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Messages - Shivertongue

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316
Books / Re: Twilight is NOT the worst book ever!
« on: January 29, 2010, 09:43:05 AM »
Twilight's real?  ???

...I thought it was just a urban legend

Oh, I rather like this world you live on. I want to join you....in a totally non-creeper sense.  :P

There are leprechauns here, Firefly lasted seven seasons, and Christopher Paolini never learned how to write. ^_^

317
Writing Group / Re: I need ugly sounds!
« on: January 29, 2010, 05:28:09 AM »
I've heard the sound of a horse screaming is rather ugly and gut-wrenching. I couldn't describe it in detail, having never heard it, so not sure how much that helps..

Everything else I'm currently able to think of requires electricity or technology, so I'm just gonna second the China Mieville suggestion.

318
Books / Re: Malazan Book of the Fallen
« on: January 29, 2010, 04:16:58 AM »
I've been reading the first book for about six months now. It's fantastic, but - and I don't know about anyone else - I need to take frequent breaks while reading it. This is probably not such a good thing, as I tend to forget stuff after I go a month without reading it...

Utterly fantastic, but at the moment, a bit hard for me to read too much in one go.

319
Webcomics & Free Stuff / Re: Axe Cop
« on: January 29, 2010, 03:58:57 AM »
That... is brilliant.  :o

320
Writing Group / Re: How do you outline?
« on: January 29, 2010, 03:56:53 AM »
I outline by hand. I've found, for some reason, doing it on the computer doesn't work for me. I get outline block unless I use pencil and paper. All other information is done of the computer - character synops, world-related stuff, etc - but never the outline.

As for how I outline, I generally come up with an overall outline for the story, and then do chapter outlines as I reach the chapter. This will usually cause my overall outline to change, as new stuff is added in from the meat of the chapters that have been written, but overall not much. Sometimes I'll do outlines for a few chapters in advance, but they don't usually survive long.


321
Webcomics & Free Stuff / Re: Axe Cop
« on: January 29, 2010, 03:26:06 AM »
Odd.. I'm getting nothing from the page but a notice that account has apparently been suspended...

322
Books / Re: Twilight is NOT the worst book ever!
« on: January 29, 2010, 02:56:30 AM »
Twilight's real?  ???

...I thought it was just a urban legend, meant to scare writers. Like the Writer's Block Imp, or Terry Brooks...

323
Books / Re: Fantasy girls, where are you?
« on: January 29, 2010, 01:04:37 AM »
I've been having the same problem for a while now - looking for a god fantasy novel or series (preferably the latter) with a STRONG female protagonist/main character/hero. I've found several, some in just the past few months - Diana Pharoah Francis' Path series; The Jewelfire Trilogy by Freda Warrington, and many others - but not near enough to sate my hunger. This thread has added several to my 'To Read' list.  ;D

324
Writing Group / Re: World Building & Map Creation
« on: January 29, 2010, 12:44:48 AM »
I enjoy drawing out my worlds, adding in the important and unimportant landmarks, nations, cities, mountains - everything. For me, it helps a lot with my writing if I have an actual, physical representation of my world. That, and it's fun. Sometimes I'll create a world for no other reason than to do so. Some of these worlds have made their way into stories I later wrote, or been matched with stories I'd previously written.

As mentioned above by others, there should be a limit to how much you create. For example, the question about migratory patterns: does the migratory pattern of swallow have an effect on the plot? Do the characters follow this path for whatever reason, is there a swallow that has something they need, etc.

The detail to which I go into is a bit more than most, I think. I like my worlds to seem real. I've researched things on continental drift and the effects of local climate on certain terrains, etc. Some of this stuff is self-evident and doesn't require research - rivers follow most direct downward path they can, for example. However, I did not know until recently that deserts are created by rainshadows caused by nearby mountain ranges preventing rain from reaching the area as much as it does more fertile land. Now, because of this, I tend to cringe when I see maps that are environmentally inaccurate, and sometimes can cause my suspension of disbelief to waver. (If there is something inaccurate, though, like a river flowing uphill, it will stand out. This can be used to the advantage of the story.)

I've sort of lost my train of thought... basically, if it's important to the story, develop it. If not, it's not completely necessary - but it can still be fun.  Is it especially important to you? If not, I think the diagramming idea mentioned above is a great one. If it is, draw it out to as much detail as you want.

Just beware of World-Builder's disease...

