[LtBroccoli]

I'm not sure if I'm looking for advice or guidance or just hear how others handle blocks, but like the subject says I'm stuck in a writing funk, and having a hard time dragging myself out.

Instead of being stuck in the "I don't know what to write" category, for once I'm in the opposite problem.  I have too many items in my queue.  I haven't written much here recently because I've been working on a script for a video game with a friend that does some amazing graphics but English isn't his first language.  Then I have Pharma that I'm working on, then another story over at Kristen's Board that doesn't fit with the guidelines here, then updating and continuing Purity, then another script based on some great ideas around #MeToo, and finally a story about a fish out of water in Japan.  On top of that, I'm helping design the world of the video game plus working out the plots of several of the major scenes coming up, including the pinnacle sex scene of the early version.  Yes, it's a porno game.  Which writing for a game is different because of different paths and stuff.  On top of this, I'm busy as hell with real life and keep finding new and interesting excuses for not writing, like getting bored with my keyboard or not wanting to spend too much time in the office each night or finding other projects to distract me.  Another thing that's getting to me is that the story I took time off to write isn't up to my normal standards and is more experimental, but I'm getting lost in the minutia of the world.

I know me well enough that if I had deadlines on these projects, I'd prioritize and punch them out, but nothing has a deadline.  Game development is slow.  I wrote a couple scenes three months ago, and it took almost two months to get the graphics done for those scenes.  I just finished a big section last week that might have graphics ready by the new year.  Meanwhile, I'm just now getting to the point where I want to jump back into one of the other stories just to change the pace a little, but each time I start typing I find yet another excuse. Like this.  I could have probably written a couple hundred words in the time it took me to write about how I can't write right now.  Last night, I chose carpentry over writing.  Tonight, I might clean the garage.

How do you deal with the multiple stuff?  Do you set arbitrary deadlines to help focus?  Roll a dice to pick something to work on?  Look at a picture and write about what comes up?

Thanks,

Lt. Broc

[To-Get-Her]

If Current Times are any indications- piss poorly! I know that I have way to many on the go at the moment, but if a new scenario takes hold of my story imagination then I run with it until I can write something else. Usually i take the oldest story and do at least an update or concentrate on writing the entire ending.

With me I have to reset my mind from Here to anything that makes me want to set back down again. Could be a few hours, could be days. Sometimes it takes an outsider talking to me that sets the urge to write to start once more! The least little thing can set me off and that can be both a blessing and a curse!

Good luck with your dilemma!

[Yukito]

I'm feeling like that too. I have a few stories already planned(one for here and others for my site and my paid content), but I kind of lost the desire to write. Seeing Yukito's Corner like that, despite how much I work on it, along with a few personal issues I'm going through, completely kills my motivation.
I really love to write, but it's hard to do the kind of content I do due to not having anyone to share the stories, the site not getting a single review for the stories(I don't know if I'm doing well or not)[even though I thank those who reviewed it], my personal issues(streaming/youtube channel that doesn't grow, parents blabbing all the time about a certain job) and things like that.
I too don't know if I'm going to return and bring stories #19 and #20 of The Blakes and the ninth Sexy Tale.
About dealing with multiple stuff, I usually write what is more interesting to me at the moment, like another free tale, a backstory, a machine description and things like that.
You have to make priorities, like, if you are being paid, focus on the paid work, otherwise, work on what you want.
Game development really is slow and i planned before to make a kind of VN out of my stories. And also started a RPG Maker MV game(kind of open like GTA) and a text adventure game. I finished the TA one for a competition. The RPG Maker one is still awaiting completion.
About game making, I can do music(I have some music knowledge) and script/mission writing.
Anyway, sorry to have hijacked your thread, man. But, good luck working out your game and stories.

[LtBroccoli]

If Current Times are any indications- piss poorly! I know that I have way to many on the go at the moment, but if a new scenario takes hold of my story imagination then I run with it until I can write something else. Usually i take the oldest story and do at least an update or concentrate on writing the entire ending.

With me I have to reset my mind from Here to anything that makes me want to set back down again. Could be a few hours, could be days. Sometimes it takes an outsider talking to me that sets the urge to write to start once more! The least little thing can set me off and that can be both a blessing and a curse!

Good luck with your dilemma!

