http://www.writingforums.org/ A writing forum dedicated to creative writing, where writers can use writing workshops, share techniques, and discuss every aspect of writing, publishing, and the writing industry. Members can enter writing contests, post short stories, and partcipate in the #1 writing community on the internet. en Thu, 17 May 2012 05:34:24 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.writingforums.org/images/misc/rss.png http://www.writingforums.org/ http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52816&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 05:25:13 GMT I've just started writing a novel about a girl who lives in a small village. It is set in early 18th century England. The girl - my protagonist I suppose you could say - is being goaded by her widowed mother to marry a rich man. A mysterious young man arrives to claim his recently deceased father's inheritance and estate. The story will center around my protagonist falling in love with him and the mystery surrounding his arrival and sketchy past.
Now, the problem I'm having concerning the plot is, well, the young man is actually a young woman in disguise. Shocking, I know! So far, I've only just introduced "him" so I'm not concerned really about how I'm going to write the reveal... but I am concerned as to whether I should throw some hints at the reader or just utterly shock them when the big reveal arrives. There is also the prospect of letting the reader know from the very beginning, so that it's just the narrator and reader's little secret. I know that's in a lot of other books, but it's not near as delicious as shocking them all at once...
So what should I do? Help me please! :D ]]> Plot Development Morgan Elizabeth Waites http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52816 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52815&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 05:18:49 GMT The setting I originally chose for my story is proving increasingly difficult to research the history of the land as much was obliterated with the Christianisation of the region. In an effort to be realistic, I find that I am at a stale mate in... The setting I originally chose for my story is proving increasingly difficult to research the history of the land as much was obliterated with the Christianisation of the region. In an effort to be realistic, I find that I am at a stale mate in spite of looking for information for about a year. I've been to libraries, used Google, e-mailed those who are considered experts on the region and received little to no results.

My thoughts are to simply create my own world. In some respects this would be easier, but I don't want to delve into the magical. I wanted to focus on the transition to Christianity (as it creates a beautifully tragic conflict for my characters) but I suppose this could simply be the introduction of any new deity at this point. However, again, I don't really want fantasy with magic and elves and spells and creepy ghouls coming from the depths.

Is it possible to make a realistic kingdom that doesn't exist without jumping full force into the fantasy genre? I'm anxious to get writing, but I may need to take serious artistic license in order to make my original setting work at this point. ]]> Setting Development BFGuru http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52815 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52814&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 04:27:19 GMT I'm trying to see if my character is a Mary Sue. Though she has come to me pretty naturally thus far, I'm getting worried that some people may think she is a Mary Sue due to her backstory and abilities. (My main character is names Kai)

Basically in my books werewolves and magic users, called practitioners (witches=female, wizards=male), exist and is set in an alternative reality in America, primarily New England. The werewolves are thought to have been wiped out by a genocide/war that occurred a couple hundred years ago, but a handful still live in hiding, scattered across the country. There is an underground anti-werewolf organization that tracks and hunts down the remaining werewolves. Kai's family and small pack was killed by the organization but she was saved by a wizard who took her in, adopted her, and took her to live with him at the Boston Guild (a lot of practitioners group together to form covens or guilds). Kai has been leading a fairly lonely existence, since in my story werewolves don't age past maturity so Kai knows her time with the Guild is basically limited. She has them and they know her secret, but she must maintain her human facade with other people. At the beginning of the story Kai is living with the Guild, but she is trying to find other werewolves.

In terms of abilities, Kai is no different than any other werewolf except for her ability to turn people via bite. This is rare with werewolves, but not so rare that Kai is the only one and the ability to do this would make her hated among human society because werewolves like her used to turn people against their will before the war. When she realizes just how badly the werewolf population has been depleted, not just by the way but the organization, she wonders whether she should turn people or not and is pressured by some werewolves she meets to do so to save their kind.

She has flaws, such as hubris and having extreme difficulty trusting people. She is also overly curious, unpredictable, and can be emotionally unavailable and stubborn.

But I am wondering if her having a tragic backstory and a comparatively rare ability would lump her into the Sue category. She does not have a line of men chasing and while she does have a love interest, it develops slowly over the course of the story rather than him falling in love with her at first sight or anything like that. ]]> Character Development Holo http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52814 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52812&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 03:12:54 GMT Sorry if this question has been asked many times before.. I tried to search for it, and it was too obscure to be worded correctly.

If I'm writing a book that intends to move with a medium pace, and I plan to do it in third-person, would it be worthwhile to invest in a few sets of characters to switch between for POV, just to keep the story moving and plot points relevant? My main characters are people in a single group, but I feel that if I stay fixed to them for the entire novel, it will eventually start to drag and the pacing will have to "skip" to avoid irrelevant scenes, leaving odd periods of time without description that might seem jarring. This is not to suggest I would make the second group of characters a useless gimmick.. I would write in their end. Are they needed? ]]> Plot Development Good Apollo http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52812 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52811&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 02:44:04 GMT Having trouble with a plot...

