So I'm AJ I joined not too long ago. I would like to get to know you all. I know usually there are a set of regulars, hopefully soon we will meet and hang out. Right now I wanted to post this topic for a place for people to talk about where they are in there writing with everyone. I will start first. I am writing a novel and I am a little flustered about it. Usually I start every novel with a firm foot down on what I want to say and a pretty good look on my characters and my ending. Haha oddly enough with this one I have no idea. It kinda started with a feeling, and then rolled around and picked up some memories. A couple character traits grew along the edges, and before I knew it a had a rough premise but now I am stuck with that awkward feeling of, what now? I haven't been in this position in a long time but I am excited about the work and confident Ill figure it out. I am happy with it though because so far, even if I haven't had a lot of direction, I feel like I am doing some of my best work. So what about you?
I haven't written anything outside of academic papers in a long while. There's a fanfic or two sitting in my Google Drive that I have yet to finish, but once I figure out what I'm trying to say, I'll attack it again with a vengeance. My writing seems to happen either all at once or not at all. Lately, though, I've been more interested in script writing than actual novel writing, although I'll probably get back to that eventually.
Where I am? About two handwritten pages into a story that I have no idea where it will lead. This time I didn't start out with a list of characters, a beginning, an end and events in between. This time I let my pen work on its own, a story writing itself.
I'm not too comfy discussing the process of things that are under construction. Is that shyness, I don't know. But I have a couple or more of Google Docs that are just ideas. I like many genres, fiction, non fiction, science, philosophy, psychology, politics, horror... Among the first things I "wrote" were in childhood a short comic of two dogs; one labradog and a bulldog. The Labrador was afraid of heights and stuck in a swing and the bulldog was telling him not to be such a pussy, he had a belt with all kinds of tools around his waist like a plumber or Bob the Builder (who was not aired when I had that age). Mind you, these dogs were bipedal. I feel like Jake the Dog is a direct copy of what I drew when I was very, very young (a toddler). I am in grief that I can't find these drawings back; they're lost, sorry, no evidence. It was a neat little bundle that was held together by staples, creating a booklet with pages that were not in chronological order, since my logic at that age was limited, but my enthusiasm wasn't. I remember cheering myself up; I could still provide explanation to the assembly of scribbles, for anyone who had the patience. In first instance it was a pity it became a failure because I obviously made it for other people as a form of sincere entertainment. I had to pretend people gave compliments was really making up for being disappointed myself. I wrote a collaboration story of a dragon (named after me) and a knight. There might have been a wizard. The knight was named after my friend whose mom's typewriter we seized and used for this kind of thing. The dragon had 100 boobs and was in need of being slain. Collaboration creates fantastic stuff. I've had a great factor in making several drama; on step further then basic role-play for children; theater. Still I was a kid so yeah, that's nothing worthy for a resume. I am not a kid anymore and this kind of creativity has worn off, and it was a real trend among my peers everywhere. I wrote a story of a nutty professor who invented a robot car that went haywire and on a rampant killing spree throughout the city. The professor (who was based on me) (and named after me) in the end was the only one that knew how to stop it and therefor he wasn't arrested but applauded and became a hero. I even constructed a model of the robot out of cardboard and paper and the story was joined by an ornate drawing or two. When I was around that age I tried making a longer story and only finished the beginning of a child that jumped off a cliff on the beach and landed on a message in a bottle and summoned the ghost of a pirate. The rest never came, and I'm no longer interested in that idea (some things happened in my own life in the mean time). Now I'm a bit older and still keep coming back to writing down whatever thoughts distill in my mind. I'm in need of keeping an archive to keep all my papers in one place. But I'm not a professional and I highly doubt my willpower and talent to ever finish a novel. It's still something to do in my past time and sort of a hobby. It's sort of a puzzle at the same time and I wish things fall into place one day and it comes to a full fledged whole but I doubt all my fragments ever assemble like wagons into a train to reach a certain destination. And as you can see I've not so many messages and I'm on this forum mainly to seek peers and to learn. My experience isn't 'weathered' but I'm an admirer and an enthusiast of everything written and conceptual. My first language isn't English. People know I like to write but I have become cautious in sharing my dreams and thoughts. Ideas can make you look silly. Often I have ideas that are over-used, and I seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel, without ever having seen a wheel. An example is Battle Royale, I first dreamed a story of an island where you either kill or be killed. I started writing even though I felt like it was not a unique concept it was new to me, and before I knew it I realized I'm not the first one to create this because I was browsing the internet. I can still choose to make a fan fic anyway, I've seen the movie and bought the comics; my fan fic would be unique without having to alter my original idea. It might have been slightly inspired by the movie Running Man, apart from that I've not seen anything like that before. (No also not Game of Thrones or Hunger Games whichever comes close to the concept of barbaric killing tournaments, they're both not in my lane at this moment; sorry fans for generalizing but I don't know the difference. You still get my point). Mind you I'm born in the early 90's so to answer your question where I am now in writing: looking. I look around and the world seems to be made out of made up content that either was there before me or comes to existence as we go. I also know I'm not unique, at least I admit that, but that's not affecting me negatively at all. It sharpens me in stead. Something I invent and don't use, somehow finds it's way to the mainstream in another form - without my ideas ever being stolen or shared in the first place. I sometimes think I have gone crazy when that happens but then I know I'm not crazy for coming up with such ideas because apparently a celebrated artist has made it popular (no, that's not my drive). I do keep coming up with new ideas, and barely finish them. A bad habit.