Thanks TGH.  I decided to keep working on the video game for the time being, but I'm honestly only doing that because none of them jumped out at me so I rolled a dice.  I think the hardest part right now is getting to a spot where the scenes are bite sized.  I think if I focus on just getting smaller pieces done, that might help with the blocks.  Saying I'm going to write 20 pages is rough, but maybe 5 pages a night instead of a script?  That can be done a little easier.

[LtBroccoli]

I'm feeling like that too. I have a few stories already planned(one for here and others for my site and my paid content), but I kind of lost the desire to write. Seeing Yukito's Corner like that, despite how much I work on it, along with a few personal issues I'm going through, completely kills my motivation.
I really love to write, but it's hard to do the kind of content I do due to not having anyone to share the stories, the site not getting a single review for the stories(I don't know if I'm doing well or not)[even though I thank those who reviewed it], my personal issues(streaming/youtube channel that doesn't grow, parents blabbing all the time about a certain job) and things like that.
I too don't know if I'm going to return and bring stories #19 and #20 of The Blakes and the ninth Sexy Tale.
About dealing with multiple stuff, I usually write what is more interesting to me at the moment, like another free tale, a backstory, a machine description and things like that.
You have to make priorities, like, if you are being paid, focus on the paid work, otherwise, work on what you want.
Game development really is slow and i planned before to make a kind of VN out of my stories. And also started a RPG Maker MV game(kind of open like GTA) and a text adventure game. I finished the TA one for a competition. The RPG Maker one is still awaiting completion.
About game making, I can do music(I have some music knowledge) and script/mission writing.
Anyway, sorry to have hijacked your thread, man. But, good luck working out your game and stories.

Thanks Yukito.  It's okay, it's not hijacking.  You're bringing your events and POV to the mix.  Besides, you aren't walking up and down the aisle of the 747 with an AK demanding that we land in Sudan or Zaire.

I decided to continue with the video game script for the time being.  Not because it spoke to me or was the most interesting, but two reasons.  First, it's the only one that has anything resembling a deadline.  Second, I rolled a dice for every story on my list and that one had the highest roll.

But you are definitely right about game development being slow.  And it's tedious, too.  I like the tedium, but during the scene construction I'm running into another problem that's pushing the work back.  I have to write the unwritten stuff.  There are several differences between a narrative piece, a screenplay, and a game, and I'm finding them out the hard way.  For example, the sequence I'm currently working on has a perverted young man spying on his sister and her bff who is also their cousin.  He's trying to fuck them, btw.  The current sequence is a night at a bar that ends in a round of strip poker between those three, the hot lady bartender and their gay friend.  Long story short, MC fucks the bartender at the end of the night while the cousin and sister are passed out in the living room, but only after he gets them to do some shit to him in the game.  But that's long down the line.  First, I have to get the MC to the same space, have a reason to be there, pull all the strings necessary, and then have some fun.

In a book, the setup could be a few lines of throwaway dialog, like "MC placed a burner phone he had lying around in the back of Cousin's car and used it to listen in on the girl's candid conversation."  In a movie, it would be a few shots of him finding a spare phone around the house, making sure it works, then slipping it into the car when no one was looking.  But in a game, you have to go through EVERY FUCKING STEP.  I have to write for not having the burner phone in the inventory, have to write him going to the store to pick one up, possibly write a sidequest if he doesn't have enough money and has to do the shop owner a favor, then I have to write out his plans if he does have it in inventory.  Then I have to write him breaking into the car, putting the phone in there, then sneaking away without being seen.  Then I have to write the interactions after the car, then the car ride, then the plotting, then the bar, then the events there, and so on and so on.  And that's just this one sequence.  After this one, there's another big one that I may or may not tackle right away, depending on how far along the graphics guy is.  If he's far along, I need to work on the script before other projects.  Rendering the graphics takes a lot of time, but having the script in place can make the graphics much easier to set up since the framework is already there.  But it is an interesting challenge to have.

