The Writers' Room

[Mokrie Dela]

I try to avoid this kind of self-obsessed request, but could a few of you offer more feedback on this. Otter had some good points but i'd like an additional point of view.

[Eminence]

I've hit a bit of a rough week or so personally so haven't been very active haha. I'll try to get to some stuff soon.

[Ziggy455]

I've hit a bit of a rough week or so personally so haven't been very active haha. I'll try to get to some stuff soon.

What's been getting you down, Em?

[Mokrie Dela]

Regarding my recent writing request:

 

Otter and Ziggy gave some good suggestions of books to read but:

 

Are there any that are online that I can read to get a sense of Victorian era style? I'm talking blogs and forums etc. Getting to the library is difficult atm, so anything like amateur uploads etc would be good. Any suggestions?

 

Any other tips for writing in that era? It's a lot harder than i thought!

[MacAshford]

Regarding my recent writing request:

 

Otter and Ziggy gave some good suggestions of books to read but:

 

Are there any that are online that I can read to get a sense of Victorian era style? I'm talking blogs and forums etc. Getting to the library is difficult atm, so anything like amateur uploads etc would be good. Any suggestions?

 

Any other tips for writing in that era? It's a lot harder than i thought!

I would have gave some feedback but I'm extremely terrible at it.....

 

 

Are there any that are online that I can read to get a sense of Victorian era style? I'm talking blogs and forums etc. Getting to the library is difficult atm, so anything like amateur uploads etc would be good. Any suggestions?

 

I would say to look through these http://www.fictionpress.com/fiction/Historical/

 

 

 

Any other tips for writing in that era? It's a lot harder than i thought!

 

Wikipedia is your slut, research EVERYTHING you might need, even if you don't use it in the end.

[Mokrie Dela]

I'm not to worried about the factual research. Wiki is only a quick look-up tool for me. I'd got a dozen books out about the era, and QV, and learnt a lot from them. EG: Victorian's invented holidays to the beach and the english cream tea. Prince Albert introduced so many customs and stuff to britain too.

 

It's the style of writing I struggle on; wikipedia can not help with that. I'll check out that link though - seems like it might be useful.

 

Check it out anyway man - you can only improve by practicing.

[Lethal Nizzle]

By "Victorian style" do you mean a certain way of writing? If you do I don't think you can really pin down a concrete way of writing that can be seen as "Victorian-esque".

[Ziggy455]

By "Victorian style" do you mean a certain way of writing? If you do I don't think you can really pin down a concrete way of writing that can be seen as "Victorian-esque".

I think by Victorian he means a diverse, articulated way. Many old writers wrote like this. Edgar Allen Poe's works were choc-full of long worded things which made his work tiresome to read at times.

[Lethal Nizzle]

 

By "Victorian style" do you mean a certain way of writing? If you do I don't think you can really pin down a concrete way of writing that can be seen as "Victorian-esque".

I think by Victorian he means a diverse, articulated way. Many old writers wrote like this. Edgar Allen Poe's works were choc-full of long worded things which made his work tiresome to read at times.

Yeah, the likes of Wilde, Brontë and Dickens springs to mind also. Trying to emulate this style would be tough though, as it was natural for these authors. By attempting to adopt to someone else's style, especially the likes of the authors aforementioned, you fall prey to potentially over-complicating your piece for the sake of appearing authentic.

 

EDIT: Also Mokrie if you want to find online sources for this type of writing, you could search for online excerpts of works by notable Victorian-era authors.

Edited August 14, 2013 by Lethal Nizzle

[Otter]

Hey Mokrie, you can find at least the first half of Cloud Atlas here, until you get a chance to pop off to the library (or bookstore, cheapskate! ) to pick it up.

 

http://ebookbrowsee.net/cloud-atlas-david-...-pdf-d391162290

 

The first and last chapters were what I was referring to - Adam Ewing, traveling afar on business for his father in law. This is also another fantastically subtle example of a favorite technique of mine - a flawed narrator, too innocent and naive to see the truth of the matter even when he commits it to the page. This is often done in broad strokes for comedic effect, but in this case, you can miss it if you blink. Up until the end, mind you.

 

I'm sure you'll find the second chapter relevant as well - this is a series of letters from a struggling composer to his dear friend.

 

Sometimes I find it helps to immerse oneself in the genre, and then when you sit to write, you can exist in that time, and mindset, without falling back on grotesque romanticism like Nizzle's warning against. This was my initial reaction to the phrase "the year of our lord", and why I thought it may have been an ironic or sarcastic flair on.... nathaniel's? part.

 

 

[Mokrie Dela]

It started off as just a way I thought they spoke but given the stir that Nathanial has been through, it's become laced with sarcasm which I like, and its opened a door the the character to become quite sarcastic and cynical

[universetwisters]

Is there any reason as to why people don't like zombie-related stuff? My only guess is that it's been overdone, but there's gotta be more reason than that

[Mokrie Dela]

It's become cliched and, yes, overdone. Every zombie story is the same. GRRR, Kill, save the world. There's not much you can do to avoid it if you choose that genre (though possible you could make it unique). Films and games have ruined the genre - it's just "urgh, this again..."

[Otter]

I guess the more important question is.... why would you have any interest working in the genre? If you think there's something fresh there, go for it. But even the greater genre of apocalypse fiction itself has been been thoroughly milked lately.

