#f0a9e4
Name Colour
Captain Americat
"Don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile." - Teen Wolf
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Post by Captain Americat on Nov 28, 2023 21:16:19 GMT -5
Even angels have weakness! (: But, I’m with Spice on that one. Even though you’re using angels & demons and there’s already a lot of information on them, it’s your story and your characters so you can do whatever you want and put your spin on angels and demons!
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Post by Saint Ambrosef on Nov 28, 2023 21:58:27 GMT -5
I agree with the others. I guess it really depends on what mythology/religion you're choosing to pull inspiration from. I think only Abrahamic religions have figures that we would refer to as angels? Or you could look at Zoroastrianism. They have angel-like figures in their cosmology (whether one can truly call them "angels" is a topic of debate, depending on how you define the word).
Generally, though, I think angels are typically depicted as being on the "good side" and thus I'm not really sure if you'll find much mythology about their "weaknesses". So you really might just have to make stuff up lol.
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Post by ! (Ġray) ! on Nov 28, 2023 23:00:24 GMT -5
Thank you everyone! I have a few ideas now, and I'm really looking forward to writing this story once the rest of my lore is straightened out. Also my angel and demon characters that are central to the plot are hybrids (angel got ascended but it wasn't done properly and the demon was just born like that) so i'll probably just throw some mortal weaknesses at both of them to make the story work in certain ways, I just really wanted to make sure that I actually gave the angel aspect of the character more depth than "White wings and halo", so thank you guys for pushing me to be creative and figure something out
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#f0a9e4
Name Colour
Captain Americat
"Don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile." - Teen Wolf
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Post by Captain Americat on Nov 29, 2023 9:28:56 GMT -5
You’re welcome! I hope that it goes well for you As writers, the world is ours to create
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2023 8:54:14 GMT -5
Does anyone have any tips or methods I can use to outline my book?
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#f0a9e4
Name Colour
Captain Americat
"Don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile." - Teen Wolf
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Post by Captain Americat on Dec 3, 2023 17:09:26 GMT -5
On nov 29, I finished one of my short stories and wrote part of another xD It was the only thing I’d written all November. I call that a success, haha.
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#f0a9e4
Name Colour
Captain Americat
"Don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile." - Teen Wolf
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Post by Captain Americat on Dec 3, 2023 17:17:52 GMT -5
Hmm.. not sure I don’t have a method for outlining. I basically just do notes and that works for me.
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Post by ! (Ġray) ! on Dec 3, 2023 17:52:51 GMT -5
I've said it before but I'd just like to remind everyone how much I hate the pure of heart trope
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Omnisexual
ᦓρ꠸ᥴꫀᠻꪖꪀᧁ
I need to finish An Isolated Clan ahhhhh
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Post by ᦓρ꠸ᥴꫀᠻꪖꪀᧁ on Dec 3, 2023 18:41:07 GMT -5
Does anyone have any tips or methods I can use to outline my book? Two words: Character bibles
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#f0a9e4
Name Colour
Captain Americat
"Don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile." - Teen Wolf
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Post by Captain Americat on Dec 3, 2023 19:31:05 GMT -5
Can you give me an example of the pure of heart trope?
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Post by ! (Ġray) ! on Dec 3, 2023 19:33:31 GMT -5
Can you give me an example of the pure of heart trope? “Only one who is pure of heart can open the gateway to Aslemdion!!!” “It is said that a child who is pure of heart will be chosen to defeat the evil overlord Gertrude!” Pretty much the mc not having any evil whatsoever in their heart, which is absolutely stupid imo
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#f0a9e4
Name Colour
Captain Americat
"Don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile." - Teen Wolf
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Post by Captain Americat on Dec 3, 2023 19:37:45 GMT -5
Oh, haha. Thanks xD
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Post by Brownie on Dec 3, 2023 22:19:56 GMT -5
Does anyone have any tips or methods I can use to outline my book? my primary outline tends to be formatted like this: Elevator pitch: in one line, describe the basic story arc; this will be the seed of inspiration and the identity of the story. If you feel your story is too complex to be described this way, you should tighten up your narrative, because it's probably too unfocused. You can look up examples of these. "Girl becomes a pirate to save her boyfriend from a witch, finds herself along the way" "Boy finds dragon egg, joins rebellion to free the country from an immortal dictator" Emotional Spark: what was the reason for writing this project? If it's supposed to be a commentary on the human condition, add your themes here. use this statement as your keystone when you're making any plot or character choice. Excerpt: a paragraph describing the entire plot, from start to finish. Use as broad of strokes as you can, this should be a paragraph, but it can be a meaty one. Narrative Arcs: The 3-4 problem/solution parts of the story or big scenes. Go into a bit more detail about what the main problem is, what characters are involved, and how they'll go about solving the problem. Include changes in setting or roadbumps that make the problem harder. Remember, your readers want to see the characters solve the problems as quickly and logically as possible, but YOU want the story to be winding so make realistic roadbumps and make sure your characters have solid reasons to act the way they do. Character Arcs: I make a list of each of my main characters and go through their internal and external conflicts as simply as possible. Then I make a list of flaws they'll start with, what plot points will challenge those flaws, and how they'll overcome them. I'll make another list for antagonists and do the same thing. then