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xdotsyx · 3 years

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Hey there! I just came across this blog and im wondering if I could get some advice. I have a lot of trouble keeping motivation for a story. I'll have a new idea that im really excited about, ill write 10-20 pages of it, and then get bored of writing it. Any tips on how to keep myself invested in writing my own stories?

5 Reasons You Lost Interest in Your WIP, Plus Fixes!

It's not uncommon for writers to lose interest in their WIP. Staying on track, or getting back on track, are skills you'll acquire with time. Here are some of the reasons you might have lost interest in your WIP:

#1 - You're Not Sure Where the Story is Going. When you figure out a way into a story you're excited about, the beginning can be a piece of cake. It's all set up and inciting incident, which can be really really fun to write. But if you're not sure what needs to happen after the inciting incident, you can find yourself meandering and get bored quickly.

Fix - If you're writing a story that is plot-driven or a combination of plot-driven and character-driven (as most stories are these days), it may help to familiarize yourself with Basic Story Structure and also have a look at my post about How to Move a Story Forward.If you're writing a character-driven story, you can adhere to basic story structure or a more loose structure, but your character's arc will be the focus of the story. If you think plot and structure may be what's holding you back, you might spend time on my Plot & Story Structure post master list to read some of the other posts there.

#2 - Something Isn't Working. Stories are often like a house of cards in that one misplaced "card" can bring the whole thing crashing down. Sometimes you lose interest because an element or event didn't quite work, and you can feel in your gut that something's not right, so your brain interprets that as losing motivation. It's not really that you've lost interest in the story... it's that you've lost interest in the dead end path it's on.

Fix - Go back through what you’ve already written and look for something that’s not pulling its weight. It could be an unnecessary character dragging the story down, a subplot that is cluttering up the story or drawing attention away from the main plot, or it could be a scene/scenes that don’t add to the story. It could even be a combination of these things. If you can find it and fix it, your motivation may return.

#3 - You're Just Not in the Mood to Write. It could be that your interest in your WIP is just fine, you're just not in the mood to write. Our brains aren't always great at interpreting signals from our bodies, including other parts of our brain. The thirst signal is sometimes misinterpreted as hunger, which is why if you're feeling hungry when you shouldn't, you should try drinking a glass of water. Sometimes, in the same way, we're just not in the mood to write and our brains misinterpret that as a loss of interest in our WIP.

Fix - Consider what's going on in your life at the moment. Are you stressed? Are you distracted? Are you not feeling well? Sometimes you just need to give yourself a few days or weeks to let things resolve, and then you'll find your motivation has returned. Try doing things to Fill Your Creative Well in the meantime, or try some of the exercises in this post: Getting Unstuck: Motivation Beyond Mood Boards & Playlists

#4 - You're Overly Focused on Quality. One of the biggest WIP interest/motivation zappers is focusing too much on quality in your early drafts. If you're fixated on things like description, flow, theme, symbolism, grammar, etc. in your first draft, you're going to mentally

Fix - Remember, your early drafts should be more about getting the story down and working out the kinks. Don't worry so much about things like description, grammar, details, etc. until you've got all of that hammered out. And remember that the whole point of editing and revision is to polish your draft. You get the story down and make it pretty later.

#5 - You're Letting Yourself Get Distracted by New Ideas. The thrill of coming up with a new idea is part of the fun of being a writer. One of the pitfalls of being a writer is new ideas sometimes distract you from your WIP. We can be completely into our WIP, then a new idea comes along and our brains say, "Ooo! Look at the shiny pretty!" And off we go. Some writers, particularly seasoned ones, are able to work on multiple WIPs at once, but you should focus on one WIP at a time if you commonly lose interest before they're finished.

Fix - When you get a new idea, write it down in a notebook and/or in a document on your device. Once the idea is "down on paper," just forget about it. Imagine that it vanishes once it's recorded and you close the notebook/document. It takes practice, but you'll get better at ignoring the pull of a new idea.

