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| procyonlotor Italy. March 26 2012 09:19. Posts 472 | Profile Blog # |
| Apply the principles of Starcraft; submit yourself to the daily grind. If the words will not pour forth, then you must squeeze them out, whatever form they may take, be they shopping list or madrigal. Inspiration is not the mystical quality of a chosen few but the whore next door batting her eyelashes at the naive newcomer. You must fashion a stick, and using that stick you must go after that big ugly pile of words and take it home with you by force of beatings. Lock them up in your attic so that you may only hear them thrash about; lay them over the floor so that you may stumble upon them in your daily rut. Words are your servants, but writing is your master. One is conducive to the other, but there was only ever way to do your job, and that was to sit down and write. That's the deal, take it or leave it. |
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 Falling Canada. March 26 2012 09:20. Posts 6352 | Profile Blog # |
You might want to consider going back to fantasy as well at least as a starting point. Having a few more years since the last time you wrote, you might be able to write a much more intelligent story that is able to breathe life into the old cliches. Or perhaps use it to branch out into other interests. Dark fantasy into horror (with Lovecraftian influences?). Fantasy into steam punk into alternate history. Perhaps straight historical fiction. If you enjoy the world building aspect, then you might want to keep that in some capacity.
Fantasy might not be what you would like to write anymore, but there was probably something in there that you enjoyed and you might be able to use that to launch into new directions. |
| | If any man says he hates war more than I do, he had better have a knife, that is all I have to say. Jack Handey. (Passafist/ sGs.Passafist- sporadic member of sGs on iCCup) |
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| Dark_Chill Canada. March 26 2012 09:33. Posts 1006 | Profile # |
On March 26 2012 09:19 procyonlotor wrote:
Apply the principles of Starcraft; submit yourself to the daily grind. If the words will not pour forth, then you must squeeze them out, whatever form they may take, be they shopping list or madrigal. Inspiration is not the mystical quality of a chosen few but the whore next door batting her eyelashes at the naive newcomer. You must fashion a stick, and using that stick you must go after that big ugly pile of words and take it home with you by force of beatings. Lock them up in your attic so that you may only hear them thrash about; lay them over the floor so that you may stumble upon them in your daily rut. Words are your servants, but writing is your master. One is conducive to the other, but there was only ever way to do your job, and that was to sit down and write. That's the deal, take it or leave it.
Very well written  |
| | http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Chill77 |
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| -Aura- United States. March 26 2012 11:52. Posts 209 | Profile Blog # |
| Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it. |
| | ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Liquid get more Terrans please... |
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| Fortis-Et-Fidus United States. March 26 2012 13:36. Posts 107 | Profile Blog # |
I actually thought of this before while thinking and reading about the starcraft scene for quite some time, and i finally put it into a little story, enjoy
Idk if i should continue this, im 15 and idk if i have the time and energy to put into making this better/continuing
I WANT wait....NEED all advice, good or bad, TRUTHFULL soo yeah...TY :D
+ Show Spoiler +The only sounds, the only sole sounds that sweeps the crisp air of this place is the pounding and clicking of the dozens of keyboards in this underground training camp, actually that is the most politically correct way I could ever say about this place on the record, but this was in fact one of the most intense underground StarCraft slavery camps in Seoul. I walk down the rows of monitors, all glaring back at the virtually soulless controllers of the most faced paced movements I have ever seen.
As I look at one particular young boy, no older than 12, a drop of sweat trickles down his face, but he is too focused to not even take his hand off his keyboard, his instrument for control on this fictious world all on just one computer monitor out of the over one hundred in this musky, basement isolated from the real world, which to all trapped in here, is something that is just fantasy.
“So, you want to buy?, make investment? A lot of skilled un-seen talent in this place.”
Said Mr. Lao, as he puffed his cigar in the most intimidating fashion, I couldn’t tell if he was pressuring me to invest in his “Star-camp” as it is most commonly referred to, or try to break me, to reveal my actual identity and to crack me. I wasn’t as I seemed,
I infiltrated one of the most secret organizations in Korea. I posed as a financial investor from the states, but I was actually sent to korea to report on e-sports on the surface, gomtv, kespa, the actual Starcraft scene everyone knows, but I was enticed into the underworld of this secretive organization, 16-18 hours a day of straight practicing. Every kid’s skill in this place far surpasses any progamer making a professional career out of this, this game, which is what few, unknown people play for, and what their life is only for.
