What do you hate about writing?

[JUDO]

Those are the transitions I mean and they're a bitch.

I've got to get my character from the outside of a building and into a group of people touring the building. The space between those is dead transition. I mean that literally. It's deadly dull.

Transition in writing-- for the one who already knows-- is to move from one scene to the next. AND IT SUCKS.

I do one of two things to get this to work. Either I use the devices I stated earlier to cut to the scene by way of similarity (Ex 1.) OR I have two sequences going at the same time that I can intercut between (Ex 2.).

Ex 1.
One paragraph describing the end of a babbling news broadcaster as our hero sits in their car in the parking lot.

Next paragraph describes the babbling of a tour guide walking down a hallway and presto our hero walks off the elevator and into the crowd of tourists.

Ex 2.
Paragraph 1, Police enter an apartment building and demand to see the manager from the front desk security. One detective leans to the other and inquires as to where their prey could be now.

Cut to: Paragraph 2, Our hero climbs the fireescape, sneaking into his apartment avoiding the police in the lobby.

Paragraph 3, The manager arrives in bathrobe not entirely happy with the 3am arrival of said police. He grabs his pass key and takes the police to the elevator.

Paragraph 4, Our hero jimmys his own window and enters his apartment to find his palm pilot. He boots his computer and downloads the illegal files.
A key clicks into his entry lock...

Does this work for better transitions for you guys? See, no boring blah-blah, he gets out of the car, locks it and climbs the stairs to the elevator lobby...blah, blah,blah.

Don't say what the character does. Show it! If James has to get to work, don't say "James went to work."

Ex:

Slurping the last of his milk from the spoon, James finished column one from the morning paper as his corn flakes finally hit bottom. If he didn't get one more cup of java in him before the nine O'clock meeting, he would pass out during the quarterly report.

"The deliverables were down...ah, twenty-two percent from April to June of this year over last year." Sherri let that hang in the air just to chap James' ass for a while. She flipped her hair and straightened her shoulders, revelling in the way he slumped at the end of the table.

-----

James has finished breakfast, is at work and not having a nice time of it. Why bother with the boring stuff in between?


- Judo

 

[Quasimodem]

TRANSITION!

I've got to get my character from the outside of a building and into a group of people touring the building. The space between those is dead transition. I mean that literally. It's deadly dull.

Very True! It can be, but I have an exercise to help you past it. I didn't create it. It's something I was taught while learning to write screenplays.

Conceive your next story as a movie. While writing, write the story in scenes. When the action in one scene ends, JUMPCUT to the next scene.

When you read the first draft, you may find the composition requires an extra short sentence. You may need to add a phrase to the last paragraph, or the following paragraph. At most, an interstitial paragraph.

After a couple of exercises, you'll be free to go back to your normal mode of writing, possibly with a fresh opinion about "transitions".

Try it! Maybe it will work for you.


Quasi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor? I don't need no stinkin' editor!
What I need is a word-whacker!

 

[Whispersecret]

See, but the risk is having your prose sound choppy. I work toward a happy medium between "James ate his breakfast, blah blah blah," and the quick jump between locations. There has to be a TRANSITION, hence the name. Scene breaks can work, but again, I think that can be overdone.

I suppose I'll just have to keep wrestling with transitions as they come. Maybe the next time I bash heads with one, I'll post it here and ask for help.

Quasi, just reread your post. That sounds like a good idea. Just go ahead and have the scene breaks and then try to find one sentence to bind them together. I'll try that and let you know how it works out.

 

[KillerMuffin]

Heh. I deleted everything past the end of the scene and started all over. Transition was much easier and the story is more interesting.

I find that when the writing doesn't flow I'm doing it wrong.

 

[ilovewriting]

I hate editing.

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

I hate story codes. I know readers like them so they can tell in advance what is going to happen, but as an author, I hate them. How can you surprise someone when you tell them in advance what is going to happen?



What are your pet-peeves? [/B]

:
Well, I assume you mean ASS* story codes. As far as I know
Literotica doesn't use story codes. And in ASS*, you can
use "caution" to mean that there are codes which you
haven't put on the story.
For all that, I find that storycodes seldom actually
give away teh plots of my stories. The twist seldom
involves something that the codes cover.

 

[JUDO]

See, but the risk is having your prose sound choppy. I work toward a happy medium between "James ate his breakfast, blah blah blah," and the quick jump between locations. There has to be a TRANSITION, hence the name. Scene breaks can work, but again, I think that can be overdone.

