973 réponses à ce sujet

[The Sarendoctrinator]

Bethadots wrote...

I think the most important thing to bear in mind though is what he says at the beginning about not worrying about such things in the first draft. "Stopping your first draft to wrestle with sentence structure kills momentum and may plunge you into the chill waters of self-doubt and frustration." This is definitely stuff to worry about once you get to the editing stage!

This is exactly what I do, all the time. But I am in the editing stage right now, so I'm not sure how that can be helped.

I normally try to make everything perfect the first time around though. Then at least if it's near-perfect, I won't look back on it later and think, "How am I ever going to fix this?" I always try to put out my best work, and when I can't, I guess that means I'm not getting much work done at all. If only I knew how to force out my best work every day, without needing to be inspired first. I have the same problem that some of you guys do, staring at my writing for a long time but nothing happens. Somehow, I managed to force-write for the Asunder competition... but the amount of work was much, much smaller than what I have to finish now (a full-length novel, compared to my Asunder entry, which was five pages).

[rolson00]

hey made some changes  to my mass effect story and added a but more made some parts make more sense here
feed back welcomed

Modifié par rolson00, 21 février 2012 - 11:57 .

[TEWR]

Greetings fellow writers!

I've got a couple questions that pertain to the Dwarven lore of Dragon Age.

1) Who came first? Caridin or Paragon Aeducan? As in, did Caridin create the Golems -- and eventually vanish along with the art of making them -- before Aeducan saved Orzammar? Or did Aeducan save Orzammar and the Golems came afterwards, to which they eventually disappeared?

2) If I want to emulate Hespith's poetic style for a codex entry -- I started to give little codexes at the end of each chapter starting on chapter 14 -- what would be the best way to do so?

and one that deals with just my stories

3) You guys do concrit correct?

Modifié par The Ethereal Writer Redux, 22 février 2012 - 06:18 .

[Klidi]

1) I always thought they were more-less contemporary. I see Aeducan doing something similar as PC - uniting the land, gathering forces, making political and strategic decissions. Perhaps he asked Caridin to invent a weapon against the darkspawn and he invented golems. Golems survived longer than Aeducan, I think there was a codex somewhere about it - the dwarves wanted to find Caridin, but all golems and dwarves that were sent on the mission were lost.

As for concrit - yes, we do concrit. But to keep it fair, we do concrit only for one story per week, randomly chosen from the stories on the list. Check the first page for more details.

[rolson00]

Heya me again does anyone know if bioware has said what Andraste looks like? or am i free to make it up myself? i would prefer to stay as close to biowares version tho
i have also finished the prologue to my short story Dragon Age Templars Dawn

thanks

Modifié par rolson00, 22 février 2012 - 12:47 .

[Sialater]

They've never said. The only description we have is that Anders stares up at her statue in Awakening and announces she was quite the looker.

So... canonically, The Maker's Bride's pretty? Or at least pretty enough to make pre-Justice Anders drool over her statue.

[BevH]

Sialater wrote...

They've never said. The only description we have is that Anders stares up at her statue in Awakening and announces she was quite the looker.

So... canonically, The Maker's Bride's pretty? Or at least pretty enough to make pre-Justice Anders drool over her statue.

Alistair makes a similar comment about a statue of Andraste. But he also wonders if she really looked like that, so who knows?

[Corker]

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

Greetings fellow writers!

I've got a couple questions that pertain to the Dwarven lore of Dragon Age.

1) Who came first? Caridin or Paragon Aeducan? As in, did Caridin create the Golems -- and eventually vanish along with the art of making them -- before Aeducan saved Orzammar? Or did Aeducan save Orzammar and the Golems came afterwards, to which they eventually disappeared?

2) If I want to emulate Hespith's poetic style for a codex entry -- I started to give little codexes at the end of each chapter starting on chapter 14 -- what would be the best way to do so?

and one that deals with just my stories

3) You guys do concrit correct?

1) According to the wiki, both lived during the First Blight.  However, the First Blight lasted 200 years.  Let's see... the House Aeducan codex mentions that the first Blight caught Orzammar in the middle of an internal crisis, so... that puts Aeducan at the start of it.  Caridin's wiki page says he worked during the "darkest days" of the first Blight; I don't know if that's taken from in-game dialogue or what, or when exactly it is, although I'd guess about 100 years later (the Grey Wardens are formed 90 years after the start of the Blight and at least humanity starts to gain ground against the darkspawn after that).

