ScarletSabre

No, this isn't a Wheel of Time thread, despite the implications of the title ^^ I'm someone who second guesses himself in his writing, always wondering if I did something right, if using influences/references/settings that seem blatantly ripped off in my head seem that way to others... so I was wondering how other people manage to start their stories. I always struggle with my openings, because I always feel like it's obvious I've used the same style of opening as someone I've recently read, if I have a character wake up or admire the scenery around etc. Once I'm into a story the words flow better, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice for beginnings and endings of stories?

Awww, thanks! Haha, I'll have to actually try and write one of them soon XD Huh. I've never heard of that series, I'll have to look it up o3o And here I thought I was being somewhat original...

Haha, I like this idea! It reminds me of a similar couple of ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while. One is dubbed NPC Quest in my mind, and like your own, is the typical hero coming of age, hero's journey story with a twist. It would be told entirely from the point of view of an NPC, a blacksmith or a shopkeeper, having to deal with the sudden emergence of a dark lord, or trolls invading and wrecking his shop, or the gripes of adventurers knocking on his door at all hours, demanding he fix their swords, armour, or trying to sell him dragon scales with an inch of viscera still attached. It would be a comedy, probably a sarcastic, perhaps dark one, but I can't decide on a first or third person perspective to it, or if it'd be interesting enough if I kept it grounded in one setting. Should I tantalise the reader with descriptions of the epic battle between glowing pillars of light and dark, their champions floating in the centre, clashing on a plane of existance only souls and gods can reach... before the shopkeeper closes his blinds to cut out the glare and goes back to his tax returns or mending a bootprint in a door from a beserker? Or should I have him end up unwittingly following along on the journey of the hero, moving his shop away from town after the first invasion of goblins, only to find that the little snot from the farm who suddenly fancies himself king turns up at his new city, bringing a horde of dark ones after him? The other idea is also a twist on the classic hero's journey, but the twist at the end of the first book would be that we find out the hero isn't a hero at all. Our protagonist, who's proved himself through trials of fire, combat and prophecy... has engineered it all to convince people he's a hero. Perhaps to gain power for it's own sake, perhaps to bring peace to his land by fabricating the emergence of some dark demon god, I haven't completely decided yet. Either way, he has to keep it a secret from those that trust him, love him and die for him.

I'm curious if anyone opposing Dalinar will become a Radiant. We've had implications that Elokhar will become a Radiant from mentioning seeing the symbolheads of Cryptics in his mirror, and over his shoulder, and if he decides that as a Radiant king he doesn't want to acquiesce to Dalinar as much anymore, it would make for some interesting conflicts, moreso than just between Dalinar and the Highprinces. That being said, so would a Radiant in Sadeas' warcamp. Sadeas himself isn't around to be a candidate anymore, but what about his wife, or one of his minions who'll get a bigger role in coming books? I personally think that a Radiant on Sadeas' side would make for some spectacular conflicts, especially since we don't know what some of the other orders/Spren would look for. There's every chance that someone in Sadeas' camp could start glowing, and then BAM, suddenly opposition to big D's unilateral control of Urithiru and the other Radiants, who are members of his family and personal guard, doesn't look so ironclad...

Ah, so Shards can provide Intent.... if Odium ever finds out about Hemalurgy, the Knights Radiant better have figured out how to make Shardplate to protect their hearts!

So a Shard providing the intent allows anyone to spike anyone? That's an honestly scary thought if true... Ooooooooooh, riiiiiiiight, I forgot about that. Spook ASSUMED he was a Coinshot, but that turned out to be Beldra, not Quellion. So that takes out Quellion doing the Spiking by proxy then... so unless Ruin took control of the aim of the soldier who stabbed Spook through his companion, he shouldn't have created a spike, unless he knew about it and intended to for some reason...

I think in future Elantris books we'll find out that Devotion is actually related to the Dhakor Monks, while Dominion is related to Elantris and Elantrians. For the reasons why, check out my new thread -

