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AWritersFantasy
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 Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 5:52 pm Post subject: AWritersFantasy's Corner of Writing |
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I decided to start off with this writing meme that a friend on LJ posted, because right now I don't really have much to say about any current projects, since I don't really HAVE any current projects. o.o So this'll help you guys get to know me and the way I handle various aspects of writing while I work on whatever it is I'm working on. Feel free to repost and answer the same questions somewhere else on the board.
This is a writing meme that a friend posted. o.O Dunno where she got it from, but I decided to join in. Feel free to go ahead and fill it out as a reply to this post or make a new thread in this section.
1. Do you outline?
I usually try to, especially if it's going to be a multi-chaptered project. For Chronicles, I didn't have an outline at first but once I finally outlined and got the ideas in to an order, things were a lot easier.
2. Do you write straight through, or do you sometimes tackle the scenes out of order?
Usually I write straight through, but I think I'm kind of making an exception (acception? o.O My brain isn't working properly, which is it?) because of that prompt community I joined and...well, what I'm hoping is that if I can write scenes using those prompts and the same characters, there'll be enough scenes that I like and can piece together to fit in to one big story.
3. Do you prefer writing with a pen or using a computer?
Depends on where I am. I don't mind writing by hand (in fact, I was writing Chronicles by hand and typing it up every few pages), and it works best for when I have class and am bored/need something to distract me. My laptop is SUPPOSED to be strictly for writing, so I need to get in to doing that.
4. Do you prefer writing in first person or third?
Depends on the story. Sometimes I'll just get the feeling that it needs to be in third person, and sometimes I'll get the feeling that it should be in first. For Chronicles, I kind of got the feeling that it needed to be in first, and not even because I decided it was going to be a memoir of sorts- in fact, it wasn't until later that it was kind of like a memoir. But generally I usually write in third person.
5. Do you listen to music while you write?
Sometimes, but I haven't in a really long time.
6. How do you come up with the perfect names for your characters?
Mmm...I don't know. I've come to rely on babynames.com a lot, and also on "unique baby names" sites.
7. When you're writing, do you ever imagine your story as a television show or movie?
Nah.
8. Have you ever had a character insist on doing something you really didn't want him/her to do?
Umm...o_O I don't think so.
9. Do you know how a story is going to end when you start it?
Sometimes. o_O
10. Where do you write?
Mmm...well, when I was working on Chronicles there was a long time where I'd lay in bed and write during the commercials. I would also (and still do) sit in my living room with my stuff for it and have the tv on so I could write during the commercials, which is pretty much what I do now. o.o
11. What do you do when you get writer's block?
Umm...I dunno. o.O I mean, I've gotten it before but like...I don't think I really do anything, other than maybe still try to write, and make a post in my LJ about the fact that I have writer's block.
12. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the fic as a whole)?
Umm. I usually don't pay attention to that. o_O I usually just write until I have to go do something else or get too tired or something.
13. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?
There's only one draft in existance, and it's unfinished.
14. Have you ever changed a character's name midway through a draft?
Nope, I don't think so.
15. Do you let anyone read your story while you're working on it, or do you wait until you've completed a draft before letting someone else see it?
I've posted chapters and/or excerpts of stuff in my LJ/the LJ for Chronicles before in order to get some feedback while I'm writing, but I prefer not to go back and apply those critiques to what's written until after I finish writing it...o.O if that makes sense.
16. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft?
-Sighs- hasn't happened yet. Which is really stupid because I was only a chapter away.
17. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?
I've tried multiple projects at once, and it just ultimately screwed me over. So when I started on Chronicles, I would only work on one thing and there were occasional things I wrote (a fan fic, along with the few things I had to write for my creative writing class), and it worked really well.
18. Do your stories grow or shrink in revision?
I haven't really revised anything. >.>
19. Do you have any writing or critique partners?
Er...do people on LJ who want to read my writing count? Along with the people who read my writing at YWS and other boards...but I don't have specific partners, although I'm SUPPOSED to have a writing partner to co-write with...but I'm not even sure if that's happening any more.
