Author Topic: Koakuma's Writer's Parlour ~ Have some tea and discuss fiction and writing here!  (Read 223970 times)

Iced Fairy

  • So like if you try to hurt alkaza
  • *
  • I will set you on fire k'?
    • Daisukima Dan Blog
Ooh.  Interesting.  I promise not to be distracted by shiny objects.  Often.

/in

Wait, this isn't Mafia. Thank god.

Tired/Warm

  • Apostatical Verdant Eudaemonaic
  • This is my danmaku.
Can I help, somehow?... I'm not very good at stuff like this. I still haven't gotten around to uploading my infos on Undead Corporation into the wiki- but. I'd really like to help if I can. Like, as a trainee member..? I'll make coffee for all of you and provide advantageous moral support!

Awesome sig courtesy of Squawkers23! Thanks!

Oh, you're looking for words? My writing is here.
Do you remember me? I also remember you - and though we haven't met in so many days, I still know you and love your memories. If you stumbled upon this - good luck, in whatever you might do.

Dead Princess Sakana

  • *
  • E is for Elodie, who swims with the fishes.
As said, there will be an official notice up soon, and then everyone interested can apply. Basically everyone on the team will get a list with works in PSL to read and summarize, and all those summaries will be put in the Fanworks Listing to complete it.
So really, it's more of a time-intensive job than a hard one, but don't underestimate it either ;)
Probably gonna have a maximum team size of ten people, to keep things organizable, but otherwise everyone with interest is welcome ^^

If you wanna get a bit more of an idea how exactly this goes down, just read through the early posts here in the Fanworks Listing. We're gonna do pretty much that again, only instead of having to do all of PSL this time, we are gonna clear up the backlog.

Tired/Warm

  • Apostatical Verdant Eudaemonaic
  • This is my danmaku.
Wow - it looks time and interest intensive... But for a good cause, and fun too. I'll re-confirm my commitment after I no longer have guests to entertain, but unless something drastic happens in my life, I would absolutely love to do this. :) And thank you for the link; not only does it grant a better idea of what is involved, it looks like some good things to read in the meantime, as well! :D

Awesome sig courtesy of Squawkers23! Thanks!

Oh, you're looking for words? My writing is here.
Do you remember me? I also remember you - and though we haven't met in so many days, I still know you and love your memories. If you stumbled upon this - good luck, in whatever you might do.

capt. h

  • Only sane townie
I used to read this blog, and his views on creativity are a little different than most. He mostly writes about video games, but what he says about creativity could be applied to any medium.

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/email-regarding-your-stance-on-creativity/

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/email-regarding-your-stance-on-creativity/

Oh wow, this is just great:

Quote
Show me a ‘creative person’, and I will show you a loser filled with vanity. The path of ‘creativity’ doesn’t lead to fame, wealth, and happiness. What I see is that it leads to defeat after defeat in the marketplace and creates great unhappiness.

"Wealth rewards those who pander to their audience; poverty punishes those who try to be creative instead. There are winners and losers. Losers are broke. Root for the winners."

Someday we'll all pander enough to make money from our ideas. Like ZUN! Oh, wait:

Quote from: Interview in Swedish Player1 Magazine
P1: What games do you want to create in the future?
ZUN: I'm going to keep making games that stand out. If so all my fans disappear I'm still happy if I can keep doing the games I want.

Quote from: Meiji University Touhou lecture
Q. What's your motivation for making games?
A. Because I like it. Otherwise I couldn't make anything.

Interesting blog post, though. I wonder if the writer really understands that aiming to ignore creativity in the name of being 'successful' in the marketplace is anathema to the fundamentals of the doujin game community--

Quote from: Interview in Swedish Player1 Magazine
P1: What do you think is the most honourable part of making doujin games?
Z: To be able to create everything, from planning, graphics, programming, cover and music - everything! And that you then can sell it to the players. I find a great pride in experiencing game creation to 100 percent.

... which takes pride in creating and bringing together gamers and designers-- not aiming for profit.

