Writing Advice

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

A satire of fantasy? Now that sounds like an entertaining read! ^^I'll have to check that out!

[Vigor Mortis]

Terry Pratchett is the Douglas Adams of Fantasy, to put it simply.The first book is called The Colour of Magic, if you are interested. It centers around the adventures of Rincewind, an incompetent wizard that knows only a single spell, and Twoflower, an incredulous tourist from the Counterweight Continent. The entire world is a flat disc, held upon the backs of four titanic elephants, in turn on the back of Great A'tuin the space turtle.

[The Shouting God]

It's worse than just knowing one spell. It's knowing one spell that he can't actually use. :PI've been thinking on what each of my books will focus on in terms of which parts of the Beast Rebellions.1st book - General introduction to the rebellion itself, and a bit of focus on the engineers, as one of the POV-characters is the chief engineer of the rebellion.2nd book - The assassins of the rebellion.3rd book- The berserkers who arise during the rebellion due to large amounts of losses to them, either physical or emotional.4th book- The general of the rebellion, who started the whole thing, and who is also the Steel Elemental.5th book - The end of the rebellion, and the beginnings of the more peaceful protests afterwards. Also looks at the medics during the rebellions.6th book - The main book on the engineers of the rebellion, and the entirety of the peaceful protests, up until the successful push for more rights.7th book - The main neutral faction during the rebellion.8th book - Some more insight into the more neutral factions during the rebellion, and the main shock troops during then. Also shows the side of the American government in this book.9th book - The end of the current generation of Elementals, and the future for the Beast races.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Pratchett does a brilliant job with Death in Good Omens, too - in fact, given the way that he speaks, I rather suspect it may be precisely the same character.With my plan for Death, he's actually going to be a fairly important character, but I'm not sure if he's ever going to actually speak. Might end up being part of the point of the character, him not speaking.

[Jean Valjean]

Alright, here's how I personify Death:At first the character was simply the Devil, which would be the ultimate evil force, but I decided to instead call the villain Death, because it sounds a bit more universal and flexible. Still, my portrayal of Death is ultimately Satanic in nature and emphasizes the themes of not only physical death, but also mental, emotional, and spiritual death as well. With his supernatural power and authority he kills people on the inside, destroying their character, and he tricks, lies, and deceives people into selling their eternal souls to him. He is the first and last villain and the embodiment of evil. You could say that he's like John Milton's Paradise Lost, and that happens to be my worldview. I guess I could write about this in more detail, but then I would obviously be crossing over the religious line drawn here in BZPower. It should suffice to say that my books are going to be Christian literature, much like Tolkein's Lord of the Rings all reflects his Christian worldview. Death would also be similar to that which is portrayed within "The Tale of the Three Brothers" in The Deathly Hallows, and he does not like when people escape him and he will try to trick people into joining him through their own human arrogance.The funny thing is, a few years ago I still thought of Death as this neutral force who happened to be there, not favoring either side and doing his thing passively only because it was his job. Now my understanding has changed a bit. Now I also don't really think of the character as being my own, because I'm not going for novelty. Let's face it, Death has been a recurring force in much literature for a long, long time, and he's a constant in the same way that a place may be a constant. For example, two different faerie tales may be set in Athens, and although the understanding of the details may differ, and the time periods might be different, the stories are still set in the same city, which is a part of society we're all familiar with. I've seen many films that included the Statue of Liberty, and it's always the same Statue of Liberty. The stories may be fictional, but the city and the staute are real. With the same idea, I'm writing about Death, simply as a part of the world that we're all acquainted with, much like Athens and the Statue of Liberty. Does that make sense?I also am planning to pursue a Master's Degree in theology, which is for my interest in ministry but obviously complements my intentions of writing this series.So yes, this does all come back to simple, easily accessible themes of good vs. evil, light vs. darkness, and life vs. death. And I like to portray things as I think they ought to be portrayed, so I don't like to ironically make a villain who ought to be very serious into something very silly.Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Whereas I like playing silly buggers with mythology.

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Ever read "Godfather Death" by the Brothers Grimm? If I were to ever personify death in a story or in my mind, he'd probably be like that. The story isn't about death conning anyone or being evil, and it's not really him just doing his job either. Death actually seems to fit right in that story; he's a force of nature and he's actually pretty wise. He actually gives good fortune to his godson and even cautions him about how to use his fortune in life. He actually seems to care for someone as opposed to just being evil or as opposed to just doing a job, and I like that angle of death. It made the ending all the more sad for me, even though it didn't seem to be a sad story. (I like tragic stories. They're just so beautiful. ^^).

[Vigor Mortis]

I think the perception of Death being an evil character stems from the very human fear of death. Evil things are thing we tend to fear, and this is also why darkness and such are also associated with being evil. For the majority of humanity, Death is the greatest fear of all. To cease to exist, to enter oblivion, and depending on your faith, not knowing what afterlife greets you.I for one would write of Death the way Terry Pratchett did: all he does is do his job. He doesn't kill anyone, he just arrives when they die and guides them off to whatever fate the gods have chosen for them.