 

[Tyler]

I guess the more important question is.... why would you have any interest working in the genre? If you think there's something fresh there, go for it. But even the greater genre of apocalypse fiction itself has been been thoroughly milked lately.

heh heh heh

 

[Mokrie Dela]

 

even the greater genre of apocalypse fiction itself has been been thoroughly milked lately.

 

Edited August 15, 2013 by Mokrie Dela

[Ziggy455]

 

But even the greater genre of apocalypse fiction itself has been been thoroughly milked lately.

 

I have no response for this. Instead, here is a picture of a giraffe.

 

[TonyZimmzy]

even the greater genre of apocalypse fiction itself has been been thoroughly milked lately.

[Otter]

I've gotta ask: what'd I say?!?!?

 

[MacAshford]

I'm not sure but stuff got weird real fast..

[Mokrie Dela]

Otter: I've got an apocalyptic story in the works....

[Ziggy455]

I don't know what he said but I liked the picture of the giraffe. I assume you have shot down somebody who was also writing something apocalyptic, preferably Mokrie.

[MacAshford]

I liked the picture of the giraffe.

Same, it was elegantly modern....

[Mokrie Dela]

 

I don't know what he said but I liked the picture of the giraffe. I assume you have shot down somebody who was also writing something apocalyptic, preferably Mokrie.

shot down's a bit extreme. I'm writing one, as you all probably know.

 

 

The giraffe picture was genius. it's lack of girth was a strong parody on the hollywood nature of "thin is beautiful" and the arrangement of the spots were consistent with ideas that mankind is a disease on the planet. The fact that it's defecating on a baby is a fantastic tongue-in-cheek statement on how the tall corporations - represented by the giraffe towering above - tread on the consumer - represented by the baby, in a submissive position. The facial expression represents how we can do nothing about the power of corporations, and just have to take it, while the outstretched arms imply a desperate cry for help. The neutral mouth expression of the giraffe shows how little the corporations think of their acts and how unconcerned they are about them, while the animal's eyes reveal that they know exactly what they're doing. The fact that there's thirteen spots also shows the superstitions and how unlucky we are, and if you take the color the spots, which is brown, and deduct the amount of letters inthe word from thirteen, you're left with the number eight.

 

The same amount of letters in the word "bullsh*t", which is exactly what I've just been speaking.

 

 

I'm a motherf*cking art critic, yo!

[Otter]

Otter: I've got an apocalyptic story in the works....

Ah. Don't worry. We all do.

 

I'm actually reading one currently, a trilogy. The first book is called The Passage. I recommend checking it out!

[Mokrie Dela]

I may do. Got a lot to check out!

 

I may do. I have 2 projects on the go - the victorian one, and my Fallout ff. I find it useful as creativeness for the latter dried up, and <CENSORED> inspired me to pick up the Victorian one again. Now I've set that aside to adequately research/prepare, I wrote a nice chapter of the FF one. I find that useful at times.

[Eminence]

Otter: I've got an apocalyptic story in the works....

Ah. Don't worry. We all do.

Got that right.

 

In a way, every genre is over-saturated. Some more than others, naturally, but everything's been done before, one way or another. So I don't see it as a problem, so long as you're looking for your unique take on it.

[Osric]

Anybody like roleplaying games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, or Vampire: The Masquerade? I'm just curious.

 

Also, I have an announcement. While I know this may upset some people, I would like to bring back either Build Up Your Army or Build Up Your Survivor. I do believe I may have just enough people to support it on a small scale.

 

Either way, there will only be seven factions per game. I have figured out the seven factions for BUYA II (United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, China, Mujahedeen, and Private Military Contractors), and unlike the original BUYA, there will be a vehicle system. Each faction gets a melee weapon, a sidearm, a main weapon, and a staff car, as well as $950 (equivalent to a month's pay for a US Army Private).

 

As for Build Up Your Survivor, I am unsure if I should do a local focus or a global focus.

 

With Build Up Your Survivor and Build Up Your Army, I will do one, but not both games as there is not enough players for both games. Even one is a longshot, but still possible. Two BUYG spinoffs is just ridiculous.

Edited August 17, 2013 by Osric

[Mokrie Dela]

I see no problem with that at all man. If you can keep it going - even the bar and ones shots are slow

Go for it

[Osric]

I have figured out the seven factions for Build Up Your Survivor.

 

The factions are the Biotech Corporation, Civilians, Police, National Guard, US Army, Redneck Militia, and Russian Orthodox Church.

 

Each faction has three starting weapons: a melee weapon, a sidearm, and a long arm

 

Here are the starting weapons for each faction.

 

Biotech Corporation: Machete, Walther P99, MP5

Civilians: Baseball Bat, Hi-Point C9, Winchester M1894 Rifle

Police: Nightstick, Glock 17, Mossberg 500

National Guard: Combat Knife, Colt M1911A1, M16A2

US Army: E-Tool, M9 Beretta, M4A1

Redneck Militia: Hunting Knife, Colt Python, Remington 700

Russian Orthodox Church: Broadsword, Beretta Laramie, Mosin-Nagant

 

Unlike the previous BUYS from 2009, this has a system of vehicles as well as assets in the form of safehouses and strongholds.

 

Here are the starting vehicles for each faction

 

Biotech Corporation: Lexus LS

Civilians: Family Sedan (not sure what model or brand, probably either a Ford or a Toyota)

Police: Ford Crown Victoria

National Guard: A military Jeep

US Army: Humvee

Redneck Militia: Toyota Hilux N50

Russian Orthodox Church: Volga Luxury Sedan

Edited August 17, 2013 by Osric