9962 réponses à ce sujet

[hot_heart]

That reminds me actually. It would appear a few people are keen for me to include a 'Miranda fighting on Earth' chapter in my story (probably because they enjoyed the Sanctuary section so much) but I actually have no intention of taking it that far.

And they'll all be disappointed and all I can say is 'it doesn't serve the story'. Not that I can always say that with certainty/a straight face, but in this case I've planned for the story to end before that.

I guess I could make an epilogue/one-shot if I get complaints.

[YurigirlzCrush]

*waves* sorry everyone for jumping in only when I have questions and not participating otherwise, but it's sort of intimidating to try to contribute to your discussion, since i've never actually written anything. *sheepish*

I am actually trying to put together my first ever fanfic, and i'm having a hard time with how to approach some stuff. I have written part of a prologue, but it occurred to me that there's like... a handful of things I want to cover in the story between the prologue and the story itself, since there's a 20 year gap between the two. I don't want to use dates, because they would only appear in one chapter covering the gap. i'm not sure that I can sprinkle the info into later chapters or dump it into the first part of the first chapter without it seeming out of place. *frowns* I was just wondering if anyone else has done stuff like this, and how they handled it. or if not, how would you handle it if you needed to cover a large gap of time and had a handful of things to get into the story from that time? any advice would be a huge help! *smiles*

[MrStoob]

YurigirlzCrush wrote...

*waves* sorry everyone for jumping in only when I have questions and not participating otherwise, but it's sort of intimidating to try to contribute to your discussion, since i've never actually written anything. *sheepish*

I am actually trying to put together my first ever fanfic, and i'm having a hard time with how to approach some stuff. I have written part of a prologue, but it occurred to me that there's like... a handful of things I want to cover in the story between the prologue and the story itself, since there's a 20 year gap between the two. I don't want to use dates, because they would only appear in one chapter covering the gap. i'm not sure that I can sprinkle the info into later chapters or dump it into the first part of the first chapter without it seeming out of place. *frowns* I was just wondering if anyone else has done stuff like this, and how they handled it. or if not, how would you handle it if you needed to cover a large gap of time and had a handful of things to get into the story from that time? any advice would be a huge help! *smiles*

I did do a chapter once where I covered 30 of years history in long narrative but from the queries about later  chapters I got, it would seem few properly read the exposition and details of that previous chapter.  People don't seem to like long walls of narrative without dialogue/interaction interspersed.  Well, not when I did it anyway, hehe.

Could your current musings be re-jigged so the exposition about the past could be interlaced with what you envisage your opening chapters to be?  Or is it a bit chicken and egg?

[Drussius]

I think Stoob is right here. If you can find a way to incorporate what needs to go in into later Chapters, it might work a lot better. I would agree that a giant block of exposition is something a lot of readers might choose to just skim through. I never skim when I read a story because I want to experience the whole tale, but a lot of readers do speed past what doesn't appeal to them personally.

Just a random question though. If your prologue takes place before such a huge time gap, are you sure the stuff in the prologue is necessary? Something that takes place that far back might be easier to incorporate into later Chapters via flashbacks or some similar approach.

[hot_heart]

Some good suggestions from others. It's always worth assessing the relevance/importance of background story. How much of it really needs to be told? Does it need to be revealed all in one big block? Is there a way to frame it within the story, perhaps snippets at the start of each new chapter?

If it is too tricky weaving it in with present stuff, I don't think the dates idea is so bad. If it's limited to one chapter and moves in a simple order, it's then just a matter of putting the current date when you start the following chapter (and never looking back).

Personally, I tend to juxtapose a flashback with a relevant moment set in the present. It can be a little crude and obvious, but it keeps a common thread without confusing people (or at least any more than is intended).

[YurigirlzCrush]

*smiles* thanks for the input! I really don't like the idea of removing the prologue all together. it sort of sets the stage for what people can expect from the story. it's a post-war story in which Shepard did not survive the destruction of the Reapers, and my prologue deals with Liara's grief and the gathering at the memorial wall with the crew. from there I plan to jump forward to the main story a few decades later, but I like what I have written so far.

I think i'll have to find a way to put the important details from the intervening years into later chapters some other way like you all suggested. but I appreciate you all being a sounding board and offering some advice. I don't expect my first story ever to be perfect, but i'd really like it not to be total fail. *smiles*

[MrStoob]

YurigirlzCrush wrote...

*smiles* thanks for the input! I really don't like the idea of removing the prologue all together. it sort of sets the stage for what people can expect from the story. it's a post-war story in which Shepard did not survive the destruction of the Reapers, and my prologue deals with Liara's grief and the gathering at the memorial wall with the crew. from there I plan to jump forward to the main story a few decades later, but I like what I have written so far.

