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

Discussion The Scribble Pad (Fanfic Writing Discussions)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Briannakin , Jun 18, 2017.

  1. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Two unrelated questions:
    1. When you're writing a new story within a larger existing series of stories, how much information do you include so that a casual or new reader isn't confused? I'm planning to do the DDC half-marathon with characters from the "next-generation" of my Marzra-verse and I was wondering if it would be helpful to have some sort of "The Story Thus Far" intro or cast of characters, maybe under spoiler tags so the reader's eyes don't glaze over? Do you find that kind of thing helpful? Annoying? Or do you take one look and run the other way?

    2. For those of you who have done vignettes/ficlets, how do you keep them short? (And what constitutes a vignette, exactly?) I had an idea to do a series of vignettes of AU versions of the same character, and though I don't know that i have enough of a plot for a proper story for each version, I'm having a hard time sort of distilling the idea down into a short scene or two. My moose tends to go in for epics and long multi-chapters, but I really don't want to start any more of them--I'd hoped for something I could sort of play around with instead, if that makes sense.
     
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  2. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    According to this Wikipedia explanation - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vignette_(literature) - a vignette is a scene about one character or moment.

    Since you seem to do family settings, try having your protagonist do something domestic that does not take you too long.

    Although it was two characters, that piece with Mara Jade(?) and Ezra, essentially having a row about her not seeing him, and him giving up on some work responsibilities, was a good short story - you had the argument, then the resolution, job done.

    Use that as your template.
     
  3. brodiew

    brodiew Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2005
    This is my wheelhouse. However, trying to share how to break it down is not coming easily. What you could do is use a prompt or theme words to help coalesce the idea. The prompt will force you to think in a specific direction. Choose 3-5 prompt words and try them out to see which one points you to the write/right scene. Don't judge what you produce too harshly. Any theme word could help with the AU in hand or birth a new one. Sounds fun. I think I have a drabble post to work on. AUs it is.

    EDIT: I'm looking for a little guidance on how to introduce a character into an closed (inside a home) unfamiliar environment filled with other people. My scenario has a character transported from one place to another, but the place in which he arrives is foreign to him and it is inhabited by other beings. The beings can speak the same language so that hurdle is not present.
    How would you have a group of tweens react to having a man suddenly appear in their midst?
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2018
  4. teamhansolo

    teamhansolo Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2018
    Are the tweens boys or girls?
     
  5. brodiew

    brodiew Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 11, 2005
    Hello teamhansolo! It's a mix. Of the six tweens, four are boys, two are girls.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2018
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  6. teamhansolo

    teamhansolo Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2018
    Here are my ideas:
    One of the girls would be screaming, someone would probably say something like, "Was that guy there before?", or "Where did he come from?"
    I don't know if any of that will help, just kinda brainstorming a little.
     
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  7. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    @brodiew - I wouldn't be at all surprised if one of the boys scrambled off to get his parent / guardian's gun or shotgun.
     
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  8. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    @brodiew would their religion or culture play a part? Perhaps this sudden appearance could be mistaken as some kind of ghost or divine being?
     
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  9. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    If any of them have experience of extreme partying they might take this in strides since there have been times before where they don't remember what they did and awake in strange places
     
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  10. Theodore Hawkwood

    Theodore Hawkwood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 17, 2014
    If this is in the wrong spot I apologize, but this is a fragmentary idea that just popped into my head today.

    Having watched Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom a few times it's become a new favorite of mine. I also watched the other four Jurassic Park films again and it spurred some random idea in my mind that first popped into being while reading the Jurassic Park wiki about the I.B.R.I.S. Project (basically the project to test velociraptor intelligence/trainability in that universe).

    What if there was an Imperial era project along those lines (heck the Star Wars universe could well have extant dinosaurs on some isolated moon/planet somewhere) is the idea that popped into my head? Weaponized raptors might be a very Tarkin Doctrine consistent project as a thought.
     
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  11. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Trammis III - http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Trammis_III/Legends - has the dinosaurs you seek. I think there may be a tourist element as well.
     
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  12. Theodore Hawkwood

    Theodore Hawkwood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 17, 2014
    Thank you, @Sith-I-5

    Would weaponized dinosaurs be something consistent with a Tarkin Doctrine or some other senior Imperial officer? I would think IBRIS' Star Wars version could be very Tarkin, but I could also imagine it as a Thrawn project too, interestingly enough.
     
  13. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Micro versus macro. One is tiny, one is large scale.

    Tarkin Doctrine led to the Death Star, a moon-sized battle station; a lousy dinosaur doesn't feel consistent for Tarkin. So he's out.

    Dinosaurs are land beings, so unless you are putting them onto ships or space stations, I feel that you can discount any senior Naval officers, eg. that one who ran the TIE Phantom project.

    Imperial Army seems more likely, and, it just now occurs to me, that I would like to see this as a First Order project, before they abandoned it in favour of kidnapping kids to train as stormtroopers.

    Even some individual planet or corporation could be trying it. I have the Holowan Corporation making Rathtar, so another could try weaponising dinosaurs.
     
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  14. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    Good discussion![face_coffee] It makes me think of cosmic Force stuff, like Imperial emphasis on machines vs. the Jedi/Rebels use of (or at least understanding of) natural elements like loth-wolves and the poor, lamented zillo beast … :(
     
  15. Theodore Hawkwood

    Theodore Hawkwood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 17, 2014
    Perhaps the dinosaurs could be something like an Imperial Army or Separatist project taken over by the Empire.
     
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  16. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    Wouldn't they be basically a version of dewbacks?
     
  17. Theodore Hawkwood

    Theodore Hawkwood Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 17, 2014
    Much more predatory in nature.
     
  18. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    Joining I-5 regarding the dates. The American format is only good for sorting stuff on the computer by folder, but otherwise...like...NOPE. It's 08.07.2018 and I like it that way. :p
     
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  19. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Any tips to coming back to a story you’ve let lapse? I’m trying to get back into a couple of my stories after RL and working on other projects have kept me away from them, and it’s feeling kind of awkward. I have ideas, but putting them onto paper feels weird, like i’m not quite finding the right voice. I don’t want to let these stories die. Help?
     
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  20. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    How long does it have to take for you to consider such a thing a lapse?

    EDIT: Grammar me bad this day more and more.
     
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2018
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  21. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    The main thing is, don’t feel you have to immediately regain ALL the right voices RITE AWAY. Just ease in a little at a time, a few sentences or two at a time—maybe one or two today, then maybe two or three tomorrow, etc. Dip your feet in rather than dive back in.

    Anothe thing I find helpful in this kind of situation is to reimmerse myself in the story by rereading it from the beginning. That way the progression of events thus far is fresh in your mind, which in turn can make it easier to contemplate What Comes Next.

    Hope this is helpful! :)
     
  22. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Some are weeks, some are months.
     
  23. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014
    But why does it matter when you're inspired to write in general? Some breaks are natural. :)
     
  24. pronker

    pronker Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 28, 2007
    Good discussion.:ahsoka: This makes me think of the hobby I had before this one, and how one day, I noticed that the breaks between hobby times grew longer and longer, until one day I just didn't want to do it any more. Momentum means something, in such cases, IMHO.:yoda:
     
  25. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    But I am inspired to work on these stories--I haven't just sat down and said to myself "you must work on this story now." The desire to write is there, it's the execution I'm finding difficult.
     
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