9962 réponses à ce sujet

[Fatiguesdualism]

Efvie wrote...

These are interesting scenarios. Feasible, at the very least. In such a treatise, I’d like to read (actually I wouldn’t) about it in some detail… how it all fits together with past and the present, how the small twists turn into a larger shift, any internal conflicts and so on. It could be good, if thoroughly explored (most grimdark Liara stories aren‘t).

Aside, I never thought Liara was particularly vulnerable (or particularly shy, for that matter)… she’s exceptionally strong-willed, if anything

Well if anyone here wants to take a stab at them, please do and let me know how it turns out!  But to do it justice would require a much better writer than me - I know (some) of my limitations.

Fatiguesdualism wrote...

...mightn't they not clasp...

 Seriously that right there terrible, horrible stuff - I'm actually embarrassed!  (Darn you proof-reading eyeballs, why didn't you catch that?)

As for the vulnerable Liara, well I suppose that's just going to have to be an 'eye of the beholder' thing.  You say potato, I say potato - You say tomato, I say tomato! 

[MeredithvL]

I don't see Liara as particularly vulnerable, but she does care about people. That's why I said it would be hard for me to see her become cold-blooded and insensitive. But I guess that if someone would write her descent into darkness with careful detail, it would make for a great story. I won't be the person writing that story though.

[Efvie]

MeredithvL wrote...

I won't be the person writing that story though.

I’m afraid I wouldn’t have the heart to read that story. But plenty of people would, I’m sure.

[AustereLemur799]

@ MeredithvL

Thanks for your post in response to mine

MeredithvL wrote...

I don't see Liara as particularly vulnerable, but she does care about people. That's why I said it would be hard for me to see her become cold-blooded and insensitive. But I guess that if someone would write her descent into darkness with careful detail, it would make for a great story. I won't be the person writing that story though.

Actually I was just wondering about a similar issue recently in regards to ME1. I'm pretty sure that Shepard and Wrex have definitely taken lives. Ashley, Kaidan and Garrus may have considering their careers. But I'm fairly sure that Tali and Liara wouldn't have.

While I know that ME1 is all about the geth; Tali would be more inclined to jump on the bandwagon and kill them. However, Liara is a tricky one. With the asari being so 'enlightened' and, perhaps, arrogant (to some); would they value synthetic life as much as organic life?

Re-watching Farscape (I don't know if anyone here has watched it) recently has made me think about all this because I automatically drew some parallels between Zhaan (a Delvian) and the asari. I just thought that they might have a similar moral compass (amongst other things).

So far in my own fic; I've had Liara absolutely refuse to carry a weapon on missions (despite Shepard telling her that they need to rely on her as backup instead of her being a potential liability). Then she ends up saving the group with her biotics when they get ambushed. But basically, I have it affecting her in that she's not a killer and feels intense remorse (more so than soldiers who are trained to deal with it - and, in fact; choose such a career while accepting all the ramifications).

Liara and Tali are pretty much just children.

The one thing with video games is that we can kill virtual AI (or massacres in GTA! ) without batting an eyelid, and thinking nothing of it. It's not real life. But I can't help but realise that when we write and create these stories; we are addressing real psychologies that have to be believable and relatable to our readers.

Tapping into those issues can sometimes be a little scary. Is that just me?

Modifié par AustereLemur799, 03 août 2013 - 10:12 .

[AustereLemur799]

Also, I hate to repeat what I may well have asked a year ago (my memory is totally awful, sorry! )

I have a couple of things I'd like your input on.

Firstly (and I'm pretty sure I might've asked this before); was Saren a natural biotic or did he become biotic with reaperised modifications (I figure that Reapers can make anything possible even though I know that eezo has to be present in a person's tissue to make them biotic [when they are born???])? This is very important to me.

My Shepard isn't biotic; however, some of my playthroughs involve her gaining biotic abilities after Cerberus intervention (although I generally maintain that my Shepard isn't biotic).

