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[Sable Rhapsody]

Yello Afro wrote...

So...I'm new here (obviously) but I've read some of the fic here and I'm blown away. You guys have some serious talent. It's kind of intimidating, honestly.

Anyway, I've got this annoying plot bunny that just won't leave me alone and thought I might as well post it here.

It's Ferelden, only a few months after the Hero has ended the fifth blight. A young noble by the name of Jace Sherrad doesn't want to get married off to a "suitable wife", so he grabs his mage friend Coron and runs for it. He's on his way to pick up his true love Eliza when...odd things happen.

I've got a basic outline written up, and I know all the characters I want to use. They're all new, cannon characters will only make brief cameos, which seems to be rare in DA fanfic. But meh. Hopefully I'll have a half decent first chapter up soon...ish.

I could go for seeing characters other than the canon.  I love Mass Effect OCs, though I am apparently fail at doing them for Dragon Age.

[Sialater]

I have a DA:O OC that I have no clue what to do with.

[jackkel dragon]

Well, it turns out I still suck at writing action scenes. ;P

Aside from my 4-part story becoming a 6-part story due to a plot twist even *I* didn't see coming, I'm really stumped how I'm going to write the delayed climax, which obviously has to be a fight scene.

Does anyone have any hints or tips for action scenes?

[LupusYondergirl]

I write in first or very very close third POV for most action scenes. (well, for most anything).
It's near-impossible to write a full battle and describe everything going on without it coming across as a clusterf*ck of epic proportions. I mean, twenty sentences to describe ten minutes of action is a bit much, IMO, But if you focus on one person, and occasionally give glimpses of what they're seeing, you can give the impression of a large, chaotic battle.
And don't just focus on what they're doing. Not all hack, slash, spell, smash. Since, well, dull. There's going to be the smell of blood in the air, maybe poison and burnt flesh. The feeling of, say, a lightning spell cast nearby making their hair stand on end. The pain of a minor injury. The fear of seeing someone fall and not being able to check on them. The sounds of people screaming in anger or pain, or the sounds of the weapons themselves. All sorts of things going on.

I'm also fond of including dialogue in battle scenes, between characters that are friends. Not, like, soul-bearing or anything. Just "nice of you to join us," or "can you stop dragging me along for these?" Little things like that. I might also have characters do things that demonstrate their feelings for each other or temperament. I had a short where Nathaniel got injured and, while he was being healed, Sigrun just circled him, fending off any darkspawn that got too close. (In that fic universe they were A Thing). Or, on the less stable side of the fence, in one chapter when Anders was seriously hurt Maggie went off all kamikaze death wish and nearly got herself killed in response, since she totally is that sort of loon.

Now... if that's good advice or not would depend on if you like how I write action scenes.

[Esbatty]

jackkel dragon wrote...

Well, it turns out I still suck at writing action scenes. ;P

Aside from my 4-part story becoming a 6-part story due to a plot twist even *I* didn't see coming, I'm really stumped how I'm going to write the delayed climax, which obviously has to be a fight scene.

Does anyone have any hints or tips for action scenes?

I like to pretend I'm watching the skirmishes just like in the Normandy beach opening to "Saving Private Ryan", especially if its a multi-man melee. Sort of just flit from moment to moment showing the best-worst of the "action".

[Sable Rhapsody]

Anyone else find themselves just writing really depressing stuff for DA2? Between the goodbyes and the Sebastian death and the general WAAAH of my recent plot bunnies, there hasn't been much room for fluff

[Maria Caliban]

Present tense.

I've noticed some people write in present tense and am unsure how to react. Would it be rude to leave a message suggesting they keep their stories and writing in past tense unless they have a good reason to switch tenses?

[SurelyForth]

Maria Caliban wrote...

Present tense.

I've noticed some people write in present tense and am unsure how to react. Would it be rude to leave a message suggesting they keep their stories and writing in past tense unless they have a good reason to switch tenses?

