General Discussion: THE STORY

[Crossword]

Hopefully in installments over the next six months. :p

It was a nice day out, so I sat down outside in the sun, cued up a playlist on my iPod, and pretty much just powered through the last chapter and a half. It was pretty exciting, and reliving, to finish something I've been working on for three years and to finally write scenes that have been in my head throughout all that time. It's still going to need some reworking and revision in places but yeah, it was fun.

[ShinigamiKing]

^ Cool to know you finished that story by the way.




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Anyway, I have most things sorted out. But I still can't put my finger on what I want to do:

A more lighted-hearted, epic adventure set in a fictional universe (e.g. Earth is basically a parody of our world. Like, it basically has the same living standards for people)

or....

A more dark, mature (in terms of subject matter) epic adventure set in a near apocalyptic version of our world (so basically our exact world, just going through a near apocalypse sometime in the future).

I'm torn, because the general order of events I have planned out can work virtually the exact same in both settings.

The first setting was basically how the story was when I started it. (I used to make "manga" of it, and had fun with the atmosphere.) The second setting came in when I had trouble forming a consistent plot and series of events without asspulls or forgotten characters or other literary issues that can plague stories.

But all of a sudden, I realized how I could make this work with the first setting, which is why I'm in a jumble.

[Prismeru]

^ Cool to know you finished that story by the way.




---


Anyway, I have most things sorted out. But I still can't put my finger on what I want to do:

A more lighted-hearted, epic adventure set in a fictional universe (e.g. Earth is basically a parody of our world. Like, it basically has the same living standards for people)

or....

A more dark, mature (in terms of subject matter) epic adventure set in a near apocalyptic version of our world (so basically our exact world, just going through a near apocalypse sometime in the future).

I'm torn, because the general order of events I have planned out can work virtually the exact same in both settings.

The first setting was basically how the story was when I started it. (I used to make "manga" of it, and had fun with the atmosphere.) The second setting came in when I had trouble forming a consistent plot and series of events without asspulls or forgotten characters or other literary issues that can plague stories.

But all of a sudden, I realized how I could make this work with the first setting, which is why I'm in a jumble.

Have you watched Melinda and Melinda? I mean, it's not a good movie but i reminded of how you can be torn apart when two different approaches to the same plot.

[ShinigamiKing]

Have you watched Melinda and Melinda? I mean, it's not a good movie but i reminded of how you can be torn apart when two different approaches to the same plot.

Sounds interesting.

Do you have a link to watch the video for free?

[Prismeru]

Sounds interesting.

Do you have a link to watch the video for free?

Uh, not really. Sorry but i'm pretty sure it's pretty easy to find in the web.

[Gizmo]

Okay. I'm thinking about starting a blog. It would a review blog, and for now I think I would just do a One Piece "arc" segment and maybe a Gravity Falls episode segment, then maybe review other things in the future.

I'm hoping writing critically about things could build my analysis on entertainment and also just help me write better. I could also get back to trying to write some more original content, but feel like the review blog would be easier/less time consuming to an extent.

But I'm hesitant to start it. Emo personal story in the spoiler tag.

Spoiler:

I've kinda wanted to write a One Piece blog for a few years now, and I almost considered it when the timeskip occurred since I reread the series during that time anyways. But that's the thing. I'm doing it now because I noticed in the manga section that I've spent 8 years on apforums, being a passive observer but an active, almost addicted, viewer of this forum. I'm recently out of college, unemployed, and am in a pretty bad place emotionally right now, so much so I'm writing this, which I find personally pathetic and humiliating.

So I think I'm just using this blog as a crutch, wanting to focus my time on this instead of trying to live a life outside these forums or the realm of imagination. But to be even more honest with myself, I know I'm too much of a coward and lazy to try to build my social skills anyways. I'm just afraid that I'm going to spend too much time on these blogs instead of trying to build skills to make myself more marketable (I graduated with an aerospace engineering degree), and even now know that I'm barely doing this right now anyways, so I might as well do something that might make me feel productive and less shitty. If I was employed, I probably wouldn't have these feelings of self doubt. Then again, I dunno if I'd even be thinking about doing these blogs as much as I am right now if I did have a job

So is this a good idea? Bad idea? Any other suggestions?

[Kylor]

Hi guys. I know I haven't been saying as much as I used to, but meh, 'tis how it goes. Been meaning to write stuff for a while, kinda hit a block, of sorts. I'm hesitant to spill out every thought I have right here and now like this, but, with any luck, maybe the brilliant writers in here would be able to help me out.

So there's this thing I wanna write. Again, for personal reasons I don't want to say too much about what I want to do, at least not in a public forum like this, but I feel it should be known that it's in script format. I have the setting (pretty realist, not, like, fantasy or sci-fi or anything like that) and the characters, but the plot, the conflict of the story, just isn't coming to me. I want the storyline to be more emotionally-driven than anything else, and as true-to-life as I can possibly make it, but at the same time, I don't want to make the storyline too wishy-washy and ill-defined.

