|
Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Oct 17, 2013 22:21:59 GMT -8
Hey-o! Thanks for the reply, DeeK.
|
|
|
Post by ∆§Indea§∆ on Oct 18, 2013 4:32:48 GMT -8
@dk- That poem was wondrous, you got dem mad poet skillz.
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Oct 18, 2013 21:00:58 GMT -8
Gonna try to brainstorm some story ideas tomorrow in between loads of laundry and errands.
|
|
DKender
Only One Skeleton has the Power to Control both Life and Death, Light and Dark, Words and Blank Space, Our Humble Lives Continue Only by the Grace and Magnanimity of This Skeleton
Nay, let us walk from fire unto firey skeleton ...
Posts: 9,204
Gender: Unknown Skeleton
|
Post by DKender on Oct 18, 2013 21:12:58 GMT -8
I have an idea for you
Mild mannered So-and-So just wanted to do laundry and other errands. Instead, he encountered THE MACABRE: his washing machine had been touched by the shadow of Elder God Cl'rhggth and was now a portal to the screaming plains of Y'lreleh'grrd. After being pulled into the horrifying dimension, So-and-So must struggle to return home before his clothes become mildewy!!!
Oh, the horror!
|
|
|
Post by ∆§Indea§∆ on Oct 18, 2013 23:39:45 GMT -8
Then worst of all, half way through you remember that you left a wad of tissues in the pocket of your favourite pants!!
|
|
|
Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Oct 19, 2013 5:33:30 GMT -8
Coated in a thin veneer of cottony unraveled tissues, the Hrugnaughts of Dassadh laugh at you from their shimmering maws.
Edit- I had an idea or two. I shall sit on them so you can be surprised.
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Oct 21, 2013 10:17:26 GMT -8
Brainstorms...
Fantasy or sci-fi setting? Seems like a lot of work to develop one enough that you can write about it well.
Best to set it in a location I am intimately familiar with: Western Washington State, San Francisco Bay Area, Kansas City Area...
Well, that seems fucking boring.
Fantastic or Bizarre locations? Same problem as fantasy/sci-fi. I could use real weird stuff, but then I need to learn enough about the neighboring/containing regions and cultures to write the setting up. This was inspired by Dragon's Breath Cave and the kingfish which migrates miles and miles up a river every year to swim in a circle for a while before returning to the sea (I'm sure Dagon is involved somehow).
Had a very loose idea for a Cthulhu Mythos detective story that crosses all of the places I know well. Since I know I can't write the cosmic horror as well as Lovecraft did and I really don't want it to come off like I was trying to emulate someone and doing it badly, ... that sentence is already too long.
So what I was hoping to do that would set the story apart was to have a new main character for each chapter and killing them or otherwise removing them from the narrative before their chapter closes. Then I would have each new chapter/character start up somewhere in the previous chapter, where they interacted with the "mystery" which stimulated their introduction to the ongoing story.
This seems like a challenge I am not up to, because I find my characters tend to be one dimensional (maybe 2D on a really good day) and all speak with the same voice. They are not distinct.
Perhaps I could write a story with no characters. Not sure how that would work.
|
|
|
Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Oct 21, 2013 11:07:02 GMT -8
Thoughts on all: Yes, which is why "urban fantasy," "magical realism," and "contemporary sci-fi" exist. Supernatural horror and more also use an IRL setting to dodge world-building while including the impossible. Twin Peaks / Blue Velvet, Bullitt / Dirty Harry / the '78 Body Snatchers take place in some of those locations and use them well. All depends on the kind of setting description you're interested in doing - or throwing down the bare minimum of. Agreed you should avoid anything you feel compelled to research, but tons of stuff uses fake locations inspired by IRL ones. "Cast a Deadly Spell" starring Fred Ward did the noir / gumshoe angle, but any Mythos story involving investigating will shake out to something like Mystery. Can't write cosmic horror? I'll get to that in a minute... Aside from your mystery hook, there is a precedent for killing the MC with each chapter in cinema: Ju-On / The Grudge - I'm particularly thinking of the second one because I haven't seen the others. Someone on NaNo forums is doing yet a different take on the same notion: nanowrimo.org/forums/literary-fiction/threads/126614 Sounds like a good hook and a way to avoid feeling like any one character has to be so cool they'd carry the whole book alone. They can stay one dimensional and speak with an identical voice because... NaNoWriMo is a first draft! nanowrimo.org/forums/reaching-50-000/threads/123889 If you think you could make those elements of writing better on the second or further drafts - and I'm positive you can - then it doesn't matter if you can't get it right the first time. I feel the exact same about my characters - maybe 15% more confident than you, but still not great - and I don't care, because I can "fix it in post." For character voices: Pick out phrases or words you use often, consider