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Post by Robbyn Jonathan on Sept 24, 2006 23:51:03 GMT -5
Instead of writing "fantastic!" a bunch of times, I figured this would be a good place to say that I am really happy with the quality of the writing on the forums these days. It really feels like were writing some great stuff these days. I look forward to each new installment. Keep up the great work!
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Post by Celera on Sept 25, 2006 3:00:55 GMT -5
I agree! There has been some excellent writing lately from many people!
Also, I've noticed something interesting. My biggest problem with writing is what to write about. Now, you would think, logically, that if you don't write for a while, ideas would pile up and there would be a backlog of things to write about. But I'm not finding that at all.
When I wasn't writing, over the last ...well, all my life, I was always stumped by the question of what to write about. Now, the more stuff I write, the more ideas I have.
Maybe all those ideas aren't good, or interesting, or particularly original, but I figure if I keep having enough ideas, the odds are one of them will turn out to be great.
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Post by Fechak on Sept 25, 2006 9:13:50 GMT -5
Fantastic!!!
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Post by Emizael on Sept 25, 2006 13:22:28 GMT -5
I have to note, that as the quality of what we write increases, it must be said that the quantity reduces, a tiny bit. This is *not* a negative, and, in fact, I think partially, the testament to all who post here...
We're thinking. We're constantly dreaming of what to write, and how to write it. No longer do we just want to blather ideas, and write short stories for the sake of just putting something on the forums. We've come now, friends, we've come now...
To Art.
The works, here, the scope and scale of our fiction has now evolved, and us with it, to the point wherein we are now creating masterpieces, and testiments. Most assuredly I point to "A Coward's Tale" and " You Can't Go Home Again" as the pinnacle of our Art, herein. The first, is a remarkable telling, that is achieving nearly cult-like status. Many of my non-Warcrafting associates, and all of my in-game buddies, have lurked here on these boards, and read of that story. Just to note, I have confirmed sixteen people read that story (( almost all of my D&D buddies, heheh...and gained a WoW convert because of it. )) So, I know for fact that it just isn't us reading here, and that ..frankly, the story reaches a larger audience then just those that have posted here. When I hear how much they love that story, man, I get jealous, but proud. Cause...along with all the other Defenders, I got to read it first.
The second story, well. A collaberation, as fine as any here, but standalone in the fact that the different facets serve to really show us the hearts of the authors. This story has it all, Love, Hate, Death, Intrigue, and ...possibly ...even Redemption. It shows us...how...our Art...Your Art...has mixed and meshed so well, that nothing becomes impossible anymore.
These two stories are the Big Cheeses of our craft, and...if someone is enterprising enough, you could probably even publish this stuff to ...a whole lot more people.
(( I have to mention at this point, that most of my friends that I have hipped to these here boards may be cowards when it comes to posting, but..when we sat at the table the other night, and talked about the stories here, and the ones they liked the best, and the ones they liked the least, at least my stories got some small mention. The fact that I haven't told most of them who is who..as in, who the authors and such are, well, tha's just a bonus, and a sop to my wounded pride for not being chosen as the best. Hah! ))
Now...slowly, as we strive higher and higher, and reach for loftier and better goals, we are somewhat slower in postings, but...each new treasure...each new work of Art, is just that much better...
Anyways...keep up the good work!
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Post by Thelanya on Sept 26, 2006 3:38:03 GMT -5
I think that we are actually posting stories at approximately the same pace as we ever have. There’s just less other stuff – no guild business, no new members (so far.)
But I agree with what Emi says -- we aren't just writing to have something up on the forum. We want it to be good. People write, and edit and craft their stories with much more care than some of the earlier stuff. It shows.
A Coward's Tale is awesome. It’s been said before, probably can’t be said too often. I’m not surprised that people who are not familiar with WOW would still enjoy it – although Troy does a great job bringing settings and details from the game into the story, it’s still very accessible.
I'm flattered that Emi puts You Can't Go Home Again in the same category, although I will admit to being rather proud of it so far. That story started with my thoughts about the next chapter in Thelanya's life -- finding some resolution, if she can, with her parents, and maybe starting to look for her son. I had a definite goal as far as what I thought needed to happen. But I wanted her to make this journey with a companion -- someone serious and mature enough to be able to help her, but someone who was not an obvious sort of counselor or mentor or whatever (as, for example, Windfoot would have been. Had he lived.)
So, luckily I seem to have caught Fech when he forgot how many other things he was already working on, and this whole new relationship has evolved. And then, just when it starts to be clear that this story is a romance, along comes Valand to complicate matters, which was just perfect. And now, I'm not even sure that the point of the story is still what I thought it was going to be. Which – if you had told me that would happen, I would have thought it would be frustrating, but it is actually really cool.
Now, Emizael, you apparently have friends with very good taste in literature. But you are not the second or third or fourth best writer here (if such rankings make any sense at all, which I think they don't.) I think that perhaps the specifics are tied a little closer to the Azeroth setting than some of the other stories. (I think that's true of a lot of Sorcha's work as well, and the wonderful story that Caspin has been working on. And Into the Dark.) That isn't bad, it just is. But that might make some stories more accessible to the non-WOW audience than others.
