Writers?

[magicalbookworm]

I've just started on a novel of my own, and am also working on a collaborative writing project with some good friends

I've been working on a novel round robin with some friends and it's been so much fun. Other then that project all my other collaborative efforts have fallen flat. Good luck with your own!

[tilt]

@magicbookworm - hmmm... I'll check that site out, sounds interesting. I also have a bunch of podcasts called "writing excuses" by Brandon Sanderson and... others

I think one of the problems you face by writing with others is finding a common style, but that is negligable in regards to having several minds working on the plot and more hands/heads to write stuff. We of course face the extra problem of not being native english, so we need more editing in the end

[Sergei Zybin]

Well, Im started map making to support my DnD settings (DM duty). So this is rather relative to writing.

[Yandor]

podcasts called "writing excuses" by Brandon Sanderson

I love his books, and just to think he lives what 10 minutes from my house, sad part is I still haven't gone to a book signing...

[Ryan K]

wow, Ryan sounds like a great idea! Don't get caught up in the build of the world or the novel. Get the first series outlined and go for it. It's always easier to edit something to your liking after you get the words down. (Though I shouldn't be the one to mention editing, I have a dozen novels that need editing and i'm horrible at it.)

I'm actually finding the worldbuilding immensely fulfilling, especially in terms of getting down to character bios and things like that. It stops me before leaping in to ask questions about how the streets smell, what does the cooper down the road look like (or his daughters for that matter), who lives with, near and around the protagonist, who are his friends and what do they do... yes, in terms of writing the story, the world-building is certainly getting in the way of that. But some of the best ideas and aspects for the stories are popping up while I am moving mountains in Fractal Terrains, or conditional formatting in Excel.

For instance, when I stopped and asked myself "what are their units of measurement?" I began researching the 'Roman Mile', and after doing up some nifty distance calculation/conversion formulas in Excel, I found out that an Emissar is expected to be able to march xx amount of miles in a day, and this distance predetermined the definition of a 'league' by their reckoning. Yes, details, details, who cares for such details? Me, and I am finding it immensely fulfilling.

Do you belong to any writing groups? I would have never finished my first novel if i hadn't found fmwriters.com and the people that popluate the chat room there.

Ehh.. way back when myspace was more popular than Facebook, I joined a writer's group there, and it was dominated by a few unhelpful condescending 'authors' and a slightly larger body of pandering nit-pickers. It has largely deterred me from those sort of faceless interfaces. I prefer friends and family who have given the brief on 'what happens in the study stays in the study'. I have also swapped notes with a few honest co-writers, who aren't afraid to call a spade a spade, and continue to do so when I am actually committing finger to keyboard.

My large 6 book series is based around five friends who are all heading into a differnet part of their live, each taking a differnet path, some staying in the city they were born in and some leaving to find what their world has to offer. (i really need a better blurb!) I have books 1 - 4 written. Five and six are outlined. Only a few chapters of book 1 are edited.

That's a good blurb. I have a strong fascination with fantasy stories where the protagonist isn't always an adventurer, but a common man (or woman) with real problems. Give me a potter trying to survive the local criminal elements beating protection money out of people any day over the adventures of the brave, young farm boy seeking adventures on the back of dragons or on the belly of elvish women. I think that is where the drama is. I think your story sounds like it will pay it's due to the common folk.

I've taken a break from that set of books to work on another fantasy novel. Hopefully the break won't do me harm when i head back to the large serise.

It might just be what you need. A bit of fresh air in another world can keen your mind when you return to the old one.

[Ryan K]

I think one of the problems you face by writing with others is finding a common style, but that is negligable in regards to having several minds working on the plot and more hands/heads to write stuff.

I am pretty impossible to get along with in collaborations. I was collaborating with two friends from America, and they were fabulous to get along with, but when I get an idea in my head I can be pretty argumentative. I backed away for their sake, and with no hard feelings from anyone, but again this is a classic example of different methodologies and different styles. They wanted a simple Lord of the Rings sort of fantasy, where I was looking for something a little more HBO-ish. That, and I hate magic actually existing, and the theory that elves came from monkeys too. I could only use mythology as someone in the story's view on how the world and the peoples came into being, not as how it actually happened.

Eh, sorry for the rants. I'm just glad to be back on the wagon again.

[magicalbookworm]

I love his books, and just to think he lives what 10 minutes from my house, sad part is I still haven't gone to a book signing...

Your in utah too huh? I missed meeting him at a local writing club last year.

[magicalbookworm]

Ehh.. way back when myspace was more popular than Facebook, I joined a writer's group there, and it was dominated by a few unhelpful condescending 'authors' and a slightly larger body of pandering nit-pickers. It has largely deterred me from those sort of faceless interfaces. I prefer friends and family who have given the brief on 'what happens in the study stays in the study'. I have also swapped notes with a few honest co-writers, who aren't afraid to call a spade a spade, and continue to do so when I am actually committing finger to keyboard.

oh i've joined groups like that left and right. ugh annoying. all they do is talk about writing but never do nothing. that's what i've stuck with fmwriters.com over the years. They write. they talk about writing. you can go into the chat room and ask a writing question and a dozen people can give you an answer.

That's a good blurb. I have a strong fascination with fantasy stories where the protagonist isn't always an adventurer, but a common man (or woman) with real problems. Give me a potter trying to survive the local criminal elements beating protection money out of people any day over the adventures of the brave, young farm boy seeking adventures on the back of dragons or on the belly of elvish women. I think that is where the drama is. I think your story sounds like it will pay it's due to the common folk.

I really didn't want the characters for the series to be a prince or a farmer that had a great destiny waiting for them. yes the characters get a bit of luck with what happens in their life, but they aren't going to suddenly find out there a king!

It might just be what you need. A bit of fresh air in another world can keen your mind when you return to the old one.

It's been nice playing in another world. Though i had to stop and start on a city. i had no idea where any of the characters were going!

[Vandy]

Hi, All.

Quite some time ago, I created a map for use in SimCity 4 named Carthage - Region of the Stones.

For some time, I've been writing a "back story" that I intended to use to create a City Journal on Simtropolis. Well, that never happened. So...

I decided to turn it into a short story and use graphics from the map as part of the story.

If interested, I'd be glad to tell you more.

Regards,

Vadny

[Diamond]

...or on the belly of elvish women.

Hey, I'd read that.