The Author's Corner- Writers/readers come to chat it up!

[Box_ghost]

Hey, anyone know who LeVon is? I want to know if he's still a member here. Last time I was here, he went by the name of purified_riku155. Anyone know what section he goes in now, or if he is still active?

[Jopari]

Since this is getting out of the shameless pegging for hits I believe this would go here.

I'm looking for some ideas to do an original fiction, or possibly a fan fiction of a fan fiction. I'd like someone to bounce ideas off of, and maybe even collab a bit of writing with me. I'd greatly appreciate PMs instead of responses here, because it makes it easier than digging through overlapping discussions.

Thanks.

[Every Heart]

Originally Posted by Jopari

Since this is getting out of the shameless pegging for hits I believe this would go here.

I'm looking for some ideas to do an original fiction, or possibly a fan fiction of a fan fiction. I'd like someone to bounce ideas off of, and maybe even collab a bit of writing with me. I'd greatly appreciate PMs instead of responses here, because it makes it easier than digging through overlapping discussions.

Thanks.

What exactly do you want to write about?

[Jopari]

Well, it was actually going to be a rewrite of an old fan fiction. But I've already received the help I needed. Thank you anyway.

[Lycanthrope]

I intend to come out with a brand new story; new plot, new characters, new ideas, new everything. It will be COMPLETELY unrelated to any fanfic I have ever written. Look for it to come out soon, provided I get the chance to write my ideas out on paper tonight.

[Essence of Elegy]

Hi there. I'm new to the fanfiction part of this forum, but I'm not new to fanfiction. This is my first post in this thread and since I've already started my fanfic I decided I was worthy enough to post. If you want you can check out my story. The link is in my sig.

Speech isn't omnipotent, people. This is a concept that needs to be understood, and it is for the best of the stories being told. It seems like so many people rely on speech to tell their stories that they forget all but the most basic non-verbal stimuli, to the point of simply becoming a jumble of quotes and simple, boring movements. By no means am I saying not to use speech, but a story cannot be carried on the back of one stimuli.

I'm sure some of you are saying: "But DK, speech is the only way we let out characters interact!" Well, you are wrong. Important conveyors of emotions are eyes, hands, and all around posture. A sharp glance and a chopping motion with one's hand gives as much information as a number of words. Someone that sits upright and never puts their elbows on the table has a very different persona than a character who is always hunched over and mumbling to himself, allowing food to fall into his beard and stay there. So the next time you're thinking of having your characters speak, think of different non-verbal cues that can give the reader a more detailed picture.

For example, I'll use two different styles of writing, and you tell me which one you prefer. Let's call this character... Claiment. Style one (speech and simplistic actions):

Turning to the fire, Claiment said "Why do we run like this? I miss sitting down. I miss being comfortable," and his friend said

"Claiment, don't worry about it. We need to run, it's important. We fought those thugs, and they turned out to be cops. We'll go to jail, and neither of us can afford that. Personally, I like living outside of bars".

Style two (personas and actions involved):

Running a hand across his non-shaven face, Claiment walked slowly to the edge of the light cast off by the small fire shared by his friend and Claiment himself. His tired blue eyes scanned the horizon, looking for the telltale siren and lights indicating a police car. Half-turning to his friend, Claiment hesitated before asking a question that had been poking around in his head all night. "Why do we run like this? I miss sitting down. I miss being comfortable," he demanded wistfully, recalling the life he had lived before this whole mess.

His friend turned to look into Claiment's eyes, glaring for a moment before returning his attention to the fire, thrusting the hotdog at the end of a sharpened stick into the fire again. The meat was clearly burned, but Claiment's friend made no move to remove it from the blazes. Claiment quickly stepped forward and grabbed his friend's coat collar, dragging him to his feet and holding him at eye level. When his friend managed to wriggle out of Claiment's grasp, Claiment noticed his friend's clenched fists.

"Claiment, don't worry about it," he growled. "We need to run; it's important. We fought those thugs, and they turned out to be cops," he recalled, referring to an incident that had happened a couple of nights ago. "We'll go to jail, and neither of us can afford that. Personally, I like living outside of bars," he joked, attempting to break the tension. When Claiment didn't respond, his friend turned back to the fire, and neither of them spoke for the rest of the night.