And, the tone and style of your writing (most of it anyway) is different. It’s intense. I don’t read to find out what will happen next. I read it to experience the world in a whole different way. Your Lorgen Kell story is one of the most powerful things I’ve ever read. I still get chills reading it again. And I’m jealous because I don’t know if I can ever write something that would make that kind of an impression on someone. And I’m grateful because you (and Troy and Shane and the rest of you) have made me think I should still try.
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Post by Gudran on Sept 27, 2006 1:43:17 GMT -5
...and I'm jealous of you all because you all write so well! Me... I kin only talk like Guds, in character, but I be havin' trouble writin' stories... Seriously though, all the works compiled on this site are awesome! I am proud to be a part of such a great group of writers, even if I just read them.
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Post by Emizael on Sept 29, 2006 12:36:56 GMT -5
It just goes to show, really, that this thing we do, the way we do it...
It evolves, it grows and changes, becomes a part of us in such fantastic ways. I will echo Brother Gudrans' statement of pride. Here, now, like no other time in life, I find such a sense of community, a place ...to belong, to share, and ...well, hell. You all know how it is.
There is a life here, a living breathing quality to this forum, that mayhaps was inspired by a game, but has grown to be something entirely different.
Laze fair bon temps roulere...or something like that.
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Post by Deyla on Oct 28, 2006 17:32:09 GMT -5
I decided to come here and say what I had to say about A Coward's Tale, because I don't want to interrupt the flow of that wonderful story more than I already have.
I was thinking earlier today about Copper and how I just don't like her. Yet I am so entranced by her -- and so wanting it all to work out for her, even though I don't expect to like her anymore at that end than I do now.
And I realized what a wonderful piece of writing she is -- she elicits different responses from different people. Some of us like her, at least one of us doesn't. Somehow, you engaged a bunch of different people with her, and that's Good Writing. You made us care, not just about the plot, or about you, but about the people in the story.
I'm also gigantically impressed that you made me care about her even while I don't like her. That's damned hard to do, and all I can say is kudos to you for having done it. She steps off my screen and into my mind as if she is a real person, and while I don't think I would like her, I understand her and I am rooting for her.
(And the other day, I was along for the ride when someone did the part of the Onyxia chain where Windsor and Marcus Jonathan have their little set-to, and I said to the other person, "Did you know that General Jonathan is a really bad father?" So you have fundamentally changed the game for me, too, by making the NPCs in it more vividly real to me. I have this fantasy that if anyone who's read about Deyla ever does the baby quests in Elwynn again, and helps Joey and Maybell have their secret meeting, that those quests will be forever changed for them, too.)
But mostly I want to say that Copper is a successful character and I have been paying attention to how you have done that, in the hopes that it will help me do similar things, too.
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Post by Robbyn Jonathan on Oct 28, 2006 22:42:40 GMT -5
There is no question that you have made Joey and Maybell living and real for me. And this is a good place to say something that I have been wanting to say for a long time: I am sooo jealous of the way you describe food! Robbyn should think like that, and I am such a terrible cook myself that I botch it. A careful read reveals that I made sure he was NOT a good cook -- even though he loves food with the savouring detail that you describe -- and that is partly because I don't want to set myself up to fail. In fact, I admit to having caught myself wishing (assuming I ever get back to Robb, and that there a scene with him and food) I could turn the writing over to you to get it right! (/sigh) What I'll likely do is plagiarize Oh yes, and before I forget, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone for all the support I have received along the way. Writing is exhausting. In fact, I've taken to describing the experience of writing A Coward's Tale like running a marathon: a lifetime goal, and the sort of thing where I just have to keep putting 'one foot in front of the other' (so to speak) when I'm flagging, exhausted, and when it seems like I'll never get there. While this is my marathon, I never would have gotten this far without you.
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Post by Heng Arikana on Nov 13, 2006 6:42:41 GMT -5
Bumping this thread...I just discovered it, and don't want it to fade away...
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Post by Fechak on Nov 15, 2006 14:12:30 GMT -5
So... where in the hell did everyone go? I need more installments of my favorite threads damnit!!
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Post by Celera on Nov 15, 2006 15:54:41 GMT -5
Hey! I just wrote something last night! I guess the The Dream is not one of your favorite threads. Boooo!
It has been quiet the last couple of days. I was distracted by getting a new dog and some other stuff, but I'm back now. I hope it's not just the two of us...
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Post by Sorcha'Rei on Nov 15, 2006 15:59:46 GMT -5
Well, I am waiting for some druid guy to take his turn in the story of the shape shifting Dream-born saber. Can't think why he hasn't done it . . .
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Post by Fechak on Nov 15, 2006 18:48:56 GMT -5
More installments... more. It has been far too slow around here, maybe we should start charging for every read?
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Post by Robbyn Jonathan on Nov 15, 2006 21:22:34 GMT -5
work has been very stressful this past week...and I've been obsessing over NWN2...I'll be back soon, I promise...
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