The Writers' Room

[MacAshford]

Nice, I'll have a look for the topic later

[Mokrie Dela]

VP made me think in the "Bitching Beverly topic" - my writing style is usually a serious one. I started work on a FF of 72, which was to be a complete parody of shows like 24, but i found it very difficult to get past the first chapter because:

 

I'm not funny.

 

I found it very hard to make any humorous scenes, and when i did they either felt forced or too much of a rip-off of other comedies. I had 2 funny things, but the rest was just crap.

 

How do you write comedy? Is there any technical method or do you simply have to be funny to start with?

[Tyler]

There are varieties of comedy that depend on your own sense of humour to write effectively, I guess. I'm a big fan of absurd humour which is pretty easy to write even if it's mundane and serious in tone. The effect of explaining something so profoundly strange in an otherwise normal environment pulls enough dissonance to make you step back and go "uh..." and that moment is one of humour, to me. Most of my favorite comedy in writing just comes from something relatively unexpected yet still related enough to provide resolution. That's kind of the point of comedy though -- a formula of connected matter parading as unexpected. You can take that rule and go anywhere you want with it from knock-knock jokes to Monty Python. There's so much to be said of how proper comedy is done, and even comedy writing has a boundless amount of relevant information. Your best bet when it comes to writing comedy is to pay attention to comedy that you like and see how it works: examine why particular things are funny and what elements make it so. The build up, the cultural context, the mechanics, flow, hyperbole, puns [maybe], timing etc. the list goes on forever.

 

But yeah, as far as me: I don't know. I don't try to be funny when I write comedy, but I'm into a lot of humour that isn't funny on the surface. Really I'm not even into comedy. The funniest stuff I read is usually comic relief in otherwise dark stories. The context makes them way more funny to me than, say, a pure comedy piece. There's exceptions of course that I would recommend reading: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of the funnier books out there and it's a mostly light-hearted experience even when it's being profound.

 

 

 

 

Okay seriously, last time I'm going to ever mention Cormac McCarthy until I finish another book of his, but this section of Blood Meridian was one of the funniest things I've read in a while. I have asked around and this generally isn't the trend but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

[MacAshford]

This is a bit off-topic but there is this awesome guy on youtube that reads out creepypastas and I was looking through his videos and I found this amazing work of art.

(it's a short reading that only lasts about a minute and there are no screamers or anything, it'll make you laugh guarenteed)

[Mokrie Dela]

This is a bit off-topic but there is this awesome guy on youtube that reads out creepypastas and I was looking through his videos and I found this amazing work of art.

(it's a short reading that only lasts about a minute and there are no screamers or anything, it'll make you laugh guarenteed)

I'm afraid it didn't...

 

 

Okay seriously, last time I'm going to ever mention Cormac McCarthy until I finish another book of his, but this section of Blood Meridian was one of the funniest things I've read in a while. I have asked around and this generally isn't the trend but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

No you wouldn't!

 

I'm curious to hear the explanation of the writing style. I'm not going to say its bad or anything, but if in the road it was to convey desolation and barronness, what's its purpose in this? Is it a similar sort of story?

 

Note I am by moaning or whining, merely asking.

[Ziggy455]

Recently found the Raymond Chandler collection in a charity shop. Score! Say what you will but the man practically revolutionalized hard-boiled crime fiction. Currently going through The Big Sleep once more as it's one of my favorites.

 

Also. I have almost completed the first draft of Portland Chase which is revitalized, and somewhat changed. It's not really a fanfiction, more of a spiritual story told in the same land of Liberty City. I'll upload the first redone part a few days after I've began the real job of rewriting.

[albanyave]

Haven't posted in a while but I've written a short piece that I plan to put up shortly. As usual, advice and comments will be appreciated.

 

Right now, I am reading The Dark Tower Gunslinger by Stephen King.

[Mokrie Dela]

Well Ziggy, the obvious question of "why not set it in NYC" comes to mind. I mean, if there's nothing tying it to GTA.....

