Question *crumple crumple* the Writer's dilemma

Urgh, after having a long break from my characters and my writing... thanks Twitch Doctor Who marathon... I went back and looked over it all as a refresher, a reminder. And URGH. That feeling of wanting to scrap it all. What I see and what I look at isn't story, it's essentially narrowly more than plot outline, with some detailing. Due to the limitations on the site at present, it's not possible to scrap my stories and begin again, but I wish that were an option. So tell me guys, what do you do when you feel this way? Who here DOES feel that? What should I do, because I don't think I want to continue with where things are, but at the same time I don't want to disappoint those that were reading my stories.

Jump ahead. write the story that you want to write. then go back and work out how to get there from here. See bridging the gap as a challenge to be solved.

Rose Bunny wrote: Due to the limitations on the site at present, it's not possible to scrap my stories and begin again, but I wish that were an option. So tell me guys, what do you do when you feel this way? Who here DOES feel that?

That's why "If I Had A Hammer" has been pulled together into one file on disk, but it may still be a while before I go back over it to build out a WhatIF story from what I have.

Rose Bunny wrote: What should I do, because I don't think I want to continue with where things are, but at the same time I don't want to disappoint those that were reading my stories.

If you don't want to move forward in the 2007/2008 school year, you could start back up in an earlier year with a different cast (or, maybe not so different after all?) like the Misfits training team that split up under a veil of suspicion the year before Renata arrived at Whateley.

Rose: I know how this goes. I have similar problems with writing music, and with my engineering designs.

The method that i use is to dump it all on the compost heap that is my subconscious mind, and go create something completely different.

This allows the deep mind to chew over it, and allows something related, but different to grow.

Try doing something creative, but in a completely different medium, and come back to it with a fresh head.

Also, remember that every gig that you do is rehearsal for the next gig.

As Frank Herbert wrote, "It's the toil of the shaduf."

I haven't completed writing anything beyond a short story, but here's my thoughts.

Take your already published material, find the bit of your notes that relate to the next hour, minute, or day, and write that?

But that might lead to being written into a corner.

And I offer that, 'cause you've already got published material to build on?

Otherwise, I'd advise fleshing out the points you want to hit, and figuring out how to get the points to turn into pieces that fit together?

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I'd totally be willing to wait a while for more story, and art would be a great way to hold interest if you're up for it, while the notification system means that even a long delay doesn't mean interest drops (much).

Rose, you'll notice that I'm offering abandoned work up for adoption. Yes that includes Kelly or Nowhereville as well as Jazz' story, and the microscenes that I've put up on Speakeasy. I've come awfully close to setting fire to my computer a couple of times of late as depression dogs me.

Anne wrote: Rose, you'll notice that I'm offering abandoned work up for adoption. Yes that includes Kelly or Nowhereville as well as Jazz' story, and the microscenes that I've put up on Speakeasy. I've come awfully close to setting fire to my computer a couple of times of late as depression dogs me.

I couldn't do that, I love these characters too much. I just wish I could go back and give them the love and care they deserved the first time around.

Well nothing is keeping you from stripping what you have down to the bare bones and rewriting it is there? Me I look at what I failed to finish and wonder why I even try.

Anne wrote: Well nothing is keeping you from stripping what you have down to the bare bones and rewriting it is there? Me I look at what I failed to finish and wonder why I even try.

I suppose I could "abandon" the current stories and go back, a lot of what I wrote was done on the fly. I would like to plot it out more. I just get the feeling that might (or might not) be true that it'd be stepping on this guideline:

Please use 1 and only 1 thread for a given story/project. Make revisions to existing posts instead of duplicating sections of your story.

... even if we can't actually go back and edit the posts anymore.

Yeah I think that is what bugs me the most about the forum. That is that once a post has been replied to it is in essence sealed. Did I ever send you the latest iteration of Kelly?

