Some More Pointless discussion

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Hello everyone,
I hope you are in good health. And this is my post.


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“OK!!! Explain it to me like I am five.” By this point I was a little frustrated by the Idea suggested to me.

“It's simple. You take two characters put them in one place have them discuss something and that's it. No backstory needed, No plot needed, just character interacting. Hell!!! It doesn't matter if there is a goal to the discussion. It's just a scene, not a story.” She replied patiently.

“I mean... Its not difficult but it is neither that easy. Alright, Let’s say I managed to put these characters together.” I tried entertaining the idea. “What will they talk about, that will keep the audience engaged? Without the hook, the reader will simply glance over and move on with his or her life.”

“Oh!! oh!! oh!! Hello!!! You haven’t written a single story or post for half a year. And you are worried about the audience engagement.” She replied. I smelled a hint of frustration in her voice.

“Touche.!!! I can certainly try it.” I agreed to her advice. “Now, what’s next?”

“Next, you sit and start writing.” She replied.

“Hmm... so what should be a setup of the scene.?” I asked. Only to see her facepalm.

“Why do you want to know about the setup? It can be anywhere, It can be the beach, a bus, or a bed. The goal is not to focus on the environment. But to focus on the interaction between the characters. Where, When, and how don’t matter. They could be having a conversation about why skydiving with parachutes for all I care. Just start writing again and the story will find its way.” Another attempt was made by her.

“Okay, I think I understand it now,” I replied.
“And I... doubt that.” She is still not convinced.

“Alright, Let me walk you through my plan. I will take two characters and I will put them in a restaurant and will have them interact with each other. And then the waiter will come in and they will order from the menu..”

“And I will poison them...” she cut me off mid-plan.
What's the problem here, I asked with me hand gesture.

“What the hell Man!!! Keep it simple. Characters interacting with each other that is it. No waiter, No ordering food. And what's it with you and the food. Almost every story of your has a dinner scene.”

“So just the character, sitting on the restaurant and chit-chatting?” I still am worried about how this will play out.

“Almost, Fact remove the restaurant.” She encouraged me further into this madness.

“So just the characters sitting.. where???” I asked still a little stuck.

“Ok!!!” She sighed. “I will tell you where exactly are they. They are in the middle of a conversation. Sitting or standing don't matter”

“Hey!!! I am not sure if this is going to work.”

“Just picture something cool in your head and describe it. Don't even worry about how the characters might have gotten into that situation, the purpose of the exercise is just to describe what's going on.”

“OK!!! Explain me like I am five.” By this point I was a little frustrated by the Idea suggested to me.

“Its simple. You take two characters put them in one place have them discuss something and thats it. No backstory needed, No plot needed, just character interacting. Hell!!! It doesnt matter if there is goal to the discussion. Its just a scene not a story.” She replied patiently.

“I mean... Its not difficult but it is neither that easy. Alright, Let’s say I managed to put these characters together.” I tried entertaining the idea. “What will they talk about, that will keep the audience engaged? Without the hook, the reader will simply glance over and move on with his or her life.”

“Oh!! oh!! oh!! Hello!!! You haven’t written a single story or post for half a year. And you are worried about the audience engagement.” She replied. I smelled a hint of frustration in her voice.

“Touche.!!! I can certainly try it.” I agreed to her advice. “Now, what’s next?”

“Next, you sit and start writing.” She replied.

“Hmm... so what should be setup of the scene.?” I asked. Only to see her facepalm.

“Why do you want to know about the setup. It can be anywhere, It can be beach, bus, a bed. The goal is not to focus on the environment. But to focus on the interaction between the characters. Where, When, how doesn’t matter. They could be having a conversation about skydiving without parachutes, for all I care. Just start writing again and the story will find its way.” Another attempt was made by her.

“Okay, I think I understand it now.” I replied.
“And I... doubt that.” She is still not convineced.

“Alright, Let me walk you through my plan. I will take two characters and I will put them in a restuarant and will have them interact with each other. And then the waiter will come in and they will order from menu..”

“And I will poison them...” she cut me off mid-plan.
What's the problem here, I asked with me hand gesture.

“What the hell Man!!! Keep it simple. Characters interacting with each other that is it. No waiter, No ordering food. And what's it with you and the food? Almost every story of yours has a dinner scene.”

“So just the character, sitting in the restaurant and chit-chatting?” I still am worried about how this will play out.

“Almost, in fact remove the restaurant.” She encouraged me further into this madness.

“So just the characters sitting.. where???” I asked still little stuck.

