2124 réponses à ce sujet

[Kat Tiki]

RagingCyclone wrote...

Approach the word limit like an old professor of mine said, you have so much time (word count) to make your point, and if you cannot make it that time (word count) then you cannot make your point. Check your phrasing to see if one word can eliminate the use of three or four. Like as an example "the warrior shifted his weight on his left foot and spun his sword around him" to perhaps something like "the warrior pivoted to his left swinging his sword"...both make the same statement but the second with less word usage. Hope this helps, anyway.

That's good advice.  And precisely what I ended up doing.  Can you believe I cut from over 4000 words to 2500?  Amazing.

I also kept repeating something from an old English class of mine: each sentence in a short story should contribute to the point.  Anything that seemed to be off on a tangent got the snip, snip treatment.

[Kittnami]

Still waiting for word on author's notes. And I completely agree with Kat Tiki on the editing. It does kinda feel like you're tearing away peices of yourself and the story...but I also agree with RagingCyclone. Think if you were talking to someone who only had so much time...you wouldn't want to get half way through only to have them leave.

[Jessica Merizan]

The word limit is precisely why the BioWare writers always claim our awesome editors murder their "word babies". Just something professional writers have to learn to accept.

Any form of "English" is fine as long as it is consistent. I only mentioned it so that other countries knew they could participate as long as they didn't submit something I wouldn't be able to read

@Kittnami - Unfortunately I can't read more than 2500 words because it wouldn't be fair to other entrants. Feel free to resubmit if you need to.

I will try and respond directly to everyone who entered but it's going to take quite some time just to read the entries! We'll do what we can, however. Thanks again for entering and for the feedback regarding the contest! We're always looking for new ways to interact with the community so your feedback and suggestions are important.

[JRain]

Excellent, thank you for the speedy reply.

And to jump into the other discussion, word limits are a good way to... well... limit short stories and often times keep them short. As someone else said previously, if you can't make your point in a given number of words, then you either need to cut things that don't directly back up your point, or change your point. And the parameters of the contest tell us to write a story from a mage or templar's POV in 2500 words or less.

I easily could have gone on for 2500-5000 or more (I did NaNoWriMo this year and validated with 73k by the end of November 30th, and the story still has about 10k to go to be officially complete), but the challenge specifically says 2500 or less. And sometimes, editing and cutting, and honing the writing with surgical precision, is as rewarding as telling a longer story just because you think it should be longer.

And there I go again. Writing excites me

[Eliina Bright]

Just two quick questions:
1. Can anyone sum up the end of DA:Asunder, since i wont get it in time for the competetion deadline and im wondering if it changes the epilogue we saw in DA2 with the Schism between mages and templars ...

2. Also ''to be in keeping with the Dragon Age Universe" - would it be possible to create our own place for our character to be - say like an island off of Ferelden and not get penalised for it ? or do the characters have to be situated in a place we have come across in the gameplay??

Please if anyone can help me out here asap i'd be

[biomar]

Eliina Bright wrote...

2. Also ''to be in keeping with the Dragon Age Universe" - would it be possible to create our own place for our character to be - say like an island off of Ferelden and not get penalised for it ? or do the characters have to be situated in a place we have come across in the gameplay??
 

My story is set in a village that is too small and insignificant to appear on the map or have a name. I assumed that's ok because . . . well, I don't see why not. But creating a new island? To be safe, I'd make the island far enough offshore so that it's cut off the map as we know it to explain why it hasn't appeared on a map.

Modifié par biomar, 03 janvier 2012 - 11:51 .

[Eliina Bright]

biomar wrote...

Eliina Bright wrote...

2. Also ''to be in keeping with the Dragon Age Universe" - would it be possible to create our own place for our character to be - say like an island off of Ferelden and not get penalised for it ? or do the characters have to be situated in a place we have come across in the gameplay??
 

My story is set in a village that is too small and insignificant to appear on the map or have a name. I assumed that's ok because . . . well, I don't see why not. But creating a new island? To be safe, I'd make the island far enough offshore so that it's cut off the map as we know it to explain why it hasn't appeared on a map.

hmm yeah thats a good idea - i hope we can get away with that  or im getting in over my head lol

[Izana]

There is a question I have for the understanding of & respect for the Intellectual Property. According to DA2, there are only 2 Circles in the Free Marches, but another source that is quite reliable claims that there is a third one in the city of Ostwick that lies east of Kirkwall. In my written work, many mages come from there. But I'm unable to tell which one of them is true.

The question is; Is it acceptable?

This fact is not critical to the story and if it’s not acceptable, it can be edited.

Modifié par Izana, 03 janvier 2012 - 06:07 .

[RagingCyclone]

Kat Tiki wrote...

RagingCyclone wrote...

Approach the word limit like an old professor of mine said, you have so much time (word count) to make your point, and if you cannot make it that time (word count) then you cannot make your point. Check your phrasing to see if one word can eliminate the use of three or four. Like as an example "the warrior shifted his weight on his left foot and spun his sword around him" to perhaps something like "the warrior pivoted to his left swinging his sword"...both make the same statement but the second with less word usage. Hope this helps, anyway.

That's good advice.  And precisely what I ended up doing.  Can you believe I cut from over 4000 words to 2500?  Amazing.

I also kept repeating something from an old English class of mine: each sentence in a short story should contribute to the point.  Anything that seemed to be off on a tangent got the snip, snip treatment.

Glad it helped. That old professor always stressed "pacing over word count" in that if the pacing of a story is thrown off by too much description because of a need to reach a certain word count then the overall story suffers. He said a lot of times, and I agree, that the need for a certain word count often takes a great story down to a good story. It's why I have never looked at word counts. Sometimes (not always I will admit) a shorter story is better than a longer one. Sometimes getting bogged down in the details of the person or the surroundings can actually make the reader forget the point of the story, so these word count limits are actually good exercise...at least that's how I see it.

