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Old 2008-11-01, 19:05   Link #101
whitepearl
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Did you know November was National Novel Writing Month?

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

And they are holding some sort of contest challenging people to write every day all throughout the month in the hopes it can be a novel, or something...

I wish I could do this but ever since I started interning, I don't have the time or energy to write down my ideas
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Old 2008-11-01, 20:02   Link #102
Ichihara Asako
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I've participated in Nanowrimo a few times now. Makes it fun to keep to a deadline. ^^ Bit too late now, though, pretty sure registration had to be done before the 1st.
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Old 2008-11-01, 21:12   Link #103
Xvoki
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Another one of my crappy poems to inflict pain on others who read it.

In the Shadows
The Ninja Waits
With Deadly Blade
And Steady Hand
With Silent Breath
The Ninja Waits
In the Shadows
Across the Land
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Old 2008-11-02, 21:13   Link #104
Kristen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whitepearl View Post
Did you know November was National Novel Writing Month?

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

And they are holding some sort of contest challenging people to write every day all throughout the month in the hopes it can be a novel, or something...

I wish I could do this but ever since I started interning, I don't have the time or energy to write down my ideas
Do I have to start a new novel to participate? Can I just add 50,000 words onto another story I've stalled for like 5 or 6 months now?
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Old 2008-11-02, 21:27   Link #105
whitepearl
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I've no clue...I'm still struggling to update what I had been working on.

After I caught up with the manga Bakuman, I think I've gotten a bit of encouragement and motivation to try and write just a little more...
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Old 2008-11-02, 22:23   Link #106
Ichihara Asako
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristen View Post
Do I have to start a new novel to participate? Can I just add 50,000 words onto another story I've stalled for like 5 or 6 months now?
There's no strict rules, you can write whatever, however it is recommended to start something new as you won't be weighed down by existing material which can slow the writing process considerably (maintaining consistency, characters etc). Plus creating all new material means you use more words to be able to set the scene and describe stuff. ^^;
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Old 2009-01-18, 01:24   Link #107
Mystique
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Join Date: May 2008
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Happy New Year! Rattling the ink bottles and quills for '09!

Got inspired to post one of my old stories on here while reviewing Whitepearl's story for him behind the scenes. Kinda got set back into bookworm mode, so figured to breathe a little life into here to see if i can tempt a few others to post for the new year

This tale is something I had posted online (my collection of these short stories are on an external which i don't have with me sadly)
It was one of the final ones I wrote over 2 years, so just to give you some kind of reference, I've stuck a mini explaination in the NB.

Posting chapter 1 for now, 2 and 3 will follow later in the week.
I didn't edit it now reading it 2 and a half years later, just left it in it's original form of the 'me' back in 2006, typos and all.
Sometimes, I amuse/amaze myself somedays with what I spout out from my mind in my younger years.

NB:
Spoiler for Authors note:


Chapter 1:
Spoiler:
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Old 2009-01-18, 01:37   Link #108
0utf0xZer0
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I did NaNoWriMo in 2007. Got to around 37700 words. I was competing against a girl I knew online who actually did hit 50K. I thought I was going to beat her, but it turns out she had the last two days of November off.

The story I wrote was part of a fantasy novel inspired by Firefly and catgirl porn.

Hey, it's not as bad as it sounds! It basically just means I wanted to do a fantasy novel that was less "grandiose" than typical of the genre and that involved a cute catgirl character. Besides, I had been planning the story for months prior, so it had some actual depth by this point.

I haven't had much time to actually revise and add to my draft since, although after doing a media studies class I've been toying with making a couple of the female characters deconstructions of moe archetypes.
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Old 2009-01-18, 01:55   Link #109
LeoXiao
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Trying to make a post-apocalyptic graphic novel, but it's quite hard coming up with the character developments and stuff, not to mention that my drawing is sorta iffy.
The premise at this point is basically that around 2020 the world gets itself into a highly devastating WWIII, having started in a similar manner as WW1 (leaders too cocky, not aware of tech implications, etc.). The plot centers on this postwar framework, where the shadow government controlling a resource-starved, overpopulated survivor state decides to use a paranormal asset to help itself prosper.

Hopefully I'll actually follow through with this; I've been thinking about it for a month and haven't gotten beyond some preliminary character/world designs.