[Yukito]

I'm feeling like that too. I have a few stories already planned(one for here and others for my site and my paid content), but I kind of lost the desire to write. Seeing Yukito's Corner like that, despite how much I work on it, along with a few personal issues I'm going through, completely kills my motivation.
I really love to write, but it's hard to do the kind of content I do due to not having anyone to share the stories, the site not getting a single review for the stories(I don't know if I'm doing well or not)[even though I thank those who reviewed it], my personal issues(streaming/youtube channel that doesn't grow, parents blabbing all the time about a certain job) and things like that.
I too don't know if I'm going to return and bring stories #19 and #20 of The Blakes and the ninth Sexy Tale.
About dealing with multiple stuff, I usually write what is more interesting to me at the moment, like another free tale, a backstory, a machine description and things like that.
You have to make priorities, like, if you are being paid, focus on the paid work, otherwise, work on what you want.
Game development really is slow and i planned before to make a kind of VN out of my stories. And also started a RPG Maker MV game(kind of open like GTA) and a text adventure game. I finished the TA one for a competition. The RPG Maker one is still awaiting completion.
About game making, I can do music(I have some music knowledge) and script/mission writing.
Anyway, sorry to have hijacked your thread, man. But, good luck working out your game and stories.

Thanks Yukito.  It's okay, it's not hijacking.  You're bringing your events and POV to the mix.  Besides, you aren't walking up and down the aisle of the 747 with an AK demanding that we land in Sudan or Zaire.

I decided to continue with the video game script for the time being.  Not because it spoke to me or was the most interesting, but two reasons.  First, it's the only one that has anything resembling a deadline.  Second, I rolled a dice for every story on my list and that one had the highest roll.

But you are definitely right about game development being slow.  And it's tedious, too.  I like the tedium, but during the scene construction I'm running into another problem that's pushing the work back.  I have to write the unwritten stuff.  There are several differences between a narrative piece, a screenplay, and a game, and I'm finding them out the hard way.  For example, the sequence I'm currently working on has a perverted young man spying on his sister and her bff who is also their cousin.  He's trying to fuck them, btw.  The current sequence is a night at a bar that ends in a round of strip poker between those three, the hot lady bartender and their gay friend.  Long story short, MC fucks the bartender at the end of the night while the cousin and sister are passed out in the living room, but only after he gets them to do some shit to him in the game.  But that's long down the line.  First, I have to get the MC to the same space, have a reason to be there, pull all the strings necessary, and then have some fun.

In a book, the setup could be a few lines of throwaway dialog, like "MC placed a burner phone he had lying around in the back of Cousin's car and used it to listen in on the girl's candid conversation."  In a movie, it would be a few shots of him finding a spare phone around the house, making sure it works, then slipping it into the car when no one was looking.  But in a game, you have to go through EVERY FUCKING STEP.  I have to write for not having the burner phone in the inventory, have to write him going to the store to pick one up, possibly write a sidequest if he doesn't have enough money and has to do the shop owner a favor, then I have to write out his plans if he does have it in inventory.  Then I have to write him breaking into the car, putting the phone in there, then sneaking away without being seen.  Then I have to write the interactions after the car, then the car ride, then the plotting, then the bar, then the events there, and so on and so on.  And that's just this one sequence.  After this one, there's another big one that I may or may not tackle right away, depending on how far along the graphics guy is.  If he's far along, I need to work on the script before other projects.  Rendering the graphics takes a lot of time, but having the script in place can make the graphics much easier to set up since the framework is already there.  But it is an interesting challenge to have.

Yeah, it's kind of annoying to do all the steps showing everything. Even though, I wish I could turn my stories into a VN, both the ones here and the others in the site. I love multiple-choice stories and playing a game telling those with music and graphics. I remember when I was doing the missions for my game, had to do every little step of the mission in ADRIFT.

[EnabranTain]

Hey Barclay,
It happens to all of us and it sounds like you already know how to handle it, it's just the actual execution of a plan that's always the hard part, isn't it? I just wanted to give you some encouragement and say hi.

I've been doing my best to start a new short story every day (or as often as I can) just to keep writing and work on keeping things loose. This way I can simply abandon bad starts or ideas that go nowhere, or if something does work well, it can be expanded on later or disected and inserted into another piece.

So I might offer up the suggestion that if you're having a hard time focusing on one thing because you have too many different stories going at the same time, you might combine them; or maybe find a way to extract the good parts of the smaller stories and insert them into the larger project you want to advance. That way you break out of the funk you're in on one story by utalizing the work you've already done.

