This is one I started a while ago. It was very strictly structured—I had to end each chapter with a cliffhanger within three pages—but hardly planned out at all. One of my friends read some chapters and liked it (though I didn't give a good enough impression of the main characters' ages), but I sort of ran out of steam somewhere in the teen chapters. I doubt I'll come back to it, but there's somewhat of a chance.
Title: Special
Genre: Science Fiction
Protagonist: Kori, a 15-year-old thin girl with long, dark hair. She's good at running and of above average intelligence. She comes to the story as an amnesiac, but she comes to find out that she is a Special—in her case, her blood is highly corrosive to anything but her insides, including her skin.
Other Main Characters: Victor, a 17-year-old boy of Russian heritage with platinum blonde hair. He has a good build. He tends to be grave and not that chatty, and he also doesn't remember being a Special, but he's the first to find out from the Black Suits' computers. If his hands are uncovered (he wears gloves), he quickly becomes encoated in ice, with frozen claws, and will destroy everything he can until his hands are covered again.
Josephine, a 15-year-old blonde with twin low ponytails. She's quite small in stature. She is also a Special—she exhales large amounts of carbon monoxide, and she has an increased tolerance for it.
Antagonists: The Black Suits (at least, Kori names them this after their formal dress), members of a private agency seeking to contain the Specials, or at least those committed to their facility. They're normally armed, and their preferred vehicles are black Jeeps.
Setting: Modern day America, Nevada as far as I can remember. Specials live among humans, including their parents, but many of their abilities are more trouble than they're worth, or more trouble than their loved ones think they're worth. There exists a facility to which several Specials are committed, where the agency experiments on them in search of cures.
Plot: Kori is on the run from some very unfriendly, gun-pointing Black Suits. She's also trying to figure out who, what, where, and why she is. Her only clue is the melted-looking knife in her shoulder bag until Victor finds her. Both of them continue running, defeating the Black Suits when necessary, and befriending Josephine. I didn't write much past that point, but they go on to figure out the facility, meet with Price (the Special responsible for freeing them), find the corruption in the system, and somehow correct it.
Point of View: First person (Kori).
This was originally a complete rip-off of X-Men, and it's still quite a bit like that. Overall, it just doesn't feel that original to me, so it'll need some spicing up if I plan to get back to it.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Fame (What's Your Name)
So, Break Out has finally arrived. It's really been worrying me because its readers have such high expectations, and it's in such a different vein than The Rules, being off the island for the most part.
Even so, I went ahead and whipped up the first (and second) chapter and posted. 23 reviews, 10 favourites, and 19 story alerts are the results, as of today. I can't say how much I freaked out upon opening my inbox to over a page of emails notifying me of these things.
It's really nice feeling famous again, especially when very few are interested in The Long and Winding Road. Between that, Unsurvivable having almost 100 reviews less than its predecessor, and the direction Break Out is going, I was terrified everyone has either moved on or would after seeing how different the sequel is. Certainly it's a bit early to judge, but since most of the 23 reviews are people being extremely excited just to see a chapter posted, I think I'll be optimistic about the fans I have outside the BDDSG.
Of course, I always love my BDDSG'ers and being able to count on regulars like OWL-F reviewing.
It's just the difference between feeling loved and feeling outright famous, I guess. Of course, once I felt so famous I decided to compare myself with other Hetalia fan fictions... That brought the mood down quite quickly. No matter the criteria, there are always some 7 pages of stories with double what I have.
That's all right, though. I'll just pretend that all of that is only because they include yaoi and turn the other way. I may do some catering to the audience, but I'm not going to break with everything I do just to get more reviews. Certainly other factors are going to be involved, likely among them quality of writing, but those are impossible to figure out without analyzing all of those ahead of me, and I'm not going to bother with that. A loyal fanbase is a loyal fanbase, however much buzz they give your work.
Also, the title of this post is from the David Bowie song, for those confused.
Even so, I went ahead and whipped up the first (and second) chapter and posted. 23 reviews, 10 favourites, and 19 story alerts are the results, as of today. I can't say how much I freaked out upon opening my inbox to over a page of emails notifying me of these things.
It's really nice feeling famous again, especially when very few are interested in The Long and Winding Road. Between that, Unsurvivable having almost 100 reviews less than its predecessor, and the direction Break Out is going, I was terrified everyone has either moved on or would after seeing how different the sequel is. Certainly it's a bit early to judge, but since most of the 23 reviews are people being extremely excited just to see a chapter posted, I think I'll be optimistic about the fans I have outside the BDDSG.
Of course, I always love my BDDSG'ers and being able to count on regulars like OWL-F reviewing.
It's just the difference between feeling loved and feeling outright famous, I guess. Of course, once I felt so famous I decided to compare myself with other Hetalia fan fictions... That brought the mood down quite quickly. No matter the criteria, there are always some 7 pages of stories with double what I have.
