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Post by fearandloathing on Jun 10, 2008 21:56:27 GMT
Hurrah! If you ever start it or whatnot let me know XD
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Post by Neophyte Ronin on Jun 15, 2008 2:28:31 GMT
I didn't see any threads dedicated to this specifically, so I figured since the writer's corner has been looking kind of lifeless for the past few days, I'd start a new thread, whee! Anywho, as far as writing goes, there are, of course, many fanfiction authors on this site. And I know for a fact that some of us write original fiction. Here is the place to discuss your ideas for original fiction (under the clear understanding and respect that these ideas belong to the authors who created them). Offer feedback, con-crit, ideas, etc. Sound good? I'll go first, to get the ball rolling. So I've had this idea for a short story bouncing around in my brain since probably last summer. It's still very shaky and not fully formed in my mind, so go easy on me. I forget exactly how it came to me, but it's supposed to be a sort of sci-fi thing, set in a generic futuristic society. The main character's name is Riley, and he has had his fingers surgically removed by government officials. The reason? He is talented with the violin, a prodigy player almost. So far, the plot goes something like this: Riley and his singer best friend, Stella, are a musical duet, famous on a small scale. In their society, there are people who perform and are renowned by the public, aptly named Celebrities (with a capital C). People achieve the status of Celebrity by being talented and getting noticed by the government because the government determines if you have what it takes to be famous. At some point, Riley and Stella are approached by government officials and asked to play in a recording room so that their work can be judged. Stella achieves Celebrity status and Riley does not, and soon after, he is taken to a hospital where his fingers are removed so that he can no longer play the violin. That's when he starts to remember things from his childhood--other people like himself, surgically debilitated in some way, shape, or form, and he figures out that the price of failing to achieve Celebrity status is having your gift taken away. The basic gist of it is that this futuristic government is using the possibility of being a Celebrity and the adoration of the ones who are as a way to keep people in line. If you want to be important, you have to be a Celebrity. If you audition and aren't selected to become one, you aren't allowed to be talented anymore because you could use your talents to stir up trouble or unrest. The story is basically how Riley arrives at this conclusion. The only problem is, I don't know how to conclude it in a satisfactory manner, and the plot is still unstable and full of holes. I have about four or five pages of it written, but it's just not measuring up to the idea I have in my head. Anyone else want to discuss? I'd love to hear y'all's ideas for original fiction. Nothing is worse than conjuring up an excellent idea and then having it backfire due to a shaky lift-off during the first draft. Remember: if at first you can't fricassee, fry, fry a hen. Coming up with cool concepts is what makes so-called speculative fiction absolutely divine to write. We play what-if all the time in our heads, and your idea that talent being undermined or wasted for fear of its misuse is quite sound. I can only recommend--to add extra depth to the story--you conjure up more idea sparks on the side. This is general advice, I know, but stories evolve in my head over time because there's always a new idea that evolves the original concept and gives it greater direction. My protagonist's power levels went over 9000, so since he must protect a woman with psychic gift capable of unraveling civilization, I rummaged through creatures in Final Fantasy and discovered Mind Flayers, evil in FFTactics but especially in the first game. From there, I devised Dimn Earfyl (suitable anagram), the White SeeD Leader's unspeakably sadistic and evil nemesis. Later research behind the entymology of the Mind Flayer (it is based on stories written by H.P. Lovecraft and a staple of the D&D Greyhawk campaign setting's bestiary), I discovered that large groups of Mind Flayers are called cults, led by two high-ranking Mindflayers who often vie for dominance. So I named another Mind Flayer "Pogrom" (after campaigns of Jewish persecution, again a suitable move). In the story, the White SeeD Leader killed many Flayers, including Porgrom, so Dimn Earfyl is as motivated by greed as he is by revenge. I suppose you could decipher the importance of research in writing. As for original fiction, it isn't like I can't do it, but recently my brother Paul has cornered me and asked if I could devise a radio play for him. (Screenplays usually entail stage directions, but for me the vocal aspect has to be squared away first). This idea is tentatively titled "Holden", which epitomizes the blandness of suburban sprawl and underclass-ism. In the first episode, the Principal corners Jeff and