Anne wrote: Well nothing is keeping you from stripping what you have down to the bare bones and rewriting it is there? Me I look at what I failed to finish and wonder why I even try.

Think of all the things you get to learn while trying to justify something turning out a certain way or keeping the timeline straight.

Kris Holm was routed through Gatwick because Norwegian Air International flies an inexpensive route from Aalborg to Gatwick. Also, part of the indirect routing to Whateley was for security. And part of it was meant to drive him a little nuts because that's a younger sibling's job.

Kristin Darken wrote:

Kristin Darken wrote: Is that really still an issue? Hmm

Doesn't seem to be. I was just able to edit my own post on one of my test login accounts... the edit option is under the Action button (along with reply and quote).

I only get reply and quote in the pulldown.

Be all and end all, the forum is the forum, it’s meant to be stories that are still being worked on. Have a look at my old forum posts, then compare them to what was eventually released as canon or WhatIF stories, lots of changes were made.

If you made a forum post and want to start again, start again! the Workshop section is restricted to those that want to write stories for a reason. Only if you published to the WhatIF section of the site are the stories their for the public.

Go back to the drawing board, scrap the stories, rip them apart and start again and publish them anew, that’s what the writing process is. Getting down our first drafts and reviewing them, getting friends and colleagues to review them. Putting them aside. Coming back to them again. Starting anew and doing it all again until something we can be proud of emerges and we release it to the wild to see if it’s appreciated.

Don’t be afraid of starting again, that’s just part of the process.

Now the stuff you’ve release to WhatIF that’s a bit tricker, that’s supposed to be finished and ready for release

null0trooper wrote:

Kristin Darken wrote:

Kristin Darken wrote: Is that really still an issue? Hmm

Doesn't seem to be. I was just able to edit my own post on one of my test login accounts... the edit option is under the Action button (along with reply and quote).

I only get reply and quote in the pulldown.

Funny, I get Reply Quote and Edit for your posts

Moderator privileges FTW!

If you are really starting from scratch and making major changes anyway, it probably wouldn’t hurt to just explain so and start a new set of posts under the current ones. I know when I tried the ‘edit the existing posts’ route with one of my stories it just confused nearly everyone who was trying to help me with editing and comments.

If you want a “current” copy of your story you could try having new sections posted to the forum, and a ‘current’ version of the story in the WhatIF author only section linked from the forum for new users to read and comment on rather then try and sort out the story from the forum posts. Another thing the canon Authors sometimes do is have copies of the story on collaborative platforms like those offered by Google, Microsoft and Apple that can be linked to and edited.

Kristin Darken wrote:

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: If you are really starting from scratch and making major changes anyway, it probably wouldn’t hurt to just explain so and start and new set of posts under the current ones. I know when I tried the ‘edit the existing posts’ route with one of my stories it just confused nearly everyone who was trying to help me with editing and comments.

mmhmm... its still questionable whether I can do it though. to do a 'true' fresh start and just migrate data may not be an option... i may have to migrate the full set up because the data also includes all the access info and extension setups. If I dealt with PHP and database stuff regularly, I'm sure I could write my own migration code... but I'm rusty.

I think because we are both posting at the same time some confusion arouse, this was a response to null0trooper not you Kristin. God, I’d hate to think of the work trying to migrate the forums and I actually do do a fair amount of database building for my job.

testing again - with access levels 'registered' and 'whatif author' and I can edit my own post. and, I can also strip off the access level for "whatif author" and still have the option to edit.

Anne? null? any change for either of you yet?

Kristin Darken wrote: I 'thought' this was one I'd fixed already... I'm pretty sure it is a casualty to a piece of software that never upgraded properly and when I performed surgery to remove it, left some other stuff working improperly.

