Author In Progress

[Snowleopard]

Snow,

It is difficult to ask for criticism while at the same time not sounding desperate for attention.  I know absolutely no one on the board so I'll try lurking and posting a bit to get to know folks before opening up with content.  If interest occurs then swell but I'm not going to shove my work down people's throats.  Thanks for the advice on PMs though, I appreciate it.  I'd also love to read anything that anyone has even if all I have to offer is a theatrical background and a talent for spelling in terms of criticism.  I can also display praise in a modestly acceptable vocabulary.  So, Snow, I guess I'm asking if I may read any work you've written or if nothing else a pointed finger at someone whose work you like on the board. 

Very true 1eyedjack.  But on this forum a lot of people are trying to write so we're pretty benevolent with beginners and others.  But it is a good idea to get to know people first.  Glad to be of help.  Hey a theatrical background is good and a talent for spelling is real good.  Some people, me included, sometimes forget about spell check - which doesn't help if you've spelled it right but it's the wrong word.
As for looking at my work.  I have some stuff I am working on but, like you, I'd like to get to know you better first if that's okay?

[meg_evonne]

1eyedjack and you have a theatre background? Dang and here I was hoping you were a quarter horse person. LOL. One eyed jack is an old and famous quarter horse....

[Snowleopard]

I didn't know that ME.  I was really into horses as a kid but oddly enough thoroughbreds.
My background is actually the movie Industry.  Miniature maker, carpenter, dresser.
I've had a couple of script writing classes.

[Aminar]

My name is Aminar, if you find Aminar somewhere else it;s probably me.
As a kid I never thought about being a write, I'm too practical to bank on a pipe dream.  Then I got involved in this thing called DaishoCon, it's a little tiny anime con in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin.  My friend from elementary school bullied me into helping.  One of our guests was an author from the area that I'd never heard of.  He had 1 book that was supposedly pretty damn good, so I picked it up.  If you haven't heard of The Name of the Wind then get to a bookstore and find it. 
When I met Pat Rothfuss I became an instant fanboy, what he did with his book and his personality were both amazing.  Then he told me about The Dresden Files and I wound up reading those.
What Jim does with plot is amazing, the episodic books with the overarching plot is great.  Between Jim and Pat I learned that  wanted to be a writer.  It took me 3 years to find a concept I could stick with and thus the world of Vaicea was born.
What I wanted was to take everything great about High Fantasy(original world creation) and Urban Fantasy(modern setting, grittier feel, and the ability to travel like we do today; and mangle them until I came out with something cool.
All of the magical peoples in my world are based on other things, but by and large they aren't myth.  I've instead taken influences from the things that I truly love.  Video Games, music(and my synestesia), Dinosaurs, Elementalists, Alice in Wonderland, Comic books, how utterly terrifying ants are when you look at what they can do, and made what amounts to a modern day super hero's with roots in fantasy setting, except that the best part of Urban Fantasy is when it's covert.  It's more of a spygame played by the few people gifted with supernatural powers. 
One of my favorite decisions was to have the series plot be unified by the antagonist, but the POV characters shift every book, allowing me to have more diverse locations.  The POV characters will not always be good guys, nor is the antagonist entirely a bad guy(evil yes, bad no).  This idea was spawned by the question, why does everything big that we get to see happen in Chicago?

[meg_evonne]

Welcome Aminar!

[Oldish poet]

Hi, my names Jim. I don't write fantasy but I have written and published poetry over the last 4 or 5 years. Happy to share my triumphs and disappointments with anyone who might have an interest.

TC
Jim

[meg_evonne]

Hello Poet Jim!  put some music on, pour a drink. And make yourself at home! You might hook up with Blaze's posts. She's a kindred poet. I believe.  :-)

[MarigoldsThorn]

Evenin' all.

Hi, I'm Marigold (call me Mari) and though I'm currently an animation student what I reeeaaallly want to be is a writer. :B

Been wanting to write for a living ever since I read the the Hobbit at... age Nine I think. >.> After that came Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, HG Wells, Dragonlance, Stephen King and eventually of course, The Dresden Files. <3

I simply inspired by the stories and the worlds and from then on I just wanted to tell stories and keep on telling them. It hasn't changed much over the years and despite the long shot I'm determined to get there. I really started considering writing seriously towards the end of high school. It was something that kept me sane during times of stress or worse, well that or reading.

I read all the time. I love reading though recently save for a few I've become annoyed by the fact that I'm not seeing the stories I want to see, whether it's because it'll be an interesting idea or because I want it to fill a niche or subvert a trend. That or I have a character of a concept bouncing around in my skull that demands to be let out. It's actually starting to get pretty loud in here.

I've written a number of short stories, one of which has one an award \o/, I've dabbled in fanfiction and I've become really interested in a number of certain ideas and themes I want to play with.

Right now I'm plotting my first novel which I plan to start working on for Nanowrimo. It's fairly big; big enough for a series and there's so much detail I need to sort out before November rolls in, but I have a damn good feeling about it. It feels solid and interesting and there's plenty of room to play. First person fantasty anyone?

I love playing with urban Fantasy, Sword and sorcery fantasy, steampunk and maybe a brief venture into science fiction.

Funnily enough, running around studying animation has really helped me consider story telling methods and such. It's been a great help.

[meg_evonne]

Welcome! Do you think that the mind working in animation mode helps your writing because it forces you to think in 3D? Interesting...  Good luck with the writing project.

[MarigoldsThorn]

Thanks!
Well when animating we can afford to waste time or space, and it's constantly getting beaten into us that everything must serve the story from framing to mis en scene to colour and sound. it it gets to be a habit. :B

All I know is my understanding of storytelling seems to be clearer.

Thank you!

[Snowleopard]

Er, do you mean that you can't waste time and space, MT?

In script writing we're constantly told - show it don't say it.  And the more senses you bring to a scene the more vivid it is and the more it will stick with people.

[MarigoldsThorn]

Lol, pretty much.

Yes, exactly. It's the same thing really.

[Snowleopard]

I was on a panel once about writing scripts.  I was the person who was working on and trying to sell a script.
(Still working on that.  Deep sigh)
The other people were professionals.  One of them was a producer on an upcoming RoboCop movie.  I don't remember which one.
I commented about the showing not saying but I also said that you can give indications of a characters nature with things like costume.  Say you have a character that's cold emotionally.  You put him in greys, blacks, blue greys, and blues.  If the people around him are in warm colors then unconsciously people will think he is cold.
The RoboCop guy looked at me and sorta murmured - I'd never thought of that.

[MarigoldsThorn]

lol, really?
We get that hammered into us constantly. It's one of the things we have to consider at every turn.

So well done!

[Snowleopard]

Gosh thanks.
Well, I come from an art background so I tend to think about that kind of stuff.  Producer is busy trying to get the film off the ground and done on time and on budget.  And some producers are not particularly artistic in the sense that you and I are.  Trust me - I've heard a few horror tales.

While this is about writing it does illustrate the Production/upper echelon mind set.
It comes from a book called - A Martian wouldn't say that!  ROTFLMAO
These are honest to goodness memos that were sent to the writer's of various scripts.
Memo from Studio: We have a black person in the cast but what you have him saying in your script does not indicate that he's black.
Memo from writers and company: That's what we intended.
Memo from Studio: But how will the audience know he's black?

There are others equally as dumb.