Bias Bus

  • It's unpleasent
  • *
  • if you're better than me
I used to read this blog, and his views on creativity are a little different than most. He mostly writes about video games, but what he says about creativity could be applied to any medium.

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/email-regarding-your-stance-on-creativity/
A lot of this rubs me the wrong way.

I can understand where this is coming from when it mentions the audience matters and all that. What really seems to gripe me is the fact that people, like me, who want to create their own little worlds and settings should stop trying because being creative is apparently a bad thing and that being creative always leads to disaster and misfortune.

I can guess that the reason this bakes my beans so much is because I like doing things to my own beat of the drum without having to 'pander' to anyone's needs. To me creativity is my freedom and what this guy is saying is that I should give up my freedom because it will lead to bad things.

On the other hand, it does make me wonder if this may be the reason as to why I'm so under the radar from a writer/artist standpoint. Do I have to give up my freedom to be popular? Do I have to ditch the one thing I love about myself in order to cater to the tastes of others? If that's the case, then I'm not sure if I really want to continue writing then. I may be dipping itno his 'vain modern artist' trope but, god dammit, I like being able to create things from my imagination.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2011, 11:42:36 AM by Touji Suwagata »
No Math Zone - Tumblr (slight nsfw) | Legend of a Hot-Blooded Pig

"The only guy you know to draw fat Touhous." - Erebus

While I agree on many things he says, that guy should have tried to define 'creativity' better before going off on a rant about it. His definition of creativity is that it's the word that artists use as an excuse for bad writing; when they are asked to justify thier decisions, they give a stock reply of "oh it was my creativity", kinda like the old "it's my opinion so nothing you argue has any relevance" line. While I do agree with this view, it doesn't have much to do with actual 'creativity'.

Saying Metroid Other M is a "creative" work and Brain Age, Nintendogs, Wii Sports, and Wii Fit shows that he feels this way, but the thing is he simply has the definition wrong. Those examples of 'non-creative' things are hardly uncreative. Brain Age has a freaking floating polygonal head that talks to you and encourages you to keep solving puzzles to reduce your 'brain age', Wii sports is a game where you get to play as caricatures of yourself while wielding a remote control that captures your  actual physical motions and translates them onto the screen. If that's not creative I don't know what the hell is.

The thing is anything that you create and you made decisions for expresses your creativity. Ultimately any plotline when stripped down doesn't seem creative. Touhou is about little girls with random powers that shoot lasers, Madoka is about little girls who fight witches but turn into those witches when they get sad. There's a saying that states that there are only like 20 original plotlines or something. So what is creativity? Creativity manifests itself when you make decisions. If you and I were to write a touhou fanfic right now about Unzan, and you write about his past life as a gentle old man and I write about... this... each of our choices is a manifestation of our actual creativity. We took the same simple idea but we put our own spin on it. That's why creativity is not expressed in the general idea, but rather in the details.

Why is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic so popular in the internet? The setting is old and cheesy, the characters are targeted to little girls, the plotlines are simple and generic. But the writing is good. And why is the writing good? Because of all the attention to detail. The little things like the pacing, the general atmosphere that's girly but not overly girly (so about as much girliness as the average K-ON like moe show), the way the characters are developed such as Fluttershy's assertive personality, Celestia's extreme trolling, Pinkie Pie's inner insanity, and the occasional witty lines like "the punch got spiked", make the show. If you do a generic synopsis of the show and compare it with older version of the show, there's hardly any difference. Little ponys in Ponyville have fun with thier friends, wow so 'creative'. But when you watch them it's completely different. MLP:FiM is much more creative than it's previous iterations.

One thing I agree with him on is creativity can't come from just your head; it comes from the world around you. The world influences you, which influences your decisions, which becomes your creativity. The thing is he says this is an example of 'uncreativity' while I say that this is exactly what creativity is. On the other hand I get the feeling he's only calling them 'uncreative' for the sake of argument, but he didn't do it properly. :V


So basically it's an issue of semantics.

