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Friday, Jan. 31, 2025

1:49pm EST

Members: 830

Guests: 3,084

Total Online: 3,914

Writing Blog Number 2

by S 🤦

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #2311764

This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC

This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario.

An index of topics can be found here: "Writing Blog No.2 Index"

Feel free to comment and interact.

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

S 🤦

about 11 hours ago
In response to "20250131 Mythological Or Legendary Creatures As Cliché"

Ms. TerrifyingTuber - This is mainly Western dragons because those are the ones that feature most in books. That was the idea of this - looking at creatures that have become cliche in books. As for Eastern dragons, around 50-50 good-evil. And Native American beliefs had very few dragons, so calling them good or evil was difficult.

2 Like

Ms. TerrifyingTuber

about 12 hours ago
In response to "20250131 Mythological Or Legendary Creatures As Cliché"

Interesting, so most of the characteristics for dragons listed in this entry were more typical of western/European style dragons. In Eastern and Native American folklore their dragons can be benevolent. Are often associated with rain, rivers or the ocean and sometimes have antlers. Or so I've heard in the folk tales I've read.

But anyways, thanks to the textile industry and weird obsessions from the 80s and 90s, the Eastern Dragon has probably been overused.

1 Like

tj wanderlust-words-in-motion

Jan 27, 2025 at 2:18pm
In response to "20250127 List Of Bad Tropes"

Similarly, minimum workers who drive an expensive, new car and travel overseas, stay in high end hotels, etc...

Kissing in the rain? My wife and I had attended a street dance many years ago that had been moved inside the Fire Hall because it was raining. It was hot and humid, about 39^oC with a relative humidity in the upper 90% range. They had the overhead doors open and fans, but with all the people it was stifling, so we stepped outside the doors and danced in the soft, light, and slightly cooling rain.

I agree, however, they use kissing in the rain way too often, and it's usually in a cold downpour.

1 Like

Jayne

Jan 27, 2025 at 11:28am
In response to "20250127 List Of Bad Tropes"

Basically agree, except #12. There's a reason women cut their hair after leaving awful relationships. There's a reason women cut off their hair as a middle finger to society. Ask around and see how many women with short hair have been told they're cute but would look cuter if they grew their hair out. Why do we need to look cute? Why can't we have a style that makes us feel fierce?

Not all women, of course. It's not that wide of a brush. But for some women, absolutely empowering and does result in a different outlook and demeanor. As to having a hairstyle that won't get in the way - yeah, that's part of it.

I freely admit I'm part of the empowered brigade. Fierce jet-black pixie-cut bed-head I-don't-care-if-you-think-women-should-have-long-locks mention-it-at-you-own-peril hair.

Not directed at you. But it's mind-boggling how many strangers still call it 'brave' or ask 'why did you do that?'

My least favorite is, "Oh, I wish I could do that. My husband/boyfriend/partner would throw a fit." I don't usually say anything, because it's not my place to say, "Get a new partner."

If you feel it's overused, that's fine. But it's definitely one of the more believable ones and has a valid reason for sticking around.

2 Like

Ms. TerrifyingTuber

Jan 27, 2025 at 10:15am
In response to "20250127 List Of Bad Tropes"

The way you phrased number 11 in this list really made me giggle. Although I agree, it is a really annoying trope.

1 Like

Dave Ryan

Jan 27, 2025 at 5:03am
In response to "20250127 List Of Bad Tropes"

There was a comedy sketch show in the UK in the late 90s called The Fast Show, where the sketches each week used recurring characters. They had fun with trope 2 in a series of spoof trailers - "coming soon to the BBC, a brand new drama series":

John Actor is a tough, uncompromising cop

.
John Actor is a tough, uncompromising doctor

.
John Actor is a tough, uncompromising vet

.

and so on, and it was all the same ridiculous cliched crap every time.

2 Like

Kåre เลียม Enga

Jan 23, 2025 at 1:02am
In response to "20250122 Romance Tropes That Annoy Me"

As Quilli ☕ said, "we've seen it all before". It becomes boring.

