Writing Buddy Needed for Motivation

Master Joined: 21 Mar 2010 Posts: 813 Location: Maryland

I know we've got some fanfic writers that frequent the forums, but are there any members working on their own original material?

I've been working on my own stuff, and I'm trying to find a good motivator to keep me going. I thought maybe a writing buddy would work. Basically, just a sort of working relationship where you can encourage each other to fight through the daily crap and keep on writing. Maybe even have deadlines and swap chapters that you've written for content feedback. Anything to keep moving forward, ya know?

Motivation has been the toughest part for me. I love writing, but I'll get on kicks and then suddenly my attention will shift somewhere else for a month. I feel like having a writing buddy would be a great motivator for me.

Hopefully there's someone out there working (or attempting to work?) or original material that could use something similar!

Hmm... I've been working on a fic of my own (more like a book), and I, too, lack motivation. That, and I'm extremely critical of my own writing, so it takes me forever to write anything to my satisfaction. Unfortunately, I have a lot of school projects and such that will take me through Thanksgiving and Christmas break and Spring break and just about every other break, so I don't really have time to work on serious writing at the moment. But if you still can't find anybody by around May next year, let me know.
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“Actually, I don’t quite recall. But I was made, so the existence of my maker is beyond question. And since I consider my existence to be a good thing, he was without a doubt benevolent and forward thinking.”
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Wow. It seems that everywhere I look, writers are suffering from writer's block. I, too, am one of them Sad

(the other day it took me two hours just to write one paragraph!). It's a good idea, Vile, I just don't know how much of a help I would be. Confused

Best of luck, though!
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I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

I have writer's block.
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Knight Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 434

Ever heard of NaNoWriMo, Vile?

Basically, what it is is this: during the month of November, people from around the world will try to write a 50,000 word (or higher) novel from scratch in 30 days. The key is quantity, not quality. Just get the words on the paper and worry about editing later. Of course, its more difficult for some than it is others, but the point is to keep going. The prize is simply the satisfaction of knowing that you've written a novel in thirty days, and those who reach the mark also get a code to use for ordering a proof copy from Createspace.

There's a great community on the NaNo forums for writers to mingle and commiserate. If you haven't heard of this before, check it out! Maybe consider joining next year too!

NaNo last year was how I wrote my King Arthur novel. It was my first year and it was tough but I reached 50 K with two days to spare. This year I started working on the sequel, but I've had to backburner it due to problems in my philosophy class, so no 50K this time. However, the novel will still be published one day.

Here's the link to the website if you're interested: http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/dashboard

Hope this will help!

By the way, my apologies for not answering your question about publishing earlier. I kind of forgot about it. But no, its not hard to self publish. You can do it through Createspace, like I did. It will cost a lot of money if you decide to have professionals put your novel together; but if you do it all yourself (cover design, file upload, setting the price, ect.) the only time that you will have to shell out any money is when you order your proof copy. If you have the cash to spare you could go the professionial route with CS, but I would recommend that you do it all yourself if possible. It's fairly easy.

I once wrote (Just over) 20,000 words in about 5 days, so I'd thought about entering, this year - but, as you say, it's about quantity and not quality, so I decided not to. I don't want to do something that isn't my best work, if it's going to be perhaps my only print book ever. But thanks for the info on CreateSpace, Alan! I might go that route.
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I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.

Master Joined: 21 Mar 2010 Posts: 813 Location: Maryland

I've heard of NaNoWriMo, yeah, but I also have a hectic full-time job. And I refuse to rush my writing.

Master Joined: 21 Mar 2010 Posts: 813 Location: Maryland

Ya know, I'm glad I posted this!

Not because you are all hella lame and don't wanna help out ( Wink

) but because just writing about writing seems to have opened the floodgates a little and gotten some good material out of me. Yay.

I'm so glad my lameness aided you in some way Razz

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I am a Star Wars fan. That doesn't mean that I hate or love Jar Jar. That doesn't mean I hate or love Lucas, or agree or disagree 100% with him. That doesn't mean I prefer the PT over the OT, or vice versa. That doesn't mean I hate the EU, or even love all of it. These are not prerequisites. Being a man is not a prerequisite. Being a geek is not a prerequisite. The only prerequisite is that I love something about Star Wars. I am a Star Wars fan.