The Writer Help Company

[Arria]

Do you need suggestions for writing? have writers block? I can help! I can help you do most anything. I can give you ideas or names for characters even! I can tell you how a certain character would say things and all you need to do is ask. Want to talk privately? No problem. Just message me and I'll help you as well. Feel free to send me your writing samples and I can edit it for you.

If you think your problem cannot be solved within a short period of time,(1-5 days) then please message me and we'll deal with it.

Please post your quick-fix problems here unless you really don't want others to see it.There are however some things you must not do.

-Do NOT send me something that can be fixed in a few minutes. Post it here.

-Do NOT post mean things about the person's mistake.(Ex. How could you make that mistake?)

If you can do those two things for me then I'll fix your problem in a flash. I also can give you any ideas or anything writing related that's not a story. (I don't want to be writing novels for each and every one of you!) So send in your problem and I will hopefully fix it!

[SilverMint]

Alright, here's a thematic issue I've been coming up against time and again for my character. I want to make the point that ever since he's started looking for work, he's come across a long run of bad luck. However, I don't want to alienate the reader by having a long segment of story dedicated to the putting-down of (what I hope is) a lovable character. Is there a way to emphasize a long, steady run of bad luck without making it a long, awful read about bad luck? I've considered making it into a literary montage, but I don't think that reducing the amount of time by THAT much will allow for the reader to appreciate the gradual emotional impact the events would have on the character. It would basically be: "I'm going out to be the best!" *insert montage of bad luck* "I'm never going to be the best." It keeps the reader from understanding the gradual fall from youthful optimism to depression to the (eventual) adult determination that will allow him to see his dream through to the end despite all the setbacks.

So, the short version of what I'm asking is: Do you know of a way to reduce a series of complicated events into a succint summary without a.) trivializing the emotional impact of the events on the character or b.) boring the reader to tears with full-fledged accounts of each failure?

[webkilla]

Posted this a couple hours ago: http://www.canterlot...-crossover-fic/

basically I'm looking for input and ideas for this fantasy RPG crossover fic.

I guess the biggest problem with asking for help and input for the story is that I don't think there's that many fans of that particular RPG here. Oh well, there's a link to explain the setting in the thread anyway.

Silvermint - if you don't mind advice from someone else: It sounds like you know fairly well what to avoid. That's a good start.

You could always go for a montage with a lot of descriptions of emotions. Make the reader feel and understand the gradual decline in your character's spirit.

Generic example:

It started out so innocently. When the door-hinge snapped when he came home from work, leaving him unable to close his front door properly, he took it in good spirits: Sure, it'd be freezing cold in the morning, but it was late now and he couldn't get the door fixed until the next day. Indeed, the next morning wasn't that fun, the floor being really cold, and rain had seeped from the busted door and ruined the carpet. Ok, not fun, but it happens. A few days later when it was all fixed he breathed a happy sigh, but that happiness was quickly lost when he got to work: A big order had come in, so everyone had to pull overtime. So much for that concert ticket he'd been saving for. The foreman apologized, but said that there was nothing he could do. This annoyed our hero, but still he simply shrugged: It wasn't the end of the world. For two whole weeks everyone at the workshop worked overtime, from dawn till dusk, to get enough units made. It was both backbreaking and monotonous, but the overtime pay should make up for all that, right? There was pride in good work, and our hero took solace in that.

Unfortunately then one of the drills broke down, which delayed the whole production line. One of the drills simply snapped due to overheating, sending sharp bits of steel flying everywhere. One of the shards hit our hero, but at least it was a clean wound. Still, it hurt, but not enough to excuse not coming to work - but that did slow down the healing quite a lot. At the end of the two weeks it became painfully clear that the deadline wouldn't be met. It became very difficult to get up before dawn and trot to work, knowing that no matter what your work wouldn't be good enough. Damn drill, damn overtime, damn wound. Our hero would return every night tired, hungry and with a dull ache where the shard had dug in. It itched every night, and our hero simply didn't have the energy any more to not itch back - which only made it worse.

At the end of the two week run our hero was miserable. It certainly didn't help that because the deadline wasn't met he lost his job, due to downsizing at the workshop. Sitting alone at home, with this damned new rug that cost too much, and new door that'd probably break again if you just looked at it wrong. Our hero was no longer a happy camper. It was a few days later that the door knocked. Our hero stuck his head out and barked out a sour: "What?"

And that's how you can go from happy to grouche in... a couple of paragraphs. Again: Put emotions into it, tell us what the character feels. Is work hard and getting him down? Write that. Bad luck? Do tell, and why does that bother him? How does it bother him? Did it cause him to miss breakfast? Or be late to work? Many things can get a person down.

[Arria]

Alright, here's a thematic issue I've been coming up against time and again for my character. I want to make the point that ever since he's started looking for work, he's come across a long run of bad luck. However, I don't want to alienate the reader by having a long segment of story dedicated to the putting-down of (what I hope is) a lovable character. Is there a way to emphasize a long, steady run of bad luck without making it a long, awful read about bad luck? I've considered making it into a literary montage, but I don't think that reducing the amount of time by THAT much will allow for the reader to appreciate the gradual emotional impact the events would have on the character. It would basically be: "I'm going out to be the best!" *insert montage of bad luck* "I'm never going to be the best." It keeps the reader from understanding the gradual fall from youthful optimism to depression to the (eventual) adult determination that will allow him to see his dream through to the end despite all the setbacks.

So, the short version of what I'm asking is: Do you know of a way to reduce a series of complicated events into a succint summary without a.) trivializing the emotional impact of the events on the character or b.) boring the reader to tears with full-fledged accounts of each failure?

First, you can start by stating the motivation or goal of your character. What does he want to do? Try to explain that in a brief one or two sentences. For example: 'She really wanted to be a writer. She didn't know what to do though.' The next thing you want to do is to explain each thing that happens to the character depending on how many things happens to the character. I say if you have 1-3 things that happens to the character before reaching another 'subject' then you can explain it in paragraphs. If more than that then you should do a few sentences under 5. Example for multiple events: 'She tried thins but failed. Then she did that and failed as well. She also failed at:a,b,and c. Finally, blah.' That's pretty much it! Tell me if you're confused or think it won't work over a P.M. If you are unsatisfied, it may turn into a week's conversation.