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[Drussius]

I appreciate the permission lill, but the italics as I've been using them are working fairly well for communications cut-ins, I feel. And yes, I am still doing a little rewriting in the vein of the last idea I was discussing in this thread, but I am almost through Chapter 2, so I'll be back to writing new material probably tomorrow.

But I made the mistake of reading the first chapter of someone's fanfic who had a much greater grasp of flowery prose than I do. I feel that I have a good grasp of setting a scene, but my writing tends to be more functional than poetic. That always makes me feel like I have a long way to go as a writer. But it also inspires me on some strange level. So it's a mixed blessing.

I had to skip a lot of the recent posts because they were about the EC, and I haven't played it yet. Just saved last night at the start of the Sanctuary mission, so I'll get to the new ending before too long. But the point is: I hope I didn't miss anything fanfic-based that I should have commented on.

[hot_heart]

Drussius wrote...
But I made the mistake of reading the first chapter of someone's fanfic who had a much greater grasp of flowery prose than I do. I feel that I have a good grasp of setting a scene, but my writing tends to be more functional than poetic. That always makes me feel like I have a long way to go as a writer. But it also inspires me on some strange level. So it's a mixed blessing.

Everyone's got their own style. Just go with it!

[lillitheris]

Drussius wrote...

But I made the mistake of reading the first chapter of someone's fanfic who had a much greater grasp of flowery prose than I do. I feel that I have a good grasp of setting a scene, but my writing tends to be more functional than poetic. That always makes me feel like I have a long way to go as a writer. But it also inspires me on some strange level. So it's a mixed blessing.

And somewhere there’s someone who writes like Lovecraft and desperately wants to learn to be more succinct. Neverending process!

Hm. Can you imagine how many pages it would be if Lovecraft did a retelling of the ME games?

I had to skip a lot of the recent posts because they were about the EC, and I haven't played it yet. Just saved last night at the start of the Sanctuary mission, so I'll get to the new ending before too long. But the point is: I hope I didn't miss anything fanfic-based that I should have commented on.

Since your query about the position of the time indicator, I think the only non-EC discussions have really been one about salarian vocal patterns, and there were a handful of nice scenes posted that you may have missed (the risky/memorable question).

[Spartanburger]

After toiling away for the last two weeks and finally finishing my remixes of Ghosts'n'Stuff, I can finally sit down and actually make real headway into my fic.

Writing young Shepard is harder than it sounds.

[Drussius]

lillitheris wrote...

Drussius wrote...

But I made the mistake of reading the first chapter of someone's fanfic who had a much greater grasp of flowery prose than I do. I feel that I have a good grasp of setting a scene, but my writing tends to be more functional than poetic. That always makes me feel like I have a long way to go as a writer. But it also inspires me on some strange level. So it's a mixed blessing.

And somewhere there’s someone who writes like Lovecraft and desperately wants to learn to be more succinct. Neverending process!

Hm. Can you imagine how many pages it would be if Lovecraft did a retelling of the ME games?

Oh, I definitely know there are people on the opposite end. I played tabletop RPGs with a girl in High School who used to write short passages about things that happened during play from her character's perspective and pass them on to me. She was a very gifted writer, but I felt she went way TOO far. I love descriptive writing, but when it takes a writer an entire paragraph to describe the way someone's hair moved when they turned to walk away, it may be time to dial it back a bit.

Edit: I do have to admit though, her writing caused me to look up several hundred new words at the time so I could understand what was going on. So she DID improve my vocabulary significantly!

Modifié par Drussius, 27 juin 2012 - 11:12 .

[noxiuniversitas1]

Whoa... loads of you have been kind and read my latest silly little story, so I can probably say this here without sounding like a complete arsewipe. I've been pretty blown away by the reception this little happy ending tale is getting... The quality of writing is average+ and I didn't really revisit it at all once it was written. I guess people really did want an LI reunion..

Modifié par noxiuniversitas1, 27 juin 2012 - 11:53 .

[Drussius]

^ I look forward to checking it out. I did read both Empty and 15 Seconds and enjoyed both of them. I didn't notice that there was another one in your sig until now.

[dpMeggers]

noxiuniversitas1 wrote...

Whoa... loads of you have been kind and read my latest silly little story, so I can probably say this here without sounding like a complete arsewipe. I've been pretty blown away by the reception this little happy ending tale is getting... The quality of writing is average+ and I didn't really revisit it at all once it was written. I guess people really did want an LI reunion..