It depends on the author and how you phrase it. If you tell them that you like their writing/story but find the present tense too distracting, inconsistent or poorly done, then I would file that under helpful. A simple "stop it with the present tense already, you pretentious jerk" would probably not land so well. And some writers would interpret the former as the latter no matter what.

That being said, my DA 2 fic is in present tense. My Origins fic is in past tense with some present tense chapters (mostly because I'm writing flashbacks within action). After trying it both ways, I went with present for the new story simply because it flows better for me and there are so many other off-putting things about my writing that I figured one more wouldn't hurt.

[Elysium-Fic]

Sable Rhapsody wrote...

Anyone else find themselves just writing really depressing stuff for DA2? Between the goodbyes and the Sebastian death and the general WAAAH of my recent plot bunnies, there hasn't been much room for fluff

I had to put my nearly-completed DAO crackfic smut series on indefinite hold until I could get my head sorted out after playing DA2 the first time, or the denouement for that series was going to devolve into "fic to slit your wrists by."

Not even dark. More like maudlin. Even my beloved betas were like, "Umm... yeahhhh... I never say this, but you might wanna consider throwing this out and starting completely over."

Modifié par Elysium-Fic, 08 avril 2011 - 10:55 .

[Elysium-Fic]

Maria Caliban wrote...

Present tense.

I've noticed some people write in present tense and am unsure how to react. Would it be rude to leave a message suggesting they keep their stories and writing in past tense unless they have a good reason to switch tenses?

It's a stylistic choice in the part of the author, and I would think it should be respected. Just because it doesn't work for one reader doesn't mean its a bad choice.

My one and only DA2 drabble was in present tense because that was just how the character voice and situation "spoke" to me. If I decide to expand that drabble into a series, I will likely keep it in present tense, because it just seems to work for the narrative, and also because after writing a very long series in past tense, I feel the need to try out some new narrative approaches.

[thebrute7]

Maria Caliban wrote...

Present tense.

I've noticed some people write in present tense and am unsure how to react. Would it be rude to leave a message suggesting they keep their stories and writing in past tense unless they have a good reason to switch tenses?

I feel like any tense of writing is fine as long as they stay in that tense.  When authors start switching tenses it confuses the reader in my experience.  I feel past tense is easier to read and write, but some people write present really well.  I think it is just a matter of consistency.

[Suaine]

Maria Caliban wrote...

Present tense.

I've noticed some people write in present tense and am unsure how to react. Would it be rude to leave a message suggesting they keep their stories and writing in past tense unless they have a good reason to switch tenses?

I don't know that "I wanted to" isn't enough of a good reason to write in present tense. I'd class tense into the same level of stylistic choice as POV. Maybe it's a little off-putting, and some choices can be harder to do well than others (say, future tense and 2nd person POV?) but it is the authors choice.

I write both present and past tense (always one, though, not mix-and-match) as the story requires. I've actually written a 50k word Merlin fic in present tense once and it was the best writing I'd ever done. There's really no hard and fast rule that makes writing past tense the law of the land.

[Sable Rhapsody]

Elysium-Fic wrote...
I had to put my nearly-completed DAO crackfic smut series on indefinite hold until I could get my head sorted out after playing DA2 the first time, or the denourment for that series was going to devolve into "fic to slit your wrists by."

LOL.  Yeah...DA2 tends to produce that reaction.  GODDAMNIT ANDERS.

[Aeryn-Sun]

thebrute7 wrote...

Maria Caliban wrote...

Present tense.

I've noticed some people write in present tense and am unsure how to react. Would it be rude to leave a message suggesting they keep their stories and writing in past tense unless they have a good reason to switch tenses?

I feel like any tense of writing is fine as long as they stay in that tense.  When authors start switching tenses it confuses the reader in my experience.  I feel past tense is easier to read and write, but some people write present really well.  I think it is just a matter of consistency.

