91
Everything Else / Re: Cool Stuff Found on the Internet, again
« on: April 22, 2010, 09:04:07 PM »
I don't know . . . Darth Vader stopped a whole barrage of blaster bolts. With his hand. I'm thinking a batarang isn't going to do much.
News:
"Magic is what makes fantasy fantastic," someone says, "you can't apply rules to them or else it loses wonder!" I respond, "Sure, but if you want to write them you will certainly want to know how they work." Writing is all about execution, and I find applying some basic laws of physics to magic systems make them more understandable and realistic. Here, I'm going to outline my basic method for developing a magic system.
Column by Chaos2651
Discuss it in our forums.
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
92
Everything Else / Re: Cool Stuff Found on the Internet, again
« on: April 22, 2010, 03:21:03 PM »93
Everything Else / Re: Cool Stuff Found on the Internet, again
« on: April 21, 2010, 07:49:26 PM »94
Reading Excuses / Re: Feb 22 Erik Holmes - The Sword of Worlds CH 23 - Kajsa
« on: April 21, 2010, 04:27:38 PM »
I'll up myself as a beta reader when you're finished as well, but only when your finished 
95
Everything Else / Re: Cool Stuff Found on the Internet, again
« on: April 18, 2010, 12:09:01 AM »
So, on a personal note, I helped put on this fireworks display. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEHggsznorM You have to watch it until about half way through to get why I posted it. Lets just say it was one of the more interesting days in my life.
96
Brandon Sanderson / Re: Suvudu Cage Match Finals, Rand vs Jaime
« on: April 06, 2010, 03:24:52 PM »
Oh come on?! No votes for Conan? You have to have Conan, especially if they pull that stedding crap. If that were the case (no magic), here's my list:
Vasher (resourceful and deadly)
Mat (lucky)
Perrin (merciless)
Conan (for brutality purposes)
Lan (a little finesse)
Paddan Fain (with dagger of course)
**edit**
I might be tempted to toss in Birget for a little ranged damage.
Vasher (resourceful and deadly)
Mat (lucky)
Perrin (merciless)
Conan (for brutality purposes)
Lan (a little finesse)
Paddan Fain (with dagger of course)
**edit**
I might be tempted to toss in Birget for a little ranged damage.
97
Reading Excuses / Re: Progress and Submission Reports
« on: April 03, 2010, 04:18:57 AM »
Don't worry Silk. The version you have is completely obsolete now anyway. Of the fifty or so people who have read it (or a draft of it) I think only two didn't like it, and those two stopped reading after five pages, so my faith in them only goes so far. What I'm saying is, if you'd like to read the polished version, I can send it to you. Most people have loved the story.
98
Howard Tayler / Re: Good Guys Finish...
« on: April 02, 2010, 08:40:06 PM »
I'm thinking nano-bots in the lipstick. She's spying on security.
99
Everything Else / Re: April Fools
« on: April 01, 2010, 04:15:51 PM »
Google has become "Topeka" for the day 
100
Reading Excuses / Re: Progress and Submission Reports
« on: March 26, 2010, 09:30:07 PM »
I sent off Discharge to Writers of the Future yesterday. *crosses fingers*
101
Reading Excuses / Stealing Plots from Other Genres
« on: March 26, 2010, 03:29:15 PM »
Hi all! Sorry but I've been a bit inactive lately, but work is still crazy (and I shouldn't be posting right now, but hey, I'm a slacker). Anyway, I had a question about plot stealing. It's a convoluted question, so bear with me.
First, I have a confession to make. In my last (and first) attempt at a novel, the plot seed was stolen from the book The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester. When I say "plot seed," what I mean is the overall generic plot. In Bester's book (and my attempted book), the overall generic plot is "Man gets betrayed by person who had duty to help him and sets out on course of revenge seeking to discover who the person was. On his journey of revenge he meets a woman who is as ruthless as he, falls in love with her, regains some of his humanity, but then discovers that she is the person who betrayed him."
In Bester's book, the plot was sci/fi. The MC was stranded in a wrecked space ship, and a passing freighter which heard his distress beacon stopped to investigate but did not render aid. The ship and crew left him stranded to die in the cold of space. This pushed the MC over the deep end, and he spent the rest of the story trying to blow up the ship and kill its captain. I tried to adapt the story to the fantasy genre with mixed results.
The reason for stating all of the ab0ve is this: I am starting my second novel. I am stealing a second plot. Is that a good or bad thing? It's from another genre, one that my audience will be fairly unfamiliar with. I'm just worried that someone is going to post a review somewhere saying "That Sean, he's a hack! This is the same story as X!" That is one of my concerns.
