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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Resource Fanfic Writer's Desk: Your Place for Writing Discussion, Questions, and Advice

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Luna_Nightshade, Nov 24, 2011.

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  1. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    Do you mean how do people reading respond to slang? I think as long as it's not constant and context clues allow people to understand it, it's okay. But when it becomes more work than fun to read, people tend to give up. If someone does have a lot to say, having a character that 'translates' for someone else helps the reader as well.
     
  2. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    I guess if people understand what is being said it will be okay, but don't make it so thick in slang that Barbara Billingsley needs to come in and translate for the reader (Reference to the movie Airplane).
     
  3. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    I was thinking something along the way the people speek in Legacy but I don't want to use hutties
     
  4. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    Well, instead of slang words, you could always use a very unrefined style of speech. Slurring, poor grammar, the occasional malapropism and mispronunciations... Show that the character ain't got none-a-dat there book learnin' like them high society fellas. It gives them a grittier edge if they don't care enough about their speech to use them high-falutin' five-credit woids.

    Also, accents and dialects. Those can help more than slang, but use dialects in moderation, as they can be difficult to read. Di'intcha know he wuz gonna gitcha?
     
  5. taramidala

    taramidala Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 1999
    Does anyone know the average human lifespan on a normal, conflict-free world? I'd assume it's a bit longer than an Earth human.
     
  6. Draconarius

    Draconarius Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2005
    Well, the entry for humans says 100-120 years. I guess that's probably what you'd expect given the medical tech the GFFA has available.
     
  7. taramidala

    taramidala Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 18, 1999
    Dang, that's like a lot longer than I was going for! And the Wook has an entry for "humans"? Really? Man, I was thinking way too high-level for my answer. I should have known better. :oops:

    Thanks so much!
     
  8. Sokolniki

    Sokolniki Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 7, 2014
    I'm curious as to how people in the "Beyond" cope with creating compelling villains while trying to avoid the looming shadow of the Skywalker/Solo "Oneness" threatening to make said villain into a joke in a heartbeat.

    If there is any one thing I absolutely hated about any of the post-Endor books with the passion of a hundred burning suns... it's the concept of "Oneness" that isn't related to death or being a force ghost.

    Quite similar to my hatred of the Super Saiyan forms in DBZ, with each new transformation making the villain previously portrayed as an insurmountable obstacle suddenly look like little more than a punching bag for the relevant hero. When I first read of it during the Vong books... I face-palmed.

    I want my villain to be genuinely dangerous, and so far the only solution I can think of is to not have the Master Ranked Skywalker/Solos be involved at all in the story, or resort to my villain outmaneuvering them through politics under circumstances that the Jedi would be dissuaded from resolving an issue through force.
     
  9. Draconarius

    Draconarius Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2005
    If you're talking about the "one with the Force" thing, then you could simply not have them use it. Anakin killed himself using it. Jacen only pulled it off once at the end of the NJO and was never able to pull it off again. And Luke and the others haven't shown the ability to do it on command, either (as far as I know, anyway, not having read FOTJ). I always got the impression it was almost a once in a lifetime sort of thing; you'd pull it off when you absolutely needed to (as Anakin and Jacen did) and then spend the rest of your life wondering how you did it.

    If you're talking about the power level of the SkySolos in general, then the options you've already described would be the way to go. Not everyone can be a galactic-level villain on the scale of Palpatine or the Vong, after all, and the SkySolos (and the Master-ranked ones in particular) can't be running around after every single one of them. If every villain was that powerful, then we'd just have them doing the same thing as the DBZ heroes you mentioned, with each successive villain making the last one, and the heroes who beat him, look like a joke. Political maneuvering and other, non-physical ways to challenge the heroes are also fine, and can actually be more interesting than just having everyone whip out the lightsabers and hack the problem to death.
     
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  10. Sokolniki

    Sokolniki Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 7, 2014
    My villain is aware of the existence of the Book of Sith as assembled by Palpatine in order to refine a new dark side philosophy, and would very much like to get his hands on it by one way or another, which I imagine would bring him into direct confrontation with Luke Skywalker. I've been trying to wrap my head around a means by which my villain could reasonably "defeat" the Grand Master Skywalker and take possession of the book or at least copy its contents, but with how much the EU ramped up his power... a duel of combat prowess just isn't a reasonable direction for it.

    Unrelated question... could I post up a characters thread listing the characters of my story, not so much to advertise my story but rather to have an easy to locate location to keep my thoughts and character profiles organized that isn't subject to say a computer dying?
     
  11. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Well, I suppose one of the benefits of writing OC's is that they don't often have an established super-high power level to give the writer these sorts of problems.

    I think that there are plenty of ways to possibly dodge around that, though whether they work for an individual situation is harder to evaluate. Mainly, there might need to be some way for the antagonist to either A) avoid or B) cheat shamelessly at any direct physical confrontation.

    There's the possibility of writing the Skywalker-Solos a bit less towards the ridiculously powerful end of the spectrum too -- the books have been inconsistent in that. Another thing worth considering is that power doesn't equal guaranteed victory. My impression has always been that when multiple parties in a Force-users' duel are past a certain level of skill or raw power, the outcome may depend much more on other factors than just "who has the most Force."

