2010-06-22, 22:04 | Link #25581 | ||
Beta by Accident
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Maine
Age: 52
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Likewise, when I write a story, I always like to know at the least how it ends and have at least some sense of how I'm going to get there. If it's more than a one or two-shot (and sometimes even then), an outline is a must; for a long fic, I need to write it down just so I don't forget what's coming next! The #1 way to run into a dead fic or writer's block is to start a story with a general concept and try to work out what actually happens on the fly. However, that doesn't mean not to write. This is especially true with this forum--you have a lot of people, many talented writers and people knowledgeable in the setting who can comment on what's working and what doesn't. There's a reason I post my draft chapters here before doing the "final" versions for fanfiction.net--to get the benefit of the community here's assistance. Quote:
Adding to that, writing is one of those things where practice is vital. You can only learn to write by writing, developing the skill of turning ideas into stories. It's always worth something to put words down on paper. Yep again. |
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2010-06-22, 22:18 | Link #25582 |
Banned
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Posted chapter 4 of Future Tense to ff.net, so you can find it here. Made the sole correction Raiser pointed out, and added a tiny bit more to a couple of scenes near the end, just to smooth out the scenes a bit.
Due to a brainstorm, been typing chapter 5 all night, and it's almost done, haha. So we'll see whether I can get it out in a couple of days (will definitely need some polishing). But it's going to be a nasty cliffhanger. > : ) |
2010-06-22, 22:51 | Link #25583 | |
Beta by Accident
Author
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Maine
Age: 52
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Spoiler for Comments on the 1-4 revisions:
Spoiler for Comments on Revised 5A:
In any case, I'm looking forward eagerly to further revisions and the advancement of the story! |
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2010-06-22, 23:12 | Link #25584 | |
He Who Smites Shippers
Join Date: Mar 2008
Age: 36
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2010-06-22, 23:30 | Link #25586 | |
Master of the Shiny Crack
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Outlining is an important skill to have (trust me I know), but if you never write anything outlining is useless and if you want real feedback a draft is essential. |
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2010-06-22, 23:31 | Link #25587 |
Left for TFF
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*Gasp* It's an OC! Oh noes! We must focus on the OC now otherwise the story is lost!
I kid, I kid. Poor Yuuno though, sounds like me sometimes when I'm feeling down. I do hope that it doesn't take two to five months to get the next chapter.
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2010-06-22, 23:56 | Link #25588 | |
Burst Mode
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I think everyone is like that when they feel down. I certainly am.
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2010-06-23, 00:24 | Link #25589 | |
The Resurrector
Author
Join Date: Sep 2007
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One on one, there's a chance your idea might work. But if many disagree with you, then you need to work out on the kinks, and to do that, you just have to write something eventually. It is a necessary, inevitable procedure. Surviving that, of course, will make you a better writer. That said, I have no experience with how things are handled in the Fanfiction thread, so I can't say how usual this happens. I only lurk around to read. |
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2010-06-23, 08:07 | Link #25590 |
"Hey, Isaac?"
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Oh, debates, debates! My turn!
I have personally found outlining any story that's going to be longer than a few chapters to be of limited value, simply because I can't stick to it. I had a nice, pretty outline for Infinity when I first started it. Outlined the basic plot, had the story all set up, names and personalities for my OCs, ending all tidy and neat. I deleted it about eight chapters in, because I had already deviated so wildly from it that it was no longer any use to me. I can't help it! I think of scenes that sound fun or cool and I have to throw them in, and eventually it all adds up to... not so much 'derail' the narrative as shift it onto entirely new rails that were not originally part of the travel itinerary. For instance, Yuuno was not originally going to be as major a character as he is, but I just kept up thinking funny things to do with him and Arf, and then I thought, "You know, every character should get a Crowning Moment of Awesome, but Yuuno's only good at shielding... oh my God I should have him deflect an anti-warship cannon, I'll need to write one in so he can do that." and that was that. That said, there is a cost to this style. I make a good number of errors because so much is written on the fly, so I typically have to go back to finished chapters and polish them up quite a bit more than I would if I did more prep-work. I accept this, because I feel it takes less time than it would to sit down and prepare beforehand an outline that I'll end up not following anyway. But if you're the sort who can actually stick to a complicated plan, you might disagree. I'd suggest trying a couple different approaches, see what you prefer. But the most important thing, again, is to write, write, write. Nothing replaces experience. Oh, and have fun with it! It's fanfic, it doesn't have to be perfect! I mean, come on, you've seen FF.net. Even mediocre writers shine by comparison to some of the stuff over there. |
2010-06-23, 09:29 | Link #25591 |
Banned
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Gonna echo Mozco's argument a bit. I don't make outlines so much as I write brief descriptions of scenes that I want to see happen throughout the fic. And it gets more and more sparse as I get to the end. For Crisis, I didn't really have the ending figured out at all, just a vague "okay, these characters go to Al Hazard and fight Precia."
