I wanted to open with a witty joke, but I've come down with a sudden case of writer's block. I've still got time to give a brief intro? Here I go... I've been a fan of this forum for awhile, but I have a terrible secret to confess. I was a lurker! I only read the forums, but I must now come clean. I'm working on several books, and I am eager to get to know fellow writers and discuss ideas on story structure and how to use it. Sharing each other's work can also help keep the fire alive is an amazing thing I want to be a part of. Looking forward to meeting you.
Glad you decided to show your face. Writing is often similar to a Chinese finger trap. The harder you try to pull the words out, the more stuck you seem to get. What kind of stories are you working on, if you don't mind sharing?
Thanks, Foxxx. It's good to meet you. I'm working on science fiction stories. There will be a few staples of the genre (such as humanoid aliens, energy weapons, FTL travel) in them, but others (advanced precursor race, a race of aliens where everyone's evil and united under one agenda/belief/ideology, all planets are Earth-like) will either be avoided or given a new spin. They will discuss some themes and ideas, but quality of story will not be sacrificed. What stories do you like?
Sounds very cool, Wrex. Hopefully you'll share an excerpt sometime. While I didn't play the games, I'm a big fan of the original Halo trilogy. Fond memories; the Halo aesthetic and universe as a whole are truly something to behold. Master Chief is a great hero in my opinion, and the first three games are masterpieces. I *used to be* a big Star Wars fan too, and I still hold the George Lucas era in high-esteem. Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are also outstanding games. While I do enjoy sci-fi, I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore fan beyond those few examples. I guess dystopian might be sci-fi depending on the particular story, and sci-fi elements tend to sneak into most of my oeuvre. I enjoy stories that are mavericks without sacrificing the fundamentals of what make a good story. They're creative and have some new spins, as you mention, but without sacrificing quality. And they say something meaningful about being human, about existence, even if it's a message or theme I'm already familiar with. I also hate how a lot of media nowadays, whether it's movies or books or whatever else, are very preachy about hot political issues. I don't have a problem with these topics being addressed, and I don't even have a problem if the author takes a side. But I dislike it when it's done in a ham-fisted, tone deaf manner. Sometimes the writer seems to lose sight of the fact that if I wanted to be subjected to preaching, I would've simply turned on the news, or gone to some other source for my information.
I will post an excerpt in the future. For now, I'll just say the stories will include, in no particular order; a war against a race of super-strong aliens that breed like rabbits and their allies, a first contact colonial story - but both sides are advanced alien races, and societal exploration in a multi-species world. The Halo trilogy does have some gripping characters (ironically, while I like Master Chief I also liked The Arbiter/Thel'Vadam), and a story that keeps you engaged and guessing. I'm big on the Star Wars films of the Lucas era; as for the EU I do like KOTOR and the Star Wars: New Jedi Order books. I am a big Mass Effect fan, and I hold the original trilogy in high esteem. Shoehorning in political agendas is too common in media and fiction these days, and I have a similar view to you on that; any side strawmanning opponents is a major pet peeve of mine. While my stories will address some of these topics and on the odd occasion I will take a side, I don't want to be preachy about it and will not strawman those I disagree with. Are you looking at writing tips or are you working on anything?
Sounds interesting! Good luck; I'm sure you'll find this forum to be a very helpful resource. Ah yes, the original Halo trilogy certainly has some other great characters besides good ol' Chief. The story is very gripping. And regarding Star Wars, Anakin's arc is compelling in spite of the prequels flaws. Only thing that held them back was execution. Revenge of the Sith is still by far my favorite Star Wars film of the original six, and made up for the impressively obnoxious Jar Jar, as well as Lucas' inability to film interesting dialogue scenes. I don't know what happened there between the original trilogy and the prequels; somewhere over those 2-3 decades he completely forgot how to film an average dialogue scene. Still, the mutual failures of Obi Wan and Anakin and the ultimate shattering of their friendship; Anakin's slow descent into paranoia, anger, corrupted by evil to the point that he fulfills his own nightmares by killing Padme, is simply stunning storytelling in my opinion. The whole scene on Mustafar hits me in the feels every time, no memes intended. Lucas failed in the filming and execution of his own story, not the writing itself. Definitely, couldn't have said it better. It has to serve the story. I'm always open for learning, and trying to improve in my ability as a writer. Oh the bittersweet futility and infinite possibility of striving for perfection. I'm also working on a couple stories. One, Epoch Coda, explores the question of how we ought to spend our last hours alive when nuclear holocaust is imminent. The other is an exploration of depression and salvation; delving into the mind, where the wrinkles of the brain turn into trenches and one finds themselves at war with an amorphous entity they do not understand; in a plane of existence full of strangers wearing the same uniform, losing themselves to madness, the Darkness, or surviving in the labyrinth for eternity in search of a way out. Blurring the lines of reality and a personal, mental Hell. The center of the shadow is the brightest. Salvation is found through faith, hope, and belief.
The first is a good premise. If you haven't looked it up already, might I suggest researching some media and commentary made during the Cold War? When nuclear holocaust was imminent (or people thought it was). The second sounds like a "darkest before the dawn" type story, and has some elements that sound religious. I am very interested in the second, though I like the first too.