20. Do you prefer drafting or revising?
Drafting. o.O
So, that's it at the moment, other than that I have http://community.livejournal.com/scribedenigma, which is my comunity that I made a few weeks ago, specifically for my writing. It's friends only and you'll have to have an LJ account, but it's where I plan on posting my writing, character profiles, that kind of stuff...although I'll definitely be willing to post them in this thread as well.
I'll hopefully have some more stuff to add later today. ^_^ |
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AWritersFantasy
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| Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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I guess the first thing I'm going to post here is some of the stuff I've started to come up with, specifically some stuff that I need help with.
First, here are some notes from an IM with one of my friends where I was trying to do some world building, specifically the races, because I want to try and create two or three races.
-I really don't know much about the world it's going to take place in. I know very little about the main character. Her nickname is Archer, basically because she has what seems like a natural ability with shooting a bow and arrow, and I suppose that could be something "special" about her because she's female or something. One thing I'm trying to do is come up with an ability that she'll have outside of that, because right now the bow and arrow thing could just seem like a natural ability. I did come up with the start of an idea a few nights ago that I haven't gotten the chance to expand on yet. But I just feel like I want to create one or two (maybe three, I dunno) other races besides human or any other "default" fantasy races.
-Do you want to go outside of the usual sort of "two-legged/breathes air" spcies, or do you want it to be a completely different kind of race?
-Umm...I wouldn't mind at least one of the races being a completely different kind of race, but I think I'd like one race to be the "two legged/breathes air" type. Maybe even her race, I'm not sure. I'm almost tempted to have her be half human and half whatever race I come up with (that's two legged/breathes air) but I don't know if that's too cliche or not.
-If you made the races *relatively* similar, I think it would be conceivable for her not to know. Or, if the races were dissimilar enough for others to notice, her parents/guardians/whoever you're planning to have raise her could make up some sort of excuse and not tell her.
-If you wanted to make her part of one of the races, that is. You don't necessarily have to do that.
-Maybe telling you the idea I came up with for the magic abilities would help.
-I have that every few generations, people (in this case, of one of the races she's part of) are born with the Gift. I'd probably try and come up with some other term for them other than "the Gifted." Umm...
-I have a note about how if this orb...thing falls in ot the wrong hands, then it's bad, but that might be a bit too cliche...aaaand I have that Archer is a Dream Seer. o.O Though that's not set in stone.
-Aaah, another thing I have is that someone gives the people the Gift...kind of like the gift that the three good fairies and the witch/sorceress give to Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. So then I don't know if people being born with the Gift would really work if someone really actually work because I really liked the idea of someone giving people the Gift.
-Hmm, those are interesting. If you wanted it to work so that people would be given the Gift, you would also have to figure out how said people would be chosen -- would they be somehow superior to everyone else, and if so, how? I mean, yeah, it's a good idea, but I just wonder about the logistics of actually choosing people to be given the Gift.
-In that way, having them born with it may make more sense, unless you had it that certain people who were partially of that one race could be possessed of the Gift/given it. That's another option.
-So maybe have the particular race possess the Gift, and make it skip every few generations? And yet, I would say that to avoid doing a "chosen one" thing (which I agree is kinda overused) you might want to have either many/half of/a quarter of the population with the Gift, OR have it not be that powerful, like, powerful enough to influence destinies and stuff. You know?
-I don't really even know what "the Gift" is yet, so I don't know the extent of how powerful those with it can even be.
-Okay. So if you haven't quite yet designed it, you might want to make it as I described above. Less of a matter of controlling/influencing one single destiny, and more of an emphasis on something that a number of people can use to help the world or help themselves or whatever power you want to bestow on it.
I don't have anything more beyond that, and still sadly do not have any writing to post. Now that school is officially OVER for me, I should hopefully be able to get that resolved. >.>
I'm currently working on a character profile fcr the main character, so I'll have that posted soon.