That's all right, though. I'll just pretend that all of that is only because they include yaoi and turn the other way. I may do some catering to the audience, but I'm not going to break with everything I do just to get more reviews. Certainly other factors are going to be involved, likely among them quality of writing, but those are impossible to figure out without analyzing all of those ahead of me, and I'm not going to bother with that. A loyal fanbase is a loyal fanbase, however much buzz they give your work.
Also, the title of this post is from the David Bowie song, for those confused.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
New Short Story Idea #1
I'm really not much of a short story person. I've certainly done oneshots before, but always as accompaniment to some larger whole, usually something like the Brutal series. This is one idea that struck me, though, that I couldn't do in a whole novel. We'll see if it ever happens.
Title: "That We May Live" (could be changed)
Genre: Romance, I think
Main Characters: Annie Bernard, a young woman with boy-short black hair and a general attractiveness about her.
Phillip Durham, a young man with short brown hair that's rather scrawny.
Setting: Modern-day America during Veterans' Day.
Plot: Annie visits the grave of her grandfather, a war veteran. She decorates the headstone with flowers and prepares to plant a small flag, but she loses her grip, and the flag blows to the next plot, an empty one. Phillip, visiting his aunt's grave for similar reasons, is at the next plot and manages to catch the flag before it can go any further. He hands it back to Annie, who thanks him. The two strike up some patriotic conversation about being blessed with the people who fight and die that they might live. As Annie starts back for her grandfather's plot, Phillip stops her for a moment and, apologising if it sounded callous but bringing up the point of their being able to live, asks for her number.
It ends after skipping to some time later. The empty plot is now marked with headstones for Annie and Phillip Durham.
Point of View: Third person, static or omniscient.
Inspired by visiting an ancestor's grave that by some strange coincidence was two plots (one empty) away from ancestors on the other side of the family.
Title: "That We May Live" (could be changed)
Genre: Romance, I think
Main Characters: Annie Bernard, a young woman with boy-short black hair and a general attractiveness about her.
Phillip Durham, a young man with short brown hair that's rather scrawny.
Setting: Modern-day America during Veterans' Day.
Plot: Annie visits the grave of her grandfather, a war veteran. She decorates the headstone with flowers and prepares to plant a small flag, but she loses her grip, and the flag blows to the next plot, an empty one. Phillip, visiting his aunt's grave for similar reasons, is at the next plot and manages to catch the flag before it can go any further. He hands it back to Annie, who thanks him. The two strike up some patriotic conversation about being blessed with the people who fight and die that they might live. As Annie starts back for her grandfather's plot, Phillip stops her for a moment and, apologising if it sounded callous but bringing up the point of their being able to live, asks for her number.
It ends after skipping to some time later. The empty plot is now marked with headstones for Annie and Phillip Durham.
Point of View: Third person, static or omniscient.
Inspired by visiting an ancestor's grave that by some strange coincidence was two plots (one empty) away from ancestors on the other side of the family.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Plotting and Planning
What do you all do for plotting? I've heard a popular strategy in NaNoWriMo is making outlines and writing from them, and Novelist's Boot Camp requires very extensive outlining.
I really can't handle it, to the point I'm not sure if I can go with the NBC strategy. I have problems outlining essays—anything for which I have to outline ends up choppy with extremely questionable/terrible transitions. I may not hit absolutely everything without an outline, but at least I feel like it flows. That's just for nonfiction, too—something that draws only from my own inspiration is going to feel much worse than usual if I try to make it fit something.
On the other hand, I can't just decide to write a chapter (*cough* first chapter of Break Out *cough*) and write it. I need to have some prior plan in my head, and I have plotted "outlines" of entire chapters like this. Actually, I think it's more like making a movie of it, though I do end up with a few loose phrases I want to incorporate (a lot of which I actually don't, incidentally...).
I'm not sure exactly how much organization I'm trying to get—or how much I need to get. It's an art, I guess. Until then, pantsing it is.
I really can't handle it, to the point I'm not sure if I can go with the NBC strategy. I have problems outlining essays—anything for which I have to outline ends up choppy with extremely questionable/terrible transitions. I may not hit absolutely everything without an outline, but at least I feel like it flows. That's just for nonfiction, too—something that draws only from my own inspiration is going to feel much worse than usual if I try to make it fit something.
On the other hand, I can't just decide to write a chapter (*cough* first chapter of Break Out *cough*) and write it. I need to have some prior plan in my head, and I have plotted "outlines" of entire chapters like this. Actually, I think it's more like making a movie of it, though I do end up with a few loose phrases I want to incorporate (a lot of which I actually don't, incidentally...).
I'm not sure exactly how much organization I'm trying to get—or how much I need to get. It's an art, I guess. Until then, pantsing it is.