“Ok!!!” She sighed. “I will tell you where exactly are they. They are in middle of a conversation. Sitting or standing dont matter”

“Hey!!! I am not sure if this is going to work.”

“Just picture something cool in your head and describe it. Don't even worry about how the characters might have gotten into that situation, the purpose of the exercise is just to describe what's going on.”


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This is inuke. And this is another attempt to write and entertain you.
I am a proud member of IU and BeAwesome community.
Also special thanks @ryivhnn san. She is inspiration behind the 'she' in this post.



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Some More Pointless discussion .. leading to a point.

OK!!! Explain it to me like I am five

Sure, yesterday my five year old boy asked me "Explain it to me" and I bruised him up.
Do you want same result for you?

^^^ Don't know , good or bad joke, funny or not funny joke, but at least might reduce frustration.

!LOL

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Hahaha...
It is a good Joke. 3/5. went dark in the end.
I am glad that you enjoyed this.

Pointless discussion .. leading to a point.

And Hopefully, you are still around.

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See it worked XD

Did it actually take that many attempts to understand the idea or were you just having way too much with it? :D

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It worked. It had so much fun. Just imagining them discussing things.
Mind is such a fun place.

You know in my mind it was just magic. When you said to remove the waiter, the waiter from the background vanished. Remove dishes, and the Dishes vanished. Remove the restaurant, and the restaurant vanished. All that was left is two (I don't know how to describe it as they don't even have bodies) in white space discussing a scene.

It was superbly awesome. I hope to write soon. And enjoy more of such experiences.
And thank you for your suggestions.
☮️❤️

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I hope you write more soon too :D

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Hey!! Can I ask you something?

What a weird thing to write.. even if you say no I am going to ask anyway

Have you ever tried to redo any of your old work which may or may not been perfect.

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LoL XD

Yep. I've redrawn some old stuff for fun, I've posted the redraws but not the originals (because they can stay forever in their notebooks never again to see the light of day so that only I can cringe at how utterly terrible I was back then), and a lot of story ideas have found their way into my current project (some of them even got used in previous projects but those projects themselves either didn't go anywhere or I don't really count because they were things from when I was a stupid child).

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OH!!!
Actually, I planning on reviving a few old stories that I have written long back. Some were published, and some were scrapped. But then again. The self-doubt is troubling. Have you faced any such doubts while redrawing your work?

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Not with art, because I have been trying to get better and usually the improvements are obvious (just not to anyone else because like I said I don't show the terrible horrible no good bad old stuff XD). It can be harder with text, there have been occasions where I've recycled a good idea, and then reread the original, and gone well the original does still need polish but it is better than my current retwrite, so then there's a number of back and forth as I try to find that sweet spot of polishing the original idea without losing the something that made me like the original idea in the first place.

But it's a thing you can only do if you actually do it. so you just have to do it and deal with the fact that it's not always going to turn out how you wanted the first time, and that you're going to be repeatedly banging your head against all manner of hard objects while your skills are developing, and go through all the effort (some of which will probably feel like a complete waste of time, which while aggravating in the extreme often works out to be important for something, even if it's "never do this again").

The only thing self-doubt is useful for is a self-check. Are you happy with how a thing is progressing? Should you take it through to completion? Has it scratched whatever itch you wanted scratched and can now just be left as is? (some things are exercises and not entire projects, and you do not have to finish everything that you start, only the things that are doing something for you). Beyond that it's worthless. If it's actively preventing you from doing anything at all, project yourself forward to when you're on your deathbed surrounded by your loving relatives about to leap into the afterlife or the next life or oblivion or whatever you believe happens when you die, and figure out if you regret not trying this thing. If the answer is yes, kerbstomp the self-doubt. If it's no or indifference, then turn your attention to something that you will regret not doing before you die.

I'd love to say I have no problems with self-doubt but it's crippling more often than not, this is actually how I deal with it

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But it's a thing you can only do if you actually do it. so you just have to do it and deal with the fact that it's not always going to turn out how you wanted the first time, and that you're going to be repeatedly banging your head against all manner of hard objects while your skills are developing, and go through all the effort (some of which will probably feel like a complete waste of time, which while aggravating in the extreme often works out to be important for something, even if it's "never do this again").

Now this sounds more painful than fun. I guess I have try and see for myself. One last question.. while doing the rework have your opinion about the original ever changed?

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The bits you don't enjoy are agonising, but can't always be avoided if you actually want results. Conversely you may find you enjoy everything :)

I don't think I understand the question.

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