Index The DownTime Pilot Index 3.0 - Feb/Mar Featured Fics (2/2), Rookie Challenge (2/21)

Do you enjoy reading scenes with dogfights?

To be honest...dogfight scenes are probably not my favorite. They are absolutely needed, but I find many times that they are not easy to read. The first three X-wing books (not trying to bash any authors) had dogfight scenes that were hard to visualize. If I can't visualize it, I can't follow it. I did find Aaron Allston's dogfight and action scenes easy to follow.

Again these scenes are necessary but without charaterization and plot advancement, they are pointless.

Have you written dogfight scenes in your fics?

I've only written 3 pilot fics and only one had an action scene (which was Iella Wessari and not even a pilot). I love the pilots, but love the interaction between them more than the flight scenes.

What tips and tricks do you have for others who are looking to write those kind of action scenes?

Like any aspect of writing, the way to improve is to read-read-read stories that incorporate what you are trying to learn.

 

Jade_Pilot: I'm not sure why it is, but I also find Allston's dogfight scenes easier to follow than Stackpole's.

Though I may find dogfights fun to write, I much prefer to handle the interactions between pilots than the action scenes. That's why I limit dogfights to long-fics, where it's necessary to break up narrative and dialog with action every now and then. Short fics are almost always character exploration pieces for me, so little action with a much bigger focus on the pilots themselves.

 

Do you enjoy reading scenes with dogfights?
... Not really. I don't really object to them (unless they're bad or confusing) but I do tend to skim them just enough to get the point. There is a reason that it took me multiple reads of Wraith Squadron to realize how gruesome some of the death scenes are. (In all fairness, though. I skim all types of battle scenes in all types of books.)

Have you written dogfight scenes in your fics?
No. And I'm terrified of trying them because I don't think I could keep everything straight in my head.

What tips and tricks do you have for others who are looking to write those kind of action scenes?
(Like I said, haven't written 'em, but I can answer based on what appeals to me as a reader.) Don't get too technical! All the specs of the fighters and so forth are the type of thing where, if people care, they probably already know, and if they don't, it'll just bore them. Keep the action moving and don't explore thoughts in too much depth because it'll start to seem unrealistic, as dogfights move rather quickly (or so I hear).

 

Those are my favorite sort of pilot fics!

 

Yep, I agree. When you're dealing something short, character trumps action. They're great reads.


Speaking of great reads, I read "We Happy Few" a couple days ago and really enjoyed it! Definitely a worthy selection. I plan on getting to the Ace Squadron story sometime this week.

 

Yay! A new Downtime Index is up and running! I've missed the pilot activity on these boards. I guess I'll introduce myself.

Who are you? alhana_antilles

Where do you hail from? New England

Who's your favorite pilot? Wedge or Tycho. Can't choose.

Squadron? Rogue

How about your favorite starfighter? x-wing

Your favorite pilot-themed profic book? Starfighters of Adumar (sp?)

Your favorite pilot fanfic? ???

Have a pilot fic you want to promote? No. I'm a reader, not a writer.

 

Hi Lane. *waves*

# Do you enjoy reading scenes with dogfights?
No. I skim them.

# Have you written dogfight scenes in your fics?
Maybe? I tend to avoid them like the plague. When I do write them, they bear an uncanny resemblance to the old X-wing PC game. Some people can write excellent action sequences. I am not one of them.

# What tips and tricks do you have for others who are looking to write those kind of action scenes?
See answer above.

 

Ri!!!!!!!! Long time no see. How are you?

 

alhana_antilles - Welcome to the (third incarnation of) the DT Index! We're all thrilled to have a gathering place for pilot fans again. Glad you've joined in on the fun

Out of curiosity are you the one that runs the Flyboys community over at FFN? If so, thanks for indexing a few of my fics over there

'Ri - You found us! *tacklehug* So very happy to see you here

So hey everyone, InyriForge is the author of this month's featured longfic, Detour. If you haven't checked out that fic yet, please do so! It features one of the best ensemble casts I've ever seen in fanfiction over just about every fandom I'm into. Also, check out the other fics by Inyri that are in the index. She's a supremely talented writer that's written some of my all time favorite pilot fics

And as a reminder, also check out the featured short-fic of the month, We Happy Few by Frodogenic1. Also keep in mind that there's still time to submit an entry for this month's Ghost Stories Challenge! Submissions are due on the 25th, so you've got about a week left.

 

Thanks! Yeah, that's me running Flyboys. You're a good writer, so there's no way I could not add your fics. I don't get to add much these days with so much other things going on, but I add to it when I can.

 

Hello and welcome, alhana_antilles! (Isn't SoA basically the best thing ever? I love it so very much.)

RI! *also tacklehug*


Oh, I read We Happy Few a while back (actually, as a consultation about making it the featured short-fic) and it was absolutely wonderful. My compliments to Frodogenic1.