Here are some posts from my Motivation post master list that might also help:

Guide: How to Rekindle Your Motivation to Write Feeling Unmotivated with WIP Getting Unstuck: Motivation Beyond Mood Boards & Playlists Getting Excited About Your Story Again

Have fun with your story!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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xdotsyx · 3 years

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xdotsyx · 3 years

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Do you have any tips on identifying plot holes during revisions?

10 Tips for Identifying Plot Holes

1) Create a "Big Picture" Overview of Your Story

Whether you use a scene list, chapter by chapter summary, timeline, flow chart of events, or some combination of the above, having a "big picture" overview of your story allows you to see all the smaller parts and how they fit together. Not only can it help you spot problems as you're creating it, it also gives you something to follow as you're revising to help make sure everything makes sense.

2) Create a List of Plot Points and Subplot Points

Make a list of your story's plot points and subplot points. Once again, not only can the creation of this list help you spot potential problems, it will also be a crucial tool during the revision process as well as helpful for the next exercise.

3) Follow the Chain of Cause and Effect

Good continuity in your story means having a tight relationship between cause and effect. For each plot point and subplot point, you should be able to ask "why did this happen" and answer "because this other thing happened." You should also be able to look at each plot point or subplot point and say, "Because this happened, this next thing happens."

4) Look at Character Choices

Since stories are ultimately about people who want something trying to get that thing, plot points and subplot point are often the result of character choices and actions. So, for every choice a character makes or action they take, ask why? Did that choice make sense for that character's personality, situation, and back story? Did it make sense for that particular moment?

5) Make Sure Subplots Are Tied Up

Make a list of your subplots and make sure they're all tied up by the end. Pay attention to how and when they branched back into the story and what they accomplished.

6) Create Character/Setting Continuity Tables

Create a table of important characteristics like hair color, eye color, current age, birthday, etc. and when you're reading through your story, any time a detail like that comes up, check it in the table to make sure you've got it right. You can do the same thing for setting details.

7) Create a Technical Detail Checklist

For every technical detail you include in your story, whether that's the moon being out and in a certain phase in a particular scene, the amount of time it takes to travel a particular distance, how a particular weapon works, the ingredients of a particular spell or potion, the types of berries your character forages, an historical garment or costume... put it in a checklist. Then, when you're revising and you get to that item, double-check the details you've included in the actual story against your research (or look them up again), and check them off when you're sure they're accurate.

8) Create a "Things That Need Reviewing" Checklist

You can do the same while you're writing/editing for general things you want to double-check, like maybe you recall your character mentioning something about their childhood home in a chapter, and now they're saying something else about it and you want to go back later and make sure the two things are coherent.

9) Review Your Manuscript with Fresh Eyes

When you've been with your WIP for weeks or months or years, it becomes tough to see mistakes that would be obvious to anyone else. If you can, try stepping away from your manuscript for a few days or weeks so that you can come back to it with fresh eyes. Another trick you can use (especially if you can't step away for long or at all) is to change the font style and/or color in your manuscript. This can trick your brain into feeling like it's seeing everything for the first time. Reading it out loud or trying to to visualize it like a movie can also help.

10) Get Feedback from Other People

If you plan on posting or publishing your story anyway, it's crucial to get critical eyes on your story during your revision process. Critique groups, writing groups, critique partners, beta readers, and editors are all great ways to get feedback on your story before publication. These folks can help you spot problems, like plot holes and continuity errors, before you share, query, or publish your story.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

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xdotsyx · 3 years

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xdotsyx · 3 years

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interview: Chapter 0: For HONEY10

1. How was it decided to name the 10th mini album ‘Novella’? Were there other choices? - @SHCJAngelOT6

UP10TION:[Novella] is the name that best matches the concept. We were thinking of a name that could tell the stories of meeting and breaking up and we chose [Novella] because it fits the song atmosphere and this novel-like album.

Other choices…Reminiscence seems to suit well too.

2. Which song from the new album would you like to listen to 24/7? - @psychopath_di

KUHN: SAD ENDING

KOGYEOL: ‘Crazy About You’!!

