>> Luckily, I still have some of my university textbooks, so I can start there, or I can find an interesting article and then do more research from there. <<
Good idea. I kept my textbooks that were worthwhile too.
>> I also just picked up a book about Mind Maps for learning Physics (not sure the actually title), and it looked interesting, so I'm hoping to shore up my tenuous grasp there.<<
Mind maps are very useful, especially for visual people. I find it more helpful to look at other people's examples than make my own. You may also wish to explore other mapping tools, such as:
You might be amazed by how these can be used to generate ideas, not just organize them. After fucking around for a while trying to figure out some of the bizarre differences between local-American and Terramagne-American government, it eventually occurred to map out their whole federal budget. I found a pie chart with a list of local percentages, and then thought about the differences. It was mind-blowing. The most glaring difference? Their National Endowment for the Arts has a budget one hundred times what ours does. Well no wonder they have so many municipal artists and artworks! Looking at the list of T-American numbers (I don't have the software skill to piechart it, alas) raises all kinds of questions. Why are these numbers different? Why are their priorities different? When did things change and what were the divergence points? What does this mean for a sotry?
I think one of the things that got me on this line of thought was "Why is it that when someone wants to catch a bus, it's almost never more than a few blocks and 5-10 minutes away?" Turns out, their transportation budget is much bigger, and they're not wasting as much of it on stupid things. They've built the hell out of their public transportation.
To me, it is really interesting to dig into the infrastructure like this. I can write at the level the current story requires, but over time I often start noticing more things about a setting that overlap, and I wonder why they are like that and what it means.
Of course, with Terramagne, I'm also observing with an eye toward "How much of this awesome stuff could we replicate with local resources?" Surprisingly the amount dependent on superpowers or zetetic materials is a lot lower than what is simply based on ideas that can be easily transported from one universe to the other if the worldwalker is sufficiently adept at observation, analysis, and description.
>> I can actually see how this would work, as it is a very shallow "idea" to work off of, but it's also why I feel most of my writing is subpar. The main core/idea is where I have trouble, along with characterization and world details. So while I can take an idea such as "Sofia takes an art class", I have a hard time giving it any substance, so my work ends up feeling undeveloped and lack luster to me.<<
Okay, that is totally fixable. You may find it helpful to examine your work and write down what you are unsatisfied with. You use a list of elements for inspiration:
For each one, rank how good you think you are at it, how important you think that element is, and how interesting you find it.
Then choose one at a time to work on. Read an article or book about it, then practice doing it. When you're satisfied with your progress -- bearing in mind you'll never get perfect because nobody is -- then choose another and repeat the process.
Alternatively, you can work through one book with a bunch of elements in it, like most writing classes do. This gives a shallower but sometimes more connected awareness of the elements. Pick what works for you.
In looking for resources, I highly recommend Writer's Digest Books. They have an extensive archive of titles on many different elements and techniques of writing. I have a shelf or so of them. Writers Helping Writers is another gem, I'm collecting their thesauri, of which the most in use currently is The Emotional Wound Thesaurus. (Not a beginner's book, an intermediate to advanced reference once you understand character construction.)
If you want help finding good resources on a given element, just ask. I probably have something on my shelf about it.
>> Actual professionals working in a similar fashion? Boggles my mind a bit and as makes me feel less bad about my attempts. I thought they were supposed to do it *properly*. <<
Supposed to, in theory, yes. In practice, most people care far less about how things work than what feels good or what makes them money. This human failing leads to bad writing, unplanned pregnancies, and politics.
Oh, and your knowledge of biology will come in very handy if you want to hack reader responses. The hurt/comfort ratchet? Is a logical outgrowth of understanding stimulus, satiety, and overstimulation. It's a simple pressure-release pattern with rising tension that lets you crank the total tension much higher without burning out your characters and/or audience. It is much easier to understand if you know a bit about neurochemistry, i.e. that varying types of stimulation avoids the burnout problem. Granted, I started out writing it because I loved Tolkien and intuitively grasped that the pattern worked -- but my application got a lot more refined after I studied neurochemistry and psychology. Knowing how and why it worked made it easier to figure out effective pattern placement.
>> I would love to be able to have even a tenth of your storytelling skills. I've never had aspirations for a career as a writer, so being unsuitable for mainstream isn't a concern. I'd rather be able to do something *well*, and write something that I'm proud of and am confident showing other like-minded people. <<
*cackle* *rub hands together* This will be so much fun!
Look over the basic skills and concepts of writing. Find where you want to improve. Choose some references and absorb what is useful. Bear in mind there's some amount of nonsense in most resources -- the plot ones will say it's all a mountain peak while ignoring all the other patterns. You'll learn to sort out and ignore the crap. Then just practice. At the beginning it's often more helpful to write many short pieces than a few longer ones, but later on most people want to try out longer forms. Do what works for you. Your desire to construct things precisely will serve you very well.
Re: I'm going to try
Good idea. I kept my textbooks that were worthwhile too.