The Thai BL industry overdid 'enemies to friends' except perhaps "Bad Buddy" where the parents were the true enemies and the two main characters struggled with their childhood secretive friendship becoming much closer. Personally, I've had friendships that had rocky starts, and that's common.

The 6 you mention may exist in reality... as do unicorns and dragons...

Quilli ☕

Jan 22, 2025 at 7:17am
In response to "20250122 Romance Tropes That Annoy Me"

Great entry! Most of these annoy the hell outta me, too. I think some tropes, regardless of genre, bug folks who do a lot of reading, like us. Often while watching a movie with my husband, I goran and tell him that it's too predictable and then tell him how things will go down - because we've seen it all before.

Adherennium - Maybe Writing?

Jan 20, 2025 at 2:52am
In response to "20250120 Utilising Peter's Evil Overlord List"

What if Sceleratus exercised his royal prerogative with some Palace maid, who on discovering her pregnancy has a fair idea what will happen to her if Sceleratus finds out, disappears. Son grows up, overthrows the father. If the mother dies in childbirth without revealing the father, you can avoid the more obvious plot lines.

Adherennium - Maybe Writing?

Jan 17, 2025 at 5:56am
In response to "20250117 My Most Hated Tropes"

Trope 2 above is a staple of all British soap operas. The thread weaves its tedious way to the inevitable line, "We've got to talk." Whereupon the misunderstanding that has spawned fire, murder, theft, adultery and more is explained and resolved. Till next time. I'd personally rate this my least favourite of the three, but they are all terrible.

4 Like

March 19, 2024 at 12:58am

#1066545

20240319 Offering Solicited Advice

Spur Of The Moment Advice

I was sitting in the library the other day (where I currently reside… or might as well reside) when a lady I have come to know – another regular – came up to ask if she could ask me something.

“Sure,” I said.

“I want to write. I feel like I want to write. But I don’t know where to start.” Now, this is something new. I have met people who want to write and have a couple of ideas, and people who want to write and have had a go but are stuck, but not someone who wants to give it a go “just because”.

Now, I will say she is an avid reader, so that was not going to be an issue. If she didn’t read, then this would have been very different.

And, despite my aversion to doing so, I gave her some advice. Advice? Helpful hints? Something.

Anyway, I read her first piece last night and it was not too bad. She had done what I suggested and run with it.

So, here is what I told her:

Start with an idea. Just write whatever comes to your head. Start with a word. Turn that word into a sentence. Turn that sentence into a paragraph. Keep writing until you run out of something to say. Don’t think about how many words it is, just write. Then put it away for a week or so, go back to it and see if you can work on it some more.

But where do I get that idea? That first thing to write about?

This was a curious question, and I did have to think for a little while. But I didn’t think too long, and what came out was spur of the moment: Start with something that happened to you. Write about an incident from your life. Anything in your life. Does not have to be major, just an incident you remember clearly. Just describe what happened, how you felt, what the outcome was. That’s all. Then do it again with another life event. Maybe something you saw, something you were on the edge of. Once you’ve done that a few times, try exaggerating the events, or change the outcome to something you would have preferred happen, or it would have been funny if it happened. Now we’ve gone from memoir to fiction, and you’re writing.

And, again, length does not matter.

What do you do next?

That is up to you. You are writing for an audience of one – yourself. First and foremost, that is the one person who has to be satisfied with what is written. Everyone else is a bonus – you are the main person you are writing for. You don’t have to show anyone, but if you do, show someone who is going to be supportive. Not sycophantic, but supportive. And don’t feel you have to show everything to someone. Some works will remain private and personal.

It’s all fine. So long as you’re happy. And so long as you’re writing.

This was advice I gave her over the course of a 60-minute conversation.

What do you think? Was it any good?

Serious questions, by the way.

5 Like • Comment • View 4 comments

Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/steven-writer/day/3-19-2024