1. Qujen

    Qujen New Member

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    Writing Short Fiction- Fantasy/War

    Discussion in 'Fantasy' started by Qujen, Jan 8, 2009.

    Well, to start off I have to do a personal project, and i wanted to write a story about a game's lore which is World of Warcraft. I have finished my plan, but like any other, i don't know how to start my story off and make that lead off to the events I had planned. Its basically Dwarves and Orcs in a big valley wanting to rule the valley, but the dwarves get in the way of the orcs, and the orcs get in the way of the dwarves. Each side has its own fortress place with towers and watch guards etc. Its basically a strategic battle story, where the dwarves set foot across in big groups to destroy their watch guard and towers so that when the reinforcements come they don't get spotted. Then each time they destroy a tower, they are one step closer to killing their clan's leader and then once they do that the land is theirs, and the others fled. It involves alot of battle scenes and gore I'm sure.

    I just don't know how to start off the story, like when people say the reader usually gets attracted by the first sentence/paragraph. One of the main things I don't know is that if i should have the main character as a private that goes and fights, or the leader, and if the leader is the main character should he just stay back and give orders, or go and fight with the others?

    I cant just straight away say in the first sentence "We have to get to their base, and destroy this tower, then we do this and this" and so on... should i have the leader explain the strategy? or should it be made up on the spot somehow?

    Probably if I i post mt plan, you guys could get a better idea of what its about. But above is just the rough idea of my story.


    Help would be appreciated :D

    (And if this is the wrong forum for this, I'm sorry)

    Thanks

    David
     
  2. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    welcome to the forums, david!

    you may not have noticed, but this section is for site-related issues only...

    i think you meant to put this into the general writing section or some other more appropriate place... but it's best when new to the site that you intro yourself first, in that section, before asking for help/advice...

    love and hugs, maia
     
  3. Banzai

    Banzai One-time Mod, but on the road to recovery Contributor

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    I'm gonna move this to General Writing, but Maia's right, you should go introduce yourself in the Introductions Forum.
     
  4. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    A story concept means nothing. I can tell you now, it has been done before. What matters is how you write it, the characterization, the flow, the imagery, all of it.

    There's no point to asking what other people think of the concept! They'll either say,"Sounds great," or, "it sounds like a ripoff of..."

    If the idea stirs you, write it. Then ask people what they think of the final story. After they tell you what they don't like about it, revise it, usually several times, until you're happy with it or until you throw up your hands and say the hell with it.

    Please read this thread about What is Plot Creation and Development?

    (and yes, this is a template post, which should give you an idea of how often this comes up.)

    As you say, story beginnings are critical. If you don't grab the reader's attention quickly, it won't matter how great the rest of the story is. The reader won't see it. For that reason, beginnings get reworked and reworked ubtil they are just right. So don't panic if it isn't "just right" in the first attempt. Only panic when everything else is done and you STILL can't get the beginning right.

    One good way to begin is with a principal character dealing with a minor crisis or problem. For example, Bilbo Baggins found himself discombobulated, playing host to a wizard and thirteen dwarves with no advance warning. As this example shows, it need not be a serious crisis, but it should be something that reveals something of the character's nature and disposition.
     
  5. TwinPanther13

    TwinPanther13 New Member

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    Well I can say that a story like that can go either way.

    You can use parts of everything you said but it only matters how well you write.

    Write well and have fun doing it. Welcome to the forums
     

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