battlebrothertherix In reply to Ehsartem [2014-12-25 21:23:51 +0000 UTC]

This is a...very colourful message
Merry Christmas to you in turn!

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battlebrothertherix In reply to A-M-A-P [2014-12-04 23:02:03 +0000 UTC]

Should I post a critique on it?

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battlebrothertherix In reply to masonicon [2014-11-29 23:49:45 +0000 UTC]

I'm afraid I'm already busy with several stories and collaborations, meaning the only additional writing I have time to take on is paid commission work.

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masonicon In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-11-29 23:51:39 +0000 UTC]

is paid commissions are paid with ?

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battlebrothertherix In reply to masonicon [2014-11-29 23:59:07 +0000 UTC]

Sorry, no; I don't have any use for dA points, so it has to be in a national currency. I usually use USD, as shown in my commission info: fav.me/d826o2q

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battlebrothertherix In reply to gazzz477 [2014-10-06 16:19:15 +0000 UTC]

No problem

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battlebrothertherix In reply to Mixedfan8643 [2014-07-25 19:44:58 +0000 UTC]

Seeing the life other characters live and living it alongside them, by far.

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Mixedfan8643 In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-07-25 19:48:19 +0000 UTC]

Very interesting.

For me, it's the fun of creating something. Creating a world for yourself to explore and characters for you to meet and you calculate the experiences you have as you meet the characters and explore the world. It's awesome and I love it.

Is that a good idea of writing being fun?

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battlebrothertherix In reply to Mixedfan8643 [2014-07-25 19:57:20 +0000 UTC]

The only point I would disagree on there is that we're not the ones creating it. The characters are creating the world and the story, and the world and story are creating the characters. We're only giving it a way to be shown to other people. We never really create stories...we just give them a voice.

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Mixedfan8643 In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-07-25 20:02:48 +0000 UTC]

Hmm...interesting point of view. 

When you put it that way...an author is like an explorer. We visit a new place and document what we've witnessed and experienced. That's a good way of thinking about a story.  

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battlebrothertherix In reply to Mixedfan8643 [2014-07-25 20:11:43 +0000 UTC]

That's a good way to put it. We can always stake our claim to having been the one to write a story...we just have to remember that we didn't create it - the characters created it for us.

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Mixedfan8643 In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-07-25 20:36:26 +0000 UTC]

Thanks and indeed so. 

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battlebrothertherix In reply to ezioauditore97 [2014-07-14 22:39:43 +0000 UTC]

Not bad. In about a week I might be starting to craft custom miniatures from modelling putty.

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battlebrothertherix In reply to Mixedfan8643 [2014-07-08 18:43:55 +0000 UTC]

It depends - writing in general or writing stories?

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Mixedfan8643 In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-07-08 18:45:32 +0000 UTC]

Writing stories. 

We could offer our own insights like what you think the five main rules would be and what I think. 

I just feel like striking up a conversation really and you quite enjoyed some of the ones we've had before so...yeah. 

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battlebrothertherix In reply to Mixedfan8643 [2014-07-08 18:51:07 +0000 UTC]

Hm...that's a hard topic to say for definite. I've never given rules for it specifically -  I've usually not set rules for myself because that feels rather restricting, other than talking about flaws that appear in writing.

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Mixedfan8643 In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-07-08 19:08:44 +0000 UTC]

I see. In my opinion, if writing had rules then it would look like this:

Rule Number One: The story is the most important element

Some may say that the characters might be more important as they carry the story...but it takes a great story to make characters great enough to carry the story. Above anything else, the story should be the most important factor in a story as the story is...well, the story. Who cares about great characters if the story they're trying to tell isn't all that great? Before focusing on characters, world-building or anything, the story must ALWAYS come first.

Rule Number Two: Keep character numbers to a minimum

It's OK to have a lot of characters, especially in an ongoing series but in the story at hand, the one you're telling currently, make sure that the number of characters is fitting for that of the story. Too many cooks spoil the broth after all. If your story is meant to have a lot of characters than make sure that the story is big enough to have a lot of characters. If your story only needs three characters then shape the story in a way that shows why we only need three characters and not more. 

