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Off Topic[OT] Wondering Wednesday (self.WritingPrompts)

submitted by katpoker666

Hello r/WritingPrompts!

Welcome to Wondering Wednesday Writing Prompts AMA!

New to WritingPrompts or just have a question you couldn’t find answers to anywhere else? Here’s the place to ask!

This post will be open all day. Each month, our guest mods and I will answer your questions as best as we can or at least point you in the right direction for answers.

 

A few ground rules:

  • follow all sub rules

  • no shit posts

  • no case-specific questions, e.g., why was my post removed

  • try to limit repeated questions from earlier in this month’s post, but no big deal

Other than that, there are no stupid questions, so ask whatever you’d like.

 

About Us

I’m your host, u/katpoker666. ‘Wondering Wednesday’ is my first feature. I spend my days writing in business-speak while consulting, and my free time unlearning it. I’m a travel junkie and love animals, the outdoors and exploring new hobbies. Character development, dialog, cute fluffy things, and dreadful people are my writing passions.

This month, I’m joined by the lovely:

  • u/Say_Im_Ugly has recently started running the ‘Monday Spotlight’ feature. She also loves writing light fantasy stories featuring cute animals and plenty of magic. Say is a veterinary technician who loves animals and loves incorporating them into her stories whenever she can. Writing has been a new adventure for her and her favorite genres are light fantasy, romance, and anything with a supernatural element. Say is also fond of quilting and the occasional nap.

  • u/Lord_Demerek: Fence-builder by day; world-builder always. Dem was most recently a guest on the 'Talking Tuesday' feature. His passion for reading and writing spans more than two decades and a wide array of genres, though his foremost love is fantasy. He enjoys a wide range of hobbies, including (but by no means limited to) playing Dungeons and Dragons and other games, making chainmaille, and kayaking.

Thanks for joining us!

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[–]voisin 6 points7 points  (7 children)

Newbie here. I’ve been writing to different prompts almost every day and one or two posts have had great feedback. Two questions:

1) I find there are so many prompts that it is hard to tell which ones will be read by others. I’m here for the advice / criticism so that I can improve, so writing something and the post itself not going anywhere (1 or 2 upvotes) or commenting in a thread with lots of stories and risking getting lost in the fray seem somewhat counterproductive to the reasons (at least my reasons) for writing publicly. Any advice on how to increase the audience so that there’s more feedback?

2) Any advice on how to take these short writing ‘assignments’ to the next level? It’s one thing to write a page or two, but taking that to a 20 page short story or a 200 page novel seems to increasing complexity to the point where it is a different beast altogether. Any resources you can point me to would be great.

Thanks!

[–]a15minutestoryr/A15MinuteMythos 10 points11 points  (2 children)

Any advice on how to take these short writing ‘assignments’ to the next level? It’s one thing to write a page or two, but taking that to a 20 page short story or a 200 page novel seems to increasing complexity to the point where it is a different beast altogether. Any resources you can point me to would be great.

I might be qualified to answer this question :)

tl;dr at the bottom.

I've actually done it twice now! I responded to this prompt and got quite a few people requesting a part 2/3/4 and in this instance, I just kept writing. This is a method known as pantsing, in that you're just doing it by the seat of your pants. I had no idea where the story was going when I first started it, but my readers didn't have to know that ;)

Not only did I have people hooked, but it was fun for me not knowing where the story was going next. I didn't know what was going to happen until I posted. I sat down every night and thought to myself, "Hmm... What would be the next logical step? What would be exciting? Who would know more about what was going on, so I could get it across to the reader realistically?" So I used one of my character's military connections to call in a chopper and rescue the two main characters and swoop them away to a military black site where the creatures were being kept and studied. I then decided to use an already established character of mine from another story and just sort of... dropped him in.

The point I'm making here is that I had no idea what I was doing until like chapter 30, but I kept ending with cliffhangers and keeping notes on what I'd written so I could tie it all together. After chapter 30, I took a long break to get my ducks in a row (so to speak) so that I had at least SOME semblance of a greater overall story. But when I was writing, I'd sometimes think, "OH this would be better!" and I'd go off-script. What I ended up with was a story that some called the best thing they'd ever read, and I've got one reader going through it a third time right now.

