Writer's Workshop General Chat Thread

[ectoBiologist]

NEW! Tomorrow Will Be Kinder - The Secret Sisters [From the Hunger Games] With Lyrics! - YouTube

i was listening to the hunger games soundtrack and when this song came on, it reminded me of the ending of my story and i burst into tears ;; i haven't written it yet, but i know what's going to happen and i see it in my mind and gah D:

[Kelleo]

Well, seeing as people seem to be throwing out future story titles/ideas, I'll join the party. :P

I plan to do a sequel to my Fire Emblem fic, a sequel to my Zelda fic, and I may write another Cilan story in the future, who knows. I certainly like him enough. x3 I just need an idea. I haven't yet named either of those fic sequels though. But I have plenty of ideas for the plots.

[Flaze]

NEW! Tomorrow Will Be Kinder - The Secret Sisters [From the Hunger Games] With Lyrics! - YouTube

i was listening to the hunger games soundtrack and when this song came on, it reminded me of the ending of my story and i burst into tears ;; i haven't written it yet, but i know what's going to happen and i see it in my mind and gah D:

You only have yourself to blame xD

[diamondpearl876]

I know I don't post here often, but I know there's a rather diverse group of people in the fanfiction section here. I have a question: does anyone have any recommendations for books that alternative characters' point of views (preferably in first person, but third person is okay)? I'm using this technique for my current fic and I've read some examples already (such as Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" and S. L. Farrell's "A Magic of Twilight" series), but would like to see more. Any help is appreciated.

[Kelleo]

I know I don't post here often, but I know there's a rather diverse group of people in the fanfiction section here. I have a question: does anyone have any recommendations for books that alternative characters' point of views (preferably in first person, but third person is okay)? I'm using this technique for my current fic and I've read some examples already (such as Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" and S. L. Farrell's "A Magic of Twilight" series), but would like to see more. Any help is appreciated.

I know one book, but I will admit that I have yet to actually read it. I did take a glimpse at it though, and it looks really promising. It's from the Nancy Drew series, which is a mystery series. This particular book is special amongst the other Nancy Drew mysteries as well, I might add. It's longer than the others and it's the only one where Nancy Drew herself is NOT the main character or the one doing the sleuthing. In fact, in this story, she IS the mystery. She has gone missing and now her friends, Bess, George, and Ned (her boyfriend), have to find her. The story alternates between George, Bess, and Ned's points of view. I think Ned's anyway. Can't remember. The points of view are in first person as well.

[Selemena]

I know I don't post here often, but I know there's a rather diverse group of people in the fanfiction section here. I have a question: does anyone have any recommendations for books that alternative characters' point of views (preferably in first person, but third person is okay)? I'm using this technique for my current fic and I've read some examples already (such as Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" and S. L. Farrell's "A Magic of Twilight" series), but would like to see more. Any help is appreciated.

I'd recommend reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. It's the book I'm studying for English this year, and I am 99% sure it has multiple narrators (haven't actually gotten more than a chapter or so into it yet). It's a very good book in terms of literary merit too, unlike some others which just use the multiple perspectives as an easy way to get around telling the reader things they don't know.

Ooh! Secret stories! Sure, why not. I have one, too; it's called The Atlantis Codec and it's set on the moon. Yes, the moon.

[Gama]

lol ohgod. i'm such a huge procrastinator. i told myself i'd write a little more today and i wrote like... a paragraph LOL.

i was going to do a post-apocalyptic story but gave up on it. :U

Don't do it in a barren world, seriously that gets cliche whenever I see a postapocalyptic story with a barren world I roll my eyes at first, it's pretty cliche really.

Using a cliched/typical setting in an original way is often a way to make the best kind of story. I mean, my first main story was Rival's Story, which could hardly have been based on a more typical setting/basic concept, but it was done in an original way, which is what led to its popularity.

[LightningTopaz]

I know I don't post here often, but I know there's a rather diverse group of people in the fanfiction section here. I have a question: does anyone have any recommendations for books that alternative characters' point of views (preferably in first person, but third person is okay)? I'm using this technique for my current fic and I've read some examples already (such as Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" and S. L. Farrell's "A Magic of Twilight" series), but would like to see more. Any help is appreciated.

