W.C. Sanic

Hey. I know I said I'd post today, but this part is quite big, and is taking a little longer than expected(pause). its at about 2000 words and I expect that to double. 
          I covers the beginnings of a new story. How to make one with nothing more than a plot, character, or setting idea, And a breif rundown of the first few steps of the writing process. Here's a sample: 
          "Whether you want to create a heart-wrenching story with compelling characters and a thrilling plot, expansive worlds with kingdoms and empires, or a slice-of-life tale about a girl and her friends playing Monopoly, the question inevitably arises: where do you start? The answer is: anywhere!
          
          An author's nick is any idea or concept that centralizes their vision for a story and initiates the writing process. It can be a remix of concepts, like a Harry Potter power system used to fight a horror movie monster, or a system where people use different kinds of literature to create unique effects on reality—poetry abstracts reality, the prosaic simplifies it, etc. It can be anything because, unlike the premise, it doesn't have to explain the story's events. It's the idea that drew you to storytelling. Focus on that idea, and start writing."

Find A Process, and Trust it:
          Writing and editing require step-by-step processes to parcel gargantuan labors into menial tasks. This approach allows you to pace yourself and avoid burnout. The most important thing is patience. Keep writing. Test yourself. Work towards getting those 10,000 hours at the edge of your expertise in something you enjoy. That's what makes an expert. But you can't achieve those 10,000 hours all at once. If you're impatient and let writer's anxiety pull you into a crunch, you'll burn out, become disgusted by your own creation, and might even give up on writing altogether. So, how do we avoid this frightening prospect?
          
          Find Favorite Tools: A skilled novice is good at what they do but hasn't found a favorite tool to do it. Find a favorite character profile, outlining, and plotting process, and begin to break those processes into parts. If you're a pantser--like I was when I started--you should at least have a character profile and a theme or plot idea to guide your writing. Or, if you're a gardener—like I've become in recent years—plan out your planning! Set word or time goals, set a deadline, keep a schedule. Be efficient about it. Even if you can only write once a week for 4 hours, use that time to do as much as you can as efficiently as possible. Discover how long you write, short or long. Discover your style. Read, yoink, and remix techniques. Find a favorite tool!
          
          Trust the process: Your rough drafts suck. It's unavoidable for even the greatest authors (unless you're King). But you'll have a 'honeymoon phase' with a rough draft, and when you finally realize it's literary spittle, you'll get discouraged. Don't. Avoid getting attached to your early drafts. Don't think of it as 'your writing.' It isn't. Get invested in that final draft, with its polished story that reflects the human condition exactly as you want. Go out and find it. Now, like go. Why are you still here? Goofy ahh.
          
          Thanks for reading.

There are two things that make any great story: character and conflict. A good character is marked by a great internal conflict. If your plot-centric story still works with little character development, it is because your conflict is strong.
          
          To create internal conflict, build conflicting elements into your characters that your plot actively impacts. For instance, a person who runs from their problems being made the chosen one actively challenges their misbelief.
          
          There are a few ways to create this dissonance. One method is a psychological approach, focusing on a generalized trauma response to their problems and relationships—a method coined by LocalScriptMan on YouTube.
          
          Alternatively, the 'Misbelief' method taught by Abbie Emmons utilizes the interplay between desire, fear, and a lie/misbelief. The desire is what the character wants, the fear is why they think they may not get it, and the misbelief is what prevents their happiness. This leads to a revelation where the character gains a new outlook.
          
          Both methods have merits and limits. The 'Misbelief' system may require a 'Eureka!' moment, while LocalScriptMan's character map requires an experience to impress a central belief. Either way, mutually exclusive beliefs create cognitive dissonance and give the external conflict personal stakes.
          
          This can work with fight scenes, murder trials, and more. Practice this on your manuscript: see if it has mutually exclusive elements. Determine if your manuscript is plot-centric or character-driven. Practice makes perfect.
          
          Thanks for reading.

Dig For The Concrete and Specific:
          Writers should always dig for the concrete and specific. 'Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer' by Roy Peter Clark states(https://dcripe.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/50-writing-tools.pdf): "Always get the name of the Dog," This applies to every nook and cranny of prose, from nouns to characters. When writing, it is almost always best to write the specific rather than the general. 
          
          Case in point: 'It flew into the air,' vs. 'A Blue-Jay startled and flew into the partly-cloudy evening sky,'. The use of specific and concrete nouns and adjectives, not only paints a clearer picture of the scene, but also tells us more about the scene. The time, the kind of bird, etc.  Versus using 'it' which is the most general pronoun known to man. 
          
          'It' Could be a dog that suddenly sprouted white-feathery wings and flew off into the sunset shouting 'Scooby-Dooby-Dooo!!" or Lord Garmadon hitting the griddy on the sigma males in Ohio.(he's floating with the force obviously)
          
          Next we'll discussion information compression. Sounds complicated, but most understand it as 'show-don't tell'. 'Tell me you have x without telling me you have x' kinda timing. This should also be concrete and specific. The difference between 'Jesus wailed and tears streamed down his cheeks a the news hit his ears that his besto-friendo lazerus was dead' and-- 
          'Jesus wept'. 
          
          It's simple, isolated, which creates the same feeling Jesus is feeling. Loneliness. Perfect example. Another important example is one you're probably wondering about. Details. Small details, like how you eat your eggs or brush your teeth, these can be concrete and specific and compress a good bit of information.
          
          "Rian made sure to never sleep on his stomach. There was a deep dent in his spot on the left side of the bed and his hands would stay clasped on his stomach as he slept," He's lonely, not trusting, and maybe a bit of a neat freak.
          
          Thanks for reading.