9960 réponses à ce sujet

[lillitheris]

I wouldn’t worry about it beyond backing up your work at this point.

Edit: although I will probably go full-Renegade if I end up having to redo all ~250 links in the fanfic list

Modifié par lillitheris, 09 juin 2012 - 01:09 .

[Sialater]

LOL, THAT would be a pain.

I've got them all as word docs, the only thing I'd lose is my reviews, because other than copy/pasting them into a word doc, I have no way to save them.

[MrStoob]

The swearing thing is subjective to each country's tolerances. In one MMO I played, it took about 5 years for them to realise and censor the 'C' word. To that end, censorship stress test:

1st. The 'seven', generally known internationally:
****, ******, ****, ****, ****sucker, Mother****er, ******

2nd. Some of UK's (all of which would result in a smack around the back of the head from your mother):
****, Wanker, ****, Bollocks, Tosser, Frig.

What? Me? Juvenile...?

Edit: hmmm, interesting.

Modifié par MrStoob, 09 juin 2012 - 01:20 .

[noxiuniversitas1]

Yeah the C word is probably the only swear word my Shep would draw a line at... makes me grimace even thinking about it.

[MrStoob]

noxiuniversitas1 wrote...

Yeah the C word is probably the only swear word my Shep would draw a line at... makes me grimace even thinking about it.

In a first draft, I had Aria calling someone a 'stupid c***', but thought it was a bit far for this universe and changed it to 'stupid sh**'.

[CrazyGreggy]

lillitheris wrote...

I wouldn’t worry about it beyond backing up your work at this point.

Edit: although I will probably go full-Renegade if I end up having to redo all ~250 links in the fanfic list

That's ok, mine are on DA anyway 

[lillitheris]

CrazyGreggy wrote...

lillitheris wrote...

I wouldn’t worry about it beyond backing up your work at this point.

Edit: although I will probably go full-Renegade if I end up having to redo all ~250 links in the fanfic list

That's ok, mine are on DA anyway 

I don’t really like DA for reading, it’s awkward for multiple chapters. I was led to understand the publishing side was not quite straightforward either?

Got fingers crossed for an AO3 invite myself

…

Also, this is the future and the military…people swear out the ying-yang

Edit: just made Chapter 19 available and it does indeed contain some naughty words.

Modifié par lillitheris, 09 juin 2012 - 04:27 .

[Drussius]

fluffywalrus wrote...

Drussius wrote...

*snip*

Welcome to the thread! Always happy to see new faces

Thank you kindly! I appreciate the welcome!

fluffywalrus wrote...

Original content is usually deemed fine, so long as it has solid grounding in the source material. Original characters are often best suited for support roles, but some authors have had success with them as major or main characters(rare, though). Much like erotic scenes in fanfics, if you don't feel you can do it justice, don't go all the way. Dial it back and work yourself into a state where you feel you can pull of original characters of more importance.
Using the "long-game" of building/establishing your original content within the main setting is usually a good idea too, but it takes a lot of patience and a lot of writing.

For instance, PMC's "A Thessian's Whisper" / "The Shepherdess & the Questing Beast" build upon both Shepard's childhood and life through to midway in ME1, and Liara's childhood and life through to the same point. Lots of original content, original characters, lore twists, and a largely fabricated Asari culture.

But it works, because it takes the time to get the reader used to it, and uses established characters to strengthen the original content. I find that's the most important thing about adding your own stuff and expanding on the lore...you need a solid basis, something familiar, in order to get the reader to care. PMC does this with Shepard and Liara, Shiala, Benezia, and other familiar characters. Those fics are probably the most in-depth ones I've read in regard to the immense details expanded upon.

In this regard, are there published novels about the ME universe? I have heard a comic series mentioned, which I have little to no chance of being able to muster enough spare money to check out, and I was just wondering how much established lore is out there, given that my knowledge of the setting comes from the games and reading every single codex entry in them (what can I say? I found it all fascinating). Would that be a sufficient base for building a story? Is that where most of you who have written fanfics started? Or would I inevitably come across someone who says that "The novel 'such-and-such' already covered that, so your story is going against canon".

I'll probably write something based in the ME setting one way or another. I have a story rolling around in my head and it's been there for months. But whether or not I would put it up to public scrutiny I suppose depends on whether I can put together something that would be enjoyable to read without tying into the main story of the games very directly. The idea that's been demanding more and more of my attention lately is more of a "while Shepard is building alliances to save Earth from the Reaper invasion, elsewhere..." type thing.