I think i'll have to find a way to put the important details from the intervening years into later chapters some other way like you all suggested. but I appreciate you all being a sounding board and offering some advice. I don't expect my first story ever to be perfect, but i'd really like it not to be total fail. *smiles*

From your synopsis there and in context, it sounds okay as is to me.

[YurigirlzCrush]

*sheepish* follow up question. if you were going to put flashbacks into a chapter, how would you set them apart so that readers know it's not happening in the moment? I am struggling a little with setting it apart and still making it fit seamlessly into my writing.

[Seracen]

Generally, my flashbacks occur in italics, dream sequences too.

Sometimes, I will also set it up with a transition paragraph or line.

For instance "10 years ago..."

Or, a paragraph explaining how Shepard is recalling events that he likens to whatever caused the flashback...then lead into the flashback.

[MrStoob]

Aye, an example might be something like what I did in one my tales. The Normandy crew board a slaver ship and upon encountering the unarmed batarian captain, Shepard just pistol whips him for no apparent reason then kicks him to the ground when he tries to get up. Cue reasoning for such a dramatic action via flashback, taking Shepard back into that moment.

"Verity knows this batarian, it's a face she cannot forget. The event replays in her mind."

and so on.

Edit to waffle:
It can be a useful technique to create surprise/intrigue in the reader.  When a character does something that seems  out of character, the reader is going to be a bit 'WTH?' but then 'Ohhh, I see.' when the 'pay off' happens.  Personally, I think that's probably more interesting than setting up ALL the history so the reader will just think 'Oh they did that because of that thing from ages ago."

Modifié par MrStoob, 15 juin 2013 - 11:24 .

[MrStoob]

Question time, please!

I feel I should know this, being a Liara-phile and all but, is it stated anywhere which specific city Liara grew up in with her mother? Playing with a new idea about Liara at Serrice University and it's the kind of thing that would come up amongst a group of new students, "Where are you from?"

Edit:

Oh, and OH!  I watched some of the 'Blonde Shepard' vids last night.  I did not know that with REALLY crappy EMS, squaddies can die in the conduit run!  Liara died.  

Re-edit (on the original topic):
Not much of a spoiler but I initially have Nyxeris as a fellow student.  We don't really know Liara's association with Nyxeris so I think it's not beyond the realms of possibility that they were roomies in the Uni dorms.  Not too corny?  I need a foil for Liara and Nyxeris is enough of a blank slate to do what I like with really.  *thoughts while typing* How does it get to the point where Nyxeris is willing to do the Broker's bidding and literally backstab Liara?  Hmmm...

Modifié par MrStoob, 16 juin 2013 - 02:25 .

[Ignis Mors]

MrStoob wrote...

Question time, please!

I feel I should know this, being a Liara-phile and all but, is it stated anywhere which specific city Liara grew up in with her mother? Playing with a new idea about Liara at Serrice University and it's the kind of thing that would come up amongst a group of new students, "Where are you from?"

Edit:

Oh, and OH!  I watched some of the 'Blonde Shepard' vids last night.  I did not know that with REALLY crappy EMS, squaddies can die in the conduit run!  Liara died.  

Re-edit (on the original topic):
Not much of a spoiler but I initially have Nyxeris as a fellow student.  We don't really know Liara's association with Nyxeris so I think it's not beyond the realms of possibility that they were roomies in the Uni dorms.  Not too corny?  I need a foil for Liara and Nyxeris is enough of a blank slate to do what I like with really.  *thoughts while typing* How does it get to the point where Nyxeris is willing to do the Broker's bidding and literally backstab Liara?  Hmmm...

only one thing I have to respond to your thing. Liara died. (I really hate her, especially since ME3 randomly swapped my Shep's romance with Miri for one with her. [like as if it was a previous relationship, and there was none with Miri.] I literally was only nice to her TWICE and I almost ended up having a romance with her. Which was a big ol' pile of bs.)

[hot_heart]

Hate the game...not the...player?

[YurigirlzCrush]

*sigh* this site hates me the last few days. I can't quote anything or use the standard reply form because the thing won't load a text box to type into. so i'll just have to do it this way!

thanks everyone for the flashback suggestions. are flashbacks supposed to be in italics? or is that just a preference thing? I went back though a few of the stories on my favorites list on the fanfiction site and looked for flashbacks and it looks like the few I found were all in italics. but I didn't italicize the small flashback snippets I wrote into my prologue. *frowns* but then the ones I wrote in there were barely qualifiable as flashbacks. they were like... one paragraph each, and more like musings about past events than full on flashbacks.

also. I know the quarian language is khelish. was a name ever given for the asari language? or come to think of it, for the krogan/salarian/turian/etc. languages?

and Stoob... I can't add anything to the subject of your idea because I don't even remember anyone named Nyxeris from the games. *sheepish* I get the feeling I missed something.