“Oh, Mr. Lao, such decisions can only be made in due time, but I do like your facility, a lot of potential talent for the StarCup next month I presume?”
I said to Mr. Lao, as I stared directly into his eyes as he snickered and a moment of panic hit his face as his confident facial gesture and breathing made him chocke on the smoke of his, by the smell of it, very expensive cigar. After he regained himself his overly intrusive eagerness for a deal to be made showed again as he spoke. “Awh, yes, we will be more than prepare for the StarCup, a lot of money on the line for everyone her- I mean, for me that is!”
Mr. Lao chuckled at this thought, that all of these street kids, either orphans, given to them, or bought by Mr. Lao do all of this practicing, spend all of their youthful time to make him money, which may trickle down to them with their daily food servings being consistent, if they win.
“Take this guy for example Mr. Rockfield, his APM is 500 on average, you think Flash is good? He is twice as good as him.” Mr. Lao said as he pointed to the note above the monitor, showing statistics about his gameplay, age, name and race.
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We’re sending him to the StarCup, he’s only 16 but he’s been here since he was 9, I guess you could call him my secret weapon” Mr. Lao chuckled again, and I could see in his eyes that this kid, that he has taken advantage of that he’s been feeding every day for the last 7 years, and having him train day in and day out will give him the yearly StarCup win he’s been dreaming of.
edited at the expense of my time, for the readers enjoyment! :D (better formating is what im getting at)
@Falling, ok i revised the format, hope you will read and give advice/response ENJOY!Last edit: 2012-03-27 09:36:11 |
| | "Battle Crusier Operational" |
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| Falling Canada. March 26 2012 13:42. Posts 6352 | Profile Blog # |
@ Fortis and really anyone else, what would be really helpful is if it's formatted somewhat. Forums don't do indents so well, but my eyes glaze over when I see a big wall of text.
Narrative
"dialogue"
"dialogue"
Narrative
Is much easier to read then:
Narrative "dialogue" "dialogue" Narrative |
| | If any man says he hates war more than I do, he had better have a knife, that is all I have to say. Jack Handey. (Passafist/ sGs.Passafist- sporadic member of sGs on iCCup) |
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| Quotidian Norway. March 26 2012 13:52. Posts 1626 | Profile # |
| edit: never mind Last edit: 2012-03-26 14:41:55 |
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| Klamity United States. March 26 2012 13:55. Posts 967 | Profile Blog # |
| Is anyone currently attending/considering attending an MFA program? |
| | Don't believe in yourself, believe in me, who believes in you. |
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| CellGel Australia. March 26 2012 16:22. Posts 27 | Profile # |
| I wonder if there is enough interest on TL to generate an "idea of the week" style writing challenge. Maybe in a separate thread? I think having to try and write something from scratch with some form of regularity and small amounts of feedback and peer review (maybe not as in-depth as what's provided here) would help a lot of the less confident posters here. |
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| Coagulation United States. March 26 2012 18:09. Posts 7561 | Profile Blog # |
On March 26 2012 08:39 -Aura- wrote:It appears my post got buried beneath the initial avalanche of responses. I'm going to post it again and hope someone can help me?
Show nested quote +On March 18 2012 12:15 -Aura- wrote:
Hey guys, so cool that a good thread about writing finally got started. I've always wanted to write since I was a little kid. I used to churn out countless pages of fantasy drivel (which is what I enjoyed at that point in my life, nothing wrong with fantasy, just very easy to be extremely cliche with it). I even participated in NaNoWriMo for two years (failed both times). Anyway, to the point of they story, not counting school essays and stuff, I haven't written seriously in almost three years. I want to get back into writing as a hobby. I don't know what I want to write about, I don't know what my goal is, I just want to get back to the point where writing is an enjoyable leisure activity. Where should I start? Are there any interesting books or aricles you read that inspired you to write, or gave you great ideas for plots or characters? Any videos you watched that made you lunge for the nearest keyboard? And is there any advice you can give me as to how to get back into my old favorite hobby?