Any outline you write, is gonna be deviated from. There are tons of scenes I included in Crisis that were spur of the moment, or that I realized I had to change based on what came before and what made sense now. So yeah, outline something, describe a few brief scenes you'd like, as much as you feel you can come up for. Then start writing and posting. Make changes as people make suggestions, and your world will slowly take shape.^^ |
2010-06-23, 11:48 | Link #25592 |
Test Drive
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I break up your serious discussion with an update!
Next chapter of "Shadowfire" is up and running: When a Shadow Sleeps. Which reminds me, I need to dig out "Building Tolerance" before it gets lost too far back so I have it ready when I post it to FF.net.
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2010-06-23, 14:29 | Link #25596 |
blinded by blood
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Sorry I've been suspiciously absent and unproductive on both false light and Altered Course.
The Original Work Plotbunny has started gnawing on my foot and as my original work takes priority over any fanfic, it's been getting all the attention. A new idea (as usual, I can never finish a work to save my life) which I will briefly outline below if anyone's interested in discussing it/reading it as it's written. Spoiler for pieces of an unfamiliar world:
Hopefully I will be able to finish this one since it's a larger work composed of short stories which have interconnected plots.
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2010-06-23, 15:35 | Link #25598 | ||||||||||||||
Queen of Tragedy
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
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Finally, I have internet again! Anyways, here's to trying to catch up a bit with my backlog...
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And good for Zafira, getting a Big Damn Heroes moment at the end there . Poor guy doesn’t usually get enough of them in fanfiction! ^^ Overall, the chapter was okay, it just seems a little odd to me that the Wolkenritter got their asses kicked so badly/were caught so off guard all the time by their opponents . Quote:
I love the little moments of unspoken communication between Miranda and Lutecia, it really shows how perceptive and sharp both of them are, to be able to grasp what the other might be thinking straight away. You have quite the talent for leaving things unsaid yet still precisely clear about what you mean to say . Quote:
This actually has me thinking of a story short idea, where one of the Wolkenritter’s old masters wasn’t cruel to them, but still differed from how Hayate treated them? It could be interesting to see if the Wolkenritter love Hayate only because she’s kind to them, or if there is something special about Hayate… Anyways, nice short! ^^ Quote:
Interesting story, it approaches the series from a heavy Enforcer stand-point, but not entirely as a simple mission but also as a bit of a training/different perspective on Fate. Love how Bardiche neatly interrupts a tense scene by setting up and proceeding to blow the room to bits ! And sorry, but the last few words about "burning sunlight" has me thinking....VAMPIRE! Quote:
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(Don’t sorry, that scene is still there, after Trial Day 1 as you guessed ^^.) Quote:
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Ah okay, I’ll work around with that TSAB officer murder thing…the difficulty being, the point of that section was to contrast that: 1) TSAB officers are hard to kill, so while the Numbers managed, being combat cyborgs, what does that say about Raven? and 2) What kind of sentence the Numbers got, as opposed to what kind of sentence Raven might get for the same crime. Quote:
And ….I use lots of paper documents in CNS, since there’s something about it that’s easier to write than techno-babble all the time! But I’ll fix it ^^. And I've got the backbone of the rest of Trial Day 1 done, but I just need to flesh it out.
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authorshipping, befriending, fanfiction, interactive fanfiction, nanoha |
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