[Yukito]

Hey Barclay,
It happens to all of us and it sounds like you already know how to handle it, it's just the actual execution of a plan that's always the hard part, isn't it? I just wanted to give you some encouragement and say hi.

I've been doing my best to start a new short story every day (or as often as I can) just to keep writing and work on keeping things loose. This way I can simply abandon bad starts or ideas that go nowhere, or if something does work well, it can be expanded on later or disected and inserted into another piece.

So I might offer up the suggestion that if you're having a hard time focusing on one thing because you have too many different stories going at the same time, you might combine them; or maybe find a way to extract the good parts of the smaller stories and insert them into the larger project you want to advance. That way you break out of the funk you're in on one story by utalizing the work you've already done.

It helps to do that to keep your writing on point. Also, sometimes, new ideas can come from those. And yes, extracting parts of other stories can also help. One thing to take note is to keep yourself motivated to do what you want to do. And one way to do that is to perform small tasks related to that, such as writing unrelated stories for writing or practicing coding for games.
About games, I tried doing a VN using images from The Sims 4, but the game is way too limited right now.

[LtBroccoli]

Hey Barclay,
It happens to all of us and it sounds like you already know how to handle it, it's just the actual execution of a plan that's always the hard part, isn't it? I just wanted to give you some encouragement and say hi.

I've been doing my best to start a new short story every day (or as often as I can) just to keep writing and work on keeping things loose. This way I can simply abandon bad starts or ideas that go nowhere, or if something does work well, it can be expanded on later or disected and inserted into another piece.

So I might offer up the suggestion that if you're having a hard time focusing on one thing because you have too many different stories going at the same time, you might combine them; or maybe find a way to extract the good parts of the smaller stories and insert them into the larger project you want to advance. That way you break out of the funk you're in on one story by utalizing the work you've already done.

Good to see you back, Tain.  I like the idea of short stories and short chunks of stories.  Yesterday I took one scene and focused on writing that.  By splitting the current project into a few smaller chunks it is much easier. 

I guess my one problem is my definition of a short story is nowhere near short.  Even just doing a chapter or two easily turns into several thousand words.  And I did notice that last night I brought a couple ideas from one story over to the game.  It was just some weird background characters getting a one-off mention, but it helped me plot out a future section of another story.  It was a one-off sentence but helps build the future on another story and how twisted things are getting.

[LtBroccoli]

Hey Barclay,
It happens to all of us and it sounds like you already know how to handle it, it's just the actual execution of a plan that's always the hard part, isn't it? I just wanted to give you some encouragement and say hi.

I've been doing my best to start a new short story every day (or as often as I can) just to keep writing and work on keeping things loose. This way I can simply abandon bad starts or ideas that go nowhere, or if something does work well, it can be expanded on later or disected and inserted into another piece.

So I might offer up the suggestion that if you're having a hard time focusing on one thing because you have too many different stories going at the same time, you might combine them; or maybe find a way to extract the good parts of the smaller stories and insert them into the larger project you want to advance. That way you break out of the funk you're in on one story by utalizing the work you've already done.

It helps to do that to keep your writing on point. Also, sometimes, new ideas can come from those. And yes, extracting parts of other stories can also help. One thing to take note is to keep yourself motivated to do what you want to do. And one way to do that is to perform small tasks related to that, such as writing unrelated stories for writing or practicing coding for games.
About games, I tried doing a VN using images from The Sims 4, but the game is way too limited right now.

The guy I'm working with on the game is using Daz3D as the main basis for their 3D graphics and RenPy as the code base.  Right now what feels like is taking forever is building the world.  We're designing every location that is needed for the first few updates before even thinking about moving too far along.  The way I view it is like shooting a movie.  We're building all the sets before shooting the scenes so that way we can go back and do reshoots or the like.  It's just a large game with a few different houses, each house with several rooms where action takes place, several vehicles, and a few other locations like some bars and whatnot.  Then there's character design.  Each main character has side characters they interact with, plus new characters to tie up old plot holes or to change things we didn't like.  For example, the original game introduced a cousin character that was just a whore.  She had no depth whatsoever and there was no reason for her to be a cousin in the first place.  One of the first major changes was rewriting her character from the ground up.  This changed everything about her, added a whole new backstory, and several new characters that fit into the world.  Now, her story is plotted out for the bulk of the game.

