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Author	Topic: The Writers' Guild
Twinky_Stryder Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 5/23/06 10:19am Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	Yeah, that's the other problem, I have the setting (the whole "urban fantasy" thing) but lack a story to put in it. Street gangs may feature somewhere though. -----signature----- Ranger of FFUK I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me FFUK awards 2006 Best Female Poster What about the Twinky?- Ghostbusters
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Master-FatBurt Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 5/23/06 10:27am Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	I finally feel I can put down the BASIC outline of my story. An idealistic young man who is unknowing of his mage heritage has a vision of his world in utopic splendor and of the path to lead it there. Despite his initial diplomatic approaches and the subsequent discovery of his heritage his utopic ideal still seems beyond reach. Looking towards larger and more drastic approaches to reach his goal he finally reaches a point where he has to make a final choice for the good of the world and himself. One of benevolence and freedom or one of total rule and domination. Which way will he go? After spending the past 3 months fleshing out my characters and planning the chapters I finally managed to sit down this afternoon and write a "blurb". Do you know what I see? Star bloody Wars Fortunately the outline and chapters lead very little to the Star Wars saga and there are very few parallels that can be drawn IMO but the "blurb" really destroys my hope for "originality" i feel I may need to review my "blurb" slightly. -----signature----- rules are meant to be broken All Bluebirds are Blue COME ON BARRA!!
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the_wandering_shadow Registered: May '05	Date Posted: 5/23/06 12:06pm Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	I think doubts and little nagging questions about your work are just part of being a writer. No way to get rid of it, that I know of. Just spit the old ruse in the eye and keep pushing through. That's basically all I know to do. Sure, some bits of something might sound like this or that, but how long has the human race been telling stories really? Just about anything you can think of isn't 100% completely original. Think of all the things that Star Wars owes its existence to, I mean from Flash Gordon to the Seven Samurai, and that's just the start. The trick is to make it your own, say something old in a new way. There's something fresh you can add to the mix, things you can blend together to make it different. Hmm. I hope that helps. Well, I hope it makes sense at the very least. -----signature----- Daniel Paul Harms (1958-2007) Yesterday I bought Harry Potter y Las Reliquas de la Muerte (Deathly Hallows in Spanish!) lordmaul13's PIC The new writing contest: http://boards.theforce.net/science_fiction_and_fantasy_books_and_comics/b10749/28279838/p1/?2
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Twinky_Stryder Registered: Nov '03	Date Posted: 5/24/06 2:30am Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	OK, here's an extract from the "hero's journy" story (for lack of a better title). I've been working on this idea since last October. A little background info: Elara: Protagonist, 17 years old. Lived in small town until sold by her mother to be a maid in an old manor house here she is told she may go anywhere, except a particular room, so of course she enters it. This is where the extract is from. She will come to wield strange ancient power (because no fantasy protagonist can get away without having extreme pressure being put on them). Kern: Sorcerer, expelled from order for "betrayel of the highest form"(not telling you what that is yet ) Butler: I will be changing his name at some point. Crookedly tall guy, lifelong friend to Kern. Is also a shapeshifter. This will have a point to the plot later and is not just me thinking it would be cool. The Workshops: Bad place. Any young person who doesn't find some kind of work by the time they are 17 get sent here. Penor: The land they live in. Queen Fernia: Nice queen, loveless marriage, will help protagonist at some point and will have major role later on. The serious problem with my development of this story is that I have individual moments worked out, but no big plot to put them in. OK, here we go: She opened the door hesitantly, not sure of what would lie on the other side. She stepped into a room and stared wide-eyed in shock. The room was huge and luxurious, more luxurious than anything she had ever seen. But what had grabbed her attention were the bookcases covering every space of wall in the wood panelled room. They were impossibly tall, stretching up to the ceiling and were filled with more books than Elara had thought even existed. Gold plated ladders hung from each set of shelves above small tables piled with volumes and documents. A semi-circle of armchairs was placed in front of a blazing fire. Elara froze as she realised that one of the chairs was occupied. Who was this? Had they noticed her entering? She slowly crept towards the door. “Why don’t you sit down?” Said a man’s voice from the chair. Elara gave a gasp of surprise. He must have heard her open the door. “Well?” the man’s voice ventured. Elara walked forward tentatively and sat in the opposite chair, never taking her eyes off the man across from her. He was much older than her, in either his late