Faceless Mist-Wraith he/him Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 28 minutes ago, Belzedar said: Also, just for the record, the Obsidian Order is a nefarious spy ring in Star Trek. They were pretty important in Deep Space Nine. I was not aware. I thought the named worked since obsidian is detrimental to the magic system I created, and those in the order can emanate the same anti-magic quality. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her Posted January 17, 2017 Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 3 hours ago, Faceless Mist-Wraith said: I was not aware. I thought the named worked since obsidian is detrimental to the magic system I created, and those in the order can emanate the same anti-magic quality. I doubt the name's copyrighted (names usually aren't) and so if you want to go with Obsidian Order as a name, you'll be fine on the legal front. I only watched DS9 years ago, so I didn't recognize the name as coming from DS9, but if you're worried about ringing too many bells, you could always do some preliminary googling and see how many OO results you get. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faceless Mist-Wraith he/him Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 How do you come up with maps? People are always talking about them, but I can never visualize the minute details of my fantasy worlds. I have a general picture, but I don't know how to convert that into a detailed map. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The One Who Connects he/him Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 (edited) 28 minutes ago, Faceless Mist-Wraith said: How do you come up with maps? People are always talking about them, but I can never visualize the minute details of my fantasy worlds. I have a general picture, but I don't know how to convert that into a detailed map. {Head down, glancing back at that one time I thought I could be a writer} A thing that I did was starting big and working my way downwards. I was just some middle-schooler at the time, so my "continent" was a glorified oval, but I came up with nations and gave them a castle city and made them pegs on my map. Then I came up with some lore objects, a Shrine here, a mountain pass there, places that had historical significance to my story. More pegs for the map. I placed a city near an oasis in a desert, forcing empty space on the map. Forests and mountain ranges came later, around when said project got shelved, so there isn't too much more. But a good sign of when to stop is when you start running out of room on the map. Make a world map with simple pegs, and go into more detail on zoomed in sections if you want/need Of course, this was all before I found Sanderson's books, back when I could set realistic worldbuilding goals... Now we all want to go super specific on everything.. how do they grow their food, what kind of inter-nation market can you create, what sort of legal ramifications are there on piracy, and all that, stuff that you don't necessarily need. Edit: Best advice I can give is not to start small, but to start simple. Set up the basics: names, places, a little bit of backstory, and start writing your story. If you start hitting walls(too repetitive, need more places, etc..) keep the draft open, but go back to the map and add in some new details. Don't go all in from the start and get overwhelmed. It's good enough to know what's a few miles from a river without needing to know what's 50 feet from it. Edited February 23, 2017 by The One Who Connects Best Advice 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemalurgic Headshot he/him Posted February 23, 2017 Report Share Posted February 23, 2017 32 minutes ago, Faceless Mist-Wraith said: How do you come up with maps? People are always talking about them, but I can never visualize the minute details of my fantasy worlds. I have a general picture, but I don't know how to convert that into a detailed map. So I'm a geography geek, so this is right up my alley. So first of all, not everyone needs a map (I just like them because). When converting an idea to a map, first think about the environment of that place. Is it a swamp, desert, mountain, basically which biome? Then look at maps of places with the same biome. For example, if you have a swampy area, but you're not sure how to make that work out, consider its surroundings. Is it coastal? Is there a river delta? Is it inland, and if so, are there mountains nearby? Simply put, build it up one region at a time. And then, you can switch the regions around to fit your liking and such, like pieces of an interchangable puzzle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Budgie she/her Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 So, um... I've been writing something, and I wouldn't mind getting some feedback on it, because so far I've only shown it to my friends and they're probably biased as far as rating goes. I haven't yet finished it, but I'm at about 12,500 words currently. So, should I post it here, or what? What's the deal, and what do you lot think? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemalurgic Headshot he/him Posted February 25, 2017 Report Share Posted February 25, 2017 7 hours ago, A Budgie said: So, um... I've been writing something, and I wouldn't mind getting some feedback on it, because so far I've only shown it to my friends and they're probably biased as far as rating goes. I haven't yet finished it, but I'm at about 12,500 words currently. So, should I post it here, or what? What's the deal, and what do you lot think? I love reading anything, so I can selfishly say that I want to read it. However, I'm not sure about posting writing here myself. You see, I also have been writing, but I have been reluctant to post anything. Decide for yourself. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkness Ascendant he/him Posted February 26, 2017 Report Share Posted February 26, 2017 15 hours ago, A Budgie said: So, um... I've been writing something, and I wouldn't mind getting some feedback on it, because so far I've only shown it to my friends and they're probably biased as far as rating goes. I haven't yet finished it, but I'm at about 12,500 words currently. So, should I post it here, or what? What's the deal, and what do you lot think? https://discord.gg/AYqrFbr Writer's Block may be what you need. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrikerEZ he/him Posted February 26, 2017 Report Share Posted February 26, 2017 On 2/25/2017 at 3:25 AM, A Budgie said: So, um... I've been writing something, and I wouldn't mind getting some feedback on it, because so far I've only shown it to my friends and they're probably biased as far as rating goes. I haven't yet finished it, but I'm at about 12,500 words currently. So, should I post it here, or what? What's the deal, and what do you lot think? I'd be willing to read it. You could just PM it to me, or if it's a google doc, share it in a PM. I wouldn't post it on here, since it'd be quite long. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedal he/him Posted February 27, 2017 Report Share Posted February 27, 2017 On 1/14/2017 at 9:15 PM, KereDerek said: Sorry to side track, but what's everyones take on writing in deities? I'm having some trouble writing in the gods for my story. I know the age old advice, being vague and holding out on details on your gods make them seem powerful. I'm having a hard time doing this, as I want my gods to play a fairly large role in the story, without the scope of their power being diluted. Ideas? Kinda necro. The way that I take it is that gods have complete and utter arrogance. After all, they are gods. I try to give them a sort of aura of mysticism and complete knowledge, even if they are operating on a very personal level. Even with all their cards on the table, they still seem to know everything better. Nothing phases a god, even the possibility of death is laughable. Try to give an example of their powers to prevent them from seeming weak. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faceless Mist-Wraith he/him Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 How much magic is too much magic? For example, I have a magic system made up of 26+ individual powers, however similar to mistborn, it is rare to have all of the powers, with most people either having one or two. However, at what point does it begin to become too much magic? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgedancer he/him Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 3 hours ago, Faceless Mist-Wraith said: How much magic is too much magic? For example, I have a magic system made up of 26+ individual powers, however similar to mistborn, it is rare to have all of the powers, with most people either having one or two. However, at what point does it begin to become too much magic? About the time when conflict either gets barely existent because characters have a solution for everything or you constantly need to stop yourself and go over all the characters power again because all the options got way too complex. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The One Who Connects he/him Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 13 hours ago, Edgedancer said: 17 hours ago, Faceless Mist-Wraith said: However, at what point does it begin to become too much magic? About the time when conflict either gets barely existent because characters have a solution for everything or you constantly need to stop yourself and go over all the characters power again because all the options got way too complex. A good example here is the magic of Elantris. You can quite literally do anything with AonDor so while the "options" are too complex and you can solve most everything with magic, it doesn't drag the world down because while you can do anything with the Magic, it works in a way that makes conventional problem solving the better options. You want the magic to be important, then make it important. But there have to be situations where using the magic is not the answer. It's the reason that supervillains exist, because having these powers make normal book/movie bad guys irrelevant. If Superhero A is bulletproof, then what use are normal gun-toting gangsters? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrae Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 I think it also becomes too much when it's hard to keep track of everything. When I finished TFE, I couldn't match up each metal to what it did, but I knew what Vin could and couldn't do with them. Later I ended up memorizing them all. Now I know some of the Feruchemical metals, but not all. That's 32 different powers, about 20 which I have memorized over a span of 6 books. I don't know if, as a reader, I could remember more than 26 of them in a single book. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faceless Mist-Wraith he/him Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 30 minutes ago, Arraenae said: I don't know if, as a reader, I could remember more than 26 of them in a single book. I would be focusing on a character who only has access to two of the powers, with the other powers being mentioned, maybe seen, but not the center of attention. Would this address that issue? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrae Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 8 minutes ago, Faceless Mist-Wraith said: I would be focusing on a character who only has access to two of the powers, with the other powers being mentioned, maybe seen, but not the center of attention. Would this address that issue? It probably would help a lot. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Budgie she/her Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 So, I'm currently writing a short mystery story, which has a word limit of around 500 words. It's a style you may or may not have heard of...but the principal is this: The story sets up a mystery, usually a murder or a robbery. It's written so all the clues needed to figure it out are in the story- plus red herrings. You can try to figure it out. When it's finished, would you lot like to read it and figure out what happened? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgedancer he/him Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 500 words? Sure might as well try. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrikerEZ he/him Posted March 23, 2017 Report Share Posted March 23, 2017 11 hours ago, A Budgie said: So, I'm currently writing a short mystery story, which has a word limit of around 500 words. It's a style you may or may not have heard of...but the principal is this: The story sets up a mystery, usually a murder or a robbery. It's written so all the clues needed to figure it out are in the story- plus red herrings. You can try to figure it out. When it's finished, would you lot like to read it and figure out what happened? Sure, that sounds cool! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 (edited) On 1/14/2017 at 1:27 PM, Edgedancer said: okay, I might as well throw in a curveball then. How does everyone here approache fight/action scenes? Yes I know this is backtracking a bit, but I liked this question and I'd like to give my answer if that's alright I love writing fight scenes because it gives me a chance to incorporate the environment naturally, as well as the emotions of the characters involved. If X punches Y unexpectedly, I'll write about how Y grunts as he stumbles into the table, knocking the empty bottles to the floor. Patrons scatter to make room as X swings again before Y is ready, and Y clenches his teeth as he topples over the bar, landing on the shattered glass. He sees a gun behind the bar, but he's never used one before. He doesn't have time to guess what would happen if he failed to fire and X wrangled it out of his hands, as X lifts him by his collar and pulls his arm back for another blow. Y has time to raise his arms over his head and shuts his eyes in anticipation. What the hell does this guy want from him? A knee drives into his stomach, and Y's arms instinctively wrap around his torso, leaving his face open again. He curses, tasting blood in his words, as the next strike hits him. Etc, etc. I'm not that great at it, but I love it anyway. Edited April 3, 2017 by Tristan 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrae Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 Fight scenes are a little iffy for me. I've never been in an actual fistfight before, so I can't draw off of my experiences with that. I sometimes feel that my writing is too rushed and doesn't have enough details or scene description, and that feeling intensifies when I write fight scenes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemalurgic Headshot he/him Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 A fight scene all depends on the perspective. A duel? How skilled a swordsman is telling the story? If he has an affinity for the blade, he might mention postures and techniques during the duel, paying attention to detail. On the other hand, an inexperienced person might only remark on wounds inflicted and who got hit, and might feel more stressed and rushed. In a fistfight, similar rules apply. See the scene through your character's eyes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkness Ascendant he/him Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 @Arraenae You can always do it punch by punch. Like The first punch grazed Tom's chin, knocking his head back a bit. He ducked under his opponent's next swing, a wild roundhouse, a satisfying swoosh as it cleaved the air above his head. Seeing his chance, Tom lunged forward, arms open, and tackled the other guy, pushing him into the wall behind him, then lifting him using the momentum he had gained, dropping the fool onto his rear-end. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tristan Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 I've only been in one fight before, and it was more of a cat-fight and I was much younger so it doesn't really count. I have, however, given myself a black eye from having a seizure, so I sort of know what the aftermath is like...? Heh.. (Doorknob vs Tristan's face--doorknob won ) Maybe I'll switch from fight scenes to "dance-off to the death" scenes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkness Ascendant he/him Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 3 hours ago, Tristan said: I've only been in one fight before, and it was more of a cat-fight and I was much younger so it doesn't really count. I have, however, given myself a black eye from having a seizure, so I sort of know what the aftermath is like...? Heh.. (Doorknob vs Tristan's face--doorknob won ) Maybe I'll switch from fight scenes to "dance-off to the death" scenes. Immovable object? Meet unstoppable force! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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