To make my point more clear, I used to have thousands of plot ideas constantly swimming right under my conscious. Now I can't think of a single interesting topic to even consider writing about. that's why I am asking for help. Thanks.
writing is a skill and the mind is very much a muscle/tool that you use in the process. Just like playing guitar is a skill and your fingers are the muscles or tools and the more you workout your fingers the stronger they get. If your sitting at your desk thinking about what to write than your wasting time not increasing your writing strength. you must develop the disciplin to always just write no matter what the problem or issue is.
also read all the books. |
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 zalz Netherlands. March 26 2012 22:52. Posts 3291 | Profile Blog # |
Writing is most certainly a skill that can be practiced and improved.
I used to read a lot about how to write. That certainly helps, but in the end, you need to start writing to really get a feel for it.
Before I ever really undertook writing a big story, I felt that my biggest problem would be writing what I call the fluff. I knew the story arcs that I wanted to tell, but I didn't believe I could possibly write all the stuff in between which stretches stories to novel lengths. I feared that my writing would be far too direct.
The opposite proved to be true.
The inbetween stuff just comes flowing forth naturally. I can stretch stories to whatever length I want.
By writing novel-sized stories, I began to get a feel for my own style, discovering what works best for me and what doesn't.
Reading a lot of books is always a plus. It expands your vocabulary and shows you many different styles. I used to think that simple writing meant bad writing, until I read George Orwell.
Reading Orwell just blew my mind. The idea that someone could write in such a simple prose, but not lose any impact. He didn't polute his pages with a million metaphors or distractions about what shape the trees were, he told everything very directly, and his stories were all the stronger for it.
I made sure not to try and write like Orwell, but he certainly feels like an inspiration. The goal isn't to copy another persons style, but another persons style can certainly inspire you and help you find your own voice.
Writing these large stories has helped me discover what my own style is, and it helped me get over my initial attachement to ideas.
I used to think that a good idea was everything. I spend hours a day coming up with massive worlds, characters, events, magic systems, thriller setups, twists, and god knows what else.
But when I began to really write, I understood that conjuring up ideas was like a painter trying to come up with a beautiful picture in his head.
It doesn't matter if you can imagine the Mona Lisa. It only matters that if you can paint it.
The same goes for writing. It doesn't matter if you come up with Lord of the Rings, not unless you can also put it on paper.
Those ideas are important, but you really need to put the focus on practicing writing. Once you can write, you can do your ideas justice. In our heads the stories are always better.
If there was any advice, it would be to write short stories. Once you begin writing, you are going to develop at a ridiculous speed. After every sentence you feel like you understand more, and you will often look at your old work and laugh that you didn't know any better.
A short story lets you practice writing, but it doesn't bog you down in a single story. It lets you begin anew several times. Each time you start, you apply your newly gained knowledge, each time you improve.
After maybe 5-6 short stories, you can switch to trying a novel-sized story. As you write that, you will again realize that you are improving by leaps and bounds.
Finally, it might also help to write what is called flash fiction, stories that are about a 1000 words in length. You can try and focus them on subjects that you feel weak with.
For example, I often write fighting scenes because I feel that I am not very good at writing those. |
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| khaydarin9 Australia. March 26 2012 22:52. Posts 415 | Profile Blog # |
On March 26 2012 13:55 Klamity wrote:
Is anyone currently attending/considering attending an MFA program?
In my opinion, the only benefit of studying creative writing at a tertiary level is to meet other writers. An MFA will not give you legitimation; a publisher or agent is not more likely to take your work more seriously if you have a qualification on your resume (though making a connection through a lecturer or an academic could plausibly get you an "in"), and if you write genre fiction, prepare to be looked down upon by the literary institution. There are easier/faster/less expensive ways of learning the mechanics of writing, there are people everywhere who are happy to swap writing critiques, and really the best thing you can do is just to develop your own writing habit. |
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| Dark_Chill Canada. March 27 2012 04:47. Posts 1006 | Profile # |
On March 26 2012 16:22 CellGel wrote:
I wonder if there is enough interest on TL to generate an "idea of the week" style writing challenge. Maybe in a separate thread? I think having to try and write something from scratch with some form of regularity and small amounts of feedback and peer review (maybe not as in-depth as what's provided here) would help a lot of the less confident posters here.
