McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Strange Idea.... set in the Old West?
Fireflywyo:
--- Quote from: Keryth on October 01, 2008, 05:46:38 PM ---Great idea, but you should be made aware that its already been done as an RPG called Deadlands. Still, the story idea sounds fantastic and I'd definitely pick up a copy to read
--- End quote ---
Never heard of Deadlands. However, lol, I guess everything has been done in one form or another. I guess it just comes down to making "your" thing as unique as you can.
As for Louis Lamour, he's a fantastic author. I enjoyed "Haunted Mesa" but my favorite book of his is "Flint" :) One good thing about writing a western is that I'm from Wyoming. We've got the Oregon/California/Mormon/Bridger/Bozeman and Pony Express Trails, numerous cavalry forts, one of the main lines of the U.P., the Powder River Country which featured some of the Great Battles of the West, Yellowstone, the Green River, Cheyenne, Yellowstone, and Fort Laramie, the great plains, and the Rocky Mountains. (Come visit Wyoming! lol) As an historian, (M.A. in history) I'm hoping that I can avoid some of the pitfalls that some authors face due to the ignorance of their chosen historic setting.
Thanks for everyone's input. I'm sure I'll be asking for more in the future. :)
Roaram:
haunted mesa is my favorite,
Fireflywyo:
--- Quote from: Roaram on September 19, 2008, 08:13:25 PM ---
and I would also warn against being accidentally racist. sure, racism was a big problem in this country at the time(it still is, I know) but if your magicians are all african sorcerers and asian mystics?
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That's an excellent point.
Not all of the magicians in the book would be african and asian mystics. I would have a diverse group/agency that has numerous people in it. I merely thought that it would interesting to have my main character's "sidekick/secondary character" be an Asian especially given the position that Asian's held at the time. I imagined one of the stories talking place in California where Black and his Asian friend get caught up in happenings going on in the Asian community of the time where some of the racism against Asian's came into play. I thought it might be an interesting dynamic in some places. Basically, I think that in creating a secondary character's who have some sort of magical ability, that it would give Black an everyday man/ Indiana Jones mortality in which Blacks' cunning and intelligence make the difference.
Black isn't a Luke Skywalker or a King Arthur secretly hidden away at birth and destined to hold great power. He's a common man who's world has been turned upside down by forces moving on the outer edges of our world. He's thrust into this world and all the while he thinks "I don't know what the hell's going on but I'm going to find out."
"come on, merlin, one of the mst well known wizards of all time (not counting gandolf or harry potter) was english/celtic, as were the druids. and a host of others. my point is don't just have your magic done by some ancient chinaman, just cause he has some "chinese mystic" crap. use actual chinease fantasy stuff, research it so you know what asian wizards could do in asian myths."
I think if I could do enough research than I'd like to incorporate many different types of myths. As I noted above, with the growth of America and the influx of various immigrants, there would also come other things which have also come to the new world and interact with my setting in interesting and unique ways. Since this is taking place in the old West and thus after the American Civil War, imagine if some of those otherworldly forces and beings had also taken sides during the war to secretly influence the mortal world? I could make that a starting point for the overall story line or incorporate it into a subplot along the way. Either way, I think it would be interesting if these beings potentially carried their animosities against each other in the same way Americans did following that conflict. Heck, perhaps the secret war is still going on? lol
LOL. That is if I have the ability and skill to pull it off. Shrug.
Lastly, I know it sounds like a lot, and honestly, I'm only tinkering around with an idea but it seems like the more I think about it, the more I can see individual bits of the action and the overall plot slowly begin to fit in like the pieces of a puzzle creating a picture.
I appreciate the input from all of you. :)
ballplayer72:
I love the idea! Get to work
LizW65:
--- Quote from: Keryth on October 01, 2008, 05:46:38 PM ---Great idea, but you should be made aware that its already been done as an RPG called Deadlands. Still, the story idea sounds fantastic and I'd definitely pick up a copy to read
--- End quote ---
I like the idea too, but I've also heard rumors that a Wild West forerunner of the Supernatural TV show is in the works.
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