What's the most challenging aspect of your writing?

[itski]

I am in that mode myself! Some days are so much harder than others!

[Liv45]

For me the biggest challenge is to get in the right mood (sad, happy, funny) and if I get in (mostly with the help of music) it`s hard to get out of it again. I just wrote a really sad chapter and after that I needed some time to come back to reality and not feel the sadness so much. Do you have that too sometimes?

[itski]

Not often, but for sure it happens more frequently with sad topics. I don't across it often because I don't write a lot of sad storylines.

[heyroxi]

I'm a UX so organizing is my thing and I can't think at all if I am not looking at my ideation

[heyroxi]

Thank you! Just a tip from my experience—it definitely helps to list out the plot before creating the chapter itself. Of course, everyone has their own preferences. This novel will be like a memento for me, (weird) and I plan to read it once it's finished, since I don't read my chapters after posting them.

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[vfaqvrf]

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[itski]

That does make sense, I just haven't had time. I joined the AF Tourney a month behind. The next novel I write I do plan to have nutted out in every aspect beforehand. I do read my own work because I always miss something the first thousand times I read it.

[skidiggy]

Hahaha. I feel that.

[Cass]

Trying to make the slow burn not so slow. I don't want to rush it but I don't want them to just be stuck in pining forever.

[itski]

Maybe you need more action happening, so they don't have time to get lost in each-other's eyes as frequently. or an event that keeps them separated for a while, but still thinking of each other.

[Lorian]

My one and only fight scene. I can write emotional struggle but physical one is incredibly hard for me. My novel requires very little of battle scenes, but I dread them like worst nightmare

[itski]

My suggestion here would be:
Think about what is moving, how and where.
eg. His fist flew overhead. A boot appeared from the right and landed in his stomach.

You don't need technical terms. You can just describe the object, movement and location.
Short, simple sentences work best for action and fight scenes. If your sentences are too long, they lose speed and urgency to the reader, as if the character has all the time in the world to dodge out of the way.

[Fatalis_comics]

The most challenging part of writing the plot for my webcomic when I plan out each scene is that I write it out almost like a book, but I have to take into consideration how it would look when I draw it. So, it has to have a good plot but also look good too. Another hard part of writing a webcomic is giving each character a backstory and a significance to the story and making sure each episode contributes to some part of the plot.

[Lorian]

Exactly, I had at first long sentences, then - I changed that, to much shorter. But it's not a kind of scene I like to write. My beta reader found some weird things in it because of it. Not sequential acts, for example, chaotic ones. That one scene took more from me than whole book

[itski]

Have you tried looking at script writing? As in plays and movies? Each scene is usually written quite simply, so all the emotion and flamboyant language is removed. It might make it easier to plan if you already have an idea of what things look like visually. Ignore this obviously if you already do this.

Like this would be a minimum 6 panels:

Oliver and Sarah are next to each other at the lights. Sarah winds down her window

Sarah, Sassily: Can you even drive?
Oliver: I hate you!

The lights turn green. Oliver drives away.

[itski]

That's fair. We all have our 'thing', I think. That's why you have to love your beta readers and editors!

For me romance is SO hard. Like are they moving too fast, or too slow? Is it too obvious or too subtle? How does one naturally progress in written from from flirting to a kiss without jumping straight into it? There is so much going through my head with these scenes! But I can write action scenes for days.