If anyone has any ideas for names and the like (anything from the notes above that sparks an idea), feel free to tell me. I can't promise I'll use any/all/part of the idea(s), but I'll try to use them and twist them around a bit.
The next thing is place/species names. Here are some names I found that I liked:
Thalia
Adrostos
Cadeyrn
Kalevi(ans)
Izar(ians)
Aderyn
Alaycia(ns)
So if some of these were going to be race names, then it'd be:
Thalia (place name)- people would be called Thalians.
Kalev (place name)- people would be called Kalevians.
Izar (place name)- people would be called Izarians.
Alaycia (place name)- people would be called Alaycians.
So if I do end up having Archer be half human and half...whatever else, she could be, say, half Izarian.
So the next steps I have to take are figuring out:
-What Archer is half of
-Who the people she's half from (i.e. the Izarians) are, their history, etc.
-Why it is she doesn't know that she's not fully human
and I think that's about it.
If you guys have any ideas for any of this stuff (based on the notes above or whatever), please tell me and I'll see if I can somehow use them. ^_^ |
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 12:06 am Post subject: |
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Hey there!
I'll be your critiquing partner!  And the names of your races are very interesting (and easy to pronounce!  )
Ah, races, what fun. I don't have anything against using different races in your story, but make them unique. By building your races with intricate history and tradition (as long as you don't detail dump), you can create an original race.
And I don't think a character being half-human, half-anothe race is cliche. In fact, I don't think any ideas that authors have are in essence cliche; it is the way they present them that makes what they write cliche.
So have fun with your races (and thank you so much for reading Flames for you; I'll read whatever you've posted on YWS soon  ) |
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AWritersFantasy
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| Posted: Sat May 26, 2007 12:28 am Post subject: |
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Hiya!
| Quote: |
| I'll be your critiquing partner! |
Awesome! I have to say that I'm really impressed with your Flames story. Your characters seem so fleshed out and like real people (seriously, I'm hoping you get this thing published someday and get some movie deal so that it can be on screen, because I would love to watch it), and I envy the ability to do that, because...I dunno. I don't think I flesh my characters out very well. On the other hand, it's been so long since I've worked on a multi-chaptered project (I was working on one for almost two years until October, and then I just...stopped) and stuff that maybe I'm just not giving myself any credit.
As far as the races go, I'm only planning on having...well. I think the only made up race I'm planning on trying to create is whatever my main character is going to be half of, otherwise I'd probably get too confused. I might try making a second race, but we'll see.
I agree about cliche's, I just...I dunno. For some reason I've all of a sudden started having this fear of "oh no, what if this idea is cliche and sucks?!" which I never used to have.
Unfortunately I haven't posted anything that I'm even working on any more here. Hmm. Maybe I'll either post the prologue/first chapter of the NaNo novel I attempted last November and horribly failed, or maybe I'll post what I started to write last night, since I'm currently feeling that it's kinda "blah" and want to know if it's just me.
This might sound weird, but umm...o.O I've totally been wanting to ask you if you'd be interested in (and I'd totally understand if you're not, because you might be wanting to stick to one board for writers, or...I dunno o.o) joining my Inspired Writers message board. Now that I've FINALLY gotten to read all of the chapters you've posted of Flames, I'm really excited to read more, but the main reason is because I think you have a lot to offer to other writers in terms of advice and what-not, and it might help make the board more active. o.o If you decide not to join, that's cool, but if you decide to, that's awesome and the board is http://inspiredwriters.createmybb.com /shameless pimp |
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 3:42 am Post subject: |
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Update
I made a tiny bit of progress...I have to go through the IM transcripts (one of my friends from Livejournal helped me do some plotting tonight, and she and another friend helped me last night) and type up the things I'm definitely going to do for this project (which, by the way, has the (possibly temporary) title of Archer's Legend), but I can tell you that I decided a few things as far as names go.
--->Main character lives in Kalevi
--->Adrostos is the name of the currency
--->Main character is half Izarian
--->..and half Alaycian, which is a race that's dying out.