There's that. I think I said something like it in my review, the fanbase has been wanting something like happy for a while. And we're always our own worst critics so your feelings on the quality of your writing may not match up to the rest of the community.

I'm with you about being touched by unexpected receptions though. I mentionned before that I'm doing some rewrites to Conversation before I finish it. People who have never reviewed before were telling me to take as long as I needed and that they were excited to read the new version. I don't think I've ever felt so ... happy to be in contact with someone I've never met before.

[Obsidian Gryphon]

Sialater wrote...

LOL, not Glyph has that brain power.

Since the Normandy takes off again from Planet Plothole... I'm gonna go with EDI ain't as dead as StarBrat claimed since neither is Shepard.  Her name may be on the wall because she might've lost enough of her IQ, they don't think she can come back.  At the very least that body she co-opted is non-operational.

I'm basically ignoring the point that EDI & Geth are wiped in my fanfic (this was way before EC but I'm going to take that farewell scene at the beam as canon]. Also ignoring Spacebrat and his idiot dialogue. Plain and simple : super magic weapon wipe out the Reapers. That's that. I'm just going down the road where Shep [F] and Liara are together, facing the obstacles in their lives and whatever is happening around the galactic community.

[Sweawm]

I was currently wondering about the possibility of creating a Fan based Text Adventure following ME3?
Think a Fan Fiction, but with just like ME, with choices and the ability to import your Shepard's choices (Or Shepard in Destroy Ending). It would take little effort to put together in the technical side of things, but would require one large amount of writing.

[Drussius]

Two questions:

First, I'd like to have an idea from my fellow writers of what they consider a good number of words when they're reading a chapter of a story. I know some people groan at long chapters and some people just don't care. I'm not rewriting or rearranging my first two chapters any more no matter the answer (with the exception of small edits from this point on), but since both chapters came out to be 11,500 to 12,500 words, I'm wondering if I'm on the high side of comfort for readers or if those are fine.

My second question has nothing at all to do with my personal fanfic. It is just a question for readers/writers to satisfy my curiosity:

What perspective do you find most satisfying to read/write in? I notice that these days I tend to write in third person, focusing on the perspective of a specific character in each scene, when I used to use a more omniscient writing approach, providing the thoughts and motives of all characters involved in the scene instead of just one. I personally have difficulty writing in first person, but I've seen some excellent stories presented that way.

Does anyone have a preference when it comes to reading or writing stories? Do you hate reading first person stories? Prefer them? Prefer third person? Don't care? Don't care what you read but write only in first person? I'd love to know how some of my fellow writers feel about different perspectives.

[Drussius]

noxiuniversitas1 wrote...

Whoa... loads of you have been kind and read my latest silly little story, so I can probably say this here without sounding like a complete arsewipe. I've been pretty blown away by the reception this little happy ending tale is getting... The quality of writing is average+ and I didn't really revisit it at all once it was written. I guess people really did want an LI reunion..

Went to check out your new story, but you started with a warning about EC spoilers. So, since I haven't seen them yet, I have to hold off for a bit. I'll get to it soon though.

[fluffywalrus]

Drussius wrote...

Two questions:

First, I'd like to have an idea from my fellow writers of what they consider a good number of words when they're reading a chapter of a story. I know some people groan at long chapters and some people just don't care. I'm not rewriting or rearranging my first two chapters any more no matter the answer (with the exception of small edits from this point on), but since both chapters came out to be 11,500 to 12,500 words, I'm wondering if I'm on the high side of comfort for readers or if those are fine.

My second question has nothing at all to do with my personal fanfic. It is just a question for readers/writers to satisfy my curiosity:

What perspective do you find most satisfying to read/write in? I notice that these days I tend to write in third person, focusing on the perspective of a specific character in each scene, when I used to use a more omniscient writing approach, providing the thoughts and motives of all characters involved in the scene instead of just one. I personally have difficulty writing in first person, but I've seen some excellent stories presented that way.

Does anyone have a preference when it comes to reading or writing stories? Do you hate reading first person stories? Prefer them? Prefer third person? Don't care? Don't care what you read but write only in first person? I'd love to know how some of my fellow writers feel about different perspectives.