 

Look forward to it anyway

[Ziggy455]

I think it's because I want to convey an atmosphere closely related to the III universe, and I liked creating the intricacies of nods and hints towards the III storyline because it just seemed more fun to write. I knew I wanted it to be a fanfiction because I wanted to take certain liberties which I wouldn't normally throw into a story, such as crazy shootouts, violence, and other plot devices which GTA pertains in a certain way I enjoy. If I just set it in NYC, everybody would understand that it could just as well be set in Portland and half of the story wouldn't make sense because I'd have to change the backstory of the major characters to fit in the real world as opposed to the III era.

 

I would feel like I was sugarcoating when I had no need to.

 

The story is tied to III, to the fall of Salvatore, to the disappearance of the Leones altogether and the corruption of the LCPD. There's hints to a lot of the story of III and I believe I've included one character who was present in III in a minor role. A certain one-armed psycho...Beyond that if you read it, you'll casually nod every so often as you'll relate it alot to GTA but not in the obvious in-your-face-about-it way. There's no Claude or anything and there's not endless shootouts but doing it as a fanfiction means I can write about certain things and feel like they're adequate as opposed to a real, dynamic story.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Ziggy455

[Mokrie Dela]

Fair enough Ziggs.

 

"Taking Liberties" - nice pun

 

 

 

it just seemed more fun to write

That's what counts.

[Tyler]

I'm curious to hear the explanation of the writing style. I'm not going to say its bad or anything, but if in the road it was to convey desolation and barronness, what's its purpose in this? Is it a similar sort of story

 

Well Blood Meridian is basically McCarthy's attempt at building an expansive, biblical story out of the West. It's one of those books stuffed with allusion and all the more classic literary themes, so its thick language reflects that pretty well. It sets a tone.

 

 

So I'm reading The Sound and the Fury and I'm completely smacking myself that I hadn't got into Faulkner before. This book is god damned great and I can't get enough of it.

[Mokrie Dela]

I was talking more of the style of punctuation that was present in the Road. Everyone told me that was done to convey a sense of barrenness and whathaveyou, so what's the reason for it in the except you shared? I can't say I can figure it out, to be honest. Is that simply how he writes in all of his work or is there a reason for it there, too?

[Acehilm]

I'm fuxking fried as sh*t.

Holy Thor on steroids.

[Mokrie Dela]

 

[MacAshford]

 

I approve of this message

 

 

Also, I'm thinking of uploading the first episode of my big project this weekend sometime, as-well as some new chapters of the Death Note fan fiction: P

[Mokrie Dela]

Go for it if you feel it's ready.

 

Any other musicians in?

 

I'm trying to learn Muse's Butterflies and Hurricanes and the intro is kicking my ass. I just can't figure out the rhythm. Also tried learning Ring of Fire and The Real Me (the Who), the former is very strange and the latter is just insanity.

[Ziggy455]

I'n no Hendrix but I can play the sh*t out of a flute. Have all you twerkin' your hot buns to Hot Cross Buns.

 

Also. I'm curious as to how you all plan and develop characters -if you do so at all- as I'd like to see what methods work or not.

[Mokrie Dela]

I don't really have any set method. I have an idea for a character and it develops as I plan and write. When i'm really feeling a story, I actually pretend to be that character, having conversations with myself, or with him/her. Strange and probably not very healthy mentally but hey.

 

Don't knock the flute, Ziggs. You play often?

[Tyler]

Also. I'm curious as to how you all plan and develop characters -if you do so at all- as I'd like to see what methods work or not.

 

I take people I know. Then I say this or that happens to them. Usually this or that is a horrible thing and that creates a conflict which changes them and then that is the development I use. Pretty much everything I write goes back to me taking the idea I have of this person and that person, and then doing things to those ideas, following the progression of how they would change based on how I know them. The benefit of this method is obvious because by creating conflict next to a character I am innately making what one could call a "plot."