2) Hespith's meter and rhyme are a little loose in places, but it goes:

STRONG weak weak STRONG-A, (weak) STRONG weak weak STRONG-A
where the STRONG-As rhyme

FIRST day they COME, (and) KILL ev-ery-ONE
SEC(ond) day they BEAT (us and) EAT some for MEAT  (bonus internal rhyme on EAT!)
THIRD day the MEN (are all) GNAWED on a-GAIN

etc

It's harder than it looks to write very short, rhymed lines like that which also convey meaning.  I often use Rhymezone.com and B-Rhymes to help find rhymes or near-rhymes.

3. tklivory is maintaining a list of authors who would like concrit, and presenting one a week to the group at large for focused feedback.

Modifié par Corker, 23 février 2012 - 12:54 .

[BevH]

Corker wrote...


2) Hespith's meter and rhyme are a little loose in places, but it goes:

STRONG weak weak STRONG-A, (weak) STRONG weak weak STRONG-A
where the STRONG-As rhyme

FIRST day they COME, (and) KILL ev-ery-ONE
SEC(ond) day they BEAT (us and) EAT some for MEAT  (bonus internal rhyme on EAT!)
THIRD day the MEN (are all) GNAWED on a-GAIN

etc

It's harder than it looks to write very short, rhymed lines like that which also convey meaning.  I often use Rhymezone.com and B-Rhymes to help find rhymes or near-rhymes.

The rhyme is similar to the old children's rhyme:

One, two, buckle my shoe
Three, four, shut the door
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, close the gate
Nine, ten, big fat hen

If that helps at all.

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

The Ethereal Writer Redux wrote...

Greetings fellow writers!

I've got a couple questions that pertain to the Dwarven lore of Dragon Age.

1) Who came first? Caridin or Paragon Aeducan? As in, did Caridin create the Golems -- and eventually vanish along with the art of making them -- before Aeducan saved Orzammar? Or did Aeducan save Orzammar and the Golems came afterwards, to which they eventually disappeared?

This is what we have:

800 - First Blight begins (darkspawn find Dumat)**

890 - Joining/Grey Wardens discovered.

940 - Caridin discovers Anvil of the Void and is made a Paragon.

Also a letter by Aeducan to his wife, telling of how he was wrong thinking the darkspawn numbers had gone down on the basis of the enemy's 'strategy shifting'. He saw the horde and a dragon heading for the shafts that lead topside.

One assumes the Grey Wardens are only established once Dumat appears on the surface and is repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, 'killed'.

One also assumes that Dumat, once on the surface, would never have a reason to go into the Deep Roads (and would it be as a dragon if he has to jump bodies when killed?). Thus Aeducan would have seen the archdemon only before 890, and according to his letter this would be after the most difficult leg of the attacks on Orzammar due to the bulk of the darkspawn forces going topside. Holding for that long is what got him Paragon status, and he considered it a 'defeat' because he knew the darkspawn hadn't been beaten, or even routed, and that they'd be back if the surface world was wiped out.

Finally, Aeducan had command of all the armies and could bypass the Assembly at will. But in Caridin's day, the golems (Iron Legion) and Warrior Caste were commanded by King Valtor. This suggests Aeducan had either died by 940, or was no longer in command. Also keep in mind that by 940 the dwarves were willing to sell golems as much as use them to retake parts of the Deep Roads, so they mustn't have been desperately trying to protect Orzammar by that point, even though the Blight wouldn't end for almost another 60 years.

**Upon reflection, it's odd that the First Darkspawn would be created and locate an Old God in the same year, much less amass a force capable of sweeping through the Deep Roads. From Aeducan's letter I'm tempted to believe that the darkspawn assaults began in before Dumat was found, and the siege on Orzammar breaks only when the archdemon took over the hivemind. He explicitly mentions in his letter that the enemy seemingly had no strategy when attacking the Deep Roads, and only ravaged everything in their paths. But it changed when the archdemon rose to lead them.

Modifié par Shadow of Light Dragon, 23 février 2012 - 07:38 .

[Bethadots]

Everyone's gone quiet... what are we all working on?

[Corker]

Chapter Four of The Demon Queen of Kirkwall. It's not going smoothly.

1. There's a lot of violent emotion, which isn't a strong point of mine. Worse, despite the circumstances, several of the characters really really want to ask some questions. Which plops an infodump in about the worst tonal place.

2. Oh god, the infodump. This is the third chapter in which the main characters are trying to figure out what happened to the Sabrae clan on Sundermount, which everyone who's played DA2 probably already knows. That was bad enough, but then Anders gets dragged into it, and now I have to infodump on him and Justice. I'm trying to do it as expeditiously as possible, because I don't see how I can entirely avoid it without the characters being idiots. It still feels stilted.

