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

The it's a loooooong story thread: Support group for epic fan fic writers - poll 6/14 (red)

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by spiritgurl, Aug 11, 2004.

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  1. TheBothanJedi

    TheBothanJedi Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    May 16, 2004
    dianethx asked:
    So, since we're all here, do you ever feel guilty that you haven't posted often or soon enough?


    Not really. I plan to get a good portion of my story done before posting it. This way I can post regularly for my readers and struggle with writers block at the same time. :D

    ophelia asked:
    How do you guys force/bribe/mind trick yourselves into sitting down to an epic length fic when you really don't feel like it?


    God... This is a difficult question... I guess the thing that finaly convinces me to sit down and write is the fact that I want to get this story done. Don't get me wrong, I love my story and would never rush to finish it, but the sooner I finish it the sooner I can work on other epic plot bunnies like my "The War of the Ancients" Stargate plot bunny.

    solojones asked:
    How long have you been writing your current long story? How many words is it currently? How much left to go? How many words/posts do you write a week? Do you stay ahead a few posts? What's your favourite thing to do when you get frustrated/go insane from long fic stress?


    Lets see... If you start from when the idea first popped into my head then I've been 'working on' "Paladin Squadron" for over a year now. Most of that time involved writing notes or planning the plot or creating the characters. Only maybe 3 months of that time was spent on writing the story. Right now I have a very low Word count since I am only 3 chapters in. I'd guess 5,000 words max right now. God only knows how much longer this story will be. I have yet to post any of my story. I plan to get about half way done and then start posting. By that point I can finish my story at the same time I am regularly posting additional parts.(this will keep my readers happy :D) When I start to go crazy from fic induced stress I tend to play some video games. Nothing like mindless entertainment to calm an overworked mind. :D
     
  2. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    ::gnaws on straps of straightjacket:: All right, my fic is officially driving me insane. I wrote chapter 9, re-read it, decided I didn't like 2/3 of it and am now writing it again.

    I want to get a decent backlog of material so I can post uninterrupted through my student teaching semester, but so far this is not happening. I also need to get everything else done that I want done before January, because my life will be on hold until then.

    Of course, as much as my fic is driving me bananas, if I don't get to work on it at all for 4 months I'll cry. So I'm toying with the idea of setting a daily/weekly time/wordcount goal and trying to budget that into the life that I don't have.

    I'd love to write at least an hour a day, but I'm not sure I even write that much now.

    I am quite concerned that, almost 2/3 of the way through my epic fic that's been going so well is going to go to hell.

    Also, I'm doomed.

    But that was from before.

    ::goes back to gnawing straightjacket::
     
  3. Arin_Atona

    Arin_Atona Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2004
    I know how you feel. I had hoped to finish my fic before classes started back up, but that didn't happen. Now between work, school, and my senior project... finding time to work on my fic is going to be difficult.
     
  4. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    Now that I have gone mad, I will now begin replacing words in random Star Wars lines with the phrase, "fanfic novel." 8-}

    ANAKIN: Go back? Qui-Gon said to keep writing this fanfic novel, and that's what I'm gonna do!

    YODA: Your fanfic novel on the landing platform . . . terrible.

    BEN: That's no moon. It's a fanfic novel.
    HAN: It's too big to be a fanfic novel!

    AUNT BERU: Luke, tell Uncle that if he gets a translator, to make sure it writes fanfic novels.

    WEDGE: Look at the size of that thing! (Obviously spoken about a fanfic novel.)

    ANAKIN: I . . . I wrote it. I wrote it all. It's done, every single word of it . . . Not just the conflict establishment, the plot complications and the climax, but the introduction and the denoument too. It's a fanfic novel, and I wrote it like a fanfic novel . . . I hate it! :_|

    BEN: I haven't quit writing this fanfic novel since . . . oh, before you were born.

    OBI-WAN: You were right about one thing, Master. The fanfic novel was short. (No it wasn't.)

    YODA: Films lead to plot bunnies, plot bunnies lead to fanfic novels, fanfic novels lead to suffering!!! :eek:

    YODA: Once you start writing a fanfic novel, forever will it dominate your destiny!

