Quill and Ink Corner: A writing thread for the Cobbies.

I think that entirely depends on what you want to say about them. Is it relevant to writing...? Backstory, motivation, conflict, growth, flaws...?

The things I'd talk about are related to writing, if I wanna talk about the gameplay stuff I'll go to either Yack Fest or the Tabletop Games subforum.

edited 3rd Feb '16 12:10:41 AM by Rosvo1

Well, it's fine by me. Can't speak for anyone else, obviously, but I think, to some degree, writing is writing. I actually only got into RP Gs to improve as a writer.

Heh, I do most of my "writing" for RPGs because I'm a bleeder, as it was put in this thread.

But anyway, the thing I'm working on is what this Force sensitive's lightsaber will look like. And I'll probably just rip off Anakin's or Obi-Wan's lightsaber.

The design I currently have in mind takes the upper half of the lightsaber Obi-Wan used in Episodes 3 and 4 and combines it with the lower half of Anakin's lightsaber.

Does that sound good?

I started writing due to an online PBP RPG. Well, each post was usually a collab by two people (more if you count the GMs prompting us).

I don't know if I'm a bleeder or what, as I didn't read the article. Also I've been out of touch with writing for the past year. Mostly I've written one-to-three (short) paragraphs blurbs of ideas, trying to write beyond that, but it comes out so bad. Also I lose interest or change my mind about those afterwards. Maybe I need to learn how to think in/write short stories?

@Rosvo: I don't know how any of those look like because I've only watched The Force Awakens. Does it matter, thematically, what the lightsaber will look like?

edited 3rd Feb '16 6:31:12 AM by Victin

It doesn't really, but I feel like I have to decide it. But I've decided to go with Ven Zallow's lightsaber because A. It looks pretty cool and B. he's only seen in a cinematic trailer for The Old Republic. The time period also gives it a disconnect.

By the way, Obi-Wan's third lightsaber and Anakin's second lightsaber, also used by Luke, Finn and Rey.

edited 3rd Feb '16 7:40:58 AM by Rosvo1

To be very honest, if you ever find yourself writing a sentence describing a lightsaber's handle, you should probably stop yourself and delete it. Unless that specific lightsaber is a macguffin or something, it's a level of detail that probably doesn't belong in a final draft.

Anakin's lightsaber mattered because it was Anakin's. The actual shape of it is irrelevant; storywise, it is a featureless tube labelled "Anakin's lightsaber."

What could matter in writing is how well it was made or what condition it was in. If it was scuffed and grimey, or if it was clean and lovingly polished, this reveals something about the character.

Here's the thing, if I ever write a story featuring this character I won't describe it.

Deciding what it looks like is for visualization purposes, both for me and the other players.

@Rosvo: Uh, I don't want to come off as rude, but if that's so I don't think you should be asking for advice like that here. I mean, it's not even advice at this point. "What should my character's eye color be?" Unless it's going to be important (e.g.: Red Eyes, Take Warning), or it's in a batch with other questions. But it's not like I'm the thread police or anything, so, uh, post whatever you want. The worse that could happen is not getting a reply (unless you think "the worse that could happen" is you do something that demands calling for a mod, but I find that unlikely).

@mona.soyun: Well, to be fair there could be a situation in which going lenghts in describing one's lightsaber could be fit for the theme of a written piece and/or what it is trying to evoke in the reader. Maybe some kind of sci-fi Parnassianism.

By the way, what is the best way of describing a character's appearance? Sometimes I try to explain how the character is dressed and looks like over... say, a paragraph, but perhaps that's too much. At least if not done well. A tip I use whenever I remember to for writing environments (use at least two different senses) could be applied. Anything else?

Focus on a few distinguishing features, and let the reader fill in most of the details themselves.

Agree with Mona. Too much description bores the reader. You want to play with pacing, slowing things down sometimes, but you never want to bring the story to a stop. Any description shouldn't be there for its own sake...it should tell you something about the character or set up an event.

IMO this is the greatest weakness of LOTR...great story...too. much. description.

shameless self-promotion: ThePowerThatsInside

After reading Vidas Secas (lit. trans.: Dry Lives; officially translated as Barren Lives, I think), I started wanting to add some free indirect speech to my style, but I'm not quite sure how to do it. One thing I've done before was writing limiting myself to the perception of the POV character, but I'm not sure that counts.

I wrote today.

We went underway today.

