Fight scenes and character deaths. I try to make my one on one fights quick, a few paragraphs at most. It's "big battles" I dread. There's just always a lot going on and I'm afraid it feels like I'm dragging it out too much, but at the same time I need to capture just how much is going on, the scale of the battle. Deaths of characters I actually like I dread writing, I actually enjoy killing characters I don't like. Sometimes it's just a bit painful, even if you've planned their death from the very beginning.
Opening scenes. It's what sets the mood for the story and catches the reader's attention. Very tough.
I don't like writing scenes that establish the main character. Because they usually start by appearing somewhere and start talking about generic everyday things. Other than that, I like writing the most interesting stuff. The problem is, the images in my head look better than what I write as the final product. But now and then, I'm satisfied with what I had written.
Hahah, I'm with you on this one. I got a no-romance policy when it comes to my writing. Not sure If I'm just a prude or I can't write about love for shit. But I do add some sexual references once in a while (which is supposed to help portray a character negativly).
Practice - the first sex scene I wrote took me two whole days and I'm talking from 8 in the morning until gone nine at night on both days. Loads of re-writes and deletions but I got there in the end. Now, it takes way less time!
I don't really write much because I'm not terribly good at it so I end up quitting while I'm ahead a lot, but usually opening it with an action works better. I believe the term is "In media res".
The scene I now hate writing the most is the one where a character absolutely must reflect on something and come up with a decision. It ends up like vegetable soup that's been simmering on the stove for a week. I can't even tell what's in it.
I'm gonna put it out there. My favourite scenes are the ones where my characters get hurt. Call me sadistic if you will, but that's just how it is. I think pain creates a force in character change, and the bigger the pain, the more the change. Anyway, what I hate writing is the between scenes. The scenes where it is really just there to get to the next scene. I have taken to writing a chapter as one long 'scene' (no paragraph breaks), so I am having to do that a lot now, so my characters don't teleport from one place to another. One other thing, is that I decided early on that I wouldn't write sex. To me, it is a personal thing that really doesn't need to be described in any detail at all. I've implied that it happened, and had a character get pregnant, and I think that's enough.
I like the way you think Chiv! I love antagonizing the situation, or making waves. Anything that I think would make the reader react and actually care for the character. It could put them against a certain character or show the potential of another. Anyways, I hate exposition scenes and beginnings. They're boring, but it has to be done...
I don't write sex scenes, I usually just find them slightly cringeworthy- especially when they are shoe-horned into an otherwise unrelated story- I mean if it is central to the plot fine, but otherwise just leave it out. I also dislike grandstanding action scenes. The sort where the MC is peacocking around like a twat pulling some Mary-Sue moves. If I were to write a fight scene it would either involve two people rolling around on the floor like drunks at kicking out time, or it would be a couple of punches long and the other guy would be in serious trouble. In fact, to sum up my thoughts on both the above sort of scenes; I dislike them both when they come across as smug; when the author is clearly excessively pleased with the scene he is creating, or it is clearly just the author's fantasy inked on paper. This is why I would heavily downplay either scene if I were to write them.
I would have to second this, about battles that is, I actually quite like killing characters off. But battles I just find tiresome to write. Different mediums excel at different things, and while a giant battle is a wonderful thing for a movie or a video game, I feel they are usually less interesting in literature than a well written character piece.
I really like action scenes. In my scriptwriting circles I'm usually called on to edit or re-write action.
The turning point was the most dreadful to me. I even had a 6-month pause in writing because I came to the point where I had to know how the story will end in order to continue writing (and it was a problem because I never plan anything ahead, I simply sit down and write and enjoy the development of events). I nearly gave up. Luckily, one day at work it all came together and the ending revealed itself to me.
When I write action scenes, I tend to do them as a blow-by-blow account (which I acknowledge is not necessarily everyone's favourite thing), and make a point of figuring out the best move that either character could make at any given point. Obviously, the good guys win, but it keeps the fights relatively short, brutal, and [hopefully] not all that one sided.
I have a hard time with beginnings. I mean, they just kill me. I have a hard time setting up a hook, and when it comes to first chapters I always grind them out word by word. Endings, on the other hand, are easy. For some reason the momentum builds up and I know what to do every scene. That's the point where the story writes itself and I am just writing down what I hear.
Sex scenes. I can't even begin to describe the anguish that goes into writing them. Does it sound too mushy? Is that the, er, correct term for that? I keep persevering, though. I will one day successfully complete one
Yeah I find sex scenes to be incredibly hard to write as well. You want a balance between "your own subconscious sexual agenda" and "realistic to the story" haha.
Luckily, I don't have problem with beginnings. Having a blank page in front of me is more exciting than anything!
I am gonna go with transitions. I see the scenes in my mind fine and death, beginning, fight or dialogue. All about the same to me. But moving from death scene to grieving scene? Way harder than either scene! Also gonna say sex scene. In all my work I have only ever had to do one on screen sex scene. I fail! Like epically.
That's me exactly. I don't have a problem writing a beginning, I have trouble deciding where the beginning should be. I know all the 'rules,' but often struggle to apply them to my own story. If I start too late, then I need the dreaded flashbacks. If I start too soon, the beginning seems too slow. I can't begin to tell you how hard I worked on my story's opening chapter during the editing process. (After I'd finished my entire first draft.) I'm finally happy with it, mostly ...but I drafted it hundreds of times. I know this because I always keep a digital copy of all the major changes I make until the editing is finished. And yes, I've gone back to these earlier versions on many occasions, to pull back phrases and scenes that I've cut. I even printed that first chapter out and cut it into scenes with a pair of scissors at one point. Rearranging them physically led me to the conclusion that straight chronological order worked best for me, even though my later 'action' start was more exciting and had a better hook. (Nice trick, by the way.) Like you, endings are easy for me. They come as natural conclusions and I have no problem with them—neither chapter endings nor the actual end of the novel.
I have a problem with endings. I keep finding dramatic moments to end a chapter I am writing, only to realise a moment later that I have only told half of what needs to be told and I have to rewrite parts to remove the natural conclusion.
