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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1969 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 29, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I suspect I need to just write more and edit less until later. At least that's advice I've heard about writing, but I'm not entirely convinced

My biggest weakness as an author is that I am convinced that my output is absolute dogshit. I've thrown out multiple novels that were over 70% finished because I was disgusted with the work. I'll end up in rewrite spirals and give up.

Lately, I've had a lot more success by Just Writing. I don't do anything but write forward until I have every major story beat on paper. Then and only then, do I allow myself to go back and rework things.

I don't think my main character has a sufficiently well-developed personality yet but I made a lot of progress on establishing him better by rewriting scenes over and over again until they felt more interesting.

I do this by doing two things:

  1. I write character sketches before starting for major characters. It's a pulp tool, but knowing a few things they'll always do, a few things they'll never do, the first thing you'd notice if you saw them, and the first thing you'd notice if you heard them helps a lot.
  2. If my main character starts driving the story off the rails? Well, then I have good character development and I need to change the story.

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