Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Beth Pavell]

I think the biggest tell for whether a (beginning; don't really see this in seasoned folks) writer is male or female is the gender of their main character. I'm not going to go into some diatribe about how this is secretly internalized misogyny/misandry/whatever, but I find that male writers tend to have male leads, and female writers tend to have female leads. It's especially common on fanfic.net, where maybe three stories out of a hundred have leads of the opposite gender of the writer, but even on here, I think everyone but Ace had their lead as the same gender as they are, heh.

Again, this isn't a bad thing, but I thought it was interesting. ~~

Also, yup, I'm attracted to crapsack apocalyptic worlds like flies to honey.

So explain Eve Actually, in the case of Eve she ended up being more interesting to write than I originally intended and she's my first real attempt at writing from a woman's perspective so ... I don't know, make what you like of that.

I'm writing a pretty lighthearted story because pokémon is escapism for me. You can see some of my frustrations with life coming through in the narrative, but this is pokémon! I always dreamed of what it would be like to just go on a journey when I played Silver, so naturally I write about that

 

[kintsugi]

I think the biggest tell for whether a (beginning; don't really see this in seasoned folks) writer is male or female is the gender of their main character. I'm not going to go into some diatribe about how this is secretly internalized misogyny/misandry/whatever, but I find that male writers tend to have male leads, and female writers tend to have female leads. It's especially common on fanfic.net, where maybe three stories out of a hundred have leads of the opposite gender of the writer, but even on here, I think everyone but Ace had their lead as the same gender as they are, heh.

Again, this isn't a bad thing, but I thought it was interesting. ~~

Also, yup, I'm attracted to crapsack apocalyptic worlds like flies to honey.

So explain Eve Actually, in the case of Eve she ended up being more interesting to write than I originally intended and she's my first real attempt at writing from a woman's perspective so ... I don't know, make what you like of that.

I'm writing a pretty lighthearted story because pokémon is escapism for me. You can see some of my frustrations with life coming through in the narrative, but this is pokémon! I always dreamed of what it would be like to just go on a journey when I played Silver, so naturally I write about that

Didn't want to call you out in the OP when I didn't call anyone else out, but I'd argue that Josh is the main character of TLW, at least for the chapters we have so far. In time, sure, they may share the prize equally, but at least 75% is Josh's viewpoint and struggles, and Eve's stuff only comes into play later. :3 although hey I still love the woman. also, jokez because of things I can't yet talk about but when we look back on this in about a week's time it'll be full of irony

And it's funny; SRBS is the story I imagined when I played Gold. What the hell happened in my childhood. ._.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Haha, yeah, well, in truth it's a very valid argument. Eve did kinda grow with the story till she became the second protagonist. I like Eve. I think I'd find her a bit exhausting if she was a friend of mine, though

And El, you are a strange young lady

 

[Dorothy]

Haha, yeah, well, in truth it's a very valid argument. Eve did kinda grow with the story till she became the second protagonist.

Deuteragonists FTW!

(Which reminds me, need to get back to writing Astrea when I get back from Britain and the dust from my job hunt and college registration settles. Didn't expect to have so little writing time!)

 

[Flaze]

@kintsugi; untrue! I've actually had various older stories that were with a female character xD and I had one a few months ago that I wanted to keep up but my time got constraint and I forgot about it >_<

 

[Persephone]

Well, just got back from a mission trip to another country with no Internet for a week. Now I get to go halfway across the States to go to college orientation and have no Internet for roughly a week. Glad this could all play out around awards season.

And I think the author-protagonist gender correlation is pretty solid on the Internet because of the "write what you know" maxim/crutch. And also self-inserts. This is fan fiction, after all. I'm currently working on my first story with a mostly female cast, which is harder than I was expecting for a variety of reasons. Chief among them most of the real-world places I'm drawing from for world-building weren't exactly feminist so I do need to factor in how gender would change past and present experiences more than normal.

 

[Instrutilus]

Also, yup, I'm attracted to crapsack apocalyptic worlds like flies to honey.

How about a Pokémon world which was hit by a meteor, wiping out a majority of its population, cut off from the Galactic Federation, thus any potential support, and Pokémon training came about because adults would send their kids to play on the routes with wild Pokémon so that they'd have less mouths to feed in the aftermath, where crops where a commodity? And that was only 30 years ago relative to the start of the story, if I can finally finish it.

 

[Misfit Angel]

So, I had an idea for a story, but I'm not sure if I'd be the one to write it. It'd be standard super hero vs. super villain in a major urban area. Maybe without the ridiculous costumes, as I never really felt that was a qualifier of being a super hero. There'd be sidekicks, young wards, minor villains, corrupt police, and of course the every day citizens who have their lives ruined while these gifted few beat the crap out of each other. But the twist would be that the main super hero and the main super villain are romantically involved, both in their normal lives and while being heroes/villains, but nobody knows about it.

I'm not sure if an idea like that would get too pretentious for it's own good, however. I'm not sure how you'd balance that idea around an actual serious super hero story without feeling forced or campy. Or if you'd make the super hero interactions a secondary plot and the romance the main plot.

 

[Flaze]

I think that idea sounds pretty interesting actually. It could be a bit tough to balance both of those out but I actually think I could find a way to do it xD

 

[Instrutilus]

Go the Unbreakable (the one M. Night Shymalan movie I'd ever recommend) route and have the heroes have somewhat realistic abilities, like the movie's super strength (clocking in at 10,000psi if the car crash scene is any indication) and resulting habit of drowning (thicker bones and muscle mass would make him sink like a rock). None of that silly 'lasers from eyes' thing, do you have any idea how wrong that would go? The eyeballs never stay still, they're constantly moving. Not to mention pushing a light beam out the things you're using to see would always be a bad idea.

 

[Flaze]

Yeah but your logic just makes super powers boring plus laser eyes are cool.

 

[Instrutilus]

Really? Being able to draw electricity and redirect it at someone is boring? (there was one person who redirected electricity to burn through some paper) Or maybe being able to see and cut objects moving too fast for the Human eye? I'd love to see someone weaving in and out of bullets or cutting them in half to taunt their opponent.

Just because I said realistic doesn't mean I mean boring or based solely in reality. I expect speedsters like the Flash but the friction, vacuum effect and metabolism issues should be addressed to make the world more alive.

 

[kintsugi]

I'm not sure if this is the right place, but I leave the internet for two days and they start pulling LoK episodes what.

 

[Flaze]

Yeah that is pretty sad xD though I kind of saw it coming.

 

[AceTrainer14]

@kintsugi @Flaze: It is going to air online though, and the producers said there will be another season at Comic Con today, so its not gone forever. I dont watch it, but I heard that Nickelodeon has pretty much screwed it over, so it is not surprising really.

I have been a bit busy with wrapping up the Awards (expect results very soon... hopefully...) so I have not arranged next months Academy Lesson. Was there anyone who had an idea that they are willing to write about?

 

[LightningTopaz]

I'd be willing to do one on adaptation

 

[AceTrainer14]

I'd be willing to do one on adaptation

Adaptation of what? We have already had one on adapting the games.

 

[LightningTopaz]

Adapting real world lore to the Pokeworld,and possibly parody and the Pokeworld.

 

[Lugion]

Yeah, Nick really screwed the pooch with Korra.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Slight non-sequitur here - this didn't seem quite appropriate for the announcement thread - but anybody following The Long Walk, I haven't forgotten about it! Chapter Twelve looks like it's going to be a long one

Oh, and you'd be brave to take on another story, @Eliza Prescott