Quote:
I did NaNoWriMo in 2007. Got to around 37700 words. I was competing against a girl I knew online who actually did hit 50K. I thought I was going to beat her, but it turns out she had the last two days of November off.
You should've gone hardcore and spent every minute of your free time in those two days to get 50K. But even then it'd be a Phyrric victory...
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Old 2009-01-18, 02:06   Link #110
0utf0xZer0
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeoXiao View Post
You should've gone hardcore and spent every minute of your free time in those two days to get 50K. But even then it'd be a Phyrric victory...
I did in the last day... went from around 30K to nearly 38K, so I probably would have missed even if I had tried harder the previous day - and I seem to remember the previous day was an anime club sushi night. Some things can't be missed.

I probably could have made it if I'd been more disciplined early on - while most of it was pretty smooth sailing, I did have one scene that seemed to take forever.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LeoXiao View Post
Hopefully I'll actually follow through with this; I've been thinking about it for a month and haven't gotten beyond some preliminary character/world designs.
Do you find character or world design harder? I'm usually really good at coming up with characters and fleshing them out, but I'm not very good with world stuff - which in turn can make plot difficult because I find I need SOME constraints on what I'm doing in order to figure out where I should go.
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Old 2009-01-18, 02:17   Link #111
LeoXiao
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0 View Post
I did in the last day... went from around 30K to nearly 38K, so I probably would have missed even if I had tried harder the previous day - and I seem to remember the previous day was an anime club sushi night. Some things can't be missed.
Ah, yes. Quite true. One must always consider such events.

Quote:
Do you find character or world design harder? I'm usually really good at coming up with characters and fleshing them out, but I'm not very good with world stuff - which in turn can make plot difficult because I find I need SOME constraints on what I'm doing in order to figure out where I should go.
I find world design to be extremely fun to do, I could go on and on about the little details even if they will probably never be needed.

Characters, on the other hand... I find them kinda interesting to visualize, but I'm terrible at writing down things like: "character X has so-and-so traits, acts in x way but is really feeling crappy/bored/sad/embarrassed about it, and has this behavior that could be considered OCD/ADD/Oedipal tendencies. "

yeah world designs rules anyday.
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Old 2009-01-18, 02:36   Link #112
USB500
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I never try entering any competition, just because I never find my stories suitable for submission. I did, however, take part in the Animax Anime Competition (I forgot which year it was open to all Asian subscribers) and it didn't end up for me as I wasn't among the selected finalists. I'm not sure if this year will give me any luck in competitions like this.

BTW, here's the link for the said submission.

As for this year, I've had ideas for a story about a high-school bully who rediscovers the lost portion of his life after he saved a kitten from drowning. It's a slice-of-life/drama story, but I haven't had it started as of today.
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Old 2009-01-18, 03:57   Link #113
Mystique
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Quote:
Originally Posted by USB500 View Post
I never try entering any competition, just because I never find my stories suitable for submission. I did, however, take part in the Animax Anime Competition (I forgot which year it was open to all Asian subscribers) and it didn't end up for me as I wasn't among the selected finalists. I'm not sure if this year will give me any luck in competitions like this.

BTW, here's the link for the said submission.

As for this year, I've had ideas for a story about a high-school bully who rediscovers the lost portion of his life after he saved a kitten from drowning. It's a slice-of-life/drama story, but I haven't had it started as of today.
Thanks for the link, I'll get back to you soon.
(If you want feedback that is. If not, let me know and I'll just enjoy reading it for what it is)

PS: Most writers are never sastified with their work. Infact, that goes for most artists. However you're not the one judging for the competitions, so one never knows what they're looking for, or what story may strike a chord with them.
Don't give up totally, see if there's a comp this year that you'd like to try for and give yourself plenty of time to prepare for it.
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Old 2009-01-18, 22:10   Link #114
whitepearl
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Hi, Billy Mays here.

*not really lol

Thoughts about things in the spoiler boxes.

Spoiler for Mystique's chapter:


Spoiler for USB500's piece:


Glad this thread is alive again.
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Old 2009-01-18, 22:24   Link #115
TinyRedLeaf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeoXiao View Post
I find world design to be extremely fun to do, I could go on and on about the little details even if they will probably never be needed... yeah world designs rules anyday.
Middle Earth was born from the idle imagination of a certain language professor who, I suspect, had way too much time on his hands. Infatuated as he was with the sound and rhythm of the Finnish language, he combined elements of it with his native Welsh, and created Quenya and Sindarin — the languages of the high elves. He even invented their alphabets, the familiar runes that grace many a Western roleplaying game world, particularly the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons & Dragons.