    THREEPIO: In his belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you slowly write a fanfic novel over a thousand years.

    OBI-WAN: Your fanfic novel is very impressive. You must be very proud.

    OBI-WAN: Why do I sense that we've started another pathetic fanfic novel?


    . . . back to writing chapter 9 . . . again. :(
     
  5. Darth_Elu

    Darth_Elu Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Jan 2, 2003
    Films lead to plot bunnies, plot bunnies lead to fanfic novels, fanfic novels lead to suffering!!!

    Yeah, carpal tunnel.(sp.?) :(
     
  6. Arin_Atona

    Arin_Atona Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2004
    [face_laugh] LOL Ophelia!

    I'll add a few to the list.

    OBI-WAN: You don't want me to beta-read your fanfic novel. You want to go home and rethink your plot.

    OBI-WAN: This fanfic novel is your life.

    MACE: This fanfic novel's over.

    DOOKU: You have written dramatically, worthy of archival in the fanfic archives.

    VADER: I see you have written a new fanfic novel. Your skills are complete.

    VADER: You don't know the power of the Dark Side. I must complete my fanfic novel.

    LANDO: I've just made a deal that will keep fanfic authors out of here forever.

    VADER: Tear this ship apart until you've found that fanfic novel.

    HAN: Look, Jabba, I was just about make my next post.

    HAN: What an interesting fanfic novel you've discovered.

    HAN: It's over commander. The fanfic novel's finished and the author is dancing naked in the woods.

    VADER: If you will not read my fanfic novel, then perhps she will.

    PALPY: I see you becoming the greatest of all fanfic authors.

    YODA: Begun this fanfic novel has.

    LANDO: Having trouble with your word processor?

    LUKE: Threepio, tell them that if they don't read your fanfic novel, you will become angry and use your magic.

    YODA: Mudhole? My fanfic novel thread this is.

    This one is especially for ophelia.
    ANAKIN: I think she is a he... and I think he is a fanfic author.
     
  7. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    [face_laugh] Some of those would make pretty good sig quotes . . . "You don't understand the power of the Dork Side. I must complete my fanfic novel . . ."

    This one is especially for ophelia.
    ANAKIN: I think she is a he... and I think he is a fanfic author.


    ::writes "pwned" on a post-it note, slaps it on forehead:: That's pretty good, actually. :p

    Yet more things I wrote lately that are not my fanfic novel:

    LUKE: Why would an EU author want Darth Bane to travel through time and marry Mon Mothma?
    BEN: They didn't, but we are meant to think they did. These Dark Horse Comics references . . . too obsessive for an EU author. Only fanfic authors are so "precise."

    GREEDO: Jabba's through with you. He has no time for authors who abandon their fanfic novels at the first sign of a social life.

    YODA: How get you so well-reviewed, writing fanfic of this kind?

    YODA: You are illiterate!
    BEN'S VOICE: So was I, if you'll remember.
    YODA: He can't spell. Yes, too bad a speller to archive his fanfic novel . . .

    VADER: He will post feedback on our fanfic novel or die, my master.

    HAN: Yeah, that's what I thought. Plot bunnies. Chewie, check the rest of the hard-drive, make sure there aren't any more attached . . . diverting energy from the fanfic novel.

    PADMÉ: You're making fun of my fanfic novel!

    COUNT DOOKU: That's brave of you, boy - but foolish. I would have thought you'd have posted on your fanfic novel.
    ANAKIN: I am a slow writer.

    ANAKIN: You love my fanfic novel?! I thought we decided not to be fanfic authors. That we would be forced to live attached to our computers; that it would destroy our lives . . .

    HAN: No fanfic novel is worth this . . .
     
  8. Arin_Atona

    Arin_Atona Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2004
    For whatever reason... Yoda's lines are the funniest. Especially when you think about his voice making those statements.

    You don't understand the power of the Dork Side

    Ah yes... that one letter makes a huge improvement.

    ::writes "pwned" on a post-it note, slaps it on forehead::

    LOL
     
  9. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    Done, draft 3 of chapter 9, scene 3. I'll start on draft 4 tomorrow.

    Moooooom, this scene is eeevil! Make it stop! :_|
     
  10. Queengodess

    Queengodess Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 18, 2000
    Greetings!