 

Welcome alhana!


I am so excited about AA's new Wraith book. I know it will be a while before it's published, but it got me motivated to re-read the X-Wing books. Allston is one of my fav SW writers and I love the Wraiths.

I'm really looking forward to reading everyone's Ghost Story challenge. Great idea thread moderistas!

 

Hello everyone!

Who are you? frodogenic

Where do you hail from? North Carolina. At the moment, anyway...

Who's your favorite pilot? Wedge, though I had fun playing with Soontir Fel and Tycho recently.

Squadron? Rogue

How about your favorite starfighter? OT devotee though I am, those N-1s are just so slick...

Your favorite pilot-themed profic book? Haven't read them recently enough to say. I seem to recall a certain fondness for a few of the Wraith books, though, years and years ago...

Your favorite pilot fanfic? New to it!

Have a pilot fic you want to promote? See previous answer...

Thanks for featuring We Happy Few this month. Glad so many of you enjoyed it; of my own work it's my favorite short piece, so it's especially nice to see it get some extra love.

That's actually the only strict pilot fic I've written, but I have written dogfights before as part of longer fics. Actually I just finished writing a fair number of those scenes...I suppose I tend to alternate between external description, character details, and dialogue, not a whole lot of technical detail except as embellishment. Strong verbs seem most important. It doesn't strike me as being much different from trying to write other action scenes. Lightsaber duels, for example, are similarly difficult for me to write, but the same techniques seem to work for both. Sentence structure can go a long way to convey excitement. Here's a sample of one of mine...

?Watch your tail, Black Four!? Klivian sang over the com. Tycho twisted his mouth into what he thought was a grin, though an objective observer would probably have called it a ravenous snarl.

?I see him, Red Four!? He completed his answer by somersaulting his fighter sideways and dipping into a tight loop that brought him back around to the enemy?s tail, leading with a spray of fire from his laser cannons. The hapless TIE burst into a fireblossom. Someone whistled his appreciation.

?Not half bad, Black Four,? Klivian allowed. His nimble X-wing rocketed past, drawing off the forward fire of the Destroyer they?d been harassing. Down through the brief gap in the defenses shot Red Five, Wes Janson, with Red Six (Jek Porkins) and Red Nine (Zev Senesca) hot behind him. The three fanned out, blazing so low to the Destroyer?s hull they could have scraped off paint, and then splintered after their various targets ? Janson and Senesca bored in on the bridge shield generator from converging angles and blew it apart, opening the way for Porkins to swat the bridge out of existence with a proton torpedo. The decapitated Destroyer started a long tumble out of formation, which ended a few minutes later as the great ship slammed into the Death Star?s southern hemisphere. The fusion reactor in her engines exploded, turning the Destroyer into a gigantic thermal detonator that painted a great scorched swath over the battle station?s surface.

?That got him!? Red Five crowed.

?Nice shot, Six,? Colonel Fel?s voice crackled. The squadron sped back from its scattered positions and reformed into a tight attack group.

?Way to nail her, boys,? Wedge Antilles said. ?Hang tight and switch to command channel ? the brass have a memo coming.?

?It better be about my raise,? Senesca said. ?Cause I am way overdue ? ?

?You wouldn?t know a paycheck if it shot off your stabilizers, Nine, and if you don?t switch the channel now you?re gonna be paying me.?

 

alhana - Aw thank you! Saw that you added a bunch more stuff over the weekend to that index

J_P - I will not lie. When I read about the new Wraith book I did a few things. The first was stare at my computer in shock for a few moments. The second was to let out a rather loud wail of pure, unadulterated joy. The third was to burst out of my desk chair and do Numfar's Dance of Joy.

And I'm not kidding about the whole Dance of Joy thing.

frodogenic - Welcome to the index! You definitely seem to have a knack for writing pilots and dogfights.

I'm sure I've mentioned this elsewhere in the thread, but I absolutely adored We Happy Few. One of my favorite short fics

 

Welcome frodogenic!

OMYGOSH! I am not kidding when I say I am wiping tears from my face! That is the funniest thing I've seen in a very long time. Perhaps we should make it our Official Downtime Pilot Dance.

*goes to get more Kleenix*

JP

 

Thanks for the welcomes everyone. I'm just glad to see this place up and running here again.

You're quite welcome. I was going to add a few more fics to the index (noticed more people from the Downtime forums posting their stuff there), but didn't want to completely bombard people's e-mail accounts.

And welcome frodogenic- love the name btw.

 

Every word of that was true. Dancing and hollering commenced, neighboring apartments be damned!

Numfar's Dance of Joy being the official DT Dance? I am ALL for that!

REMINDER! - Time is just about up for the Ghost Stories Challenge! You've got until the 25th to get an entry in.