 

 

I was talking more of the style of punctuation that was present in the Road.

 

This is kind of a square:rectangle thing. McCarthy follows heavily from a line of writers who abstained from conventional writing method to portray instead the truth of the world as they themselves saw it. Writers of Southern Gothic literature like William Faulkner who if you read the first chapter of The Sound and the Fury will know doesn't give a motherf*ck about conventional conjunction, punctuation or narrative. This separation from the norm is experimental and the reason these authors are known for it isn't simply because they did it: it's because these authors excelled in breaking the rules, so to speak. This same idea applies to McCarthy and his convention of being unconventional with quotation marks and the like.

 

As to why The Road works like that-- McCarthy's writing echoes in the vein of oral tradition like I said. This simplistic approach to prose makes it work very well from a technical perspective when you observe it in a story that also thematically approaches the breakdown of society and order and what it means to be human. This break from the standard, this complete alienation of structure is what makes The Road's format work for what it tries to do.

 

 

Anyway enough of that literary handjob. I just finished reading The Sound and the Fury coincidentally and I'm just taken aback at how fantastic it was. It's a pretty iconic work of Modernism and Southern literature so I don't know why I didn't grab it sooner. I was always afraid Faulkner wouldn't jive with me and I'd let myself down in some way from that. Quite the opposite, though: the novel was disjointed and passionate. It spoke from the perspective of three siblings to try and paint a place and time in history as best it could. The sh*t reeked of Modern tradition and it did it as well as I've seen it done-- I found it way more enthralling than Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, for instance. Anyway, the book rocked. It distracted me from my other reading plans but oh well.

 

Speaking of which I've been keeping with an implicit resolution I had in mind this year which was to read a lot more and in greater variety. I've reread several of my favorite novels and kept pace in reading many new ones since the year started. I've noticed myself becoming more comfortable with writing because of this. Maybe an attention to or at least a passing knowledge of the conventional structures of stories is making me more adventurous and in turn that adventure in my writing is making me more confident. I don't really care either way, it's just legit is all.

 

What're you guys reading lately?

Also. I'm curious as to how you all plan and develop characters -if you do so at all- as I'd like to see what methods work or not.

 

I take people I know. Then I say this or that happens to them. Usually this or that is a horrible thing and that creates a conflict which changes them and then that is the development I use. Pretty much everything I write goes back to me taking the idea I have of this person and that person, and then doing things to those ideas, following the progression of how they would change based on how I know them. The benefit of this method is obvious because by creating conflict next to a character I am innately making what one could call a "plot."

 

 

I was talking more of the style of punctuation that was present in the Road.

 

This is kind of a square:rectangle thing. McCarthy follows heavily from a line of writers who abstained from conventional writing method to portray instead the truth of the world as they themselves saw it. Writers of Southern Gothic literature like William Faulkner who if you read the first chapter of The Sound and the Fury will know doesn't give a motherf*ck about conventional conjunction, punctuation or narrative. This separation from the norm is experimental and the reason these authors are known for it isn't simply because they did it: it's because these authors excelled in breaking the rules, so to speak. This same idea applies to McCarthy and his convention of being unconventional with quotation marks and the like.

 

As to why The Road works like that-- McCarthy's writing echoes in the vein of oral tradition like I said. This simplistic approach to prose makes it work very well from a technical perspective when you observe it in a story that also thematically approaches the breakdown of society and order and what it means to be human. This break from the standard, this complete alienation of structure is what makes The Road's format work for what it tries to do.

 

 

Anyway enough of that literary handjob. I just finished reading The Sound and the Fury coincidentally and I'm just taken aback at how fantastic it was. It's a pretty iconic work of Modernism and Southern literature so I don't know why I didn't grab it sooner. I was always afraid Faulkner wouldn't jive with me and I'd let myself down in some way from that. Quite the opposite, though: the novel was disjointed and passionate. It spoke from the perspective of three siblings to try and paint a place and time in history as best it could. The sh*t reeked of Modern tradition and it did it as well as I've seen it done-- I found it way more enthralling than Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, for instance. Anyway, the book rocked. It distracted me from my other reading plans but oh well.