A character in a fantasy/sci-fi setting has lived here on Earth for about 1200 years. Events happening "now" are linked with her childhood--1200 years ago. I can't decide whether to leave her memory intact and do flashbacks or add in the tension of not being able to remember except in bits and pieces. I would use the "memory faded with time" approach, except that she's a member of a race that doesn't have those problems (yay for genetic enhancement), so it's either "flashbacks" or "cleverly-devised reason for not remembering anything except the past 30 years or so".

Thoughts? Preferences? ]]> General Writing TatteredMemories http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52811 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52810&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 02:06:38 GMT What do people think about the protagonist and antagonist switching places halfway through a story, before coming together at the end to defeat a greater foe?

Say, perhaps, there are two people (A & B), both after the same prize, and A spends the first act trying to steal it from B. The sympathy then switches to B, who has to get it back. Finally, A & B have to unite to defeat a larger foe (C) in the end.

The immediate problem I can see is, in building up the sympathy for whoever is in the inferior position, the other will come out looking like a jerk, and that will ultimately undermine the sympathy for both characters in their final challenge.

Any thoughts? ]]> Character Development stubeard http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52810 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52809&goto=newpost Thu, 17 May 2012 01:48:32 GMT Mixing dialog with action is important but can you have too many beats?

"How is your morning," Jill asked Joe as she waits for her coffee to cool.
Blowing over his own coffee, Joe replies, "It's alright I guess, another day."
Taking a sip from her coffee to mask the awkwardness of the situation, Jill decides to try another topic, "Did you watch the game last night?"
Joe takes a few seconds to wait for a nearby waitress to walk away before answering, "Stop pretending like we are alright, we aren't alright! You slept with my best friend."
Clinching her first, Jill exclaims, "I only did it because you slept with my sister!"
Leaning in closely, Joe whispers, "And she rocked my world! Way better than you've ever done!"
blah blah blah...

Too many beats? ]]> General Writing indy5live http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52809 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52807&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 20:04:34 GMT Poetry Agatha Christie http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52807 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52806&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 20:01:00 GMT My story, like so many other twenty-somethings seems pretty obvious. It either goes one of two ways. The first way is, you work really hard in high school to get into a good school for what you love doing. You spend your time doing your work in... My story, like so many other twenty-somethings seems pretty obvious. It either goes one of two ways. The first way is, you work really hard in high school to get into a good school for what you love doing. You spend your time doing your work in college, you move past the first two years with flying colors, get your Associates, and next thing you know, 2 more years are over and you've got your Bachelors. Luckily, the fucked up economy surpasses your lucky little ass, and you somehow land your dream job in just under your 4th year. You graduate, and you're well on your way to your brilliant career, as a (insert your amazing career here).

OR....

You struggle. Just like I did. You also got great grades in high school and you go to Suffolk University for Creative Writing but all that created was a huge financial hole, that you still are living at the bottom of. Then like every other college dropout/financial failure/regular dumbass/or free spirit you gave Massasoit Community College a whirl. Unfortunately, after working full time, school full time, and still scraping by trying to keep up with all life's finances, you realize you don't have any time to actually write. College had been basically stripping you of the very things you were so passionate about. That brings us to today. Now you write whenever you want, trying to finish your first novel... when you're not stricken with writer's block,(and working at your bullshit job which makes you sometimes hate the human population) and you write in your measly little blog (wish we could call it something other than a 'blog') that at least you get a kick out of every once in a while. Wish things worked out in a different way, but hey they didn't, and now you've got a lot of free time on your hands to do what you love.

Pretty sure my passion will be the death of my prosperity, but isn't that what all good creatives thought?
Here's hoping . . .


gnarlyandink.weebly.com ]]> New Member Introductions Gnarly http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52806 http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52805&goto=newpost Wed, 16 May 2012 19:31:10 GMT Do any of you know any ways that i can use to design my characters' looks. I need one soi can have an idea of how the actors will generally dress when on stage. Or for you fashion designers and ideas or pointers would be appreciated
Characters-
Lance- Sort of a rugged handsome guy, and uses this to manipulate women.His look should show that he is indeed better loooking than the rest of the men in the cast..
Duncan- Shakespeare buff, friend of Lance, Less confident and far less attractive than Lance is.

Roswell- webmaster/conspiracy buff. Very rude and convinced everything is a conspiracy (basically Fox Mulder) All i can get is him wearing a Che Guevara shirt

Nandi- Lance's Younger sister. A college graduate and a astrology buff, firmly believes in the horoscope (i guess shed wear insignignia of star signs)

Navarrah- A fashion designer, makes her own clothes (all i can think of is she'd wear unconventional clothes, probably overdress, im thinking and Egyptian motif)

Vida- Lances totally devoted girlfriend. Of Cuban descent. Speaks Spanish occasionally. I guess shes a wild dresser, so i'm guessing, big hairstyles which change every scenes, hoop earrings , too much makeup. Basically one stop short of looking ghetto.


So any suggestions would be appreciated (mind that this is a church production so the dress cant go too far (i.e mini skirts, toungue rings tattoos etc) ]]> Character Development motormouth http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?t=52805