The Knack

[Saxon]

Ever wonder why a fellow althanian is a few levels higher then you? Why you can barely finish a post-by-post story? Why none of those tips given to you by your friends or colleagues never seem to work?

If you share any of these symptoms, don't fret! Your not alone . For a couple of months now I have been trying to write my first quest with the simplest of intentions. Moving back and forth between characters, advancing in my plot, and hoping to make a name for myself by the time it is over.

BAM.

Nothing seems to work any more, the writing is out of whack, and I just can't get myself to sit down and concentrate on this thing. I write off and on with mixed feelings on my work, and I cannot seem to adhere to a technique that lasts long enough for me to accomplish something.

The more I try, the more elusive it becomes to finish it. I've consulted judges, colleagues, even friends for advice on how to write to get into this Althanas niche'. None seem to work, and some even backfire with unpredictable results. I'm not trying to raise any red flags to any folks here who have these disabilities, but I'm not bi-polar, I don't have ADD or ADHD, and I seem to keep myself within a reasonable realm of patience.

I can still write outside of Althanas, perhaps even better. Does being normal seeking help on a site tend to keep the pressure at an unbearable point? I like so many others have taken breaks, have brainstormed ideas, have tried to change stories to refocus my attention. But, again, none seem to work!

Enough is enough. I've come to a crossroads that many writer of a forum has been standing on. Is this it? Should I just stick to writing by myself via Microsoft Word and by hand because I cannot solve this problem? I would not like to focus this thread solely upon me, but upon others like myself suffering from this problem and cannot seem to get over that perverbial hump.

What tips do you have? What sage advice would someone have that has either been in my position or recognizes it as a phase of some sorts? Is it a problem that cannot be solved, or is Althanas just not my niche'? I know that there are other folks like me either too embarassed to come forward with this problem, or have given up too early and thrown in the keyboard.

I ask you as a whole Althanas for your thoughts, pearls of wisdom, and some method of staving off this crippling condition.

Help.

[Séreméla]

yeah I'm not gonna lie, I've had about 5 characters on Althanas, and in all of the billions of quests and battles I have joined with all of them I think I finished maybe 10. And it is really frustrating when I am writing and come up with new ideas for a story I've been working on and it won't seem to fit, so me being stupid begins another quest just to work off of that idea. I think I have been on althanas for about ayear now and haven't accumulated enough experience to reach level 1 yet. With this new character and my new quest though I am actually working in a backwards so of state.

The quest I am working on now when I get new ideas or stuck on a certain part and think of something different I start thinking about how I can make this idea flow with my quest or atleast my storyline. That being said, depending on what I earn as spoils in this quest I have already created a 7 part series where my character goes all across althanas trying to piece something together. So now I can start writing 7 stories if I want as long as they somehow tie together.

So pretty much what I am saying is this. It sucks getting stuck on a part where you really want to move forward in a quest but can't consentrate on it so what I do is just skip over it and move forward to where you start to create a storyline and although the quests might not be the same it forces you to kind of keep that single idea in your head of what your quest is about. and then you can just work backwards trying to figure out "So in my new quest I want to do this, and in my current quest I am stuck at this...what would make these two meet somewhere?" Thus solving your problem slowly but surely... So yeah if that didn't make any sense at all, don't worry I do that alot lol. Hope it helped some though

[Letho]

I already gave you an adivce on your writing, dude. Now I'm going to give you an advice on writing on Althanas. Write with other people. Even if it's just a random cliche thread, write with as many different people as you can. Nothing inspires me more then reading a post of my fellow rper and then doing my best to write on the same level. I love how people I write with here keep raising the bar for me, how they bring challenge after challenge after challenge with each post. If that is unable to fuel you - to know that somebody would read what you wrote and respond to it - I don't know what will.

[Séreméla]

Yeah...listen to him, his is shorter and not as confusing lol

[Cyrus the virus]

Don't approach quests as just series of posts. If you end a post, consider it a portion of your story, and then begin another post as if you're beginning another part of the quest, it can be tough. Think of each new post as a continuation of your last one.

Basically... Don't think of your posts individually, but of one last congregation of awesome.

[Breaker]

This is something I got from reading an interview with Roald Dahl. Maybe he's not the most popular around here, but I think it's good advice.

If you're writing a post in a quest and you have a good idea, rather than immediately putting it in, jot it down on a piece of paper and put the paper somewhere safe. Then round of the post you're working on, and stop writing. Maybe the next day or something, come back, read your idea, maybe modify it a bit, then write it in the quest.

I find this bit of advice very useful. It gives your ideas time to boil around in your brain, and this way, you'll ALWAYS have something good to write in your next post, so you're not starting from scratch. Good ol' Dahl.

[AsukaStrikes]

Well... the only thing I can say is...

Don't just write it. Live it.

Hmm... Not very useful, is it? Ignore me, then...

[Séreméla]

Don't approach quests as just series of posts. If you end a post, consider it a portion of your story, and then begin another post as if you're beginning another part of the quest, it can be tough. Think of each new post as a continuation of your last one.

Basically... Don't think of your posts individually, but of one last congregation of awesome.

Think of it as you're watching your quest on tv. And every time a commercial comes on, that's the end of one of your posts. lol

[Ebivoulya]

It may just be you're ready for a bigger change. Try playing around with a different writing style for a while. If you use 3rd person, switch to first. If you use past tense, switch to present. The writing isn't flowing because you don't know how to say it in the style you've chosen, so choose a different style and see if that doesn't jog your mind a little.

You don't have to continue writing in it if you don't like it, but it may very well give you some new ideas of how to say what you've been meaning to.

[streak101]

My advise would be to do this:

> Write with other people
> Imagine the story as it unfolds.
> Ask yourself: Should I add some more to the story for this post? or: Is my post too short or too long?
> Pay attention to what your writing
> Make sure your story can keep YOU as the writer entertained
last but not least: >If you are stuck read a few pages of a book your reading, it helps clear writer's block, and any brain farts, meaning it helps ur thinking be thorough