I write mostly to write. I have a very active imagination and if I didn't give my ideas an outlet, I might become even less sane than I am at present...

But more and more I've been considering opening some of my work to an audience to see if others think I am any good. I just thought this whole thread was a brilliant idea and decided if I was going to do that, I might as well start by asking a few questions here.

Edited: For spelling... Yes, I am a bit compulsive about that.

Modifié par Drussius, 09 juin 2012 - 03:56 .

[lillitheris]

^ There are indeed 3 novels released in the ME universe, all written by Drew Karpyshyn. There’s also the infamous Mass Effect: Deception, but it’s so bad that it’s getting ‘clarifications’ in the next edition…

This comic may seem like a parody, but it’s actually pretty accurate (and definitely worth reading): Deception Rage Comic.

Unlike many, I don’t actually consider Karpyshyn that good a writer…the stories in the novels are interesting but his writing is a little clumsy. Still, I’d recommend taking a gander at the novels too.

Modifié par lillitheris, 09 juin 2012 - 04:32 .

[dublin omega 223]

IliyaMoroumetz wrote...

Self-Insertions are of the DEVIL! They are made of egotistical ******!

Not all SI stories are bad, look the Mass Vexations series thats an exeception.

[lillitheris]

dublin omega 223 wrote...

Not all SI stories are bad, look the Mass Vexations series thats an exeception.

Is there anything in particular about that series that makes it distinctly better, or is it just an overall achievement?

…

Completely tangentially regarding the (much) earlier discussion about chapter lengths…I started out trying to target around 3500-4000 words per chapter, but I’ve settled on around 3000 now. It seems to work better for my structuring.

[fainmaca]

Gonna be having little panic attacks over the weekend now in case I log in to see ITU vanish before my eyes now. Not sure if it would be considered a violation of the TOS, but I mean, it is meant to emulate the gameplay and the chosen romance is Jack.... Could be a problem. I don't want to have to rely on DA for readers. That thing's so awkward.

I hear mention of this thing called AO3 that I could do with an invite to if any are going around, though I suspect some people here would fight me to the death for them.

What do you guys think? am i stressing over nothing?

[lillitheris]

Back up your work. That’s it. There’s even a link right there in the FFN admin panel.

[Spartanburger]

I think the big problem with the FF.net rating system is this part in particular:

Detailed descriptions of physical interaction of sexual or violent nature is considered Fiction MA and has not been allowed on the site since 2002.

What exactly defines a "detailed description?" I mean, it's going to be pretty hard to write any kind of action scene with a lack of detailed description. Detailed descriptions of sexual interaction is understandable, but for violent interactions it's a lot more... varied.
There really no set scale, no black and white, for detailed descriptions of physical interaction.

What if I am writing a interrogation scene? Going to have to be pretty detailed in there if it gets violent (and it will). What if I am writing the battle and death of an important character, a death in a rather violent fashion?

See, we need clarification on this. Personally, I don't even want to publish anything (or even work on anything for that matter) until I know what the specific guidelines are. Also, I'd really like to know exactly why they haven't implemented a MA rating. All they seem to say is "we never have and never will" with no explanation of why.


Also, AO3 just seems horrid. I haven't ever gone to the site without the site being down due to overworked servers. Sorry, nope.

[lillitheris]

Even though fanfic is just text, the volume that FFN handles is pretty substantial to run on a volunteer basis…AO3 seems to also be creating at least part of their own stack, too, so it won’t be a smooth ride.

[TrulyInnovative]

dublin omega 223 wrote...
Not all SI stories are bad, look the Mass Vexations series thats an exeception.

I kind of like the idea of a SI fic, but I haven't come across a well-written one in the Mass Effect universe, Mass Vexations included. Your mileage may vary, of course.

[fainmaca]

Question: do you think I would get away with using the word 'Batarianity'? If the character I'm writing about were Human, I'd use Humanity, but he's not. If you'd recommend against this word, what would you use in it's place?

[lillitheris]

fainmaca wrote...

Question: do you think I would get away with using the word 'Batarianity'? If the character I'm writing about were Human, I'd use Humanity, but he's not. If you'd recommend against this word, what would you use in it's place?