thirties or early forties. He was clean-shaven with short, slightly messy hair that was the colour of sand. Brilliant blue eyes gazed at Elara, never leaving her face. She matched his stare, trying to appear defiant before the punishment that was sure to come. She had been taken into the house on one condition; never enter the room on the top floor. Would she be sent back home? No, she’d rather run away than be sent home and taken to the Workshops. The man spoke, bringing Elara out of her thoughts. “I’m very disappointed in you Elara-” “I was just curious, I swear. It’s hardly something to be punished for and I refuse to go to the Workshops, I’d rather-“ “Let me finish Elara. As I was saying, I’m very disappointed that it’s taken you so long to get in here. And simply walking through the door lacks the imagination I believed you to possess, hardly fitting for my assistant” Elara blinked in surprise. “Assistant? I was brought here to clean.” “Uh, I’m afraid that’s my doing miss.” Elara turned around to find Butler standing in the doorway. He strode forward and stood behind the man’s chair. “I told you that you was to be a maid in order to test you, no point in bringing you here to help the master if you can’t work properly, and I had to test your character, you never know, you could have been working for-“ “Yes, Butler, thank you. Your concern for our work is appreciated. But surely you need not take such precautions in this particular case surely.” “Blood doesn’t dictate a person’s destiny sir, as you are highly fond of saying.” Butler straightened his back, making himself look even more like a twig. The man smiled broadly. “True, true. It seems that working with me has been making you a little too clever for your own good Butler.” He turned to face the confused Elara, “I’m sorry about this, Butler is somewhat overly cautious, but with good reason. But you were brought here to aid me in my work, my name is Kern, I am a sorcerer and was once the Royal Librarian.” Librarian? Sorcerer? Assistant? None of this is making any sense. I thought that the only sorcerers left in Penor were locked up somewhere in the palace. Elara thought, brows furrowed in confusion. “They are,” Kern answered, “but I was expelled from the order nineteen years ago”. Elara stared at him in shock. Kern smiled softly. “When people are confused, frightened or very angry their thoughts become easy to read. The rest of the time it’s almost impossible.” Elara glared at him. She didn’t like the idea of someone in her head; it was a little disturbing. This man, Kern, was talking what seemed to her to be pure nonsense and yet he was neglecting to answer the most obvious questions. “Why did you bring me here? And what exactly am I supposed to be assisting you with?” Kern nodded appreciably. “That’s more like it. Never stop asking questions Elara, you only remain ignorant if you do.” Kern stood up then and leaned on the fireplace. The light from it highlighting his facial features, making him seem far older than his age. He glanced at Elara for a moment. This had been the meeting that he had waited many years for, there was so much that depended on it. Yet when he saw this girl, this innocent, he didn’t know if he had the courage to put her though it. She could come to resent him or even hate him, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to bear it. She stared up at him with soft grey eyes, questioning, accusing. Kern winced slightly. He had always known that he would be punished for his past crimes, but he had also hoped that Elara would have no part in it. If only there was some other way. Kern took a deep breath and completely turned to face the girl, ready to begin answering her questions. And now I'm going to go and hide in shame. -----signature----- Ranger of FFUK I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me FFUK awards 2006 Best Female Poster What about the Twinky?- Ghostbusters
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Sanctimoniously Registered: Dec '05	Date Posted: 5/24/06 8:23pm Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	Hello...again. -----signature----- In For a Quick Garden http://www.myspace.com/sanctimoniously
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Master-FatBurt Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 6/8/06 2:11am Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	I am horrified that this thread has dropped so low. Anyway update. I've been working on the backgrounds and characterisations of mey main and major players for the book mentioned above. I've so far got the basis of the story in plan for and I'm now fleshing out the characters with their motivation and aims, and how they interconnect with each other. I've also drawn a time line to give an idea of when each character should come in to the story along with when they should depart. I'm still in two minds as to whether I have the story end on a flat note with the main protagonist becoming bad or to have her renounce her quest and go into hiding. I am also in two minds as to whether I shall have her kill of her partner or not after he turns against her. Avoiding the obvious cliche is very hard. Anyway I've got 4 major characters fleshed out now and I know their backstory and history and I've started work on major and incidentals. My new approach to writing is paying off and I actually have a very good idea on how to proceed now as opposed to my initial approach of just start writing and see what hits you. Planning is good. -----signature----- rules are meant to be broken All Bluebirds are Blue COME ON BARRA!!