It worked out so well for me that I did it a second time. I just finished my second novel doing basically the same thing, except I knew from the beginning of this story the way it was going to end. What I did differently with the second prompt was I wrote down the key plot points and let everything in between just come to me. If I already know what's going to happen step by step, I have no fun writing the story. Once your characters are established, they'll start to act on their own and you end up just kind of chronicling what you're seeing for everyone else. There will be points where you'll write something and go, "Hmm... No, he wouldn't do that. Especially after what happened to him. No, that's not realistic." and what you end up having is a real honest to god wrench thrown into your plans. Digging my way out of those situations was half the fun for me, and I would intentionally try to leave my readers on a cliffhanger every single chapter as it also gave me an easy jumping-off point for the next chapter.

SO! Outlining all of that in a tl;dr way:

  • You don't have to know exactly what you're doing to start writing. You just need to start writing. The rest will fall into place. Characterization can happen naturally if you're treating your characters like real people. An easy way to make a character believable is to base their personality on a real person.
  • If you have to stop for a while to figure out what to do next, that's completely fine. I would sometimes write myself into a corner, fall asleep thinking about it for days, and then it would come to me! Think about what your characters would realistically do in the situation they're in and think ahead a bit for future plot points and twists.
  • If you're getting bored writing a chapter, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's boring for the reader. There were some chapters where I knew every little thing that had to happen and it was a slog for me to write, but they ended up being some of my readers' favorite chapters =P
  • Last but seriously not least, have fun. I know. I know, it sounds super cliche, but now that I'm editing my first novel for a publisher, I can see stark contrasts between the chapters where I was having fun, and chapters that I couldn't wait to get through. If you're not having fun, it could show up in your writing. If you're not enjoying it, then it might be a good time to stop and re-think your story.
  • Oh, and one last thing! Write something that you would like to read. Partway through my first story I thought, "Y'know what? It's time for a scene change," and I really threw all of my readers for a loop. I was terrified that they wouldn't like the abrupt left turn, but I found renewed vigor for writing the story and in the end, it ended up being most everyone's favorite arc of the story.

I really rambled here, didn't I? =/

Hope it was helpful!

[–]voisin 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Thanks so much for writing this detailed answer! A few times I’ve started with point form notes and I feel like that sucked the fun out of it. I prefer the “gardening” approach to seeing what takes shape as I write, and find writing to an outline terribly boring, but I was worried that this approach would lead to a muddled plot at a larger scale. Hearing you have had success with this approach on novels is a huge confidence boost for me!

Thanks again!

[–]a15minutestoryr/A15MinuteMythos 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh sure! My pleasure man! But let me explain the dark side of pantsing: it’s going to require heavier editing. By the end of the story I had tied everything nicely together. But when I went back to start the editing process, I found that I had stray narrative threads that I never did anything with, some character inconsistencies, some information that I forgot about between 5 months of writing… it needed work! Still does! But it was a blast to write it like that if not a little nerve racking.

The way I wrote my second novel is now my preferred approach. Know what kind of ending you want. Know the major plot points you need to hit in order to get there. Hammer out the major details so you can properly foreshadow. Then let loose and have fun with the bits in between. Of Oil & Sorcery is going to require far less editing than Gilded. It’s a less daunting task y’know?

So keep those things in mind. Good luck! I hope to see great things from you <3

[–]katpoker666[S] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Welcome! And totally fair question. When I started, it drove me nuts doing the ad hoc prompts as what I really wanted was feedback—and ok a little karma. The best thing I ever did was to start doing the features like SEUS, Theme Thursday and Micro Monday. On the threads, you get so much support and feedback. Even better was when I started joining the Discord campfires. They gave me an opportunity to see and hear what people think in real-time. For me, that was a game changer, as it made my writing so much better. If I were starting out again, I’d probably start with Micro Monday and branch out from there.

As for going to the next level, Serial Sunday is a great opportunity for that. But first, I really recommend working on the basics unless you’re really confident. For me, it would be so frustrating to be a couple hundred pages in and realize I should have done more ground work. But that could just be me!

Whatever approach you choose to take, know that there are tons of friendly, talented people here who are here to help you in your journey!

[–]voisin 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the tips! I haven’t followed the day of the week themes, but will look into them more and figure out how to participate!

[–]Say_Im_UglyModerator|r/Say_Im_Writing 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Knowing which prompts will take off can be pretty unpredictable but the more you respond to them the more likely they are to get read. If you specifically want feedback and critique we have weekly threads like Theme Thursday that encourage all participants to participate in that aspect. We also have a sister sub r/WPCritique that is excellent for feedback as long as you are willing to return the favor. It’s great practice for improving your own feedback skills as well.

