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Monthly Update #3: A Fearful Format
4 years ago
General
Howdy folks, it's been a min (This content has been removed for breach of copyright)
I come to you this month with a lot less internal drama than the last. No unrealistic expectations about finishing characters this time around, not when I've only started writing it last week. But things are going well with it. I'm happy with my outline, and am looking forward to getting into some of the interesting parts. I can genuinely say this character has stuff I've never written about before! I'll say... maybe expect it before 2022.
But what will that leave me to talk about for this monthly update? What overly personal, tmi topics can I wring out this time around? And will I ever break out of the habit of negative self-talk disguised as snark?
I dunno the answer to the last question, but I do know the answer for the first two: let's talk about normally formatted stories, and why I've been too much of a coward to post them. ...Actually, that kinda answers the third question too, eh?
By “normally formatted stories”, I mean stories that aren't TT characters; I don't know how else to describe them, but I'm talking about the stories that don't involve booting up Transformania Time, such as the RP transcripts that I'm gonna charitably call cowritten, along with the three stories I've solely written. I'd love to get into those again, but I'm also terrified of doing so. And to try to explain why, let's talk about how I got here.
I've been... very lucky to get where I am. I got commissioned for TT characters by people relatively early in my writing career, and one of the first people I RPed with turned out to be an incredible writer. It's amazing how things have turned out for me, and I'm continually grateful for all of it... but as with everything in life, there are a few downsides, albeit absurdly slight. Most of my writing has been either Transformania Time characters, or cowritten stories, not individually made pieces. It took me two years to write a plain ol' story on my own, Mutton Marriage, and of the 54(!!!) pieces I've posted here, only three are non-TT, non-cowritten stories: a trade, an entry for a contest, and a story that I, no joke, wrote in a single night during a manic fever dream. I only bring that part up because it still makes me chuckle when I think about it, especially the whole “I'm gonna write a TF story for every single Pokemon YEAHHHHHHH!!!11” bit: emotional catharsis is a hell of a drug. So are actual prescription drugs.
...What was I talking about again? Oh right, stories. So everything I've posted here has either been in TT format, or based off of other factors, whether they be a partner, a contest, or me losing my fuckin' mind. And... I like it, both writing TT characters and bouncing ideas off of others. I'm very comfortable with how TT characters function, and with every character, there's always a very strict pattern and format. No worries around whether a story will end up too short or too long: each story is exactly as long as I planned it to be from the moment I outlined it. It also solves any issue with pacing; I can write each section with the mindset of, “this is the part where his waist transforms, this is the part where his shoes transform, etc”. That goes for cowritten stories too, as all I need to do is focus on my own response, building off of my partner's.
That said... I'm well aware that the format of Transformania Time characters is, to put it lightly, convoluted. You gotta play a weird minigame or type in a cheat code to read the next part of the story, and each part is so segmented that they can literally occur in varied order. These are not user-friendly stories, and if you decide to read my work, you've already done more than enough in my eyes; I don't want you to also have to play a game of Pong. There's absolutely no chance in my mind that I'd ever stop writing TT characters, but... I would also like to write other stories too.
It'll just be hard. Very hard. And I think/hope it's because of lack of experience. If the situation was reversed, and TT characters were the accepted norm for prose (the Epic of Gilgamesh is long enough without the round of roulette after every line...), I would hope that I'd have the same nervousness changing my story format, and would also give a bunch of seemingly correct reasons/excuses for how hard it will be. The only way for it to get easier is for me to start doing it. I don't need to start with 10000 word behemoths, I don't need to start cranking out a story a week... but I need to start.
I think it helps that I know I can do it. Those three stories I've wrote entirely by myself? I'm still very proud of each of them. Mutton Marriage is great for my '''first''' story, Belongs in a Museum is fun if only because of the circumstances surrounding it, and Bree Day is... honestly one of the best things I've ever written, transformation-based or otherwise. I'm perhaps a little too proud of that one, tbh. So I know I can do it. I just... well, I just gotta do it.
I also need to make peace with the other reasons writing '''normal''' stories will be hard. Truth is, I did try to get into writing non-TT stories before, and it just so happened to coincide with some incredibly complicated and traumatic real life shenanigans. I had to drop out of a lot of commissions, and have handled them with... varying degrees of tact, but never very tactfully. But I've made it this far in the update without gross sorta traumadumping trite, so I ain't gonna start now. I only bring it up to say that I'm gonna have to be kind to myself regarding it all. I'll have to give myself the same patience that you all have so wonderfully given to me.
As stated, I've been incredibly lucky through all this, and part of that has been me having a large queue of TT commissions for a long time, always giving me something to do for two very rough, very complicated years. When things do calm down, and I'm left without something to work on, I'm going to start writing some non-TT stories, alongside the TT characters. Small at first, probably little vignettes like that Pokemon story. And then I'll go from there. And as always, I'll be grateful for you all sticking with me ♥
I'll make a separate blog eventually, don't worry:
- yoshielder
I come to you this month with a lot less internal drama than the last. No unrealistic expectations about finishing characters this time around, not when I've only started writing it last week. But things are going well with it. I'm happy with my outline, and am looking forward to getting into some of the interesting parts. I can genuinely say this character has stuff I've never written about before! I'll say... maybe expect it before 2022.
