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Young Writers Society


I have a lot on my mind (aaaaaaaaaaa)



(Random) What is/are your favorite color/s?

Red
2
11%
Orange
0
No votes
Yellow
1
6%
Green
3
17%
Aqua
4
22%
Blue
5
28%
Purple
2
11%
Other
1
6%
All
0
No votes
 
Total votes : 18


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29 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 103
Reviews: 29
Sat Mar 17, 2018 2:19 pm
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WanderlustStardust says...



Hello everyone!

Like the title says, I have a lot on my mind. If anyone can help with any of these things, that would be greatly appreciated. <3

My story feels bland. Like, really bland.

Right now, my pet project is a big crossover fanfiction called Welcome Home. The main character, Berri, goes on adventures with assorted characters from a lot of different fandoms, such as Pokémon, Doctor Who, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Steven Universe, with a bunch more that I can't list right here and now at the moment. I try my hardest to make my writing interesting and to have inspiration to do stuff, but I can't think of any cool adventures that these guys go on! I know the ending of my story, however, and I want everything to kind of line up perfectly so the ending is not only really sad, like the death of a companion in Doctor Who, but also ties up loose ends. I'm sure most writers want that, but I really want this ending to be perfect. However, until then, I need story/plotline ideas. Adventure ideas. Anything!!

I think my story is too complex.

Back to Welcome Home, but also not Welcome Home. There are things that happen after its wonderfully sad ending, which I'll try to explain without giving too much away. Berri winds up going through many different worlds, trying to help people, and restore what was once her own life, but I feel like there are too many story ideas in my head that can't be pushed together. Everything needs to be separate. I feel like there are too many timelines- nine, in fact, two of which I don't think are necessary but also reveal a darker, more serious side to Berri, and plus, they'd be really fun to write! I have an excerpt from one of those two stories (from the P.O.V. of her daughter):

"It was the most queer material object in the entirety of the universe, and I found it in a drawer. The drawer, specifically, was my mother’s, and I took a peek in there when she left. Paige, my double, would scoff at that fact that I would sit up in the dusty attic and look at this ancient thing, but she’d find something else to do. Dad told us that we had to do something today, and this is what I chose to do.
This brings me back to the beginning. The object in question was a journal. A diary. Most likely Mom’s, but I wasn’t entirely sure yet. I hadn’t seen the worn inside cover, or looked through the torn pages. And besides, Mom was not the type to keep a diary, much less a strange journal. So what was it?" (The Journal)

Despite all of this, I really want to write everything, but I'm really scared too. I don't want it to be too complex so readers get confused, but I also really want to delve deeper into some character's personalities after they've experienced the ending, y'know?

I'm really anxious about showing my writing to the world.

This could be me being the nervous, shy teen writer that has no idea whether or not people will appreciate her writing, but it's true. I'm really very afraid of showing off my writing skills. People tell me that I'm a very good writer for my age, but I'm really not. Compared to my classmates in PACE, (the advanced reading classes in my school) I have no talent, and my writing is just gross. I know a lot of people are going to hate me for it, but I also know people will enjoy it, but what if one outweighs the other? I can't seem to focus on my writing when I think like this, but sometimes I can't help it.

Like I said above...

...if anyone has any answers, please tell me! I'll happily take anything I can get at the moment! <33

"I'm so happy you exist"

  





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425 Reviews



Gender: Gendervague he/she/they
Points: 50
Reviews: 425
Tue Mar 20, 2018 7:46 pm
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Vervain says...



1: Your story will feel bland.

It's part of writing. You look at all the technical things you're doing to make it better, and all the words you're using, and the plot you have, and you go -- emphatically, and loudly -- "THIS. SUCKS." It'll happen until you edit it 15 times (and maybe even then) and have fresh eyes read it and go "wow! I like it!"

Ideas for taking your writing to the ending:

- Blow stuff up. (Literally or metaphorically.) Make something explosive happen -- split the party, kill off a major character, introduce a minor villain who wrecks their day.

- End it. You know what the ending is, so string a few plot points together and take it to the end now. If you're getting tired of it, and it's supposed to be a pet project for fun, then just go ahead and bring it to a close. If your pacing is off this time, edit it and cut some stuff or add some stuff so it feels better.

2: Write spin-offs.

You can always have the main story be Timeline 1. Then write other stories to go alongside it -- Timeline 2, Timeline 3, Timeline 57. You can have them be separate and still part of the same story.

Tell the main story in 1, then delve into the deeper parts of the characters past that -- if the reader doesn't need to know it for the main storyline, you're safe leaving it out until you reach the point where spinoffs become feasible.

3: Dude, me too.

Your writing is gross, but my writing is grosser. I bet you $20.

But seriously, we're all afraid of something, and some of us are afraid of letting ourselves be vulnerable. Showing our writing to other people, let alone people we've never met, can be one of the purest forms of vulnerability attainable in these short mortal lifespans.

I know it's a spiral of self-hatred sometimes, because I've gone through it. I've deleted everything I ever wrote no less than 4 times throughout my life, most recently a couple of weeks ago. I hate it, because while I like having a blank slate, I hate losing progress and starting over again.

Let your writing be gross. Let yourself be vulnerable. It'll hurt sometimes, and some people might not like it, but it's better for you in the end.

Most importantly -- have fun writing.
stay off the faerie paths
  








Stupid risks make life worth living.
— Homer Simpson