This is not entirely a coincidence, but it's also not a good sign for my plan to participate in Camp Na No when April rolls around. I haven't written hardly anything in the last six weeks, partly because my computer time has been difficult, partly because I've been super busy learning my new job, and partly because I got Starcraft2. I'm hoping to use the next few weeks to try and get back into the habit of writing something every day. And to build up a backlog of chapters to post.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Aaaaand... my last sex scene is done.

It's terrible, but it's done, and I'm going to bed now. And tomorrow, I don't have to write a sex scene!

What's your issue with writing sex scenes?

Ugh. I'm a terrible procrastinator. I should have been trying to find an agent for my novel for like, six months. Instead I just wrote book 2. Aaargh.

Read my stories!

They're technically demanding and require vulnerability.

Technically, they're a tightrope walk. I'm not writing romance or erotica; I'm writing sort of a fantasy bildungsroman, and, while the sex is very important, it's only one part of my protagonist's maturation — it's nothing and everything, just like sex is. I have to find the perfect balance between action and emotion, detail and euphemism, mindless lust and self-importance and giggling self-awareness, and all the while I have to convey what the true purpose of the sex scene is — because it's not the sex; it's why the sex. If I don't find that balance, the scene will be cheesy or fall flat or will be WOAH TMI MONA or whatever.

And... They require me to expose myself a lot. I do a lot of research to get different perspectives so that I'm not just fictionalizing my own sex life, but ultimately, I am still drawing on my lived experiences. My hope is to drive straight down the road of Human Universals, but again, I have to balance; each encounter, and each partner, still has to be unique.

Also, I'm writing in first person, and there's just a difference, for me as a writer, between: he ground his hips hard against hers, growling and he ground his hips hard against mine, growling — especially when I'm working in public. With a prepubescent girl sitting next to me. And her mother looking over my shoulder. -_-

Ah, I see now.

*gasp* Mona! There are children present! In ... other parts of the forum. Wait until it's published and you have to read it in public at a book signing/promotion event. ^note No, seriously, I've been friends with Kat Richardson, who writes mostly urban fantasy, and she's complained about having to read out loud at events. And how she's occasionally wanted to read the sex scenes with the intent of driving people away.

My attempt at self-imposed Na No Wri Mo is ... passable, so far. Feeling like some of my characterization is weak, and the scene I thought would be good horror has brought virtually no reaction from my readers. My word count is falling short. I need to do at least another thousand words today if I want to meet my goal.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

You have much higher expectations for my success than I do. I find that baselessly encouraging.

Aaaaaand... Yeah, reading sex scenes in first person. Wow. I do not have the training for that.

Are you publishing chapters as you finish them...? I need at least a couple days to get fresh eyes.

Kind of? I try to stick to publishing one chapter a week. So if I write more than one, the rest will sit and I'll read them again for typos before I post. If I haven't posted in a week or more, and don't have a backlog, I give it one readthrough immediately after I finish, then post it.

I am not fast good at editing.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

After not being able to write the last two days^note computer issues and just a lot of work keeping me busy I rallied today and wrote over 5,000 words. 1300 of that was on my long-running story.

The other 3800 was on an in-universe Porn Parody of Blasto^note think of it as a combo of Die Hard, Dirty Harry, etc ... where the hero is a bright pink alien jellyfish ... or rather, writing about the people who would make that kind of film, including the boredom of the female star as they're filming the climax scene of the movie.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

And today I learned there is a porno version of The King's Speech. Thank you, TV Tropes.

Cool that you were able to catch up.

I'm up to 140k words now. 200k is looking more and more inevitable. :/

The urge to edit is really strong right now. I've got a growing list of changes and tweaks and plot holes, plus I keep thinking about ways I could break it into more than one book. I am still pushing forward... But at this point it's like, I'm pushing forward so that I can get this chore out of the way and then focus on my one true love. I am seriously starting to fantasize about print outs and red pens.

I need to remember that I still have a lot of research and studying to do, so I shouldn't dink around trawling Cracked and Mental Floss and reloading FB when I'm having trouble writing for whatever reason.

edited 29th Apr '16 4:24:40 PM by mona.soyun

Well, I have lots of stories planned and no time to write more than a few bits. But I'm really excited!

• Silversister: Dragonhunters have this mutually respectful relationship, including telepathic bonds, with the dragons they hunt.
• Everyone Calls Me D: Working title. A family comedy in the style of Diana Wynne Jones about a young wizard in San Francisco, his divorced parents on hilariously bad terms with each other, and his dad's best friend who's got a thing for his mom.