Bat Stitch Crazy Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Okay Folks, My project this month, isn't necessarily writing something new but is in fact, editing everything I've ever written in the last two years for school for my final portfolio project. (the current version you can see by clicking Here) (M for triggering content) Right now, everything you see on the site will need to be edited and there will be at least 8-10 other projects that will be added to the site as time goes on. Feel free to check everything out, with the exception of the book on Smashwords which is not available at this time. Stay tuned because there will be a book available on Smashwords by the end of the month. I guess this is where everyone can ask questions or check back here for updated to works that I've added or even offer suggestions for improvement (PLEASE OFFER SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT) I will send you all the virtual cookies and wine, and tea or coffee and anything else your virtual heart desires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlitcastles Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 Hi Tasha! I hope that everything goes well with not only writing during this Camp Nano but also editing the projects for the portfolio project and hope that you'll be able to edit most if not all of them during the next month! Also hoping the book for Smashwords also goes well for you! The only questions I have so far are: 1. Which written project has been the easiest for you to write so far? 2. What's your inspiration for The Truth Is? 3. What's your favorite story that you wrote so far for the portfolio? 4. What's one thing you learned while writing your stories? 5. What's your least favorite thing about writing your stories? Why? All those questions aside, here's to hoping that you'll be able to fulfill your goals and get everything you need either done or worked on! Oh and for some motivation and encouragement: You can do it! You got this! Also if you need to take any breaks and or care of yourself, please do so as that's important too! Wishing you the best of luck for the rest of Camp Nanowrimo! -Diana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bat Stitch Crazy Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 On 6/29/2021 at 2:55 PM, starlitcastles said: 1. Which written project has been the easiest for you to write so far? Honestly, none of them have been easy. I've had a few where I was able to come up with an idea quickly but struggled with the words, and others where the idea seemed like it would never come but once it did, the words just flowed. If I had to pick, I would probably have to choose the B99 spec script I had to write. It was like writing fanfic in a way so since I'm already familiar with how to play in someone else's world it was easier than some of the original pieces I had to come up with. (Look for this script to be added to the site in the coming weeks) On 6/29/2021 at 2:55 PM, starlitcastles said: 2. What's your inspiration for The Truth Is? So this is actually based on a song/poem I wrote YEARS ago that I edited and adapted for the assignment. The original inspiration for the poem came after going through a really bad breakup and more or less was used to funnel my emotions into. I couldn't understand why the relationship was ending and why all of a sudden that person became a stranger to me in a matter of minutes. Also at the time I wrote the story version, I was hit wit a wave of emotions that I thought I left buried and at the time didn't want to deal with so this was my way of coping with them. For the record, I still have NO idea why the relationship died but at least now I'm okay with not knowing. On 6/29/2021 at 2:55 PM, starlitcastles said: 3. What's your favorite story that you wrote so far for the portfolio? OOOF I don't know that I have a favorite, at least not right now, but the two that I had the most fun writing were "The Devil is in the Details" and "It's Just Business" It was great getting to explore new genres and discovering a new side of myself. Never in a million years did I think I would write a revenge piece (which is actually a genre flip of "The Truth Is") or a story with a sarcastic demon (who was inspired by Luci from Disenchantment). Unfortunately for me, my instructor didn't like my demon and gave me some pretty harsh critiques that I'll have to edit but I'm hoping to expand that story once I do a LOT more research on NOLA and Voodoo. On 6/29/2021 at 2:55 PM, starlitcastles said: 4. What's one thing you learned while writing your stories? The biggest thing I've learned is there are rules to writing in each medium and genre. Everything has specific ways they need to be formatted and specific things that need to be included in order to fit that one thing. You have to show that you can play by the rules before you try to break them. People like Stephen King and George Lucas can and do break those rules all the time but then again, they are Stephen King and George Lucas, they have the notoriety and skills to break the rules. As a nobody in this world, I can't break the rules just yet. I might be able to bend them a bit but It might not be a good idea to push the limits too far until I've established a foothold in that medium. On 6/29/2021 at 2:55 PM, starlitcastles said: 5. What's your least favorite thing about writing your stories? Why? The editing process. I can be a perfectionist and it drives me insane when I have to go back and find all the flaws and mistakes in my work. I had a game I had to design from the ground up, (again a link will be available on my portfolio site soon) and I got so frustrated trying to get everything to work the way I wanted it to that I scrapped the project and started over so many times I finally had to tell myself that I had to stop and just get it done. Even now there are so many mistakes in the text on the screen that I'm cringing having to go back and fix it. (special shout out to @toomanycurls and @magemadi for helping me figure out the code and stopping me from pulling my hair out) Also anytime I have to cut things out in order to fit within word count limits is painful. I hate having to "kill my darlings" and most of the time I can justify keeping something when I really should cut it. I HATE having to ask myself if something is really necessary for the purposes of telling the story or if it's just something I want to keep because It's mine and I wrote it. Peer reviews have been a lifesaver when it comes to pointing out things that don't work or things I can cut without losing effect. Thank you so much for your questions and well wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamshadow Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 hi tasha! i'm here with some questions for you if you could sum up each of your stories in three words, what would they be? do you have any advice for someone who might be interested in making their own portfolio or author website? what's your favorite genre to write in? is it easier to write shorter pieces or more challenging? why? do you draw any inspiration from real life into your fiction pieces? what inspires you the most? coffee or tea? what's your favorite writing snack? thanks for sharing these with us, and good luck this month!! you're gonna crush it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bat Stitch Crazy Posted July 16, 2021 