asks that he give a new kid, Steve, a tour of Holden High. Jeff is based on my brother Paul, a sarcastic joker with too much time on his hands. As a Flash Movie, it's not meant to be long, so to get a gist of Holden, they first visit Chemistry Class, hear a really boring teacher speak briefly, and comment upon one of their classmates and her bizarre habits and rituals. Afterwards, they head into the cafeteria and behold Jeff's brother Sam (though he's nameless throughout the series) impersonating a big black guy. Sam is pretty much me: a cocky, insane dork who can't Steve starts to equate Holden High as a prison, with Sam's irreverent, foul language as proof. After Sam loses a major dice roll and gets killed, he flips out and also gets suspended, since the superintendent of schools is three seats away from Sam's table. The last scene deals with Sam's suspension for language (his D&D friends got a month each for hazing him into acting like a total tard). Jeff chides and jokes away, but a few knocks on their door confirm that Steve--the guy Jeff toured around--is now a friend. Turns out he tried making friends with a girl who crashed her car yet again after she invited Steve for a ride home. He ended up at Jeff and Sam's house. Go figure. Now, if I dare to post the script here, you'll probably flag, flog, and ban me from the site so I'll leave it at that. If anybody here watches anything at newgrounds.com (I sincerely doubt it), then they would look up "Egoraptor" or the "Awesome" Series. That's sort of the insanity I'm going for, considering we can't make the character art too complex or Paul would hang me. Anyway, if I come up with something else (like another episode), I'll post it.
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Post by Pen Against Sword on Jun 15, 2008 3:08:41 GMT
Ronin, you're a nice guy and all, and I really appreciate your feedback, but I have to tell you, in all honesty, the way you put things comes off in a sort of pedantic, offensive way.
However, your con-crit is well-received. Except...what the hell are idea sparks?
So your idea for a screenplay! It sounds pretty cool, something interesting with a quirky feel to it that would draw me and a lot of other people in. I like the fact that you have a solid basis for your characters (yourself and your brother), but what is the overall theme theme of this? Is there some lesson to be learned? What is the story being told here? Honest question.
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Post by Neophyte Ronin on Jun 15, 2008 3:26:22 GMT
Pedantic? Offensive?
I tend to have a dark sense of humor. Wicked dark. I usually keep silent in public out of fear of being misinterpreted or offending someone. I have this problem with sensitivity: I am sensitive and polite, but there's that other side that I'd like to unleash if only as a catharsis. I got such scrutiny back in drama class, and other attempts to take the stage during a school function was met with shock, indignation, and outrage. I basically keep my mouth shut to dodge stigma, because not everyone can look past the sarcasm as well as my family.
Anyway, I digress.
"Idea Sparks" are random thoughts that circle your head and can be considered a form of inspiration when the mind dances around with possibilities and narratives. They don't have any real direction, but when placed into a "Super-Colliding" mental machine, they intersect and intertwine, thus becoming either more complex, more feasible, or simply cooler than before. The issue here is that your main "Idea Spark" is sound, but you might need to inject a few more before your story can truly solidify (because like you said: you have some issues with plot holes and gaps). It just takes a longer gestation period, or in my case, a greater multitude of drafts.
Finally, the screenplay idea I got is merely an introduction to certain main characters in the Holden universe. It's part of a greater series, but this intro is the only screenplay my brother wants to look at (the idea of multiple scripts would serve only to overwhelm him, who's slated to be chief animator). It's made simple and frank to set the tone of a greater series; once we've produced the first, the rest are soon to follow. Themes I intend to explore in the Holden series also conflict with my brother's ideas, so it will be harder to find out which themes we WILL explore. But the one thing that can be certain is that Jeff and Sam will be the regulars, the brothers Corsair, and the characters of whom are properly based upon their creators.
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Post by Pen Against Sword on Jun 15, 2008 4:12:47 GMT
It's quite possible that I misinterpret you, Ronin, so I'm sorry if I have, in turn, offended you in my quest to inform you of my...er...taking offense. Awkward sentence is awkward.
Ah, okay, I see. I somehow missed that this is an intro thing. Basing it on the writer and the animator sort of reminds me of Penny Arcade.
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Post by Neophyte Ronin on Jun 15, 2008 7:18:14 GMT
Likening the idea to Penny Arcade is somehow... emboldening...!
