Gorgeous cat, SubRosa !!!

And who could resist your Freya?

She continues to be adorable!

I generally make a graphical, flow-chart-y outline on blank paper in my spare moments, and then type up a basic draft. After that, I go back in, and start filling in each sequence with the appropriate actions, dialogue, and environmental descriptions. Then I leave it, come back the next morning and re-read it to catch the mistakes spell-checker missed. After that, I go back to the sections that still don't feel right, and re-edit them till they do work.



This one is tricky for me. Usually, I try to get thematic songs based on the nature of the passage that I'm writing. Heavier material from metal and rock for battle scenes, "Gonna Fly Now" and "Hearts on Fire" for any part where intense training is taking place, etc.

For instance, I'm writing Awtwyr as a native of the southern half of the Kingdom of Shornhelm, which includes the Western Wrothgarian Highlands. Being a Highlander Breton, I eschew "Princes of the Universe" for more traditional or thematic pieces. So I tend to listen to a lot of music by Pipe and Drum bands when I get time to actually write his story. That, or the various Celtic Punk and Folk Metal bands out there.

Unfortunately, this has left "Highland Cathedral" on repeat in my brain at times.

This post has been edited by Captain Hammer: Feb 6 2011, 05:45 AM

A lot of people tend to have a large number of chapters queued up for their tales as they go through them, editing and revising as they post. I, however, do not do that. I focus my full attention onto a single chapter until it gets posted, then return to draft the next segment. The main reason people are performing the former strategy here is because what we are seeing is not the first version of their story, but rather revised versions of chapters that have already been posted elsewhere (I.E., BGSF before the mass-exodus of the major Fan-Fiction authors around this time last year).

I do not have the luxury of having a large backlog of chapters available to me, as I am a rather recent comer to this arena. I have developed my own style with writing a completely new story that ensures that my mind cannot get too fragmented. By focusing on my writing one chapter at a time, it allows me to keep focus, and therefore keep going.

That being said, everything that occurs in the tale has clear direction and purpose. I keep tabs on everything that happens, and my visions for what will happen extend all they way to the distant end.

Like you, I have been writing each chapter new after the previous one posts, (although I can't say it is the way I would choose to if given the option).

When I first moved here from the BGSF I started bringing my character's original story here, just doing some editing to it - but after the first few chapters I realized that wouldn’t work.

The original story was my first experience crafting my game into words. I don’t have writing skills like so many do here, just a love of my game character and an enjoyment in telling her story as she makes her way around Cyrodiil.

That lack is proven notably in the early chapters of the original story (which can easily be seen in the first few chapters on here). Thanks to the help of some Awesome people like SubRosa, Acadian, Foxy, Treydog, Winter Wolf - there has been some improvement in that aspect.

Rather than just revamp the original chapters, (which were based on a previous game I was no longer playing) - I really wanted to start fresh, do things differently this time. Other than the first few chapters, this story is completely different than the original. (anyone who has read both will testify to that).

SubRosa advised me to break free from the linear game mold, shape the story out of my own imagination and creativity. That is what I have been trying to do with this version. (SubRosa didn’t earn the title Sage idly, her knowledge is amazing and her advice sound).

I think we all draw inspiration from our own lives, or our lives can sap the ability to feel inspired. The beginning of June last year was when we found out Steve (my X) was dying from cancer, we barely had six weeks with him before he was gone. His illness and death consumed our family even for months after he passed. I couldn't wrap my mind around fiction when reality was overwhelming. For anyone wondering why I didn’t post between June 6 and August 20 last year - that is why. The only thing I wrote during that time was a poem dedicated to him.

Things that effect your life do tend to come out in your story. Agronak's evilness was the cancer; the vampire armies converging on the Imperial City was the rapid spreading of the disease. The war in the Imperial City was the battle Steve fought, the battle we all fought against the evil of that cancer that could destroy a man as strong as the Imperial City itself.

Anyway, everything added to my story since the beginning chapters has been written chapter by chapter as it posts with the exception of Foxy‘s characters, they have to be sent ahead to him for his edit-in and approval.

What I’m trying to say, I don’t know if writing as you post is a good or bad thing, because your mood can effect the tone of the chapter as you write it. (As can periods of inability to focus due to distractions that can occur readily in a house with a teenager, two dogs and a cat…or worse, a husband). Then again, one day you may be overflowing with inspiration and have a quiet house - if that ever happens I would like to write a few chapters ahead, lol.

