Hey all, Winter here.
I've been having trouble focusing a lot lately, as to getting things done online. As you can see by my new OC's, Orthrus and Sergeant Ursa, I have managed to focus and get things done. Including rp posts even if those take me at least a day or two.
Currently I'm trying to get one of my many new OC's done enough to put on RPR. And I notice I just get distracted easily. I gave up playing my MMORPG for various reasons (don't ask long story) so that's one distraction gone, I try to not pull my PS Vita to me to play my game I got recently as an early Christmas present to myself, or pick up a new book I got early too, or heck just plain do anything on the web other than focusing on my creating.
I do know it's okay to take my time in creating. But there are times I just wish to go: OKAY! Today you are going to get a lot done! And Actually sit and get things accomplished.
I guess part of it is I have a hard time coming up with, and figuring things out, for my OC's. Thus I get discouraged and let myself be distracted.
Plust it also doesn't help with the rl distractions outside of my room, which I have little to no control over.
Such as: Gran needing me for one reason or another, corralling the dogs somewhere due to a nurse is coming to check on gran, phone ringing due to there is a landline in my room (another don't ask, as another long story), and my 14 year old cousin coming into my room unannounced/invited because she's bored out of her mind and I'm not as old as our grandparents.
I know you might think: Well can't you tell your cousin to get out of your room? Be firm about it?
I don't want gran to start in on us, and gran can be a pain more so than my cousin. So I ty not to be too much of an azz. I constantly hear my gran giving hassle to my cousin over nearly everything. -needs to invest in noise cancellation headphones-
Anyways. So now that you all, hopefully, have some insight into my issue, any suggestions/advice/something?
And as always: Many thanks to those who at least read this!
I've been having trouble focusing a lot lately, as to getting things done online. As you can see by my new OC's, Orthrus and Sergeant Ursa, I have managed to focus and get things done. Including rp posts even if those take me at least a day or two.
Currently I'm trying to get one of my many new OC's done enough to put on RPR. And I notice I just get distracted easily. I gave up playing my MMORPG for various reasons (don't ask long story) so that's one distraction gone, I try to not pull my PS Vita to me to play my game I got recently as an early Christmas present to myself, or pick up a new book I got early too, or heck just plain do anything on the web other than focusing on my creating.
I do know it's okay to take my time in creating. But there are times I just wish to go: OKAY! Today you are going to get a lot done! And Actually sit and get things accomplished.
I guess part of it is I have a hard time coming up with, and figuring things out, for my OC's. Thus I get discouraged and let myself be distracted.
Plust it also doesn't help with the rl distractions outside of my room, which I have little to no control over.
Such as: Gran needing me for one reason or another, corralling the dogs somewhere due to a nurse is coming to check on gran, phone ringing due to there is a landline in my room (another don't ask, as another long story), and my 14 year old cousin coming into my room unannounced/invited because she's bored out of her mind and I'm not as old as our grandparents.
I know you might think: Well can't you tell your cousin to get out of your room? Be firm about it?
I don't want gran to start in on us, and gran can be a pain more so than my cousin. So I ty not to be too much of an azz. I constantly hear my gran giving hassle to my cousin over nearly everything. -needs to invest in noise cancellation headphones-
Anyways. So now that you all, hopefully, have some insight into my issue, any suggestions/advice/something?
And as always: Many thanks to those who at least read this!
Hey Winter! One of the things I almost always do when creating is listen to music that correlates with what I want to do. One of my favorite artists to listen to is Lucas King when I’m working on OCs or a fantasy novel that I’m currently trying to write!
Another thing that I do for focusing, or at least organizing the character, is I get basic ideas for what I want first. For example, with the character Afol, I knew I wanted to make a Phoenix. I started by building off the idea of what he would look like as a Phoenix, and things he might represent as a character. The first thing that came to mind was strength, hence his name. Building these smaller ideas on a piece of paper or on a word doc before actually creating the character helped me focus a lot and get more into the idea!