>> I also just picked up a book about Mind Maps for learning Physics (not sure the actually title), and it looked interesting, so I'm hoping to shore up my tenuous grasp there.<<
Mind maps are very useful, especially for visual people. I find it more helpful to look at other people's examples than make my own. You may also wish to explore other mapping tools, such as:
https://visme.co/blog/graphic-organizer/
https://educationalimpact.com/resources/VisualTools/pdf/6_visual_language.pdf
https://ditchthattextbook.com/15-free-google-drawings-graphic-organizers-and-how-to-make-your-own/
http://www.creativewriting-prompts.com/graphic-organizers-for-writing.html
https://creately.com/blog/diagrams/thinking-maps-templates/
https://educationalimpact.com/resources/VisualTools/pdf/6_visual_language.pdf
https://visme.co/blog/types-of-graphs/
You might be amazed by how these can be used to generate ideas, not just organize them. After fucking around for a while trying to figure out some of the bizarre differences between local-American and Terramagne-American government, it eventually occurred to map out their whole federal budget. I found a pie chart with a list of local percentages, and then thought about the differences. It was mind-blowing. The most glaring difference? Their National Endowment for the Arts has a budget one hundred times what ours does. Well no wonder they have so many municipal artists and artworks! Looking at the list of T-American numbers (I don't have the software skill to piechart it, alas) raises all kinds of questions. Why are these numbers different? Why are their priorities different? When did things change and what were the divergence points? What does this mean for a sotry?
I think one of the things that got me on this line of thought was "Why is it that when someone wants to catch a bus, it's almost never more than a few blocks and 5-10 minutes away?" Turns out, their transportation budget is much bigger, and they're not wasting as much of it on stupid things. They've built the hell out of their public transportation.
To me, it is really interesting to dig into the infrastructure like this. I can write at the level the current story requires, but over time I often start noticing more things about a setting that overlap, and I wonder why they are like that and what it means.
Of course, with Terramagne, I'm also observing with an eye toward "How much of this awesome stuff could we replicate with local resources?" Surprisingly the amount dependent on superpowers or zetetic materials is a lot lower than what is simply based on ideas that can be easily transported from one universe to the other if the worldwalker is sufficiently adept at observation, analysis, and description.
>> I can actually see how this would work, as it is a very shallow "idea" to work off of, but it's also why I feel most of my writing is subpar. The main core/idea is where I have trouble, along with characterization and world details. So while I can take an idea such as "Sofia takes an art class", I have a hard time giving it any substance, so my work ends up feeling undeveloped and lack luster to me.<<
Okay, that is totally fixable. You may find it helpful to examine your work and write down what you are unsatisfied with. You use a list of elements for inspiration:
https://www.scribophile.com/blog/the-seven-elements-of-fiction
https://blog.prepscholar.com/literary-elements-list-examples
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_element
https://selfpublishing.com/literary-elements-list/
For each one, rank how good you think you are at it, how important you think that element is, and how interesting you find it.
Then choose one at a time to work on. Read an article or book about it, then practice doing it. When you're satisfied with your progress -- bearing in mind you'll never get perfect because nobody is -- then choose another and repeat the process.
Alternatively, you can work through one book with a bunch of elements in it, like most writing classes do. This gives a shallower but sometimes more connected awareness of the elements. Pick what works for you.
In looking for resources, I highly recommend Writer's Digest Books. They have an extensive archive of titles on many different elements and techniques of writing. I have a shelf or so of them. Writers Helping Writers is another gem, I'm collecting their thesauri, of which the most in use currently is The Emotional Wound Thesaurus. (Not a beginner's book, an intermediate to advanced reference once you understand character construction.)
If you want help finding good resources on a given element, just ask. I probably have something on my shelf about it.
>> Actual professionals working in a similar fashion? Boggles my mind a bit and as makes me feel less bad about my attempts. I thought they were supposed to do it *properly*. <<
Supposed to, in theory, yes. In practice, most people care far less about how things work than what feels good or what makes them money. This human failing leads to bad writing, unplanned pregnancies, and politics.
Oh, and your knowledge of biology will come in very handy if you want to hack reader responses. The hurt/comfort ratchet? Is a logical outgrowth of understanding stimulus, satiety, and overstimulation. It's a simple pressure-release pattern with rising tension that lets you crank the total tension much higher without burning out your characters and/or audience. It is much easier to understand if you know a bit about neurochemistry, i.e. that varying types of stimulation avoids the burnout problem. Granted, I started out writing it because I loved Tolkien and intuitively grasped that the pattern worked -- but my application got a lot more refined after I studied neurochemistry and psychology. Knowing how and why it worked made it easier to figure out effective pattern placement.
>> I would love to be able to have even a tenth of your storytelling skills. I've never had aspirations for a career as a writer, so being unsuitable for mainstream isn't a concern. I'd rather be able to do something *well*, and write something that I'm proud of and am confident showing other like-minded people. <<
*cackle* *rub hands together* This will be so much fun!
Look over the basic skills and concepts of writing. Find where you want to improve. Choose some references and absorb what is useful. Bear in mind there's some amount of nonsense in most resources -- the plot ones will say it's all a mountain peak while ignoring all the other patterns. You'll learn to sort out and ignore the crap. Then just practice. At the beginning it's often more helpful to write many short pieces than a few longer ones, but later on most people want to try out longer forms. Do what works for you. Your desire to construct things precisely will serve you very well.