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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 28, 2014 20:52:01 GMT -5
Wow, Fred. You're a lot deeper than I thought. This is really going to help flesh out those characters we're basing on him. Fred is terrific hero source material.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 20:52:17 GMT -5
Ah, okay, now I understand what you're saying. I feel the same way. I don't mind plumbing the darkness as long as I don't have to live through something horrific that will haunt me forever. I remember starting to read a crime thriller many years in which a child was kidnapped and killed, and I just stopped reading the book. It was not particularly graphic, but it was just so exploitative and meaningless. Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'd probably stop reading, too. has some of the most gruesome scenes with children killing children I know of. But it isn't meaningless or exploitative. So, it all depends what the intent is. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 28, 2014 21:02:09 GMT -5
Yeah, that's the kind of thing I'd probably stop reading, too. has some of the most gruesome scenes with children killing children I know of. But it isn't meaningless or exploitative. So, it all depends what the intent is. I love that novel, but I wouldn't read it for fun. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 21:10:10 GMT -5
Lord of the Flies has some of the most gruesome scenes with children killing children I know of. But it isn't meaningless or exploitative. So, it all depends what the intent is. I love that novel, but I wouldn't read it for fun. I doubt Golding wrote it for fun either. Not all books are about fun. Some books — let me repeat myself — should kick people a conscience. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 28, 2014 21:23:43 GMT -5
I love that novel, but I wouldn't read it for fun. I doubt Golding wrote it for fun either. Not all books are about fun. Some books — let me repeat myself — should kick people a conscience. Yeah, sure. For some readers, that is fun. They get pleasure from an intellectually challenging experience, an emotional-wringer experience, a mind-broadening experience, whatever. I think I've had enough of all that, at this point in life. I read fiction almost entirely for escapism. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2014 23:54:22 GMT -5
I write well when I'm sad. I can visualize things better, character dialogue comes easier, and I can get a clearer feel for my characters' emotions. My first two books were the easiest to write because I was pretty depressed. Three through six have been harder, as I've been pretty happy. My ability to write lies heavily in my ability to withdraw from my surroundings, and I just can't withdraw as well when I'm happy. Regardless, I'd rather take a few extra days to write than be sad! Now, writing when I'm mad? Gah! Can't do that at all.  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2014 0:21:06 GMT -5
When I'm sad (or mad) I can't write fiction. All I want to do is eat chocolate and sit in front of the TV.
For article writing, I can write sad, mad or happy because I don't have a choice. The article is due and I have to write it if I want to get paid.
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Post by Suzy on Apr 29, 2014 1:12:30 GMT -5
I write well when I'm sad. I can visualize things better, character dialogue comes easier, and I can get a clearer feel for my characters' emotions. My first two books were the easiest to write because I was pretty depressed. Three through six have been harder, as I've been pretty happy. My ability to write lies heavily in my ability to withdraw from my surroundings, and I just can't withdraw as well when I'm happy. Regardless, I'd rather take a few extra days to write than be sad! Now, writing when I'm mad? Gah! Can't do that at all. That's exactly my experience, Viola. I am much better at withdrawing from my own reality when I'm sad. It's as if I need to do it and it helps me a lot. |
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Post by Victoria on Apr 29, 2014 1:36:13 GMT -5
I don't think I'd ever actually throw mine away. I'd hate for anyone else to read them, of course, but that whiny butthole is just as much a part of me as the mature and beautiful specimen I am today (  ) and, if nothing else, they show how far I've come. I also like to think that they might help me to write characters of that age in the future, although I certainly couldn't base an MC on my teenage self without causing reader-on-book violence. LOL. You're a better woman than I am, S. I thoroughly deny any relationship to the WB (whiny butthole) who wrote my diaries. I'm sure my body was taken over by aliens. Alien hormones, maybe.  Now there's an idea for a story. There's nothing wrong with teenagers at all, aliens are just pumping them full of crazy-making hormones for their own nefarious purposes! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2014 15:23:29 GMT -5
I don't know about 'better' but certainly 'more'.
When depressed, angry, or any other negative emotion is going strong it tends to be a good idea to back off before you do something you'll regret out in the real world. Better to slip off to a world of your own making (or someone else's if you do fanfiction) and be someone else until you even out a bit.
I know I was pretty depressed when I started writing in the first place. It wasn't to escape, though. My first short stories were exercises in understanding people. Specifically bad people. I'd be watching the news with my parents and see some tragedy being covered and wonder how someone could kill another person like that, what might be the story behind mysterious circumstances and what kind of person would do it?