[Jean Valjean]

In response to Shadows Out of Time, I dislike the word "bugger". Which is just a random thought. And my form of humor takes a completely different bend than silliness.In response to Tekulo, Godfather Death used to be the way I portrayed Death, but as I've grown older that's changed. I think for a different story, for a different day, when dealing only with physical death then the story might be interesting. It does have a minor part in my story, as in the Clarite religion of the muzca Death, Echos, is also time, for time and death are two sides of the same coin, and Enoch therefore is very wise. Although Enoch is not an actual person in the story.In response to Vigor Mortis, no, I'm not writing about Death as evil because it's a basic human fear. I'm taking a rather theological approach to this and I'm not only talking about the death of the body but the death of the soul. Within my story, Death is primarily interested in winning people's immortal souls.Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

There aren't very many words I dislike, but there are a few I have an almost unseemly fondness for. Unseemly's one of them.From what you've said, it appears that the main difference between your Death and a certain villainous someone in theology is the name.

[Kaleidoscope Tekulo]

Hmm... Kraggh, your version of death sounds interesting. Kinda reminds me of the original Little Mermaid story (where she tries to win an immortal soul), only I'm assuming death will go about this a bit differently? ^^;And now I'm on the same page with how you used to portray death (gotta love examples. XP). Of course, I'm not planning on personifying death any time soon. But it would make an interesting story if death tried to have a family, and then had to rob them of their lives. Hmm... What if he jumped from family to family and developed a strange, almost psychotic habit about it? O.o That would be so creepy... Would he attend the funeral?Meh, it might make an interesting short story (though, it's probably been done. XP)

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

That would make an interesting, very creepy story. Not sure if it's been done - you might as well go for it.

[Vigor Mortis]

In the Discworld series, Death has a daughter. Well, adopted daughter.

[Hanako Herupa]

Well I have personifications, though these don't become clear until much later in the series I'm working on. Effectively though what the characters represent is something akin to the Emotional Spectrum in DC comics but really in my opinion is its own thing. Anyways my story's rules on how stuff works in it seems to have something similar to Garth Nix's "Keys to Kingdom" though perhaps that's not very clear. I love that series and how these crazy adventures only take place over the course of two weeks.Kraagh I would give more info, but I must remained closely guarded about the idea since I think it's my best yet. Overall I just need to get writing on it.

[Jean Valjean]

From what you've said, it appears that the main difference between your Death and a certain villainous someone in theology is the name.

I would prefer it if you didn't call it "my" Death. I didn't invent the concept, only decided to use it because it was always at the heart of my story, even when I was three years old. The point is that I am writing about the Devil as is understood by human minds, and I think that Evil and Death are the same thing. As a name, I think that Death was the most appropriate, whereas Satan means "adversary", Lucifer means "Angel of Light", and term Devil doesn't capture the identity of this particular spirit. I have recently been doing a research paper and a few other projects regarding this project. In a play I wrote for a literature assignment, I did intuitively include in the beginning Lucifer and "Azrael", thinking of them as two separate beings. That is now an idea I'm beginning to question.I draw a bit of inspiration from Paradise Lost. What I like about Milton's epic poem is how it formalizes a subconscious way of understanding shared by most people, and it's very influential because after hearing about this poem many people began to think along those lines. The symbolism in the narrative is very powerful, and I would like to be able to do something similar, such as introduce the intuitive idea that Evil and Death are the same thing through storytelling.But alas, I can't get too far into this subject. I hope you understand my intentions, however.To save space and to help organize this post into sections, I've contained in this spoiler ideas for my story's narrative:

Meanwhile, I've been thinking. My childish idea of writing books that would eventually become movies seems unreasonable now, especailly because the movies would be around the length of Lord of the Rings and far too ambitious for their own good. The idea that tempts me now is coming out with a kicking awesome audio drama adaptation to my books. The only reason I really wanted films anyway was for the sake of music, which I feel is part of the identity of my series. So here's how I imagine this:More than just voice actors, there art of sound would be used to its fullest effect. It would in essence be like listening to a movie, only there would be no visuals. Obviously it would be made so you can tell what's going on without the visuals nevertheless. Hopefully I could work with sound editors who could conjure sounds with just the right feel that they paint distinct and beautiful images of scenes in the minds of the listeners. Even more important is to find a great composer who would want to be part of the project who could write music for the entire thing. As in, several hours of music. The length of the audio drama would probably be determined by how much music the composer could write, although it would probably still be longer than any movie. I suppose it wouldn't quite have to be like movie music, which works within the constraints of the screenplay they're made to accompany and it has to be careful not be too intrusive, whereas in this medium the music would be the first element of storytelling. The difference would be subtle, but the flexibility is worth acknowledging. Basically the music as a standalone can be much more definitive of the concepts it represents. I can have more music. It can bring more attention to itself. And I think that I can have all of Hero's Poem and Master Legious's in-universe compositions. I think I can have more music for its own sake. It's a very pleasing idea.Unfortunately, somehow I'd have to commission an orchestra and a choir and other artists to play the music. It would be a very ambitious project. The main trick would be finding people who would really want to go along with the idea, since it's not the most conventional, and in marketing it. Still, it's much more plausible than making a movie, which requires a much larger budget in order to film in the right locations, get the right props, and put in special effects, which takes up the brunt of the cost. I should hope that this project, while still ambitious for my musical hopes and hopes for sound editing perfection.Regarding my books, I'm planning on illustrating them extensively, so I should get the full immersing visual effect of my universe, which should flesh it out, which is why I'm planning on getting an art minor so as to get into the illustration business. I believe it's part of the adventure, although Steve from Calculus begs to differ. Yes, I guess it's a debatable subject, but it's what I want and I think it's what's best for these particular writings. I just want to increase the sense of similarity that the reader has with the characters and the ability of my works to be imitated.Building off of this idea, I would also like to see someday a game similar to MNOG or MNOG II come out based off of my illustrations. I simply loved the medium and would love to use it myself. It truly took me into the world of BIONICLE in surprising new ways. Only it's a fairly less attainable vision than my audio drama idea. Still, I think it could be possible. For one, I feel I would be considerably less of a control freak in this case.Another thing that I want to do is find other authors who, after I am finished with my work, are considerably interested in expanding my universe and writing additional background books with my permission, much like how many authors contribute to the massive Star Wars canon.