    My name is Kee, and I'm the author of Negotiations with Destiny.

    Thought I'd drop by because my story IS long. Way too long. I've been writing it for over three years... In the beginning I posted regularly, like two or three times a week. Last time I posted was four months ago. Before that there were six months between posts. My readers are amazingly loyal and patient (I would have given up on my fic a long time ago if I was in their position).

    As to the general question...

    What is your epic story about? And please, only go into enough detail to get the point across.

    Just before the battle of Endor the Death Star's shield malfunctions. In panic, Palpy proposes peace negotiations with the Rebels, who - in spite of suspecting something murky - cannot refuse. This causes a disturbance in the Force and whooops! several Jedi are returned back to life (and, I want to point this out, as far as I know of, I was the first one to use that twist, so, well, even if I'm wrong about that - which is quite probable - I didn't copy it...) and Vader is suddenly healed. Jedi, Rebels and Imps meet at the remote world of Jord, negotiate and then Xizor (having somehow survived the destruction of his skyhook) attacks and in the end Anakin has to give himself up to the Falleen, and by that act returning to the Light Side, in order to save Luke and Leia. Palpy's evil plan is revelaed (the negotiations was only a scam to buy time, and the Death Star is fully functional) and the Jedi go to save Anakin. Now they've recruited the Noghri for their attack on the Death Star (which they will follow through with in spite of knowing that Palpy is waiting for them...!) and here we are now...

    So, since we're all here, do you ever feel guilty that you haven't posted often or soon enough?
    NO KIDDING! Writing this fic is like having a constant bad consciense. I dream about it at times.

    How do you guys force/bribe/mind trick yourselves into sitting down to an epic length fic when you really don't feel like it?
    Eh. I don't. Which is probably why I don't post more often. If the readers started to leave, I would probably try to get up to speed, but since they don't it's very easy to think that "well, if they've been prepared to wait this long, they'll be prepared to wait a week longer".

    How long have you been writing your current long story? How many words is it currently? How much left to go? How many words/posts do you write a week? Do you stay ahead a few posts? What's your favourite thing to do when you get frustrated/go insane from long fic stress?
    Well, I think I've answered a few of these. I've written my fic for about three and a half year, it's somwhere between 600 and 1000 pages in word (I have no idea about the word count). I don't stay ahead. *hollow laugh* And when I go insane - happens daily - I try to think of something else. It doesn't work, so I run to my online friends and rant.

    Do you make your story also available in Word for readers to download or do you not think that's necessary?
    I think that would be very good of me to do. Unfortunately, during the first year of writing NWD my computer crashed, and the document in which I'd saved my fic disappeared. I'm planning on copying all the post in one document - but I just never get around to it.

    Well, the thing is...I'm really tired of my story. It's too long. It's written over a long period of time - my English has greatly improved (and I have a beta now, something I was too arrogant to realize I really needed back when I first started writing) and my views of the characters has changed - matured, I'd say. In short, the story is very inconsistent, full of plot holes, and frankly - the beginning is crap. I still like the idea, so I'd like to one day, once it's finished, go back and re-write the whole thing. But I suspect I will never do it...

    I've only got a few posts left... No more than ten at the most. But I just can't get around to it... I want to move on. Of course I will not, however - after all, some of my readers has been following
     
  11. Mjsullivan

    Mjsullivan Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 8, 2003
    Hooray, I just posted a really small update to my story! It's not much, but at least my poor OC's wont be stuck standing in the same spot as they have for the last four or five weeks!

    Now maybe i'll be inspired to finish it off ;)
     
  12. kristeh

    kristeh Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 24, 2003
    I love those "fanfic novel" lines! Some of the funniest stuff I've seen. I really was laughing aloud while reading, and then had to try to explain to my five-year-old what was so funny!
     
  13. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    kristeh: Thank you! :D Arin_Atona raised the bar and forced me to come up with better ones.

