn't it be so fun if it was an external force? I choose to believe some of my friends (perhaps you) are secretly witches, and they cast spells upon me that cause me to have these revelations!
I've had a very busy creative month again, for which I'm thankful! Some months don't work out well, but this one did despite the heat, and I've done a lot of editing and revision.
A lot of my revision work I've done in book shops, among crowds and tall book shelves, since that's so fun (and at home I don't have physical books since it's not the most practical as a somewhat frequently moving renter). And a friend of mine also got me into reading something new that I've been wanting to read for a while, and it's been a blast. In overall, it's been a very bookish month for me and I'm happy!
I've solved one revision puzzle that had me stumped too. I don't know if any of you have been there, but sometimes I just feel like it's not good enough during revision and I get stuck, and I take a few days off. And then lightning strikes me, metaphorically, and I suddenly realize not only why it doesn't work but what change could make it so much more awesome! I am glad for those moments, when they happen.
If you're comfortable with posting it in public, you could make a post with the full thing here in slrpnk.net/c/writing asking for feedback on it! (Although if it's very long, try to limit yourself to an excerpt of a few pages.) If you don't want to post it fully in public or it's very long, you might want to post that merely has a teaser and ask if somebody wants to test read what you wrote and give feedback in private.
Oh no, you're falling down the tinkering rabbithole just like me sometimes 😱
I feel like setting yourself a strict (but low) daily writing goal can absolutely help. I do that sometimes, especially while I'm drafting rather than editing.
If you wanted, you could get some people for well-meaning feedback! Shoot me a direct message about that if you want, or you could also make a public post where you list some of your world building notes and ask what people think.
I finally got back onto the writing train, or rather editing train. I've been doing huge overhauls, like changing age of characters, double checking and doing a second revision on new character motivations for some larger sections, and so on. I want to get the drafts I already have into good shape, and then head into drafting the final missing book right after. It's been very fun!
The heat has slowed me down a little bit, and so has installing and configuring a new writing device that I'm using, but otherwise i've been mostly been on track and making great progress. I've edited roughly 1.5 novels in a month, gradually making my way through all of it front to back. I'm rediscovering some older parts of my music collection as well while I'm doing so, since I tend to listen to music that matches the mood both for drafting new scenes and for editing old scenes.
(Before anybody feels bad because I seem to be so productive, I've barely touched the book for months since there was too much work and tech stuff going on. So it's not like I'm a poster child of productivity! We all have other things getting in the way, and everyone has their own speed.)
I'm not sure if I'm now less confused or more confused, but it was definitely a wild ride worth reading!! 🤩 haha
I've had first a very unproductive month, then it got colder and I got very productive!
I'm still heading toward revising book three, but have mostly been distracted with book two and other art forms. The covers, cool stuff I want to throw in as extras, and so on. Can't really go into detail since I like to keep this account more or less anonymous, at least on a somewhat medium effort basis, but if any of the regulars are curious feel free to direct message me! And I'm happy to give feedback on cover drafts made by others, although due to time constraints I can't really offer to make covers for you. (God, I wish there were more time in a day! Or that I would exist twice, or something.)
I'm glad to have put a dark seed into your heart to make your doom mapping even more cursed! 💜 🧙♀️
I'm still interested in looking at any short stories if you ever want me to! Or potential fun scenarios for doom maps, for that matter.
How?! Like, how did you come to need details on that, in particular? 😂 I wanna know, I bet it's hilarious! (No pressure though, if you don't want to share!)
Now, I haven't fully read the book but I heard a lot about the theories in it. And they make sense if you "write for the modern mainstream market". I don't think truly old-fashioned books followed this formula either, the Save The Cat formula from what I've heard seems - with this narrow focus - to be a more modern invention.
For example, I write these type of books where people say Save The cat applies, yet I don't consider it useful because I write for the purpose of art, not for the purpose of sales.
