Yes, keep your writing out of here. MY EYES HURT FROM READING!

I'm Trevor! How are you all :)

Eh, just remember aviewaskewed

Hi guys! I'm new to the writing forum. I posted something last night in the Just an idea thread thread. My mom taught me to read during preschool, and I haven't stopped since. I don't write as much now as I used to back in school, but I'm seriously thinking about starting up writing again.

Speaking of fan-fic, here's a short Star Trek anti-fan-fic:

"As you know, the galaxy is being threatened by a super-nova, And planet Romulus is directly in it's path." Ambassador Spock said, looking around the meeting room at other members of the council. Pressing a button on the table before him a holographic projection filled the air with an exploding star and a small planet directly in it's path. "My plan is to take our fastest ship, and create a black hole, absorbing the impact, and saving Romulus from certian destruction."

The assembled council looked around at each other, then finally one of them spoke.

"Seriously Spock? Are you fucking retarded?"

Spock, sudden started looking slightly emotional, maybe startled, maybe constipated. "But I assure you I've-"

"No, no, no, no. Listen hear dumbass, you are just trying to be a douchebag and we all know it. You're dropping a black hole near a planet to 'save it'? That's like stuffing your wife's body down the garbage disposal so she can't lose her ring in the drain anymore. You just want to destroy their planet a split second before the universe does."

"And even if your plan does work, their star is exploding! You'll be saving them from instant fiery death, just so they can die slow cold ones. You sick bastard!"

"Look, I get it, Romulans are bald jerks! We all think that! But we are not letting you race off to the edges of the universe with a bajillion Vulcan Funbucks worth of equipment, just so you can give these guys the finger. You're just going to have to sit here like the rest of us, and point and laugh thru a telescope."

Utterly defeated, Spock excused himself to go to the bathroom, where he was found 3 hours later, dead from a massive coke overdose.

~Fin~

Lol hopefully that's not to far from the spirit of the writing forums. And just so everyone knows, I did like the new Star Trek movie, I just think it's funny what hollywood thinks black holes do.

At 1/31/10 04:30 PM, Version2 wrote: Star Trek Parody

Epic...

Speaking of movies, who else read the Percy Jackson saga and couldn't wait for the movie to come out and shit bricks when they saw a comercial for it yesterday?

I just hope they dont fuck it up cuz that was a realy good book

didn't really think it was based off a book. Though the trailer did bring an interest to me. Is the series over?

5 books out one possibly on the way and I CANT WAIT.

this is my favorite book series btw

Fan Fic authors too often are people who could be writers, but simply aren't quite 'there enough' to write their own story. It definitely takes work to create an involved plot or sequence of events that make sense. More often than not, Fan Fics are written-
a. With the intention of being conveniently inserted into the main story, (i.e., a conversation that should have or might have happened in the Fan Fic writer's mind.)
b. As really disparate prequels or sequels about a character's story, away from the main plot,
c. As 'what ifs' revolving around pre-existing developed characters, but rearranged in a variety of (sexually exploitative) ways,
or d. By people who have become so obsessed with the subject matter than they begin to dream that they are in the story themselves.

That last group of people should attend therapy; that aside, it can really wreck your writing-career to start doing too much heavy Fan Fiction. Setting a story in a world of someone else's creation is generally fine (there is no idea that has not be previously dreamt), but try to stay away from using already extant characters. Writing a story about Harry Potter is possible, because having read 7 books about the bugger, you have a pretty good understanding of what Rowling would have him do. Coming up with ideas is hard, but really try not to 'take the easy way out' (no offence) and wholsesale use someone else's character. It took them time to weave that story; read that story enough, and you'll be inside the author's head. Everyone borrows from others when they write, but a good writer keeps that to the minimum. One cardinal thing an author must, must do is to avoid triteness (cliché). And at this point, if I read another story about Cecil or chocobos, I'm going to vomit.

Ignore all of this when writing parody. Parody as protected by international law doesn't neccesarily have to be funny, but it should be. So don't write a story about Harry Potter unless it's making fun of the antisocial twit, god damn it.