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Post by Sai on Jun 18, 2008 23:59:32 GMT
So... I've been writing an Original Fiction since Feb. and it's coming along well enough. I even had Costa read through the first few pages, and she liked it (I think...), and if anyone knows me, I don't like letting people read through my original work. It makes me nervous. But, if anyone wants to hear about it, I'm gunna talk about it a little.
Sable and Light Sinclair are vampires, powerful vampires who control one of the most powerful clans in the world. They have prospered through their sire's suicide (or so they believe) and have made the lives of those underneath them as pleasurable as could be. They have humans in the basements, written contracts by the humans to promise food and shelter to keep them safe from the warring world outside, as long as they give their blood. It's a fairly decent life, and they live rather happily.
Light is the weaker twin. He cannot drink blood from a human being-- he has to have his brother draw it out of others for him to drink, and that person must notbe tainted with sex. A pure virgin, so to speak. So, Light can nevver be far from Sable, who is his caretaker.
When Light's blood donor is taken as payment for a shipment of weapons to protect the grounds, Nicki, one of the older clan members, suggests that they go to the basement because there was a boy they found wandering the streets. Sable agrees, they go down and meet Uriel, an eighteen year old boy, who holds the same face, even the same scars, as someone Sable had cared for when he was a fledgling vampire.
Does anyone want me to go on explaining? It's pretty long as it is...
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Post by fearandloathing on Jun 19, 2008 0:08:27 GMT
Please do. *Smiles and waits*
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Post by Sai on Jun 19, 2008 0:51:30 GMT
Alright then...
The day after, Sable and Nicki go to have their meals in one of the chambers, where the prophet Lucrecia (no... not from FFVII. She's a thirteen year old-looking girl) is basically draining human after human. She's more evil than any could possibly imagine, and has a thing for Sable, but he won't touch her. She is the vampire who oversees who is turned into heirs-- she was responsible for Sable and Light's turning, and had been searching for the next heir for Sable, because he is the only one with the power to Turn (because Light is so weak). There is a girl in the basement which is, to her knowledge, is carrying the heir.
Anyway, Uriel sees Sable kill, becomes disgusted and runs. Sable, disgusted with himself, goes to the gardens and is shot. He, of course, doesn't die, but is wounded. The person who shot him mistook him for his son's kidnappers, and is a police officer.
Here the story switches to the police-officer's POV, showing what he was doing before coming to the Sinclair manor. We find out that the man, Matthew Votten, has been searching for his runaway son. The city has been taken over and has become almost a war-zone between rival gangs, who are actually two vampire covens, which have begun to control human beings in a spat over the land.
His son is Uriel, and he believed that the boy joined a gang and has been living on the streets. When a call comes in, saying that a group saw Uriel being taken, Matthew goes after him. Nearly kills Sable, and is taken as a hostage.
Sable finds out that the man who called in the tip is the man who he thought dead, his cold and cruel sire, which he had been sure died in the sun nearly three hundred years before. He is not, and he wants Uriel.
Uriel is the reincarnation of the boy who Sable was willing to give up his immortality for, a human with the power to cause the entire vampire race to be destroyed. Sable's sire knew this, and spent the last four thousand years destroying each reincarnation. Each reincarnation had been searching for the other man in the prophecy, which was Sable. When he found out that the reincarnation found Sable, he sent out Light to kill the boy.
Light did so, killed him, and became cursed.
In the end of the story, Sable is left with the choice of his brother, the man who has stood by him since their time in the womb, his closest, only family, or the boy who holds both the end of their life and his heart. Uriel literally holds a vampires humanity-- if Sable chooses him, the vampires will turn into humans, except for Light. Because Light had killed him (along with anyone who killed his reincarnations), Light would not be saved, and would immediately die.
He has to let one die.
The idea of the story is that you have to pick one side-- a brother or a lover.
*Shrugs* There's more to it than just that, but that's the most basic way I can explain it.
And before you ask, I have no idea which one would live.
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Post by fearandloathing on Jun 19, 2008 1:14:06 GMT
Daaw, I posted something here, I swear I did, but it didn't show up D: So yeah, sounds very interesting Sai, I had to read the plot outline several times to get a grip of it (and be fair it is 2am here) but it's certaintly got a good number of twists
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Post by VulcanElf on Sept 22, 2008 10:32:14 GMT
So, I have insomnia like a mo-fo, and thought I'd whittle through the wee hours with a little void-diving. Lookee what I found in the depths!