This next spoiler tag contains basic development ideas:

I've come up with quite a few ideas since my last post, but I'll just post some more general things that could potentially be conversation starters:1. I'm beginning to get more interested in female characters, since I've realized how male characters are a tradition. I'm not trying to break a mold, but I think that I get something more interesting when I invent realistic and relatable female characters. Granted, male characters are in may ways easier to write about, but at the same time female characters have been drawing my in more and have made me more interested in writing them. As a result of this gradual shift in my mentality, I'm trying to give Nixon and Gertrude as strong of a part in the first book as possible, and in the third book I've decided to make her the front-runner of the ensemble cast.2. While on that note, I've spent some time looking at other cultures. I've been a bit inspired by the TV show Heroes, with their unique and varied cast (my favorite character is Siresh, if I have spelled his name correctly), and by Star Wars, which in its setting is culturally neutral. George Lucas actually attributed part of the success behind the series to how easily accessible it was. So spreading out the ethnicities for my human characters has become something I'm going to experiment with. Granted, most of my present human characters, such as the Zweifels, Brutus, Gertrude, Monosmith, and Ashley will stay the same, but various others who I don't know much might very well change. Unfortunately I invented the angelic Aardses as all being of one race, and I subconsciously created very specific images in my head of their appearance, all of which are Caucasian.3. While I'm on the subject, I might as well mention that I'm thinking of including somewhere in the series, among all of the humanoid species, an intelligent Ape species. I've been inspired by Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Bow before Caesar!4. Now I know I've given plot outlines for my first book, but once more they have changed drastically. I'm thinking that perhaps Brutus should survive in the end. Monosmith should also have a slight struggle with Craytus ad Quarr, but on a completely different level. There will be a few more subplots. I know that there are also several more places within the setting that I want to visit and I want to flesh out the world of Quarr to be a bit more varied and adventurous. The character Red, who I never thought I'd explore before, will also have a few brief scenes from his perspective in order to visit new places. I want to make the plot so much more than it is. These new ideas should only be the beginning. May they grow exponentially.5. I think that the enigmatic and unnamed character, Professor White, should perhaps play a far more prominent role behind the scenes of the story. Perhaps he will have a connection with the Solomon Wolves? Probably not, but the Solomon Wolves are another mysterious force in the story that should eventually be explained, after at least keeping readers guessing for a long wile.6. Craytus's age is confirmed, by the way. he is now officially as old as the universe. Well, not quite. He was a member of the first race to every exist in our dimension, which sprung up very near the beginning of its creation. Scientifically impossible though it may be, he was born only 7,000 years after the big bang. However, though I'm sharing his age, I'm not telling anyone of his past. I do have something figured out by now, but it's so far a secret. While on the subject, however, I might as well ask who here has their version of a mysterious villain?

Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

[Vigor Mortis]

Well, I have decided to do something a bit unusual for me. I am writing a mythos. That is, a collection of myths and stories and such that create a world, like the Tolkien mythos or Cthulhu mythos. In it, I have decided on three things that I want to be:1, Humans are not important in the grand scheme of things.2, All spirits and manifestations of forces are in no way human.3, Things normally thought evil are not evil, some things we think are good I portray as evil.I'll post a summary later.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

So the first two give it a lot in common with the Cthulhu mythos (though considering how often Cthulhu actually appears in said mythos, it should be called the Nyarlathotep mythos), while the handling of the third could either make or break the whole thing.

[Vigor Mortis]

Well, let me give an example. Darkness.All of the spirits and personifications of forces are categorized as either Natures or Things, a Thing being a subsidiary servant to a Nature. The Nature of Darkness was the first Nature in existence, and serves the Notion. The Notion is an equivalent to Illuvatar from Tolkien or god in religions today, in that it is the creative intelligence. The Nature of Darkness exists outside of his creation, and always has the power to overthrow the Notion and seize power over existence, and yet he does not, due to his immense loyalty.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

If that's written right - and based on what I've seen of your writing in Starscape, it probably will be - it should be pretty cool, then.

[Vigor Mortis]

Well, here is a basic summary.

