Writer's Workshop

I have an idea for a trilogy. I already have the outlines completed, and I've started on the first manuscript. But man, just writing one novel is a lot of work, let alone three of them. And writing is not my full-time job; it's just something I do on the side. So, I don't have a lot of time to spend on it. I estimate it would take me about a decade to complete them, maybe less if I'm lucky.

And realistically, there's probably not much reward involved, certainly not monetarily. In fact, I'd probably end up spending more money than I make back. And it's not that I'm doing it for the money, though that would be a plus. I write because I enjoy it. Still, it would be nice to have some incentive to justify the time, energy, and effort I put into it when I could be doing other things. I'm beginning to wonder if it's even worth it.

Anyone else struggle with this, the story is a novel so I’m worried about going off script completely. Does my outline need revising or should I just start winging my story past a certain point.

So, for context, I'm in my late thirties and have been reading and writing for literally my whole life. But I have an...I guess kind of a big problem. I don't know what makes a story a story. When I'm writing, I often times end up feeling more like I'm just writing a sequence of events. Like...I explore the interior voices of characters and the consequences of things and all of that, but still...it just feels like things happening. And I mean...maybe that is a story, in some ways, in itself, but it doesn't FEEL like a story. So, just to try and get an answer once and for all so I can move on without feeling I'm doubting myself...what the hell IS a story, anyways?

I’ve done quite well on KDP, and spent very little to do so, and have now published a book to help others. But I think I’ve chosen the wrong title. Which do you prefer: “How To Self-Publish on a Shoestring” or “Self-Publishing Success on a Shoestring”? I know it’s a pain to change a title, but it might be worth it. Thanks to anyone who replies.

TITLE: Spam Call (2ND DRAFT)

FORMAT: Short Film/Sketch

GENRE: Comedy

LENGTH: 6 1/2 pages

PLOT: A man's most important life moments are constantly interrupted by irritating spam calls from telemarketers.

Hey guys,

A while back I posted the first draft of a comedy script I wrote about a guy whose life gets interrupted at inopportune times by phone calls from a pushy and persuasive telemarketer. I finished a rewrite of it and I'd love to get your thoughts/suggestions on what works and what still needs improvement. I'm not quite sure about the sluglines and some of the scene directions, myself. Anyway, here it is. Thanks for reading!

SPAM CALL 2nd Draft

Do you agree with this?

As writers, we often want readers to like our characters, and want readers to invest their time in our characters like rooting for them, supporting them, connecting with them, or feeling sympathy or empathy for them.

However, I strongly agree that if all the stories do the same, it will become boring and not every protagonist of every story has to be likable for the reader to continue reading the story.

When it comes to main characters, specifically the protagonist, do you try to make them likable, or do you simply write them as they are, whether they’re likable or unlikable(They may be rude, blunt, selfish, reckless or cold)?

You can also leave good examples of main characters or protagonists who are unlikable but are written really well!

I've "finished" two pilots and have sent them both out for feedback.

They get good feedback from peers and paid coverage, but I've twice gotten notes that my pilots lacked a B story. I feel hesitant on how to incorporate this. I do agree with what they've said, but I'm having a hard time visualizing how to add it in when I'm focusing on setting up a series story in a half-hour script.

I understand and am comfortable with A,B,C stories as a concept. My question is for specifically pilots.

I imagine I'm overthinking it and it doesn't need to be as fleshed out as I'm expecting.

Does anyone have a recommondation on a good pilot that incorporates a B story in a half-hour show?

Appreciate any help and guidance.

The hum of a high electrical current buzzing low through the razor wire could be heard as the two men stood opposed to each other. The fence was between them, one man wearing fatigues and carrying a dirty assault rifle, and the other in striped prison garb.
“I need the snips” one man said.
“I understand. Things take time and we’re searched before every shift”.
“Well, be quicker!”
The man with the rifle shifted his stance. “It’s not that I’m not trying to help. I can’t be caught, you understand? If they knew that I was helping you I would be shot on the spot”.
The man in the stripes sighed. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’m desperate. I’ve been in this camp for 14 years. Either it’ll be my patience that wears out or my will to live”. He looked down at the mud below him.
The man with the rifle chuckled. “Well if you go batshit just don’t take it out on me.”
The man in the stripes looked back up, the faint glimmer of a forced smile upon his dirty face.
“Fuck off Tonto. You’ll be the first.”
“I need to get back up to the tower. Give me a week and I’ll get those snips. I promise.”
“We’ll see wont we?”
“I promise Marv.”
The man with the rifle turned around and marched off in the direction of a distant guard tower, just a painted black smear in the gloom of the night. Mosquitos buzzed around as birds called from their perches in unseeable treetops.
Marv turned around headed back to his shack when gunfire erupted, drowning out the wildlife and projecting bursts of light on the ground below him.
“What the f—“ He started, but was cut off by the sound of heavy feet coming his way. Tonto burst through the brush, one hand holding a small round object and the other, a smoking gun.
“MOVE MARV! WE NEED TO GET OUT”.
Marv jumped back as Tonto threw the round object in his hand at the fence. Two seconds after he did there was an explosion and Marv, still standing too close, got hit with the grenade’s shockwave and fell back, stunned.
“THEY FUCKIN SAW ME MARV! THEY SAW ME TALKING TO YOU!”
Tonto rushed over and picked up the still downed and dazed Marv.
“LET’S GO, LET’S GO!”
The two men shot out of the mangled hole in the fance and ran toward the bush. Bullets whizzed over their shoulders hitting leaves and cracking limbs as men yelled obscured obscenities and orders in the distance.
“FUCKIN GO MARV! WERE NOT GONNA MAK—“
A bullet slammed into the back of Tonto’s head splattering Marv in the face with blood and brain matter.
Marv stopped and looked at his friend’s corpse as it fell in slow motion to the ground, his limbs twisted, the place where his head had been now a mindless meat volcano spraying hot red liquid.
Tears welled in Marv’s eyes. He wanted to stay, as if he could help his friend, but the sound of gunfire even closer snapped him back to reality.
Marv ran and ran. After what seemed like an eternity the gushing of a waterfall could be heard before him as the human sounds behind him faded out and eventually died.
He burst through the trees to the welcoming sight of a large river with a small town of wooden houses built on stilts near the bank. He didn’t know where to go but the town seemed as good of a place as any. Better than what awaited him from where he had come. He thought of his friend and how he was now free because of him and cried, large droplets splashed tiny craters on the ground below.
He had to get out, he had to honor his friend; his death would not be for nothing.
He would live.