But any insight into Saren would be much appreciated, since he is my main focus at the moment . In fact; if anyone knows any good resources about info on Saren (other than the Wiki); I'd be especially grateful.

The second thing I wanted to ask is the whole translator thing. As I mentioned in my earlier post; I've been watching Farscape recently where they have translator miscrobes - which I think is a brilliant idea. As far as I know; Mass Effect has translator programs, but I don't know for certain. If they are programs; are they installed on the omni-tool or via some kind of neural chip?

Any help/insight would be really appreciated .

Thanks in advance .

[MeredithvL]

AustereLemur799 wrote...

But I can't help but realise that when we write and create these stories; we are addressing real psychologies that have to be believable and relatable to our readers.

Tapping into those issues can sometimes be a little scary. Is that just me?

That's what I find fascinating about fanfiction. I don't find it scary, I love to have the chance to explore the psyque of the characters that I loved so much.

AustereLemur799 wrote...

was Saren a natural biotic or did he become biotic with reaperised modifications (I figure that Reapers can make anything possible even though I know that eezo has to be present in a person's tissue to make them biotic [when they are born???])? This is very important to me.

Yes, eezo would have to be present in the person's tissue for them to become a biotic as an adult, but the Reapers surely have a lot of eezo, otherwise how could they possibly travel from the outer regions of the galaxy? It's dark out there, not much energy to speak of, and plenty of dark matter, so I take it that eezo is the only way that the Reapers can even move in those regions (and I'm telling you as a person that formally went to collegue to study Physics and actually got a degree in it. Eezo isn't real, but dark matter and dark energy are, and Mass Effect connected the three things).
As for Saren being born a biotic instead of being transformed into one by the Reapers, it doesn't say anywhere. You'll have to choose whatever fits better for your story.

AustereLemur799 wrote...
But any insight into Saren would be much appreciated, since he is my main focus at the moment . In fact; if anyone knows any good resources about info on Saren (other than the Wiki); I'd be especially grateful.

There isn't much on him other that you could find in the novels and the wiki. I even have the book with the art for all three games, and it doesn't say a lot more.

AustereLemur799 wrote...

The second thing I wanted to ask is the whole translator thing. As I mentioned in my earlier post; I've been watching Farscape recently where they have translator miscrobes - which I think is a brilliant idea. As far as I know; Mass Effect has translator programs, but I don't know for certain. If they are programs; are they installed on the omni-tool or via some kind of neural chip?

masseffect.wikia.com/wiki/Codex/UPDATE:_Bring_Down_the_Sky
There was also another entry in the codex, but I don't remember for which game, about translators. Basically they are machines but they are never described, I always assumed that they could be integrated to an omni-tool or a computer terminal. I don't think they are neural chips, since a lot of people would reject that. Can you imagine being from a race recently discovered by the Council, and after you allow them to stay in your planet for a while and study your culture and language, accepting that they put something inside your brain? I think not. But I do believe it would be easier to accept a small device that would allow you to understand what the aliens are saying, and that you can take off whenever you want. That's why I don't go for neural chip translators, although I've seen many fanfics that go that way. But again, if it is a chip, I guess you could put it inside an omni-tool or a brain, because they certainly have the technology to make it work. Hell, we even have it now. Scientists recently created a wheel chair that can move with the user's thoughts, and that happened in my country (Argentina) in a city called Rosario. So I guess it'd be up to you to decide. The lore however makes it very clear that the languages have to be incorporated to the chip as software, and that any changes have to be updated into that sofware.

Modifié par MeredithvL, 04 août 2013 - 12:06 .

[MrStoob]

AustereLemur799 wrote...
So far in my own fic; I've had Liara absolutely refuse to carry a weapon on missions (despite Shepard telling her that they need to rely on her as backup instead of her being a potential liability). Then she ends up saving the group with her biotics when they get ambushed. But basically, I have it affecting her in that she's not a killer and feels intense remorse (more so than soldiers who are trained to deal with it - and, in fact; choose such a career while accepting all the ramifications).