BIT-TO: Our title track ‘Crazy About You’

SUNYOUL: Usually, if I have a favourite song, I’ll not keep listening to it instead I tend to listen to it preciously.

GYUJIN: FALL???

HWANHEE: I’ve listened to ‘Crazy About You’ so many times during practice.. so I want to listen to ‘Give Love’

XIAO: I choose our title track ‘Crazy About You’.

BIT-TO

3. Among all songs in the 'Novella' album, which song reminds you of yourself or your life? - @chia9815

KUHN: PANDORA

KOGYEOL: ‘Incredible (雪來)’. I’m always excited when I see HONEY10.

GYUJIN: ‘SAD ENDING’!

HWANHEE: ‘Give Love’. HONEY10 woke me up 🥰

XIAO: ‘FALL’. When I wrote the lyrics, I want to express the feeling that I get while taking a night walk in the lyrics. These days, I walk and think a lot. Listening to this song goes well with the night breeze and the smell of dawn. And when you have a lot on your mind, you’ll feel at peace when you listen to this song.

4. KUHN, BIT-TO and XIAO, how do you get your inspiration when writing lyrics and composing songs? - @gyeol_byeol

KUHN: I tend to get a lot of inspiration from my own experience, movies, and dramas.

BIT-TO: It's usually fun to look at the overall context and add lyrics that best match it.

XIAO: I listen to a lot of songs, think about my favourite genre and songs I want to try with UP10TION. When I start preparing for the album, I discuss with the songwriting team and start working on it one by one. I like sentimental songs and lyrics, so I mainly focus on this.

GYUJIN

5. What experience did you get when working on an album with a different genre from your previous albums? - @sooilappa

KUHN: I put effort to go deep into it emotionally.

KOGYEOL: I had a very sad feeling while recording the song.

BIT-TO: It was something new and I do enjoy it. It’s a concept that I’ve always wanted to try.

SUNYOUL: With the singing style, the choreography decreased a lot, so I’m quite baffled.

GYUJIN: It was an opportunity to think and feel new emotions!!!

HWANHEE: It was fun!! I don't like new challenges, but I think it was fun because the results were good!

XIAO: When we did the choreography for our previous songs, we had lots of intense movement, but when we did the choreography for this song... It was a bit awkward because there was no feeling of "I’ve danced!" Those out of breath feeling.

6. From 1-10 how difficult is the choreography? Which part is the most difficult or takes a longer time to learn? - @NiantiPramesthy

KUHN: 5! At first, the members find it difficult to follow during my part since it’s fast.

KOGYEOL: 4! It’s the feeling that hard to express. The choreography is not that difficult.

BIT-TO: 4! Overall, I think it's about 4. KUHN's part in the first verse took a long time to learn.

SUNYOUL: 8! Rather than the choreography being difficult, it was difficult to fill in the gap because there was not much choreography.

GYUJIN: 5! I think that's about so!!!!

HWANHEE: 4? The choreography is not hard. Expressing the emotions… and, KUHN’s part is really fast… It’s so difficult ㅠㅠ

XIAO: 5! The difficulty level is 5, and the most difficult part is during KUHN’s part. It was hard because there were a lot of foot movements.

HWANHEE

7. Which was more difficult, preparing for a comeback with 'CONNECTION' or preparing for a comeback with 'Novella'? - @Tashi_honey10

KUHN: Personally, [Novella] is harder. This is the first time for UP10TION to sing this kind of title track, so I thought a lot about it.

KOGYEOL: The hardest is to express the emotions for ‘Crazy About Love’.

BIT-TO: Unlike our previous album [CONNECTION], [Novella] has a different emotion, so I wanted to show a different side of me.

SUNYOUL: It's a concept that I've never tried before, so I felt the preparation for this comeback was a little more difficult. The difference is that the members' ages have changed, and it seems maturity comes with that.