-~RWT~-

Yea, while it is recommended, sharing excerpts from your various literary works in the lounge really isn't a bad idea, though sharing a whole chapter, that might seem like flooding? Anyway, I think sharing excerpts is fine, but sharing chapters belongs in a thread all its own.

At 1/31/10 05:07 PM, RWT wrote: Fan Fic authors too often are people who could be writers, but simply aren't quite 'there enough' to write their own story. It definitely takes work to create an involved plot or sequence of events that make sense.

I beg to differ - I've written my own stuff and had good reviews on that before I even wrote a fanfic. Now that I've done a fanfic, I don't think that I've gone backwards on the scale. It's a sense of how immersed within the fanfic they get that you need to take into perspective.

As per your points, my own fanfiction doesn't fall within points a, b, c or even d. The game that the piece was based on is one where you actually tell the story as you play, so it wasn't too great a step to get it all into place with the characters that we had all created in our game group and get a diary going from my character's point of view to show what I felt about the other characters.

That last group of people should attend therapy; that aside, it can really wreck your writing-career to start doing too much heavy Fan Fiction.

Well, when it comes down to it, this piece is as an aside where the game improves by reading this piece and we all enjoy each other's company.

At 1/31/10 05:07 PM, RWT wrote:

:stuff

I think you are forgetting about a certain group of fan fic. "Universes" like Star Trek/Wars, The Matrix, Farscape, ect. ect., are pretty large, and allow authors to write about their own characters inside these universes. These types of fan fic I like. Often the bad tories like this end up being "if I was awesome and was - in the matrix / on the enterprise / wearing a gold bikini for a Hutt - this is what I would do." But the good ones can make you feel as if there are people outside of the main story with lifes and adventures of their own.

Personally tho, I think the best fan fic is parody. Like the Star Trek thing up there, I'll often see these single points in movies where the whole story would be completely unnecessary if the main characters had just a touch more real world common sense. Sure, it would make for a terrible movie, but it can be a pretty amusing short story most of the time for those that know the material.

At 1/31/10 12:48 PM, InsertFunnyUserName wrote: Oh, no, don't get me wrong. I do think that fanfiction is a legitimate writing genre, it's just not one that I like to write because it feels confining to me. If I'm going to be working with an idea of someone else's, I feel like don't have as much room to deviate from that idea as I would if it were my own.

This I find to be the interesting thing when trying to write fan fiction. In your own work, you get free reign of what happens. For instance, you can write about a guy just walking down the street and a giant boulder falls from the sky and crushes him, and how this is a perfectly normal thing in that society (People being crushed by giant boulders that fall from the sky) Perfectly legit.

Now imagine making fan fiction of that. But instead of a giant boulder, you want to make it rain feathers. You need to be able to be able to come up with a legitimate reasons for why this happens. All of a sudden, the idea of being "confined" has you thinking more as you try to make YOUR ideas work in the limitations of this story.

This is where fan fiction can be a powerful tool for writing.

Let me clarify-

As written by the average fan-
The story of a Twi'lek bounty hunter named Oodra: Good
Han, Luke, and Leia go on an adventure: Bad
A story about politics on the klingon homeworld: Good
Worf vs. Chewbacca: Bad
The daring story of a previously unmet wizard, set in FF IV: Good
Cecil has sex with previously mentioned chocobo: Bad

I see no problem with building off of another writer's creation, or even setting your story in one previously unexplored facet of it. Like I said, all authors draw from sources, real or fictional. But when you start writing about pre-existing, (well) developed characters, you get into trouble.

Have been developing a story about space moles, yeah, I know, I know its a cliche.

Space moles?

At 1/31/10 07:03 PM, X1SephX wrote: Space moles?

Unsightly skin growths... in SPACE!

still doesn't register elaborate.

I was joking, I have no clue what he's writing about :P

Well ill tell you. Its essentially about an explorer who travels into space, only to be ambushed by blood sucking moles on the moon. And then when they flee to Mars, they are again attacked and seek refuge inside the planet, and then meet the mole brain!

Oh I see.

damn, I get dumber when I'm focused on what i'm writing ha.

Lol, the mole brain :) The picture really helps.

I could use a review on something I wrote a little bit ago. It's in this thread, if anyone wants to read it for me.

