The ramblings of a designer turned writer turned computer geek turned writer turned designer with way too much time on his hands.
Writing Update #6 - April
Posted April 27th, 2024 at 01:19 PM by TGRF
TGRF's Writing Updates - April
Another month is coming to a close, which means it's time for another writing update. Let's get to it.
Fan Fiction
As is fast becoming normal, no fan fiction is in the works. Ideas for fan fiction continue to come and go, but with progress on my novels continuing, I don't want to divert attention to pursue them. With the recent revival in competition interest, I will continue to participate there. Hopefully that can scratch the HS itch satisfactorily.
Novels
Progress has continued on the novel front. This month was almost entirely devoted to answering a plethora of unknowns I had accumulated while constructing the plot. Some were easy, some were hard, but they are all dealt with now. I will say that ChatGPT has become an incredible tool for me, as it is capable of understanding complex plot scenarios and providing solutions.
At this point, I'm considering what I can add to the story to make it better - in the past, I've sometimes added things to fan fiction at random, only to find out later that they made the story way better. A great example would be Ilrin in the Dilmir stories. So I'm trying to anticipate those weaknesses and create additions to turn them into strengths. I would estimate this will take another month.
After that, I'll need to go through the outline and smooth it out. There are a lot of scenes which read like 'X happens', with no explanation of how it happens, so those need to be smoothed out. This will undoubtedly unveil more unknowns which I will then need to answer. That whole process I would guess will take 2-3 months.
However at that point, we will be ready to actually start writing. The writing of the first book I would estimate to take another 2 months. So altogether, we're looking at 5-6 months until the first book is written, which is still somehow before the end of the year. Amazing to think that by this time next year, I could be looking to publish.
But that's a ways out. For now, I'll keep plugging away at the story.
The Future
Unfortunately, the job search I didn't know I would have is still ongoing. I have several leads, so hopefully I will be employed before the next Writing Update - at that point I'll know more how a job will impact my writing time.
For now though, progress is steady. I'll see you all next month, or before in the competition.
Until then, keep reading.
~TGRF.
Another month is coming to a close, which means it's time for another writing update. Let's get to it.
Fan Fiction
As is fast becoming normal, no fan fiction is in the works. Ideas for fan fiction continue to come and go, but with progress on my novels continuing, I don't want to divert attention to pursue them. With the recent revival in competition interest, I will continue to participate there. Hopefully that can scratch the HS itch satisfactorily.
Novels
Progress has continued on the novel front. This month was almost entirely devoted to answering a plethora of unknowns I had accumulated while constructing the plot. Some were easy, some were hard, but they are all dealt with now. I will say that ChatGPT has become an incredible tool for me, as it is capable of understanding complex plot scenarios and providing solutions.
At this point, I'm considering what I can add to the story to make it better - in the past, I've sometimes added things to fan fiction at random, only to find out later that they made the story way better. A great example would be Ilrin in the Dilmir stories. So I'm trying to anticipate those weaknesses and create additions to turn them into strengths. I would estimate this will take another month.
After that, I'll need to go through the outline and smooth it out. There are a lot of scenes which read like 'X happens', with no explanation of how it happens, so those need to be smoothed out. This will undoubtedly unveil more unknowns which I will then need to answer. That whole process I would guess will take 2-3 months.
However at that point, we will be ready to actually start writing. The writing of the first book I would estimate to take another 2 months. So altogether, we're looking at 5-6 months until the first book is written, which is still somehow before the end of the year. Amazing to think that by this time next year, I could be looking to publish.
But that's a ways out. For now, I'll keep plugging away at the story.
The Future
Unfortunately, the job search I didn't know I would have is still ongoing. I have several leads, so hopefully I will be employed before the next Writing Update - at that point I'll know more how a job will impact my writing time.
For now though, progress is steady. I'll see you all next month, or before in the competition.
Until then, keep reading.
~TGRF.
Total Comments 3
Comments
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ChatGPT, huh? Are you just using it for spitballing ideas or can it actually provide useful insights for making sure the plot outline is watertight?
"X happens" scenes are always difficult to iron out. I always have to wait for inspiration to strike to find the right linchpin to tie everything together coherently. I don't know how well-written stuff makes it look so effortless. ~TAF |
Posted April 28th, 2024 at 04:13 PM by TheAverageFan
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@TheAverageFan
I'm drawing the line at letting ChatGPT actually write the plot, but it seems perfectly capable of understanding scenarios with problems and giving me solutions. Oftentimes I'll manage to get myself into a scenario where characters need to do something completely contrary to their motivations, and GPT is able to understand the scenario I describe and give me ideas on how to fix it. I'm thinking about writing a separate blog post on how I use GPT to help with writing. Is that something you would be interested in? ~TGRF. |
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Posted April 28th, 2024 at 09:53 PM by TGRF
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Sure I'd be curious to see how the process works, if it's useful to these writing stumps
~TAF |
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Posted April 29th, 2024 at 12:24 AM by TheAverageFan
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Recent Blog Entries by TGRF
- Using ChatGPT for writing (April 29th, 2024)
- Writing Update #6 - April (April 27th, 2024)
- Wax and Wayne: The Alloy of Law - Review (April 4th, 2024)
- Writing Update #5 - March (March 28th, 2024)
- Writing Update #4 - February (February 26th, 2024)
