9962 réponses à ce sujet

[hot_heart]

I know the thread isn't really for this sort of thing, but I am quite pleased with how my latest chapter panned out. Especially, since it was a bit of an experiment. And, of course, a certain member here helped in reshaping it a bit, too.

[lillitheris]

Hooray for chapters! I was actually going to publish one tomorrow, but now I’m wondering if it might be better to wait a couple days after the DLC. Though if I get it out early, then it’ll be there before… Decisions.

Oh, and I still need to write most of it >.<

[hot_heart]

lillitheris wrote...
I was actually going to publish one tomorrow, but now I’m wondering if it might be better to wait a couple days after the DLC. Though if I get it out early, then it’ll be there before… Decisions.

Oh, and I still need to write most of it >.<

Pfft, details schmetails... Publish it now, I say.

[Drussius]

What DLC are we talking about? I haven't been following the news on the game itself. Too wrapped up in writing over the past few weeks. Is the first DLC for singleplayer coming out soon? Or are we talking about another multiplayer expansion?

[Mavqt]

Leviathan is the DLC coming out tomorrow.

And thanks for the descriptions.

[Drussius]

^ LOL. Yep. Just went on a hunt for info in the announcements forum and found it. But thanks for the reply anyway. Not sure if this is good news or bad. Will definitely be checking it out, but it means hours spent playing a game that will not be spent writing...

[lillitheris]

I’m going to stay away from it (e: Leviathan), I suspect it’ll take things further from what I wanted them to be…

…

@hot_heart: Thank you kindly for the mention!

Modifié par lillitheris, 27 août 2012 - 04:44 .

[hot_heart]

lillitheris wrote...
@hot_heart: Thank you kindly for the mention!

That's OK. Thanks for the help. Hope I got the description right. I kept it vague enough...

[Obsidian Gryphon]

Really? It's coming out tomorrow? ... disinterest...  I spent hours in GW2 and got a human ranger up to 20 and then managed to squeeze in a couple of paragraphs.

I guess that means the fires of fury is over for ME3 and BW. Done with, I'm moving on to other games.  

A screenie from Guild Wars 2.  Fires of Battle


PS.   I noticed I used 'over' 3 times in sequence. Awful!

Modifié par Obsidian Gryphon, 28 août 2012 - 12:03 .

[Spiritwolf1]

lillitheris wrote...

I’m going to stay away from it (e: Leviathan), I suspect it’ll take things further from what I wanted them to be…

…

@hot_heart: Thank you kindly for the mention!

I'm gona play it, been playing that Alice Madness returns and I think when they say that they mean to the player

[IliyaMoroumetz]

I'm with Lilli, gonna skip Leviathan... plus, I got more pressing needs for cash at the moment and I need as much as I can spare for school.

(Gonna be a Chef! I know that's irrelevant, but still.)

[MrStoob]

Personally going to be DL'ing Leviathan the moment it's available ^^

I'm stuck and depressed on my FF at the mo, feel like I've prematurely uploaded a couple of chapters that are a bit 'treading water'. Meh, just got so little to say about the ME2 era, apart from a few things. Getting from A to B of what I want to say isn't being friendly, I've found I'm just re-creating certain sections. Badly. lol

[Mad-Hamlet]

I do not feel comfortable skipping the DLC. It means more lore, both in codex and actual direct interaction. That can fuel creativity nicely.

Also I get to shoot stuff in the face.
Win/Win.

[enayasoul]

I have a question. Do the cyanide capsules inside in the Cerberus's operative's teeth really make their heads explode? In ME3... from the shadow broker log it says one of them did. I was thinking of more like a white foamy poison fills their mouth and chokes and dies. What I wrote anyways, does it seem logical?

<_<

Modifié par enayasoul, 28 août 2012 - 05:01 .

[Spiritwolf1]

Im not even sure about the foaming, but no their heads will not explode.

[lillitheris]

Isn’t the explodey head from the small bombs implanted in the eye/optical nerve? I think Mordin mentions it in-game, could be expanded on in the books.

[hot_heart]

enayasoul wrote...
I have a question. Do the cyanide capsules inside in the Cerberus's operative's teeth really make their heads explode? In ME3... from the shadow broker log it says one of them did. I was thinking of more like a white foamy poison fills their mouth and chokes and dies. What I wrote anyways, does it seem logical?

<_<

Yeah, the head/front of the face exploding is the ocular nerve flashbangs, which must have been taken onboard after what Mordin suggested (I guess he didn't get all the bugs in his lab).

Cyanide poisoning, done theatrically, would be how you describe it.

[AustereLemur799]

Does anyone have advice about constructive things to do when one has writer's block? I mean, I really have no excuse - I'm unemployed at the moment and have all the time in the world, and I'm failing at the one thing I should be doing.

