10369 réponses à ce sujet

[FutileSine]

 Awww!  She *definitely* looks like a perky, fun-to-be-around dwarf.  Kudos the the artist, Mel...and to you, the author for inspiring such art!!!  

Modifié par FutileSine, 09 octobre 2010 - 08:33 .

[Addai]

Aww! Adorable duster is adorable!!!

[Maria13]

That really rocks...

[SurelyForth]

Erna is adorable, Jenn! And Mel is, of course, totally awesome.

[MelRedux]

SurelyForth wrote...

Erna is adorable, Jenn! And Mel is, of course, totally awesome.

My Mel-is-awesome-dar went off!

Glad you like in Jenn!

*bows and takes her leave*

[Sarah1281]

Really awesome picture, Mel.

Also, is it sad if you use a really blatant DA reference in a non-DA fanfic? 

[Reika]

Sarah1281 wrote...

Really awesome picture, Mel.

Also, is it sad if you use a really blatant DA reference in a non-DA fanfic? 

Not at all, I think it's cool when authors do that.

[Sarah1281]

Reika wrote...

Sarah1281 wrote...

Really awesome picture, Mel.

Also, is it sad if you use a really blatant DA reference in a non-DA fanfic? 

Not at all, I think it's cool when authors do that.

 I noticed one of my characters said that it wasn't there fault that they were captured as someone swooped down on them and so, naturally, there was only one response to that.

[Reika]

Sarah1281 wrote...
 I noticed one of my characters said that it wasn't there fault that they were captured as someone swooped down on them and so, naturally, there was only one response to that.

Ha! That's the perfect response.

Modifié par Reika, 09 octobre 2010 - 09:26 .

[LupusYondergirl]

... I caught that. I had to review and say something. it was too good not to mention!

(granted, I love DA and KOTOR, so I may hit that target audience sweet spot).

[Shadow of Light Dragon]

Congrats jenn!

[Sarah1281]

So whenever I get attacked by plot bunnies (which happens with alarming regularity) I sit down and write a one-shot about the idea. Most of them can be expanded upon but I don't want to get bogged down with too many multi-chapter stories at once. My problem right now is one of my newer ideas (Eleanor Cousland and Lady Landra took off for Denerim when Fergus left) isn't really one-shot material.

[Merilsell]

Sarah1281 wrote...

klarabella wrote...
I love descriptions. It's essential if you want to create your own vision of the world. I'm a fan of the rule show don't tell. Many authors rush from dialogue to dialogue, they let their characters tell me what I should see for myself.

My problem with that rule is that I've read all sorts of stories that people claim do that excellently but there's just so much boring description that I don't care about (what people look like, what the scenery look like, what buildings look like...) that it either takes me forever to read or I skim it. I don't really want to be told OR shown what things look like as I have enough imagination to fill in the blanks and so writing things that bore me to death isn't something I'm fond of doing.

This.Fully agree to Sarah here.

I don't care what a character wears, really. It is clothes or armor, period and pretty obvious that they don't run naked through Ferelden. I also know what armor and clothes look like in DA and can fill in the blanks myself, so I don't need a long-winded description of what color that has or whatnot. I'm more interested in how an character acts, and why they do that than her/his looks actually,

Could be the reason why my own descriptions are rather sparse. I also dread writing them and keep them short but (hopefully) sufficient when needed. One or two lines about looks or clothes are enough for me, I always have the feeling to bore the readers otherwise. Maybe I'm still traumatized by reading Stephanie Meyer, who knows. My attention span drops dangerously when I have to read long-winded descriptions myself, I tend to skip them, though. 

I really think that the secret to writing good description is to ask whether your characters would care.

Yep, ecxactly. I  write in close third perspective, so since my char doesn't bother much about things that doesn't concern herself or her companions, she isn't very interested in a closer look. *shrug* But since she is Dalish you can be sure that the corruption in the forest will catch her eyes a lot more than the corruption somewhere on the road for example. 

I think my strengths are: Writing emotions and dialogue, love doing that. Character development, (so I'm told via reviews) and I also love to develop characters/relationships in a more realistic way. Witing smut, which I find important to base rather on displaying emotions than just raw hubba hubba. I don't know if my written smut is good however, haven't done that in ages.

Weaknesses: Oh I have so very many, lol. I pity my beta for combing through the sometimes weird phrased sentences I present to her, whereas the solution would have been ....easier *d'oh* I have been told that I should think less complicated ...but sometimes I just can't get out of it. I tend to blame that on the second language syndrom which makes me think I need to phrase it more special and less bland (since english is my second language actually.) *headdesk*

Description of environment: RAAAAAGE. I think this sums my feeling about writing descriptions perfectly up. I'm fine with describing emotions and inner thought processes but others than that I'm not very creative in that department either, because a house is a house and I couldn't care less *shrug* 
Except when it's smut. Gawd what does that say about me?

Keeping things short and concised: Epic , eeeepic fail. I can't write short chapters even if my life would hang on it. Le sigh.

Action scenes: I so fail in those. But they are needed so I write them. Just don't expect them to actually be, well, exciting *cough*

[Reika]

I've come to my conclusion that some of my issues with description stem from reading Tolkien. Or trying to. The man may have been excellent writer, but he was an awful storyteller. So I try to be on the concise side.



Of course with fanfic, I tend to want to skim over descriptions of characters and scenes due to assuming my readers know what they look like...

[jenncgf]

I just try to focus on "first impressions" stuff or descriptive stuff that advances the story, if necessary. And for me, dialogue is not just about what's said, but about facial expression, body language, and possibly movement. So I try not to go over the top with that stuff, but to me that makes the complete picture happen without writing "Mary Sue said that her father's death devastated her." If I can use description to get that point across, I think that's a great way to go.