Oh, and for writing, one thing I did was I tried not to look at the longer responses on mobile. It looks a lot longer because of the phone format and it’s harder to write longer responses on it, so I try to wait until I’m on the computer where it’s less of a hassle to write. Plus it’s easier to see what’s being responded to and keeps your focus because you don’t have to stop writing to scroll up constantly. (Sorry this one is a little off topic but I thought it’d be worth mentioning. I’m actually writing this response on mobile!)
Tea, decaf, is always a great choice as well. Caffeine is going to make you more hyper and possibly make it harder to focus, so a herbal or decaffeinated tea is perfect for when I write.
I hope these help!
Another thing that I do for focusing, or at least organizing the character, is I get basic ideas for what I want first. For example, with the character Afol, I knew I wanted to make a Phoenix. I started by building off the idea of what he would look like as a Phoenix, and things he might represent as a character. The first thing that came to mind was strength, hence his name. Building these smaller ideas on a piece of paper or on a word doc before actually creating the character helped me focus a lot and get more into the idea!
Oh, and for writing, one thing I did was I tried not to look at the longer responses on mobile. It looks a lot longer because of the phone format and it’s harder to write longer responses on it, so I try to wait until I’m on the computer where it’s less of a hassle to write. Plus it’s easier to see what’s being responded to and keeps your focus because you don’t have to stop writing to scroll up constantly. (Sorry this one is a little off topic but I thought it’d be worth mentioning. I’m actually writing this response on mobile!)
Tea, decaf, is always a great choice as well. Caffeine is going to make you more hyper and possibly make it harder to focus, so a herbal or decaffeinated tea is perfect for when I write.
I hope these help!
Crystaldragon126's post
Crystaldragon126 wrote:
Hey Winter! One of the things I almost always do when creating is listen to music that correlates with what I want to do. One of my favorite artists to listen to is Lucas King when I’m working on OCs or a fantasy novel that I’m currently trying to write!
Another thing that I do for focusing, or at least organizing the character, is I get basic ideas for what I want first. For example, with the character Afol, I knew I wanted to make a Phoenix. I started by building off the idea of what he would look like as a Phoenix, and things he might represent as a character. The first thing that came to mind was strength, hence his name. Building these smaller ideas on a piece of paper or on a word doc before actually creating the character helped me focus a lot and get more into the idea!
Oh, and for writing, one thing I did was I tried not to look at the longer responses on mobile. It looks a lot longer because of the phone format and it’s harder to write longer responses on it, so I try to wait until I’m on the computer where it’s less of a hassle to write. Plus it’s easier to see what’s being responded to and keeps your focus because you don’t have to stop writing to scroll up constantly. (Sorry this one is a little off topic but I thought it’d be worth mentioning. I’m actually writing this response on mobile!)
Tea, decaf, is always a great choice as well. Caffeine is going to make you more hyper and possibly make it harder to focus, so a herbal or decaffeinated tea is perfect for when I write.
I hope these help!
Another thing that I do for focusing, or at least organizing the character, is I get basic ideas for what I want first. For example, with the character Afol, I knew I wanted to make a Phoenix. I started by building off the idea of what he would look like as a Phoenix, and things he might represent as a character. The first thing that came to mind was strength, hence his name. Building these smaller ideas on a piece of paper or on a word doc before actually creating the character helped me focus a lot and get more into the idea!
Oh, and for writing, one thing I did was I tried not to look at the longer responses on mobile. It looks a lot longer because of the phone format and it’s harder to write longer responses on it, so I try to wait until I’m on the computer where it’s less of a hassle to write. Plus it’s easier to see what’s being responded to and keeps your focus because you don’t have to stop writing to scroll up constantly. (Sorry this one is a little off topic but I thought it’d be worth mentioning. I’m actually writing this response on mobile!)