New Manga Idea #3
I started this a long time ago, before I could draw, and had a friend do the art for me. We've since parted ways, and I feel like I've lost too much of the story to really reclaim it, but it's worth mentioning.
Title: Countdown (or C0un7d0wn)
Genre: Undecided, likely shounen
Protagonist: Shil, a redheaded 16-year-old with half-green, half-purple eyes. He's rather good-natured and likes playing the hero. He has the ability to see how long everyone has to live in the form of a digital clock-type display over their heads. The clock shows their natural life span unless an impending threat to their life arrives.
Other Main Characters: Frass, a crabby 16-year-old with spiky blue hair. He's a childhood friend of Shil.
Keed, a brunette 17-year-old who keeps his mid-length hair in a ponytail. He's a bit of a jokester and incredibly (magically, I assume) strong. He also lives in a glass house, but I don't remember why.
Tulip, a 16-year-old with bra-length blonde hair. She's feisty but warms up to people easily enough. She can telepathically control a length of cloth that can only be cut by the blade of a death god.
Karin, a wheelchair-bound 17-year-old with black hair in a low ponytail. She's sweet but quiet around strangers. She and Keed eventually fall in love.
Antagonists: I have completely forgotten, or I may have never determined any.
Setting: A modern-day fantastic universe.
Plot: Shil struggles to save the world one person at a time while keeping up with school and friends. Eventually (I don't recall how) he and his friends start mixing with the bad guys and death gods. In this struggle, he finally finds out the origin of his powers (spoiler: his mother is a death god).
I definitely need to develop it more if I plan to go anywhere with it. At this point I don't.
Title: Countdown (or C0un7d0wn)
Genre: Undecided, likely shounen
Protagonist: Shil, a redheaded 16-year-old with half-green, half-purple eyes. He's rather good-natured and likes playing the hero. He has the ability to see how long everyone has to live in the form of a digital clock-type display over their heads. The clock shows their natural life span unless an impending threat to their life arrives.
Other Main Characters: Frass, a crabby 16-year-old with spiky blue hair. He's a childhood friend of Shil.
Keed, a brunette 17-year-old who keeps his mid-length hair in a ponytail. He's a bit of a jokester and incredibly (magically, I assume) strong. He also lives in a glass house, but I don't remember why.
Tulip, a 16-year-old with bra-length blonde hair. She's feisty but warms up to people easily enough. She can telepathically control a length of cloth that can only be cut by the blade of a death god.
Karin, a wheelchair-bound 17-year-old with black hair in a low ponytail. She's sweet but quiet around strangers. She and Keed eventually fall in love.
Antagonists: I have completely forgotten, or I may have never determined any.
Setting: A modern-day fantastic universe.
Plot: Shil struggles to save the world one person at a time while keeping up with school and friends. Eventually (I don't recall how) he and his friends start mixing with the bad guys and death gods. In this struggle, he finally finds out the origin of his powers (spoiler: his mother is a death god).
I definitely need to develop it more if I plan to go anywhere with it. At this point I don't.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
New Fiction Idea #8
I made it this far without posting this idea? It's been my baby for a while. Be prepared for a lot of information. I've written multiple pages on these things.
Title: Macbay Transportation Services (could be changed to Steamtruck, or something better)
Genre: Steampunk/Fantasy
Protagonist: Bartholomew Macbay, a 27-year-old truck driver (box handle “Haulin’ Thol”) who transports goods and people—usually illegal—across The Empire’s mainland. His main goal in life, at the moment, is to carry on with his job until he’s too old to keep up or the thrill wears off. His face is rather flat and not particularly attractive. He has a bad scar curving down the left side of his forehead, though it’s usually hidden under his shaggy, black hair. His right index finger’s tip was lost on a job. He’s fairly muscular and on the taller side but not particularly big overall. He’s spectacularly brave but also self-centered. He’s both stubborn and determined and is extremely good at what he does for a living.
Other Main Characters: Loretta May Franklin, a 24-year-old factory worker and robber. She is very determined and is an excellent fighter. She’s rather cynical and can be hostile, but she will hold tight to her virtues. Nothing upsets her much more than being denied things or put down based on her gender, and her ultimate goal is to show that’s she’s more—or at least as—competent as any man. She has chin-length, light brown hair and a tan face. She’s overall rather attractive, but she also has musculature, which is shown off in her usual skimpy attire. She’s on the tall side, a fact made more obvious by her habit of never slouching. She has a few light scars on her arms but doesn’t bother to cover them.
Additionally, though "she" probably doesn't count, Macbay's truck is named Lauren/Laurie and is fairly awesome, though not animate or a mecha.