Rule Number Three: Everything in a story has to have a purpose

Obligations to following this rule is when we get the terrifying TV Trope labels "They Wasted A Perfectly Good Plot" or "They Wasted A Perfectly Good Character". If something happens in a story, it has to have a purpose, build up to something else later in the story or even another story in general and it shouldn't be there for the sake of it. e.g. a character loses his weapon. Make him lose it for a reason. Why should he lose it? Maybe the villain gets hold of it and he uses it for something later on in the story. Don't make him lose his weapon because, there has to be a reason behind it. Also when you establish something in a plot such as say...a newly created virus, do something with it. It could lead to another kind of story later down the road. 

Rule Number Four: Maintain a decent pace

Pacing is a big Achilles Heel for many a writer. Too slow and the audience gets bored, too quick and the audience has trouble keeping up. Think very carefully about the pacing and think how long your story needs to be. Does it need to be long? Then have a relatively slow pace, don't make it too quick otherwise it will feel like stuff's happening very quickly and yet it's taking forever to get to the point. Does it need to be short? Have the pace be faster but not too fast. Make it slow and it feels longer than it needs to be. Pacing is very important and can make or break a story.

Rule Number Five: Never resort to a Dues Ex Machina 

Do I need to explain this one?

Any thoughts on this Therix? 

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battlebrothertherix In reply to Mixedfan8643 [2014-07-08 19:14:30 +0000 UTC]

If I'm perfectly honest, these seem to be very...logical, for the most part.

Thing is, you do have to be careful with a lot of these rules - Game of Thrones, for example, has tonnes of characters and everyone loves it because of that. I think in the cases of rules 2 and 3, they should essentially work in tandem with each other "every character in the story should fulfil a purpose, and there should not be more characters than there are purposes to fulfill". For example in the most recent chapter of Violet Era, there's a section that doesn't immediately make sense, but is going to need a long time to play out over the course of the series.

Rule four also has its issues, in that the pace changes constantly in a story - it fluctuates depending on the situation characters are in.

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Mixedfan8643 In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-07-08 19:20:07 +0000 UTC]

Thanks.

Very logical. 

Maybe the story calls for the pacing to change constantly but it should still be balanced. I do see what you mean.

If I was to add another rule, it would be "Avoid Mary-Sues like the plague". 

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battlebrothertherix In reply to Mixedfan8643 [2014-07-08 19:30:19 +0000 UTC]

The pacing essentially needs to be balanced for the situation.

The mary-sue thing...basically yes. I've got characters in some stories that come close to it, but that's because they're meant to be very powerful and do have a lot of problems as well. It balances well.

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Mixedfan8643 In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-07-08 19:33:12 +0000 UTC]

Agreed. The latest movie I watched Transformers Age of Extinction fell flat on its face in that category. It had two completely unrelated plot lines clashing together and one had too much focus and one not enough focus. Thus we had a pretty horribly paced movie beginning to end. But hey, Michael Bay excels at crap like this...

Cool.

So in your eyes, what do you think is the most important thing about writing to remember? Like, the one thing that you absolutely need in order to succeed?

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battlebrothertherix In reply to Mixedfan8643 [2014-07-08 19:39:05 +0000 UTC]

For me, the one thing I've always needed, and in fact relied on, is bizarrely not knowing what will happen to characters until it happens. While I know where a story will ultimately end, I follow it as the characters do. I don't know anything happening until they do...to a greater extent. Some small elements that have later value I clearly know, but for the most part I personally improvise my storylines.


But that comes from writing the story for the characters. To perhaps generalise it into a point, a writer always has to remember what the story is about. It's not about them, not about showing people how good they can write or "their" story. The story belongs to the characters - they are the ones involved, and it's all about them. The characters in a story are no less real than the characters people like you or I play ourselves, and so they deserve the same respect.
The story is theirs. The world is theirs. The life they live is theirs. Writers only give voice to it.

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Mixedfan8643 In reply to battlebrothertherix [2014-07-08 19:41:50 +0000 UTC]

Your statement gleams of logic my friend.

That piece of info is more meaningful and true than anyone realizes. I agree with this completely. 

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