Another concern/question is whether my method of plotting is even a good idea. Have any of ever stolen plots before to use as a template for writing a story? I've found that pulling a plot from another genre requires you to artificially contrive the plot some. For example, in my last attempt at writing a novel, my MC was abandoned by a knight who was supposed to give him aid. I had to pick a knight because the person could not be easily recognizable which would require the MC to search, and in my mind I equated armor with space ship, and the person wearing the armor with the ship's captain.
Of course, much of the novel was wildly different. It had to be. Only someone who had read The Stars my Destination and had the story really stick with them would see any similarity.
So I guess here is the feedback I am looking for: Do you think plot stealing is a good idea? How much do you steal? What is stealable? How do you execute the theft, meaning, how do you fit in a plot device from another genre when that plot device is completely foreign? (Example: say the story you are stealing from requires guns, only you are wanting to set the plot in a pre-modern technology setting?)
All thoughts are appreciated.
First, I have a confession to make. In my last (and first) attempt at a novel, the plot seed was stolen from the book The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester. When I say "plot seed," what I mean is the overall generic plot. In Bester's book (and my attempted book), the overall generic plot is "Man gets betrayed by person who had duty to help him and sets out on course of revenge seeking to discover who the person was. On his journey of revenge he meets a woman who is as ruthless as he, falls in love with her, regains some of his humanity, but then discovers that she is the person who betrayed him."
In Bester's book, the plot was sci/fi. The MC was stranded in a wrecked space ship, and a passing freighter which heard his distress beacon stopped to investigate but did not render aid. The ship and crew left him stranded to die in the cold of space. This pushed the MC over the deep end, and he spent the rest of the story trying to blow up the ship and kill its captain. I tried to adapt the story to the fantasy genre with mixed results.
The reason for stating all of the ab0ve is this: I am starting my second novel. I am stealing a second plot. Is that a good or bad thing? It's from another genre, one that my audience will be fairly unfamiliar with. I'm just worried that someone is going to post a review somewhere saying "That Sean, he's a hack! This is the same story as X!" That is one of my concerns.
Another concern/question is whether my method of plotting is even a good idea. Have any of ever stolen plots before to use as a template for writing a story? I've found that pulling a plot from another genre requires you to artificially contrive the plot some. For example, in my last attempt at writing a novel, my MC was abandoned by a knight who was supposed to give him aid. I had to pick a knight because the person could not be easily recognizable which would require the MC to search, and in my mind I equated armor with space ship, and the person wearing the armor with the ship's captain.
Of course, much of the novel was wildly different. It had to be. Only someone who had read The Stars my Destination and had the story really stick with them would see any similarity.
So I guess here is the feedback I am looking for: Do you think plot stealing is a good idea? How much do you steal? What is stealable? How do you execute the theft, meaning, how do you fit in a plot device from another genre when that plot device is completely foreign? (Example: say the story you are stealing from requires guns, only you are wanting to set the plot in a pre-modern technology setting?)
All thoughts are appreciated.
102
Reading Excuses / Re: Progress and Submission Reports
« on: March 22, 2010, 03:43:45 PM »
FYI: First Round of Writer's of the Future First Quarter Honorable Mentions are up for anyone who submitted. Here's the link: http://wotfblog.blogspot.com/
103
Books / Re: Terry Pratchett and Discworld
« on: March 19, 2010, 05:37:27 PM »
Hmm... you might be right. It seems like I remember the undead magician in Reaper Man meeting Reg Shoe at a bar, but my memory is hazy (it's been like ten+ years). I know the whole equal rights for undead satire didn't hit the forefront until Men at Arms though.
104
Books / Re: New fantasy series for me please !!!
« on: March 17, 2010, 04:32:22 PM »
Start on Pratchett if you like satire. Most of his Discworld books are episodic, so if you want something that's an actual series, read the Bromiliad trilogy: Truckers, Diggers, and Wings. Still, you can't really go wrong with Pratchett. A good intro book would be Good Omens which he wrote with Neil Gaimen.
105
Books / Re: Terry Pratchett and Discworld
« on: March 17, 2010, 02:27:30 PM »
I actually didn't read Good Omens until after I had read most of Pratchett's other stuff, but I will have to ditto everyone above and say that it is an awesome place to start. Keep in mind, though, that it is not part of the Discworld universe. If anything, you'd have to call it urban fantasy.