I would personally be hesitant to read chapters that are 20k or more, but so long as they're under that, I think I'd be fine. My sweet spot is between 3000 and 8000, where I can more easily collect my thoughts per chapter as opposed to trying to keep everything in mind over a more mammoth sized chapter. I don't keep notes as I read(wrecks the immersion) so generally, the longer the chapter, the more I forget about small details that crop up in the first three quarters.

That's just me though.

As for perspectives, I prefer 3rd person for larger stories. First person for smaller segments is fine, but larger stories set in first person don't tend to work out very well IMO. Especially if it's first person & present tense. Some have pulled it off well with good writing, but it's a more difficult endeavour IMO. Doesn't matter what perspective it is so long as it's a fun read, though.

[Icyflare]

Drussius wrote...

Two questions:

First, I'd like to have an idea from my fellow writers of what they consider a good number of words when they're reading a chapter of a story. I know some people groan at long chapters and some people just don't care. I'm not rewriting or rearranging my first two chapters any more no matter the answer (with the exception of small edits from this point on), but since both chapters came out to be 11,500 to 12,500 words, I'm wondering if I'm on the high side of comfort for readers or if those are fine.

It really depends on your story, as you probably already know. If that's where the chapter ends logically, leave it there. Personally, I prefer smaller chapters since it's easier for me to digest in chunks than in one long go. Something around 4K-8K would be fine for me. If the story makes more sense if you keep it together at 11.5K, then just go with that.

What perspective do you find most satisfying to read/write in? I notice that these days I tend to write in third person, focusing on the perspective of a specific character in each scene, when I used to use a more omniscient writing approach, providing the thoughts and motives of all characters involved in the scene instead of just one. I personally have difficulty writing in first person, but I've seen some excellent stories presented that way.

Does anyone have a preference when it comes to reading or writing stories? Do you hate reading first person stories? Prefer them? Prefer third person? Don't care? Don't care what you read but write only in first person? I'd love to know how some of my fellow writers feel about different perspectives.

First person stories, I think, are hard to pull off well. You do get the intensity of emotion and thoughts that the character feels, but the narrator has to be compelling enough to follow to the conclusion. I don't mind them, but I get bored relatively quickly if their thought process are repetitive or bland. 

I prefer to write in a limited ominiscent perspective, which may sound paradoxical. It's the same as the one you prefer, Drussius, albeit with a fancier name. I find that it's more interesting for me to only write one character's thoughts/emotions while only implying the emotions of others through how they behave and their actions. Gives it loads more subtext that makes undercurrent of conflicts more intense, in my opinion.  Reading-wise, I prefer third person. I'm just used to it, and it provides a solid narrative flow.

Edit: Also, I'm really getting into using present tense for writing. It works better for immediate actions and scenes.

Modifié par Icyflare, 28 juin 2012 - 07:57 .

[lillitheris]

noxiuniversitas1 wrote...

Whoa... loads of you have been kind and read my latest silly little story, so I can probably say this here without sounding like a complete arsewipe. I've been pretty blown away by the reception this little happy ending tale is getting... The quality of writing is average+ and I didn't really revisit it at all once it was written. I guess people really did want an LI reunion..

Nothing wrong with the writing. It’s not your absolute best work as far as the text goes, but it’s more about the sentiment. Like I said, it’s good mush <3

I was actually thinking that when I finally do get to reunion proper — 2-3 chapters on, maybe?  — I’ll ‘advertise’ it as a one-shot, too. Iif my plan for the chapter pans out and it stands alone well, that is, I won’t compromise just because of that. While (I hope) it’s more powerful as a part of the longer story, the audience for shorter stories is larger.

[lillitheris]

Drussius wrote...

Two questions:

First, I'd like to have an idea from my fellow writers of what they consider a good number of words when they're reading a chapter of a story. I know some people groan at long chapters and some people just don't care. I'm not rewriting or rearranging my first two chapters any more no matter the answer (with the exception of small edits from this point on), but since both chapters came out to be 11,500 to 12,500 words, I'm wondering if I'm on the high side of comfort for readers or if those are fine.

I’d say that nobody is put off by shorter chapters (say, anything 2000+), but some might be by longer ones (or they have to stop in the middle of one and have a harder time getting back into it). 12k isn’t that much, I’d expect the effect to be marginal. That said, if — and only if — you can break it up logically into 3 or 4 chapters instead of the 2, I’d consider it. Don’t compromise, though.