So, that's it so far until I go through the transcripts and type up the things I'm definitely planning on using in it. ^_^ |
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| Posted: Sun May 27, 2007 12:00 pm Post subject: |
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| AWritersFantasy wrote: |
| I agree about cliche's, I just...I dunno. For some reason I've all of a sudden started having this fear of "oh no, what if this idea is cliche and sucks?!" which I never used to have. |
Oh, I suffer from that every time I pick up a pen! But you get used to it. I suppose it just makes you try harder to make the thing more original. Although, there are some cliches that are cliches for a good reason - they work. Can't think of any off the top of my head, but you know what they are when they crop up.
-Kaz |
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| Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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1. I outline the main plot devices then just go along as I write. My story isn't going to have any essentially "good" and "evil" characters so outlining it is hard, it doesn't allow for enough flexibility in the characters.
2. Chronological order is good, but I might switch back in forth between people, thus taking out of order, essentially.
3. Computer, I didn't build a 4000 dollar 'puter for nothing.
4. Either one, but I tend to stick to one perspective during a scene or attached to a certain character. I.E. One guy narrates his experiences in FP, where one guy has a sort of "god-like" entity watching him, explaining the events.
5. Yes. And not calm, nice music. I'm talking blaring loud Drum & Bass. Not sure why but it helps me type, if not think, hehe.
6. Think, a lot, and change them, a lot. For alien chars at least, all human names were based on people I know.
7. Yes, in fact my entire story is intended to be an MMO (An online game for the non-entertainment savvy)
8. Yes.
9. So far, no. I know ways I COULD end it but not exactly HOW.
10. In my room, on my computer, or in school, in a notebook.
11. Switch to a different plotline and advance that, then switch back to the one I was working on, which by then I have new ideas for.
12. I try to do a scene-per-sitting. I.E. "Hi, lets go do <dijwsandiuwandiw>" <insert DWUJjuwdjfefojen here> "Cya tomorrow!."
13. Still in Rough Draft, intend to do a revision after first 10 chapters.
14. Yes
15. I wait until I THINK it's done, then show someone it, then wait until they KNOW it's done.
16. Start>Games>Unreal Tournament/EVE:Online>Game for 3 hours>*snoring noises*
17. 1 Project, not counting any art I'm working on.
18. Usually grow.
19. No.
20. Drafting.
Well, that was a waste of time, lol. |
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| Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 3:30 pm Post subject: Re: AWritersFantasy's Corner of Writing |
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1. Do you outline?
Not much when I'm writing on my own but in a joint novel it's quite important to do so.
2. Do you write straight through, or do you sometimes tackle the scenes out of order?
Straight through. I have never taken the scenes or chapters out of order but my sister always does so when we're writing joint novels we have a few conflicts there...
3. Do you prefer writing with a pen or using a computer?
I don't mind the computer but I'm much more comfortable with a pen while, once again, my sister is the opposite and likes to type it straight onto her laptop.
4. Do you prefer writing in first person or third?
First person for poetry but third for a story, especially if there are two or more main characters.
5. Do you listen to music while you write?
Nope.
6. How do you come up with the perfect names for your characters?
They usually have some sort of meaning so it depends on the character. Usually though I get them from my head or use names of people I know and just alter them slightly.
7. When you're writing, do you ever imagine your story as a television show or movie?
Sometimes. The last joint novell I co wrote is intended as a film so all the time with that one and at the moment, my sister and I are working on a script for one of her animations so I not only imagine it as a film but I get to see it as she draws the images.
8. Have you ever had a character insist on doing something you really didn't want him/her to do?
Yeah. Well actually it was me that insisted but I knew it had to happen. I killed my favourite character =( But it created the right impact in the story so it had to be done.
9. Do you know how a story is going to end when you start it?
Usually but sometimes it's fun to wait and see.
10. Where do you write?
My room when it's a joint novel with my sister or downstairs in the dining room, playroom, front room. You name it. In fact I write a lot of my poetry at school.