I'm going to go ahead and guess that you prefered the second one. More backstory was provided in a less cumbersome manner, and each of the characters had a distinct persona, even with several handicaps I imposed. For one, I never gave Claiment's friend a name; a nameless character is difficult to portray correctly. Secondly, I only told you that Claiment wasn't shaven. Other than that, you didn't know what the characters looked like. Thirdly, you don't really know the setting. All I gave you was a campfire, and even that wasn't described well.

There are a couple of reasons for this. One was to show that it isn't difficult to add a new dimension to your writing. The other reason was that I simply didn't want to put that much energy into an example. If you truly wish to create an intriguing story, you should add all of the missing elements that I just mentioned. Don't add too much detail, as that gets tedious and frustrating, but providing too little leaves your story bland and forgettable.

I'll step off my soapbox now.

[snowdog]

DK, awesome little rant you had going there. Could prove to be so useful in the future.

But, uh, where did it come from? Just spur-of-the-moment hawt advice?

<3

No, it wasn't really spur of the moment. I just thought I would share that with everyone.

Maybe I could post a few more tips... ;D

[Ban Mido]

Here are some tips I gave a couple people.

first tip: when writing a fanfic, break it into paragraphs. It may seem like a no brainer, but it's a problem with a lot of beginning fanfic writers here at KHI. It also helps that you start a new paragraph anytime a different character starts a dialog, That way, there's no confusion on who's saying what.

Second: Don't be affraid of detail. Details help the reader get an image of whats going on in their mind. However, don't use so much detail that it takes up to much of your time, or to much space.

Third: Sometimes ideas for it may strike you out of the blue. If one ever does, It's important to make a note for yourself. I keep all of my ideas on a word document, so there is no confusion.

fourth: I myself usually type mine up in a word document, then copy and paste each chapter into the reply box. Typing it up in the reply box itself has given me some trouble in the past.

fith: Writing it in word document or a similar program also helps with spell checking. Sometimes, you have a character's that get's marked as an incorect spelling, so you can just click add to dictionary Here. But the grammer check can be a problem, so you're gonna have to use your own judgement here.

sixth: Always reread your work. Sometimes theres stuff that spell check won't catch. Be sure to reread your work once you've spent some time away from writing. A lot of times, I see stuff that I did wrong that I didn't notice before.

seventh: The Edit button is your friend! It let's you correct any problems you may have spotted in step six.

eigth: If you are having problems trying to think up a story, try to read the fics of others for inspiration. But no plagarisim though!

ninth: Save your fic on a flash drive or some other storage device, like a disk once in a while as a back up.

Tenth: I find dialog quotes can come in pairs of twos at certain times, an opening and a closing. The opening can be used to set a mood, while you can describe the character's emotions, actions, or feelings in between the text, and use the closing qoute to have the character say the most important part or the heart of the dialog.

eleventh: To symbolize internal thought, I usually use unquoted itallicized text. Be sure to indicate that it's internal thought though.

12: If you have a big vocabulary, don't be affraid to use it. It helps to portray certain characters, like a few of the Org members who have a tendency to be well spoken, as they are in the games. And if you have an original character, you can express them any way you want.

Lastly and most importantly, is have fun! Writing fan fics don't mean anything if you're not having fun with it!

[Gildragon]

I have posted a section of a fic I am writing, but I am not sure where to take it. link is in my sig. It is sort of a sci fit kinda thing and is a good vs evil. scifi/thriller (once completed) I would appreciate advice on what I have and what else I could add. BTW it is in the middle of the story so things have happened before this. this is a character describing a main enemy to the hero.

[Dman2.0]

i put out another chapter of alien menace
if anyone is intersted click on the link in my sig

[Donnie Yen]

Instead of going through this whole section, clicking topic after topic, anyone got a recommendation of a fanfic to read? Not KH-related PLEASE. I see one more of those and Im gonna explode.

[Ban Mido]

^If you are interested, I'm writing a Legend of Zelda fan fic. It's only on it's first chapter though.

[Lycanthrope]

Originally Posted by Frozen Fate

I intend to come out with a brand new story; new plot, new characters, new ideas, new everything. It will be COMPLETELY unrelated to any fanfic I have ever written. Look for it to come out soon, provided I get the chance to write my ideas out on paper tonight.

A bit delayed, but a promise is a promise. I currently have the Prologue and Chapter 1 up. It's called 'The Legend of the Lost Warrior: The Diamond of Kemo'.