What perspective do you find most satisfying to read/write in? …

I, as you know, prefer to write third-person limited. In addition, I usually slightly alter the style to match the character in question to personalize it a bit more. In my case it’s probably especially noticeable with Vega and Kal’Reegar, but there are smaller things like Vega being ‘James’ in Liara’s POVs, and ‘Vega’ (or something rude) in Jack’s.

Does anyone have a preference when it comes to reading or writing stories? Do you hate reading first person stories? Prefer them? Prefer third person? Don't care? Don't care what you read but write only in first person? I'd love to know how some of my fellow writers feel about different perspectives.

I don’t mind any, but first person is always harder to get right. It both reads slightly worse unless you’re really good, and (I think) places constraints on the faithfulness of the character that might be more negligible in third person. Still, nothing that says you can’t write well that way…those are rarer in my experience, though.

I’ve once even read a well-written second-person story — that is, actually written as if I was the protagonist, rather than a letter or something like that.

I generally find that the stories I like best are non-omniscient third person narratives. They are also very popular, so it may simply be a factor of that.

[lillitheris]

Sweawm wrote...

I was currently wondering about the possibility of creating a Fan based Text Adventure following ME3?
Think a Fan Fiction, but with just like ME, with choices and the ability to import your Shepard's choices (Or Shepard in Destroy Ending). It would take little effort to put together in the technical side of things, but would require one large amount of writing.

There’s a ‘choose your own story’-style thing in French, and I think it’s got a translated version somewhere on this forum. That would also work well enough with hyperlinks and so on.

If you want a more gamey experience, though (e.g. allow people to LOOK around etc.), that’ll be a little trickier. Definitely needs a solid story mostly planned out before starting, too.

[hot_heart]

I don't have a favourite perspective, since they work for different styles. First-person can be good for getting inside the character's head, but there are writers who use it to keep you in the dark more...which can sometimes feel like 'cheating' or can be done really well with other noir fiction.

I don't discriminate against any.

[Drussius]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses on my question about the perspectives. I hadn't expected to get so many and certainly not so soon. I figured I might have answers by the time I woke up this afternoon.. not before I went to bed this morning. I actually have an idea for a future story starting to roll around in my head, and while I will definitely be finishing my current one before starting anything new, I had to get some thoughts on perspectives.

As for the chapters, I could probably cut them down to 8,000 words or so pretty easily. There isn't really any "perfect" stopping points in the first few chapters since they are mostly introducing the characters and setting up events. It probably would make no difference to the flow of the story if I knocked the last two scenes of Chapter 1 into the start of Chapter 2, Knocked the last four scenes of 2 into 3, and added a scene or two to complete Chapter 3 with about 7-9K words in each. I may have to consider it since it wouldn't be a case of rewriting or rearranging per se. I'd just be shortening the chapters slightly.

This is more of a compulsion on my part, actually, and shortening my Chapters certainly wouldn't hurt anything. I just never seem to feel like I've written a real "Chapter" until I hit 20 pages in word. Which I've noticed averages out to about 11-13K words with my font and writing style.

[Obsidian Gryphon]

Drussius wrote...

Two questions:

First, I'd like to have an idea from my fellow writers of what they consider a good number of words when they're reading a chapter of a story. I know some people groan at long chapters and some people just don't care. I'm not rewriting or rearranging my first two chapters any more no matter the answer (with the exception of small edits from this point on), but since both chapters came out to be 11,500 to 12,500 words, I'm wondering if I'm on the high side of comfort for readers or if those are fine.

My second question has nothing at all to do with my personal fanfic. It is just a question for readers/writers to satisfy my curiosity:

What perspective do you find most satisfying to read/write in? I notice that these days I tend to write in third person, focusing on the perspective of a specific character in each scene, when I used to use a more omniscient writing approach, providing the thoughts and motives of all characters involved in the scene instead of just one. I personally have difficulty writing in first person, but I've seen some excellent stories presented that way.

Does anyone have a preference when it comes to reading or writing stories? Do you hate reading first person stories? Prefer them? Prefer third person? Don't care? Don't care what you read but write only in first person? I'd love to know how some of my fellow writers feel about different perspectives.

#1 I can't even write that much per chapter. But on the reader side, I don't care how long it is if it's immersive.

# I never like first person perspective because it fels invasive. Prefer 3rd.

[hot_heart]

My only concern with an opening chapter that long, is if it takes a while to get to the hook. Maybe it's me, but attention spans seem to be fairly short.

