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Young Writers Society


Who should I write my novella about?



Who should I write my novella about?

King Arthur
2
18%
Siegfried
5
45%
Beowulf
0
No votes
Odysseus
3
27%
Other (please state in a post)
1
9%
 
Total votes : 11


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Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:51 pm
Werthan says...



Who should I write my novella about? I'm looking for an hero from a piece of old literature that'll be recognizable to a decent amount of people in the English-speaking world. Obviously the biggest candidate for this would be King Arthur or something like that but most of that is Walhaz Welsh-based literature and I don't know as much about that stuff as I do about other stuff. And yes, the hero has to be from something that's actually considered literature, even if it's based on oral/traditional stories. Whatever you recommend in a forum post I'll add to the poll if it actually fits my criteria (you can change your votes on the poll as well).
Und so lang du das nicht hast
Dieses: Stirb und Werde!
Bist du nur ein trüber Gast
Auf der dunklen Erde

(And as long as you don't have
This: Die and become!
You are only a gloomy guest
On the dark Earth)

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  





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Fri Aug 12, 2016 8:04 pm
niteowl says...



My personal opinion (as someone who's never actually read any of the aforementioned literature nor doesn't read a lot of old literature in general): I'd say Odysseus and King Arthur are the most recognizable. The Odyssey was required reading in my high school district (though I got out of it due to being in accelerated classes and only saw the movie) and I believe among other high schools in the US as well. I've heard of Beowulf but never actually read it, and I have no idea who Siegfried is off the top of my head.

Still, if I were going to write a novella based on a hero, I would go with the one I'm most passionate/knowledgeable about. If it ever got published, the audience could always get the gist from other sources well enough to appreciate the novella. I know I've read several historical fiction novels where I knew little about the actual history and they were still very enjoyable.
"You do ill if you praise, but worse if you censure, what you do not understand." Leonardo Da Vinci

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Fri Aug 12, 2016 8:13 pm
Werthan says...



@niteowl OK, thanks. There's really more to this project but I'm not sure how much I want to disclose yet. Siegfried is in Nibelungenlied and a few Icelandic sagas as well as one of the most popular operas (and is probably mostly well-known because of the opera rather than the actual literary sources for that).
Und so lang du das nicht hast
Dieses: Stirb und Werde!
Bist du nur ein trüber Gast
Auf der dunklen Erde

(And as long as you don't have
This: Die and become!
You are only a gloomy guest
On the dark Earth)

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  





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Sat Aug 13, 2016 5:21 pm
Rosendorn says...



Who are you most interested in writing?

Stories feel forced when they're written for the sole purpose of pandering to an audience. While I believe there is a certain amount of needing to please an audience (and there's nothing wrong with incorporating that into your writing process), but deep down, you are the writer.

If you write solely based on what we like, then the soul is gone. Then you stop letting your heart go on a page. And readers will be able to tell. You'll never get anywhere if you just write for the sole purpose of publishing. There has to be interest there.

I'm currently reading a novel where a the primary historical literary figure is Glendower. Did I have any idea who he was before I picked up the novel? Nope! Am I devouring it anyway because it looks extraordinarily interesting (once I read a fan-written version of the blurb, because it had originally been written as a 'girl book', playing up nonexistent romance and the author herself hates it)? You bet.

Recognizability is not what a good story makes. Interest does. And if you're interested about the character and are able to sell your ideas well enough, then you'll be fine. There's also the added benefit you're not competing as much with the pre-established stories, so you end up actually in a better position. Because you're not yet another King Arthur remake, you're not up against the wildly popular King Arthur remakes— you're up against the general genre, but not the copycats.

I'd go more along the route of looking at who made me interested, then working to convince the rest of the world they should be just as interested in this person as I am. Passion is much easier to sell than formula.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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Sat Aug 13, 2016 10:12 pm
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StellaThomas says...



I said Odysseus purely because I think he's such a fun character and he'd be such an interesting person to focus on because despite being literally a Greek hero, he's not a conventional hero. He's not strong, he's not a demigod (I don't think), he's not a particularly good warrior. He's smart. He's too smart and it gets him into trouble and I've been thinking about him a lot recently and I just think the idea of writing about him would be so much fun.

But as @Rosendorn says (and yay to reading The Raven Cycle! <3), it doesn't matter. There's fun in recognisability. I'm obsessed with fairytales and I use a lot of elements in whatever I write - because your eagle-eyed reader will pick up on hints about roses and towers, but they don't overpower it. But equally, if you decide to choose someone less well-known, you get to give people a whole new education about a new hero. For instance, I'm Irish, and I love when old Irish myths are used in a non-cringe-y way in literature (I personally drew inspiration from Cú Chulainn fighting Ferdia in a ford), but if I wasn't Irish and didn't know the stories, would it detract? Probably not.
"Stella. You were in my dream the other night. And everyone called you Princess." -Lauren2010
  





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Sun Aug 14, 2016 3:02 am
Werthan says...