[MrStoob]

YurigirlzCrush wrote...

*sigh* this site hates me the last few days. I can't quote anything or use the standard reply form because the thing won't load a text box to type into. so i'll just have to do it this way!

thanks everyone for the flashback suggestions. are flashbacks supposed to be in italics? or is that just a preference thing? I went back though a few of the stories on my favorites list on the fanfiction site and looked for flashbacks and it looks like the few I found were all in italics. but I didn't italicize the small flashback snippets I wrote into my prologue. *frowns* but then the ones I wrote in there were barely qualifiable as flashbacks. they were like... one paragraph each, and more like musings about past events than full on flashbacks.

also. I know the quarian language is khelish. was a name ever given for the asari language? or come to think of it, for the krogan/salarian/turian/etc. languages?

and Stoob... I can't add anything to the subject of your idea because I don't even remember anyone named Nyxeris from the games. *sheepish* I get the feeling I missed something.

The asari who works as Liara's assistant on Illium in ME2.

Modifié par MrStoob, 17 juin 2013 - 12:14 .

[gisle]

MrStoob wrote...

Question time, please!

I feel I should know this, being a Liara-phile and all but, is it stated anywhere which specific city Liara grew up in with her mother? Playing with a new idea about Liara at Serrice University and it's the kind of thing that would come up amongst a group of new students, "Where are you from?"

According to what Liara said on the Presidium Commons, she's from Armali, on Thessia.

Source: www.youtube.com/watch

[MrStoob]

Gisle-Aune wrote...

MrStoob wrote...

Question time, please!

I feel I should know this, being a Liara-phile and all but, is it stated anywhere which specific city Liara grew up in with her mother? Playing with a new idea about Liara at Serrice University and it's the kind of thing that would come up amongst a group of new students, "Where are you from?"

According to what Liara said on the Presidium Commons, she's from Armali, on Thessia.

Source: www.youtube.com/watch

Ah, TY.  I thought she might have said during one of the Commons scenes but couldn't find a vid (hard to find when all the Citadel DLC ones come up),

[MrStoob]

General pondering:

What do the 'group' (sounds like AA) think about encountering FF writers with dozens of incomplete works or ideas, as a reader? Does it put you off persevering with them? I've a few up in the air at the mo and stupidly want to post another half-baked idea, just coz I enjoyed writing what I have so far. The other things is, those actually following me for those other stories, would they think "Man, stop pissing about and get on with X." and eventually lose interest? Any experiences anyone or feedback about this kind of thing from readers?

[Drussius]

If the writing is enjoyable, I'm sure a lot of readers will be happy to read whatever you happen to produce. With that said, however, I personally tend to stop reading stories from a writer that has half a dozen incomplete works and nothing finished. I just shift their stories to the back burner and check once every month or two to see if any are actually complete.

I'm sure many people wouldn't mind as long as they're entertained. As I said, it's just my personal take on it as a reader from past experience with a few writers. Great stories, vastly entertaining, then four or five Chapters in, they would stop and start something new, and then the old stuff never seemed to get touched again, or if it did, there was a dramatic falloff in the continuity/quality of the older stories when they came back to them, as if they were just going "Oh fine. I don't really wanna write this anymore, but since you people asked... here. I wrote this real quick last night. Now leave me alone to work on the new stuff."

Again, this is not to say that mindset applies to you. Just past experiences went that way.

[AustereLemur799]

MrStoob wrote...

General pondering:

What do the 'group' (sounds like AA) think about encountering FF writers with dozens of incomplete works or ideas, as a reader? Does it put you off persevering with them? I've a few up in the air at the mo and stupidly want to post another half-baked idea, just coz I enjoyed writing what I have so far. The other things is, those actually following me for those other stories, would they think "Man, stop pissing about and get on with X." and eventually lose interest? Any experiences anyone or feedback about this kind of thing from readers?

Don't worry; I'm right at home with AA!

I'm not quite sure what you mean exactly. Do you mean that some people post things on their bio page like 'projects in the works' or things that are 'coming soon'. I've refrained from doing exactly that. Around Christmas last year, I was sure I had a new story in the works but I've never done anything with it because I realised that it's really far from being worth anything. I don't like making promises on my page that I can't keep.

Granted, I have lots of stuff on my laptop that I've never published. It's not in any way presentable and I call it 'recreational writing' (away from the grind of my main fic).

Publishing one story in the first place was a huge leap for me. Just having one project on the go makes me feel nervous and sick; I'd hate to have multiple things to worry about!

[enayasoul]

Drussius wrote...

If the writing is enjoyable, I'm sure a lot of readers will be happy to read whatever you happen to produce. With that said, however, I personally tend to stop reading stories from a writer that has half a dozen incomplete works and nothing finished. I just shift their stories to the back burner and check once every month or two to see if any are actually complete.