11. What do you do when you get writer's block?
I leave it and go back to it later.
12. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the fic as a whole)?
I just write until it feels the right time to stop...
13. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?
We're on the third and still working.
14. Have you ever changed a character's name midway through a draft?
No.
15. Do you let anyone read your story while you're working on it, or do you wait until you've completed a draft before letting someone else see it?
I let people see it. That way I know to keep going or not. If I get lots of positive feedback I know it's going well but if no one likes it, I know that I need to re-think.
16. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft?
Move onto the next draft and hope it will be even better. Lol.
17. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?
Multiple. I have three or four joint projects and two individual projects underway at the moment. And that's just novels. I then write poetry and short stories on top of that. Admittedly two of the joint projects are intended to be animations though and one is just re-drafting over and over again until it's perfect. The fourth is a real challenge though. It's a novel written in different eras like we have shakespearean and victorian as well as modern writing if you know what I mean. The two individual projects are sort of on hold. That or are just moving really slowly.
18. Do your stories grow or shrink in revision?
Grow and shrink. Good parts are extended and bad parts are cut.
19. Do you have any writing or critique partners?
My older sister is and always will be my writing partner but a lot of people have helped me get where I am today including Kirsten from scrib's club, Rebekah from 'AAFF' and Jasmine from TYWC.
20. Do you prefer drafting or revising?
Drafting. |
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| Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 3:32 am Post subject: |
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I admire anyone who can successfully redraft an entire piece of writing. I know that I would fail miserably.  |
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| Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2007 4:13 am Post subject: |
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Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 3:30 pm Post subject: Re: AWritersFantasy's Corner of Writing
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1. Do you outline?
no, but i do write down a rough summary of the story. sometimes i write a list of names of characters. i have a notebook that's dedicated to in-depth bios for all my characters.
2. Do you write straight through, or do you sometimes tackle the scenes out of order?
Straight through usually. sometimes when i'm bored in math class I write a chapter later in the book
3. Do you prefer writing with a pen or using a computer?
usually computer, but sometimes i like to take a notebook out into the woods or something.
4. Do you prefer writing in first person or third?
i really like first person, but third person is usually easier. so both.
5. Do you listen to music while you write?
yeah, usually. i've had songs inspire stories orr characters.
6. How do you come up with the perfect names for your characters?
sometimes its just a name I really like. other times they have a meaning that fits with the character's role in the story.
7. When you're writing, do you ever imagine your story as a television show or movie?
Yes, actually. i'm a pretty visual person. i usually see the scenes play out in my head.
my sister and i used to imagine what actors/actresses would play my characters .
8. Have you ever had a character insist on doing something you really didn't want him/her to do?
Yes, frequently.
9. Do you know how a story is going to end when you start it?
usually. i've had it change, though.
10. Where do you write?
the office, my bedroom, on the patio.
11. What do you do when you get writer's block?
leave it. write something else. run or bike or swim or do something physically demanding.
12. What size increments do you write in (either in terms of wordcount, or as a percentage of the fic as a whole)?
i write until the characters in my head finish their conversation.
13. How many different drafts did you write for your last project?
oy, i have yet to actually finish something. *rolls eyes*
14. Have you ever changed a character's name midway through a draft?
um....like, once.
15. Do you let anyone read your story while you're working on it, or do you wait until you've completed a draft before letting someone else see it?
I let people see it. i have like two or three friends who are my "editors", just because they're well read.
16. What do you do to celebrate when you finish a draft?
i don't celebrate. i sit there and stare at it and wonder if i like it or not.
17. One project at a time, or multiple projects at once?
Multiple. if i get stuck on one story i move on to the other. it works.
18. Do your stories grow or shrink in revision?
i'm not sure yet.
19. Do you have any writing or critique partners?
my buddy is very well-read and likes to write, so she reads my stuff. i need to let my English teacher read my stories but i'm afraid she'll butcher them.
20. Do you prefer drafting or revising?
probably revising. |
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