What I think vs What I feel #writingdiscourse

I used to procrastinate on my studies through writing.

But now that writing has taken a more important role in my life, I procrastinate on it with something else :))

In this case, a discussion of Feelings vs Thinking in my writings.

I'm currently writing this one beast of a fic and at first I thought it'd be a breezy walk in the park because A.) it has a no-plot, simple premise and B.) it's angst, which means I can bs through a lot of it just by writing what the overall feel of the scene is to the characters in it.

But then I quickly realised...... THIS STORY IS FILLED WITH MOMENTS WHERE I HAVE TO UNPACK A LOT OF WHAT MY CHARACTERS ARE THINKING IN RELATION TO THE SITUATIONS THAT HAPPENED AROUND THEM.

And from then I started, well, thinking lmao.

I realise that I find it hard to write about s that are more heavy on the thinking scale.

This does not mean that I /don't/ write anything idk, more challenging and thoughtful. It's just that I'm not used in putting a more /opinionated/ approach in the pieces I wrote.

A writing comfort zone for me is: a story that's very /present/, as in, characters reacting to the things that happened to them in a more holistic way, i guess? in a sense? How the environment feels to them, how they feel during the scene, senses, emotions, all that jazz.

A writing battle zone for me is: this. An opinion piece, analytical piece like this. Because I always feel like I haven't put in everything into it. My thoughts are a jumbled messy ball of and so I feel like I'm repeating myself too much if I put too many opinions in my fictional story.

The story that I'm currently writing features /a lot/ of that, sadly, and I'm currently struggling to get it all out. (Even now, writing this, I feel frustrated because I don't feel like I've done a good job conveying my thoughts lmao what a sad excuse for being a writer).

The point is: I'm not good at transparently(?) transferring my thoughts from point A to point B. And well, that's a good skill to have when you're writing a character that needs to share his thoughts on what's happening around him.

(edit: omg i just realise, i can deal with personal opinion and thoughts when i'm writing a first person pov, because obviously, we're inside the characters' HEAD. So it's just natural for me to be more heavy on showing the thought process of my characters. But in third person pov, i find that a heavy /he thinks this, she thinks that/ is awkward and so i just naturally go for the /try to find out what they're thinking as you read what his behaviour is in relation to the scene/)

But I guess my /feeler/ self is still a blessing in disguise because then I can produce stories where my readers have to read between the lines to truly /know/ what my characters are thinking about the situation ?? i guess ???

idk. Are there any thinker writer out there? Please help me sort out my word vomit. As a true blue F in the mbti scale, im not that good at this lmao

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Lidashen #1 May 24, 2018 21:54:23

I also forgot to add. You can't truly put down everything in your story. So most of the time our stories are open to interpretation by readers. We just have to get to the end of the story, showcase the characters to how we want to showcase them, but end result is our readers will always interpret it differently. And we just have to deal with that ^^. Hence why there are so many fanfictions for books and movies, even to our idols who showcase to us a certain image.

Lidashen #2 May 24, 2018 21:51:50

Sounds like what you're focusing on is characterization rather than plotline. Though to me, third pov is easier than first pov. Mainly this is because I can't explore other characters' emotions if I only keep to first pov. Writing in third pov isn't much different from first pov, just pronouns and the ability to be omniscient as a writer. It took me a while to figure out how to approach writing as well, how to put everything I feel in words, and then I had to think if this is right? The biggest issue I have is I always end up with a big cast because I think in real life, you'll always meet people and they'll somehow end up connected. Though currently I am doing a little experience with a very small cast. I'm also writing a heavy piece, mostly focusing on emotions of my characters. It's a cliche story and in third pov, you can check it out to see how I approach it if you like. It's called 'My Love is Still the Same'. It's open to members of AFF so you don't have to subscribe to access it. I hope it'd help ^^.