I know one book, but I will admit that I have yet to actually read it. I did take a glimpse at it though, and it looks really promising. It's from the Nancy Drew series, which is a mystery series. This particular book is special amongst the other Nancy Drew mysteries as well, I might add. It's longer than the others and it's the only one where Nancy Drew herself is NOT the main character or the one doing the sleuthing. In fact, in this story, she IS the mystery. She has gone missing and now her friends, Bess, George, and Ned (her boyfriend), have to find her. The story alternates between George, Bess, and Ned's points of view. I think Ned's anyway. Can't remember. The points of view are in first person as well.

While we're on the subject of mysteries, any tips for writing one well? I've been mulling a kind of "Scooby Doo/"Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers" type series in the Pokeworld...

[Kelleo]

While we're on the subject of mysteries, any tips for writing one well? I've been mulling a kind of "Scooby Doo/"Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers" type series in the Pokeworld...

Hrm, well, I've never really written a true mystery myself, but I do love to watch and read mysteries. And I've never seen Chip 'n Dale, but I love Scooby Doo, so maybe I can help you here. I think the best way to start a mystery is to work backwards. That is to say, decide who the culprit and what the crime/mystery will be first and work your way from there. That way, it's easier to keep things consistent. Then you work out the plot, decide what clues your detectives will find, etc.

If there is no culprit (not all mysteries will be this way. Some Nancy Drew stories are even like this, where Nancy has to solve some sort of puzzle instead of a crime. For example, in one of the Nancy Drew Notebooks (mysteries she and her friends solved as kids), Nancy, Bess, and George use clues to seek out hidden treasures), then go straight to deciding what the mystery will be, whether it's seeking hidden treasure, solving a big puzzle, etc.

[The Jingster]

All I can say is, consistency is a must. Each and every flaw in consistency will most likely be noticed by any readers trying to solve the mystery

[Flaze]

lol ohgod. i'm such a huge procrastinator. i told myself i'd write a little more today and i wrote like... a paragraph LOL.

i was going to do a post-apocalyptic story but gave up on it. :U

Don't do it in a barren world, seriously that gets cliche whenever I see a postapocalyptic story with a barren world I roll my eyes at first, it's pretty cliche really.

Using a cliched/typical setting in an original way is often a way to make the best kind of story. I mean, my first main story was Rival's Story, which could hardly have been based on a more typical setting/basic concept, but it was done in an original way, which is what led to its popularity.

Yeah but there isn´t much you can do when it comes to interpreting a barren wasteland.

[Gama]

[QUOTE=Stellar Haze;3957102
Yeah but there isn´t much you can do when it comes to interpreting a barren wasteland.[/QUOTE]

Not so. In fact, I'd argue quite the opposite. When there is precisely no scenery or society is exactly when you have the most creative freedom.

[LightningTopaz]

While we're on the subject of mysteries, any tips for writing one well? I've been mulling a kind of "Scooby Doo/"Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers" type series in the Pokeworld...

Hrm, well, I've never really written a true mystery myself, but I do love to watch and read mysteries. And I've never seen Chip 'n Dale, but I love Scooby Doo, so maybe I can help you here. I think the best way to start a mystery is to work backwards. That is to say, decide who the culprit and what the crime/mystery will be first and work your way from there. That way, it's easier to keep things consistent. Then you work out the plot, decide what clues your detectives will find, etc.

If there is no culprit (not all mysteries will be this way. Some Nancy Drew stories are even like this, where Nancy has to solve some sort of puzzle instead of a crime. For example, in one of the Nancy Drew Notebooks (mysteries she and her friends solved as kids), Nancy, Bess, and George use clues to seek out hidden treasures), then go straight to deciding what the mystery will be, whether it's seeking hidden treasure, solving a big puzzle, etc.

If you'd like some episodes of Chip n' Dale's Rescue Rangers to study, I can go chase down some YouTube...

[Kelleo]

Nah, that's okay. I'm busy at the moment anyway. xP

[TheLlama]

Yeah but there isn´t much you can do when it comes to interpreting a barren wasteland.

Not so. In fact, I'd argue quite the opposite. When there is precisely no scenery or society is exactly when you have the most creative freedom.

Yes, and no. It's very restricted in one sense, and very free in another, it all depends on the angle you're doing the story from.

But if there's nothing on the outside, there's something on the inside. Such a world, why boring in and of itself, offer great ways for introspection.



By the way, guys, I came across this great one-shot manga, called Hotel. It's a sort of "end-of-the-world" story, and it's done exceptionally well. It takes only ten or so minutes to read, I strongly recommend it!

(No idea why, but the page I linked to has more "chapters"; those are just unrelated short stories)