And, to make his hobby even more interesting, he decided to invent his own mythology to explain how his fictional — but fully functional — languages evolved through the ages of Middle Earth. And out of that mythology came the heroes that eventually shaped the character of their respective epochs.

That's "world-building" for you. Very few authors today (or more accurately, none) can match that level of dedication with the same level of academic erudition. But it doesn't hurt to try, as long as you're having fun. After all, that English loony was only having a lark — he didn't start out intending to write 1000-page novels.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mystique View Post
PS: Most writers are never sastified with their work. Infact, that goes for most artists. However you're not the one judging for the competitions, so one never knows what they're looking for, or what story may strike a chord with them.
To which I'd add: Be alive to your surroundings, and to the people who move in it. Writing, in essence, is about painting pictures with words. You must achieve with a pen what a painter achieves with his brush.

Be sensitive to moods, and learn how to read people's minds by studying their body language. People often do not say what they really mean. Your job as a writer is to make the implicit explicit.

Lastly, show, don't tell.


Postscript: Mystique, if you'd like, I can help you copyedit that piece.
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Old 2009-01-18, 23:00   Link #116
LeoXiao
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Quote:
Originally Posted by USB500 View Post
BTW, here's the link for the said submission.
Pretty fun to read, but this piece has many issues. First of all it seems kinda cliche, with the whole "morally-challenged assassin" thing. Also I feel that the dialogue needs work, but I'm not very good at that myself so I can't help you. Finally, the plot, while pretty solid, should probably have been... I dunno, something seemed wrong about it.

It's okay to have things that are cliched, but you need to at least make some significant deviations from the "clicheness" to make a good story. For example, make the characters more... unique.

I hope this helped.
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Old 2009-01-20, 02:35   Link #117
whitepearl
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I'll post my revised first chapter in a few days. Doing my darndest to make it read less like a news story...

Quote:
Originally Posted by USB500 View Post

As for this year, I've had ideas for a story about a high-school bully who rediscovers the lost portion of his life after he saved a kitten from drowning. It's a slice-of-life/drama story, but I haven't had it started as of today.
Sorry I missed this when it was initially posted...I had a similar idea for a story: an arrogant HS boy who thinks he is better than everyone because he is smarter than everyone "turns soft" after he goes head-over-heels over some other girl vying to be school valedictorian.

I had written a draft on a small piece of paper (written during a lunch break I had at an internship) about a college kid working a dead-end job at a sneaker store who finds something fascinating about his "boss," who is the daughter of the shop owner. She has a vile tongue, perpetually angry face, and a great lack of trust. Despite this, he thinks about her and often consults with his friends from work about what he should do.
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Old 2009-01-22, 00:19   Link #118
whitepearl
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Some excerpts. I know, they suck.

Spoiler for Chapter 1:


Spoiler for Chapter 2:


And this was a draft I had written for another story during a lunch break. Mostly the same as it was written but with some changes I put in. This is a short piece compared to the others.

Spoiler for other draft:
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Old 2009-01-22, 10:24   Link #119
USB500
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Well, thanks for the feedbacks. I must admit the story was somewhat cliched, but please take note that it was done solely for submission purpose so I had limited times for details and such. I'm currently planning to expand the premise to cover things I had left behind in the original storyline. Can't guarantee when it will be done, as it all depends on my willpower.

Quote:
Originally Posted by whitepearl View Post
Sorry I missed this when it was initially posted...I had a similar idea for a story: an arrogant HS boy who thinks he is better than everyone because he is smarter than everyone "turns soft" after he goes head-over-heels over some other girl vying to be school valedictorian.
Umm.. what's a valedictorian?
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Old 2009-01-22, 11:55   Link #120
TinyRedLeaf
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valedictorian
noun [C] US
A student, usually one who has been the most successful in a particular class, who makes a speech at a special ceremony at the end of a school year.

Quote:
Originally Posted by whitepearl
Some excerpts. I know, they suck.
You're being modest. They might be a bit rough around the edges, but that's nothing a little editing can't fix.
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