Personally, it would feel a little like taking too long to get to the 'inciting incident' in a script. Stories in prose are a little different, obviously, and how you present the 'package' can affect it (and with FF, people may be drawn to certain characters regardless) but it's something I look out for.

Modifié par hot_heart, 28 juin 2012 - 10:24 .

[Aimi]

Is there any sort of consensus as to Shepard's service history pre-ME1? What grade is Shepard usually described as during the Blitz/Torfan/Akuze? Is Shepard normally referred to as a mustang, or did he/she "enlist" with a commission? Things like that.

Modifié par daqs, 28 juin 2012 - 10:38 .

[noxiuniversitas1]

Thanks for the feedback on the reunion story. I had some quite heart-felt PMs from people on FFN talking about personal issues after that, and how a lot of them read fiction for cartharsis - just for you guys continuing / starting your love stories.

Drussius wrote...

Two questions:

First, I'd like to have an idea from my fellow writers of what they consider a good number of words when they're reading a chapter of a story. I know some people groan at long chapters and some people just don't care. I'm not rewriting or rearranging my first two chapters any more no matter the answer (with the exception of small edits from this point on), but since both chapters came out to be 11,500 to 12,500 words, I'm wondering if I'm on the high side of comfort for readers or if those are fine.

Personally, I read during lulls at work or in the short time before going to bed when you're awake but not really awake (i.e. including review time, I probably have about 20 minutes maximum per story/chapter). As such, I'm usually put off by anything which appears to be more than 5000 words (but remember, I have a really short attention span) for longer stories and 3000 words for one-shots (unless the premise / A/N is really interesting).

But, that's just me - don't let it detract you if you think it will harm the flow of your story at all.

Drussius wrote...

What perspective do you find most satisfying to read/write in? I notice that these days I tend to write in third person, focusing on the perspective of a specific character in each scene, when I used to use a more omniscient writing approach, providing the thoughts and motives of all characters involved in the scene instead of just one. I personally have difficulty writing in first person, but I've seen some excellent stories presented that way.

It depends. For long stories, I almost always chose to write in the third-person. The reason is primarily that you need to explore others' perspectives for reasons of character development / plot advancement. Of course, you can switch first-person perspectives, but it's quite jarring and gets old pretty quickly. There are segments in my one long story where I've switched to the first-person perspective. Those are primarily in the dream and indoctrination sequences, and are never more than 1k word sections.

For short stories, as you may know, I often write in the first-person perspective in present tense. The main reason is that the shorts I've written mostly deal with powerful emotions, which are clumsy (IMO, at least), to explore from a third-person perspective or in past tense (time tends to slowl heal most wounds, and it would detract from the raw power of the present). What it does mean, howeverm is that I've had to publish companion pieces to show the "flip side of the coin", i.e. the emotions of the other character the tale is directed at. I think the first-person is excellent for doing a Shakespearean-type soliloquy.

The trick (I think, at least) is to focus on the character, not the ambient surroundings / other characters not immediately relevant to the scene / story. If you find you're doing that, you're probably better-suited to third-person, for that segment, at least.

As for what people prefer... I don't think readers mind either - this is just me speculating from the numbers to stories I've written in the different perspectives / tenses. Personally, I find the present tense in third-person a little jarring if the author doesn't make full use of its power (as I said, I think the main reason to use the present tense is to emphasize raw emotion / the here-and-now of adrenaline-fuelled action scenes). I think first-person stories can be done very well, they just have to be well-balanced and short.

Modifié par noxiuniversitas1, 28 juin 2012 - 10:52 .

[noxiuniversitas1]

daqs wrote...

Is there any sort of consensus as to Shepard's service history pre-ME1? What grade is Shepard usually described as during the Blitz/Torfan/Akuze? Is Shepard normally referred to as a mustang, or did he/she "enlist" with a commission? Things like that.

You can make it up... I don't think people will mind

That said, a few people have head-canoned that Shep was an LT on Torfan/Akuze/the Blitze, and that he/she was selected for N7 training thereafter. As for enlistment... everyone starts as a recruit, and Shep enlisted at 18; unlikely to have college-level education, so boot -> officer training depending on boot performance is probably plausible.

[hot_heart]

When I started writing my story, I was trying to ape stuff I'd read...but then I realised I had started writing in the present tense where they'd use past tense and was, like, "Damn it, you idiot!" But I think it actually helps draw you into the story a bit more.