Welcome everyone, to another round of Rawrbert's Random Thoughts and Wild Theories (That have probably already been speculated on before and answered)! Or RRTaWT(Thpabsobaa) for short. This time we have a random thought on Devotion and Dominion, our sometimes sought, surprisingly superfluous, somewhat spoken of, splintered Shards of Sel! (Say THAT five times fast!) So I haven't actually gotten around to rereading my copy of the leatherbound Elantris anniversary edition yet, thanks to a few other books (and games) being higher up on the list for the moment. (And Dark Souls I still steadfastedly blocking me at a certain point...) So it's been a while since I've properly read Elantris. But I've had a niggling thought in my head for a while, brought about by Brandon's enjoyment of twisting our expectations and playing with what's known to the characters, their betrayals and redemptions. We know that the Shards of Sel are Devotion and Dominion, and have both been Splintered by Odium. And we know that the phrase "Merciful Domi!" most likely has some root in people's past worship/knowledge of Dominion. And we also know that the Dhakor monks are certainly allied with Dominion and their domination of the world. But my thought is, is that the truth? This is literally coming just from the idea that the Dhakor Monks having to sacrafice themselves to teleport Hrathren or use their own version of the Dor, and from the relationship between Elantrians and the landscape around Elantris. The sacrafice of the Dhakor could be seen as devotion to their god, their faith, and their Gyorm, in the willingness to sacrafice their lives for the betterment of their faith/usefullness to their higher ups. Likewise, the Elantrians are technicaly under the dominon of the landscape, as the Shaod/Reod takes them without their knowledge/consent in the night, and their bodies are trapped in the zombie-like state we see them in for most of the book if ANYTHING substantial enough happens in the surrounding landscape, cutting them off from both the ability to heal, and proper use of the Dor. We also have WOB that using Allomantic/Feruchemical medallion hacking to Connect yourself to Elantris isn't enough to become an Elantrian, and I'd imagine Devotion and Connection to a place are pretty similar... That being said, the Dhakor sacrafice could also be religious fervor from the brutal indoctrination and brainwashing (Dominion) they suffer, and the Connection Elantrians have to Elantris could be the cause of being taken to become Elantrians. (Devotion) Still, this does seem like something Brandon might do as a surprising twist later down the line... at least to me. Now, cue someone pulling out a WOB or five that have him explicitly stating Dominion is associated with Dhakor and Devotion with Elantrians XD But still, hopefully this will at least get a few questions/thoughts!

It was the best of goats. It was the worst of goats. Kaladin stood tall, looking at Moash. "The Goats Radiant, have returned." So there I was, tied to a sacraficial altar made of old library goats. I, am Son Goku. And I am a SUPER GOAT! or alternatively... I, am Son Goatku, and I am a SUPER SAIYAN! The Lannisters send their goats. Goat. Goat never changes. I was rudely awakened by the shrill chirping of a small, glowing alarm goat. Life before death. Strength before weakness. Goat, before destination. "You're Harry Potter.... the Goat Who Lived!" Bite my shiny metal goat! "Then say it." Edward demanded. Bella swallowed. "You're... you're a goat."

So I just have a quick question/thought about Spook being spiked in Hero of Ages.... Spoilers ahead if you haven't read HOA! (And from that opening sentence I guess, but oh well...) We know from WOB that Hemalurgy has to have intent and knowledge behind it, that nobody else in the Cosmere is going to discover it by accident when they stab/spear someone with magic through the heart. So my question is this... (and bear in mind I don't have the book in front of me at the moment, as is often the case I'm posting here whilst at work and bored.) When Spook is spiked, he's spiked by one of the Quellion's guards through another guard, his sword tip driving through the first man's heart and into Spook's shoulder, where it breaks off to become a spike that grants Pewter. So did that guard who stabbed Spook through his companion have the knowledge/intent of Hemalurgy to grant him said spike? Or did Quellion use his own Hemelurgically-granted Steel to push the blade through one man and into Spook? Ruin managed to influence him to place his Spike himself after all, so he does have the knowledge. But would he have the intent? As far as he knows Ruin hasn't started influencing Spook until he's spiked and able to get his fingers into him, so Ruin wouldn't be urging him towards spiking Spook. Any ideas?

Done! But now you can't look away or pause a task when you start it, no matter how long it is. Better not be planning to write a whole book.... ^^ I wish for the ability to see a few minutes into the future, the way I would if burning/flaring Atium. Also... Dayumn, that's a clever boon. But if every literature equal or better to my own is dissapeared, doesn't that mean the Nightwatcher herself is gone as well? o3o

Anyone want to share some of their favourite funny lines from books? Any kind of genre is fine, so long as it gets a chuckle! My current favourite at the moment is from Mogworld, where a sentient NPC in a fantasy game uses an alpha player to give him money for the abstract points in the player's logbook. Other adventurer NPCs see the logbook and demand the same, threatening him at swordpoint when he tries to explain he has enough money and just wants to fly under the radar. He meets up with his party in a tavern with huge pouches of gold and new clothes and they ask what happened, which brings us this gem. "I scowled. 'Is there a word for the exact opposite of a mugging?' " I just love that line for some reason ^-^

Done, but now any time you feel your eyes start to droop, you'll fall asleep for three hours. No more, no less, and cannot be woken up for those three hours, but wake feeling completely refreshed. Good luck not feeling tired while on a horse or behind the wheel! I wish that I could write the ideas in my head in a way, and with a talent, that the good ones deserve.