As usual :V :V :V

Iced Fairy

  • So like if you try to hurt alkaza
  • *
  • I will set you on fire k'?
    • Daisukima Dan Blog
I used to read this blog, and his views on creativity are a little different than most. He mostly writes about video games, but what he says about creativity could be applied to any medium.

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/email-regarding-your-stance-on-creativity/
Ah yes, the arrogant ramblings of someone who's accomplished so much, I've never heard of him before.  His claims show the very lack of research he decries and a terrible understanding of the subject matter, and the true issue he should have been confronting.  He comes off as something of a hipster's hipster, mindlessly fighting for conformity because he spends so much time with people who mindlessly fight against it.  The great irony being that he has a solid point to make in there, but his personal vendettas and insistence on giving the audience the hard body blows he thinks they want prevent him from actually articulating it.

And of course the point he should have made is blindingly obvious.  Creativity alone is not enough.  You have to do good work too.  Other M didn't suck shit because it was creative, it sucked because it was sexist, poorly written and from what I heard not that great a Metroid game (I've only watched it not played it).  In fact considering that writing sexist garbage with ham fisted metaphors is so common it would have been MORE creative to do it right.

The parts where he talks about audience and market share are arguable if your job is to make money selling shit to people, but utterly worthless and meaningless if you're just creating art for the fuck all of it like us fanfiction writers, so they can be safely discounted.

I personally advise anyone uncertain of their writing to ignore this screed and go look up something on writing fundamentals.  Or just read a good book.  That'll help you far more then this nonsense.

Edit : Suikama gave the polite version.  And probably too much credit to the fool.  I figure anyone who whines about creativity then gets creative with the meanings of words deserves a hearty dose of scorn.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2011, 03:35:14 PM by Iced Fairy »

*flop* Maaaaaaan ... I have just not had any energy for creative-writing lately.

I keep wondering if I'd be more likely to get any of my stories done if I was working with an artist to make comics.

Spaztique

  • Writer, Animator, Easy Mode Advocate
*flop* Maaaaaaan ... I have just not had any energy for creative-writing lately.

I keep wondering if I'd be more likely to get any of my stories done if I was working with an artist to make comics.

I heard you mention somewhere that you liked starting with no end or punchline in mind. Have you tried starting with the punchline and then working backwards?

A long while ago, when I used to do Garry's Mod comics, I'd write the punchlines first and spend the rest of production building up to them. People who write by the seat of their pants think this limits creativity, but during principal photography and editing, I'd often add jokes on short notice while working up to the main punchlines. The cool thing about this is that even if the jokes I add on short notice don't work, I know the main punchlines should.
Making Touhou music and actually-pretty-decent Walfas animations since 2011!

I heard you mention somewhere that you liked starting with no end or punchline in mind.
Nah, that's just with the individual Nekokayou comics. The prose stories, I kind of over-plan, not always in the right place for me to Get This Next Bit Written (there's half a dozen Hidden pages where I've sort of skipped ahead), but even then my problem is just getting the energy.

Joveus Molai

  • Bear the Word, and the Word will bear you.
  • *
I used to read this blog, and his views on creativity are a little different than most. He mostly writes about video games, but what he says about creativity could be applied to any medium.

http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/email-regarding-your-stance-on-creativity/

*I had a gigantic post all typed up and then my browser ate it. Dammit....*

The main problem that I had with this article is not the author's definition of creativity?which I admit is...curious, but oh well?but his thoughts on how research, knowledge, and understanding of how things work should interact with the creation of works.

Quote
The winners in the Theater of the Mind all tend to have one thing in common: they do everything they can to understand the world around them. They read history, literature, math, science, current news, law, all sorts of things. This allows believable stories to be told. Moby Dick could not have been written had Melville not sailed on a whaling ship three times. Shakespeare could not have written much without a solid grasp of history, law, botany, and his studies on Ovid.