As for taking your prompts to the next level… have you taken a look at any of the tabs at the top of the sub? There are some good resources already available.

Writing Help

[–]voisin 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the pointer to r/WPCritique, I’ll check it out! Also, I haven’t noticed the tabs at the top of the sub (I use Apollo iOS App and didn’t see these on the app), but will check them out now. Thanks!

[–]dewa1195 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Just here to say, yay! A new feature. You're doing great, you guys! I have no questions, just wanted to celebrate a bit.

[–]katpoker666[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Aww—thanks, Dee! 🤗

[–]Tinamou34 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Need some assistance, what do you think about this statement: “a beauty beyond benevolence”

Does that phrase makes sense ?? How would you explain this with the only context being a compliment?

[–]katpoker666[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Interesting question! I’ve never thought about benevolence as being beautiful per say. You mention the context is a compliment. Is that one character to another, I guess? If you have a sentence or a where it fits in your story, I’m happy to help :)

[–]rr_cooper 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Hi! So I've started the podcast where I take prompts from r/WritingPrompts, write a little piece, and then have a voice actor voice it. Could I post the link in this thread? And also, is there any other place I could share it? Cheers!

[–]katpoker666[S] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

That sounds exciting! WP doesn’t allow self-promotion here beyond linking to your own sub. There, of course, you can post what you want.

[–]rr_cooper 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh great! I don't have a sub, but for now people can check my profile and they can find a link there to listen. Cheers!

[–]ThePinkTeenager 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Where did the weekly features come from?

[–]katpoker666[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a great history question, Pink. :)

A lot of this pre-dates my joining the sub, so I can’t go into full details of who added what when, but I’ll do my best! If you’re curious, I’m happy to get you more detailed answers.

The short version is that the sub has grown a lot over the past few years. As the sub has expanded, new content has been needed to help fulfill all of the great interest from users in getting more feedback / involved. At the same time, lots of moderators have come on board who’ve been excited about creating new features and opportunities for the user base. Based on their ideas and passions new features come about. I could be wrong, but I believe Ali’s wonderful Theme Thursday came first (or at least was very early). In conjunction with the features, the Discord campfires have emerged to provide extra feedback and an even greater sense of community.

Hope that helps :)

[–]Hellifrit 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Odd question: Am I allowed to try out doing a voiceover/ Reading of some prompts and their story? Are there rules that I have to follow if it is allowed?

[–]katpoker666[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Thanks for asking! WP is about writing vs. doing reading / voice work, but there are opportunities to practice the latter.

As to usage, it depends on what you mean by trying out / reading / voiceover, really. For example:

  • At home for fun—go for it.
  • If you want to practice reading / doing voiceovers for stories, we always need extra readers for the SEUS and Micro Monday features’ Discord campfires.
  • If you mean for something more formal like auditioning or the like, that would be out of bounds without following rules. See Say’s excellent response below.

[–]Hellifrit 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I see. Thanks for answer. And what dows SEUS stands for?

[–]Say_Im_UglyModerator|r/Say_Im_Writing 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there! SEUS is a weekly feature and stands for Smash Em' Up Sunday. A new challenge is posted every Sunday. You can find the current one HERE

As for narrating other authors stories here is a copy and paste from out FAQ

I'd like to narrate a story. Can I? You can, if it follows our guidelines:

  1. Before you record anything, you must get public confirmation from the writer that they are happy for you to record their story. The author holds copyright. If you record without permission, it will be removed. The mods must be able to confirm this.

  2. The recording must credit the author in the recording at the start of the recording in the way that the author has chosen to be credited and explain where it can be found if people want to locate the original.

  3. You must post the audio on a platform which does not monetise in any way and where monetisation is not possible at a later date, this means that YouTube and SoundCloud, among others, are not allowed. On the platform you must give credit to the author and a link back to the original writing.

  4. We do not allow novelty accounts, or people trying to build a business in any way around recording prompts. That means no accounts just for narration - use your main account to post them, not an alt and we would expect you to be a part of the community before you start doing recordings.

  5. If you have found a historical story that you would like to record, then you can post this in the weekly SatChat, or Sunday FreeWrite posts, but all rules regarding permission/credit etc must be followed. One post per week.