Anyone else have trouble focusing and has some tips to get around it, I’m all ears.


*

This post has been edited by mALX: Mar 11 2011, 06:22 PM

I sit at the opposite end of the spectrum. Until the entire thing is written I post nothing. The main reason is that if a piece gets stuck, and mine do around the 20-30k mark, people won't have wasted their time reading something which I'm simply not going to finish.

Another reason is that it lets me go back and tweak things. The whole I need such and such now is rather easier to insert with less planning. Likewise if a character changes (and if they don't it's a sure sign the piece will die) I can foreshadow it, or even rewrite sections. So basically it's about producing a tighter end result. It also means that there won't be vast gaps in my posting when RL gets too heavy.

On the minus side it does mean that I go long times wihtout having anyhting going up, and at the current rate it will be next year before I finish the TES piece I'm working on. Basically it comes down to choice: if you like having people comment in real time, and there are advantages, posing as you go is great, if you want more freedom to hack things around holding it all works better.


Agreed. Characters tend to have some of the writer in them, or even become avatars of aspects of the writer's psyche.

Having written something quite so pretentious I shall stop.

EDITED for typos

This post has been edited by Olen: Mar 20 2011, 05:02 PM

I am also of the "pre-write several chapters ahead" ilk. This is my first attempt at writing fiction for someone else to read, so I had no preconceived plan on how to do it.

I found that once I started, it was like turning on a faucet. The words just poured out. Acadian and mALX actually had to get me to shut the valve some because I was posting massive installments at a dizzying clip. So instead of posting as I wrote, I just continued to write and diminished the posting rate, and size. This resulted in the aforementioned pre-write style, quite by accident.

It has already helped me in way that was probably inevitable. Pre-writing provided a buffer between a bout of writers block and being able to continue posting anyway. Where at one time I was eight chapters ahead of my posts, that number has dwindled to one. Definitely a handy by-product.

This post has been edited by TheOtherRick: Mar 12 2011, 02:02 AM

I tend to be the opposite, I like to be quite careful with my word choice and sentence structuring; sometimes a bit too careful and this can lead to the occasional overly-complex sentence. I've found that the 48 to 72 hour delay for me is quite a reasonable time-frame, as that is usually the amount of time it takes for me to draft and redraft, and my proofreading skills continue to improve, as well. If you find a significant delay between chapters in my tale, it's usually because I was struggling with how I wished to tell the story at that point in time.

By the same token, I usually spend the time after posting a new installment reading the comments and thinking about how I wish to approach the next part. Although I usually have the big picture for my stories well in hand very early on, I like to develop the smaller pictures of the individual chapters as I go along. This allows me to keep my ideas fresh.

Out of curiosity, when most of you folks are talking about a chapter, what exactly do you mean? It may seem like a stupid question, but I have found that people often have very different ideas of the definition.

For example, often I see people comment in the TF and use the term chapter to refer to a single post. OTOH, when I say chapter, I mean something much larger. My chapters take up multiple posts (the current one, Inheritance, will take 7 posts to put up. The one I just finished will take 25 posts to put up.). Obviously, I have gotten long-winded in my sunset years.

I ask this because for example, I write an entire chapter at a time rather than a single post at a time. I write it as long as it needs to be to tell the story. Then I split it up into digestible increments and start putting it up every few days. Because putting 10-15k words in a single post would be insane. That is why I not only number the chapters, but put a decimal point to increment each post within the chapter. (The first post of Inheritance was Chapter 31.1, the second 31.2, etc...) Haute does the same, as she has the same view. This is also why I carefully use the term "episode", or "segment", when I refer to a single post, and never the term "chapter".

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 12 2011, 02:45 AM

Well since December, I've been doing a rewrite, so most of the chapters are already lined up. Though on my current one, its still in the works...somewhat (I'm a bit burned out on it at the moment :/ )

To answer SubRosa's question, generally I refer to a chapter as a post, but that's only because my chapters are generally one post long. However, this last one I'm doing is two or three parts so I refer to it as a section, rather than the chapter.

First, I'll give my disclaimer again. I am by no means an author. I have never had schooling in writing. As a matter of fact, English and Literature classes were the ones I detested the most in school. I give this disclaimer because of how I started out here and where I am now.

At first, I was writing chapters in the literal sense, meaning that they were meant to centered around a topic. Such as the escape from the prison. So I orinigally was numbering as you have said...1.1, 1.2, etc.

Now I number and name the posts (or episodes, if you prefer) as individual chapters. That means that when I refer to a chapter, it now means a post.