325
Books / Re: What are you reading, part 3
« on: January 29, 2010, 12:18:34 AM »
Currently through my umpteenth re-read of The Wheel of Time. This is something I do every time I finish the newest book, and thus started again on Eye of the World moments after closing the Gathering Storm. I'm currently at Path of Daggers, having started it last night - found an old bookmark in it, which kind of surprised me. Apparently I was reading it sometime in the past and stopped...

326
Reading Excuses / Re: Progress and Submission Reports
« on: January 28, 2010, 11:18:47 PM »
Today's progress...  I joined this site and wrote an introductory post. Currently thinking about an idea I had for a magic system, and wondering, yet again, if I want to redesign the world map. Also thinking of ordering a pizza.

...I've only been awake about three hours...

327
Reading Excuses / Re: Your Background
« on: January 28, 2010, 10:22:42 PM »
XD Sure thing, as long as we work on a basis of equal exchange. If you do the same or similar, I'd love to see some of your pre-writing artistry. Send me a PM or something if you wanna hash out details.



328
Reading Excuses / Re: Your Background
« on: January 28, 2010, 10:08:05 PM »
Actually, the way I work is more often along the lines of drawing the parts of the story that I'm having trouble writing. More often than not, writers block, for me, can be broken by drawing the scene I'm having trouble with. Something about being able to see, even just a small piece of what I'm trying to depict, works wonders for me. The big problem is when I have artist's block when I have writer's block...

Characters, however, must be drawn before they are written. If I don't know for certain how they look, it begins to nag on me as I'm writing them. Worlds must be mapped as well, not to mention any major cities where stuff may be happening.


~Shivertongue

329
Reading Excuses / Re: Your Background
« on: January 28, 2010, 09:53:56 PM »
Ah, who doesn't love the obligatory 'introducing yourself to people on a forum' post...

The name at the side says Shivertongue, but I also respond to Shiver, Knifey and Will - the former two are actual nicknames with stories behind them, only one of which is appropriate for younger audiences. 'Shivertongue' comes from my self-created Discordian pope name - Shivertongue Von Slamdance VI - which, obviously and cleverly, combines 'Shiver' with 'tongue'. The PG version of the explanation to which is simply that I have a considerably long tongue that I take great pride in. Make of that what you will...

I am currently starting school again, attending MATC in Madison, WI in the Graphic Design program (since this school does not offer a creative writing major, although there are classes I hope to take at some point in the future). Before this, I spent two and a half years at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, majoring in Animation, before the culmination of a series of events and circumstances led to my dropping out/being kicked out during my junior year. The easiest explanation as to why is to blame my ex girlfriend.

I've been writing as long as I can remember - and, oddly enough, I recently found notebooks filled with stories from elementary school. I'm currently trying to find one from middle school, in an effort to discover when I started incorporating actual dialogue (Somehow, my third-grade story 'Windows of Time' went thirty pages with not one character saying a thing.) Regardless, as one might be able to imagine, getting kicked out of art school has the effect of killing the artistic drive for a while, but not the desire for creative outlet. I thus began writing again, returning to stories I'd started in high school as well as taking up, um, fanfiction.. *coughs*.  I soon discovered that, whereas before , my writing supplemented my art, my art soon began to supplement my writing - which, for me, made for much better stories.

I write fantasy, for the most part - Epic Fantasy, Modern Fantasy, etc - with occasional touches of mystery, steampunk, humour and horror, and the odd sci-fi. Basically whatever seeds are planted from the innumerable daydreams that bombard me throughout the day. I have yet to finish a book, although several short stories have actually been finished (most of these, however, have since begun to grow in to larger, more complex novels..). I have yet to submit to a publisher or magazine or, um, anything, mostly due to time and the whole 'needing to finish something' thing... You know, trivial matters.

I enjoy critiquing and being critiqued, though, which is one of the primary things that has brought me to this little corner of the interwebnet. Fun fact: art school critiques have had the dual effect of allowing me to sit through the most brutal of criticism without taking offense, and given me the ability to tear something to shreds whilst simultaneously letting the target know exactly what works and what doesn't. So, when I get around to submitting something, be as brutal as you like. None of you can match Mr. Yi; he made people cry. (He also made them better artists at the same time; I'd still like to punch him, though..)

And it appears that, similar to my novels, I'm having trouble coming up with an ending for this post. (Even worse, I'm rewriting parts of it... ) Hmmm... "LOOK! A monkey!" *clicks 'post' and runs off*


~Shivertongue

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