how often you hear others use those, and if it feels too Brettish, substitute it. Maybe even by using Find & Replace. Go to each character individually, think of an actor or character you found distinctive, and go through all of their dialog rewriting it slightly into the way you'd imagine that other character saying it. Tarantino / Avary are the worst for making characters all talk the same in a wholly unbelievable fashion. "However, I beseech you for both on behalf of my daughter." Uh-huh. Good grief. Nonetheless, even those cats could be good to rip off for a character voice. Think of some oddballs from Pulp Fiction - Esmerelda Villalobos seems a good one to me. Imagine how they'd say the lines. Might sometimes be the same, might sometimes be different. For cosmic horror: I'm not sure what the problem is. Doesn't that usually amount to throwing a thesaurus at the wall? I remember you having fun with thesauri close to thirty years ago. If it's coming up with the creatures or situations, they're really quite formulaic. Lovecraft may have invented the formula, but everyone is still using it. Pick some ideas you liked form individual stories and rewrite them to be integrated and stuff. Like say you like Byakhees and Reanimator. Write a story where someone uses summoned monsters to reanimate the dead. Name the monsters after you middle name backwards - "hajiles" or some such. No biggy. With your lack o' confidence, I think it's safe to say you won't get to 50,000 first try, but you may benefit from coming up with a more attainable goal and going for it. I think you should.
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Oct 21, 2013 13:25:34 GMT -8
If I think I'm going to be able two do this, I should write my last to poetry papers now so I'm not trying to tackle those at the same time as the novel thing.
|
|
|
Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Oct 21, 2013 19:27:54 GMT -8
Sounds like a plan, Stanley.
|
|
|
Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Oct 23, 2013 19:05:37 GMT -8
ANNOUNCEMENT!INCENTIVE FOR WINNING NANOWRIMO!!!!1! If you set a word count goal and achieve it, Kelly or I will draw a book cover for you! Given that places are offering to print a few copies of the book for people who make the 50,000 word count on the official site - and giving you a few months to edit & make that worth it - you can have a nice hard copy of your novel replete with a stylish cover by one of us. Whaddya think, people?
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Oct 23, 2013 19:11:07 GMT -8
Okay, I know this is national NOVEL writing month, but would it be reasonable for me to make a completely different, but still aggressively ambitious writing goal? Like, I dunno, 1000 words of poetry a day. Or something like that.
I'm just thinking the big prose number is going to overwhelm me and then I won't get more than 5000 words on the month, probably not even conclude a single short story. Mrah. I dunno. Maybe I need to tackle my school work ahead of time and try to give myself the mental space to do the full meal deal. I can't see myself doing that though. School work is one thing I've never been able to proactively... be proactive about. Or whatever.
Is there a national tackle a huge project month? NaTaAHuProMo?
|
|
|
Post by Thy Dungyeon Maestyr on Oct 23, 2013 19:25:12 GMT -8
Just set the goal and win, and we'll give you the priz. BUT, of course, you shan't qualify for any of the fabulous prizes thru the official NaNo site. Nonetheless, I encourage you to do something here for our reward, because accomplishing big things is good for your selfersteems and confidence for da future.
|
|
DKender
Only One Skeleton has the Power to Control both Life and Death, Light and Dark, Words and Blank Space, Our Humble Lives Continue Only by the Grace and Magnanimity of This Skeleton
Nay, let us walk from fire unto firey skeleton ...
Posts: 9,204
Gender: Unknown Skeleton
|
Post by DKender on Oct 23, 2013 20:07:50 GMT -8
Holy smokes, the stakes have been raised! Well, this is one helluvan incentive. Like, way better than anything NaNoWriMo officially offers.
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Maneep Pamplemousse on Oct 23, 2013 20:22:28 GMT -8
I wonder if anything I've ever written has objective artistic merit. I mean, I've probably had a few ideas here and there, but I think when I've put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, it has mostly read to me as mechanical or fauxmotional. I mean, I can easily regurgitate socially pervasive memes, images, and sememes in a way that is indistinguishable from the first thousand times you encountered it in your life. Maybe I've only tried to write about the wrong things. Immature notions of "love" or intentionally and blatantly offensive grisliness meant to offend the easily offended. Perhaps if I tried to tap my genuine emotions or to evoke the chaos and turmoil in my head it would come out more original and meaningful (if even intelligible). Though maybe those are depths better left unplumbed and I should go on emoting myself and communicating in a manner that is as expected by society, as if I were a film or TV extra with one or two lines, but no role in the story.
|
|