I had a folder full of short stories exploring the possible psychological validations people might have for doing terrible things. (I'm considering going back and reworking a couple of them. I'm sure I'd cringe at all the flaws reading them now but they brought out strong emotional responses from the people I let read them)
One of these days I'll have to see about writing something when I'm in a particularly good mood. I don't think I've ever made the effort to do so, I usually try to get housework or something in the outside world done while I can stand the thought of dealing with it. LOL
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Post by lindymoone on May 1, 2014 4:42:43 GMT -5
Been having a conversation with another writer (not a member here), someone who suffers from serious depression. He can only really be creative when he's feeling quite low, he says -- but can't edit in that state. I agree. Sadness, grief, depression are no fit states to edit your work in. How could you see the good from the bad? It all looks bad...
This is how so many artists end up destroying (or painting over) their work, how so many manuscripts go up in smoke.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2014 9:39:20 GMT -5
Been having a conversation with another writer (not a member here), someone who suffers from serious depression. He can only really be creative when he's feeling quite low, he says -- but can't edit in that state. I agree. Sadness, grief, depression are no fit states to edit your work in. How could you see the good from the bad? It all looks bad... This is how so many artists end up destroying (or painting over) their work, how so many manuscripts go up in smoke. This sounds familiar - I've got pretty serious depression and anxiety problems. I don't know whether that helps me write. I certainly know there are times it doesn't. The weirdest thing for me is post-publishing depression. The run up to hitting publish is usually quite exciting, but each time the book is released I slip immediately into a bad place for some reason, for anything up to a month afterwards. |
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Post by vrabinec on May 1, 2014 9:45:32 GMT -5
Been having a conversation with another writer (not a member here), someone who suffers from serious depression. He can only really be creative when he's feeling quite low, he says -- but can't edit in that state. I agree. Sadness, grief, depression are no fit states to edit your work in. How could you see the good from the bad? It all looks bad... This is how so many artists end up destroying (or painting over) their work, how so many manuscripts go up in smoke. This sounds familiar - I've got pretty serious depression and anxiety problems. I don't know whether that helps me write. I certainly know there are times it doesn't. The weirdest thing for me is post-publishing depression. The run up to hitting publish is usually quite exciting, but each time the book is released I slip immediately into a bad place for some reason, for anything up to a month afterwards. You mean it gets worse after I publish? Fuck. |
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2014 10:06:40 GMT -5
This sounds familiar - I've got pretty serious depression and anxiety problems. I don't know whether that helps me write. I certainly know there are times it doesn't. The weirdest thing for me is post-publishing depression. The run up to hitting publish is usually quite exciting, but each time the book is released I slip immediately into a bad place for some reason, for anything up to a month afterwards. You mean it gets worse after I publish? Fuck. Ha! I think that one may just be me. But lock away any sharp objects just in case... |
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2014 10:23:03 GMT -5
This sounds familiar - I've got pretty serious depression and anxiety problems. I don't know whether that helps me write. I certainly know there are times it doesn't. The weirdest thing for me is post-publishing depression. The run up to hitting publish is usually quite exciting, but each time the book is released I slip immediately into a bad place for some reason, for anything up to a month afterwards. You mean it gets worse after I publish? Fuck. WE CAN CURSE HERE?!?!  |
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Post by Suzy on May 1, 2014 10:28:22 GMT -5
You mean it gets worse after I publish? Fuck. WE CAN CURSE HERE?!?! Yes! I haven't set a swearing block. |
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Post by Suzy on May 1, 2014 10:30:46 GMT -5
Not that I swear much myself. Last time was when I told Fred to fuck-off a year ago.
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2014 11:05:54 GMT -5
Not that I swear much myself. Last time was when I told Fred to fuck-off a year ago. Didn't work, though. You'll have to try again |
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Post by vrabinec on May 1, 2014 11:08:30 GMT -5
You mean it gets worse after I publish? Fuck. WE CAN CURSE HERE?!?! I've actually been pretty good at restraining myself. But, sometimes, it just feels right. |
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Post by Suzy on May 1, 2014 11:32:16 GMT -5
WE CAN CURSE HERE?!?! I've actually been pretty good at restraining myself. But, sometimes, it just feels right. I know. And if I had changed the f-word to 'fruitcake' it would have been so wrong. |
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) and, if nothing else, they show how far I've come. I also like to think that they might help me to write characters of that age in the future, although I certainly couldn't base an MC on my teenage self without causing reader-on-book violence.
