General Writing Thread

Princess Alice · 2012-12-03 15:01:21

Because we need one.

Continued from the other thread:

A month or two ago I had an idea about a teenage girl who goes to live with her uncle, who owns a motel out in the country. The idea was that after she moves out there she and her cousin start coming across all this paranormal stuff.
The thing is...that's not really original at all (see my avatar) and I'm not sure if I could bring anything to it that would make it worth reading. The main gimmick was that it would be presented as a blog written from the girl's point of view, and I'm not sure that's enough to carry it.
If it interests you, perhaps it could be worth writing anyway? It might not be super original, but neither is it such a specific premise that you couldn't come up with an interesting new take on it.

And I liked what I've seen of your writing before, FWIW.

That's a good idea. Even if I can't come up with something exceptionally good, I'll at least be getting some practice with writing.

With that said: is telling the story as a blog written by the main character too restrictive? I felt like it would be interesting to provide it through the character's perspective, and like most bloggers, she'd be a bit of an unreliable narrator at times. But it would also mean limiting the story to her point of view, and not stating outright anything she wouldn't know in-universe.

Tachyon · 2012-12-03 15:06:47

I don't think that's too restrictive; there's actually an entire genre based around that, epistolary fiction. By keeping it in first person and telling the story in the form of discrete blog posts, you can maintain suspense more convincingly than you could in a regular first-person story.

See for example Dracula (although that alternates between documents by multiple characters).

And I actually think a limited perspective is usually better than an omniscient narrator, because you're less likely to get impatient with a person who isn't purposefully withholding information from you.

Odradek · 2012-12-03 15:13:54

I remember a blogger I followed a while ago tried to do a story over a fake twitter account, but he gave up early on.

Princess Alice · 2012-12-03 15:17:42

I played with the idea of telling a story over Twitter at some point, but all that came of it was this Trash Heap post:

I move into my new place tomorrow. How exciting!
4 days ago via web

@ParenthesesFan91: It's this big old farmhouse out east. It needs some work, but it's cool.
4 days ago via web

Well, here I am!
3 days ago via web

This place is huge. And it's full of stuff. I wonder why whoever lived here before left all their belongings.
3 days ago via Android

Something feels kinda...off...about this place. It'll probably feel better with a fresh coat of paint.
3 days ago via Android

Got through the first night in the new house. Just barely though.
2 days ago via Android

@rainbowsalesman: Something kept waking me up. Some feeling...a feeling that something isn't quite right.
2 days ago via Android

I can't sleep tonight. There's a strange feeling here...as if something is trying to warn me.
2 days ago via Android

I feel wrong. This house feels wrong. Everything feels wrong right now.
18 hours ago via Android

Wandered the house for a bit. Something just dawned on me and I want a chance to check it out.
10 hours ago via Android

The second floor seems weirdly cramped. As if there's a concealed room up there.
10 hours ago via Android

@rob_the_firefighter: I don't know. It seems like that would explain the "wrong" feeling, but...I'm not so sure.
8 hours ago via Android

I looked around. The rooms are too small to take up everything, but there doesn't seem to be a concealed room.
7 hours ago via Android

I think I'm losing it. I took an sledgehammer to the walls of every upstairs room. No hidden rooms. So why the fuck is this place so small?
4 hours ago via Android

This place. It doesn't make sense. The main entrance and the door in the kitchen appear to be on the same side of the house...
2 hours ago via Android

...but stepping through the main door takes you to the front yard, and stepping through the kitchen door takes you out the back.
2 hours ago via Android

Heading into the basement now. Perhaps I can find some sanity there.
44 minutes ago via Android

I don't get it
23 minutes ago via ???

This place doesn't make sense
13 minutes ago via ???

I'm not sure where I am now...
5 minutes ago via ???

...but it seems like it shouldn't exist.
5 minutes ago via ???

...like it shouldn't be able to exist.
5 minutes ago via ???