Rosendorn wrote:Because you're not yet another King Arthur remake, you're not up against the wildly popular King Arthur remakes— you're up against the general genre, but not the copycats.


It's not a remake of anything in the sense you're thinking, although I'm not sure how much I want to give away. But yeah, recognizability is still probably not as important as I think it is.
Und so lang du das nicht hast
Dieses: Stirb und Werde!
Bist du nur ein trüber Gast
Auf der dunklen Erde

(And as long as you don't have
This: Die and become!
You are only a gloomy guest
On the dark Earth)

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  





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Sun Aug 14, 2016 4:22 am
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Rosendorn says...



I classify "remake" as a pretty large genre. A book I remember reading the blurb of when I was a kid basically had a bard fabricate everything legendary about King Arthur, and then there are the modern recreations, etc.

Seriously, I have read blurbs of almost every type of 'myth is involved' from around the world— fairy tale remakes, fairy tale sequels, decedents of, revival plots, 'what is real what is myth'— and, to be honest? My favourite ones and the ones I remember are the ones who don't use common characters. Class of the Titans, a Greek-demigod tv series, included Narcissus. Wildefire by Karsten Knight is focused on Polynesian and Central American myth. The aforementioned Raven Boys uses a Welsh king I've never heard about until I picked up the book.

I like learning about new things. I am the type of person who searched for the history not taught in history class because the reason I studied history was to learn what wasn't taught. That the best pirate in history was a Chinese woman, how a Korean queen predicted an invasion based on an omen she interpreted, and a Warrior Queen of Matamba sat on the back of a servant when the Portuguese king refused to bring a chair for her and she wanted to be on equal standing.

Whenever I look for stories about historical figures, chances are, I'm looking for a new figure. Recognizability is an active detraction from my perspective, but I'm probably pretty rare in that. However, I doubt I'm rare in an interest for new stories that aren't the same old things.

So pick whoever's interesting and run with it. Your passion will improve the story tenfold.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Sun Aug 14, 2016 4:51 am
Werthan says...



Rosendorn wrote:I classify "remake" as a pretty large genre. A book I remember reading the blurb of when I was a kid basically had a bard fabricate everything legendary about King Arthur, and then there are the modern recreations, etc.

Seriously, I have read blurbs of almost every type of 'myth is involved' from around the world— fairy tale remakes, fairy tale sequels, decedents of, revival plots, 'what is real what is myth'— and, to be honest? My favourite ones and the ones I remember are the ones who don't use common characters. Class of the Titans, a Greek-demigod tv series, included Narcissus. Wildefire by Karsten Knight is focused on Polynesian and Central American myth. The aforementioned Raven Boys uses a Welsh king I've never heard about until I picked up the book.

I like learning about new things. I am the type of person who searched for the history not taught in history class because the reason I studied history was to learn what wasn't taught. That the best pirate in history was a Chinese woman, how a Korean queen predicted an invasion based on an omen she interpreted, and a Warrior Queen of Matamba sat on the back of a servant when the Portuguese king refused to bring a chair for her and she wanted to be on equal standing.

Whenever I look for stories about historical figures, chances are, I'm looking for a new figure. Recognizability is an active detraction from my perspective, but I'm probably pretty rare in that. However, I doubt I'm rare in an interest for new stories that aren't the same old things.

So pick whoever's interesting and run with it. Your passion will improve the story tenfold.


So I'm guessing that's where all the Siegfrieds are coming from. That doesn't explain the dearth of Beowulfs or others though. Also, it appears the common English name for Siegfried is Sigurd but I was explicitly thinking of Nibelungenlied, which is the Most Literariest Thing Ever™ (I mean, it's beautiful poetry, but there's no way that would get published by the people who publish modern literature. But then, neither would Shakespeare, or much any classic literature. Nibelungenlied just seems worse though, since there's a magic ring, an invisibility cloak, a dragon, and people with superpowers).

[/rant]
Last edited by Werthan on Sun Aug 14, 2016 5:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Und so lang du das nicht hast
Dieses: Stirb und Werde!
Bist du nur ein trüber Gast
Auf der dunklen Erde

(And as long as you don't have
This: Die and become!
You are only a gloomy guest
On the dark Earth)

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  





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Sun Aug 14, 2016 5:17 am
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Rosendorn says...



My best guess is, Beowulf has a few star studded remakes within the past 10 years, including one I recall being from the villain's perspective, so in terms of pop culture figures it's pretty easily thought of.

Personally, I'm part Icelandic, so seeing more Icelandic remakes sounds pretty cool to me.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  








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