I thought publishing would be a good incentive, but instead I feel more immobilised by pressure than I did before. I'm only producing a chapter every two weeks, and each one feels harder to sit down and write. It doesn't help that I end up forgetting much of the stuff I wrote in earlier chapters - as I'm sure my readers do too.

I've tried researching topics on the ME wiki in preparation - hoping that it will spark ideas. I've tried to read a bit too, but that kind of makes me evaluate myself more. Basically I just feel guilty about being in a slump/writer's block.

[enayasoul]

AustereLemur799 wrote...

Does anyone have advice about constructive things to do when one has writer's block? I mean, I really have no excuse - I'm unemployed at the moment and have all the time in the world, and I'm failing at the one thing I should be doing.

I thought publishing would be a good incentive, but instead I feel more immobilised by pressure than I did before. I'm only producing a chapter every two weeks, and each one feels harder to sit down and write. It doesn't help that I end up forgetting much of the stuff I wrote in earlier chapters - as I'm sure my readers do too.

I've tried researching topics on the ME wiki in preparation - hoping that it will spark ideas. I've tried to read a bit too, but that kind of makes me evaluate myself more. Basically I just feel guilty about being in a slump/writer's block.

Sounds like you've been doing all the things I'd do.  Research topics on wiki... reading and watching movies.  Taking a walk outside helps.  Even showers seems to perk my creativity when I am stuck on a scene.  

Posting a chapter every two weeks. Wow... I'm struggling with this chapter because I'm not quite sure if I'm happy with how I had written it several months back.  Revising some parts.  I couldn't produce any chapters that fast.  Usually several weeks or a month for me.

Re-reading usually helps refresh what you've written and pick up on any ideas you had in previous chapters you  may want to expand upon or what have you...

Listening to music also helps.  Reading a good book might help.   If you can't think of anything to write take a break or just write whatever comes out and don't care the technical stuff. Just write whatever.  You can change, edit it all later.

[Mavqt]

AustereLemur799 wrote...

Does anyone have advice about constructive things to do when one has writer's block? I mean, I really have no excuse - I'm unemployed at the moment and have all the time in the world, and I'm failing at the one thing I should be doing.

I thought publishing would be a good incentive, but instead I feel more immobilised by pressure than I did before. I'm only producing a chapter every two weeks, and each one feels harder to sit down and write. It doesn't help that I end up forgetting much of the stuff I wrote in earlier chapters - as I'm sure my readers do too.

I've tried researching topics on the ME wiki in preparation - hoping that it will spark ideas. I've tried to read a bit too, but that kind of makes me evaluate myself more. Basically I just feel guilty about being in a slump/writer's block.

At night when I have writer's block, I go a lay down in my back garden and just stare up at the stars, it clears my mind allowing me to think clearly. During the day, I tend to just write randomly and sometimes ideas pop into my head, good or not.

About forgetting content of your chapters, you could re-read your past chapters and make a document summerising what had happen in each.

As well as reseaching topics on ME, have you tried getting ideas from real life stories, movies, or even other games, for insperation from their sub plots, missons or charaters?

Modifié par mavqt, 28 août 2012 - 12:40 .

[AustereLemur799]

@ enayasoul

Thanks for the advice; you're right. I just tend to get easily discouraged to the point where I start questioning the worth of things.

I'm late to the fanfic party which means that I'll probably be finished writing the current instalment I'm working on sometime, oh, next year. And it's only a retelling of ME1. I have to wonder whether people will still care about the franchise or if that has anything to do with the fanfic community.

I'm not sure if people have goals when they sit down and write. I'm pretty sure I didn't. I'm the sort of person who doesn't commit to anything in real life; so I think I always had the notion in the back of my mind that my writing is just another project on the long list of things I would never see through to the end.

Sorry if that sounds kind of depressing. I've been told before that one of my biggest flaws is that I'm a perfectionist. I won't finish things because I'm scared that it will be less than perfect. Leaving things unfinished is like a safe excuse for me.

But at the end of the day, I was the one who pushed the submit button on FF.net. I really do want to see this through. I just have to get through the days when I feel like my writing is complete rubbish and should be erased forever. I haven't even come to the embarrassing part which is that I had to get my mum (of all people) to login for me and see what the response has been, because I'm too scared to see for myself.

I don't know if I write for other people or myself - or both. But for some reason I am really afraid of people judging me and what I write.

[AustereLemur799]

@ mavqt

Thanks for the tips. I think we can't help but draw on what we know. As a person who suffers from social anxiety disorders, I think I'm more aware that my life experiences to draw on are somewhat limited. For me there are differences between the 'real world' and portals like the tv or internet. I do actually rely a lot on scenes and relationships in tv programs/films even though I know, logically, that they may be distorted depictions.

Still, without digressing too much, I have taken inspiration from things like Star Trek, Stargate and the like. In fact it's quite surprising the ideas you get from random places. When I write characters I guess I even base certain elements on family members - things that are close to me, because they're really the only pool I have.