There was a time before just about anything existed at all, save for the Notion and the Not. The Not was nonexistence, void and unreality, and the Notion all that existed - which was at the time only himself. The Not was in the possession of an object, the Infinite Sway, that gave him utter and omnipresent power. He wished to destroy his rival the Notion, and so in a time-span infinitely long yet of no time as time did not exist, the Not pursued and chased the Notion to the very edge of existence. It was then that the Notion found another object, a perfect sphere of an existence that was not him. Upon touching it, it opened and thus was born the Nature of Darkness, swathed in blackness apart from the void surrounding him. He swore loyalty to the Notion for having released him, and when the Not came, ready to cast the Notion up into oblivion, the Darkness appeared before him. With a wrath greater than any other in existence or that ever will exist he made a battle against the Not, tendrils of real blackness expanding and choking the blackness of nothing. The Not was no match for a force that existed outside of both existence and nonexistence, and so the Nature of Darkness seized him and cast him up into the Skin of Reality, thus annihilating nonexistence itself.And so the Infinite Sway lay before him, unseized and calling out for him to take it - yet the Darkness did not. Instead, he gestured the Notion towards the Infinite Sway, who took it and became all-powerful. Now, in place of nothingness there was now the Darkness's infinite shroud, and so the Notion created the second Nature, the Nature of Light, who danced across the dark shroud, eager to fly through infinity. Yet, reality lacked any physical substance, and so by the suggestion of the Darkness and the Light the Notion created the first matter, clouds of dust that littered the Darkness's shroud. Yet, it had no mind, it was devoid of voice and intent, and so the Notion made matter seek matter, creating the force we call Gravity, and so the Nature of Substance was brought into being.

There is more, but I'll post that some other time.

[WriterofReapers]

Wow, that really sounds interesting. Although, at this point I think humans are less "not important in the grand scheme of things" and more just not present at all. Either that, or they are so insignificant that they don't even need to be mentioned (which I guess would tie in with what you said earlier). However, this is just an intro, so I guess that could be expected.

[Vigor Mortis]

Well, the answer to that is that they have not been created yet.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Sounds rather interesting so far. Nice summary of how it begins, should be an interesting mythos.

[WriterofReapers]

Yeah, I figured they hadn't been created yet. I guess what I meant to say was that the scope of the story (or what you have shown us of it) makes it seem like if they are mere insects to what I am gurssing will be the main characters.So, good job with that.

[Jean Valjean]

Again, I think I will divide my post into several spoiler tags in order to help organize it into subjects.

Interesting. I find creation stories help flesh out an already vast universe, especially if it contains supernatural elements. Though I personally don't go for originality but for what I think really makes sense to me personally. I mean, what I see as a fundamental reality of our universe I see as a fundamental reality in my own fictional universes. So I'm not going to come up with creation story like the Greek Pantheon but instead I'm going to work with a creation story that I intuitively believe in. Like when I was reading The Salmarillion, when I read about Melkor and Eru I felt a connection there.The creation story for my series is essentially what I already believe in, only it's been adjusted to fit the context of the series.

Anyway, I've been looking ad my character named Monosmith. There is a moment in the final book where the pumpkin-headed demon Jack gets angry with him and tells him of all his flaws. As a demon, I figure that he's in a position set apart from mere mortals to make that call. I once wrote about a scene similar to this when I was writing in Robo's RPG, except it was Death who read the list. Perhaps when I go back and edit this decision, it will be Death again. Any way you look at it, Monosmith is told of all his flaws by an immortal. I intend to list as many of them as I can, too. It's the final book. Much about Monosmith has been implied and shown through his actions, but I think it should be a relief to finalize and formalize it through words. It's going to hit Monosmith like a brick. It's going to cover both his obvious flaws and the ones the readers might have never guessed.Some may call that bad literature. I just hope that it helps the reader to realize, however, that Monosmith is a person, not an invented character. He's so much more than an amalgamation of a dozen or so personality traits put together. I imagine theme music to go with many of my characters, but at the end of the day I have never been able to imagine any music to come close to describing him, let alone do him justice.I think I might have also had the idea to do this when Paolini never bothered describe what the real names of his characters may or may not have been. Perhaps that was a good call, although it's not the style that I feel fits for me in this one instance in my story. The final book is revelatory and apocalyptic. I feel all the characters need their final word.Also, this book is semi-autobiographical, and since Monosmith is me, this is important. For one, it actually happened recently where someone I trust and respect told me of some very incriminating flaws of mine. He described them in ways that were truer than what anyone else had been able to describe, managing to describe the precise nature of my supremacy complex and other such faults. I'll bear that in mind.