For clarification, it's a fairly minimalist storyline, centering around three major characters (though I may add more) who are separated by a long distance. Beyond that, the most I've figured out about the storyline itself is that I want the central focus of the piece to be on the relationship between the three, with their lives outside the group as a backdrop.

Again, sorry to ask a question like this, especially one so vague, but I wouldn't have unless I was well and truly stumped, which, I am not hesitant to admit, I am. Any ideas? I'd appreciate hearing if you guys could help me in any way.

[Supernova122]

I'm not exactly a good person to give advice on this, but have you tried just starting to write and seeing where it goes? From the beginning or somewhere in the middle or whatever.

[Kitsune Inferno]

Definitely do that. It's easier to shape an already written story to your liking than to try and get it right the first time. Just write what you want to write, what you feel is important, whether it is or not, and than start expanding or subtracting on that to delete it.

As for plots, good plots arise from conflict and irony.

Maybe the story can arise out of, I dunno, three long distance childhood friends coming back into touch after years and realizing that they've all become totally different people than they use to be, and how they basically start over from scratch to eventually overcome the obstacles and differences between themselves, realize that maybe they've just simply grown too different and distant, then maybe coming to the conclusion that they've simply a created a new, uniquely different relationship in the end. It's not the most original idea, but it takes your core concept and generates the most compelling conflict it can have, I think.

Just go from there and hopefully something you like comes out.

[TBlend]

So like... is this place dead now or what? Do people still write occasionally? Are some of the older writers still here? Someone give me an update of the past year summed up in like... 3 words. Maybe 2 if you can shorten it that much. As a matter of fact... Sum it up in 2 words.

[Rogues' Gallery]

Maybe 2 if you can shorten it that much. As a matter of fact... Sum it up in 2 words.

Ghost Town

[Kitsune Inferno]

I'm still writing now and again, but life has become a massive time sink. Also, I didn't really feel like I had a solid readerbase here anymore, so I've been more and more stingy with CdA updates. So I'm still sort of writing, but clearly not posting.

[TBlend]

Ghost Town

http://img.ffffound.com/static-data/...f4e580b7_m.gif

Thank you, sir.

Spoiler:

[Crossword]

I'm still plugging away when I can. In fact, I should have another chapter of my story up soon.

Admittedly, I've been spending a lot of my free time over the past year-and-a-half working on Let's Plays, but I suppose that's still writing, of a sort.

[TBlend]

I feel like you (and Cuddles) have always had the most impressive work ethic in the writing section. Some of us (like Kitsu) still do quite a bit, but most of us seem to only be able to chug out an update here and there after some serious effort. But then you seem capable of delivering on a regular basis. >_>

I really need to get caught up on Stargazer.~

[Kylor]

Hit another major block with ADT a while back, and since then, I haven't really been feelin' the plotline anymore. The characters, mainly the titular two, still mean a lot to me, though and the story was a huge part of my life for a long time. I may get back to it, but only after some serious rethinking and revision.

Otherwise, I've mostly been working on other stuff, particularly reviews, which have taken up a good chunk of my writing time. I've also been working on a few scripts and some miscellaneous stuff, but nothing I felt needed to be posted here. If the mood strikes me, I may write something to be shared yet again, but for now, I've been content with quietly honing my writing rather than starting any big project. That's where I've been the past couple of years anyway.

[Atuin]

I've been attempting to start a few One Piece Stories. And I guess I've found I can't write a straight up Third person view. I avoid First Person as I generally hate reading it myself. And Second person is hard to write. But weirdly in third person I've found I'm not keen to Characterise but rather I seem to focus on the descriptive and in past tense. As in I'm seemingly writing an eternal prologue. And I've never been keen on writing spoken words. Sort of like an outside perspective looking in. Example:

" It could have been days or weeks that they sailed under a dark cloud. No-one spoke. Their souls and dreams blown away with their beloved Captain. Every one ruminating and sinking into despair. Even the marines guarding their captives shifted uneasily during their watch as the malaise clouded over like a brewing storm. The Mugiwaras were spent, done, deflated, lost.
It may as well have been a room full of corpses."

The style tend to carry on through-out. I can give a full example later when I kink out the ending of one short story I've written. (not part of the above) Plus work out what the title is going to be.

I also have the problem of a short attention span. One day I WILL complete a multi-chapter story!

For the record I have Four OP stories in progress (and a Not Story). I've told myself don't post anything to the internet Until You've finished it this time.

One involves a What If and Impel Down (the one I snipped the piece above from)
A list of What If's
One short involve an amusingly awkward moment that is pretty much done
A very complex Not Love Triangle (The Not part being there is three people in a relationship of two and everyone is OK with it. It'll be explained better I hope when it's read)
And what was going to be a very vaguely implied rare pairing that now wants to be a series of written letters and a mystery. And I've never come across this combination in the OP fandom.