If you could magically solve any problem of the writing process, what problem would you solve?

[Kerrybuchanan]

Oh no, I would never have the nerve! It must have been my panicking subconscious. It did shock them into silence for a few seconds though.

In all the years I taught I never made that mistake except with the one class it was totally inappropriate for.

 

[Culhwch]

Finding an alternative to "He narrowed his eyes" that isn't "His eyes narrowed".

'His upper eyelids lowered slightly while, at the same time, his lower lids elevated, until there was but a sliver of his eyeballs visible.'

 

[Phyrebrat]

'His upper eyelids lowered slightly while, at the same time, his lower lids elevated, until there was but a sliver of his eyeballs visible.'

It's the "but" that nails it, Cul. Hahah, too funny! There you go, HB, problem solved.

pH

 

[HareBrain]

Solved? Hardly. Everyone else will be using it too. It'll become a cliche in three weeks.

 

[millymollymo]

Why's your char narrowing his eyes, Harebrain? Could the expression be replaced with something else? "askance" "assessing" "distrustful" "thoughtful"
Curious head tilt?

 

[Zoe Mackay]

Hi! It looks like you're writing a derivative secondary-world epic fantasy novel. Would you like some help with that?

Is your quest for (a) a sword (b) a crown or (c) a chalice?

Is your plucky young hero secretly (a) a wizard (b) a king (c) both?

On a scale of one to ten, how irritating should your comic relief sidekick be?

Do you want your book to be (a) large (b) very large (c) requiring three people to lift?

Should I insert bad poetry at regular intervals?

 

[Phyrebrat]

Argggh, no! It's the Paperclip from Hell. Quick, spray it with water.

Do you run squiggly red lines under rubbish ideas, too?

pH

 

[Venusian Broon]

Hi! It looks like you're writing a derivative secondary-world epic fantasy novel. Would you like some help with that?

I notice that with only a minor bit of tweaking this excellent program can be reused for other genres quite effectively:



Hi! It looks like you're writing a derivative secondary-world epic Space Opera series of novels. Would you like some help with that?

Does your series arc (a) save humanity (b) explore a hyper-massive alien object (c) end in the defeat of an evil space empire?

Is your plucky young hero (a) a pilot (b) a small arms expert (c) proficient with weapons that can shatter Earth-sized planets (d) all three?

On a scale of one to ten, how irritating should your mystery alien race be?

Do you want your book series to be (a) Large (b) Very Large (c) Able to kill three people if dropped out of a second story window?

Should I insert random quotes at the start of each chapter?

 

[jastius]

There is an app for all this....

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

I know there are a ton of other problems that come during publishing, marketing, promotion, and just general gaining awareness. But I'm focused on that period of time before sales and query letters, where you are just focused on writing and making the best damn story possible.

So, if you had a supercomputer that would give you any solution to a problem, what problem would you ask to be solved most often? What might that solution look like?

A reliable way to turn off the nagging sense that the piece sucks and a solution to the Blahs, that grinding sense of not caring about the piece at various times.

 

[Brian G Turner]

what problem would you ask to be solved most often?

Rewriting! Seriously, we all talk about being writers, but perhaps we should instead be called rewriters?

 

[Dinosaur]

Procrastination.

I've even put up some shelves lately.