    The Skywalker/Solos have an advantage in the brute Force area, but that doesn't mean that they aren't possible to run in circles by a clever villain of any sort -- the vastness of the galaxy is an advantage in this regard. Even a powerful Jedi can often only be reactive when it comes to threats that come from outside their familiar sphere, and it often takes a while for things to be taken seriously. The Skywalker clan are always very busy and it's probably not that difficult to deliberately avoid them if one isn't personally leading a direct attack on the Jedi Temple. I'm thinking of your characters in Invidious Intent, though I don't know if that's the track you were on or not.

    It's worth remembering that Sidious managed to play things so as to defeat the Old Republic Jedi. They were, objectively, way bigger fish (collectively if not individually.) Old age and treachery aren't to be underestimated.
     
  12. Draconarius

    Draconarius Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2005
    Not really, no. But the same could be said of Yoda if your fic was set during the Prequels, so it's not like it's a unique problem for Luke. One possible solution for you would be for Luke to simply not become aware of the situation until after everything's come and gone (assuming that he's not a main character, anyway). Sort of like Episode I; by the time the Jedi as a whole are made aware that the Sith are indeed back, the situation has been resolved (at least, as far as that film was concerned) so Yoda and Mace never have a chance to step in.

    The mods would probably have a definite answer, but I suspect no. I use dropbox to backup things and store my notes. You can log into it from any computer and the odds of both it and your computer dying at the same time are very small.

    Same here. If it were just "who has the most Force", then Dooku should have died within seconds against Yoda and Obi-Wan should have been slaughtered by Anakin.
     
  13. jcgoble3

    jcgoble3 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2010
    I don't think that's allowed here, but I would recommend Google Docs (or Google Drive as they're calling it now), which is perfect for this type of thing.

    Speaking of which, I have four years of notes stored on my hard drive with no recent backups. I should probably fix that.... :p
     
  14. Sokolniki

    Sokolniki Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 7, 2014

    Indeed, this inquiry is indeed in relation to my characters in Invidious Intent. As stated, the vastness of space will make it easy for them to hide from the Skywalkers/Solo clan, and encounters with the Jedi/Jensaarai/Crimson Knights in general could easily be a rare occurence save for operations carried out on Core Worlds. However, my hiccup is going to be when I get around to pursuing the Book of Sith... that's a whole other can of worms as canonically, it's in the care of Luke Skywalker himself, and any copy of it possessed by the Galactic Alliance would most likely be watched carefully by either himself or other members of his family due the danger of the contents should they ever become widespread knowledge.
     
  15. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Well, having heard more of the specifics... I think this is a great opportunity for a heist, actually. The character's goal isn't to defeat the Skywalker clan, blindfolded, with one hand tied behind his back. It's to steal a book! I doubt Luke keeps it chained to his arm, after all. Security measures would undoubtedly be pretty strong, but nothing is perfect.
     
  16. Sokolniki

    Sokolniki Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Jan 7, 2014
    Okay, I think I have an idea in regards to taking possession of the book. I want to run the idea by someone but I sorta don't want to spoil it for Kahara as well. Anybody volunteer to listen and tell me what they think of it?
     
  17. Kahara

    Kahara FFoF Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Mar 3, 2001
    Has anyone else tried using TreeSheets for keeping track of their plots? I discovered it tonight while searching for something to organize my information better. So far I'm liking it pretty well and thought people here might find it useful.

    It was listed in an article at http://www.techradar.com/us/news/so...0-programs-to-unleash-your-creativity-1141280. Searches turned up enough outside confirmation that it seemed legit, but you never know. It may eat my computer yet. :p
     
  18. Jade_Pilot

    Jade_Pilot Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2005
    Must check this out
     
  19. Idrelle_Miocovani

    Idrelle_Miocovani Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 5, 2005
    Dear fellow writers:

    I'm looking for some brainstorming for terminology, but it's not for a Star Wars fan fic. However, I'm in this thread because you are all fantastic sci-fi writers and I think you may be able to help me out.

    Basically, I'm working on a play right now that is a post-apocalyptic/dystopia/science fiction story. In it, there are people who have been genetically modified/engineered. I'm trying to find a term to call them. I do not want to use "designer baby". So far everything I or the cast have come up with doesn't quite work. I know that I'd like it to ideally to be either one syllable or two syllables, just for flow/pacing's sake in the text.

    Anyone care to throw out some suggestions? [face_batting] (You can PM me if you like :) ).
     
  20. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    Some writers will use a portmanteau, so "dibabes" or "genfants?" The latter has better flow, so I'm favoring that one.
     
  21. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Terms I have seen being used are among others:
    Olympians
    New type
    Coordinators
     
  22. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    Human for the normals, genman for the enhanced?
     
  23. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    For what role have your neo-men been modified? Perfection? Survival in an inhospitable environment? PSI-powers? Etc., etc.
     
  24. Idrelle_Miocovani

    Idrelle_Miocovani Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 5, 2005
    Pefection, in most cases. Some were created to be geniuses to find cures to an assortment of viruses than have been plaguing humanity. Many of them ended up working as agents for a corporation that subtly controls most of the world.
     
  25. Draconarius

    Draconarius Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2005
    I see someone's been watching some Gundam of late. :p

    Given your description, Idrelle, something similar to Star Trek's 'Augments' might be appropriate. Not quite sure what that similar word could be, though. *runs off to brainstorm*