This is pretty much how I feel as well.  I very much prefer past tense, both writing and reading, but there are a few writers who blow me away with their present tense stuff, and I don't think it would have anywhere near the same impact if it were past tense. I've tried it a grand total of one time, and it went over fairly well, but it still has a lot of flaws and it just isn't a strength for me. It was an interesting exercise, though, to attempt something outside my comfort zone.

[lizzbee]

Maria Caliban wrote...

Present tense.

I've noticed some people write in present tense and am unsure how to react. Would it be rude to leave a message suggesting they keep their stories and writing in past tense unless they have a good reason to switch tenses?

Honestly, yes it would, unless the author has made consistency errors in tense usage. In that case, gently pointing out errors can be very helpful.  Otherwise, though, you're arguing nothing more than stylistic preferences.  If that author's style and yours don't mesh, perhaps it's best not to read their output.

I usually write past-tense, but a couple of Fenris thingies I've written really demanded the present.  He strikes me as being a very immediate, in the moment sort of character, since he doesn't remember much of his past.  I can tell you, though, it's been damned hard to switch back to the past tense with him with what I'm currently writing.  I've caught a couple of slip-ups into the present, and it's been driving me nuts

[lizzbee]

Sable Rhapsody wrote...

Anyone else find themselves just writing really depressing stuff for DA2? Between the goodbyes and the Sebastian death and the general WAAAH of my recent plot bunnies, there hasn't been much room for fluff

My Hawke is having some seriously emo moments now, dealing with Bethany and the Circle.   So much for the semi-fluff I wanted to shove into this current thingie.

[Rhys1984]

I'm writing one with a combination of Morrigan and Hawke as children, the Hawke family is arriving by carraige in their new home of Lothering when a small girl steals one of the rich women's on the carraige mirror. A young male mage Hawke goes in search of the mysterious golden eyed child and hijinks ensue.

[jackkel dragon]

@Rhys: That actually sounds like a cool idea. I completely forgot about the stolen mirror...

[LupusYondergirl]

Ffnet seems to be acting up again. I got four reviews early this afternoon (it's about 11 pm where I am now) that still haven't shown up, and nothing since (which makes me wonder if leaving reviews or notifications of them are screwed up, too, since I just posted last night and would normally have gotten more by now)

[inquartata02]

Every update alert I've gotten for the latter half of today has pointed to URLs where FFn insists the chapter doesn't exist. *sigh*

[Aeryn-Sun]

LupusYondergirl wrote...

Ffnet seems to be acting up again. I got four reviews early this afternoon (it's about 11 pm where I am now) that still haven't shown up, and nothing since (which makes me wonder if leaving reviews or notifications of them are screwed up, too, since I just posted last night and would normally have gotten more by now)

I added a new chapter and the link isn't working, and now it's to the point where I can't even sign in. Frustrating. <_<

[LupusYondergirl]

AWESOME! *tosses glitter*
Good to see my "post update, server crash" pattern has remained from DAO to DA2.

Yeaaah. I really am glad AO3 beefed up their servers. Something tells me they're going to need them.

[Elysium-Fic]

I can't actually sign in to ff.net--I get an error page whenever I click "log in"--which will be interesting when it's time to post my next chapter of Elysium tomorrow.

[Tasmen]

LupusYondergirl wrote...

Ffnet seems to be acting up again. I got four reviews early this afternoon (it's about 11 pm where I am now) that still haven't shown up, and nothing since (which makes me wonder if leaving reviews or notifications of them are screwed up, too, since I just posted last night and would normally have gotten more by now)

I've noticed similar things with the review alerts I'm getting today.   I suppose it's too much to hope that they continue to work.

I really wish that AO3 would start adding some of the features found on ffnet like stats, etc.   Might make it easier to convince others to post their stories over there.

[LupusYondergirl]

I can't sign in, either. I tried to reply to a review earlier and it wouldn't let me.

AO3 did just add author alerts, and I think story alerts will be very soon, so they're slowly coming along.