In Which I Am a Garbage Writer Who Produces Only Garbage

[rynling]

Because something is obviously wrong with me, I've decided that what I need to help me get through the multi-chapter fic I'm writing is to work on another multi-chapter fic at the same time. There's a Bowser/Peach story I started in 2011 that I never finished because suddenly everything else in my life seemed way more important than fic. I have more or less given up on everything else in my life, but the fic is still waiting.

Looking at my old writing is painful. I was reading a lot of Homestuck at the time, and I think I had it in my head that I wanted to create some sort of adventure game. Like, these are your surroundings, what is your next move? The way I put this into practice was insufferable; nobody cares about that level of detail. I also made Peach seem vulnerable in a number of small ways that were, in retrospect, absolutely unnecessary.

The biggest challenge has been to edit everything into small continuous scenes. When I first started writing this story, I was thinking in terms of mise en scène and inserting a lot of cuts, but holy shit fiction doesn't work like that. Exposition is important, but the majority of the action needs to be conveyed through dialog. Unfortunately, I never pinned down the voices of my two main characters. What a fucking mess this all is.

Also I still don't have a title, because why would that be important, I mean honestly.

Comments

[renegadefolkhero]

Having multiple longfic WIPs is a good way to sow one's oats. I think looking back on past writing and being appalled by it is probably the best one can hope for, especially if it's writing from years ago.

Bowser/Peach is so appealing to me, because there's always the Mario Question, and you can go quite a few directions with it.

Also, titles are for chumps.

[rynling]

I'm actually considering writing Ennuigi into the fic.

Mario realized how much his walk-up brownstone in Brooklyn would go for these days, so he left the Mushroom Kingdom to spend his nights doing blow at a swag hotel in Williamsburg.

What does winning even mean?