In the real world, in whatever thing you're discussing, whether it be sports or acting or whatever, everyone has a prime; that point in time where they perform consistently the best at it out of their whole time doing it. After they hit their prime, it's a downhill slope in quality of whatever they're doing. They may stay good at it, but not as good as they were in their prime.

In eFedding, it's a little different. eFedders don't generally last that long, at least in match-writing eFedding. Most match writers go for somewhere between 5 to 10 years, sometimes less. So, it isn't often when an eFedder hits their prime before they stop playing the game. Most of the time, they just improve and improve until they stop, whether it be because they're too busy, they aren't enjoying themselves anymore or whatever. A lot of the time, eFedders don't even reach their potential prime, because they stop eFedding before they'd get to it. So, in general, eFedders quit while they're ahead, so-to-speak.

I was writing a match yesterday for this angle-based eFed, known as Hard Knox Wrestling. It was for the results of one of their Pay Per Views, a Deathmatch for the Bloodlust Championship (their variation of the Hardcore Championship) between these two girls. For those who don't know exactly what a Deathmatch is, it's essentially just a Hardcore match with extra brutality. I was told to make the match as gorey and brutal as possible. Y'know, old school CZW type shit.

I have a history of hardcore match-writing. My best match of all time was last year, when I faced Rob in a Hardcore 60 Minute Ironman Match (which won both match and moment of the year, here in XWA). I've done countless hardcore-based stipulation matches before. Yet, when I'm given this match, between two characters who have pretty fun wresting styles to write for (one is aerial, the other's a mix of stiff ass Japan-style striking and aerial), where I could get as unique and messed up as I want, well ... I couldn't think of shit.

I just blanked. I ended up writing a shitty 8 paragraph match (the paragraphs were mostly pretty small), re-using slightly modified spots I had used in hardcore matches from the past in XWA. Don't worry, this wasn't a competitive match post, so I didn't do anything against the rules there by re-using spot ideas. >_>

So, I had a chance to write a gruesome epic in the form of a Deathmatch, had plenty of possibilities, and I couldn't think of anything. I know some people have writer's block every now and then and they get over it. The thing is, this wasn't my first match in recent times when I've been unable to think of anything good. Writing matches used to be so easy for me. I could crank out 4k in an hour and a half/two hours. Now, I'm struggling for ideas, even in matches where there's ideas aplenty.

I've been doing this for over eleven and a half years, with little-to-no breaks, so maybe I'm just running out of ideas, but regardless, I think it's time for me to face facts. I'm one of the few match-writing eFedders whose managed to actually pass his prime. My prime, in terms of when my writing ability was at its finest, was from 2013 to 2014, when I faced Rob in that match. Since then, I've only put up a small handful of decent matches, whether it be competitively here in XWA or for results in RP or angle feds.

Now, I'm not saying I suck. I don't believe that in the slightest. However, I genuinely believed at one point that I was one of the best match-writers in our circle, as in 2WWF, XWA, etc. I listed myself as #8, I believe, on my top ten best eFedders of all time list a bit ago on here, as I genuinely believed I was that good. Now? I'd class myself as above average. Not bad, but far from great. I have an occasional moment of genius in my writing these days, like the Devil/God analogy from my promo a few weeks back that everyone seemed to love, but for the most part, I'm just not that good anymore.

Before anyone thinks this is a retirement speech, by the way, it's not. I'm not posting this as a way to say that I'm done with eFedding because I'm not good anymore, I'm just sharing because I feel the need to. I'm still going to continue eFedding and I'm still going to try to put effort into every bit of it. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I have yet to actually reach my prime and this is just a down period for me. Maybe I'm right, though. Regardless, I do still have matches and promos and all of that that I actually enjoy doing every now and then, and I've still got plenty of free time, so I don't see the need to retire from eFedding.

So, yeah. In short, my depressing eFedding realization is that I'm no longer as good as I used to be, by a large margin. I hope this is just a slump that I can pull myself out of and, maybe, I can gain some inspiration from a potential idea I have, that I'd like to do at some point in the near future. Until then, though, I'm gonna keep trying and let the chips fall as they may.