And, yeah, sorry about this. I'm not good at social interactions in general - which may be a reason for why I write. No one can see who I am behind the computer screen, right?

[lillitheris]

The discouragement trap is really insidious…any little thing seems like a personal failure, and they mount up so that at some point you stop trying for fear of another failure. If you add to that the related trap of using all your energy telling yourself what you should be doing, you never get to anything.

The only cure is to try remember that everything isn’t a failure, and that it’s OK to fail anyway.

If writing seems like a chore, you could maybe take advantage of your insecurity about your writing. Rather than really work on the story, work on little bits, excerpts, scenes, and offer them up for comments (or existing ones if you already have something down). Someone(s) nice here will probably have time to look it over and give you input on the good and the bad. You’re probably not as bad as you might fear you are, and in all cases, input is the best way to improve!

[Drussius]

I feel like I should say something just because I was in a situation similar to yours when I started my story. I have been writing for many years, but I always wrote solely for myself. My stories were shared at most with my father an one or two close friends, and most were seen solely by me. Many were never finished because the urge struck me to start something different, or because I didn't like where they were going. When I started my fanfic, at first I was honestly terrified by the idea of posting it for public viewing, and was stressing the responsibility I felt to finish the story if I started it. I'm the guy that tends to hate feeling responsible for doing something. If I feel I have to do it, it becomes a chore.

But what I wanted most out of writing my story was to get some outside feedback, to point out weak spots in my writing and to figure out which parts I'm doing well. And I got some very constructive feedback on my first few Chapters that helped me quickly adjust and clean up my writing moving forward. If you're looking to perfect your writing, publishing is the way to do it in my opinion.

Even if people point out mistakes and flaws, the trick is not to look at it as a failure, and not to get defensive about it. If you look at the things people criticize as failures, you don't improve, you get discouraged. And if you get defensive, you resent the critiques and don't absorb advice. The key is to look at your feedback with an open mind, decide if you agree, and adjust where necessary. I feel like I am a much better writer now than I was two months ago, and it's thanks to the people who were kind enough to read my work and point out my mistakes to me. It was scary at first, but after the first couple chapters' feedback, now I am eager to get each new Chapter up and see what people think.

As for the time constraints, try not to worry about that too much. My personal opinion is that when you force yourself to write when you're not in the mood, your writing suffers. If you have the urge to write, go do it. If you get bored after just two paragraphs, stop, go do something else, and come back when the mood returns. This is how I've been doing it lately, and I'm managing to churn out about 3,000 words a day, even if it's just two paragraphs here, five there, six more after dinner, three before bed, and so forth. But it wasn't always flowing so smoothly. I had a week-long period in which I wrote absolutely nothing. It happens. But no one is forcing you to update quickly. Some people update their stories once a week, once a month, some update whenever they're happy with a Chapter, even if it takes months to get it just where they want it. Heck, a fanfic I one read was being updated with a new Chapter about every six months. And I was still eager to read each new Chapter that came out.

I understand that what I'm saying is a big hurdle. As someone who suffers an anxiety disorder (though not a social anxiety version), I understand perfectly how hard it can be to get past your anxiety. Believe me, I know... But if you can approach your publishing not as a quest to exhibit perfection, but as a quest to get closer to it, publishing your story might help you a lot. I know it did me. None of us here are professional writers (that I know of). We all make mistakes in our writing. But we're all doing this for the same reason: To share a story with fans that share our passion for the ME universe, and to improve in the process.

/Long-winded comments

[Spiritwolf1]

I was read this a lil while I was half asleep and almost commented then but then , I fell back asleep.

I am with you, I am lacking self confidence much more then I should be. Like Dru for years I wrote stuff but for myself cause I never had anyone to show it to. I did a few RPG board and a PBEM or two but it was never the same as actually writing something for myself. The story I am writing now is just something that kept rolling through my head cause I didn't want Shepard to end. It was finally reading anohter fan fic, that I was inspired.

Now since starting I have been up and down. I love constructive critism although I have not gottenmuch of it. I also take what people say very personally, even if it's directed in a general way and probably not directed at me. It eats at me and I think about it and I go over and over and always make it personal to me when I know it's probably not. There has been a few times I have almost stopped writing and/or left here. There have also been a fewother things that I take too personally that have almost stopped me. (Like opening it to my sister and husband who still haven't bothered to read it, or a few others that I really want to read it who haven't)

Last chapter was almost my last because of this and other downfalls I talked myself into but then I realized one thing. Firstly, even though they were strangers, there were 3-4 regular reviewers that liked my story and secondly and most importantly, I was doing it because I loved to write and I loved the characters and I was keeping them alive. I have since tried to convince myself that I don't care, of course it will never work, but for now it is.

I guess what I am trying to say is write for yourself first then write for others cause it is way easier that way. If you find it a chore then leave for a bit, day dream some more hash it out in yourt head, then return.Write for you and your enjoyment, when I remember thats what I am doing then all the negative comments take a back seat.