What makes ?Science Fiction? possible? It would be ?science?. It was the science fiction writers studying science which allows all our Sci-Fi TV shows to be able to exist (like Star Trek). It did not emerge from any ?creativity?.
What makes ?Fantasy? possible? Tolkien could only write Lord of the Rings due to his steep academic study into ancient mythologies and societies (as well as his Catholicism).

That Moby Dick is considered to be a classic is helped by the fact that Melville did his research on (relative to him) contemporary whaling techniques. But if one were to take a class on the book itself, I am quite positive that most, if not all, of the lectures would be about things other than the factual correctness and consistency of whaling as it is portrayed by Melville, and instead would focus on things such as the depth of the characters, the symbolism of the various things found in the book, and Melville's usage of pose. I highly doubt that a literary professor would hold up Moby Dick and go, ?Behold this masterpiece by Melville! See how his description of spermacette is consistent with reality, and how the art of whale hunting is historically accurate!? A history professor might do that, but not a literature professor.

What this means is: it is not enough to simply know about the world to create a quality work. It can help you create a more detailed, consistent, and deep setting and plot without having to come up with everything and check for consistency yourself, but knowledge by itself is irrelevant and powerless, despite the old adage; it is the application of knowledge that truly brings about something great.

This, by the way, is the definition of creativity that I use, lifted from Mark Rosewater (lead designer of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game): creativity is taking what you know, believe, and understand, and creating connections where none previously existed. Star Trek draws upon (and pitilessly violates) science, particularly astrophysics, and if Gene Rodenberry knew absolutely nothing about astronomy we really might not have had Star Trek. But a pile of facts about astrophysics, extraterrestrial biology, and socialism does not equate to Star Trek, anymore than a bowl of flour, eggs, milk, sugar, and butter equates to delicious cookie. It was Rodenberry's connecting the dots between what he knew, Tolkien taking and mixing his interpretations of old myths and Christianity, that led to Star Trek and the Lord of the Rings.  It was not enough for them to simply know to create their masterpieces, but that they put it all together in unique and interesting ways that allowed them to make some of the most influential works in 20th century fiction. And doing this, this mixing and structuring and combining of ideas and facts, requires, I think, creativity and imagination.


The rest of the article, aside from the parts that seem to mostly be annoyed at people who avoid verisimilitude and implementing ideas without trying to think about whether or not it'll actually work, rests strongly on the blogger's opinion on art/creative works. This touches on a rather unclear issue; What is the Purpose of Art? And this, in turn, is connected to a long-standing question that mankind has yet to answer despite humanity's finest minds trying to tackle it for centuries: What is Art? It would be interesting if the blogger could provide a rational, concrete definition as to what indeed the purpose and nature of art is, but until that happens, I think this article safely rests in the ?Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man? category.

(Though I must admit that the author's rather...bold and steadfast belief in the uselessness of creative works if they do not sell to be rather disturbing. Judging the quality of a work based on popularity is a tricky thing at best, especially given the fact that the tastes of the general public changes with the wind. Is Classical music automatically inferior to modern music? After all, the only people who listen to Classical nowadays are hardcore fans, old people, and asian kids whose parents forced them into picking up the violin, the cello, or the flute. It certainly used to be popular, in a certain portion of the world, but not any more, outside of being used in movie soundtracks and commercials. And I sure as hell hope Mozart's not the best classical composer ever, cuz I hate Mozart--give me Rimsky-Korsakov or Bach anyday. :V Granted, I'm not especially fond of ?shouting into the emptiness?, as I call it, i.e. the act of spending a good portion of my time and energy making something that no one will ever know about or care about, but nonetheless, the idea of saying whether or not a creative work is any good based on how well it sells disturbs me. Does that mean even the best-written novel is bad if the guys marketing it fail at their jobs? Hmm.)
 
P.S: 

Quote
Like a plague, it was spread throughout the entertainment mind and is a huge reason why so much entertainment content literally sucks.