Liara and Tali are pretty much just children.

Nice.

Similar but different, my Liara couldn't cope with all the killing and loss, and she tries to just bury it but it all bubbles over at times.

Modifié par MrStoob, 04 août 2013 - 12:06 .

[AustereLemur799]

^ Thanks so much for your responses; I really do appreciate it 

I want Saren to be a biotic from birth (I'm including stuff from ME: Evolution, but I didn't want it to contradict my own ideas ).

Thanks again.

[AustereLemur799]

MrStoob wrote...
Nice.

Similar but different, my Liara couldn't cope with all the killing and loss, and she tries to just bury it but it all bubbles over at times.

Writing Liara has been really interesting (and tiring). I've had her experiencing ups and downs - going with Vasir and then turning her back on Shepard for ME2 and the majority of ME3. The Illusive Man using Shepard against her between ME1 and 2 is a big deal that affects her; she refuses to get exploited again.

Still, is it human nature to have lots of sex before inevitable death? I'd like to think that I'd do everything it takes to work for the future, but, then; we're so short-lived compared to asari.

I have to say that Mass Effect made me re-evaluate all my relationships (for better or worse). Humans are such physical creatures, and we value physical intimacy greatly. However; asari don't have taboos about nudity and such. I've written the asari to grow up communally and used to listening to others enjoying intimate relations in the same space.

The mental side of things really intrigued me. If nothing else; Mass Effect is just one example of a Sci-Fi series that has created aliens with differing traits from our own - not so different in that we can still imagine it. But I guess it's all just an extension of our own imaginations. I hate to say it; but we're limited. Maybe it's ironic that we want more and always strive to be more. Is that a good thing? Are we all just destined to be like worker ants?

Sorry; I think that I'm just in one of those moods... Meanwhile; i just hope that we don't forget what's right in front of us

[fluffywalrus]

MeredithvL wrote...

I don't see Liara as particularly vulnerable, but she does care about people. That's why I said it would be hard for me to see her become cold-blooded and insensitive. But I guess that if someone would write her descent into darkness with careful detail, it would make for a great story. I won't be the person writing that story though.

I think Liara's interesting in that she really takes hold of the asari "long term planning" approach throughout the series. She cares a lot about people. And I think after Shepard dies, she realizes that they're up the creek without a paddle against the Collectors, let alone the Reapers, without Shepard(due to their leadership, battle prowess,  Spectre-class freedoms, networking abilities between Council races, etc.). She puts her life at risk to retrieve him, and hands him over to a known vile organization in the hope that they can bring Shepard back.

So she takes the long term, becomes an info broker on Illium, likely kills a bunch of people to secure the means for long term success, to keep the broker from aiding the enemy that killed Shepard. They take down the shadow broker and she just becomes more powerful in the short term once she takes the helm, using that "ruthless calculus" Garrus talked about to ensure that the people she cared about, and her homeworld, survived past the Reaper invasion. Tons of small scale carnage for the greater good as she sees it. I know a lot of my friends thought Liara went from "naive innocent sweetheart asari scientist" to "coldhearted b**** info broker" in a flash...and i suppose without the comics and everything to fill in the lore, they could get that, but I just figured she changed her methods and perspective when Shepard died, in order to adapt. Which is something I think Shepard would be proud of regardless, and which is why I've always either romanced or bromanced Liara in the series.

It's a big reason why for me, people who write Liara into that insensitive, cold demeanor have to really sell it to me as something more than a mask she's putting on in an attempt to escape herself, because if anything, I think Liara almost cares too much throughout the games.

[AustereLemur799]

I don't mean to go back to the whole Liara thing since I understand and appreciate that everyone here has different interests; but I just wanted to pose something to the other Liara fans/writers out there - and everyone is, of course, more than welcome to anser if you want to .

