9962 réponses à ce sujet

[lillitheris]

Only if it’s a one-hanar show.

[fluffywalrus]

lillitheris wrote...

Only if it’s a one-hanar show.

Definitely. One puppet per tentacle for a Blasto Blastravaganza!

Assembly REQUIRED (if no one shows up, this one would enact vengeance)

[fainmaca]

BrysonC wrote...

How do you guys force yourself to write even when your interest in a story is waning? I am determined to finish, but it's been like pulling teeth recently.

Don't think about what it's like to write now. Think about why you started. What inspired you to put down those first few words?

Hold onto that, and remember it any time that you feel yourself slowing down.

[Icyflare]

fainmaca wrote...

BrysonC wrote...

How do you guys force yourself to write even when your interest in a story is waning? I am determined to finish, but it's been like pulling teeth recently.

Don't think about what it's like to write now. Think about why you started. What inspired you to put down those first few words?

Hold onto that, and remember it any time that you feel yourself slowing down.

Excellent advice. I think BrysonC expressed what I was actually thinking when I mentioned I was getting sick of my writing. Maybe it's just that time of year where school is affecting a lot of writers' energies.

[lillitheris]

Those in school, anyway

It just happens…it would be nice to be a few chapters ahead when those slumps occur, but…

…

I’m feeling slightly conflicted about the last few chapters. I’m not quite sure why. Actually, I think I’m just feeling a little down altogether, maybe that’s it. And even the usual threads here have been kind of annoying the last few days.

Edit: I wish I had a sad scene to write, this’d probably work perfectly. Alas, no. Maybe a happy scene will make it better?

Modifié par lillitheris, 14 septembre 2012 - 09:22 .

[fainmaca]

I have to say, I reckon a lot of people have begun to slow down over the past couple of months due to the whole ME3 debacle. I know that I find my enthusiasm for the franchise drained, and the fact that its taken me several months to complete 3 chapters is quite telling on how that affects my writing. Its hard to think positively about something that ends with such a fan uproar.

But I've found my way of dealing with it. Like i said above, you need to get back into the mindset that set you off on the fanfiction path. I went back and played the Suicide Mission. I listen to From the Wreckage off the first game's soundtrack. I find that moment of intense satisfaction, hope and excitement that those closing moments of the games gave me, and that rekindles my desire to write my story. All it takes is that nod from Jack, the Shepard Smirk ™, that final fanfare of triumph, and I feel like a new author, ready to tackle the next mission in my story plan.

[Obsidian Gryphon]

My interest is waning because I'm starting to think I'm writing nonsense.   But I'll finish it nevertheless. I think it'll probbaly be fun to throw out gibberish. ME3 is so gibberishy .. no such word I know, but new words are coined every year.

[hot_heart]

I actually started writing partly because of the ME3 debacle.

I've slowed due to outside circumstances but, also, I seem to get these spells of self-doubt where I kind of wonder how I ever got so far. I'll read back over bits of earlier chapters, wondering whether I've lost some of that spark and I'm just treading water, but I'm never really sure.

Just have to press on and see what happens...

[Spiritwolf1]

How many crewmembers do you think the normandy would have?

[Terror_K]

Drussius wrote...

Hmm. I have a question I am wrestling with, but I'm hesitant to say anything here for risk of spoiling things for anyone who may be following my story... So to keep things extremely vague, has anyone ever considered changing a character's background elements that haven't been introduced yet for fear that it will spoil the good perception readers have of certain traits of that character? I had something that I planned to reveal for the Chapter I just finished writing, but in rereading it, I find myself thinking "...but what if this cheapens this character's accomplishments. Readers might say 'eh... not so impressive anymore with their past'."

Reading this, and what you've also said since, I would ask myself the simple question of, "do the readers need to know?" or even "do they need to know now?"

Personally speaking, I've "written" and worked out aspects and backgrounds and past events for characters without ever revealing certain aspects to the readers at all. Another thing I like to do with characters that get a decent amount of page-time is ask them hypothetical questions and put them in situations to see how they react to them. I found these things helps define them and sort out what makes the character tick, their strengths and weaknesses, their beliefs, etc. and the reader themselves don't always need to know. Sometimes the actions a character takes as long as they are logical and fit your character can be enough.

Some things are best to reveal later on, because they can be more of a revelation than an explanation, IMO. For example, I didn't reveal one particular aspect of the main protagonist's history of my Mass Effect fanfic until one of the very last chapters, and it was a factor that was very telling about how they got where they were and why they were like that. I don't think any readers called me on it directly prior to the release of that chapter, but it did kind of plug (for lack of a better term) what could be perceived as a possible plot-hole or stretch of the reader's believability. It wasn't a sudden decision towards the end, and was planned from fairly early on to be a late reveal, designed to show a vulnerability and kind of reverse aspect of the character's character that may have seemed like a strength, but with the full story could also be perceived as a weakness.

Without context, it's a hard thing to give direct advice on, so I'd also just say to trust your judgments on the matter. It can all depend on the readers too, and some will prefer you to do it one way or another. Sometimes things are better kept in the dark and unknown, and some things are better to be revealed, and even then timing can be critical. But I'd evaluate it and judge yourself whether this is something you feel the reader needs to know or not, and if you find they do, when is the best time to reveal it. I do think sometimes the latter revelation approach can have a stronger effect, but it can accuse readers of perhaps thinking you're trying to cover your ass too, so... yeah.

