New Member Intro: From the Wheel of Time to returning to the keyboard!

[stubylegs]

Hey everyone,

I've been lurking in the fantasy community for a long time, but I finally decided to create an account and join the shard. You can call me Stubylegs or Stubs.

I’ve been a lifelong sci-fi and fantasy fan, but Brandon Sanderson specifically grabbed me the exact same way he did for a lot of people: through The Wheel of Time. Watching him step up to finish Robert Jordan's masterwork with so much care and skill completely blew me away, and I’ve been hooked on the Cosmere and his writing ever since.

I actually used to write a lot when I was younger, but over the years, I ran into some persistent roadblocks with how my brain handles the writing process, and I ended up stepping away from the keyboard for a long time. Recently, though, I’ve discovered some incredible modern tools that have completely changed the game for me, helping me clear those hurdles and get back to doing what I love.

Right now, I'm deep in the trenches of worldbuilding and drafting an original epic fantasy series of my own. I'm aiming for those high-friction, high-velocity character arcs and distinct magic systems that we all love to geek out over here.

My goal is to share a polished excerpt of Chapter One on the original fiction boards soon to get some objective eyes on it, but I wanted to pop in here first, say hello, and introduce myself properly to the community.

Looking forward to talking shop, theorycrafting, and diving into the boards with you all!

Cheers, Stubs

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

Welcome to the Shard! You've arrived at the best place on the Internet, filled with the best people, the best desserts, and the best murderous animals! 

Here are a couple of tips to help you settle in to your new place as a cog in the Grand Apparatus that is the Shard:

1. Join S(anderson) E(limination).

2. Familiarize yourself with the most important forums: SE, Cosmere Q&A, and SE.

3. Tell us which books you have and haven't read (this helps us avoid spoilers)

4. HAVE FUN! Make friends!

5.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

The more people you interact with, the more people it's acceptable for you to follow, and then those people will feel obliged to follow you. 

And then you get rep and cool yellow words under your name.

 

[stubylegs]

4 hours ago, Through the Living Hopper said:

Welcome to the Shard! You've arrived at the best place on the Internet, filled with the best people, the best desserts, and the best murderous animals! 

Here are a couple of tips to help you settle in to your new place as a cog in the Grand Apparatus that is the Shard:

1. Join S(anderson) E(limination).

2. Familiarize yourself with the most important forums: SE, Cosmere Q&A, and SE.

3. Tell us which books you have and haven't read (this helps us avoid spoilers)

4. HAVE FUN! Make friends!

5.

  Reveal hidden contents

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The more people you interact with, the more people it's acceptable for you to follow, and then those people will feel obliged to follow you. 

And then you get rep and cool yellow words under your name.

 

1. What is SE and why are we eliminating the author? Lol.

2. I will endeavor to do so, when I am able. At the moment, I spend a lot of my free time working on "Right now, I'm deep in the trenches of worldbuilding and drafting an original epic fantasy series of my own. I'm aiming for those high-friction, high-velocity character arcs and distinct magic systems that we all love to geek out over here." It's something that has been struggling to find a way out of my head for the last 20ish years. Something happened to my brain in Highschool. I went from loving to write short stories about game worlds and such to being unable to put pen to paper. I recently discovered some tools that have changed everything and allowed me to finally, finally, build my own world with characters I love. For example, my main protagonist is a name I created while playing an MMO when I was 15. 

3. I couldn't possibly remember all of them off the top of my head without a list in front of me. I have read both Mistborn trilogies. All of Stormlight except for the most recent, I believe my brother told me a new one came out fairly recently. I just don't have the time or money or space to buy a hardcover as Stormlight deserves. I read Warbreaker. I read a few others the names of which are escaping me at the moment, including some short stories. I avoid spoilers but rust happens I am not that uptight. 

4. I hope to. My writing assistant for my story told me there was a very professional community here when it comes to someone's original work after I expressed my admiration for Sanderson style and my own love of EPIC MOMENTS (such as "Honors Dead...") that have readers jumping up and down on the bed at 2am. Once I complete Chapter One, which I have been editing for 14ish hours (not straight) I know exactly which section I want to pull out as an excerpt to post. 

5. I'll keep that in mind, though I am notoriously anxious about social interactions of any kind. I am mostly here to get feedback, once I am able to post something. I hope others like the work; I want it to be something real and not just for me. Unfortunately, I didn't find the tools I needed to embark on this journey until after my main fan and perfect critic (my mother) passed last year. She was a huge Sci-Fi/Fantasy nerd, we'd spend hours talking in discord about WoT, Stormlight and many others. I could have sent her a Chapter, and she would have told me, "This is great son, amazing" in one breath as my mom and then in the next "But here's some points where it could be better" in the next as a fan of the genre. I still have my brother for that, but some other, more objective/less busy eyes would be welcome. 