Where am I?
2 minutes ago via ???

Is this even reality anymore? Am I real? Is this house real? Is anything real?
2 mintues ago via ???

I don't understand
a few seconds ago via ???

Princess Alice · 2012-12-03 15:19:14

...I don't know why I copy-pasted that, it wasn't really relevant.

Anyway, I had come up with an in-universe reason for the blog format. Basically, after her parents separated, the main character and her mother went to live with her uncle and cousin, who run a motel in the middle of nowhere. Because she's so bored over the summer, she decided to start keeping a blog of her shenanigans.

Tachyon · 2012-12-03 15:22:43

A guy in my creative writing class brought in a narrative poem he'd written in Twitter format. I don't know if he actually posted it online or if he just imitated the style.

It's not that unusual an idea. Online fiction surely counts as an entire subgenre unto itself; in addition to blog stories, quite a lot of fictional characters have pages on social networking sites, and vlog series, creepypasta, online roleplaying and alternate reality games all have elements of the story-in-blog-format concept.

Princess Alice · 2012-12-03 15:31:10

Something just occurred to me.

In normal Twitter format, the most recent tweet ends up on the top and the oldest tweet at the bottom.

That seems like something you could play with. Tell a story in tweets in such a way that you start with the (chronolgical) end and more what led to that point is revealed as you scroll down and read further.

Hexartes · 2012-12-03 21:03:29

Central Avenue said:
Something just occurred to me.
In normal Twitter format, the most recent tweet ends up on the top and the oldest tweet at the bottom.
That seems like something you could play with. Tell a story in tweets in such a way that you start with the (chronolgical) end and more what led to that point is revealed as you scroll down and read further.

That's actually a really interesting idea. I hope you develop this further.

Princess Alice · 2012-12-04 07:43:17

I think I'm doing that thing again where I let myself get bogged down in little details of worldbuilding instead of actually putting together the story.

I decided my protagonists live in a farmhouse that looks somewhat like this from the outside, but now I'm wondering what a vaguely realistic floorplan for a house like that would look like.

Tre · 2012-12-04 10:33:25

Hey guys. I'm taking another Stuck break; I'll work on it again when the time's right. Probably sometime before February.

But remember when I mentioned that I wanted Stuck to be an animated series? I think I'm gonna do that in serial form, and maybe comics if I get to a point where my drawring doesn't suck (or I can find a good arteest).

So far it's named Tales from Greyson City, and I'm not going to make the whole thing focused on the cast of Stuck because I want to explore new stories. There might be a few installments involving Tre and the Crew though, if only cuz I don't want to give them up entirely.

I think the first episode'll revolve around that idea Yarr helped me out with involving the seedy game show host who plays on the protagonists' fears. In addition, from the outset I'm starting with two new characters: Alex Landis (call her Landis) and Lorne MacGill (call him Lorne), who are kind of like the middle ground between Mulder/Scully and Tre/Nora: inseparable partners in crime with one being the skeptic (Lorne) and one being the believer (Landis). Contrary to those two pairs, though, I don't think Landy and Lorne'll get together, for fear of repeating myself.

I came up with two episode ideas for them. With their stories, I wanted to get a feel not unlike that of, say, Regular Show or Gravity Falls, where everything weird is treated as a normal occurrence.

Landis & Lorne and The Killer Bet: Landy drags Lorne into being her partner on a new game show named, fittingly enough, The Killer Bet, but the two of them end up getting further into the game than they bargained for-- and they might not make it out aliiiiiiive.
Landis & Lorne In Love?: When Lorne decides to take the plunge in asking out the girl that always hangs out in the window at Bean There Done That, his friend Bart introduces him to Cupid, who gives Lorne his patented "Arrow Brand Love Potion". But when Lorne puts it in a latte at BTDT, everything goes awry when Landy drinks it.

Princess Alice · 2012-12-16 21:57:44

So, for Central Avenue's Twelve Days of Christmas...