Regarding Brutus Nobody, I have a few ideas that I've been wanting to write about here for a long time, although I've never been able to fit him into my posts.Since he's in the first book, I want to get off on a good start with him. I want someone who can live through the entire series and be part of its legacy. What's more, I want a timeless example of heroism. He'll have his flaws, but at the end of the day, I don't want there to be any doubt that he's heroic.So here's where I draw some of my inspiration from:- First, there was Norik from BIONICLE. No particular reason. However, Norik was a leader and he was noble, and the earliest origins of Brutus come from imagining Kraggh and Mathias interacting with Norik.- Obviously, after naming Brutus after my favorite character in Julius Caesar, I draw a bit of inspiration from Marcus Brutus. In fact, the scene in IDES part I where Brutus must dispose of his beloved young friend Michael is directly inspired from that bit of history.- I was also inspired by Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, with his dramatic rise to power among his fellow apes and his revolution humans. While looking for examples of a strong and inspiring leader to help with the building of Brutus, I look people like this. The thing is, I want that amazing example who you totally root for, the person that you think is all that for a character like Brutus. Which is how I look at Caesar.- Jake from Animorphs was a favorite character of mine in one of my favorite series of all time. Granted, much of the series is implausible and I know cousins who will call it bad just for that, but the character development was amazing. Jake was a leader who I truly never questioned, and I only ever wanted whatever he wanted. He was well-respected within his group and well-respected with me. he is perhaps one of my biggest inspirations for Brutus.- I draw bits and pieces of inspiration from Smallville's Clark Kent, who was truly as super as the S on his chest, and the best-known example of heroism throughout his entire genre of literature. The amazing thing about him was that he wasn't this distant example, but up close and personal, even lovable. In the end, he also has much to be sad about. He has no peers. He has to keep a secret. He's often had to keep love at bay. he never knew his real parents and his adopted parents had a few problems of their own, although they were eternally loving to him. He had tough friendships. He had to accept the deaths of friends like Ryan. He sometimes got into tough ethical situations with how to deal with villains. He had to deal with feelings of guilt. He had a great destiny of helping others, but he didn't know what it was, and sometimes questioned it. And to top it all off he had to worry about all the Kryptonite lurking around Smallville. I really liked this guy. I hope that Brutus can be jut as lovable. In the meantime, I do plan on paying a tribute to my favorite superhero, because somewhere in the books Brutus is going to rip off his shirt and reveal some symbol underneath in a heroic fashion (and I'll do it without being cheesy, because Lucus managed in effect to do the same thing when he payed tribute to Frankenstein when Darth Vader was risen from the lab table, so the basic idea here is that I'll be using iconic imagery in subtle ways that help enhance the feel of a situation).- I also draw inspiration from John Carter and Hercules. What these two heroes and Superman all have in common is superhuman strength compared to the normal people around them. Of all the physical characteristics that a hero can have, being made of steel is perhaps the simplest ideal possible. You can give them many different powers, but simply to be strong is the easiest, and the most symbolic. Jean Valjean demonstrated strength at one point in the Les Miserables play, which again was a simple way of demonstrating how he was special. Since Brutus will be spending time in the first book in a world that has gravity twice as strong as Earth's, I want to show him overcoming that because it's gather's a basic form of admiration from the audience.- I might draw inspiration from Picard, but I'm not sure. He is a good role model, though.- I might also draw inspiration from Simba, although it will probably be along a very specific point. Behind The Lion King, there was a theme about coming of age, which is where I see a similarity with Brutus within the first book.Other interesting characters who, though perhaps don't specifically pertain to Brutus over other characters, are:- Tintin (a bit of a blank plate, but readers are comfortable with him and he's interesting nevertheless)- Gandalf- The Cat in the Hat (Once you think about it, he's an anarchist, and yet his brand of "random" breaks the mold)- Jean Valjean (he goes from being the dirt beneath your feet to a saint in white)- Atticus Finch (who reminds us that good parenting is heroism, bravery isn't a man with a gun, and leadership is understanding)- Kermit the Frog (because the world needs its dreamers)- Magneto (A villain, but a prime example of charisma and played by Ian McKellan, just like Gandalf)- Calvin and Hobbes (little people who are surprisingly big thinkers)- Forrest Gump (small mind with a big heart)- Leonard "Bones" McCoy (he's not trying to be a leader, just human)- Mickey Mouse (I don't have any idea if anything about him applies to my IDES series, but he has inspired me elsewhere to make simple, easy to recognize creations that embody entertainment)- Scrooge (a person with a remarkable and powerful account of redemption)- Aragorn (it's really hard to describe, but the more I look, the more I see brilliance)- Frodo (don't be deceived by small sizes and origines)- Yoda (same as Frodo: "Judge my by my size, do you?")- Luke Skywalker ("He is the inexperienced farmboy with a destiny to become a legend. His path throughout the original Star Wars trilogy is the classic hero’s journey, and it speaks to generations of young people, just coming into their own and finding their way in the world.")- James T. Kirk (the fantasy captain who's the soul of the ship)- Dracula (every bad guy you can think of is similar to him in some way)- Spock (I like logical characters, especially if their shell cracks from time to time)- Darth Vader (tall, wears distinctive colors, owns a cape, has an awesome voice, walks to his own anthem, and is the father of the main hero, there's a lot of appealing elements)- Batman (A Gothic and grim hero who is, however, unquestionably good)I'm also reading a list about great characters in literature, and the authors look for these three things:

• [*]How significant are the characters? Did they influence genres or create their own archetypes?[*]How interesting are they? Are they well developed, and do they intrigue you?[*]How cool are they? Influence and development aside, is it just plain fun to watch / read / play their experiences?