I always thought it was because what most people like and what specialists in a given medium like are radically different. :colbert:

_cf

  • playing with training wheels
  • "Touhou" is japanese for "silly hats only"
    • my Pixiv
Eh, I want to get angry at the Sean Malstrom rant on Creativity, but I see from where guy comes. The biggest issue I have with the rant is that he creates a dichotomy between doing your homework and being "creative" that simply doesn't exist. Doing research and getting to know about your subject matter should be a given if you're serious about creating, but having an entire encyclopedia of knowledge at your disposal doesn't imply you'll start writing masterworks.

Also, I can't help but parody the guy: "This allows believable stories to be told. Call of Cthulhu could not have been written had Lovecraft not sailed on small ships to R'lyeh three times."

What he says about trusting the audience imagination is brilliant, however. To put the discussion on topic, ZUN manages to do this all the time, and I actually have no idea of how he actually does it. I mean, the guy is a solid music composer and game creator, but his dialogue writing is ... quirky and ZUN-art is an acquired taste, to put it mildly. But still, there's some charm at how he does things that can't help but to capture the imaginations of a huge chunk of the fandom. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but I'm talking about things like Rumia's hair ribbon/charm or Flandre's wings, little touches of WTF that seem to be aimed directly at the audience's sense of wonder and speculation.

I don't even know if there's something intrinsic to ZUN's creations that made them into such huge successes or if it's just Japan having another bad case of fad/follow-the-leader syndrome. What I know is that the angry rant managed to make me thing about Touhou's uncanny success story.

My my~ the green introduction text hit me somewhere nice, it was excellently written :3

Quote
You have an idea for something but want the opinions of other people before starting your work?
You want to know how your fellow writer's work?
You need inspiration?
You want to discuss writing fiction in general?
You want to write something for the first time and don't know how to start?

Well some of that would be great. I'm new to this forum so still learning what is all here, so i stumbled across this.

I like to write stories, in fact i have my own (non touhou) story in progress. To add to this I have considered starting a Touhou fiction of my own.

Some opinions would be nice, but my biggest problem is I have no idea how to really start with any of my ideas. Getting to know some friendly and experienced writer's would be nice as well since I'm just a lone amateur.

Also this would be helpful but I suppose it wouldn't be neccessary to my writings, but if anyone would know of some good 'writing music', something to get you in the mood and make you feel like you're in the story yourself kind of stuff would be great.

It's nice to meet all of you and I look foward to my future experiences here.

Welcome to PSL, Sonae! Don't worry, there are lots of people here who could help you.

Also, woo newcomer to PSL woo!

Crow's Dumping Ground of Art

"So I never have to worry what tomorrow will bring, because my faith is on solid rock; I am counting on God."

Aya Squawkermaru

  • "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." - William Hearst
  • Relevant quote is relevant.
Well, Sonae, what I do is basically just wait until I have an idea, jot down a few main key elements, then just imagine how it plays out and write that down. I can't really force the creative process, so I don't write very much fanfiction, but for me just dictating the story from my mind works. Oftentimes, the story writes itself in ways I never expected. I'm working on one right now (waiting until the NWC is judged to post the first part) and it went in an entirely different direction than I was expecting it to.

Edit: Crow Cakes, has anyone ever told you that your avatar is freaking adorable? Because it's freaking adorable.

Joveus Molai

  • Bear the Word, and the Word will bear you.
  • *
It's nice to meet all of you and I look foward to my future experiences here.

Fool! Once you have entered the Madhouse, there is no escape! The howling dead shall torment you, till you forsake the world and join their countless legions!


[ruro]please don't hotlink[/ruro]

(More seriously: Welcome to Maidens of the Kaleidoscope. :V)

Quote
Some opinions would be nice, but my biggest problem is I have no idea how to really start with any of my ideas. Getting to know some friendly and experienced writer's would be nice as well since I'm just a lone amateur.

For writing stories, I find that beginning with an interesting scene, premise, or idea and building around that scene, premise, or idea helps. It's not the only way to come up with stories, of course, but it's a start.