That's actually a really good idea! Only stuff from the Cold War I've ever known about were the "Duck and Cover" bomb-shelter PSA, and countless sources on controversial figures like McCarthy. I hadn't considered focusing elsewhere, and looking into the thoughts and feelings of the common populace. The first idea really popped back into my head after that recent false-alarm in Hawaii. --- You could say religious. I'm pretty loose with those terms, and a bit more concerned with letting people reach their own conclusions. I'm agnostic myself. An ex-atheist. Respectfully, it appears to me that society today is making a serious mistake leaving behind the concepts of faith, belief, and hope, under the misunderstanding that they strictly belong to man-made religions. I think faith, belief, and hope are fundamental to the human condition, and just happened to be co-opted by religion, to oversimplify it. I suspect Nietzsche's "God is dead" quote - referring to the abandoning of faith, belief, and hope, and other things we see today - has a lot to do with the epidemic of depression and related mental illnesses. In my personal experience, abandoning the existential or the "spiritual" (for lack of any better words) due to my arrogance that many atheists share, made me cynical and jaded. I thought I was above it all and knew everything, for science, with its reason and logic, had all the answers and could flawlessly provide me with everything I needed thanks to its superior rationality. Then I encountered Camus' famous suicide-question. I became very depressed, anxious, self-destructive, and was face to face with trying to justify why I should bother with living. That was the moment I realized that the tools I had left, so to speak, could not come up with any meaning, or any purpose for myself. The dichotomy of right vs. wrong itself felt flippant. Nothing mattered. This is all part of what I'll be exploring fictionally in the second story I mentioned. I'm a fan of Kierkegaard, and his philosophy - among other things - were significant influences on the concept of the second story, where depression manifests in this nightmarish journey to another plane of existence that will make one question their own reality. Many will find themselves there, and the way out starts at confronting what you fear. But what does it take to do that? I still struggle with depression and anxiety but I'm far from where I used to be. A lot of things, which are commonly associated with Christianity or other religions as you mentioned, helped pull me out and made me a better person. Selflessness, and learning what love is. Being present. Forgiving myself and others. Having hope for something, having beliefs, and having faith in something. Living by the truth. Sorry, not my intention to ramble or get preachy! Just explaining the origins of the idea. Long story short, I don't strictly mean faith, hope, and belief in the religious sense. --- Are there any themes or underlying messages you're considering exploring in your story you mentioned?
It occurred to me when you mentioned imminent nuclear holocaust since that's the closest we've been to that in real-life. If I find any links relating to people's feelings on the matter from those situations, I'll send it to you; it is possible that news reports on the false-alarm in Hawaii interviewed people afterwards and then got their reactions. I have started doing this for my stories recently; for one of my characters, a female alien who spent her childhood as a war refugee, I have started reading "The Diary of Anne Frank" for some insight into what someone would be like in that situation. You are giving the concept of faith and religion a lot of thought, and I am glad you moved past the state of arrogant unbelief. Being Christian myself, I am happy to discuss these and do not consider you preachy. To share a bit of my views, I will say we did not co-opt faith, belief and hope to oversimplify them, we are (or are supposed to be) saying Who and where that should be directed to to help people. Regarding, the reason people are trying to redefine so much today, and the resulting problems, the how any why of it are explained in the Bible. I'm sorry to hear you struggled with depression and anxiety (I've known the latter myself), but I'm glad you're moving past that. On that Have you considered God Himself? I will risk a bit of preachiness because I want to help; If you seek God with all your heart, you will find Him. There are themes and underlying messages I plan to have in my stories. One will be about patriotism, exploring the positive and negative aspects, but not be a condemnation of patriotism itself. I'm using aliens to try and avoid any social or political baggage that may come with doing that to human societies. Another is anti-religious sentiment which I will be taking a side on, and trying to do so in a well-done way. For my story, there is an anti-religious faction who will be my rebuttal to the idea that advanced societies do not need religion and me taking a side on/against anti-religious sentiment. I say this both as a Christian and someone who has seen what happens when society cuts God out of the picture such as Soviet Russia, North Korea and Sweden. It's more common in science fiction than other genres to the point that it's got a trope "Scary Dogmatic Aliens" - the always evil race/faction of single-minded alien villains motivated by a single belief, agenda or political ideology, usually as a criticism of something in real life and often prone to the Strawman Fallacy. Examples include Doctor Who's Daleks and the Covenant Empire of Halo (though the Covenant Empire are an engaging and well-written one, despite that I think the writers there may be taking a side I disagree with). They will also explore the idea that advanced technology does not equal utopia (the government uses it to control its people, preserve their tyranny and subjugate others). There will be more for my stories, such as interracial dating - something I have heard be called "the last bastion of racism", but I will get into that later and can discuss it with you if you'd like to hear more.
Chief was indeed my favorite, but if I had to pick another... Well, for starters, the "character" and "attitude" that were given to all the different Covenant enemies, and even your fellow USMC, was great. But as for an *actual* character, while the Arbiter is absolutely a hands-down good one, along with minor characters like Johnson, I'd have to say Noble Six is my next favorite. Even though I didn't like Reach as much as the first three, it was still a great game, with a wonderful story and characters. The characters from Halo 3: ODST come in in 3rd place.
Happy coming out, Snap! I'm sure that we all look forward to your increased participation. You're among friends. Jump in, the water's great.