Antagonist: Maximilian “Max” Webb, the 36-year-old Manager of Conscription for The Empire. He is manipulative, suave, and a bit of a coward. His goal is to continue accumulating wealth and power in the government, though he hasn’t settled on exactly how high on the totem pole he expects to get. He is of average height, with near-black brown hair that is kept straight and reaches to his chin. He’s missing part of his left eyebrow from his time in the army, and his face is rather plain otherwise. He has average musculature but is approaching the plump side.
Setting: Rinheart, the main isle of The Homeland. The Empire stretches around the world, and The Homeland is a thriving place, but everyone has military service.
Plot: Beyond the growth of The Empire, a war has begun. Off the books, Max has begun a special conscription of magic users, the existence of whom is generally disbelieved. From their shared time in the army, he knows Macbay is one and will stop at nothing to force him back into the army. Loretta May, fleeing Havil after an incomplete robbery, hitches a ride with Macbay at just the wrong time in all of this.
Point of View: Third person, limited to Macbay. Possibly a few chapters closer to Max.
This story is currently in the Whirlpool of Infinite World-Building, so I can't be sure when I'll feel ready to get started. I've been using Novelist's Boot Camp, but I totally blanked out at the plot outline (in NaNoWriMo terminology, I am a natural pantser), switched to more world-building, and got stuck there.
Title: Macbay Transportation Services (could be changed to Steamtruck, or something better)
Genre: Steampunk/Fantasy
Protagonist: Bartholomew Macbay, a 27-year-old truck driver (box handle “Haulin’ Thol”) who transports goods and people—usually illegal—across The Empire’s mainland. His main goal in life, at the moment, is to carry on with his job until he’s too old to keep up or the thrill wears off. His face is rather flat and not particularly attractive. He has a bad scar curving down the left side of his forehead, though it’s usually hidden under his shaggy, black hair. His right index finger’s tip was lost on a job. He’s fairly muscular and on the taller side but not particularly big overall. He’s spectacularly brave but also self-centered. He’s both stubborn and determined and is extremely good at what he does for a living.
Other Main Characters: Loretta May Franklin, a 24-year-old factory worker and robber. She is very determined and is an excellent fighter. She’s rather cynical and can be hostile, but she will hold tight to her virtues. Nothing upsets her much more than being denied things or put down based on her gender, and her ultimate goal is to show that’s she’s more—or at least as—competent as any man. She has chin-length, light brown hair and a tan face. She’s overall rather attractive, but she also has musculature, which is shown off in her usual skimpy attire. She’s on the tall side, a fact made more obvious by her habit of never slouching. She has a few light scars on her arms but doesn’t bother to cover them.
Additionally, though "she" probably doesn't count, Macbay's truck is named Lauren/Laurie and is fairly awesome, though not animate or a mecha.
Antagonist: Maximilian “Max” Webb, the 36-year-old Manager of Conscription for The Empire. He is manipulative, suave, and a bit of a coward. His goal is to continue accumulating wealth and power in the government, though he hasn’t settled on exactly how high on the totem pole he expects to get. He is of average height, with near-black brown hair that is kept straight and reaches to his chin. He’s missing part of his left eyebrow from his time in the army, and his face is rather plain otherwise. He has average musculature but is approaching the plump side.
Setting: Rinheart, the main isle of The Homeland. The Empire stretches around the world, and The Homeland is a thriving place, but everyone has military service.
Plot: Beyond the growth of The Empire, a war has begun. Off the books, Max has begun a special conscription of magic users, the existence of whom is generally disbelieved. From their shared time in the army, he knows Macbay is one and will stop at nothing to force him back into the army. Loretta May, fleeing Havil after an incomplete robbery, hitches a ride with Macbay at just the wrong time in all of this.
Point of View: Third person, limited to Macbay. Possibly a few chapters closer to Max.
This story is currently in the Whirlpool of Infinite World-Building, so I can't be sure when I'll feel ready to get started. I've been using Novelist's Boot Camp, but I totally blanked out at the plot outline (in NaNoWriMo terminology, I am a natural pantser), switched to more world-building, and got stuck there.
Monday, January 21, 2013
The Moral of the Story
So, I've decided to do Mayflies for my two-year-novel course. Writing down the basic idea and genre were easy enough. This week, however, the task is to assign a theme. I've put some sort of thought into it before, but I'm entirely new to trying to incorporate a theme from the beginning rather than writing the story and seeing what comes out of it.
I started out stating the theme as injustice, and how it may always be present, but that's no reason to give up on justice. One observer suggested it would be better to call the theme justice since no one is seeking injustice. Another commented that destiny could work well, too.
Are there any suggestions from readers here? Any suggestions on writing in themes in general? I could use some assistance.
I started out stating the theme as injustice, and how it may always be present, but that's no reason to give up on justice. One observer suggested it would be better to call the theme justice since no one is seeking injustice. Another commented that destiny could work well, too.
Are there any suggestions from readers here? Any suggestions on writing in themes in general? I could use some assistance.
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