Original fiction is what I do.
I was 7 years old when I first decided being a writer would be a really cool thing to do, and 10 when I started working on my first novel. (Obviously, everything I wrote back in those days ended up in the trash a long time ago, but it was good practice.) Sadly, I'm still unpublished and it doesn't look like that's changing any time soon. I'm being told by every agent I query that fantasy simply is not The Thing at the moment. *sigh*
The more time passes without a request for pages, the more discouraged I'm getting about my writing. Some days I really feel I ought to just give it up altogether. Mostly I think I need to get into mainstream literature, but for some reason ALL of the storylines I come up with take place in other worlds and couldn't be made to fit this one. I honestly don't know why.
Anyway, if anyone cares, here is the query blurb on the book I am currently submitting:
Síthas Faríel, scion of an ancient and noble elf family, has spent his life learning to govern his emotions. In the war-shattered world of Asrellion, this has long been the elves’ way. But the world is entering a new era, and unexpected events force the entire Faríel family to face the repressed passions seething beneath the surface of their icy facade. What they find there will change them – and Asrellion – forever.
Told as three independent stories showing the relationship between men and elves after the horrific war that has driven them apart, the plot follows several generations of one elf family made to rise above its hatred of humans in order to live amongst them. Each successive look into the lives of the Faríel family brings the reader one step closer to understanding how peace finally comes to be: through love, loss, hope, despair, and unlooked-for redemption.
The familiar concept of elves portrays them as superior, almost angelic beings. This work takes a darker, more intimate look into the psychology of such beings trying to survive in a world where their unique gifts make them the targets of hatred and violence, and the captive victims of their own nature. More than a tale of fantasy and adventure – of elves and swords and sorcery – this book offers compelling insight into an alien race that is nevertheless poignantly familiar.
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Post by Sylla on Sept 24, 2008 14:47:14 GMT
Sounds interesting, Vulcan; if I saw that in a bookstore chances are I'd buy it. (Especially if the cover was like an old leather-bound book, but that's neither here nor there).
The only thing I'd caution you about is changing 'main character' several times. From your description, it sounds like we start off with Síthas as the main character, and then switch to his son/daughter, and then to a grandchild; most people don't really like it when a book suddenly changes main character on them (unless it's a split narrative with several main characters, and this fact is established fairly early on). Of course, this isn't to say that you shouldn't do it, only that you have to make the reader really familiar with all the 'next generation' before you even think of removing Síthas as a main character.
That aside, I quite like the idea of a 'darker look' at elves. 'Angelic being' was new and exciting when Tolkein did it, but now it's all you ever see in adult fantasy books, really (haha, Eragon, anyone?).
Anyway, I wish you luck in getting that published; I'd like to read it one day. Do you have a title selected?
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Post by VulcanElf on Sept 24, 2008 23:15:00 GMT
At the moment, I'm just calling it Faríel. The thing about the three main characters is that it's not one story with three protagonists; it's three separate but connected stories in one book. The handful of people who have read it had an admittedly hard time getting their heads around the concept to begin with, but once they read it they thought it worked. I honestly haven't even thought of what I'd want on the cover, which is strange because I've already got that element planned for the other books I've written that I'm not currently submitting. Thanks for the encouragement, Sylla.
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Post by Sylla on Sept 25, 2008 15:00:51 GMT
No problem. Hm, well, if people have read it and thought it worked, then I have nothing more to add; I quite like the prospect of a challenging idea/format/etc. Also, I have this book with a really awesome cover in front of me: it's a red leather-bound hardback with a gold symbol-type crest thing in the center. I think something similar would probably look cool (though in different colors; maybe cool/dark ones?). I'll see if I can get a photo of it so you can actually see what it's like.
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Kisara Strife
Turk
AVALANCHE Rebel
Because he can't be dead ... T_T
Posts: 2,576
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Post by Kisara Strife on Feb 19, 2009 21:30:14 GMT
I just wanted to ask you guys something; d'you think it's acceptable to, more or less, take a plot idea from a fanfiction you've written and mould into an original fiction?
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