Then I have guilt over not working on poor 'Age of Dragons' (DA2/King Arthur mashup) on the backburner, and am floating various ideas for my next Broken Dolls piece (DA2 angsty smut) while trying to not get too excited about one of them, because I need to finish some things first.

Modifié par Corker, 24 février 2012 - 06:44 .

[Rinshikai]

Is this a ineffective way flushing out a character?

Using a single word that you think would represent them, and then looking at quotes that use that said word.

[Sialater]

Is it really a good way to quantify a character by using a single word?

As for what we're working on, I just updated one of my Mass Effect 2 fics (Paragon of Virtue). I'm working on the second (Loved) and third (Persephone Rising). And trying to figure out the next chapter of my DA2 fic.

[Corker]

Rinshikai wrote...

Is this a ineffective way flushing out a character?

Using a single word that you think would represent them, and then looking at quotes that use that said word.

Mm, doesn't work for me.  I just tried it with an established character and the first few dozen quotes didn't fit very well at all.

But the idea of having a quote - or several - that typifies a character isn't a bad one.  It can serve as a touchstone to remind you of the character's core, in case you wander from it (unintentionally) during writing.  (Intentionally, and then it's character development.)

But that is sort of the opposite of fleshing a character out; it's reducing them to a single principle.

There's a new RPG Robin D. Laws is working on called Hillfolk, which is meant to showcase his new DramaSystem game engine.  Games are supposed to run like episodes in a TV series, and every PC defines dramatic poles - opposing urges that push and pull at their actions.  A village headman might want what's best for his village, but also be personally ambitious.  The outsider warrior from another clan might want to cling to his old identity while also being tempted to integrate into the new clan.  The witch might want to preserve her independence and power while *cough* also longing for a real human connection and friendship.  And so on.

Working out that sort of a dichotomy might be more "fleshy" than focusing on a single element.  But - whatever works for you, works.

[Rinshikai]

thanks for the insight, I've been trying to flush out my Asunder entry character.

I see now that his role would better fit into a hermit/old wise man archetype.

Telling his story from the POV of a younger Mage appears to be the better idea.

[maxernst]

Corker wrote...

Rinshikai wrote...

Is this a ineffective way flushing out a character?

Using a single word that you think would represent them, and then looking at quotes that use that said word.

Mm, doesn't work for me.  I just tried it with an established character and the first few dozen quotes didn't fit very well at all.

It's not the way I think either, but I've noticed that Stephen R. Donaldson relies heavily on his protagonists reminding themselves of their core identity--think of Thomas Covenant (I'm a leper!), Linden Avery (I'm a doctor!), Morn Davies (I'm a cop!). 

[Corker]

maxernst wrote...

It's not the way I think either, but I've noticed that Stephen R. Donaldson relies heavily on his protagonists reminding themselves of their core identity--think of Thomas Covenant (I'm a leper!), Linden Avery (I'm a doctor!), Morn Davies (I'm a cop!). 

I haven't read Donaldson, but that reminds me of something else I got from Laws.  (He blogs a good bit about narrative structure, generally with respect to movies and RPGs, sometimes with respect to Hamlet.)

He's posited two kinds of heroes: dramatic and iconic. Oh, let me just quote the man:

Robin D. Laws wrote...
Longtime readers have already seen me rattle on about the difference between iconic and dramatic heroes. A dramatic hero follows a character arc in which he is changed by his experience of the world. Examples: Orpheus, King Lear, Ben Braddock. An iconic hero undertakes tasks (often serially) and changes the world, restoring order to it, by remaining true to his essential self. Examples: Beowulf, Sherlock Holmes, Batman.

- Laws's Livejournal

(I highly recommend clicking some of the tags to check out his other bits on iconic heroes, narrative structure, Hamlet's Hit Points, and lots of other stuff.  He's got a real knack for methodical deconstruction without losing track of artistry.)

Anyhow, it strikes me that an iconic hero would be best served by having a core quote or identity to hearken back to, and a dramatic one should have a set of core poles to be torn between/to identify the ends of their arc.

[BevH]

Corker wrote...

maxernst wrote...

It's not the way I think either, but I've noticed that Stephen R. Donaldson relies heavily on his protagonists reminding themselves of their core identity--think of Thomas Covenant (I'm a leper!), Linden Avery (I'm a doctor!), Morn Davies (I'm a cop!). 