Tea, decaf, is always a great choice as well. Caffeine is going to make you more hyper and possibly make it harder to focus, so a herbal or decaffeinated tea is perfect for when I write.
I hope these help!
-rummages through my stuff in my room- Ah-HA! -holds up an open box of tea- Let me see. Celestial Seasonings Herbal Tea Caffeine Free and it's peppermint flavored. Will this work? I have to wait till after the holidays for my Tea Man (polite version of nickname, so not to raise flags on here. Nothing bad I just don't want it taken the wrong way) to mail me some, thus this is all I have at this time for tea.
Lucas King I will deff give a go and listen to him. Maybe also I'll try some of the artists Cheba suggested to me too.
Usually I can get a start on what I want for my OC's. Like when I saw this meme mentioning a hobbit that can turn into a werewolf, I instantly was like: Must. Do. It! So I got his base look, I got a lot of his basic's down. Mostly it's just trying to be focused and motivated to work on him, and in time others, without being super distracted.
I kid you not I'll maybe work on the OC for like a moment or two, and then I spend 10, maybe 15-20, minutes doing something else.
One of the difficult things I find, is when it comes to the backstory. Granted I know I don't need a lot for it, but when I can't even come up with things, or say I do but I don't have any rhyme or reason for it, I sit and go: Well dang it, now what? And then my interest goes out the window.
I think another part of it is, I want my OC's to stand out while being the way I want them to be. I don't want to be too cliche, too cheesy, etc. Nor do I want it to be something where someone reads and goes: This sounds like blah blah, which ended up resulting in blah blah.
Yes. I over think these things, and that adds to my distractions. I mostly share my OC's with Krispy as she doesn't mind things. But I get worried about RPR in general. Not that I'm implying or saying people would be mean, I just worry out of bad habit from past experience.
Winters_Fury wrote:
Crystaldragon126's post
Crystaldragon126 wrote:
Hey Winter! One of the things I almost always do when creating is listen to music that correlates with what I want to do. One of my favorite artists to listen to is Lucas King when I’m working on OCs or a fantasy novel that I’m currently trying to write!
Another thing that I do for focusing, or at least organizing the character, is I get basic ideas for what I want first. For example, with the character Afol, I knew I wanted to make a Phoenix. I started by building off the idea of what he would look like as a Phoenix, and things he might represent as a character. The first thing that came to mind was strength, hence his name. Building these smaller ideas on a piece of paper or on a word doc before actually creating the character helped me focus a lot and get more into the idea!
Oh, and for writing, one thing I did was I tried not to look at the longer responses on mobile. It looks a lot longer because of the phone format and it’s harder to write longer responses on it, so I try to wait until I’m on the computer where it’s less of a hassle to write. Plus it’s easier to see what’s being responded to and keeps your focus because you don’t have to stop writing to scroll up constantly. (Sorry this one is a little off topic but I thought it’d be worth mentioning. I’m actually writing this response on mobile!)
Tea, decaf, is always a great choice as well. Caffeine is going to make you more hyper and possibly make it harder to focus, so a herbal or decaffeinated tea is perfect for when I write.
I hope these help!
Another thing that I do for focusing, or at least organizing the character, is I get basic ideas for what I want first. For example, with the character Afol, I knew I wanted to make a Phoenix. I started by building off the idea of what he would look like as a Phoenix, and things he might represent as a character. The first thing that came to mind was strength, hence his name. Building these smaller ideas on a piece of paper or on a word doc before actually creating the character helped me focus a lot and get more into the idea!
Oh, and for writing, one thing I did was I tried not to look at the longer responses on mobile. It looks a lot longer because of the phone format and it’s harder to write longer responses on it, so I try to wait until I’m on the computer where it’s less of a hassle to write. Plus it’s easier to see what’s being responded to and keeps your focus because you don’t have to stop writing to scroll up constantly. (Sorry this one is a little off topic but I thought it’d be worth mentioning. I’m actually writing this response on mobile!)