At least you'll never be as bad as I was

___

"Quit before reaching their prime" im part of that. kinda. hope not.

MooseNugget wrote:

At least you'll never be as bad as I was

Well, I mean, you did beat me once.

Twice.

Nigga gotta go and get yourself DQ'ed the second time

Maybe it's the fact that you had little-to-no breaks and the fact that you've been doing this for almost twelve years now. I mean, you've been doing that for twelve years, that's crazy. To know that I've faced and beaten a guy who has been writing for almost as long as I have lived, it's mental when you think about it, really. Maybe you're just worn out about it. I mean, you have a special thing when it comes to e-fedding, Justin. Motivation strikes you pretty easily, you can crack out a match in fifteen minutes, hell, at a point you were writing matches 2 weeks ahead of the show they were posted in. You're like this brilliant student at school, who writes homework before it's even given. It's normal to get worn out, considering you've been doing this for eleven and a half years without any breaks, continuously putting out amazing matches, so for you to get worn out NOW there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe you need a break, or it's just a normal Writer's Block case, but yeah I'm pretty sure you'll get out of it soon.

I find this interesting because, while you're right about people quitting/stopping/retiring from the hobby, the idea of a prime mightn't be as easy to pin point as sports, for example. If you watch wrestling you'll see a lot of the same spots, etc, used as either signatures or just the medium of the 'sport', however when people write wrestling, especially in match-writing eFeds, they don't really resemble real wrestling matches at all, rather you're trying to impress the reader (or judge).

Not only are most matches infeasible, but it also gets to a point where you don't want to repeat spots that you know you've done, so you constantly have to think of something different, but also believable, but also good enough so that you win the match.

I had this realisation long ago, back when I first joined 2WWF, that those reading or judging the matches wanted innovative spots and cool matches they could visualise, which went against a more story-centric RIW I had come from. However, if you take a step back again and put these side to side with wrestling that most of those people would watch, it would not happen.

Even promos, for a small comparison, you have all ready promos that would be considered small, but is still the character talking for paragraph after paragraph. Yet, on TV, a promo could be a paragraph or two, max.

The issue is that the matches and promo we write are to impress other eFedders, it's creative writing in the realm of wrestling, but the majority would never happen in wrestling, because it can't physically happen. I'm not saying the moves couldn't be done, of course they could, but the sheer amount, as well as having to grasp a TV audience and have them get invested, it doesn't work in the typical wrestling we all watch.

In terms of having a writing prime, it also depends on who you work with, whether your invested in the match, your outside life in general. In terms of skill and ability, you, in all probability, will continue to get better and better, unless the style of eFedding changes. This is why some of the best from one company, tend to flounder in another. Like when I first joined XWA, everyone was writing 10k matches, which to me, made no sense, it wasn't realistic. It seemed as though people just tried to win via a long word count, and if they weren't, how could a match that length make sense physically for the wrestlers competing. Of course, this has changed dramatically now, but it just shows one of the reasons why the idea of a 'prime' might not be that easy to distinguish. I was at my hypothetical prime in 2WWF, but unable to win a match in XWA at around the same time.

Motivation is also a big deal in eFedding and it can come and go (with one week quit/resigning). You're pretty dedicated Justin, with very little downtime. Both of us have been eFedding well over 10 years, and I know that whilst I had good matches and great stories from years ago, in terms of writing quality, it probably doesn't hold up now, because the system and style grows as we grow.

The issue is simple; you do it WAY too damn much.

A person can easily ruin their prime interest by simply doing it too much to the point where it wears thin. I think you should just tone down a little on how much you write, because I remember at one point a year or two ago, you had like 4 matches already done weeks before their deadlines or even cards had been announced. Like I'd rather just stop that write that much

I highly doubt you're past your prime though, just fatigued with it, so to speak.

I've worried about this before, but I find that for me, what I bring to the table is mostly dependent upon my interest and free time.

You've always been shite anyway
Rob carried yo' ass