 

Speaking of which I've been keeping with an implicit resolution I had in mind this year which was to read a lot more and in greater variety. I've reread several of my favorite novels and kept pace in reading many new ones since the year started. I've noticed myself becoming more comfortable with writing because of this. Maybe an attention to or at least a passing knowledge of the conventional structures of stories is making me more adventurous and in turn that adventure in my writing is making me more confident. I don't really care either way, it's just legit is all.

 

What're you guys reading lately?

[Mokrie Dela]

 

What're you guys reading lately?

Johnny Cash's biography. Does that count?

[Ziggy455]

 

 

What're you guys reading lately?

Johnny Cash's biography. Does that count?

 

 

If it's a book, with words, and doesn't require looking at a screen, then yes.

[Mokrie Dela]

Good.

 

He did write a novel which i might try sometime. I believe it's Paul the Apostle's live before meeting Christ, or after or something. Heavy on religion perhaps, but I'm curious. Also i think his daughter (or sister, i can't remember) is a published novelist. No idea what she's written though. I really should read more....

[Acehilm]

I apologise for my previous post in this topic.

 

I haven't really been reading or writing much often. I need to get back to read Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacason.

[MacAshford]

I thought I'd give you a bit of background on my big project before I post it tonight. Firstly, I had the idea of the original 18 Months gamescript but it was really dark and weird so I scrapped it. I remade it but once again, I only got a few missions in before I gave up. I tried to write the story in prose but that didn't come out how I planned so I didn't even post it. After a few posted fails and unposted fails, I got the idea to write it instead as a TV show script. I began to plan the TV show script just before Christmas. I started to write it in the last 3 months but to avoid scrapping it or getting bored, I delved into a lot of smaller projects but now the 18 Months (now renamed) TV show script is fully finished. I'm just editing small parts and removing what doesn't flow properly. Anyways, I'm really happy with it and it's been awesome to write. When it's posted, I'll be posting most of it at once. It's gonna be my very first fully written project since I got here in like 2011 or so. I'm really excited to release it

[Eminence]

Sounds awesome VP, look forward to seeing it. What format does it take as a TV show? One hour, half-hour? Is it a series or just a one-off show, like a TV movie?

[MacAshford]

Thanks, it's a small series of around 7 or 8 episodes, depending how I break it up. The length varies, but going through it, I imagine the episodes would be between 20 and 30 minutes long. It's not that long but I mainly wrote it to get the story across . I'm thinking of posting it all at once except the finale which I'll probably post the next day to get a bit more excitement and tension.

 

Also, there's quite a lot of references to one of my old failed projects from when I was a complete idiot on here, before I made a fresh start on the VProductions account. You'll probably guess instantly what member I was so I'm just hoping you all think of me as I am now and not how much of a dick I was back then.

Edited March 25, 2014 by Vice President

[Tyler]

Don't worry about it. This new layout really screws with me so I just ignore names entirely. Either way, your project sounds great dude. If it's split into eight eps there'd be no harm posting half in your first post then half later. Really it's up to how the episodes build up though. Can't wait to see your post, mang.

[MacAshford]

Thanks, I'm nearly done editing it so it'll be 100% ready to post very soon

 

EDIT:

 

As a bit of a teaser for later, I figured I'd share a quote from the project.

 

"It's obvious, I'm a monster, we all are. Everyone on this god-damn Earth is a monster, I just don't hide away from it, I embrace it."

Edited March 25, 2014 by Vice President

[Mokrie Dela]

Sounds interesting

I've never got into scripts but ill check it out in a non critique way

[MacAshford]

Thanks, I'm posting the first episodes in a second

 

EDIT: Part 1/3 here!

 

EDIT 2: There's a little surprise reference for you all in Episode 7 when it's released...

Edited March 25, 2014 by Vice President