Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[AceTrainer14]

I think I generally come up with concepts for characters first or a premise. I very rarely have sat down and thought about a certain part of the world that needed writing about. Now though, the GalacticVerse is firmly set, so when I come up with characters or ideas I have to see how they would fit into this wider world.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

Give and take: characters inform the world around them, world shapes the characters in it. With Pokemon fic we're lucky enough to have a reasonably large and diverse world to set our stories in to begin with, so my usual strategy is to start with characters and build the world from there. The framework is already there (say, the Hoenn region) but it's up to me how to portray it, and that tends to reflect on the sorts of characters I put in it.

 

[diamondpearl876]

I suppose the general trend for me is to come up with a premise first, and then the characters. But it technically ends up being that I created the characters first, because I eventually change the entire premise or it goes in a completely different direction than what I originally intended. Which is fine with me - I love surprising myself with writing.

 

[Flaze]

It kind of varies with me. Sometimes I get the idea for the story, like just a concept of it that I really wanna do. Other times I get an idea for a character that I wanna use and build the story around it.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

See with me, I'm planning on practicing writing the world first, then the characters. With the mindset I was having, I was worried if I made the characters before the world, I would be running a great risk of fabricating the world around them, thus creating a Mary Sue. Though I won't argue if you tell me that still could happen with the reverse.

And on an unrelated note: by golly, it's barely been a full day, and yet Puppy Monkey Baby is giving people nightmares, and people are flipping their shit over a Doritos commercial.

 

[VeniaSilente]

Isn't that already more or less what PSMD already is, anyway?

So guys, when you write concepts for your stories, do you write your world first, or the characters?

Like others have mentioned, I do neither first. In general the basic world concepts get thought of first, since you want to at least answer 20 quick questions about the world so it makes sense but beyond that it's all integrated development. What the characters do can change your world, and what your world is like determines your characters' cultures. And then there's the plot. Never forget the plot.

in other news ohai. I'm pretty much a lurker here, mostly reading the General Writing thread and... well, showing up randomly.

 

[Life]

Lurking and showing up randomly is a fun mix, but posting is also quite fun. ^^

On the current topic, in every situation I come up with the story/world before the characters, which is probably why my characters are never that strong. I never find much motivation for characters to be honest, but I do find interest in seeing how an event can play out.

 

[0bs1d1an_kn1ght]

ohai

 

[AceTrainer14]

I'd like to remind people to keep questions about their work to the General Writing Questions thread. We will be keeping a closer eye on the thread from now on, so if it's a one off question, keep it to the GWQ: if you think it would be a lengthier discussion, feel free to make a thread about it.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

Well I tell ya hwat, did anybody else catch Grease: Live last week? I thought it was super good, but Danny Zuko was tragically miscast. Aaron Tveit was good, but he didn't have . . . well, whatever it was John Travolta had in the original. Sandy was great though, and Rizzo stole the show imho.

 

[AceTrainer14]

Someone alerted me to this earlier today:
View: http://iwritesometimes.tumblr.com/post/138926286634/all-fanfictionnet-stories-have-been-stolen

Worth checking out if you use FF.net frequently. Rather unsettling

 

[Misheard Whisper]

Appears to have been deleted, what's the deal?

EDIT: nvm, just tumblr being fucky

 

[AceTrainer14]

Appears to have been deleted, what's the deal?

EDIT: nvm, just tumblr being fucky

I removed the error image, not sure why that popped up.

 

[Beth Pavell]

That's faintly annoying. The Long Walk is up there on buystock, at least, possibly on some of the others as well

 

[AceTrainer14]

If it's on one, it's probably on all. My entire account is on all of them. I reported the people to Google but idk what that will do :/

 

[Misfit Angel]

I'd like to say I'm bothered, buuuuuuuuuuut... I'm not. It's hard to get angry at something like that, since it's not adversely affecting money I'm earning: none.

Granted, I only have ten chapters up there.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

I don't doubt all my stuff is up on those. I've run across one or two of them while, uh, Googling my own username before. >.>

In other news, I freaking love the 21st century:

Spoiler

 

[AceTrainer14]

Speaking of 3DS, would people recommend upgrading to that platform? I never really thought of getting one, mostly cause of money, but the 20th anniversary 2DSes look amazing. So would a 2DS and X/Y / ORAS be worth the price?

 

[Beth Pavell]

Depends whether you like 3D or not. Personally I only got my 3DS because it was the limited edition Zelda version - much as I do actually like playing in 3D, I wasn't going to shell out for one for any other reason (this was before the 2DS). It took a week or so to get used to using 3D, but not I automatically hold it at the right distance to see it, so, I don't know

 

[Misheard Whisper]

I picked mine up solely for Pokemon. To this day, Y and AlphaSapphire are the only games I have for it, so in that regard, it's not super worth it. The 3D is a gimmick too, I rarely use it (I wear glasses already, so 3D doesn't work very well for me), but there's so many bells and whistles that I actually love. It kind of acts as a multimedia centre - you can browse the web, watch anime, download games through the eShop, etc etc. Mine's also an XL, and the size of the screen is nuts. I dunno if you can see very well in the picture I posted before, but it's a serious upgrade from the piddly DS Lite I was using before then. I play Gen IV and V games on it, and it's just like daaaaamn. I CAN SEE SO MUCH EVERYTHING. Kind of unwieldy, but I don't really take it anywhere, so that's irrelevant for me.