    ****
    Almost a resource, but mostly an entertaining waste of time:

    If you are terrible at coming up with story titles (like I am) you could take refuge in this title generator from fictionalley.org. It's more functional than most such generators, since it doesn't generate titles from random words on a list created by the programmer. Those tend to spit out titles like "Indiana Jones and the Insane Duck"--not that this is a bad thing, it could even be a plot bunny--but for many of us it's not quite what we had in mind.

    Fictionalley's title generator lets you enter whichever words you think best fit your fic, and then it scrambles them up for you. Many are stupid, like "Killing and Fighting" (what the . . .?), but some aren't too bad.

    I've discovered that I *could* have named my current fic "The Lost Mountains," which isn't bad, actually, or "The Doomed World," which is okay.

    However, it's much more fun to enter moronic words that still kind of fit. This is especially cathartic if you feel like you're being strangled to death by your freaking-endless fic and want to make fun of it.

    So, here are several things I could (should?) have named "Spirit Warriors of Angharad":

    1) Horribly Wrong Guys Around Stupid People
    2) Screwing Up and Exploding
    3) That Stupid Universe
    4) Freaking Morons
    5) Navel-Gazing and Wailing
    6) Obi-Wan and Anakin's Neurotic Universe
    7) Testosterone-Poisoned Jedi on Neurotic Speeder Bikes
    8) The Kvetching Death Wish
    9) Shooting for Idiots
    10) Kvetching and Shooting (That pretty much sums up the entire novel right there)

    And my personal favorite:

    11) The Deep-Seated Psychological Problems of Mushy Dweebs

    Incidentally, if you guys feel like playing with the program, consider using adjective and noun phrases instead of single-word adjectives and nouns--I think the results are funnier.

    "Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad" will work just fine in the "adjective field, and sometimes so will "Obi-Wan and Anakin's" (because the possessive modifies the noun). Noun phrases like "deep-seated psychological problems" work just fine too. :D

    The only real problem with this program is that it generates titles according to a set format, and sooner or later you'll figure out what it's going to say before it says it. If I find a more powerful (and more useful) title generator, I'll let you know.
     
  14. Arin_Atona

    Arin_Atona Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2004
    Wait... those could be titles for nearly any fanfic!
     
  15. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    If any of them were appropriate, you should see some of the title generator titles from brysons.net for graduate papers written on our stories. One took the title "Close Quarters" and made it about love and rage. It fit!
     
  16. spiritgurl

    spiritgurl Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 2003
    I'm so pleased with how well this topic has been received. :D

    Welcome to the thread Queengoddess. :)

    question: How do you balance regular posting and writing posts for fic?

    I have to admit i have trouble with this, I like to post on the film boards when I can, but then when I do too much I wind up using up time I should be writing fic :oops: Then when I use my time to write fic or work on another aspect of the story, I feel bad (like now) because I can't post in some of the other threads I'd started or comment on other threads I'd like to be more involved with. :(

    sg

     
  17. Arin_Atona

    Arin_Atona Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2004
    How do you balance regular posting and writing posts for fic?

    Simple! I gave up trying. It still isn't balanced, but apathy rules.

    <homer>Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand</homer>
     
  18. Layren

    Layren Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2003
    I've been a horribly bad lurker to this thread. [face_blush] But with our recent move and now I'm sick lol I haven't had much of a chance to post anything even reviews :p


    My long story is completed but I've been thinking recently of tackling another.


    What is your epic story about? And please, only go into enough detail to get the point across.


    In my epic story young Qui-Gon is a knight around 25 or so years old before he took his first padawan. His best friend Kyran Josel's apprentice is kidnapped from his care starting a chain of events that leaves Qui-Gon fighting to save their friendship, even at the cost of his soul. Qui-Gon in the course of the fic is forced to go on a solo mission to retrieve a fallen Jedi and he is captured having no help to back him up. The story is all about friendship and trust and how anger and the Dark Side shouldn't divide friendships that have stood the test of time.




    How long have you been writing your current long story? How many words is it currently? How much left to go? How many words/posts do you write a week? Do you stay ahead a few posts? What's your favourite thing to do when you get frustrated/go insane from long fic stress?


    My story took an entire year to complete. It was 85,525 words upon finishing and 217 pages long. I tried to post once a week and we didn't start posting until most of the fic was done with a few holes here in there. My favorite thing to do when I get frustrated is rpg. It's wonderful to get the creative juices flowing.