For example, let's say that you want to write a fic about, oh, Reimu and Marisa resolving an incident. (Not the most original premise, but it's there for the sake of example.) This idea, “Reimu and Marisa resolve incident X”, is what I call the 'core', around which you build your story. You can also have a story with multiples of such 'cores'; the “Reimu and Marisa resolve incidentX” story could also be about “How Reimu and Marisa each deal with psychological issue Y”. But beware that having too many cores might make for an overly-complex and cumbersome story.

Once you've picked an appropriate number of 'cores', the broader elements of the story, such as overall plot and which characters appear when, can be filled in. Let's say that “incident X” is “Yuugi goes insane and starts wrecking Gensokyo”. This begs a number of questions:

Why does Yuugi go insane?
How does Yuugi go insane?
Who, if applicable, made Yuugi go insane?
What do Reimu and Marisa do about it?
How do Reimu and Marisa find out about Yuugi's madness?
Does anyone else get involved?

And so forth. These questions, in return, may require further questions, and those questions may require their own questions, etc. The answers to all of those questions will be the details that make your story what it will become.

Again, this is just one way of going about it. Someone else might be able to tell you a different and/or better method of coming up with a good story.

One rule of thumb I like to keep in mind for coming up with story ideas:

There is no such thing as a bad idea, only bad executions

That is; it's less important to have a “cool” and “interesting” premise than it is to be able to take that premise and make it into something interesting. One of my favorite Touhou comics, Mistress' Home Party Epic Battle, is basically about Remilia trying to hold a party at the Scarlet Devil's Mansion: not the most exciting of premises, but the way the author shows how everything goes hilariously to hell for Remilia, and how Remilia reacts to it all, makes it into one of the funniest Touhou doujins I've ever read.

Quote
Also this would be helpful but I suppose it wouldn't be neccessary to my writings, but if anyone would know of some good 'writing music', something to get you in the mood and make you feel like you're in the story yourself kind of stuff would be great.

I personally dislike listening to music while I'm writing (or, indeed, doing anything that requires concentration) as I end up being very distracted, but that's probably because of the way I listen to music. In any case, you probably want something that isn't particularly attention-grabbing. Music either without lyrics (Classical stuff) or with lyrics that you can't understand (Gregorian chant) might work, though in the former case the melody and harmony must also not be particularly interesting as well. My personal favorite music for working, if I bother to turn on music for work, in Gregorian chant. To each their own, though.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2011, 09:39:13 PM by Takakura Himaruro »

Thank you all for the welcomes! : D

Well, Sonae, what I do is basically just wait until I have an idea, jot down a few main key elements, then just imagine how it plays out and write that down. I can't really force the creative process, so I don't write very much fanfiction, but for me just dictating the story from my mind works. Oftentimes, the story writes itself in ways I never expected. I'm working on one right now (waiting until the NWC is judged to post the first part) and it went in an entirely different direction than I was expecting it to.

Hm I'm usually able to advance-ly imagine the story in my head like if it were an anime. So I just write and describe what i see in my mind really...

Quote
There is no such thing as a bad idea, only bad executions

I hope I don't mess up the execution QQ

As for ideas... -pulls out notepad and flips through- I have a simplistic list of characters that would be the main focus of the story. This list includes;
- Sakuya
- Yuyuko
- Yukari
- Letty
- Rumia
- Satori
- Hina
- Murasa
- Maribel
And that's just to name a few. I wouldn't know how unique my ideas would be, but I'd probably still want to write it even if the idea was used.

Oh also there is no people who steal ideas here right? Cause I'm sorta worried about giving out too much info about my ideas thinking someone might just drop by and steal it x:

Joveus Molai

  • Bear the Word, and the Word will bear you.
  • *
As for ideas... -pulls out notepad and flips through- I have a simplistic list of characters that would be the main focus of the story. This list includes;
- Sakuya
- Yuyuko
- Yukari
- Letty
- Rumia
- Satori
- Hina
- Murasa
- Maribel
And that's just to name a few. I wouldn't know how unique my ideas would be, but I'd probably still want to write it even if the idea was used.

