Sounds like Persistent Demand Avoidance.
Or Pervasive Demand for Autonomy.
Look it up in the most recent DSM.
Of course my vague hint here is nothing authoritative!
Now I'm at the same point after Chapter 4.
This is not unusual. Take some advice from a well-known author from the last century - whose name has sadly slipped my mind again - who remarked that whenever he ran into difficulties with his novel he went to the theatre, because when the performance finished all his problems would be sorted out.
Thank you. I'm afraid that would put a bit of a strain on my finances after a while. I have occasionally tried handling this kind of thing by calling up random Wikipedia articles in search of inspiration, but so far, none of my actual ideas came from one of those.alice wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2024 2:50 pm Take some advice from a well-known author from the last century - whose name has sadly slipped my mind again - who remarked that whenever he ran into difficulties with his novel he went to the theatre, because when the performance finished all his problems would be sorted out.
FWIW this is pretty common, and there is no universal cure. I have two novels waiting for plots to gel. For me it's the hardest part of the process.
I have a very rough outline, but I guess summarizing what I want to happen and haven't written yet would take about half a page. I'm still far from having a chapter-by-chapter outline/summaryzompist wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2024 5:30 pm
FWIW this is pretty common, and there is no universal cure. I have two novels waiting for plots to gel. For me it's the hardest part of the process.
Some random things that might help.
* Do you know something that happens later in the book? Write that. No rule says you have to write the novel in order.
* Think like a Wikipedia editor summarizing episodes of a TV show. Can you write a short summary of each chapter? It's often helpful to have an overall plot outline. You don't have to keep to it slavishly.
In some ways, yes. But it's also a story told by an adult looking back at their youth through a bit of a nostalgia filter, so they themselves might well see that time as the best time of their life.* The fundamental rule of stories is that they happen when things go wrong. What could go wrong for your characters? Remember, you can experiment. Write about a crisis— maybe you throw that out later, but it gives you practice with the setting and how the characters react to problems.
* Speaking of which, do they have problems? I've bounced off a lot of stories where it wasn't clear what predicament the protagonist was facing. Episodic "Stuff Happening" works sometimes, but readers get involved when they understand the problem and see the characters trying to fix it.
* Similarly: Nick Hornby has a thought-provoking rule: he wants a book to address the single most challenging time faced by the protagonist. Is that the case for your protag?
Interesting, thank you again!* If events are just not coming to your head... try some writing experiments. Record an argument between two or more characters about what's gone on so far. Write a diary entry for someone, maybe not the protagonist. Is there an antagonist? Write a short scene about what they are doing at this point. You may not use this material, but it's practice in scene-writing, and parts of it can be re-used later.
* Finally, don't worry if you write a crappy chapter. Cleanly separate writing from revising. A crappy chapter can often be greatly improved— leave that for Future You.
This was actually very useful and that discussion definitely merits its own thread. Not that I have much too contribute, as I have only tried my hand at short stories, certainly nothing that required visionary plotting.
There's hardly a contradiction there. The problems teens are facing are probably of a different nature from those of the cast of your horror novel, but they are problems nontheless. That the people who lived through that time look back on it with nostalgia, is not an indication that they liked challenges, but rather that they withstood or overcame them in some way. I mean, when I think of the halcyon days of highschool, there was a good bunch of humbling moments there, that I think shaped me in a positive way and also contributed to a sense of comraderie with others.Raphael wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2024 6:08 pmIn some ways, yes. But it's also a story told by an adult looking back at their youth through a bit of a nostalgia filter, so they themselves might well see that time as the best time of their life.zompist wrote: ↑Fri Oct 18, 2024 5:30 pm * The fundamental rule of stories is that they happen when things go wrong. What could go wrong for your characters? Remember, you can experiment. Write about a crisis— maybe you throw that out later, but it gives you practice with the setting and how the characters react to problems.
* Speaking of which, do they have problems? I've bounced off a lot of stories where it wasn't clear what predicament the protagonist was facing. Episodic "Stuff Happening" works sometimes, but readers get involved when they understand the problem and see the characters trying to fix it.
* Similarly: Nick Hornby has a thought-provoking rule: he wants a book to address the single most challenging time faced by the protagonist. Is that the case for your protag?
Raphael wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 7:39 am One of my insurance companies just paid me out more money on a claim than the matter in question had actually cost me, so I'm a weird mix of happy and confused right now. (This should, of course, go without saying, but just in case it doesn't: no, I did not mislead them about how much money the thing had cost me.)
The same thing happened to a coworker a few months back -- his home insurance paid out more (for hail damage) that the repairs actually cost him. We concluded it was actually cheaper for the insurance company to pay the same sum to everyone involved than to ask for bills and check the actual sum.Raphael wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2024 4:08 pm Out of curiosity, does anyone have any idea what might have happened here a few weeks ago?
Raphael wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 7:39 am One of my insurance companies just paid me out more money on a claim than the matter in question had actually cost me, so I'm a weird mix of happy and confused right now. (This should, of course, go without saying, but just in case it doesn't: no, I did not mislead them about how much money the thing had cost me.)
What's weird is, in my case they did ask for the bill, and I did send it to them. The whole claims process consisted of photographing the bill with my cell phone in their app. And they did sent me about € 65 more than I had paid. Look, I'm not complaining - € 65 is a fair amount of money for me - but I'm still confused.Ares Land wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2024 4:24 pm
The same thing happened to a coworker a few months back -- his home insurance paid out more (for hail damage) that the repairs actually cost him. We concluded it was actually cheaper for the insurance company to pay the same sum to everyone involved than to ask for bills and check the actual sum.
That looks like the best explanation; either that or clerical error.Raphael wrote: ↑Sat Oct 26, 2024 4:35 pm Then again, it's an "additional" health insurance, covering some stuff that would otherwise require co-pays from me. Perhaps they have a list of co-pay procedures they cover under each plan, and for each procedure, they have a standard amount of money they always pay for that procedure.