    Do you make your story also available in Word for readers to download or do you not think that's necessary?



    I never really thought about doing that. Interesting idea.
     
  19. dianethx

    dianethx Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2002
    How do you balance regular posting and writing posts for fic?

    Unfortunately for my readers I don't. I much prefer reading to writing and talking to reading. So I have to force myself not to post so much on other threads when I need to write a post. Of course, when that happens, people wonder where you are.

    On the Word question Is there a way to do that? I have all my stories in Word but on my computer, not on my website (my husband hasn't gotten around to updating it for me for months so there are only a few stories on it)
     
  20. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    Well, school starts Monday, so my guess is my "social" posts are going to have to go. I'll be struggling to keep up with my story posts as it is.

    As for the Word issue . . . you'd have to upload it to the internet somewhere, perhaps in some web space your ISP gives you. You could post a link to it in your fic, and have people right-click to download.

    I've done things like that with text files before, but not with Word. I guess I'm wary of downloading Word documents because they can contain so many viruses (had one of those once), and because things formatted in one version of Word often turn out looking crazy in another version.

    When my stupid novel is done I'll probably make it available in more than one format, though.

    P.S. I'm going to pretend to be Eeyore right now.

    Just wrote 10,000 words in chapter 9. Don't like any of 'em. Out of 10,000 words, you'd think there would be at least one good one, but there's not.

    I'm going to go and eat a thistle now.


    </Eeyore>
     
  21. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    10,000 words?! If I wrote 1,000 words I'd be jumping for joy. I'm pretty sure what you've written is good if not great, Ophelia. But if you really need someone to look at any of it, let me know.

    This is the first night in over a week that I've had any time to work on my story and now I'm getting all confused about what to write. Arg.

    Incidentally, some of those Star Wars quotes posted had me literally laughing out loud.

    HAN: Yeah, that's what I thought. Plot bunnies. Chewie, check the rest of the hard-drive, make sure there aren't any more attached . . . diverting energy from the fanfic novel.

    Such vivid and horrible imagery. Is fanfic novel writing a cruel extension of GL's whole 'belly of the beast' theme in SW? :(

    ANAKIN: I think she is a he... and I think he is a fanfic author.

    You could just change that to 'I think he is a she', etc., and that might just sum up my JC Career thusfar.

    THREEPIO: In his belly, you will find a new definition of pain and suffering, as you slowly write a fanfic novel over a thousand years.

    No! Anything but that :_|

    Those cheered me up quite a bit. Thanks ;)



    -sj loves kevin spacey
     
  22. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    Eh, I didn't write 10,000 words in a day. I've been writing them over and over for more than a week now. Feh.

    I don't want to divert you from your real life, but if you had a minute, yeah, I could send this crap--I mean, section to you. It's only about 13 pages long. I just want to know if it's awful or what.

    P.S. DarthIshtar said she was surprised when she finally saw a picture of me, because she thought I'd look like Yoda--venerable and grumpy. [face_laugh]

    Apparently my writing is more Eeyore-like than I realized.

    Shouldn't be surprised. Guess it's the cloud of doom I carry around everywhere.

    ;)
     
  23. Arin_Atona

    Arin_Atona Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 10, 2004
    *handwave* You will not allow this thread to fall off page one.

    Up we go.
     
  24. solojones

    solojones Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2000
    You look like Yoda? Hmm... well, I look like a crazy assasin apparently so that's an interesting combo ;)

    I'm going to work on the next chapter of SotC here directly, Ophelia, but whatever you'd like to send me you can and I'll get to it after that.

    -sj loves kevin spacey
     
  25. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    I do not look like Yoda! :_|

    I look like this: [image=http://members.aol.com/opheliamac/killdabunny.gif]

    That's me trying to take down a vicious plot bunny, and all of its brothers and sisters, who live . . . in my head . . . and . . .hm. Maybe I'd better rethink this . . .

    P.S.--Gotcha, sj. I'm glad to see your priorities are in the right place. Mine aren't--I've been fooling around with my stupid digital camera.

    Back to work . . . ::grumble, grumble, grumble:: . . .
     
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