GYUJIN: I don't think there's anything easy in the process of preparing for our comeback. When we were preparing for [Novella], it was a bit hard because unlike our previous cool and sexy concept, we had to capture the emotions and sadness while breaking up and relay that in the music video.

HWANHEE: The choreography was a bit hard! Previously, I could dance coolly and excitingly, but for this concept, it is more important to convey emotions, so it was difficult to focus on that on stage.

XIAO: This time, the choreography has a lot of delicate parts, so I pay more attention to expressing my fingers and emotions. I’ve always prepared for comebacks, so I was able to prepare for things like choreography and recording a little faster.

8. How unique is 'Novella' compared to your past comebacks? What aspect should we look forward to the most? - @shinsun_han

KUHN: The fact that you can meet UP10TION's mature emotion through a concept that we tried for the first time is [Novella] unique point. And you can look forward to more UP10TION's mature emotions.

KOGYEOL: The mature emotions and feelings conveyed through breakup songs are the ones that set [Novella] different from our previous albums and what HONEY10 should look forward to.

BIT-TO: We have shown powerful and intense performance for our previous comebacks. For this album, it is unique in that you can see a calm and full of emotion performance, and I think the new UP10TION is what you should look forward to.

SUNYOUL: Many emotions build up in people over time. Same goes for UP10TION. We too, have matured as time passed and learned new emotions. I think that’s the difference from our previous comeback and what you should look forward to.

GYUJIN: We showed our cool and sexy side in our previous comebacks. For this album, you can look forward to seeing UP10TION’s emotions, which have become more mature.

HWANHEE: The unique point and what you should look forward to is that you can experience UP10TION’s new feels as we are making a comeback with a new concept that we have never tried before.

XIAO: If you look closely at each member's facial expressions and emotions, you can see the mature emotions, and I hope that you will be able to relate to and find comfort while listening to this album.

KOGYEOL

9. Is there any member who has discovered new talents or something new about themselves at certain area that they are better than they expected? - @ALTER_lDEM

KUHN: XIAO is getting better at composing.

KOGYEOL: KUHN’s humour…

BIT-TO: HWANHEE. It was amazing that he made a gesture with a new feeling.

SUNYOUL: Since mine is still undiscovered, I will try exploring new stuff.

GYUJIN: HWANHEE! I think he can switch to be a rapper??

HWANHEE: Me! Me! Me!!! I’m good at composing! Lyrics writing too!! Hahaha

XIAO: I think SUNYOUL is a good dancer. He has an amazing body line, so I think the choreography this time suits him well.

10. How would you define a 'true' friendship? - @ALTER_lDEM

KUHN: Family

KOGYEOL: True friendship is UP10TION.

BIT-TO: I think it’s family

SUNYOUL: It's no longer a friendship, but a family.

GYUJIN: Close like a friend?!

HWANHEE: We don’t fight! Hahaha

XIAO: True friendship… Someone who always by your side?! Even if we meet after a long while, it's as comfortable as if we see each other every day.

KUHN

11. If the word ‘I love you’ disappeared from this world, what words or actions would you use instead? - @heyhwanhee

KUHN: I’ll say, (널 아껴줄게) ‘I’ll cherish you’.

KOGYEOL: (좋아해) ‘I like you’

BIT-TO: I'd say, (많이 아껴) "I cherish you a lot."

SUNYOUL: I don't think it'll change much. I think I will replace it with other words such as (좋아해) "I like you."

GYUJIN: I'll express it by hugging and lean on each other’s forehead instead.

HWANHEE: I’d express it in a different way…? A way to show that I’m thinking of you this much... But I'm not sure how to do it yet.

XIAO: I will look into the other person's eyes for a long time and give them lots of hugs.

12. What would the ending be like if you were the owner of this 'Novella'? - @narm_sainarm

KUHN: I hope to see the heroine again and have a happy ending.

KOGYEOL: The process was sad, but I hope the ending will be happy.

BIT-TO: It’s not a happy ending and not a sad ending either. It will probably have an open ending.

