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PaperclipPerfector  10mo ago (text post)   2566 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for July 7, 2023

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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For the frequent posters/bloggers here - what is your relationship with writing? I was reading Freddie DeBoer's fifteen years of writing where he reflects on his journey, and lord it is dark! I have aspirations of becoming at least a part-time blogger, and I do have a small blog, but don't work on it often.

I suppose my question is, do most people hate writing like Freddie after a while, or is he just uniquely crazy? I know there's a trope of mentally disturbed writers....

I enjoy writing, as I'm sure most of the regulars who don't lurk do. There is a pleasure to be had in a good argument well presented, with just the right amount of wit.

I also enjoy writing fiction, as should be evident from my current novel being 84k words in at this point.

I've never really had the urge to write a blog per se, because I hold myself up to the stratospherically high standards that Scott and others embody, and in addition I don't think I have the patience or conscientiousness to really dig into textual sources or engage in the kind of scholarship that raises his writing from merely enjoyable to read to outright enlightening.

Of course, writing so much fiction has clearly revealed technical deficiencies, the kind that aren't obviated by mere talent. I struggle to write characters that aren't partially self-inserted, or the patience to write long outlines and plot out story threads.

You can get surprisingly far just writing without thinking too much ahead, but I did write myself into a corner recently, something I sought to resolve by taking a step back and writing an interlude that fleshes out the MC's backstory and motivations. I hope that unsticks me and gets the creative juices flowing, but I suspect that to truly elevate my writing to the level of the authors I personally respect, I'd have to put in the hours and attempt to develop a technical understanding of plots, stakes-building, and writing characters with mindsets very alien to my own. Not that I can't do that of course, merely not as well as I aspire to.

But most often, you'll see me writing because I'm bored and have nothing better to do haha

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