By ?main focus?, do you mean ?main characters?? If so, then my immediate concern is that you may have too many characters to focus on, unless you lump them into larger groups and focus on each group as a whole instead.

Or did you mean something else?

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
Also this would be helpful but I suppose it wouldn't be neccessary to my writings, but if anyone would know of some good 'writing music', something to get you in the mood and make you feel like you're in the story yourself kind of stuff would be great.
Look up Two Steps from Hell. You won't regret it. They've got music for damn near every occasion.


Swing by our Library IRC chat sometime if you want. We don't discuss literature exclusively - meaning you're very unlikely to actually come in on a conversation about storywriting - but if you ask for advice, you WILL get it. Especially if any of the main channel OPs are on - they're all the Big Cheeses here in PSL.

If you don't have an IRC client on your comp already, we have a webchat client that you could potentially use - assuming it's not broken, which I think right now it is.
Here's your handy dandy clue link.

As for experienced writers, well, the PSL Acolyte - Sakana - or any of the Librarians can help you out, but of course there are other people who are exemplary writers as well - like Iced Fairy, the guy currently running the New Writer's Contest. If you want to pick other peoples' brains, the IRC is the best place to find them.
The NWC has closed and is undergoing judging currently, so you're a bit late to jump onto that one

Oh also there is no people who steal ideas here right? Cause I'm sorta worried about giving out too much info about my ideas thinking someone might just drop by and steal it x:
While we can't make any guarantees about that, if you report that you think someone is harvesting ideas from you and using them elsewhere, report it to the PSL Acolyte. That's what he's there for. If anything is happening, he'll get the ball rolling towards getting it taken care of.
Otherwise, the community here is normally really awesome about that sort of thing. I went ahead and posted the first arc from a novel I'm working on just to see if anyone was interested in it, and I haven't exactly found any clones of the story on the net.
Then again my story can be very loosely compared to Star Wars without a lot of effort
« Last Edit: August 12, 2011, 08:43:24 AM by Esifex »

By ?main focus?, do you mean ?main characters?? If so, then my immediate concern is that you may have too many characters to focus on, unless you lump them into larger groups and focus on each group as a whole instead.

Or did you mean something else?

Each all seperate story ideas. Usually there would be maybe 5 charas, maybe 10 at most.

I can't go on any online chats x:, my computer doesn't like them.

Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
The webchat (which isn't broken, my computer was just giving me a hard time) is a web-based browser. It isn't without glitches, though - sometimes it'll just up and stop updating, causing you to have to re-connect/refresh the page. It shouldn't be too much of an issue for any computer, really - especially since it's based in IRC. There is absolutely nothing fancy about IRC - it's been quoted as being 'multiplayer Notepad'.

Aya Squawkermaru

  • "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." - William Hearst
  • Relevant quote is relevant.
Oh yeah, I should probably try going on the PSL IRC some time. Especially since I'm writing one with a super underused character right now, and I'm not sure how well it'll work out. I'll deal with that when it isn't 1:00 A.M. though.

FinnKaenbyou

  • Formerly Roukanken
  • *
  • blub blub nya
Right, so as most of you probably know I write a lot of long stories with questionable update times. This seems to be biting me in the ass, because I think people just can't be bothered getting back into a long story that hasn't been updated for three months. Anyone here familiar with the issue, and are there any good ways around it? I've been told to try writing summaries before each update to get people just about up to speed, but that feels a little clunky...

Phlegeth

  • DPS LFG
  • Time expired: 121:45
Anyone know what to do with a writer's sphere?  You know, the exact opposite of writer's block.  I can't remember where I picked up the term but it is where you have so many ideas floating around in your head, you don't know what to do with them.  I let my mind wander way too much when coming up with stuff for the challenges or anything really.  I have three stories I've been going over in my head that have nothing to do with anything. 

And if I'm not careful I'll get an idea that would made The Stand blush, length wise.  Of course I can't write that in a week or three.  So I make edits and cut some things out.  But I still won't characters to show up and that ends up making a BLA moment.  That's solved by just not having said character show up, but I'm so weak xD.