Sounds like a pretty good idea. Have a sort of short story based around the same idea each week. Then peer review the next week might be good. I think devoting a week to making the story (submitting before end) and a week for improving would be enough time to really increase people's abilities, also providing interesting reads for people. A format would probably have to be adopted to make things easier to read and see, but with enough interest it could definitely be a cool thread. Even better would be to have a sort of two-week thread (have one two week, replace with a new one when those weeks are done). This would make things a lot simpler to do. |
| | http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Chill77 |
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| FoxyMayhem March 27 2012 07:09. Posts 617 | Profile Blog # |
I like that idea. I don't want the story challenge to take too much time from our regular writing, so I suggest we set a word goal-limit. How does 1000 words sound? It's small, but it has enough room to tell a story.
So here's the idea:
-1000 Word limit, that or less.
-At the start of week 1, an idea is presented for a short story to be written around. At the end of that week, you need to turn in your story.
-Occasionally, a challenge goes for two weeks, where the second week is dedicated to editing and polishing week 1's story. After all, more than half or writing is rewriting.
My suggestions for the first story challenge: Write about a character who realizes, through some dramatic circumstances, that something important that they've held as true all their life is wrong. Write that realization.
What do you guys think?Last edit: 2012-03-27 07:09:42 |
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| RESTRiCT Canada. March 27 2012 15:15. Posts 123 | Profile # |
On March 27 2012 07:09 FoxyMayhem wrote:
I like that idea. I don't want the story challenge to take too much time from our regular writing, so I suggest we set a word goal-limit. How does 1000 words sound? It's small, but it has enough room to tell a story.
So here's the idea:
-1000 Word limit, that or less.
-At the start of week 1, an idea is presented for a short story to be written around. At the end of that week, you need to turn in your story.
-Occasionally, a challenge goes for two weeks, where the second week is dedicated to editing and polishing week 1's story. After all, more than half or writing is rewriting.
My suggestions for the first story challenge: Write about a character who realizes, through some dramatic circumstances, that something important that they've held as true all their life is wrong. Write that realization.
What do you guys think?
I think this is a great idea.
Maybe put in the OP as a seperate section explaining what it is and the "Theme of the Week", after that theme is done put it in a spoiler tag and put the next one underneath it?
Just a thought, I will start writing one for sure though! |
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| FoxyMayhem March 27 2012 16:28. Posts 617 | Profile Blog # |
| I already got on a tangent tonight and wrote mine! Man, that was fun. It's amazing how it feels like breathing in a deep breath these days. After writing, suddenly my emotions were all better. Last edit: 2012-03-27 17:05:20 |
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| Cytokinesis Canada. March 28 2012 11:59. Posts 287 | Profile # |
| I'm almost finished with a novel I've been writing for a couple years and I would really like to get it published, does anyone have any advice? I've never published anything besides academic papers so I'm not exactly sure how to go about it. |
| | Ive seen people who dont believe in sleep count sheep with calculators that double as alarm clocks |
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| TheQuarryman March 28 2012 18:50. Posts 11 | Profile # |
On March 28 2012 11:59 Cytokinesis wrote:
I'm almost finished with a novel I've been writing for a couple years and I would really like to get it published, does anyone have any advice? I've never published anything besides academic papers so I'm not exactly sure how to go about it.
My advice would be to look at self-publishing, not at established publishers. Unless you are getting a million dollar advance, the case for self-publishing is compelling. Some established authors have already turned down large advances to keep their rights and self-publish – Barry Eisler turned down $500k. The downside is that some people still view self-publishing as vanity publishing. It isn’t.
Of course, you still need a great story, well-written and edited (no shortcuts there), but you can self-publish for free and the process is straightforward. No managers, agents, query letters or publishers.
I would suggest first looking at Amazon (the largest eBook retailer) and at Smashwords. Smashwords can give you distribution into the Apple store, B&N, kobo and lots of others. Be careful not to be drawn into one of the vanity publishers that charge you money to simply self-publish your book for you. Do a lot of googling and reading up – there is lots of information out there.
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help
http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords
If you want to see your book in print, you can do print-on-demand (POD) with CreateSpace (Amazon), Lulu and/ or Lightning Source (Ingram), amongst many others.
I have found that the toughest part of self-publishing is editing (not that I’m saying any of it is easy). It takes me longer to edit a book (with several ‘alpha-readers’ proofing it/ reading it) than it does to write it in the first place. This came as a surprise to me.
J A Konrath has written a great blog about the case for and against self-publishing. If you’ve spent two years writing a novel, then spending two or three days reading through his blog could be time well spent.
A newbie’s guide to publishing
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
Good luck with it. |
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