Would it be bad to do two days in a row dedicated to picking apart Christmas song lyrics? Because I have another post like that mostly written and not much else...

I should have written Day 3 in advance since I knew I'd be busy all day but that would require a level of sensibility that I continue to lack

Justice4243 · 2012-12-16 22:02:58

DO IT!

Princess Alice · 2012-12-16 22:04:25

...

am i letting myself sweat the small stuff again

Unknown · 2012-12-16 22:07:52

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Justice4243 · 2012-12-16 22:14:17

^^ I think they key is just to sort of do this stuff and put it out there and hope at least one person is entertained.

As bizarre as it is that a sprite edit I did in 15 minutes has had more positive response than much of my other stuff combined, I'm happy that people are entertained.

I'm sure people will like your stuff, this fora and your tubmlr followers are full of people who like you and find you funny after-all, so you're bound to get a few hits. I don't know about you, but even a couple are often enough tp spur me on.

Princess Alice · 2012-12-26 05:24:48

You know, I have long wanted to write a musical about a pair of struggling magicians trying to make it big. The show would be a combination of Broadway-style theater and stage magic.

The problem is, I have no talent for music or stage magic, so I would have to collaborate with people who did...

Sredni Vashtar · 2012-12-27 03:30:16

So, it has been my imperative over the last few weeks to work on something creative everyday, no matter what the circumstances. This has resulted in a significant uptick in progress with regards to my story; I have written more in the past few days than I often had in months.

If anyone's interested, I could tell you about the story in question. After all, I do love to ramble...

Obā-san · 2012-12-27 03:32:56

hit me bro

Sredni Vashtar · 2012-12-27 04:16:27

Well...

A badly-injured man in a fugue state is discovered—lying in an alley, clutching a very old book—by a spoiled medical prodigy. After some bizarre events make clear that the man and the book are, well, a bit more than a man and a book, she hires a former swindler to help her transport the bewildered fellow to somewhere safer. In order to do so, they must cross a vast wilderness wherein reality is literally coming apart at the seams.

Meanwhile:

- a group of assassins are hired by a psychotic crime lord to kill a magician, only to find that they have been beaten to the punch;

- a group of Pinkerton men (of a sort) attempt to intercept a dangerous criminal while dealing with a possible mole, an increasingly unstable operative, and all manner of incompetence;

- and the aforementioned prodigy's long-suffering boarding school roommate decides to follow her friend in an attempt to talk some sense into her.

All hell breaks lose.

Salix Babylonika · 2012-12-27 04:18:01

how close to done is this book cuz I wanna like score a soundtrack to this or something

Sredni Vashtar · 2012-12-27 04:24:10

It will be a while. I'm working at a much a faster pace than usual, but this isn't going to be a short one...

And in case you're wondering, when I mentioned writing a weird story without human characters, this is the one.

Princess Alice · 2012-12-29 11:13:45

I want to start a blog where I write humorous reviews of bad children's books.

So I have to ask: How can one be snarky in a good way? A kind of snark that's entertaining instead of just obnoxious?

Justice4243 · 2012-12-29 14:18:14

I think this person did a good job:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=irule

Megan, age 4	First of all, I don't even know what this is. If it's supposed to be a dog, then it's the shittiest dog I've ever seen. F
Kyle, age 8	You spelled America wrong asshole. Also, I could have sworn America's colors were red, white and blue. There's no yellow anywhere, traitor.F
Lisa, age 6 Obviously, you want to get your own writing style, but I think the idea is to sort of review things as an adult would and not give something a pass because it's made for children. E.G. getting pissed off at Dr. Seuss for making up words to fit his ridiculous rhyming schemes.	Holy shit, I almost had a seizure when I saw this one. Three words: too many colors. Also, eggs aren't supposed to have ears, dipshit.F

Justice4243 · 2012-12-29 14:18:41

That site started assimilating my post.