There is transition in my last example (if that is what you are referring to). His sentence pondering "the meeting" cuts to "the meeting" in progress.

Doesn't work for you?

 

[Whispersecret]

Judo, no, it was choppy to me. I had to pause for a moment to understand that he was at the meeting and not hearing that on the radio or the TV. It might be smoother if it was something like:

Slurping the last of his milk from the spoon, James finished column one from the morning paper as his corn flakes finally hit bottom. If he didn't get one more cup of java in him before the nine O'clock meeting, he would pass out during the quarterly report.

Sure enough his eyelids felt heavy when Sherri took the floor for the meeting. Her droning monotone could have been bottled as an insomnnia cure.

"The deliverables were down...ah, twenty-two percent from April to June of this year over last year." Sherri let that hang in the air just to chap James' ass for a while. She flipped her hair and straightened her shoulders, revelling in the way he slumped at the end of the table.

Whaddya think? That came pretty easily for me. Maybe we should post our transition problems here and let other people solve them for us. LOL.

 

[KillerMuffin]

A lot of my transition problems deal with things that can't quickly be covered outside of transition.

Usually the whys and wherefores.

For instance, I had a few paragraphs introducing the character and hooking into what the disability involved is like and they're just too good to ditch. I then had to get the character into the building and into a group of students that would then be taking a tour of the building.

I have an awkward metaphor to weasel into the story on top of that.

I've got about 2000 to 2500 words to do it in.

I took the cowards way out and ditched the "tour" business, though it would be easier to work the metaphor with, and sent the character to class. No explanations as to what and why she's there needed since it's obvious.

 

[JUDO]

Yeah, sounded good, WS. Instead of posting, more likely, I'll be like, "What transition problem?"

And KM, sounds like you have more issues than just transition - word limit, strange metaphor to work in...

 

[P. B. Walker]

Things I hate about writing:

1. Getting stuck. I get to a certain point and so far so good. I know where I want the story to go, but I can't get there. I'm hopelessly stuck. And if I force it, I know the story will sound contrived. And I absolutely hate to leave it like that, but in the end that's the only thing to do. I just have to walk away and let it sit for awhile. When I come back, something usually pops in my brain and away I go again. Also, for some reason, I can never just skip ahead and keep writing from the next point in the story. My stories have to be written sequentially or I go nuts. I'm a tad bit anal if you haven't figured that out already.

2. Being set on something (subplot, title, sex activity in the story, etc., etc., etc.) and then having to change it because other events warrant it. For example, having a really super hot anal sex scene near the end of the story that I spent 3 hours writing and editing... and then the story changes someplace in the beginning and we find out she hates anal sex... ugggh. LOL. I know, don't change the beginning that, but this was just an example. And, yeah, in that situation I'd probably cut the scene and use it in another story, so no big loss.

3. Getting ready to send a new story to an editor(s). Hate that feeling of butterflies in my stomach. Wondering if it's good enough. Have I caught all the mistakes? Should I spend more time on it? Fuck.

4. Not having enough time.

5. Not being in the mood. Can relate to women now?

6. That blank screen when I first sit down to start a story.

7. Tired fingers after cranking out 10 pages and feeling another 10 pages coming on.

8. Having the perfect word to use on the tip of my tongue and not getting it out. Uggh... what is it? I know it dammit. Oh it's right there. SHIT. Ahh fuck it.

9. Being scared to show my work to friends that don't know I write and wondering what they'll think of me writing erotica/porn. lol. They'll finally know the pervert that I am.

10. Being in the "zone" and getting interrupted. Shit, fuck, piss.


and these are a few of the things I hate about writing lol.

- PBW

 

[Whispersecret]

I hate the trend toward agents that the publishers are "forcing," because of policy toward unsolicited manuscripts. It's just one more frigging barrier between me and my book being on the shelf.

 

[Quint]

8. Having the perfect word to use on the tip of my tongue and not getting it out. Uggh... what is it? I know it dammit. Oh it's right there. SHIT. Ahh fuck it.

Yes, yes, yes. I'm in serious need of a thesaurus that reads my mind and gives me the word, since I'm unsure what it even MEANS exactly, so I obviously can't look it up. I'm forced into using a vastly inferior word instead, and I feel so mediocre after that.

I love looking at the blank screen. I've recently started this bizarre process called brainstorming, and it's so much fun. I babble as I think and as I go on I realize that I've actually created a pretty neat idea. I have all the steps that got me there, so I know which areas need repair. I enjoy it.