[OdanUrr]

If it's within the 2,500 words' limit, can we include an epilogue?

[Kittnami]

OdanUrr wrote...

If it's within the 2,500 words' limit, can we include an epilogue?

I'm almost positive, especially after bioware's last answer post, that epilougue/prologue/author note, etc...is fine as long as it stays in the word count.

[Fortlowe]

RagingCyclone wrote...

Kat Tiki wrote...

RagingCyclone wrote...

Approach the word limit like an old professor of mine said, you have so much time (word count) to make your point, and if you cannot make it that time (word count) then you cannot make your point. Check your phrasing to see if one word can eliminate the use of three or four. Like as an example "the warrior shifted his weight on his left foot and spun his sword around him" to perhaps something like "the warrior pivoted to his left swinging his sword"...both make the same statement but the second with less word usage. Hope this helps, anyway.

That's good advice.  And precisely what I ended up doing.  Can you believe I cut from over 4000 words to 2500?  Amazing.

I also kept repeating something from an old English class of mine: each sentence in a short story should contribute to the point.  Anything that seemed to be off on a tangent got the snip, snip treatment.

Glad it helped. That old professor always stressed "pacing over word count" in that if the pacing of a story is thrown off by too much description because of a need to reach a certain word count then the overall story suffers. He said a lot of times, and I agree, that the need for a certain word count often takes a great story down to a good story. It's why I have never looked at word counts. Sometimes (not always I will admit) a shorter story is better than a longer one. Sometimes getting bogged down in the details of the person or the surroundings can actually make the reader forget the point of the story, so these word count limits are actually good exercise...at least that's how I see it.

This was the first tme I've done a story with an upper limit. I have to admit, it forced me to keep strictly to the story. I ommited entire scenes and themes that I might have included otherwise. This turned out not to be a bad thing. The word limit made me stay focused on just telling the story without fawning over it. Refreshing.

Modifié par Fortlowe, 04 janvier 2012 - 06:47 .

[TheChris92]

An interesting idea for a contest, I think I might give it a shot.

[Lord Methrid]

Surprisingly, by removing my screenplay-like introduction I managed to save the juicy details of my story! With that in mind I believe I have completed my entry. I shall review it once more during tomorrow's sunset before turning it in.

Modifié par Lord Methrid, 04 janvier 2012 - 10:04 .

[Corker]

RagingCyclone wrote...
Sometimes (not always I will admit) a shorter story is better than a longer one.

*crosses fingers*  C'mon, shorties!

(My word count for this was just shy of 1K.  )

[Maria13]

Ha... First attempt, too complex = too long.

Second attempt same story different perspective... Seems to be going better.

[Ninebits]

I'm really pleased for a chance to work on a challenge like this. Thanks, Bioware.

In some ways, I also appreciated the fact that the limit was only 2.5k words. I know that if the count was 10k - 25k, I probably would have passed this up -- not because the length is daunting, but because I know it can be hard to work that into a schedule when you have the holidays, start of the year, lots of projects in the office, etc. By keeping it short, the limit actually made it more enjoyable because there was less pressure to try and fit this challenge into an already busy timeframe. It remained fun -- not stressful. Thanks!

[Sandtigress]

Corker wrote...

RagingCyclone wrote...
Sometimes (not always I will admit) a shorter story is better than a longer one.

*crosses fingers*  C'mon, shorties!

(My word count for this was just shy of 1K.  )

Bah, you think that's short?  Right about 600.    And that was chopped down from what it originally was!

[Tryynity]

I was browsing through all the snippets and synopsises - and there is yet more to come.

I hope Jessica has help in reading them all through, or at the very least she REALLY likes reading.

I am curious whose idea this was and if they thought there would be that many entries LOL

Spare a thought for all the teachers/professors who do this kinda thing for a living - and they have to mark each submission also.

[Sandtigress]

Tryynity wrote...
Spare a thought for all the teachers/professors who do this kinda thing for a living - and they have to mark each submission also.

*raises her hand*  

Though not English, thankfully!

[Tryynity]

I was always kind to my teachers - I never submitted homework or assignments LOL

[JRain]

Tryynity wrote...
Spare a thought for all the teachers/professors who do this kinda thing for a living - and they have to mark each submission also.

Yep, I have 30 short stories and 100 essays coming in this week... luckily I got my entry done early!  If I hadn't submitted it before I went back to work after vacation, I don't think I'd have gotten to it.  Oh grading... how you love to ruin my life

[Lord Methrid]

Phew! That was fun, can't wait for another Dragon Age story contest! Good luck everybody!

[coderkitten]

I sent mine in last night. It's been a while since I written any fan pieces, but to make up for it I've read quite a few!

[HBC Dresden]

Jessica Merizan wrote...

The word limit is precisely why the BioWare writers always claim our awesome editors murder their "word babies". Just something professional writers have to learn to accept.

Any form of "English" is fine as long as it is consistent. I only mentioned it so that other countries knew they could participate as long as they didn't submit something I wouldn't be able to read

@Kittnami - Unfortunately I can't read more than 2500 words because it wouldn't be fair to other entrants. Feel free to resubmit if you need to.

I will try and respond directly to everyone who entered but it's going to take quite some time just to read the entries! We'll do what we can, however. Thanks again for entering and for the feedback regarding the contest! We're always looking for new ways to interact with the community so your feedback and suggestions are important.

Ahhhhh word babies, or as I was taught "darlings." The only thing William Faulkner wrote that I actually liked.