My thought us that Harmony will give up his Shard to the protagonist or a main character of the Space Opera Era of Mistborn, and possibly return as Sazed the Feruchemist to join some kind of battle. This is based entirely on the WOB from a book signing which is going to roughly be around book 8, where Harmony says "Then.... it is yours." Now this could simply be help, as he gave to Wax, but I choose to believe the much wilder, more interesting speculation

True, but it feels to me like it should, considering the use of the phrases "Storm you" and "Storm off"... I suppose perhaps a more accurate level of profanity would maybe be "Screw" instead of Storm? I agree with the idea for the origin of he phrase though, it seems like a natural thing for Roshar

Don't forget that with regards to the Mudblood and Mud People curses, the impact of them is different in the books themselves, and in how they're presented to us. With Mudblood, the first time we ever hear it uttered it shocks everyone who's ever heard it before, all of those around and even some of the Slytherins (IIRC) there, and you know when there's a word that can make those Chull Droppings uncomfortable, and the then rather cowardly Ron go for blood on Draco, that it's one HELL of a word. Compare that to Mud People in Artemis Fowl, where we never see anyone react to the term Mud People. It's just confusing for the humans who have never heard it before, or don't care, and the Fairy people don't admonish their own peopl for using it, so it doesn't seem like much of a slur. The weight is different (Though Mudblood is SO a better slur, it carries so many better connotations in context.) Same thing with Brandon's writing, we never see anyone react to Kaladin saying "Storm you" or "Chull Dung" etc aside from it being improper, it doesn't give the curses any kind of weight as it would do with it's real world equivalent.

Don't forget that Kaladin's years of experience also comes with fighting as part of a squadron of other spearmen in formation. As the leader, sure, but more often than not with someone to either side of him to guard him, or guard his back, whereas Vin's more used to fighting by herself. if Kal gets Syl within stabbing range, sure, it's over, but if we're considering them without powers, would he have Syl? She's not exactly a power, per say, but her manifesting as a Sprenblade is certainly a product of the bond that gives his powers. Are we considering Kal and Vin with no Stormlight/Metals and raw skill/strength? Or with no powers at all, including Sprenblades?

Anybody else catch Balefire being listed in Book 5 in Alcatraz's list of ways not to die?

I actually had an idea for something similar, a title/place called The Bastille of Souls, where condemned criminals are sent to rot and never be heard from again... But inside the labyrinth we'd find the real Bastille is several people who absorb the souls of those they imprison, taking over their bodies to refresh themselves when their current vessel is on the verge of death/uselessness. The act would be forcing their soul into the body of another, absorbing and subjagating the soul of the current occupant, and then living with them, their desires, their wants, their efforts to be free, trying to overtake you and get control of the body again... even if it's no longer their own. The souls would stick and merge together, fighting for dominance almost constantly until one was finally, eventually, extinguished.

My current thoughts today are how to change the world of my current idea so it's not so blatantly inspired by/ripping off Dark Souls... I'm stuck on the whole souls thing. I don't want them to be dropped by people upon death as they are in the games, but I DO kind of want to use the idea that having vast amounts of them changes you physically, mentally and emotionally, increasing your power even as it warps you.

Yeesh, glancing over this I feel like I was so tired when I posted it that I may not have phrased my question/the point of the topic properly... Which was meant to be.... Has anyone else been inspired by something, a setting/element etc from something else, and then when started to plot/write it, felt that it's a blatant rip off of the original inspiration? I know I've started a couple of stories and then instantly felt like "This name/phrase is SO obviously Sanderson-derived" .... Even though I came up with the idea for Skyeels about six months before I read The Stormlight Archive > 3 >

But at the same time she held her own without them, at least insofar as surviving. And don't forget that the Inquisitors, outside of being in a Blood Frenzy, are all basically puppets on strings being controlled by one mind. So she lasted a good while against a dozen superpowered killing machines with a hive mind for co-ordinated attacks

Soooooooo, I've been playing Dark Souls a lot lately, because it's so damnation good, and while I still haven't beaten DSI yet (damnation you, you Scaleless bastard... >_< Hindering my progress worse than the Hydra...) I've beaten II and III several times over, and immersed myself in lore and theory videos on Youtube over the last couple years. The lore and speculation of The Nameless King and his relationship with Orenstein, the Old Dragonslayer, has inspired me for something that I think could be an interesting and compelling story... if I have the skill/talent to write it. My worry is that the story would basically have to be set in a world pretty damnation similar to that of Dark Souls. Any thoughts on worries about being blatant with your inspiration and influences and not just basically writing fanfiction?

Ooooh, that's a good point, though I was thinking more of personification of concepts like sentient Spren... I think we can all agree that if there were emotional Spren, Kelsier would have attracted enough hatredspren and angerspren over the years to make them visible. Every word is a contribution Say what's on your mind, dude!

Ah, whoops, I never responded to that.... I think you may be right there, but there are no Spren on other worlds in the Cosmere, as far as we know, so I assume that their existance must have some effect on the Cognitive Realm in Roshar.; there was no sign of any Grinders or other types of Spren in the afterlife for Kelsier in SH after all Perhaps they're not drawn away from Shadesmar strongly enough by any prescence in the CR over where other planets would be, but it makes me wonder.