I have learned so much since I started this. The education has been just as rewarding as finding this new hobby. Everything from punctuation, to sentence structure, to actually having a plan to the story. The latter may wind up being the downfall of The Talendor Chronicles, because I started it as nothing more than a game play narrative. It still is today. I worry that readers will tire of it and grow bored. Especially now that I am reading so many of the great stories here. There is so much talent in this forum. The authors are great at writing imaginative "off-game" adventures. Perhaps I will become that talented with practice and experience.

Sorry about the off topic rambling in the last paragraph there...

Off-topic rambling? I must disagree with you there, Rick.

Also, just because yours is a gameplay narrative does not mean that will be the downfall of the tale. Look to Old Habits Die Hard for a case-in-point example of what I'm talking about. We don't care about the plot nearly as much as we do the characters here (which may mean I am in trouble, because characterization is not one of my strong suits). Talendor is delightfully endearing, and that alone is enough to make every title you bring forth to us worth every second of our time.

For me, I write my story in a chapter, sub-chapter format, and each one is numbered right at the beginning. I do not title the full chapters, only the sub-chapters.

Due to my inherent weaknesses with reading people, it is rather difficult for me to characterize in my writing. That is why my story instead take the approach of a complex, adventurous plot that tugs at the mind and (in some cases) the heartstrings. I live off of the idea of hooking my readers into the tale so thoroughly they can't help the urge to find out what happens next. My strength lies in action and immersion, so that is where I will be playing from. My hope is that I can develop good characterization skills as things progress. Then, once I finish, I might go back and create a revision alongside whatever else I might have planned.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Mar 13 2011, 01:22 AM

You are an author. Schooling does not matter. Just the will to do the work of putting the words down on the screen. As The Duke might say: Get used to it Mister.

And quite on topic I would say. As Captain Cook said, your characterization of Talendor is very strong, making him shine from the page. That makes reading him washing clothes interesting! Praise Zenitor! As you spend more time writing in general, and writing him in particular, you will doubtlessly begin to find ideas for plots outside of the normal game structure bubbling in your brain. That just comes from developing the character, because soon you come to find that certain things are personal to him. Be it ideals, or people, etc... These things will begin to tug him in one direction or another, and off you go!







I'll tell you a secret. We all have an inherent weakness with reading people. The only one who really knows what is going on in a person's head and heart are themselves. And even then there's often a lot of confusion!

So if you want to work on characterization skills, look at yourself. How you would think, how you would feel, how you would react. What makes you tick? I am not saying to literally write about yourself "The Mithril Chef of Cyrodiil! ". But pull from your own emotional experiences to make the characters you write richer. Use that to build empathy with them.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 15 2011, 04:07 AM

Agreed. Add to that the fact that you tuck humor into your story - that is a draw in itself, to me.

I have a quick question, when your character recalls back to the past mid scene, how do you handle this?

It's just, the chapter I'm writing now really requires it, and I'm not sure how I can make it clear that Helena is thinking back. Especially as it happens in the middle of dialogue.

One way is to use a different font- I generally use italics- and I think some of the others do as well.

Immodest example from my own work- since it was the easiest to find:



Notice that there are also "verbal cues"- by this time the reader knows the "current" Athlain is more than 7. And of course, the words "reminded me" in the first sentence.

Anyway- set off a flashback or memory typographically and frame it with a lead-in and an exit that make the transitions in time clear.

Thanks Trey! That's wonderfully helpful.

I use italics for the voice in her head though, so I'll have to think of something.

I wouldn't worry about people confusing the flashback with Helena's inner monologue. Remember, a flashback is Helena's inner monologue. It is her own memory being replayed for the reader. Using italics in this case would be perfectly fine.

I use italics for both flashbacks and inner thoughts in my writing. But I use different verb tenses to differentiate between them. I use the past tense for the flashbacks (same as in the main narrative), but present tense in the inner thoughts.

Let me give you a couple of examples from my own. First I set up the flashback to follow naturally out of the current events/thoughts my protagonist is experiencing:


I do the same thing with Julian's inner thoughts, only I use present tense instead of past tense:
You can see that not only the italics but also the tense change clue us in that these are her inner thoughts.

All I can do is agree with the above comments. I use italics for any "inner head" expressions, whether they be thoughts or dreams. Unfortunately, Talendor cannot remember his past, so the idea you are asking about doesn't apply to him...yet. Still, I think italics will work just fine.