Ireth
Myth Weaver
You know what I'm talking about -- the lighthearted (or at least calmer) scenes in between the swashbuckling action or the dark pits of angst. Maybe they're essential to the plot but don't seem to be, with little hints of foreshadowing sprinkled in inconspicuously; maybe they're full of character development, like a budding romance; or maybe they're just there to let your characters (and yourself) breathe for a while before the next challenge. How do you handle it?
I ask because in recent years I've been having more and more trouble with it. Mostly it's due to circumstances in my former roleplaying group -- one other user and I were pretty much forced to play nothing but fluff between our characters, as the moderators did their own thing and left us out of the main action of the plot, much to our annoyance. This went on for well over a year, and it caused both of us to suffer massive amounts of burnout. My friend and I haven't stopped roleplaying -- we've since branched off of the site we used to haunt and started our own roleplay with the same characters -- but we still have a lot of trouble writing fluff in between action scenes, and I have the same problem with the lighter scenes in my novels as well. It's hard getting stuff done when the thing you have to get through in order to get to the real action is the thing you're worst at writing, and it's worse when you know it.
I ask because in recent years I've been having more and more trouble with it. Mostly it's due to circumstances in my former roleplaying group -- one other user and I were pretty much forced to play nothing but fluff between our characters, as the moderators did their own thing and left us out of the main action of the plot, much to our annoyance. This went on for well over a year, and it caused both of us to suffer massive amounts of burnout. My friend and I haven't stopped roleplaying -- we've since branched off of the site we used to haunt and started our own roleplay with the same characters -- but we still have a lot of trouble writing fluff in between action scenes, and I have the same problem with the lighter scenes in my novels as well. It's hard getting stuff done when the thing you have to get through in order to get to the real action is the thing you're worst at writing, and it's worse when you know it.