With asari life-span in mind; I, personally, tend to think that the asari take a long time over everything, including developing relationships with people. In the grand scheme of things; Liara has known the Normandy crew for a few years (and she disappeared for half of that time while she was off dealing with the Shadow Broker). I believe that she cares about the crew and thinks of them as friends, but can she really fall in love in such a short space of time? Asari live for a thousand years or more. Four years is nothing - just the time it takes to scratch one's nose.

I know that the asari are encouraged to cultivate relationships with aliens due to the siari religion (and others on the BSN believe that they were genetically manipulated by the Protheans to become sex slaves); but as the asari on Illium in ME2 (sorry for not remembering her name! ) said; they can just wait it out a century with a mate, and it's no skin off their back.

Apologies for bringing this up . I guess I'm still just trying to make sense of things and find a way forward. While other characters got bad treatment in ME3 (don't get me wrong; I'm not here to go into all that and provoke the devs, since I fully understand that they set themselves impossibly high standards); there are just certain themes that really catapulted me into uncertainty and I'm looking for ways forward from other sources.

I guess I'm here because I can always rely on you guys to say sensible stuff and cheer me up .

And, because I neglected it before; welcome to all the new blood

[fluffywalrus]

AustereLemur799 wrote...

I don't mean to go back to the whole Liara thing since I understand and appreciate that everyone here has different interests; but I just wanted to pose something to the other Liara fans/writers out there - and everyone is, of course, more than welcome to anser if you want to .

With asari life-span in mind; I, personally, tend to think that the asari take a long time over everything, including developing relationships with people. In the grand scheme of things; Liara has known the Normandy crew for a few years (and she disappeared for half of that time while she was off dealing with the Shadow Broker). I believe that she cares about the crew and thinks of them as friends, but can she really fall in love in such a short space of time? Asari live for a thousand years or more. Four years is nothing - just the time it takes to scratch one's nose.

I know that the asari are encouraged to cultivate relationships with aliens due to the siari religion (and others on the BSN believe that they were genetically manipulated by the Protheans to become sex slaves); but as the asari on Illium in ME2 (sorry for not remembering her name! ) said; they can just wait it out a century with a mate, and it's no skin off their back.

Apologies for bringing this up . I guess I'm still just trying to make sense of things and find a way forward. While other characters got bad treatment in ME3 (don't get me wrong; I'm not here to go into all that and provoke the devs, since I fully understand that they set themselves impossibly high standards); there are just certain themes that really catapulted me into uncertainty and I'm looking for ways forward from other sources.

I guess I'm here because I can always rely on you guys to say sensible stuff and cheer me up .

And, because I neglected it before; welcome to all the new blood

I think that, just like how humans vary in how they develop attraction, so would any other species in the ME universe. So I'm sure there would be asari that need a long time to work through a relationship before they really fall in love, while others fall in love more quickly.

[Efvie]

AustereLemur799 wrote...

Firstly (and I'm pretty sure I might've asked this before); was Saren a natural biotic or did he become biotic with reaperised modifications (I figure that Reapers can make anything possible even though I know that eezo has to be present in a person's tissue to make them biotic [when they are born???])? This is very important to me.

As you later say that you want him to have been biotic from birth, do that. You should take into account that all turians with biotic capabilities should have been Cabal members, and how that fits with his story.

Honestly, I think he was given biotics just to make him a tougher fight as a gameplay element, but going strictly by the game I’d make his abilities Reaper origin.

The second thing I wanted to ask is the whole translator thing. As I mentioned in my earlier post; I've been watching Farscape recently where they have translator miscrobes - which I think is a brilliant idea. As far as I know; Mass Effect has translator programs, but I don't know for certain. If they are programs; are they installed on the omni-tool or via some kind of neural chip?

