Timewaster's Guide Archive

So, I've seen that the suggested guideline is 3500 words in length, but at another place somewhere on this forum, there was talk of having it be a chapter at a time. Does that chapter thing still stand, or would it be okay to submit two chapters if they are, together, fitting the 3500 word guideline (I just felt that the one was too short to submit alone)?

I'm a freshman at Weber State University in Utah, majoring in Art with a Visual Communications emphasis.
     My writing career began at the age of eight, when I wrote a whopping 3 page novel (1/2 of each page was illustrations). I have no idea what is was about. At age nine I wrote the sequel, about 10 pages, in which the bad guy was Megaman. . . I had drawn a picture of him in the same notebook as I was writing, so when I got to that page I just decided to incorporate it into  the story. Later that year, I wrote my third book. 30 written pages (each one 1/2 illustration (stick figure style)), Entitled "Crono and Scott". It was about me going on an adventure with my favorite video game character. . .
     I didn't write anything until seventh grade when I wrote 100 page book.... notebook page... it came out to about 50 pages typed... it was pretty lame....
     The next year I wrote one that took me about a year. It turned out to be about 90k words. Unfortunately, I'm ashamed to even read it, it was so bad. The first chapter was blatantly ripped off from a video game. I tried to go back and change it, but it had such a huge part in the rest of the story that there was no way to salvage it.
     Over the next several years, from the time I was 15, until I was 21, I started a bunch of stories, but none of them got anywhere more than 15k words. In July, however, I began my current novel, Pathros Ascending, in which I am making more progress than I have in anything since I was 15.
    It is a Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel, about dragons in space, basically. Right now I'm at 30k words, and I'm thinking I'm about 1/5 of the way through.
    Hmm... can't think of much else to say about myself.... With most of my works, I spend a LOT of time on World-Building, but, surprisingly, my current novel has very little.
   Well, thats me.

I like this idea. I'm in.
my email is ...
I'll be using OpenOffice. Trusty old OpenOffice

Dinosaurs. It was a like a prehistoric Family Matters. So cool.
I liked the Mario cartoon that was on for a little while, but don't have much memory of it. . .
Mighty Max! That show was cool!

I'm gonna second most everything said here.
I really like that idea of writing down some pivotal scenes so that you have motivation to write til you get there. I should try that.
  Anyhow,  in the WritingExcuses podcast about beginning your story, I think I recall them suggesting that, rather than trying to get your opening line down perfect, just getting a line down so you can get the story going, and then later on go back and make it perfect.
   I believe that applies to more than just the first line. Just get the first few chapters down, not worrying to make them perfect right away, but just so that you can get the story going. You can make those chapters better when you go through to edit it.
   In the story I'm writing right now, the chapter's that introduce two of the main characters are horribly done. However, at the point in the story I'm at now, those character are much more developed, and I feel that I could go back and really improve those first chapters, now that I've come to better understand those characters.
   That's what works for me.

I like the price they pay for the power. The idea of using magic/power hurting the user isn't anything new, but the idea of it reopening old wounds is pretty cool. Good imagery.
Are there any set parameters on how it can be used?

Okay, more details. . .
This is supposed to take place in our galaxy, but about 1500 years in the future. The setting is a planet, Pathros, on which one will find dragons. Now, the dragons that the dragon-riders ride are the classic dragon type, but the other species of dragon on Pathros are not. All native creatures of Pathros are considered dragons, because they all have some trait about them related to the elements. For some, it is the fire breathing, or the gas breathing, and so on, but for most, it is different. For example, one species of 'dragon' I've put into the story is the pathrosic constrictor, a massive snake-like creature, whose very body emanates frost, leaving a trail of frozen ground behind it as it slithers along, or freezing its prey as it coils around them. Even the plantlife on Pathros has similar qualities, like the hearthoaks, deciduous trees whose pod-like seeds erupt in fire if touched. So, the 'dragons' could be anywhere from small, electrically charged rodents, to massive beasts with fire running down their backs.
   For dragon riders, however, the species they ride look just like the dragons we generally think of today.
   Now, the function of the dragon riders is tied to the way the government of Pathros is set up. The planet would appear to be ruled by several city-state-like Houses. The Ruling Houses, however, are not actually governments, but businesses. Pathros is, in reality, governed by an Empire that is based on an entirely different planet. The only reason anyone is on Pathros is to harvest Aiex, an extremely valuable chemical which is a large part of the story. So, any city on Pathros is only there to house those who harvest the Aiex. With that in mind, all cities are owned by the numerous businesses, or Houses, who run Pathros.  I hope that made sense.
    Each House has their own force of dragon-riders. some houses have as few as a dozen, while the largest of them has around 150. Officially, they are merely a police force. However, they are secretly used in the constant war going on between the Houses. Everyone is perfectly aware of how the dragon riders are used, but everyone pretends otherwise.
    Another important note is that the dragon-riders are among the few whose bodies can survive an injection of aiex, which will greatly increase their capabilities. This, and the fact that they ride around on the backs of dragons, make them the greatest warriors in the galaxy.
    I hope thats enough info to get some ideas, and I hope that I presented it in a comprehensible way. Looking back through this post, it seems to be a bit jumbled.