How many hours of straight writing have you pushed through?

For me, it's alliteration. If I can pick a perfect progression of even partially-passable appropriate words, I prefer to do so. Sometimes it ends up being a bit of a tic, taking too much time to track down terrific alternatives to facilitate my foolish fixation.

What's yours? What do you love doing in your writing, to the point that maybe you do it too much, but you just don't care?

I'm reading a sci fi book right now where there is A LOT of exposition and it's getting very boring.

Which is odd, because I do actually quite enjoy the ideas being explored, but in this context I just can't wait to get to the next chapter (or if I'm honest, to just finish the book).

I've been trying to put my finger on why exposition sometimes works and why it doesn't, and the best answer I can come up with is - good exposition still feels in character for the person expositing, bad exposition is when someone just monologues information the author wants you to know.

Morpheus in the Matrix still speaks in his voice and with his own trademark mystique when he tells Neo what the Matrix is. In Jurassic park, the lengthy descriptions of the science make sense as they're told by a cartoon strand of DNA in the context of a 'ride' for children. Inception still sounds like Leo's character when he explains the dream world, he uses idioms and mannerisms only he would use. Basil Exposition, ironically, is always Basil Exposition when he explains the next plot point to Austin Powers. I could go on...

Exposition is important for any high concept piece, to help being the reader or viewer up to speed.

But in a dull book, characters switch, and suddenly feel like they're just reading an essay penned by the author on their own big ideas or rules of their world. I think this is very easy to slip into, and something I'm trying to be increasingly conscious of when writing in this genre.

Anyway, be keen to hear other people's thoughts on exposition and if you agree.

Calling All Robots was going to be a 3D computer-animated motion-capture sci-fi adventure film by Walt Disney Pictures and ImageMovers Digital. The film was going to be directed by Michael Dougherty with Breehn Burns and Simeon Wilkins co-writing the screenplay.

This plot sounds like something right up my alley. Do you know if anyone has a copy of the screenplay? I apologize in advance if this is not an appropriate question.

Hi everyone, does anyone know if there is still any “proofreading” software that I can use just to check spelling, typos, grammatical mistakes, and things like that? I’m not looking for enhancement features or anything that rewrites my text. I think Word does a good job, but I was wondering if there’s anything better online, since I mostly write online.

Finally, a bit of a moral dilemma: I’m trying to understand what people think about using a spell and grammar checker, or non-generative AI software, to catch these smaller issues. Of course, I’m talking about a first pass over a draft, not something used to produce the final version.

Thank you!

I'm writing a story set in the 16th century. My characters are soldiers. There is one issue I'm not sure I have successfully resolved yet, and it's the fact that violence against civilians was so normalized during those times. My characters have to eventually do things that would be considered war crimes nowadays, like looting villages. I don't want my main character to become completely unlikeable, but I also don't want to turn him into a modern-day progressive either. I read accounts from the Vietnam war, and even in the modern era, with much better guardrails against such violence, it's extremely rare that someone actively resists once his unit starts massacring civilians. The best that could be expected is to remain largely passive.

What do you feel is the right balance between the character being part of such atrocities vs his conscience waking up that doesn't leave him unaffected by the violence he witnessed and even participated in, but doesn't feel anachronistic either?

So far, my solution is that he dissociates, does what he needs to do, tells himself that it's normal, but deep inside he doesn't believe that it should be normal.

Edit: Maybe likeable is not the right word, but someone the reader can empathize with. I think I have to tell a bit more about the story for people to really be able to answer my question:

The MC is an Ottoman soldier, a Janissary. While they were the elite of the Ottoman army, they were also slaves who were conscripted as children, so he didn't really have a choice. As a 19-year-old, he is going on his first campaign to Vienna, and in the beginning he is very enthusiastic about it. He is a frequent target of his comrades because of his shy and quiet nature, which he tries to suppress. He meets a girl he likes, but when she actually talks to him, he just blushes and drops the pitcher he is holding, unable to say anything, which he is very embarrassed about, and he decides that he will become the hero she deserves. But it soon turns out that war is 5% heroic deeds and 95% crawling in the mud while his friends around him are dying from dysentery, and that 5% heroism also comes with a steep price. Nevertheless, he is obsessed with proving to everybody that he is a real man, setting unrealistic standards for himself.

The campaign is a disaster, and he returns home feeling not as a hero, but as someone who went through the most harrowing experience of his life. He meets the girl again, and the "hero of Vienna" once again just stammers and sweats. But she explains to him that she always liked him, but not because he was a tough soldier, but because he blushed and dropped the pitcher. She never cared about his war, doesn't know where Vienna is, and doesn't really understand the concept of a holy war, she just wanted a guy who looked at her the way he did. Back in the barracks, he is brutally punished for sneaking out at night to meet this girl, but now that he has experienced, for the first time, being accepted for who he really is, he feels as if he has conquered the world.