Author Share Posted July 16, 2021 Hi Jill! thanks so much for stopping by! Now that I have time, Here are my answers to your excellent questions: On 7/5/2021 at 6:30 PM, dreamshadow said: if you could sum up each of your stories in three words, what would they be? As a whole? : Chaos, disorganized chaos...As I've been working on edits this month, I've realized that while different, each one pretty much tells the same story so I now get to figure out a way to wiggle my way out of that box I seem to have placed myself in...The rewrites are a hot mess right now and I'm not sure what they are or what story they're trying to tell anymore. On 7/5/2021 at 6:30 PM, dreamshadow said: do you have any advice for someone who might be interested in making their own portfolio or author website? Make it yours. When it comes to potential employers or even new readers, this is the only time you'll get to make a first impression so your site should not only show people what you can do, it also needs to show who you are. While mine is and probably always will be under construction, I've tried to not only make it a place where people can read some of my work, but also a place that gives them an opportunity to see who I am as a person. One of the things that I did was make sure to use a color palate that included various shades of my favorite color but I also used one of my favorite quotes on my homepage. tl:dr: Your website should be a reflection of you. On 7/5/2021 at 6:30 PM, dreamshadow said: what's your favorite genre to write in? I don't know that I have a favorite genre to write in. I know that most of the pieces I've written have been a psuedo romance but they've been a struggle to write. The one that came easiest to me is a youth horror story called "Off the Beaten Path" so I'm thinking that middle grade or YA might be where I'll shine the most. The thing I've learned with being forced (yes forced) to write in different genres and with different age targets is that each comes with it's own set of challenges and some of those challenges are easier to overcome than others. You have to adapt your style to fit the conventions of the genre and make it easily recognizable that the story is a romance, horror, or sci-fi. On 7/5/2021 at 6:30 PM, dreamshadow said: is it easier to write shorter pieces or more challenging? why? Honestly, it depends on your writing style and genre. Some stories have been easy to tell in 1000 words or less and others, there was no way I could tell the story in that many words so I didn't even try. Over time, it's gotten easier for me to write shorter pieces since I've learned how to fit the story to the word count. But there are also some genres that shorter pieces won't work for. Stories like Game of Thrones or The Lord of the Rings wouldn't work as a flash or short story piece just because of the sheer amount of world building involved. You need the extra words to describe what the world looks like, the history and how it works. For example, GRRM needed to tell the history of the Targaryens in order to understand why Dany was being sold to the Dothraki. Readers need to know the history in order to connect with and root for the characters. On the other side of that coin, you really don't need 50 or 100,000 words to tell a story about someone running into an old flame at the grocery store. The story you want to tell, and how long that story spans in time is what determines how long the story needs to be. Some stories can easily fit either one. For example, JKR could have easily told Harry's story about finding the Philosopher's Stone as a short story but in order to do that, you would lose not only Harry's backstory but you'd also lose a large part of the world building that is the Wizarding World. In a way, those elements are needed in the story in order for us to connect with Harry and escape to Hogwarts. I think what it comes down to is planning and editing. Longer pieces give you more freedom to tell longer stories and you should plan accordingly. Shorter pieces need to be direct and to the point. One of the things that works for me is I write the story the way I normally would without worrying about the word count and then go back and see what areas I can trim the fat from. Where can I take a 100 word description and cut it down to 25 or less? Can I take this 10 word bit of dialogue and cut it down to 4 or 5 without losing the tone? On 7/5/2021 at 6:30 PM, dreamshadow said: do you draw any inspiration from real life into your fiction pieces? what inspires you the most? Oh definitely. Everything I've written has been inspired by real life experiences and lessons. Or they've been inspired by the stories I was told growing up. In 2015 I left an extremely unhealthy marriage and some of my earlier pieces reflect the fear I felt when I first came home and others reflect my journey of healing and letting go of some of those fears. I'm still not in a place where I'm ready to have a serious relationship again but I'm continuing to heal and writing those stories was my way of letting go of all the negative emotions and moments that have haunted me since I left. In high school, I was never gonna be the girl that got asked to prom by their crush. And in fact my prom dates were a good friend of mine who was homeschooled and my cousin...Yeah I was the girl that had to take her cousin to prom because I couldn't get a date. The prom themed stories reflect that fantasy I always had of being asked to prom and in some ways reflect the marriage proposal I'm not gonna get anytime soon. Because the community I grew up in has a large Latinx population, I grew up hearing those legends more than I heard stories of the boogeyman or hookman or anything like that. "Off the Beaten Path" was directly inspired by the story of La Lechuza but since I'm white, I did my best to only take a few pieces of the legend and weave them into my story in a way that pays homage to the legend without directly retelling it. I just hope I got it right. Most of what inspires me has been situations I've been in where when I've looked back I tried to figure out what I could have or would have done differently if given another chance. I did have one story that was inspired by a classmate though. I had read a story they turned in that had so many things wrong with in in terms of story, characterization, details, etc that I started to think about how I would tell the story differently. so with a bit of planning and lots of help from @Professor McGonagall I took their story and made it my own. Unfortunately I bit off a LOT more than I could chew with that one and it's currently sitting in development hell until I'm able to get back to it and expand the story more. On 7/5/2021 at 6:30 PM, dreamshadow said: coffee or tea? is wine an option? This is probably the easiest question you've asked me so far. the answer is tea. I don't like the taste of coffee and there's not enough sugar and cream in the world to drown out the bitterness of coffee for me. On 7/5/2021 at 6:30 PM, dreamshadow said: what's your favorite writing snack? I think I'm gonna have to go with gummy bears. They're bite sized, sweet, don't leave crumbs everywhere, and I can eat them without getting my keyboard or notes dirty since they don't leave my hands incredibly sticky unless they start to melt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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