[lillitheris]

Spiritwolf1 wrote...

How many crewmembers do you think the normandy would have?

Actual crew at least 15, probably more 20-30.

[Spiritwolf1]

Really I thought it would be like 74-100, I just thought they downplayed the crew in the game like they down played the Squads,

[lillitheris]

I think 70+ is too much for the space. A full battle complement (w/o EDI) might run something like 50 people. This is also not counting any ground teams, just the ship crew.

I assume two 12-hour (or equivalent) shifts.

Thinking back, I’d say that in Unity, the Normandy had 32 crew + 7 ‘passengers’ on board.

[Spiritwolf1]

Ok after really looking into it the Original Normandy was the size of a small frigate which would have a crew of 15-20 the second normandy was twice the size so I am going to go with your original assessment Lilli.

[Obsidian Gryphon]

SR2 didn't have the full complement; there were many stations not manned. Either BW didn't want to put in those extras or TIM sent Shep off with an undermanned warship. Weird huh.

[Drussius]

Spiritwolf1 wrote...

Ok after really looking into it the Original Normandy was the size of a small frigate which would have a crew of 15-20 the second normandy was twice the size so I am going to go with your original assessment Lilli.

Keep in mind that after the original Normandy was destroyed, you had to collect 20 dogtags. So 20 people died in addition to the ones that escaped. I think it more likely that it's 15-20 per shift for a small frigate. So the original Normandy had 30-40, I'd guess.

As for the SR-2, when you have an AI that can do a lot of the work, I guess you don't need so many crew members

[Obsidian Gryphon]

  Miranda definitely wasn't happy with that. As capable as EDI was, she couldn't maintain the ship in peak condition. Too, given the very worst scenario, the AI lost its brains and the backup VI failed, they would all be in deep s****. 

Still cookie not to have extra hands for the grunt squad. Shep's super duper squad could do everything.   In which case, they really didn't need a chef.

Modifié par Obsidian Gryphon, 14 septembre 2012 - 03:21 .

[lillitheris]

I’d say they had enough people to run the ship at all times, even without EDI. Just not at capacity.

[Icyflare]

hot_heart wrote...

I've slowed due to outside circumstances but, also, I seem to get these spells of self-doubt where I kind of wonder how I ever got so far. I'll read back over bits of earlier chapters, wondering whether I've lost some of that spark and I'm just treading water, but I'm never really sure..

I feel this. It's really hard to judge your own work, especially if there are external influences that may be clouding your mood/thinking. You could always ask your readers what they think.

Modifié par Icyflare, 14 septembre 2012 - 08:42 .

[Drussius]

Well, this is a first in a while for me. The section I was stressing over previously I decided I liked as it was, and left it in. Worries for the future be damned.

However, I ended up removing the entire section before it and after it because I just didn't like the feel of them. So they were shifted to my junk document... I never delete anything permanently. If I remove something it ends up in a junk document, which is really just a collection of sections, paragraphs and passages I decided not to use... but might want to rework someday or somehow include down the road.

But anyway, because I removed two huge sections of my Chapter, I suddenly went from 8,000 words to 2,099... I think I was becoming complacent with the manic pace at which I've been writing. Now I suddenly find myself thrown off my stride a bit. Geez. Writers' woes... I know it happens to all of us from time to time.

This is just me bellyaching. Not so much a problem I need advice on. Just a complaint. Similar to how hot_heart was feeling, these were just sections that I looked at and went... "Not feeling it. These are just... blah... compared to some of the other stuff I've written." So out they went.

[YurigirlzCrush]

actually i'd be sorta interested to see what doesn't make the cut in various peoples stories *smiles*

p.s. I am still fiddling with the artwork I promised a certain writer. my attempts at drawing batarians so far have turned out like either bulldog faces without the dog nose, or look like the heads of fat old men with wrinkly faces, so you have my apologies. I promise I haven't forgotten it. it's taking longer than I expected because I just started college and things are hella crazy right now.

[hot_heart]

Funnily enough, all my cut content has now been used or scrapped. Maybe that's worrying...

The only stuff I've ever really removed has been a line or two that may have been a little out of character or just too much unnecessary narration. Some of it slots back in at a later point but I'm not sure how obvious it is. I try and keep it relevant and concise.

[Drussius]

I don't think that's something to be concerned about. If you use most of what you write, that's great. Since I write on the fly, I sometimes drift off into things that really don't belong in the story for whatever reason. So things get cut now and then to keep me on track. Some of it does get used again, like I mentioned. Reworked and put in at a later point or something. Some of it never does.

[fluffywalrus]

I don't tend to write any waste. Normally I just write scenes and don't know where to put them, but generally I've found a place for each. Some are waiting for later, but they all have places

I have a lot of jot notes I made of ideas that won't ever get used, but no actual material.

On a sidenote, finished my first fic officially! Clicking the "Completed" field was really satisfying. Over 130k words in a summer! Not bad for my first real short story.
Now onto the next one! *scribble scribble scribble*

[lillitheris]

Hooray fluffy!