People who have already written something, a question for you. I'm sure that this has happened not only to me when there is a general idea of the scene, but when you try to write it, everything breaks down, sometimes part of the idea just flies out of your head, sometimes you just can't figure out how to connect the beginning of your idea and its end so that it is interesting, and sometimes you seem to have written everything, but after rereading it all seems absurd, although at the beginning it was a good idea and everything comes down to endless rewriting. If you have encountered this, how did you deal with it, how did you make the content for this idea, how do you deal with the endless rewriting of dialogues and the endless desire to make your idea even better?
How to deal with problems when transferring ideas from your head to paper
- Thread starter egopassion
- Start date
- Jan 21, 2022
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- 17,904
Real writing isn't the initial draft. Real writing is the revision process.
You could start at global revisions - setting, chronology, plot, major sources of conflict, general character building, long lines of tension, etc.
Then once you've worked on that, go to local revisions - dialogue, details, short lines of tension, pacing, transitions, etc.
Then, go back to global.
Then, go back to local.
Nothing I've had published was submitted as a first draft.
However, at some point you do have to decide "this is my final draft." You'll know it when you read it.
You could start at global revisions - setting, chronology, plot, major sources of conflict, general character building, long lines of tension, etc.
Then once you've worked on that, go to local revisions - dialogue, details, short lines of tension, pacing, transitions, etc.
Then, go back to global.
Then, go back to local.
Nothing I've had published was submitted as a first draft.
However, at some point you do have to decide "this is my final draft." You'll know it when you read it.
What I'm going to say may sound crazy to some people. But I've done it more than once and even years ago I gave this same advice to another person who was having trouble writing his thesis... in the end she thanked me because it worked wonders for her to follow me in this crazy idea.
Alcohol... Yep, the mind relaxes with a little alcohol.
It's not about getting drunk, it's about drinking just enough to feel maybe a little dizzy and your tongue starts to feel heavy. When that happens, take a pencil and paper or sit down at the keyboard and write whatever comes to mind. If you start to feel "normal" and you still don't finish writing, repeat the process. Of course, later, when you are absolutely sober again, you will have to refine details, fix spelling mistakes and things like that. But the main thing, what couldn't come out by normal means, will be there.
You don't lose anything by trying.
Alcohol... Yep, the mind relaxes with a little alcohol.
It's not about getting drunk, it's about drinking just enough to feel maybe a little dizzy and your tongue starts to feel heavy. When that happens, take a pencil and paper or sit down at the keyboard and write whatever comes to mind. If you start to feel "normal" and you still don't finish writing, repeat the process. Of course, later, when you are absolutely sober again, you will have to refine details, fix spelling mistakes and things like that. But the main thing, what couldn't come out by normal means, will be there.
You don't lose anything by trying.
???
Are you one of those rare special people who thinks someone is going to have medical problems from drinking 4 or 5 times a year? There are people who drink wine every day...
I'm not telling him to get drunk until he pass out or to use drugs.
Or maybe you're one of those people who drinks a beer and starts acting stupid and that's why you think everyone is the same?
alcohol is a toxic substance to our bodies.
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had to point it out with that "you dont lose anything by trying"
Yes yes yes yes... And I love smoking, in fact I've smoked a pack a day for 30 years and I still have no problems, although I don't deny that there are people who die of cancer for the same reason smoking much much much less.
I'm not addicted to alcohol, I drink it very occasionally, maybe once every 3 months I give myself a little treat although nothing like getting drunk... and I'm still alive without any drama.
So I was completely right, you are option number one...
Anyway, a medium dose of alcohol, being a writer with a mental block, can help. But be careful because if you go overboard you will have just the opposite effect. You want a calm, relaxed mind, you must be able to write. Too much alcohol is not good because you get the opposite effect... and you can't use my method too often because it will gradually stop being effective.
I've found doing the opposite can help. Instead of thinking about going from A to B, think about how B could've happened from A. "I want this event to happen, now I need to think about HOW it happened."
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- Sep 26, 2018
- 52
- 338
Perfect content from the first draft is nearly impossible and not something you want to aim. As Count Morado said, it's a question of refinement, just ask yourself how many times did I just rephrase this to make it good for me and for you. The more you rewrite your scene, the more (in theory) it'll get better.
Endless rewriting of dialogues might be a symptom of a lack of depth in your characters, there's a little trick in writing that Neil Newbon had also when he had to voice Astarion over several months or years, is to just imitate himself with a gimmick phrase like a "Oh, hello darling." to embrace his personality again. It might seems dumb but I say "Oh geez" you'll probably think of Morty, that's exactly the concept. This principle is for example applied in the Phoenix Wright games where the characters have their way of speaking that also conveys a tone or a theme, or a reddit comment might imitate Donald Drump and say "You know the problem with incest game is that... I mean, I'm just a player like you folks... I met this guy, nicely guy, very friendly, very nice guy, and he said to me the other day that.... You know how they are, the woke devs that are trying to push their agendas" and you could go on forever just using gimmicks that make the dialogue.
Now to the last question about making your idea even better, it depends on how you work. Some devs write their story entirely before making the game, some people are doing 50% render, 50% story, some people are doing the renders first and then the story. It really depends on what you prefer, but make very small iterations on your work, ask for feedback, and then you'll know where you're going.
It's something you'll get better at with practice. That's most of what there is to it, just keep writing and you'll get better at putting things on paper that matches what's in your head.
But it sounds like your main problem is perhaps one of perfectionism. It's important to get to a point of 'good enough' and let the scene be what it is. No one expects a painter to create masterpieces in their first few years of learning, you shouldn't expect your writing to be any different.
I think of my current project as a big learning exercise. I'm obviously doing my best and trying really hard, but in the end there will be flaws, lots of them. My mindset is that every flaw is just another opportunity to learn and do better in the future. For me, that helps a lot. I'm not as focused on creating something perfect now, I'm more focused on learning from my mistakes for the purpose of being able to create something even more awesome in the future.
That is not to say that you shouldn't care about your current project. Caring about the quality is important, and I certainly think that one learns much more when they put their heart into it. Just don't let it paralyze you into not making something at all.
- Feb 11, 2024
- 38
- 76
I think there's some misunderstanding of what a professional edit looks like. A professional edit is not rearranging certain words and fixing cadence and rhythm. It's analyzing a text, seeing what it's strengths are, then rewriting it from scratch to exemplify those strengths.
e.g. If you're writing a script around a brother who messes around with his sister, and your O.G. script goes into the life of everyone in the house and how the mother has bought a new car; you might then go away and think about what you've written and realize, okay, maybe we should make this all about a confrontation between the brother and the sister instead. A small argument they have which leads to the brother stroking his chin and wanting to get his own back is far, far more ''on pointe'' in helping introduce the game's theme. The first draft regarding the whole family works, but the second draft introduces a question.
In other words, cut out all the crap. I'm guilty of moving words around myself, sometimes. But I've disciplined myself not to do it so often as I realized it's not profitable or time efficient to obsess over stylistics to this extent.
e.g. If you're writing a script around a brother who messes around with his sister, and your O.G. script goes into the life of everyone in the house and how the mother has bought a new car; you might then go away and think about what you've written and realize, okay, maybe we should make this all about a confrontation between the brother and the sister instead. A small argument they have which leads to the brother stroking his chin and wanting to get his own back is far, far more ''on pointe'' in helping introduce the game's theme. The first draft regarding the whole family works, but the second draft introduces a question.
In other words, cut out all the crap. I'm guilty of moving words around myself, sometimes. But I've disciplined myself not to do it so often as I realized it's not profitable or time efficient to obsess over stylistics to this extent.