I’ve handled it as (possibly Reaper-origin) tech, generally obtained as an OT plugin with usually an implanted ear piece. With two-plus millennia of development, natural language translation can be made fast enough to have little enough delay.

However, a translator, no matter how good, won’t solve one problem… the other party will still be speaking a different language, and it’ll just look weird. So I’ve simply established a common language (one of the asari languages), which is learned and used by most. Those who don’t know it, or don’t want to speak it, will rely on translators.

[MrStoob]

AustereLemur799 wrote...

I don't mean to go back to the whole Liara thing since I understand and appreciate that everyone here has different interests; but I just wanted to pose something to the other Liara fans/writers out there - and everyone is, of course, more than welcome to anser if you want to .

With asari life-span in mind; I, personally, tend to think that the asari take a long time over everything, including developing relationships with people. In the grand scheme of things; Liara has known the Normandy crew for a few years (and she disappeared for half of that time while she was off dealing with the Shadow Broker). I believe that she cares about the crew and thinks of them as friends, but can she really fall in love in such a short space of time? Asari live for a thousand years or more. Four years is nothing - just the time it takes to scratch one's nose.

I know that the asari are encouraged to cultivate relationships with aliens due to the siari religion (and others on the BSN believe that they were genetically manipulated by the Protheans to become sex slaves); but as the asari on Illium in ME2 (sorry for not remembering her name! ) said; they can just wait it out a century with a mate, and it's no skin off their back.

Apologies for bringing this up . I guess I'm still just trying to make sense of things and find a way forward. While other characters got bad treatment in ME3 (don't get me wrong; I'm not here to go into all that and provoke the devs, since I fully understand that they set themselves impossibly high standards); there are just certain themes that really catapulted me into uncertainty and I'm looking for ways forward from other sources.

I guess I'm here because I can always rely on you guys to say sensible stuff and cheer me up .

And, because I neglected it before; welcome to all the new blood

But in reality, from our human experience, it doesn't matter whether you're teens in the first flush of love, or middle aged and looking for something more commital, or aged, or whatever, people do this in their own time as no two people are the same.  So Liara could indeed be the type of person who grabs the love she finds, loyally commits to it, regardless of longevity.

[hot_heart]

AustereLemur799 wrote...
Firstly (and I'm pretty sure I might've asked this before); was Saren a natural biotic or did he become biotic with reaperised modifications (I figure that Reapers can make anything possible even though I know that eezo has to be present in a person's tissue to make them biotic [when they are born???])? This is very important to me.

As far as I'm aware, it was part of a now-abandoned story idea about the Reapers not being able to manipulate biotics themselves and needing to 'augment' organics in order to do so (I think the Protheans weren't supposed to be biotic, initially...and then Javik happened).

In light of that, and not having any recollection of him being so in Revelation (not read Evolution), I would've said he was not originally a biotic. However, since that original idea was dropped, you could make him a natural biotic, provided it doesn't clash with the other appearances since he doesn't have to use biotics at every available opportunity.

[Efvie]

For reasons*, I’ve not written my main stories for almost six months now. I keep meaning to start back up, but as I’m sure many of you know, it gets harder every passing day. Still, the desire to is in there somewhere, beckoning… today, I was actually determined enough to start that I started re-reading the story thus far. I haven’t forgotten it, but there were lots of little bits that had faded from my radar. Even with fresh, somewhat removed eyes that make the failings of the story much clearer, I found that I quite liked what I’d managed to create thus far.

I suppose that’s not an entirely bad thing?

I guess I should also try to work on my scheduling a bit if I do want to actually start… somehow the prospect of sitting down for 6–8 hours to write a chapter is terrifying now, so I think I’ll have to try to work in two–three hour stints, maybe slow down to a chapter per week or so, which I don’t really like. I’d prefer two. Of course even one per week is an infinite increase from none, so there’s that.

