Hello

[MonkeyGirl18]

I'm Monkey, yeah.

Um, I loved writing since I was about 9 years old and I'm 20 now, so 11 years, thanks to my favorite show at the time.
I write mostly fanfiction, but I am working on an original fiction book as in something not fanfic because some people get confused.

I have social anxiety and it sometime effects me on the internet as well, and I'm a huge lurker, though I do try to post every so often. Usually when I lurk, it's mainly because of my social anxiety, that I'm scared of talking to people and it's weird, but I can't help it.

I tend to get writer's block very easy as well.

I am a journalist major but I'm planning on changing my major to something that doesn't involve writing. I love writing, but I've also read up that if you, let's say, enjoy writing, if you go into a writing career, you're going to be sick of writing and don't want to write anymore. Although I haven't made up my mind, I'm thinking computer science or something. One of my dreams was to build a website where you build an avatar and chat with people like GaiaOnline and such. I even have the name planned out. But, I don't know programming and such and that's just something to start on as something small before taking it on full time and blah blah blah.

I like to draw as well, though I'm not the best and I enjoy crocheting.

I guess that's it.......... Yeah.

[sapphire]

Hey, welcome! I know it may not help with your anxiety, but we're all very friendly, I promise.
(You will also find one or two other fanfiction readers, me included, though I don't write it anymore.)

I majored in writing, and I still love it! But I've heard that, too - I think it really depends on the person. Your other plans sound pretty awesome, as well, and the great thing about writing is that it doesn't necessarily take instruction, just lots of practice, and that you can do outside a classroom.

[MonkeyGirl18]

It probably depends on the person. I don't think I would enjoy writing if I had to do it. I remembered how much I used to hate writing because it was forced because you have to learn it in school. Lol. I started to enjoy it because I wanted to attempt to expand the storyline of Danny Phantom after my most favorite Danny Phantom tv movie thing. I was actually surprised that I did keep the characters in character since that's probably one of the most difficult things to do for a 9 year old, lol.

If I do create that site I planned out, that's a good chance to put my writing to use, too, for descriptions and storyline and stuff, so creating a website wouldn't be a waste to my writing skills.

Oh, btw, where should I post my fanfiction? I looked through, but couldn't find anywhere that would suit it... I have like a few fanfictions I want to share. One especially, my most popular one by far, according to Wattpad, lol.

[sapphire]

Yeah, you could definitely use writing skills for a site like that. It's amazing how many are out there that you can just tell didn't use writers in their creation.

I got into writing with fanfiction, too! At least, longer form writing. I started writing short stories on my own in third grade, I think, but I didn't attempt anything longer until middle school, when I started writing Harry Potter fanfics. Never finished anything, but I switched to writing original fiction and actually finished some stuff. I've learned that I'm better at creating my own worlds than playing in others'.

We don't really have a fanfiction section, but you could post in the "Other" section under Short Stories or Novels, depending on how long they are.

[MonkeyGirl18]

I write my fanfiction mostly like a script for some reason. I also have never finished one story yet. I love writing long stories, I can't create short stories because I feel like they haven't said but yeh...

I'm trying to plan a story which I have never done before and I find it difficult. I'm tempted to go back at winging it.

[sapphire]

I know the feeling with short stories. I can never come up with a plot short enough, at least not without a prompt and a page limit.
In my writing workshops in college, the one comment I got on every single short story was, "This should be a novel." (We worked exclusively in short story format, to learn the craft of writing before tackling something bigger, until senior year. It was an excellent way to learn to write better, but it was not easy for those of us inclined to big plots.)

I outline all my stories now. I used to just wing them, and I found that I always had huge issues with writer's block. Since you mentioned that was a problem for you, I'd encourage you to fully plan at least one story before you give up on the idea, because after learning to outline properly, I almost never get writer's block. I always know what's coming next. (I've also learned that it's okay to throw in a filler description or some less-than-stellar dialogue, because no writing is complete without at least a second draft. That helps me write through the tough sections instead of dwelling on them and getting stuck.)
Is this story you're planning a fanfiction, or original? I could tell you what I do when I'm planning a story, if you think that would help.

[MonkeyGirl18]

It's an original novel, something I'm not used to. I would take any advice you can give me when it comes to outlining. I've tried but I always think I'm doing it wrong. I don't even know how to outline a novel.

My fanfictions aren't necessarily planned out, I would have the general idea but then one of them took an unexpected turn and caused a big block in my head, trying to figure out how to go about it next.

[sapphire]

Okay, so here's how I do it. I write pretty much exclusively fantasy, so some of what I do is really only important for that, but take what you will from it.

First, I plan the world. This is something you can do even if it's set in a real place, only you'd be doing more research than inventing in that case. But for any world, there are tons of things to consider. I narrow it down to geography, politics, and religion to start.
Geography: What does the land look like? You want to make sure you consider various geographical areas, especially if you're creating a world from scratch. Entire worlds of desert/forest/plains/whatever get boring fast, so mix it up. Look at maps of real places if you're not sure where to start. Mountains are always next to deserts, for example. Swamps have different plants than plains.
Politics: What countries/other settlements are there? How are they divided, and how is each run? (I do geography first because it tends to dictate resources, which are very important in politics.) What currency do they use? Are they patriarchal, matriarchal, or is power shared equally?
Religion: Closely connected to politics, but still distinct. Are you using a real religion? What complications come with it? Or, if you're making up a religion, do they worship a deity, multiple deities, a concept, a living person? (Religion doesn't have to be a big part of the story, or exist at all, but it's rare to find humans without religion - just look at the myriad religions that exist in the real world.)

After the world is created, I look at characters. Every named character should have a story, from the main character down to the shop keeper we see only once. Of course, the main character is going to be your focus when you start giving them backstory, but if every character has a story and you know that story, it's going to come through in the writing, even if not a word of that story actually makes it into the final draft. What is their family like? Childhood? Where are they from? What do they want from the future, and why? If you're not sure where to start with backstory, consider what they are now. A character who has trust issues likely has been betrayed in the past, even multiple times. A character who is always smiling may be trying to hide something - or they could be genuinely content. Every facet of personality comes from somewhere.

So, once you have the world and the characters, it's time to focus on plot. This is the hard part.
When I outline, I write a general outline of each chapter. It helps me to know the end before I start outlining, but it's not necessary. My main outline is very, very basic, all bullet points. (Chapter One - main character interacts with this person, this person. Main character has this issue. Chapter Two - main character does this action, goes this place. Very basic.) I don't start writing in any detail until the outline is complete. If I think of something that needs to go in, I add a note about it in that chapter's bullet points.
After I have the whole story outlined, I start writing. If I find that I get stuck at any point, I write a much more detailed chapter outline. Still bullet points, but exact events. (Chapter Six - main character goes to the tavern and meets secondary character. They clash initially over dropped papers, but main character's school rival enters and main character has to ask secondary character to help deceive school rival. Etc.)

So... That's about as quick a summary of what I do as I can manage at the moment. It's getting a bit late, so I won't go into more detail now, but I'd be happy to explain more if you have questions. This is basically a mash-up of how my favorite teacher explained outlining and how my favorite author explained worldbuidling to me. This is the process that works for me, and everyone does it a little differently. If you feel like you're doing it wrong, it might just be that you haven't found your process yet.

(If you'd like, I can post a little sample of an outline I wrote for my novel.)

[A Mask Among Many]

Welcome! And if you can find someone to talk about the plot and characters with you, I find that that helps a lot.