SUNYOUL: I want to have a happy ending.

GYUJIN: Whenever I watch a movie, I like it to end with happy ending. So happy ending!

HWANHEE: I like happy ending.. It would be nice if it was a happy ending... But still, based on the emotions of the song... I think sad ending it is!

XIAO: I hope it has a happy ending.

SUNYOUL

13. Most members had gone for variety shows, acting and singing competitions, are there any other things that UP10TION members would like to try next? - @izumikyu96

KUHN: I want to try being a news anchor.

KOGYEOL: I want to be a model.

BIT-TO: Personally, I want to try acting.

SUNYOUL: I’m greedy for all fields, so if I have the opportunity, I want to try everything.

GYUJIN: I still want to try more acting!!

HWANHEE: I always like to sing! It’s exciting!

XIAO: I want to try acting.

14. Do you have many big plans for 2022 besides the comeback? - @hwa_nix

UP10TION: As we have made a comeback with ‘Crazy About You’ and started our promotional activities, we want to work hard on our new album now. And rather than just a plan, we really hope to have a concert. We want to have fun on stage with HONEY10!!! And... We hope all UP10TION members will challenge themselves for new fields.

XIAO

—

Watch UP10TION x MY K-POP WIRE interview here!

youtube

*photos courtesy of TOP Media

Don’t forget to like, follow and subscribe to MY K-POP WIRE for more K-Pop interview, debut, comeback and event updates!

Twitter: @mykpopwire

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Connect with UP10TION!

Twitter: @UP10TION

Instagram: u10t_official

Facebook: 업텐션 Up10tion

YouTube: UP10TION

VLIVE: UP10TION

TikTok: up10tion__

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xdotsyx · 3 years

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Suggested reading: 10 Editing Errors Writers Should Avoid At All Costs

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xdotsyx · 3 years

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So, who wants a publishing story?

No one?

…Tough.

To preface, this was prompted by a post I saw about always making sure you read a contract before signing it. I wholeheartedly agree.

So, I write books. A roundabout result of writing books is I occasionally get to speak at conventions. When I do speak at conventions (which hasn’t been for a year. Thanks, covid), a standard question I get asked is about the benefits of self-publishing versus getting a contract. And yes, I fully realize that everyone’s experience in this is different, and I get that. Here’s mine.

Lees verder

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xdotsyx · 3 years

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‘BUTTER’ MV a.k.a. hoseok owning another comeback

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xdotsyx · 3 years

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How can I return to writing after a long hiatus?

This post is based on a conversation we had in the Duck Prints Press LLC Discord, and all contributors comments have been used/paraphrased/integrated into this post with permission. The people who contributed ideas to this post are: @nottesilhouette, @ramblingandpie, @arialerendeair, @tryslora, @deansmultitudes, @theleakypen, Owlish Intergalactic, myself (I’m @unforth), and one who preferred to remain anonymous.

Few things are harder than coming back to writing after a long period of not writing. Being creative takes a lot of energy, and starting after not doing so for a period of time takes even more energy. The writers on our Discord had a really productive discussion, where we talked about strategies we’ve each personally used to help us get our writing mojo back. None of these methods work for everyone, but if you haven’t written in a while, maybe one of these will work for you!

How to Revive that Creative Writing Spark:

doing sprints with a friend - knowing you’re all in it together can really help!

talking with writing buddies about what you’re each working on - the shared enthusiasm can be really helpful,

journaling, about daily life, or about dreams you’ve had - turning the dream into something coherent can be a great strategy (or, don’t bother, and just write it however crazily it took place!)

pick a random story you wrote in the past and read a chapter, paragraph, or 500 word segment - and look at it as a reader, say things you liked about it, praise it, emphasize the good things about your own writing.

transcribe a song with lyrics you find inspiring, or crack open a favorite book and transcribe a few paragraphs. You can even do it with something you’ve written yourself!

set a low-pressure, low-word count deadline - make it public, if you’re the kind of person that helps, or keep it to yourself.