At 1/31/10 03:58 PM, SlntCobra1 wrote:

At 1/31/10 11:53 AM, WritersBlock wrote: I think most fan fiction writers won't be well read, and therefore are less aware of plot-holes and cliches, which, of course, will drag a piece of fiction down.

Won't be well read eh? Well then how about you take a look at mine and let's see what you think.

I definitely have done my best to avoid plot-holes and cliches. Aside from the romanticisms I use, but other than that, I think it's a damn fine fanfic.

I did say "most", however, when I got to the part where you use *this* to describe your action dialogue, I stopped reading. Normal stories don't read like MSN convos. Personally, I find it hard to believe that you are well read. If you read more, then you'll surely understand that fiction isn't supposed to be written like that. Have a look at my fan fiction if you will (linked above, see: Flonkerton), and you'll see that I use none of that. Sure, write in the first perspective if you want, I do it all the time, but please, please, PLEASE, do not include yourself as a character in the story. It goes with the comment I made earlier regarding characters not being real. Yes, they must feel real, within the confines of your fictional universe, but they never are actually real. You write about characters. Characters are fictional. When you write about yourself as a character, you are referring to an actual person, and that takes out of the whole experience of the self-contained story. It makes the story less real, because the reader is aware that your fictional universe and the real world must be one and the same, and anything that doesn't match up between your fantasy, or "possible non-actual world" and the actual world discredits your own story. Makes it feel like a gimmick.

Next time, write sentences and paragraphs, give us a story that is unique and interesting. The phrase "show, don't tell" immediately springs to mind. Right now, you're 100% telling the reader what's going on. "I'm blushing" "you are blushing" "oh no you saw me blushing". There's no subtlety, there's just statements and nothing else. Where is the word play? Where are the descriptions, the imagery, the literary devices that bring sentences and paragraphs to life?

I know I'm probably being too harsh here, but seriously, I can't read that and agree with you calling what you wrote a "damn fine fan fic".

Why do people hate my writing.....

I find fanfic harder to write than something I invent myself. At least in regard to my singular experience. It was supposed to be a comedic, trippy adventure; a buddy story. It was based in the Star Wars universe. My biggest problem was trying to create my own content. I think I created such a large wall to climb over, rather than going with my imagination. I have to much respect for Star Wars I was afraid to create my own content, or insecure that it wasn't in line with the overall quality of the series.

Either way, I think fan fic should only be done when it's being made in corroboration with the original creator. Too many times I've seen fan fics that are simply the writer vicariously enacting their fantasies within that particular setting. The story itself is very weak, with little conflict, resolution, or arc. It turns out to be bait for those who really enjoy the series in question.

I don't know what's all the fuss about poetry.

At 2/1/10 12:56 AM, Sawdust wrote: I don't know what's all the fuss about poetry.

It's the most approachable form of writing. Everyone thinks they can be a poet, that's why a lot of people insist on writing it.

lol poetry. REAL WRITERS WRITE BOOKS! j/k

At 2/1/10 01:09 AM, Deathcon7 wrote:

At 2/1/10 12:56 AM, Sawdust wrote: I don't know what's all the fuss about poetry.

It's the most approachable form of writing. Everyone thinks they can be a poet, that's why a lot of people insist on writing it.

Now that you've said it, it makes so much sense. When I first started writing, I wrote poems because poems were short and non-intimidating. The weird thing is that now I find them really intimidating. The poems I used to write were just so emotional and attempting to be dark, I read them now and almost want to vomit. They were really terrible lol.

But now that I'm more well read, and more comfortable with writing, I'm finding short stories to be easier to write. And I think I really started becoming comfortable with what I wrote thanks to the game forums for the mmo Anarchy Online. Being able to write in an enviroment where thousands of others are able to read it has really boosted my self confidence.

Since I'm rambling: The moral of this story is, hooray technology :P

At 2/1/10 01:09 AM, Deathcon7 wrote: It's the most approachable form of writing. Everyone thinks they can be a poet, that's why a lot of people insist on writing it.

That and the ladies love poetry for some reason, at least mine does, and every other lady I've met.

poetry is so approachable because alot of ppl don't know what poetry is. they think that by rhyming they are majicaly poets but its alot more than that

Well sir do enlighten us.