I found it interesting, because I thought I was the only person who consciously looked for those three things.Oh, and while looking up "greatest characters in literature" in order to find ideas, the first list I came across also mentioned this, which I found quite interesting:

God Chosen by Michael Marshall (The Lonely Dead)Polymorphic, unpredictable, unaccountable; omnipotent yet negligent, kind yet vicious. Suitable to any genre or period. Able to hold centre stage in plot, or work subtly in deep background. Never requires a deus ex machina. A character you can immerse yourself in, forever.

I found that a very interesting observation. And I can also see how this little bit of wisdom applies to my writing as well, because within a literary context these observations make total sense.It's strange how I went from talking about Brutus to something fairly different.

Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

Edited December 4, 2011 by Emperor Kraggh

[Writ]

Uncommon Writing Advice from a writer:Don't say "He ran quickly." Say "He dashed."TL;DR: Don't use adverbs.

[Jean Valjean]

Stephen King said just that in One Writing: A Memoir, which is the most useful book I've read on the subject of writing advice. I don't see why that's uncommon writing advice, though: it seems to be a standard expectation for all prose. I once gave a speech about this subject. However, I have more than one reason for disliking adverbs. The main reason is not because they make the writing a little longer, because the difference is insignificant, but because 99% of the time it is unnecessary. Think of the phrase "he ran quickly". You don't need to phrase it as "he dashed" either. The idea is that 99% of the time the context of the statement explains just how fast he is. When an adverb is necessary, it tends to be when someone does something in a way counter-intuitive to what you might expect. For example, someone might say something that on text sounds very harsh in an already harsh conversation, but they say it "jokingly", in which case the adverb might be necessary and in a single extra word a new dimension has been added to a conversation.This all fits underneath the umbrella statement "don't use unnecessary words". Though I'll make an exception for books like Eragon where I feel elevated language is an inherent part of the narrative.While on that topic, I might mention that most advice packages I've read have also included a stern warning against passive sentences.Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Elevated language is lovely when it fits, but purple prose makes me want to take Mick Jagger's advice on painting things.

[(Daedalus)]

*Incoming Transmission*I've got a very specific question that may or may not allow for general writing advice, but I'd like to know what you guys think. I am writing a final paper for my history class. In a nutshell, my argument is that every since 1865, the United States could be described as a troubled nation. Now, I'm not wanting to talk about the paper itself, but the title. The title I was considering was "Troubled, the Nation." I prefer to use short titles that convey a lot of meaning, or at least catch the reader's attention (not to say that I'm successful in doing so, that's just what I attempt to do). But then I thought about it and wondered, "Does that even make sense?" So my question is: Does the title "Troubled, the Nation" make sense by itself and/or in the context of my argument?Again, I realize the question is very specific, but this topic is for writing advice, and I wouldn't mind some right now.*End Transmission*

[Writ]

Stephen King said just that in One Writing: A Memoir, which is the most useful book I've read on the subject of writing advice. I don't see why that's uncommon writing advice, though: it seems to be a standard expectation for all prose. I once gave a speech about this subject. However, I have more than one reason for disliking adverbs. The main reason is not because they make the writing a little longer, because the difference is insignificant, but because 99% of the time it is unnecessary. Think of the phrase "he ran quickly". You don't need to phrase it as "he dashed" either. The idea is that 99% of the time the context of the statement explains just how fast he is. When an adverb is necessary, it tends to be when someone does something in a way counter-intuitive to what you might expect. For example, someone might say something that on text sounds very harsh in an already harsh conversation, but they say it "jokingly", in which case the adverb might be necessary and in a single extra word a new dimension has been added to a conversation.This all fits underneath the umbrella statement "don't use unnecessary words". Though I'll make an exception for books like Eragon where I feel elevated language is an inherent part of the narrative.While on that topic, I might mention that most advice packages I've read have also included a stern warning against passive sentences.Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

The first time I heard that piece of advice was from the One Year Adventure Novel curriculum; before that, all I'd gotten was Andrew Pudewa advising you to cram as many adverbs as possible onto every verb.I've never read any of Stephen King's work; I, personally, dislike any form of horror unless it's used as a component in a story. For example, if you had a story about some guy who was lonely, and then went crazy and beheaded people for the rest of the story, that's what horror is about. However, if the villain in any given story used horrifying things to torture the hero and create more conflict, then I'm actually quite the advocate.I'm just against horror for the sake of horror. :)Anyway. Kind of got sidetracked there. :PMy thoughts on passive sentences:Their only point is to show helplessness. Active implies control; if you're writing a scene in which the hero can't do anything, for example, passive sentences can actually help, not hurt.But, 90% of the time, you want to use active.…The main problem with active, though? You can't intentionally do it until you've intentionally done it a billion times. XD

[Legolover-361]

In relation to the current COT contest, COTSSC2, I was wondering if any other writers plan on entering, and if so, what genre they plan to use. My current plan is to use the apocalypse genre, but if that turns out to be overused, I'll switch to another genre.Another question: How corny is too corny? I personally find the other side of the line to include a marked increase in cliches and coincidences that coincidentally (forgive the alliteration ) help the protagonist reach a very lofty goal.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Legolover-361

[Jedi Knight Krazy]

Another question: How corny is too corny? I personally find the other side of the line to include a marked increase in cliches and coincidences that coincidentally (forgive the alliteration ) help the protagonist reach a very lofty goal.