sign up for a zero-consequence challenge, such as a bingo, or the Duck Prints Press #drabbledaysaturday prompts on Twitter - something where no one will mind if you don’t succeed, but you might find some inspiration.

create a small goal, either daily, weekly, or monthly - it can be a time frame (I’ll write for 5 minutes a day!) or a word count (I’ll write 1,000 words a month!) or even something tiny (I’ll write one sentence a day!) or a public sharing goal (post a ficlet a day!) and then do your best to stick to it, and reward yourself when you succeed.

open your ask box or otherwise solicit short prompts - for example, do a “three sentence” meme (”send me a pairing and a trope and I’ll write a three sentence fill”) or a story title meme (”send me a story title and I’ll write a little about the story I’d create with that title”) or an emoji prompt (”send me three emojis and I’ll write a ficlet”) or make your own fun one that will bring you joy (one of our writers created a “name two characters and I’ll make them kiss in six sentences or less” meme that helped them a lot)

participate in a prompt month, something with no consequences for failure but with prompts that can inspire daily ficlet.

write without editing, and just throw what you create out into the world - anything to get the words flowing.

challenge yourself to write a drabble day, no more and no less.

try changing how or when you write - get a nice journal and write by hand, or if that’s your normal, try writing in a word document instead.

write at different times of day, and see if it’s easier for you over breakfast, or after lights out, or during your lunch break, or by stealing a few minutes while you’re “on the clock” at work.

make an attempt at different formats of writing - if you usually write prose, try a poem; if you usually write really long things, try a drabble.

look out your window, or find a place you like, and just describe what you see.

do some free association exercises - for example, use a random word generator (I use this one sometimes) and then write literally whatever word comes into your head next - keep going until you fill the page, or until it starts to turn into a story, or just until you don’t feel like it any longer.

pick a random sentence (the person who suggested this often uses “Just write anything”) to be the start of a story, and “pants” your way through whatever comes next, without worrying about grammar, continuity, logic, or much of anything.

plan ahead - schedule your writing time and don’t let yourself put it off (rewards for success are always good!) and/or visualize exactly what you want to write ahead so you’re ready when you sit down.

if you get hit by inspiration, don’t put it off - even if all you do is scrawl a sentence in your phone or on scratch paper between other tasks, get it out of your head. Even a single sentence is a creation!

get out of the spaces where your usual things are - go to a park, or on a hike, or in your backyard, or even a different room in your own home, and bring a journal or phone or laptop, and see what strikes you.

pick That Thing You Haven’t Been Letting Yourself Write and ignore all the things you Think You Should Be Writing and just…write what brings you joy

fanfiction can be very helpful, especially in canon using canon-compliant ships/characterizations - there’s no need to do the heavy lifting. Even if you just write the characters going to a grocery store, or talking about what movie they want to watch, or arguing over take out - something short and sweet that’s just for fun, with no expectations for yourself or anyone else.

alternatively, if you’re the type who writes better for others and you’re feeling down - knock out anything, even something short, and post it, and take joy even in a single like or kudos. Knowing even one person out there loved what you wrote can really help.

Any or all of these may help you, but there’s one final one that I, at least, think is the most important of all - and that’s helped me most.

FORGIVE YOURSELF. You have work in progress up. It’s okay to leave them. You told someone you’d write something for them. It’s okay not to. You have a deadline looming. It’s okay to ask for more time, or to withdraw, or - in the end - it’s even okay to ghost. You think what you’ve made is bad. It’s okay if it’s bad. You’ll never be able to create when you’re raking yourself over the coals. Everyone in fandom has “been there” - has missed deadlines, has left challenges, has abandoned works in progress, have reneged on a promise to a friend to write something. Until you forgive yourself, you’ll never be able to create anything, and isn’t even a single sentence that isn’t on that Big Important Thing better than no sentences on anything?

Forgive yourself, and find that spark, inspiration, muse, whatever you want to call it - and write things that bring you joy.

We believe in you!

YOU CAN DO IT!

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