I'm sure many people wouldn't mind as long as they're entertained. As I said, it's just my personal take on it as a reader from past experience with a few writers. Great stories, vastly entertaining, then four or five Chapters in, they would stop and start something new, and then the old stuff never seemed to get touched again, or if it did, there was a dramatic falloff in the continuity/quality of the older stories when they came back to them, as if they were just going "Oh fine. I don't really wanna write this anymore, but since you people asked... here. I wrote this real quick last night. Now leave me alone to work on the new stuff."

Again, this is not to say that mindset applies to you. Just past experiences went that way.

Oh, I agree with this post!  I've seen quite a few stories that had a good start then several chapters later the author stops publishing updates for whatever reason.     I tend to delete the stories i've been following if it's more than 6 months without an update... for good or bad.

So, I definitely plan on finishing the story I've created.  I have too!  Even though I don't want it to ever end!  There is always another story to write and I already have one in the works but haven't work on that. Just the initial ideas to get out and then put away for later.  I may or may not be related to the one I'm doing now with a bit of a time lapse.  Haven't decided but maybe...

Modifié par enayasoul, 19 juin 2013 - 03:25 .

[AustereLemur799]

enayasoul wrote...
 I've seen quite a few stories that had a good start then several chapters later the author stops publishing updates for whatever reason.     I tend to delete the stories i've been following if it's more than 6 months without an update... for good or bad.

It took me over six months to update my story. I was still working on my story during that time, but I just had a block and personal issues which prevented me from getting ahead.

I appreciate that people move on with their lives and forget or stop caring about things that are several months old.

Still, I have to hope that people are patient with me - otherwise I might as well pack it all in right now and fall back in the gutter.

[Seracen]

I tend to avoid incomplete works for this reason, though if I enjoy an author's writing, I will deal with it.  It doesn't cost me a thing, and it's important to the artist.

There were any number of stories I read back in they day that took forever to finish.

I got fatigued. Still, I can't say I didn't enjoy the stories while I read them, and I certainly am grateful to the authors for posting, and updating as they can.

Whenever I got truly frustrated, I would make an exercise of it, working out in my head how I would end it. Incidentally, this is why bad endings don't GENERALLY affect me for too long, I just headcanon constantly.

It's not the same as getting a good ending, but it keeps me sane. Incidentally, this is the only reason I can ever play ME ever again. As much as I vehemently despised the ending(s), I simply have to read my own story and it's okay.

Oddly enough, it's my fave sci-fi shows that got me started on this kick, some of which continued in comic/book form after cancellation, or not at all.

Modifié par Seracen, 19 juin 2013 - 03:37 .

[MrStoob]

Hmm, all food for thought.

My 'main' has suffered of late, what with my writing being so slow recently (damn muses), probably why my mind is turning to new ideas. I have noticed with my second book that readership is okay (consistent at least with readers apparently coming back when a new chapt is posted) but very few reviews. I am fully aware that the quality of this one is less than my first (for reasons I am probably aware of) but a lack of reviews just feels like apathy towards the work. Sorry for the 'woe is me' there hehe.

Edit for waffle/madness:

I think part of my problem (shall I lie on the couch?) is that my first work was so well received with reviews on just about every chapter, that now I am not receiving as much 'attention', my perceived reader apathy is making me apathetic lol.

Modifié par MrStoob, 19 juin 2013 - 09:13 .

[Seracen]

MrStoob wrote...

Hmm, all food for thought.

My 'main' has suffered of late, what with my writing being so slow recently (damn muses), probably why my mind is turning to new ideas. I have noticed with my second book that readership is okay (consistent at least with readers apparently coming back when a new chapt is posted) but very few reviews. I am fully aware that the quality of this one is less than my first (for reasons I am probably aware of) but a lack of reviews just feels like apathy towards the work. Sorry for the 'woe is me' there hehe.

Edit for waffle/madness:

I think part of my problem (shall I lie on the couch?) is that my first work was so well received with reviews on just about every chapter, that now I am not receiving as much 'attention', my perceived reader apathy is making me apathetic lol.

I wouldn't worry too much about it.  As long as you are having fun with the story, and your writing style is improving, that's what matters.

For myself, by example, I have yet to recieve any reviews for the new story.  However, according to the traffic, I've had hundreds of views.  I'm somewhat miffed, but not perturbed.

Moreover, it's diffifcult for readers to get interested over 8 chapters of setup.  Considering I am delaying my posts due to a major reworking of several plot elements, it's probably just as well.  I'm still writing the story that I would like to see happen.

And I have another in the works, so I have more to look forward to, as I can get to that once my current project is finished!

So yeah, just get it out at your own pace, and have fun with it, as I always say.