I'd simplify your statement: a story becomes "too corny" when the writer becomes less a story-teller and more a self-appointed deity bestowing his or her blessings upon the protagonist.

[Legolover-361]

That puts it well, indeed.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

If I can find a good way to do science-fiction for the contest without ripping off Doctor Who, I'll be entering.

[Protohuman]

I have a documentary book forming in my brain atm...Seeing as it's what I firmly believe, it's about why we should all have a bad side. Detailing that sinning is a natural part of our bodies and why we shouldn't repress it completely. First reason being that it's liberating and can give your mind more freedom. Second being that nobody is perfect, and everybody should except that. A third being that people who attempt to be entirely good, and pretend to have no dark side at all ARE insufferable.But since we have evolved, we have invented the concept of control. And so, the book also details that we should keep a healthy balance between dark and light; not to be entirely light, and not to be entirely dark, because both ARE impossible. Main point is to be yourself, and not to try to shape yourself into something suited to someone else. And so it tries to help us to use our dark side, but also control it.Lying, cheating, stealing, swearing and so on can be liberating AND sometimes be used for something good.That's what The Inner Deviant is about ^^

[Jean Valjean]

I don't know if it's too late for me to be saying this, but I believe that "Troubled, The Nation" really doesn't sound right. I'm all for original names, but I've found that the best names when turning something in is something standard and straight to the point, otherwise it looks like it's trying to hard and won't be taken seriously at a glance. Of course, your professor will be doing more than just glancing at the paper, but those are still my thoughts. I would rather go with "The Troubled Nation", and if you need any more distinction, your name is all the subtitling it needs.Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

[(Daedalus)]

I don't know if it's too late for me to be saying this, but I believe that "Troubled, The Nation" really doesn't sound right. I'm all for original names, but I've found that the best names when turning something in is something standard and straight to the point, otherwise it looks like it's trying to hard and won't be taken seriously at a glance. Of course, your professor will be doing more than just glancing at the paper, but those are still my thoughts. I would rather go with "The Troubled Nation", and if you need any more distinction, your name is all the subtitling it needs.Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

*Incoming Transmission*I actually ended up using "A Troubled Nation." As you said, the other one didn't sound right. I figured "A Troubled Nation" was simple and got my point across. And anyways, my professor focuses more on the paper's content than she does on its title, so doing something unique and original would get me a simple comment at best.*End Transmission*

[Jean Valjean]

I've been getting less and less creative with my titles as times go by. In a project I just completed for my English class, I had to come up with a collage literature of various different mediums. Here's what I came up with for titles:The Good Creation - a play I'm writing based off of Milton's "Paradise Lost"The Temptation of Christ in Its Literary Context - It was a research paper on exactly what the title suggests.Obituary for Death - Exactly what it sounds likeMonthus to Death - A formal business letter between a demon and his bossJack's Letter - An inverse Screwtape letter from a guardian angel named JackDear Scout - An entry in a journal the author calls ScoutLet's look at my series over time. At first I called it Skull Wars when I was a prepubescent boy without plans of writing my daydreams down. However, later I changed to call it Journal and have a quote from each book be the subtitle. Then I came up with the current title for the series, IDES, and I intended to have acronyms like REDRA, KIRZKE, EREX, THOLT, and CREJ as my subtitles, which would work their way into the story if I could write a sentence with initial letters that would spell out the subtitle in every chapter. However, that seemed to be a bit of a stretch and on the surface it would seem meaningless. So the plan now is fairly simple. There are eighteen books in the series. The first book is called IDES: Part I. Guess what the second book is called? IDES: Part II. I went from having something as strange as the REDRA idea to going with the simplest form of identification possible.Not to say that there aren't advantages to this. Having "Part" in it sounds impressive. The immediate association is of a thought out and structured story that had to be spread out among more than one book, which I feel is what my writing will be. I also feel that it can make the first book a bit more impressive. If I can successfully pull off an ending that seems complete in and of itself, it would be even more impressive if the reader knew that it was only a small part in something bigger, as implied by the word "part". I don't know if I'm explaining this right, but I hope people can understand the reasons for my current plan.The only real problem is that the titles will lack uniqueness and someone might forget which book was which if they didn't pay enough attention (although personally, if I went through 1,000 pages of Part IV, by the end of it I would probably associate those events with the number four). So I think I might incorporate the old subtitles and use them as code names, though where I would mention the code name I am not sure. Perhaps in the foreword, or the title page (though not the front cover), or on the inevitable official website. In any case, I would prefer it if was an unofficial codename adopted by the fans.Anyway, I am having a lot of trouble deciding who will be the final villain in Part XVIII. There's Theophilus Zweifel, Rover J. Banks, Hetagon, Jloudo, Vizer, Monthus, Megstra, Craytus, Master Legious, and Death himself. I kind of have a hierarchy of importance, though I debate between Master Legious and Craytus. Meanwhile, somehow I have to deal with them all in one final go that all works out to be a satisfying final read. At least thus far I have managed ways to deal with other minor villains before the final book. Oh, and I also have Clear Water and Euthanasia converting. I need various heroes to make their final appearances. Monosmith, who has been the great constant throughout the series, is a given. Where there's a Monosmith, there's also a Mary Maria, who he is destined to wed someday. There must also be Ashley, Buzzy, Dreamcatcher, Jack, Blitz, Kraggh, Mathias, Iceheart, Vee, Nixon, Michael, Brutus, Gertrude, Xenocrates, and perhaps a few others. They're all just a fraction of the sheer number of characters in the series, and I had to narrow things down considerably to figure out which characters had stories that were worthy of the final book.I think that part of how I'm going to organize this is by dividing characters into various social spheres. After I figure out what groups there will be, I will put come up with a story for that group. Some of the groupings are rather unlikely and unprecedented (Jack, Ashley, and Monosmith being one of them), so there's definitely this grand new feeling of the final book. There will be some traditional groupings, so that Blitz will be involved in a joint story arc with Mathias, but I think that I want to combine the old with the new so that they will be involved with the Zweifel family (Nixon, Michael, Xenocrates). I don't want to be biased in favor of a certain time period of my series.Then the toughest question of all comes. Each and every character will meet their destiny somewhere in this book. One of the questions is what their destiny is. Another question is which confrontations will take place. Some of them most of the audience can assume: Blitz will resolve his conflict with Hetagan and on the behalf of Kraggh overthrow the tyrant Rover J. Banks, the Zweifel family conflict is between the Zweifels, and Dreamcatcher will redeem the Amakor. Yet, who takes on Craytus? There are many characters whose stories have been leading up to this. Michael was the first person to claim the desire. Dreamcatcher has the right. He killed Hero's parents. If only Silver bird was still alive, because he would surely have the right. Then there's Master Legious. My instinct tells me Monosmith will have the last word, but somehow I'll have to conclude the conflict he's had with the many other characters first. Once again, where there's a Monosmith there's Mary Maria, and I've explored conflicts she's had with Master as well. Jloudo and Vizer, his servants, have to break free of his manipulation. Clear Water has to break away from him, and where there's a Clear Water there's Hero (operating under the same attractive force between Mono and Mary). Vee has his personal issues, too, for more reason than one, both really big and really personal. The list goes on. Then finally I have to set aside the worldly conflicts and someone has to address Death. Now really, how does one interfere with his schemes? One could debate who's going to "unsummon" him. Michael was his original summoner, albeit unintentional. I would imagine that it all centers around him. Yet, there are various characters who should resolve their personal conflicts with him before he's gone.The burdens of writing an 18,000 page saga.Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh

[Vigor Mortis]

Dear Scout

Sorry about that, my TF2 senses were tingling.Anyway, I am of the opinion that a title is actually rather important - it is what you first tell people about a book. It shapes the first impressions of it, and thus generates interest or disinterest. For example, an extremely good book I read was called Dies the Fire. It sounded interesting just from the title, and so I checked it out and it turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read.As for stories that I have floating in my mind, I have such titles as:Treasure the ObscureAraneumThus Dust, Evermore

[Jean Valjean]

(How dare you associate Ms. Zweifel's beautiful diary with something so ugly and repulsive!)I used to be into poetic titles, but lately I've found that the closer to describing what's at the heart of the narrative, the better. For example, IDES is simply the name of the universe of my series. It felt like it truly was the name of the story, so I decided to name it the IDES. Of course, it has its other advantages. It sounds cool, and it has justification for being stylized. There is a poetic connection to the character Brutus in the first book. But I just liked that the universe of the story was the story.Thus I like titles like BIONICLE. It's not something too poetic, other than that it feels so right for the series. I suppose it did have its marketing value, though.So if I look at other works of mine, one of them is The Cabbage of Coggin, which is indeed what the book is about: A cabbage owned by a lady named Madam Coggin. Is it guaranteed to pique people's interest? Not really, but it's simple to remember and it's the natural name that would be used to describe the story anyway.Actually, I have yet to name a story after a character. I might do that sometime when I'm writing offshoots after completing my main series about the back-stories of characters. I know I want to do ones about Craytus, Deleta, Gears, Theophilus Zweifel, Leonidas Zweifel, Brutus, Arcane, Lea and Fang, Roteris, and maybe even Silver Bird and Master Legious. I think that some of these stories would be named after the characters. In fact, if I were to set that precedent, then all of them would have to be named after their characters. I suppose that the readers would already have read about the title character in the main series, and the best way to catch their interest is to know which stories include characters they want to read more about. It kind of reminds me of the Animorphs series, where there was The Andalite Chronicles, The Hork-Bajir Chronicles, and The Ellemist Chronicles. Since I was a fan of the series and was curious about some of these backgrounds, the titles to all of these got me very interested in these books. Also, because of these and BIONICLE, I have also liked the word "Chronicle" as well. I might include it in one of the titles. It has that storytelling air about it.In fact I like the idea of the books just including the characters' names because it's essentially saying "this is their story". I suppose that it would be an interesting contrast with the main series, which is named after the storytelling universe and focuses on all the characters at once.So I guess that the overall philosophy that I have with books is that I like to give them "names" as opposed to "titles".Your Honor,Emperor Kraggh Edited December 10, 2011 by Emperor Kraggh