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

10 hours ago, stubylegs said:

I hope to. My writing assistant for my story told me there was a very professional community here when it comes to someone's original work after I expressed my admiration for Sanderson style and my own love of EPIC MOMENTS (such as "Honors Dead...") that have readers jumping up and down on the bed at 2am. Once I complete Chapter One, which I have been editing for 14ish hours (not straight) I know exactly which section I want to pull out as an excerpt to post. 

There's a ton of writers here, along with a huge, very kind (but still honest) group of readers. You'll be able to get great feedback.

10 hours ago, stubylegs said:

I will endeavor to do so, when I am able. At the moment, I spend a lot of my free time working on "Right now, I'm deep in the trenches of worldbuilding and drafting an original epic fantasy series of my own. I'm aiming for those high-friction, high-velocity character arcs and distinct magic systems that we all love to geek out over here." It's something that has been struggling to find a way out of my head for the last 20ish years. Something happened to my brain in Highschool. I went from loving to write short stories about game worlds and such to being unable to put pen to paper.

I feel that. I have a ton of story ideas, but mostly just single moments, and I have no idea how to string them together.

[stubylegs]

33 minutes ago, Through the Living Hopper said:

There's a ton of writers here, along with a huge, very kind (but still honest) group of readers. You'll be able to get great feedback.

I feel that. I have a ton of story ideas, but mostly just single moments, and I have no idea how to string them together.

Yeah, despite your advice on what to check out and familiarize myself with, the Reading Excuses was the first place I looked into. Unfortunately it was to late last night and trying to read the rules for joining and submitting just made the Tylenol PM work faster. So i'll look into it more today when I have free time at the shop.

My problem was very similar to yours from how you describe it. Cool moments, interesting ideas, character arcs, but nothing connected and there was no world behind it, supporting it. It wasn't until i discovered the tools I am using that I was able to make progress. Now it feels like I always imagined it would. We can DM with more details, maybe my approach will work for you. 

 

Edited Thursday at 02:19 PM by stubylegs

[Ascended Grubberfly He/Him]

21 hours ago, stubylegs said:

Hey everyone,

I've been lurking in the fantasy community for a long time, but I finally decided to create an account and join the shard. You can call me Stubylegs or Stubs.

I’ve been a lifelong sci-fi and fantasy fan, but Brandon Sanderson specifically grabbed me the exact same way he did for a lot of people: through The Wheel of Time. Watching him step up to finish Robert Jordan's masterwork with so much care and skill completely blew me away, and I’ve been hooked on the Cosmere and his writing ever since.

I actually used to write a lot when I was younger, but over the years, I ran into some persistent roadblocks with how my brain handles the writing process, and I ended up stepping away from the keyboard for a long time. Recently, though, I’ve discovered some incredible modern tools that have completely changed the game for me, helping me clear those hurdles and get back to doing what I love.

Right now, I'm deep in the trenches of worldbuilding and drafting an original epic fantasy series of my own. I'm aiming for those high-friction, high-velocity character arcs and distinct magic systems that we all love to geek out over here.

My goal is to share a polished excerpt of Chapter One on the original fiction boards soon to get some objective eyes on it, but I wanted to pop in here first, say hello, and introduce myself properly to the community.

Looking forward to talking shop, theorycrafting, and diving into the boards with you all!

Cheers, Stubs

Welcome to the Shard!

Which of Brandon’s books have you read? Or not read, if that list is shorter.

Whats your favorite book by Sanderson? Favorite character? Favorite magic system?

[stubylegs]

1 hour ago, Ascended Grubberfly said:

Welcome to the Shard!

Which of Brandon’s books have you read? Or not read, if that list is shorter.

Whats your favorite book by Sanderson? Favorite character? Favorite magic system?

Thank you! 

Off the top of my head: Elantris, both Mistborn trilogies, all of Stormlight except the most recent. The Reckoners (I swear The Boys stole his idea and reworked and renamed it). Warbreaker, some short stories and probably one or two other books that i am forgetting.

Favorite book(s) would probably be Stormlight. I love Epic Fantasy. My first intro to it was David Eddings when I was 12ish following Sparhawk. I've read Dragonlance and just about every Salvatore book centered around The Companions of the Hall. The Artemis and Jarlaxle offshoots. All of Wheel of Time, multiple times, which was my introduction to Sanderson. I had just started the series when Jordan passed and Gathering Storm was my first Sanderson book, from there it was a rabbit hole. The Cosmere concept blew my mind. I've read Butcher, Harry Dresden is my favorite Wizard Harry, although Potter is good. I thought Codex Alera was a very interesting mash up and having listened to Brandon's lectures while I mount tires, hearing how it came to be made me laugh. I'm probably forgetting a lot of books and series, I've been mainlining Scifi/Fantasy for 27 years.