Or perhaps I should add to one of the side stories, to get my feet wet…

* I’ve had significant frustration with feedback, which caused stress, which eventually led me to just stop writing to avoid it. Still not sure whether I want to continue since it seems the only thing that ever strikes a chord is the fluff, and others do that so much better.

[fluffywalrus]

Efvie wrote...

For reasons*, I’ve not written my main stories for almost six months now. I keep meaning to start back up, but as I’m sure many of you know, it gets harder every passing day. Still, the desire to is in there somewhere, beckoning… today, I was actually determined enough to start that I started re-reading the story thus far. I haven’t forgotten it, but there were lots of little bits that had faded from my radar. Even with fresh, somewhat removed eyes that make the failings of the story much clearer, I found that I quite liked what I’d managed to create thus far.

I suppose that’s not an entirely bad thing?

I guess I should also try to work on my scheduling a bit if I do want to actually start… somehow the prospect of sitting down for 6–8 hours to write a chapter is terrifying now, so I think I’ll have to try to work in two–three hour stints, maybe slow down to a chapter per week or so, which I don’t really like. I’d prefer two. Of course even one per week is an infinite increase from none, so there’s that.

Or perhaps I should add to one of the side stories, to get my feet wet…

* I’ve had significant frustration with feedback, which caused stress, which eventually led me to just stop writing to avoid it. Still not sure whether I want to continue since it seems the only thing that ever strikes a chord is the fluff, and others do that so much better.

I had a similar issue with my story, and it led to some pretty severe writer's block.
My advice is that if your stress and reluctance is tied to that story and community feedback, write a side story for yourself, and don't publish it (at least for a bit) .
Mid-May, I could barely look at my main fic. Now, after getting my feet wet and getting back into the swing of things, I've gotten a lot closer to where I want to be with that story. I still get a bit uncomfortable with it at times, and I still freeze a bit, but I've done a few new chapters. And I'm fairly happy with them.

Perhaps you just need to work on something new, get your mojo back. You liked what you did with your story, and you seem to be on the rebound, so why not try something new to see if it can't help the process along?

[MeredithvL]

@ Efvie and fluffywalrus: Well, as a writer, there's always room to improve and you probably will never satisfied with your past work, but that should never stop you, on the contrary you should take the feedback as a help to know what areas you need to improve. If people are rude when they give feedback, well, you should totally disregard what they said, they just don't know how to express themselves in a civil way, so why should you take into consideration what they have to say about your writing? But I find that most people aren't rude when they provide feedback, they just see something that you could improve that perhaps you didn't notice because you were absorbed in your story, and they want to help you to improve because they were caught with what you wrote for enough time to actually read it and think about something to say that will make you a better writer. That's a compliment, and an oportunity for you as a writer.

[MeredithvL]

Oh, and one more thing about feedback: sometimes you, as an author, will not agree with what a reader has to say, and that's fine and the opinion of one person about your work should not dictate how your work should be.

I recently had a review that basically said "you shouldn't have done this thing with your story and since you did, I don't believe you really are telling a believable story" and I just don't agree with that person, because that's not what I wanted to say or the story that I wanted to tell, and I do make real efforts to keep it believable, I know I do, so why should I change the story for the opinion of one person that only read the beginning and didn't even care to see if the rest of the story was believable or not?

(basically, my story goes along the path of the Indoctrination Theory with the added element that the Reapers are a problem extended to the entire Universe, not just our galaxy, but in my story the star child was just an hallucination and thus it lied when it said that the Crucible would destroy all synthetic life if used to destroy the Reapers. Why shouldn't I tell that story, because one person believes that I should have followed the exact perfectly canon destroy ending even when I do say in the notes at the beginning that my story is sort of IT?)

Modifié par MeredithvL, 04 août 2013 - 04:33 .

[Efvie]

fluffywalrus wrote...

I had a similar issue with my story, and it led to some pretty severe writer's block.

I noticed you fell off the radar a while back.

My advice is that if your stress and reluctance is tied to that story and community feedback, write a side story for yourself, and don't publish it (at least for a bit) .