[TheYellowKnight]

So I've learned long ago, there's no reason to rush into any story writing.  Like you exactly said, there are no deadlines at this site.  It's not like you're getting paid or compensated.  Any sort of need to rush or produce is arbitrarily set by you.  And if you're not feeling it when you sit down and write, I would suggest it's best to step away and take a break until your creative erotic writing reservoir is overflowing.

As an aside, 3D graphic production is really hard... a lot more time consuming than people think.  A lot of people think you simply pose mannequins and you're done.  But there's the content creation, like props and clothing and hair.  And the big time eater is the lighting and composition, or at least the good aesthetic scenes require a lot of time and judgement to make it all look natural.  And if things are animated, it's an entire new degree of complication and dynamics.

[Yukito]

Hey Barclay,
It happens to all of us and it sounds like you already know how to handle it, it's just the actual execution of a plan that's always the hard part, isn't it? I just wanted to give you some encouragement and say hi.

I've been doing my best to start a new short story every day (or as often as I can) just to keep writing and work on keeping things loose. This way I can simply abandon bad starts or ideas that go nowhere, or if something does work well, it can be expanded on later or disected and inserted into another piece.

So I might offer up the suggestion that if you're having a hard time focusing on one thing because you have too many different stories going at the same time, you might combine them; or maybe find a way to extract the good parts of the smaller stories and insert them into the larger project you want to advance. That way you break out of the funk you're in on one story by utalizing the work you've already done.

It helps to do that to keep your writing on point. Also, sometimes, new ideas can come from those. And yes, extracting parts of other stories can also help. One thing to take note is to keep yourself motivated to do what you want to do. And one way to do that is to perform small tasks related to that, such as writing unrelated stories for writing or practicing coding for games.
About games, I tried doing a VN using images from The Sims 4, but the game is way too limited right now.

The guy I'm working with on the game is using Daz3D as the main basis for their 3D graphics and RenPy as the code base.  Right now what feels like is taking forever is building the world.  We're designing every location that is needed for the first few updates before even thinking about moving too far along.  The way I view it is like shooting a movie.  We're building all the sets before shooting the scenes so that way we can go back and do reshoots or the like.  It's just a large game with a few different houses, each house with several rooms where action takes place, several vehicles, and a few other locations like some bars and whatnot.  Then there's character design.  Each main character has side characters they interact with, plus new characters to tie up old plot holes or to change things we didn't like.  For example, the original game introduced a cousin character that was just a whore.  She had no depth whatsoever and there was no reason for her to be a cousin in the first place.  One of the first major changes was rewriting her character from the ground up.  This changed everything about her, added a whole new backstory, and several new characters that fit into the world.  Now, her story is plotted out for the bulk of the game.

Daz3D is quite cool. The problem with it is that it's annoying as heck to put the items in the software. I got some items for free and haven't managed to put them in my Daz. If I really could buy the things for it, I would, but I can't at the moment.

So I've learned long ago, there's no reason to rush into any story writing.  Like you exactly said, there are no deadlines at this site.  It's not like you're getting paid or compensated.  Any sort of need to rush or produce is arbitrarily set by you.  And if you're not feeling it when you sit down and write, I would suggest it's best to step away and take a break until your creative erotic writing reservoir is overflowing.

As an aside, 3D graphic production is really hard... a lot more time consuming than people think.  A lot of people think you simply pose mannequins and you're done.  But there's the content creation, like props and clothing and hair.  And the big time eater is the lighting and composition, or at least the good aesthetic scenes require a lot of time and judgement to make it all look natural.  And if things are animated, it's an entire new degree of complication and dynamics.

Yes, up to now, there are not deadlines yet. I've set my own, to deliver content from time to time. I like having feedback if my writing is good enough or not. I usually work with outlines, doing story outlines so I don't forget what the story is really about(I managed to write half of Volume One and Sexy Tales #1 to #3 just by doing synopsys, but these days, I prefer outlines.
About 3D: Yes, it's complex, there are lots of elements that influence the scene like you mentioned. When you try doing a text adventure game, it's another world entirely, as you have other things to worry about, such as descriptions.
And about VNs, I wanted to make one related to my stories, as, like I mentioned before, I can do some music and script writing. Those would be Kinetic Novels(VNs without choices, you just sit back and read the story).
You can see what I'm working on in my blog thread.