I haven't read Donaldson, but that reminds me of something else I got from Laws.  (He blogs a good bit about narrative structure, generally with respect to movies and RPGs, sometimes with respect to Hamlet.)

He's posited two kinds of heroes: dramatic and iconic. Oh, let me just quote the man:

Robin D. Laws wrote...
Longtime readers have already seen me rattle on about the difference between iconic and dramatic heroes. A dramatic hero follows a character arc in which he is changed by his experience of the world. Examples: Orpheus, King Lear, Ben Braddock. An iconic hero undertakes tasks (often serially) and changes the world, restoring order to it, by remaining true to his essential self. Examples: Beowulf, Sherlock Holmes, Batman.

- Laws's Livejournal

(I highly recommend clicking some of the tags to check out his other bits on iconic heroes, narrative structure, Hamlet's Hit Points, and lots of other stuff.  He's got a real knack for methodical deconstruction without losing track of artistry.)

Anyhow, it strikes me that an iconic hero would be best served by having a core quote or identity to hearken back to, and a dramatic one should have a set of core poles to be torn between/to identify the ends of their arc.

This got me to thinking about the 2 main characters of DA:O and DA2: Alistair and Anders. I think I would classify Alistair as being more iconic. However, Anders, to me, is a bit harder to pin down. My initial thought is he's dramatic, but his ultimate actions would indicate iconic.

Good points to ponder while writing a story.

[Tryynity]

I have not been writing, but exploring Skyrim deeper - it has re-inspired me to continue with a game idea that has been simmering inside me for 5 years or so.

On a writing note - I have been thinking about E-books and E-book compilers.

Does one need special software to convert a Word Doc into something for say, Kindle?

In my research I did come across one handy feature - security to prevent people sharing with others your work and thus missing out on potential sales.

E-boods would also need to be funtional on a range of hardware Im guessing.

Id be keen to hear people's thoughts on this and suggestions re: software especially any freeware that is good and offers the security feature... so far the only one I know about is Acrobat 9 and I that makes me think any PDF doc may work and be sufficient.

[tklivory]

Tryynity wrote...

On a writing note - I have been thinking about E-books and E-book compilers.

Does one need special software to convert a Word Doc into something for say, Kindle?

I use Calibre for all my eBook stuff.  I love it.  It can convert books into practically anything, and it can convert books into whatever the Kindle uses.  (My dad does it all the time with pdf and such.)  It may not be able to convert Word itself directly because Word is kinda messed up for formatting (like when you try to paste Word into a blog post on BSN and it just doesn't work), but it CAN convert .RTF files, which Word can easily save files as.

Tryynity wrote...

In my research I did come across one handy feature - security to prevent people sharing with others your work and thus missing out on potential sales.

Hmmm, I don't know if Calibre can do this part, though.

Hmmm, I'll have to look for freeware options and security. Most of them are concerned with not being able to change the file, not necessarily not being able to disseminate it, per se.  Which did you mean?

Modifié par tklivory, 25 février 2012 - 06:52 .

[Tryynity]

What I meant was :- Someone buys it on Kindle, loves it (I live in hope LOL) and then shares it with 10 friends = Neg $30 in sales.

As opposed to :- Someone buys it on Kindle, loves it and tells 10 friends who have to buy it because she cannot share it (there is some kind of locking feature I dont understand yet) = + $30 in sales.

It also stops them copy and paste, taking images etc - so it protects the entire piece of work.

If no-one knows, I can ask my programmer brother who is usually up on all latest software and programming, but I prefer not to because I rarely understand his answers LOL its all tech lingo and my brain implodes.


I also like info from people that already use a product - I will start to research Calibre at least that is another lead.

It doesnt have to be free btw - just right now free is good for me, I am happy to pay once the funds are available and I am sure I am going to use it. First on the list is video/music editing software.

Edit
Acrobat 9 is $499 US I think and does all that.

Calibre looked good too except I couldnt watch the video images for some reason, but I could listen and see bits.
It looks like its free unless you wish to donate which is kinda awesome

Modifié par Tryynity, 25 février 2012 - 07:25 .

[Maria13]

On the Law's thingy: Thanks for posting this Corker.

One thing rang a bell his endorsement of the anglosaxon genitive ('s). I've been working as a translator for a year or so Spanish into English. I use an initial machine translator that segments the text and produces a rough initial translation and then I improve it. The machine just does not get 's so much of my time is spent changing "the director of the company" to "the company's director" which has made me aware of what a beautiful construction 's is. It is a major contributor to the English language's famed brevity and conciseness.