You name your book character knowing full well that that isn’t their name. You don’t know what their name is, but it isn’t that. There’s a name somewhere that fits, but you haven’t unlocked that information yet. Maybe you knew once. Maybe you never will. Your character has the wrong name.
writer: *stops mid-sentence* damn what’s the word I want?
writer: *spends 25 minutes on google trying to figure out the right vocab word*
writer: *gets a paragraph done*
writer: *starts another sentence, stops* what is that really specific fact I need?
writer: *spends an hour trying to figure out this obscure thing that probably doesn’t actually matter*
writer: Wait what’s that thing called again?
writer: *has no idea how to search for what I need*
writer: *ends up digging through blogs and other archived websites for details*
writer: *needs to reference source material for fact checking*
writer: *has to eat and sleep at some point*
writer: should it be “she regards him with disdain” or “she glares at him with disdain” ??? (hint: it doesnt matter but gunna go back and forth over it for an hour)
writer: *gets distracted by the internet in general*
writer: HOW IS THIS ONLY 800 WORDS???????
writer: fuck proofreading
writer: okay fine i’ll proofread.
writer: holy shit this is awful.
writer: *reworks entire sections*
writer: *doesn’t think I’m good enough as a writer and stops for a few days*
writer: repeat process as needed.
me: I’m so excited to write this fic, it’s going to be good, I love it, I’m so pumped
*writes it in head before sleeping, gets emotional over songs that could fit the story, elaborates background and characterisations, writes lines on phone*
also me, in front of laptop: yeah, but no, I’ve got nothing
Schroedinger’s Writer is the state of being simultaneously convinced that you’re the person most capable of telling this story and also that you’re the person destined to fuck it up beyond all repair
shealwaysreads 