I have, actually, kind of… and it’s published, but I haven’t really paid much attention to whether anyone’s read it. The only feedback that has mattered has been that of my co-author. Problem there is that the temptation to just keep doing that and not return is quite strong.

I don’t think I have a block in the traditional sense, although of course it remains to be seen if I do start writing again. I suppose this variety isn’t too uncommon, either.

I do need to start soon, though! Here’s working toward it… 

Thanks

Modifié par Efvie, 04 août 2013 - 04:51 .

[fluffywalrus]

MeredithvL wrote...

@ Efvie and fluffywalrus: Well, as a writer, there's always room to improve and you probably will never satisfied with your past work, but that should never stop you, on the contrary you should take the feedback as a help to know what areas you need to improve. If people are rude when they give feedback, well, you should totally disregard what they said, they just don't know how to express themselves in a civil way, so why should you take into consideration what they have to say about your writing? But I find that most people aren't rude when they provide feedback, they just see something that you could improve that perhaps you didn't notice because you were absorbed in your story, and they want to help you to improve because they were caught with what you wrote for enough time to actually read it and think about something to say that will make you a better writer. That's a compliment, and an oportunity for you as a writer.

Very well said
I'll admit that criticism wasn't really my issue so much as living up to my growing audience of readers and their expectations (for an ME2 arc and an ME3 arc and a post ME3 arc...after it had taken MONTHS to traverse barely over half of the ME1 arc). It just got to be a lot of pressure and a lot to commit to, and it was really wearing on me.

Efvie wrote...
I have, actually, kind of… and it’s published, but I haven’t really paid
much attention to whether anyone’s read it. The only feedback that has
mattered has been that of my co-author. Problem there is that the
temptation to just keep doing that and not return is quite strong.

I don’t think
I have a block in the traditional sense, although of course it remains
to be seen if I do start writing again. I suppose this variety isn’t too
uncommon, either.

I do need to start soon, though! Here’s working toward it… 

Thanks

No worries, and yeah, I've felt a similar pull. I've been writing in a different fandom, and it's been ridiculously easy to find inspiration for all sorts of goofiness and fluff and drama and everything else I love to write.
It's hard sometimes to step back into Feathers when I really want explore some ideas that spontaeously pop into my head for the other fandom. I'm trying not to prioritize anything...I wrote Feathers and for a long time that was my first priority. And then my fic Province was my first priority because it was helping destroy my writer's block. And now I know that people want more Feathers, and they want a sequel to Province, but I'm just trying to write what i want to, when I want to, I guess. I know I'll publish more Feathers eventually...I have chapters ready to be sent out as I sit here. And I'll get to that sequel because I have it fully outlined and ready to be written. But I can't will myself to be motivated to focus on something that ends up...it's a different block of sorts, more like an ice-cream sandwich dangling in front of me whenever I try to focus on something that isn't what I'm most excited to write about. And I really, really like ice-cream.

Just try to enjoy yourself, I suppose. Writing's supposed to be fun, and so long as you're having fun, that's the important part, right?

[Efvie]

MeredithvL wrote...

(basically, my story goes along the path of the Indoctrination Theory with the added element that the Reapers are a problem extended to the entire Universe, not just our galaxy, but in my story the star child was just an hallucination and thus it lied when it said that the Crucible would destroy all synthetic life if used to destroy the Reapers. Why shouldn't I tell that story, because one person believes that I should have followed the exact perfectly canon destroy ending even when I do say in the notes at the beginning that my story is sort of IT?)

In those cases, you definitely do need to just go with your own vision. I’m firmly of the opinion that all feedback is valuable, even if it’s just a series of expletives. The author can review each critique, and either take action or not (and importantly, try not to be affected by the less kind ones…)

It’s kind of hard to explain what my problem was, exactly, at least without sounding like a greedy idiot. The feedback I got was good, save a few exceptions (and even then they were reasoned critiques). The way I’ve formulated it before is that I’d rather have had a single percent of the readers I did, if they had only all been active and vocal.