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the_wandering_shadow Registered: May '05	Date Posted: 6/8/06 2:39am Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild - Date Edited: 6/8/06 2:42am (1 edits total) Edited By: the_wandering_shadow
	Nothing to do with sci-fi and fantasy writing but I did get a job working for my local paper. I'm a reporter and if I can ever get a digital camera I can get into photography again too. Actually, though, I did start a new horror short story with a fictional newspaper segment just for practice. I'll put it here if anyone's interested. The Mayfield Gazette September 15, 2007 The Terror in West Brunswick Continues by Reginald Johnston (editor) WEST BRUNSWICK, Indiana— Another disappearance has villagers disturbed and authorities baffled. Thursday night Sheriff Alexander Jefferies confirmed that Prescott James Holdenworth (18) is indeed the seventh resident of West Brunswick to go missing in the past three and a half weeks. “At this point abduction is the only thing that fits, and unfortunately there’s a great possibility of foul play in these cases, considering all the blood we’ve found.” Jefferies said. “But my men are doing all they can.” The efforts of the West Brunswick police, along with the added help of county and state officers, cannot be denied. It could be that this mystery was close to being resolved nearly two weeks ago when only two young people had vanished (Amanda Jacobs, 7, and Caleb Falk, 14). Deputy Isaiah Daniels (29) went missing shortly after becoming separated from one of the search parties. In the two weeks between the disappearances of Daniels and Holdenworth three others joined this unfortunate company: Morgan Stern (65), caretaker of the West Brunswick Cemetery, Julie Parker (21), hairstylist at the La Rouge Salon, and Miranda Porter (49) former employee of County Metalworks, Inc. At such a time, when even the police cannot find answers, many have sought solace in the local houses of worship. Father Gregory Marx of St. Michael’s Parish said, “The only thing any of us can really do at a time like this is turn to God and pray that He’ll see us through.” Marx also said that an Interfaith counseling service was being put together, adding that it was essential for all of God’s people to put aside their differences and join together for the good of the community. (Disappearance continued on pg. 5) -----signature----- Daniel Paul Harms (1958-2007) Yesterday I bought Harry Potter y Las Reliquas de la Muerte (Deathly Hallows in Spanish!) lordmaul13's PIC The new writing contest: http://boards.theforce.net/science_fiction_and_fantasy_books_and_comics/b10749/28279838/p1/?2
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Jairen Title: Manager Emeritus Registered: Sep '00	Date Posted: 6/9/06 11:26pm Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	Well, this is a link to my first novel. It's password protected, so if you would like to read it, then please PM me for the password It's a fantasy setting, following the path of a young man, orphaned and sent out into the world to follow a quest that he does not believe in. It's the first in a series. Book 2 is nearly done, three is started and four has some planning in place Anyways, please take a look. It's a PDF file at about 900K in size. http://copperraven.com/media/docs/Birthright.pdf -----signature----- "How am I gonna get a girl? I drive around in a garbage truck!" - Hellboy Me in a film: http://copperraven.com/movies/ahoweb.wmv
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Excellence Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 6/10/06 6:18pm Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild - Date Edited: 6/10/06 6:20pm (1 edits total) Edited By: Excellence
	Why is "avoiding the obvious cliche is very hard", FatBurt? I find it romantically easy. 90 percent of whatever you read is imitations of each other. One need only name their characters other than a Will or Jon in various spellings, and you're already surfing. The world has glued their Mick Jagger lips to Tolkien material so rapciously, there's even scarecely a fantasy review that won't compare you to him. With such conditioning in place, and decades of reading the same cliche familiar, your own originality---even though it may not actually be that original---will egg out of a hen loud and proud. -----signature----- The Brits gave the world Doctor Who We owe them
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-RebelScum- Registered: Feb '04	Date Posted: 6/12/06 7:18pm Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild - Date Edited: 6/12/06 7:20pm (1 edits total) Edited By: -RebelScum-
	But you shouldn't get too extreme with the names though, take A Song of Ice and Fire, you have Dany, Tyrion, Tywin, Eddard, Arya, but you also have Jon, Robert, Sam and other "normals". Also, look at His Dark Materials, it has an original and great plot, but it isn't insane or completely off the wall, or back to Ice and Fire it's not entirely and completely original (basically a fantasy War of the Roses) but it's extremely well told. So don't be original for the sake of being original, or you will end up a gimmick. -The Scummy- -----signature----- Fantasy Keeps Me Sane.
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Andalite-Bandit Registered: Apr '05	Date Posted: 6/12/06 11:48pm Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	Well, I am pretty happy with myself, because I've made some pretty decent progress on my feature film in the last two days, after two or three weeks of pretty much not doing anything. I do have an excuse though, I was in Germany for 10 days. I'm now up to about page 45, and I pretty much know everything I am doing up to a certain point that might take me up to 55 or 60, and then things get a little fuzzy but I have an outline of the basics. I'm thinking it will end up being around 100 pages. The first draft anyway. I'm also happy, because I was concerned before I started writing about the feasability of shooting this, but I'm pretty sure everything is doable, provided of course that I can get a few thousand dollars, which I'm pretty sure I can do. la la la. -----signature----- "It's all the same fraking day, man." - Janis Joplin http://boards.theforce.net/your_jedi_council_community/b10008/29050206/p1/?0
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Excellence Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 6/13/06 12:43am Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	When you said other "normals" above, Rebel Scum, did you perchance mean "cliche?" -----signature----- The Brits gave the world Doctor Who We owe them
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Master-FatBurt Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 6/13/06 3:53am Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	I'm not overly concerned about the originality of things, as Excellence says no story is truely original these days but I do want to avoid the obvious cliches. e.g. long lost/orphaned child bringing down evil parent The bad guy kills good lover in fit of pique The bad guys assistant get touch of conscious and turns coat/get killed/commits suicide in failed attempt to prevent bad guy winning etc... i have no issue using some but it's how their used and whether I'm actually able to put them into an "orignal" contect and setting. -----signature----- rules are meant to be broken All Bluebirds are Blue COME ON BARRA!!
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-RebelScum- Registered: Feb '04	Date Posted: 6/13/06 12:20pm Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	Excellence posted: When you said other "normals" above, Rebel Scum, did you perchance mean "cliche?" I just meant it in the sense of being real names. -The Scummy- -----signature----- Fantasy Keeps Me Sane.
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sidious618 Registered: Apr '03	Date Posted: 6/13/06 2:06pm Subject: RE: The Writers' Guild
	I'm not sure how this works but I have apiece that I'd love some feedback on. -----signature----- But in purple, I'm stunning!- Londo Mollari, Babylon 5
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