Justice4243 · 2012-12-29 14:21:08

Also, Neil Gaiman is very disappointed in all of you.

Unknown · 2012-12-29 15:24:05

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Unknown · 2012-12-30 10:07:13

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Sredni Vashtar · 2012-12-31 15:56:39

Justice42 said:
Also, Neil Gaiman is very disappointed in all of you.

Just did, Neil. It was awesome.

Heck, I'll PM anyone that's interested a bit of my weird nonsense...

Viani · 2013-01-01 03:02:18

ME

Salix Babylonika · 2013-01-01 03:02:39

I

Unknown · 2013-01-01 03:41:34

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Sredni Vashtar · 2013-01-01 22:38:42

Oh, cool. I'll get to that...

Hexartes · 2013-01-02 22:55:11

Seeing Forsythe's comic made me want to work on mine.

I've already hit a snag, though. I'm having trouble drawing a person breaking through a door with an axe and entering a cylindrical room. Can anyone help?

Unknown · 2013-01-02 23:00:50

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Hexartes · 2013-01-02 23:17:32

Okay, I figured out how to do it, but now I have to find a way to draw broken bits of door. Hrm. I'm going to try to work around that.

Hexartes · 2013-01-03 03:04:55

I finished making the page.

Here you go:

Hexartes · 2013-01-03 03:05:19

Another one of those times when I realized how terrible my drawing was after I scanned it.

Salix Babylonika · 2013-01-03 03:23:35

Kexruct said:
Another one of those times when I realized how terrible my drawing was after I scanned it.

if you plan on becoming an artist realize that this will happen to you literally every time you scan something, if every other artist I know is any indication.

It's like beautiful picture upload --> "OMG THIS IS SO SHITTY IM SORRY ;-;"

that said you do need to work on stuff.

Obā-san · 2013-01-03 03:24:37

It's a shame the circumstances are so....

Morbid.

Princess Alice · 2013-01-03 03:24:56

It happens with writing, too. -_-

Sometimes I have an aversion to reading my own old work, which is bad, because I need to see how much it sucks to know how to improve it.

Hexartes · 2013-01-03 03:29:13

Naney said:
It's a shame the circumstances are so....

Morbid.

Aught I know that line is terrible but every time I erase something it makes the picture look worse aaaaaaugh

Hexartes · 2013-01-09 17:41:51

Is anyone bothered by me posting my comic stuff here?

Tre · 2013-01-09 17:44:32

Oi, comics are writing, even the ones that don't have words.

So in a word, no, I am not bothered.

Hexartes · 2013-01-09 17:47:57

Okay then. Is this character design any good?

Sredni Vashtar · 2013-01-09 18:14:31

^ Decent, but your proportions are wonky.

So, I'm working Victorian flower symbolism into my story now. Because even with the Gnostic vibes, surreal imagery and blatant psychosexual overtones, I just don't have enough subtext.

Hexartes · 2013-01-09 18:16:12

Sredni Vashtar said:
^ Decent, but your proportions are wonky.

What about it is wonky?

Sredni Vashtar · 2013-01-09 18:53:29

The arm (and leg) lengths are clearly uneven, as are the shoulders, even taking into account what covers them. Furthermore, the feet (and to a lesser extent, the hands) are outsized in a way that does not befit the model.

As for things that you did right, the posture is very naturally rendered, and I really like how you drew the face. Simple, but appealing.

Hexartes · 2013-01-09 18:56:02

Sounds good.

To be fair, this was just a sketch I did in class.

Sredni Vashtar · 2013-01-09 18:59:55

I got the feeling. But still, if you can increase the calibre of your casual stuff, your serious stuff will improve just that much more.

Hexartes · 2013-01-09 19:02:26

Yeah, I know. Thanks.

One-Winged Eagle · 2013-01-09 19:05:52

Well, first I would like to know what aesthetic your comic is going for. Then I can tell you if it works or not.

That's the ultimate thing that matters, really. It has to fit into the world.

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