My favorite character of Brandon's? That is an unfair question in the extreme. He has many that I love. Kaladin has to be one of the top, i'll never forget how it felt when he said "Honor's Dead" and that whole scene. I was in a bad, bad place in my life but reading Words of Radiance for the first time gave me an escape from it and that moment in particular had me hooting and hollering like the theatre goers when Hulk smashes Loki and calls him a puny god. 

Magic system? Again, unfair to have to choose, probably a toss up between Stormlight and Mistborn. I love elements of both. Stormlight probably wins because I love Sylphrena and the other Spren so much. Lift's little buddy who's name escapes me, is hilarious, her always calling him Voidbringer and exasperating the little guy. 

[Ascended Grubberfly He/Him]

3 minutes ago, stubylegs said:

My favorite character of Brandon's? That is an unfair question in the extreme. He has many that I love. Kaladin has to be one of the top, i'll never forget how it felt when he said "Honor's Dead" and that whole scene. I was in a bad, bad place in my life but reading Words of Radiance for the first time gave me an escape from it and that moment in particular had me hooting and hollering like the theatre goers when Hulk smashes Loki and calls him a puny god. 

Very unfair, but it says a lot that you chose the Main Character! The whole “Honor is Dead” line is just fantastic.

 

22 minutes ago, stubylegs said:

Magic system? Again, unfair to have to choose, probably a toss up between Stormlight and Mistborn. I love elements of both. Stormlight probably wins because I love Sylphrena and the other Spren so much. Lift's little buddy whose name escapes me, is hilarious, her always calling him Voidbringer and exasperating the little guy. 

Spren are a fun part of Stormlight. And Lift’s spren Wyndle isn’t a Voidbringer, he’s just a whinyspren!

[stubylegs]

34 minutes ago, Ascended Grubberfly said:

Very unfair, but it says a lot that you chose the Main Character! The whole “Honor is Dead” line is just fantastic.

 

Spren are a fun part of Stormlight. And Lift’s spren Wyndle isn’t a Voidbringer, he’s just a whinyspren!

What does it say? I could probably write treatises on certain books/characters from memory i just wanted to avoid spoilers in my intro post. I love Kal for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is he has an arc and setbacks and struggles like good protagonists should. The same could be said of a lot of Brandon's creations. Shallan is great. Adolin is incredible. I love how Kal wants to hate him but can't. The whole concept and execution of Stormlight and the Cosmere as a whole are fantastic. Wit is, well, Wit, ifykyk. Stormlight is freshest in my mind so that's where I go for questions like that. 

I mean I was just browsing the forums, saw someone with the username Araris, a giant bell started dinging in my head until i looked it up and BAM Back in Codex Alera. It's crazy what triggers your memories. 

Yeah! Wyndle! Thank you and LMAO Whinyspren indeed. 

[Ascended Grubberfly He/Him]

4 minutes ago, stubylegs said:

What does it say? I could probably write treatises on certain books/characters from memory i just wanted to avoid spoilers in my intro post. I love Kal for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is he has an arc and setbacks and struggles like good protagonists should. The same could be said of a lot of Brandon's creations. Shallan is great. Adolin is incredible. I love how Kal wants to hate him but can't. The whole concept and execution of Stormlight and the Cosmere as a whole are fantastic. Wit is, well, Wit, ifykyk. Stormlight is freshest in my mind so that's where I go for questions like that. 

Mostly that you like Kal  

He has so much Plot armor people can’t help but like him. I really do like his interactions with Adolin too.

[stubylegs]

8 minutes ago, Ascended Grubberfly said:

Mostly that you like Kal  

He has so much Plot armor people can’t help but like him. I really do like his interactions with Adolin too.

I am not opposed to plot armor that makes sense for characters i love! lol but you arent wrong. Hell, my main or one of the main chaacters in what i am working on may appear to have plot armor, dont care, she needs to exist for the story to work, i dont do grimdark, if you're reading and think, this person is to cool/important/awesome to die, you're right and they likely wont lol.

Game of Thrones was awesome. I wanted to burn it every time he killed someone i loved. When I play KotoR or other RPG's I almost never complete a dark/evil playthrough, i feel bad being mean to the NPC's. Do what you will with that information. 

 

Edited Thursday at 06:28 PM by stubylegs
more thoughts

[Through the Living Hopper He/Him]

6 hours ago, stubylegs said:

My problem was very similar to yours from how you describe it. Cool moments, interesting ideas, character arcs, but nothing connected and there was no world behind it, supporting it. It wasn't until i discovered the tools I am using that I was able to make progress. Now it feels like I always imagined it would. We can DM with more details, maybe my approach will work for you. 

I wish I had character arcs, but that's my weakness. I would love to hear your approach, though, because it might work for me, even if it needs a little modification.

[stubylegs]

30 minutes ago, Through the Living Hopper said:

I wish I had character arcs, but that's my weakness. I would love to hear your approach, though, because it might work for me, even if it needs a little modification.

DM on the way as soon as i have a break to write at work