 

?Who are you?
Katana Sundancer, reporting for duty! lol. Most call me Kat - or Kitten. I love writing fan fiction, but I don't have any pilot ones to post - shame on me! I did have one started that included Iella as the daughter of the Emperor but my computer ate it a long time ago .


?Where do you hail from?
Sunny Queensland, Australia!


?Who's your favorite pilot? WEDGE! Absolutely and unequivocally. Although I love Tycho as well, and Corran's a close third.


?Squadron? Ooh. That's a tough one. Rogue and Wraith are awesome. I love the idea of the Wild Knights from NJO - a complete squadron of Jedi? Hell yeah! But Wedge is still better!
I have my OC squadron in construction - Top Dog Squadron! But they keep getting called Mongrel Squadron (mixed bag of fighters). I think they're kinda awesome...


?How about your favorite starfighter? X-Wing, all the way. Plus my own Ugly design - the AX-Wing!


?Your favorite pilot-themed profic book? I'd have to say... Starfighters of Adumar, cos Wedge gets his girl!

 

Occasionally discussion topics are going to venture into the nuts and bolts of writing. This is one of those topics

Discussion Topic #6: Point of View

This time around we're covering POV. As always, here's a few guiding questions. Feel free to answer none, some, or all of them. In addition, you are more than welcome to venture outside of these questions!

What POV style (Third-person omni, third-person limited, first person etc) do you prefer to use?

Have you ever ventured outside of that style?

What is the hardest POV for you to write in?

Do you enjoy reading fics and novels in first-person? Tolerate? Dislike?

Have at it!

 

Katana - Welcome to the DT Index

My goodness, an Aussie native? I've always wanted to travel out into your neck of the words. I'm trapped in decidedly Rainy Seattle, USA.

If you ever write any pilot-themed fic, please feel free to advertise it here! We'll be sure to get it indexed for you.

 

Not just Aussie native - I've lived in the same town since I was born! Hell, the same house, even!

Um, dogfighting? I don't mind reading it, although a friend of mine stated rather adamantly that she prefers Stackpole's fights to Allston's. "Allston is like 'He flew here. He shot them. He blew up.'" Lol. Not the way I read it, but...

Write dogfighting? Nope. The closest I've ever gotten is having snubfighters fly over the remnants of a dogfight. I just don't think I could do it justice.

POV, I usually use third-person restricted. But I have used first-person once for a competition short story. It can be difficult to get a handle on - although I made it more difficult for myself by using present tense as well. But it did okay. And I'll read anything, as long as it's well done!

 

Yeah, I'm in the Allston camp as far as dogfighting goes. Stackpole's action scenes always felt a bit cluttered and hard to follow to me. Allston manages to convey the same action and intensity without burying you in technical details.

Might as well answer the discussion questions myself

Preferred POV style? - I usually write from third-person limited. For me it's less chaotic than TP-Omniscient and flows better (again, this is just me talking) than first person

Ventured away from your preferred style? - A couple weeks ago I wrote a Winter/Tycho fic told in first-person from Winter's perspective. It was really challenging, but very rewarding. I'd actually suggest venturing into uncomfortable POV territories as an exercise for fic writers.

Hardest POV to write in - It depends on the character to be honest. For many characters it's tough for me to write them in first-person. There are, however, some that are actually easier for me to write in FP.

Thoughts on first person in fanfic/profic - If it's well written, I will gladly read it. Some of my all-time favorite fics have been told in first-person.

 

I just about always write in 3rd person limited. It's helpful to keep things limited - much less chaotic that way.

I can't recall venturing out of 3rd person limited, but I'm sure that I probably have at some point.


The hardest for me would be 1st person, I think. You really have to be in the character's head and see things from their perspective, and I like to look at things from the big picture angle.


I don't mind reading 1st person. I, Jedi is a really good novel that works for me because of the 1st person perspective. I prefer 3rd/limited, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

 

Welcome Kat!

I usually write from third person limited. It's also my fav to read. I've done a little first person (Diary Challenge) but like the richness of third limited best.

 

Preferred POV style? - I am a huge fan of 3pl. It's mostly what I write in.

Ventured away from your preferred style? - "Hell Hath No Fury (or How to Succeed on the Dark Side Without Really Trying)" was one of the hardest vignettes I've ever done. First of all, it was 15 pages long. Secondly, it would have made no sense unless it was done from first person because it's Stacey, stuck in an X-wing for a long trip to Endor and you can't exactly do that from second- or third-person points of view. I write Valley Girl dialogue very well, but writing interior monologue was tough as nails.

Hardest POV to write in - Definitely first person.

Thoughts on first person in fanfic/profic - I think that a third-person POV is generally more effective unless there's a specific amount of information that the reader can't be privy to.