Tea, decaf, is always a great choice as well. Caffeine is going to make you more hyper and possibly make it harder to focus, so a herbal or decaffeinated tea is perfect for when I write.
I hope these help!
-rummages through my stuff in my room- Ah-HA! -holds up an open box of tea- Let me see. Celestial Seasonings Herbal Tea Caffeine Free and it's peppermint flavored. Will this work? I have to wait till after the holidays for my Tea Man (polite version of nickname, so not to raise flags on here. Nothing bad I just don't want it taken the wrong way) to mail me some, thus this is all I have at this time for tea.
Lucas King I will deff give a go and listen to him. Maybe also I'll try some of the artists Cheba suggested to me too.
Usually I can get a start on what I want for my OC's. Like when I saw this meme mentioning a hobbit that can turn into a werewolf, I instantly was like: Must. Do. It! So I got his base look, I got a lot of his basic's down. Mostly it's just trying to be focused and motivated to work on him, and in time others, without being super distracted.
I kid you not I'll maybe work on the OC for like a moment or two, and then I spend 10, maybe 15-20, minutes doing something else.
One of the difficult things I find, is when it comes to the backstory. Granted I know I don't need a lot for it, but when I can't even come up with things, or say I do but I don't have any rhyme or reason for it, I sit and go: Well dang it, now what? And then my interest goes out the window.
I think another part of it is, I want my OC's to stand out while being the way I want them to be. I don't want to be too cliche, too cheesy, etc. Nor do I want it to be something where someone reads and goes: This sounds like blah blah, which ended up resulting in blah blah.
Yes. I over think these things, and that adds to my distractions. I mostly share my OC's with Krispy as she doesn't mind things. But I get worried about RPR in general. Not that I'm implying or saying people would be mean, I just worry out of bad habit from past experience.
I can see where you’re coming from, backstories are normally hard for me as well. A great tip I learned from my brother was to write down the basics of what happens. If you can’t think of anything that happens yet, sometimes writing other parts inspires the part you were stuck on. Like “Ok so I know where I want it to lead. I can’t think of how it leads up to that however.” If you write where it lead to, it might prompt an idea as to how it lead to this moment, because you now have something to work off of.
If it’s hard to think of what to do for a backstory, sometimes basics help. “What kind of lifestyle does this person live? Was it affected by how they grew up?” Or maybe, “Does this person have a hobby? Where did they pick it up from?”. Just simple questions like that are what I normally ask myself when I’m writing a backstory. Sorry if it’s kind of rambling or slightly off topic, but normally thinking about these questions leads to more questions, and as you answer them it gives more of an idea of who the character is and how their past might have been.
As far as RPR and cliches, I can agree that I have the same overthinking issue. People here are far nicer than anywhere else I’ve rped, and due to bad experiences as well, I tend to get worried that I’m making my characters cliche, or too weird. Either that or I’m being annoying or weird myself. If it helps, I’d always be happy to give opinions on new characters or backstories, or just ideas in general. I know you already have someone you bounce ideas off of like you said, but I still want to offer.
But anyway, you’re very good with making characters. They’re interesting, and it’s obvious you take time with each character. You’ve stayed away from the cliches and given each of your characters a great twist to them that makes them all the more fun.
I wil do my best to keep that suggestion in mind, concerning the backstories.
I do take time on my OC's. I do my best to flesh them out to the best of my ability, before I put them up for anyone to see. Well. The only one who does get to see them, even if they aren't fully fleshed out, is Krispy.
It is difficult coming up with stuff, especially to make OC's stand out without too many similarities.
I do take time on my OC's. I do my best to flesh them out to the best of my ability, before I put them up for anyone to see. Well. The only one who does get to see them, even if they aren't fully fleshed out, is Krispy.
It is difficult coming up with stuff, especially to make OC's stand out without too many similarities.
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