But what will that leave me to talk about for this monthly update? What overly personal, tmi topics can I wring out this time around? And will I ever break out of the habit of negative self-talk disguised as snark?
I dunno the answer to the last question, but I do know the answer for the first two: let's talk about normally formatted stories, and why I've been too much of a coward to post them. ...Actually, that kinda answers the third question too, eh?
By “normally formatted stories”, I mean stories that aren't TT characters; I don't know how else to describe them, but I'm talking about the stories that don't involve booting up Transformania Time, such as the RP transcripts that I'm gonna charitably call cowritten, along with the three stories I've solely written. I'd love to get into those again, but I'm also terrified of doing so. And to try to explain why, let's talk about how I got here.
I've been... very lucky to get where I am. I got commissioned for TT characters by people relatively early in my writing career, and one of the first people I RPed with turned out to be an incredible writer. It's amazing how things have turned out for me, and I'm continually grateful for all of it... but as with everything in life, there are a few downsides, albeit absurdly slight. Most of my writing has been either Transformania Time characters, or cowritten stories, not individually made pieces. It took me two years to write a plain ol' story on my own, Mutton Marriage, and of the 54(!!!) pieces I've posted here, only three are non-TT, non-cowritten stories: a trade, an entry for a contest, and a story that I, no joke, wrote in a single night during a manic fever dream. I only bring that part up because it still makes me chuckle when I think about it, especially the whole “I'm gonna write a TF story for every single Pokemon YEAHHHHHHH!!!11” bit: emotional catharsis is a hell of a drug. So are actual prescription drugs.
...What was I talking about again? Oh right, stories. So everything I've posted here has either been in TT format, or based off of other factors, whether they be a partner, a contest, or me losing my fuckin' mind. And... I like it, both writing TT characters and bouncing ideas off of others. I'm very comfortable with how TT characters function, and with every character, there's always a very strict pattern and format. No worries around whether a story will end up too short or too long: each story is exactly as long as I planned it to be from the moment I outlined it. It also solves any issue with pacing; I can write each section with the mindset of, “this is the part where his waist transforms, this is the part where his shoes transform, etc”. That goes for cowritten stories too, as all I need to do is focus on my own response, building off of my partner's.
That said... I'm well aware that the format of Transformania Time characters is, to put it lightly, convoluted. You gotta play a weird minigame or type in a cheat code to read the next part of the story, and each part is so segmented that they can literally occur in varied order. These are not user-friendly stories, and if you decide to read my work, you've already done more than enough in my eyes; I don't want you to also have to play a game of Pong. There's absolutely no chance in my mind that I'd ever stop writing TT characters, but... I would also like to write other stories too.
It'll just be hard. Very hard. And I think/hope it's because of lack of experience. If the situation was reversed, and TT characters were the accepted norm for prose (the Epic of Gilgamesh is long enough without the round of roulette after every line...), I would hope that I'd have the same nervousness changing my story format, and would also give a bunch of seemingly correct reasons/excuses for how hard it will be. The only way for it to get easier is for me to start doing it. I don't need to start with 10000 word behemoths, I don't need to start cranking out a story a week... but I need to start.
I think it helps that I know I can do it. Those three stories I've wrote entirely by myself? I'm still very proud of each of them. Mutton Marriage is great for my '''first''' story, Belongs in a Museum is fun if only because of the circumstances surrounding it, and Bree Day is... honestly one of the best things I've ever written, transformation-based or otherwise. I'm perhaps a little too proud of that one, tbh. So I know I can do it. I just... well, I just gotta do it.
I also need to make peace with the other reasons writing '''normal''' stories will be hard. Truth is, I did try to get into writing non-TT stories before, and it just so happened to coincide with some incredibly complicated and traumatic real life shenanigans. I had to drop out of a lot of commissions, and have handled them with... varying degrees of tact, but never very tactfully. But I've made it this far in the update without gross sorta traumadumping trite, so I ain't gonna start now. I only bring it up to say that I'm gonna have to be kind to myself regarding it all. I'll have to give myself the same patience that you all have so wonderfully given to me.
As stated, I've been incredibly lucky through all this, and part of that has been me having a large queue of TT commissions for a long time, always giving me something to do for two very rough, very complicated years. When things do calm down, and I'm left without something to work on, I'm going to start writing some non-TT stories, alongside the TT characters. Small at first, probably little vignettes like that Pokemon story. And then I'll go from there. And as always, I'll be grateful for you all sticking with me ♥
I'll make a separate blog eventually, don't worry:
- yoshielder
On the subject of doing more short-form stories and just generally dipping your toes into fiction, you might could try sourcing prompts from your audience for shorter vignettes? (~1,000-3,000 words). That's not as big of a commitment as a full commission, and would be a good way to sharpen your narrative instincts since the prompts have a set length. You'd be incentivized to establish, play and wrap up a scenario in an economical amount of words, which I feel is good for creativity.