I don't mind waiting for my mind to clear before revising because I write sporadically anyway. I take advantage of my body's erratic schedule and get work done when I can. This undoubtedly will last me until I get a job, in which case I will promptly crash and burn.

I love going back over what I've written and saying, "Neat! I was in the zooone when I wrote that." Then I come to the sentence where I substituted the vastly inferior word and I smack myself upside the head.

Titles are fun and names thus far have written themselves for me. I have a nice mental list of names just waiting for characters to claim them. Editing turns me on. I'm used to stage fright, and I've rather developed a taste for it, so awaiting the audience's response in the early days is bearable agony. I feel more pressure on me with the Chain Story, but my cup of confidence is overflowing. Pressure just compresses me into the core of what is best in me.

Whoops, I went the opposite direction here, didn't I? Um, I don't like reading my story afterwards and counting how many times I said a certain word within the span of a paragraph. My eye likes to skip over those the first 100 times around.

 

[Star of Penumbra]

Things I hate about writing...

10. Being in the "zone" and getting interrupted. Shit, fuck, piss.

Yeah! Hell damn fart!

I know exactly what it's like be really on a roll and get interrupted (I live with three other people and often get interrupted when I'm writing). I've lost entire stories because I got interrupted at the wrong time.

Me: "Got a great idea for a story! Can't wait to write it down!"

*2 minute interrption from one of my dumbass housemates*

Me: "Okay, finally I can get started."
"..."
"GODDAMMIT! What the hell was I just thinking about? Chris, I'm gonna have to kill you!"

 

[Chicklet]

I still hate titles.

 

[Icingsugar]

I hate:

* I love storytelling. And I love to have written a story. But I hate the actual pooping out words to tell stories with. I know what words to use, but to get them on appaer or into a keyboard sucks.

* I hate getting stuck. Because with my take on writing it means that I'm stuck with a story looking like a swiss cheese.

* I hate those silly little descriptions for the Lit-listings.

Chicklet: How about sending your stories over here? I luuuuv titles.

 

[gauchecritic]

I have a long, sloppy story that I must finish. It's in my head and the begining is on the h/d. It's something I've not tried at Lit., having a story at all and some sub-plot and character development and tension and conflict. I hate that story. But I really have to finish it.

On transition. Scene to scene. A character had to walk a woman back home to her place. All they did was walk and chit chat. Far too mundane to include. I set them off walking and chatting and then included another sex scene as reminiscence by the main character. By the end of the memory they had arrived. Worked for me. (Doesn't have to be a sex scene though, could even be a really short story which in the telling takes the time needed for transiting.)

Gauche

Good place to put your sub-plots in too.

 

[Guest]

I've been writing about thirty years now. I cannot think of anything I hate or dislike about it. It's the most personally satisfying thing in my life, even more than being a mother or lover.

Perdita

 

[Seattle Zack]

I hate it when the secondary characters hijack the story, the amusing sidekick becoming much more interesting than the hero. The protagonist turns completely unredeemable and deadly boring. The dialogue becomes strained and contrived as the characters begin skipping around plot devices like open manholes on a sidewalk. Finally, you realize that the preparation of this exotic dish has turned into a bland stew of words.

I never used to use outlines, but now I find that a general outline is helpful in keeping me on track. I tend to lay it out visually, like movie scenes, sticking to the three-act screenplay template.

Other times, when the story goes wildly off track, I'll just scrap the original idea and go with the flow. Some structure is helpful, but not always at the expense of story.

--Zack

 

[raphy]

I hate that I don't do it often enough.

 

[Lovepotion69]

I hate when I start a story, but don't get past one page.

I hate when I know exactly what I want to describe, but just don't know how to get it down on paper.

I hate titles.

I hate waiting for my editing buddy to send me comments. When I'm done with a story I want to post it. NOW. But, for safety's sake I send it to a Lit friend, for comma and grammar checking.

I hate those Lit summaries beside the title. Grrrrrrrrr.

I hate when I feel my writing is limited by writing in a second language. Swear I've used the dictionaries and thesaurus more during writing Lit stuff, than I ever did at Uni.

 

[destinie21]

I hate ending a series. I get kind of attached to the characters.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

What do you hate about writing?

STARTING!

RF

 

[MathGirl]

For me, writing the story is easy. It's starting that thread at the AH asking how long it will take to be posted that's the hardest part.
MG

 

[The_Fool]

The worst thing about writing is that it takes so much friggin' time to get the shit out of my head and onto the screen. Too small a brain working in sequential processing mode with scads of wait stats. Not to mention the number of lost sectors.