This varies for many, but for me the important thing isn’t writing, it’s storytelling, and when I don’t evoke a reaction, it feels like a failure.

Modifié par Efvie, 04 août 2013 - 05:17 .

[MeredithvL]

fluffywalrus wrote...

I'll admit that criticism wasn't really my issue so much as living up to my growing audience of readers and their expectations (for an ME2 arc and an ME3 arc and a post ME3 arc...after it had taken MONTHS to traverse barely over half of the ME1 arc). It just got to be a lot of pressure and a lot to commit to, and it was really wearing on me.

Well, writing is hard and it takes time. We all have real life worries: work, family, friends, other activities we do. If people cannot understand that, it's really their problem, not your, and you shouldn't feel pressured by their anxiety. Motivated, yes, pressured never. Reading takes a lot less time and effort than actually creating something that other people can read.

fluffywalrus wrote...

Just try to enjoy yourself, I suppose. Writing's supposed to be fun, and so long as you're having fun, that's the important part, right?

Absolutely! Of course, if you can improve your writing all the better, because you'll like more the end result and you'll be more satisfied with yourself. Plus, if you really enjoy what you write and write with your heart, other people will see it and enjoy it too.

[MeredithvL]

Efvie wrote...

This varies for many, but for me the important thing isn’t writing, it’s storytelling, and when I don’t evoke a reaction, it feels like a failure.

It's not your failure at all. Sometimes a person won't give a feedback because they don't know how to express themselves, and that's not because you didn't evoke a reaction in them. Others will have feelings but aren't good at expressing their feelings, and sometimes that's society's fault, because we are taught that we shouldn't be too expressive about our feelings. Sometimes they will read your story at work (the place where I read most of the fanfics I follow) and they cannot provide feedback because their boss is around and if they start typing the boss might want to know what are they typing, but probably they can just stare at the screen and the boss won't even notice. What I mean is, there are many reasons why people won't provide feedback that aren't your fault or your failure at all. I guess that you feel frustrated because you don't know if people actually felt something when they read your story, but if they keep coming back, even when they don't say anything, you can be sure that they did.

However, I disagree that writing isn't important in storytelling and provoking reactions. If I write "the little girl died in the snow" you'll go just "aha", but if I wrote a story describing how she felt, how she could see her home in the distance and the safety ahead of her, covered in a curtain of snow, but she ordered her limbs to move one more step and they didn't obey, you'll feel more inclined to empathize with her and feel something regarding her death.

[Drussius]

Efvie wrote...

This varies for many, but for me the important thing isn’t writing, it’s storytelling, and when I don’t evoke a reaction, it feels like a failure.

The subject of reviews has been brought up many times over the course of this thread, and I know it's easy to fixate on the number of views vs. reviews and wonder what people are thinking and why they don't leave feedback. But some people just don't... Perhaps they feel they have nothing meaningful to say other than it was a good story. Perhaps they feel they should only critique if they have something more profound to say. There are limitless possible explanations.

My fic centered around OCs, so I knew I wouldn't draw the sort of readership that fics about the main cast from the games would draw, and I was fine with that. I told the story I wanted to tell, and I am very happy with it. When I finished the story, I had 7 or 8 people leaving regular reviews... but 29 registered follows, and every new chapter generated 40+ views within days of publishing. Again, these are very small numbers compared to some fics, but it told me there were a lot more people who were interested enough to read it and just didn't have anything to say about it. Of course, I always love feedback. I'm sure everyone does. But seriously, take the views as interest whether they are accompanied by a review or not. People who get through as far as the latest chapters of your fic obviously are hooked enough by it to spend their time reading it. They just - for whatever reason - don't feel they have any meaningful opinions to offer you on it. But they're still coming back. So that's a win.