I don't like writing a zillion descriptive items, and most people aren't that observant, so if I'm writing from a character's perspective I gauge how much description stems from a ten-second perusal.  That seems to get me a balance I'm happy with.  (I have been known to skip the 2-page-long descriptions that some authors, particularly 18th and 19th century novelists, seem to have engaged in.)

Modifié par jenncgf, 10 octobre 2010 - 11:31 .

[Miri1984]

Jenn, I think it's description of places that bore me more than anything. And people's looks. Honestly we don't need to know what people look like (bloody Stephanie Meyer and her "dazzling" freaking sparkly vampires, I mean STFU PLEASE) other than how those looks affect other people. I have images in my head of how my characters look, if I could only draw I'd be able to put those images down for other people.



One of the reasons I love fanart so much though - sometimes those artists get it EXACTLY right.



And obviously, when you're working from a visual medium, like a game, everyone already knows what the characters look like.

[jackkel dragon]

Reika wrote...

I've come to my conclusion that some of my issues with description stem from reading Tolkien. Or trying to. The man may have been excellent writer, but he was an awful storyteller.

He's perfectly fine in the Hobbit, but that was written in a more conversational tone (for his kids, I believe.)

The only reason I didn't finish the Return of the King may be the description though... and the lack of anything happening. I don't need a chapter about some 15 year old kid realizing that, yes, hobbits are short... (Apparently word from the Shire doesn't reach 600 miles away to Gondor.)

[Sarah1281]

So about how many elves do you guys think are in the Denerim Alienage?

[nefand]

Reika wrote...
The only reason I didn't finish the Return of the King may be the description though... and the lack of anything happening. I don't need a chapter about some 15 year old kid realizing that, yes, hobbits are short... (Apparently word from the Shire doesn't reach 600 miles away to Gondor.)

QFT.

I noticed early on when I started writing (again) that I tended to hang on to descriptors too much... and I had to take a step back and really ask myself WHY I was doing it.  I finally came up with some rules for any sort of descriptive text:

1. It has to ADD something of value to the scene at hand, and/or to the story overall.  No descriptors just to assuage my short chapter guilt.

2. If my character doesn't give a crap about it, odds are the reader won't either.  Move on.

3. If proof reading it makes me cringe or want to skim the material, odds are the reader will too.  Edit it, cut it, or rework it.

4. People who read have imaginations; let them use theirs, unless you absolutely MUST convey something very, very specific.  In other words, inferences are usually enough and let the readers fill in the rest.  (I did break this rule in An Errant Little Thread where I described what Emma was wearing in detail, but only because it was pertinant to an aspect of her characterization.)

In EoG I spend quite a bit of effort loading the descriptive sections with symbolism, which I doubt most of the readers are picking up on but for the ones that do hopefully it adds some depth for them.  Plus it makes me really think long and hard about WHAT I'm describing, and how it will tie into where the story is going, which is part of the fun for me.

I think I'm pretty damn good at realistic dialogue, and I get quite a bit of positive feedback on that item.  My personal weakness is in evoking emotive responses, I think; I can make people laugh pretty easily, but I'm quite certain I will never make anybody cry with something I write.

If I can create a story that people will remember several years down the road, however, then I will consider it a job well done.  That's really all I want, is to be memorable, I think.

[nefand]

Sarah1281 wrote...

So about how many elves do you guys think are in the Denerim Alienage?

Realistically, I would guess that the elves of any population area make up  about 10-15% of the area's total population.

So if Denerim has a population of 10,000 then that would be 1,000-1,500 elves living in the Alienage.

[mousestalker]

Based on my game play experience there are at least 20+ young women and 2 young men who are marriageable all with the last name of Tabris in Denerim alone.

[jackkel dragon]

mousestalker wrote...

Based on my game play experience there are at least 20+ young women and 2 young men who are marriageable all with the last name of Tabris in Denerim alone.

Awkward.

[LupusYondergirl]

So... what would we estimate Denerim's population to be?

London's population at about the same "time" (with Ferelden being loosely based on an England that drove off the Normans after 100 years) was about 20,000, but it jumped to 80,000 in only a couple centuries. Before the plague cut it in half, that is...

[Reika]

LupusYondergirl wrote...

So... what would we estimate Denerim's population to be?
London's population at about the same "time" (with Ferelden being loosely based on an England that drove off the Normans after 100 years) was about 20,000, but it jumped to 80,000 in only a couple centuries. Before the plague cut it in half, that is...

I'd say 20,000 - 30,000 is a good number. I've seen people suggest higher, but I haven't gotten the impression that Ferelden had a lot of its population in cities, they're mainly in the farms and lots of little villages. Lothering and Redcliffe seemed typical Ferelden towns/villages.

Now if we were talking Orlais, I'd say Val Royeaux would be closer to 80,000 to 100,000 judging by the comments and codex entries.

jackkel dragon wrote...


He's perfectly fine in the Hobbit, but that was written in a more conversational tone (for his kids, I believe.)

The
only reason I didn't finish the Return of the King may be the
description though... and the lack of anything happening. I don't need a
chapter about some 15 year old kid realizing that, yes, hobbits are
short... (Apparently word from the Shire doesn't reach 600 miles away to
Gondor.)

Very true, I loved the Hobbit, read that first. Then read Lord of the Rings. Ugh.

Oddly enough I enjoyed the Silmarillion and I've been told by a lot of people they found that harder than LotR.

Modifié par Reika, 11 octobre 2010 - 02:52 .

[LupusYondergirl]

Ffnet down for anyone else?