Edit: and I'm not entirely against streamlining. I do it as well, for aspects where I think it fits my work. However, I don't like writing books that only present the streamlined view as the correct one, I just decided against buying a similar one yesterday for that reason. I think writing books should be broad and open-minded, so that new artists choose the narrow mainstream path consciously rather than because they think that's the only option.
Oh, another Save The Cat! hater? Fascinating! 😮 (I'm not saying that's a bad textbook, but it's just not for me.)
I recently saw a video about the water sanitation systems that are commonly used in the US, and only then I realized even nowadays a lot of houses over there are effectively "off the grid" when it comes to their entire water system. Quite fascinating as a European! (Over here the towns are so dense that you always have municipal water treatment available from somewhere.)
We all know you can't possibly be made to give up Doom mapping. You're way too gifted! So it's a good reason to fall short on word count.
Wouldn't it be so fun if it was an external force? I choose to believe some of my friends (perhaps you) are secretly witches, and they cast spells upon me that cause me to have these revelations!
At first I thought you meant "Advanced Reader Copy" and I was quite confused 😅
What would have been your previous method? Glad to hear that your new process is working out well!
I've had a very busy creative month again, for which I'm thankful! Some months don't work out well, but this one did despite the heat, and I've done a lot of editing and revision.
A lot of my revision work I've done in book shops, among crowds and tall book shelves, since that's so fun (and at home I don't have physical books since it's not the most practical as a somewhat frequently moving renter). And a friend of mine also got me into reading something new that I've been wanting to read for a while, and it's been a blast. In overall, it's been a very bookish month for me and I'm happy!
I've solved one revision puzzle that had me stumped too. I don't know if any of you have been there, but sometimes I just feel like it's not good enough during revision and I get stuck, and I take a few days off. And then lightning strikes me, metaphorically, and I suddenly realize not only why it doesn't work but what change could make it so much more awesome! I am glad for those moments, when they happen.
Sounds horrible.
If you're comfortable with posting it in public, you could make a post with the full thing here in slrpnk.net/c/writing asking for feedback on it! (Although if it's very long, try to limit yourself to an excerpt of a few pages.) If you don't want to post it fully in public or it's very long, you might want to post that merely has a teaser and ask if somebody wants to test read what you wrote and give feedback in private.
Oh no, you're falling down the tinkering rabbithole just like me sometimes 😱
I feel like setting yourself a strict (but low) daily writing goal can absolutely help. I do that sometimes, especially while I'm drafting rather than editing.
Yay, that sounds exciting 💜
If you wanted, you could get some people for well-meaning feedback! Shoot me a direct message about that if you want, or you could also make a public post where you list some of your world building notes and ask what people think.
The road salts thing is just a reminder how many ways we find to harm the environment. It's sad.
Exciting to hear that your campaign will release soon! 💜
I finally got back onto the writing train, or rather editing train. I've been doing huge overhauls, like changing age of characters, double checking and doing a second revision on new character motivations for some larger sections, and so on. I want to get the drafts I already have into good shape, and then head into drafting the final missing book right after. It's been very fun!
The heat has slowed me down a little bit, and so has installing and configuring a new writing device that I'm using, but otherwise i've been mostly been on track and making great progress. I've edited roughly 1.5 novels in a month, gradually making my way through all of it front to back. I'm rediscovering some older parts of my music collection as well while I'm doing so, since I tend to listen to music that matches the mood both for drafting new scenes and for editing old scenes.
(Before anybody feels bad because I seem to be so productive, I've barely touched the book for months since there was too much work and tech stuff going on. So it's not like I'm a poster child of productivity! We all have other things getting in the way, and everyone has their own speed.)
It's a lovely image. Well done!
I want to test more of those maps! Pretty please? 🥺
Very interesting page, the US watershed map looks fascinating! Thank you so much for working on this!
I've noticed some of the images don't have a source, e.g. https://wiki.slrpnk.net/_detail/writing:b39b2d07-f63c-4d43-a31c-700fd660aed3.webp?id=writing%3Arethinking_maps this one, perhaps it would be useful to add one if only to credit the original creators. If you still happen to have that info around.