But my worst problem is when I actually set down to write.  I get like thirty or so minutes in and my ADD kicks in or an awesome song comes on my playlist and I got to move around.  Or even worst I get impatient and want to get to a better part in my story.  And I end up doing something stupid like throwing a fight scene in the middle of leisurely stroll or skip the stroll all together.

So PSL, cure my ADD and make my fingers barf up my ideas better, please.

ふねん1

  • Scientific editor
  • If you're alive, you can always keep moving.
I have to wonder if a site like this has many people who remember Digimon World 3 (2003 for PAL players). You know, that one RPG whose level grinding system made it way longer than necessary, as well as really flat characters and plot. While the game itself certainly wouldn't attract people other than hardcore Digimon fans, I've felt for a long time that it (at least, it's story) actually had potential to be really good. I mentioned this once before in another thread, but I recently played through DW3 again to help set up my own rewrite of the game. I know, working with a basic plotline that's already laid out for me may not be the most "creative" thing out there (never mind that creativity discussion farther up the page), but the fun part for me is more working with all the little pieces I'm adding to it, hoping to go way beyond what the original game presented. I already have a few scenes written, though I'll probably hold off on posting anything until a fair portion of the story is completed.

Again, I bet a good deal of people here aren't terribly familiar with DW3, but for those who are, do any of you also think it could have been good?
"Science is more than a body of knowledge. It's a way of thinking." - Carl Sagan

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Esifex

  • Though the sun may set
  • *
  • It shall rise again
I know, working with a basic plotline that's already laid out for me may not be the most "creative" thing out there

What do you think everyone who's writing Touhou fiction is doing? So you're planning to re-tell a specific story that's been told already; so? By your word, it was a very bland story. Give it some spice. That's what writers do; they tell stories, and try to make them interesting enough to keep peoples' attention.

Alfred F. Jones

  • Estamos orgullosos del Batall?n Lincoln
  • *
  • y de la lucha que hizo por Madrid
Right, so as most of you probably know I write a lot of long stories with questionable update times. This seems to be biting me in the ass, because I think people just can't be bothered getting back into a long story that hasn't been updated for three months. Anyone here familiar with the issue, and are there any good ways around it? I've been told to try writing summaries before each update to get people just about up to speed, but that feels a little clunky...
I'm familiar with the issue, of course. I just never thought this was a problem, or cared much. Maybe it's a disdainful approach, though. Whenever I lose track of a story by the time it updates, I just go back to re-read it. Generally I'm quite happy to do so, since merely abandoning a story is far too common, so I put in the effort for my favourite writers.

Anyone know what to do with a writer's sphere?  You know, the exact opposite of writer's block.  I can't remember where I picked up the term but it is where you have so many ideas floating around in your head, you don't know what to do with them.  I let my mind wander way too much when coming up with stuff for the challenges or anything really.  I have three stories I've been going over in my head that have nothing to do with anything. 
When that happens, I open up a .doc file for them and write them down. For me, I have Chireiden.doc (which is White Rose) and Chireiden_extras.doc, which is not actually extras for White Rose all the time-- I just throw other miscellaneous story ideas in there that float around in my head. A blank screen is intimidating to me, so even if the stories have nothing to do with each other, simply having them there gives me the confidence to write them down. And who knows? They might actually find a home in my main story someday.

Quote
But my worst problem is when I actually set down to write.  I get like thirty or so minutes in and my ADD kicks in or an awesome song comes on my playlist and I got to move around.  Or even worst I get impatient and want to get to a better part in my story.  And I end up doing something stupid like throwing a fight scene in the middle of leisurely stroll or skip the stroll all together.

So PSL, cure my ADD and make my fingers barf up my ideas better, please.
There's really nothing to be done here but discipline. There are no tricks or rewards programs you can give yourself that won't wear off after a while. Self-control is the only advice I have to offer here-- just sit down, grit your teeth, and do it. And if you get distracted, then you get distracted. And your story never gets written. There's no in-between.