No, it would definitely break a sentence. If you mean it in the sense of “In the year whatever it ways, humanity discovered the mass effect”, I’d just go with “(the) batarians discovered the mass effect”, or perhaps “the Hegemony discovered”.

[fainmaca]

I'm going for the quality rather than the species. i.e. Character X's Humanity.

[noxiuniversitas1]

lillitheris wrote...

fainmaca wrote...

Question: do you think I would get away with using the word 'Batarianity'? If the character I'm writing about were Human, I'd use Humanity, but he's not. If you'd recommend against this word, what would you use in it's place?

No, it would definitely break a sentence. If you mean it in the sense of “In the year whatever it ways, humanity discovered the mass effect”, I’d just go with “(the) batarians discovered the mass effect”, or perhaps “the Hegemony discovered”.

I'd have to agree with lillitheris. If you're going for a species-defining characteristic, I think acutally spelling it out is far less clumsy. If you really don't want to, as a last resort "batarianism" is less jarring... imho at least.

[fainmaca]

HEAVY SPOILERS FOR MY FIC AHEAD

Right, here's what I've gone for:

Shepard was backing away from a Gorm who seemed to be shedding more and more of his organic nature with every second.

[lillitheris]

fainmaca wrote...

I'm going for the quality rather than the species. i.e. Character X's Humanity.

You definitely don’t want to capitalize it in that case

To further clarify, if you’re trying to come up with a single word rather than spelling it out:

1. From ‘humane’, in the sense of altruism, compassion; or
2. The essence of the human experience, what makes a person human?

In the latter case I might actually think that inventing a word would work better. “Her khrkbptbnk, the essence of the batarian experience, the virtues and characteristics shared by all batarians et yadda…”

…

Edit: I think your current working sentence is the best option. Spell it out. (I wouldn’t actually use ‘humanity’ in that case anyway.)

Modifié par lillitheris, 09 juin 2012 - 09:39 .

[Icyflare]

fainmaca wrote...

HEAVY SPOILERS FOR MY FIC AHEAD

Right, here's what I've gone for:

Shepard was backing away from a Gorm who seemed to be shedding more and more of his organic nature with every second.

Organic nature is vague. I don't know what the scene is like in your head (or what a Gorm is), but if it's dropping off skin or something, describe it. Tell us that hunks of flesh are falling off, skin stretching and ripping like rotted fabric, etc. Describe smells if there is any; describes the sounds of organic matter falling off (e.g. splats, wet, squishy  noises, etc.)

[fainmaca]

Icyflare wrote...

fainmaca wrote...

HEAVY SPOILERS FOR MY FIC AHEAD

Right, here's what I've gone for:

Shepard was backing away from a Gorm who seemed to be shedding more and more of his organic nature with every second.

Organic nature is vague. I don't know what the scene is like in your head (or what a Gorm is), but if it's dropping off skin or something, describe it. Tell us that hunks of flesh are falling off, skin stretching and ripping like rotted fabric, etc. Describe smells if there is any; describes the sounds of organic matter falling off (e.g. splats, wet, squishy  noises, etc.)

Its a little difficult, as i don't want to give too much info for spoiler reasons. Gorm is a character, and this sentence is describing an event going on behind what I'm currently describing (One thing I do frequently is switch between viewpoints of Shepard and his squadmates to show different sides of the same battle, in this case with Etarn the Batarian and Jack). The changes are being described from Shepard's viewpoint, and simply being referenced shortly after from this viewpoint.

EDIT: also, the 'organic nature' in this case doesn't refer to organic material. Rather, its simply referring to how his indoctrination is being revealed (things work just a tad differently in the ITU-niverse) as he loses the normal facade. Organic nature could be replaced with 'organic qualities' or, as the discussion began, humanity (but for Batarians).

Modifié par fainmaca, 09 juin 2012 - 11:27 .

[Icyflare]

fainmaca wrote...

EDIT: also, the 'organic nature' in this case doesn't refer to organic material. Rather, its simply referring to how his indoctrination is being revealed (things work just a tad differently in the ITU-niverse) as he loses the normal facade. Organic nature could be replaced with 'organic qualities' or, as the discussion began, humanity (but for Batarians).

Ah. I assume you'll go on to describe the process of finding out that he's indoctrinated, but I still thank the words "organic nature" is vague. What qualities of organic nature is he losing? Is it his willpower? His independence? His humanity? I feel that the sentence would work better if it was a bit more specific.