Tell me about it. I spend half my time debugging code that should be working but isn't. When I got my first degree in Mechatronic engineering, I didn't realise that half my time working on projects would be to stop them from spazzing out and flinging themselves to pieces. Funny story that! A week before the burning down of my apartment (which is looking more like a <= six-month wait until regaining liveability rather than a >= 12 month one), I was working on one of the uni's Baxter robots (for those uninitiated to the world of robots, Baxter is basically a robotic torso with a screen for a head and two human-pattern arms with customisable end effectors designed to act as testbed for developing more intelligent industrial robots that are safer and more capable than the waldos that you see on production lines today. It is seated on a moving trolley stand, and has human-degree movement for it's arms. The uni uses them for experimentation with machine intelligence, as it has a variety of sensors. This video below shows baxter learning to pour liquids into a moving container. Amazing stuff. The future is looking brighter every day. It's looking like Asimov was right about humans and machines.

I still cannot edit any post of mine that has been 'answered'. Everywhere except the Fab Lab this makes some sense. In the Fab Lab, since I am supposedly the only one on the thread, I ought to be able to edit any part of it. But it isn't a big issue. I posted the first chapter of Kelly in the What IF working section, as I think I'm very nearly ready to go to actual What IF if I can come up with a better end for the story.
Which is why I've threatened to set fire to my computer from time to time. Because I must have hundreds of stories with about the same problem of weak endings. And for whatever reason, I still seem to be unable to resolve that issue.

jaesic wrote: testing again - with access levels 'registered' and 'whatif author' and I can edit my own post. and, I can also strip off the access level for "whatif author" and still have the option to edit.

Anne? null? any change for either of you yet?

I restarted Firefox, and I still only get reply/quote if there's any posts after my own post.

It's probably something buried in the code.

That is what I mean by replied to or answered on my posts. When someone posts after me, even if it isn't a direct answer or reply to what I've posted, it locks my post. Then I can only reply to that post or quote that post. And if I'm replying to a post up the thread, you can generally bet I will be quoting it.

Anne wrote: That is what I mean by replied to or answered on my posts. When someone posts after me, even if it isn't a direct answer or reply to what I've posted, it locks my post. Then I can only reply to that post or quote that post. And if I'm replying to a post up the thread, you can generally bet I will be quoting it.

Possibly the access on the post is being changed as part of the process of assigning an ID number and committing the next post in the thread.

More likely, seeing that rolling my own edit URL results in a 403 Forbidden error, in either the PHP code or the retrieval query, there may be a check to see if there is a higher-numbered post in the thread.

Anne wrote: Yeah I think that is what bugs me the most about the forum. That is that once a post has been replied to it is in essence sealed. Did I ever send you the latest iteration of Kelly?

I don't believe so.

jaesic wrote: testing again - with access levels 'registered' and 'whatif author' and I can edit my own post. and, I can also strip off the access level for "whatif author" and still have the option to edit.

Anne? null? any change for either of you yet?

we "common folks" don't get edit.

Yay! And my angst was useful and productive! And, and I think I have a solution to my Dilemma.

Kristin Darken wrote:

Rose Bunny wrote:

jaesic wrote: testing again - with access levels 'registered' and 'whatif author' and I can edit my own post. and, I can also strip off the access level for "whatif author" and still have the option to edit.

Anne? null? any change for either of you yet?

we "common folks" don't get edit.

And, after spending a couple hours digging in the PHP, now you can. This was an actual bug in the forum code introduced by the developers a couple patches back and nothing I could have done with the configuration would have solved it. This SHOULD be a complete fix... but let me know if you find something related to it working improperly... the section of the code that I fixed was relatively small... but the code for forums as a whole is pretty complex.

Thank you, thank you! This will be very helpful in some cases. Though to be honest I do not intend to change any of my forum posts, not even my stuff in the fab lab or on the micro-scenes thread. But just the potential makes me feel better!

Rose Bunny wrote: Yay! And my angst was useful and productive! And, and I think I have a solution to my Dilemma.

Sometimes, just voicing your angst will help you to find a solution to your dilemma.
Good luck!