the minor characters, but in much less detail. Mostly just listing what external conflicts they have and any plot-relevant internal conflicts (this isn't the place I put "flavor internals" aka struggling with a deceased family member or morals for minor characters. Those kinds of things are like salt and pepper: important seasonings, but it doesn't matter what the main dish is) Motives: This is super important for me, because I like making morally grey characters or characters who are in conflict, but not antagonists. I have a huge section of my outline dedicated to each "side" or "faction" that is important to the plot and detail (1) their ultimate goal (2) their reason for that goal; the why? (3) the how?: what are they doing to work towards that goal and (4) how should the reader perceive this faction's methods? Character Bios: Only for longer series or projects with over 10 named characters. Which isn't always necessary! More =/= better! Simplification for novel-length projects is often cleaner and better if you can get away with it. But for my epic fantasy, I have a few moving parts and that requires a bit of documentation. How you format your character bios is up to you, but I try and hit their personality, way of problem solving, and a few key backstory elements in this part. "Chapter" summaries: Realize that these will NOT be your final chapters. But this is where the juicy comes in. Take your narrative arcs and split them up into individual scenes. Do these while the plot is fresh in your head and you have the most ideas. I like to do these flow-of-consciousness as much as possible, limiting difficult formatting and just splitting into paragraphs. Mine tend to be very lengthy summaries, basically a play-by-play without any prose. However, this looks different for every person. You might function better with only broad strokes and let the smaller things work themselves out in the first draft. Do NOT be afraid to add details in here that you don't want to forget! I sometimes put entire conversations of dialogue in my notes so I can remember the vibe of the scene! Or huge descriptions of settings/events. I go ham here. This is where most of my creativity of the draft comes from; the more work I do here, the better. Optionals: aka the World Bible as some people call them. Describe important settings, history or conflicts outside the scope of the project. A reference for any details you know will be important and you know you'll want to look back on.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2023 7:37:07 GMT -5
Thanks! This was super helpful!
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Post by *Ɗαɾƙρσσℓ* on Dec 5, 2023 1:10:35 GMT -5
how did nano go for the other folks participating? i don't know what my actual final word count was bc i was mostly writing in the sprints site and then pasting whatever i wrote into whichever project it went with (of which there were three bc despite my best efforts i did not work on just one project). probably did about 10-15k which is not ideal, but its progress. i did write most days but couldn't manage more than a few hundred words per day a lot of the time. still working on it though.
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Post by Brownie on Dec 5, 2023 1:34:39 GMT -5
I'm doing nano this month instead! It worked out better for me ^^
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Post by *Ɗαɾƙρσσℓ* on Dec 5, 2023 1:43:42 GMT -5
in retrospect november was not a good month for me to do this this year lol i'm not really gonna do nano this month (not that i really did it last month) but i am gonna continue the attempt of writing at least a little daily c:
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Post by Brownie on Dec 5, 2023 2:44:03 GMT -5
in retrospect november was not a good month for me to do this this year lol i'm not really gonna do nano this month (not that i really did it last month) but i am gonna continue the attempt of writing at least a little daily c: That's all that really counts, in the end! Chip at it
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Post by *Ɗαɾƙρσσℓ* on Dec 7, 2023 0:59:18 GMT -5
had a huge lightbulb moment today in regards to a conflict motive i've been trying to figure out for ages, and as a bonus it also neatly interconnects two subplots in the project. very hyped about the way the plot is shaping up.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2023 7:00:30 GMT -5
had a huge lightbulb moment today in regards to a conflict motive i've been trying to figure out for ages, and as a bonus it also neatly interconnects two subplots in the project. very hyped about the way the plot is shaping up. Those are the best!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2023 18:06:03 GMT -5
Do you ever have one of those moments when people keep telling you to write and you'll never complete anything if you don't, but then again they haven't written a story much less completed one?
So you're just there like: *sighs* OKKKKKKAAAAYYYYY
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Post by ! (Ġray) ! on Dec 10, 2023 6:36:49 GMT -5
hey guys, what's the youngest POV protagonist you'd read about in an adult/YA book? I have a character whos important lore starts at 8, but I think that that would be too young even if the story was written for teenagers or adults, so what do you guys think is the youngest a protagonist should be?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2023 6:44:17 GMT -5
! (Ġray) !8 sounds good for young adults and teenagers. I mean, if the story is written well enough it could work.
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Post by Brownie on Dec 10, 2023 13:57:47 GMT -5
hey guys, what's the youngest POV protagonist you'd read about in an adult/YA book? I have a character whos important lore starts at 8, but I think that that would be too young even if the story was written for teenagers or adults, so what do you guys think is the youngest a protagonist should be? Depends. are you talking flashbacks or "this is where chapter 1 starts"? It also very much depends on what genre you're writing & your style. Are you sticking really close to the character's head in first person? That's going to be a hard sell. Tone and style can be much more lenient if you're in third person with a narrator talking ABOUT the child's experiences vs the child speaking about it themself; that way, you can talk about the implications of the event without having to put the reader in a position where they're unsure a child that age could comprehend that event. You're also totally allowed to only talk about that event tangentially and never show it on the page! Esp for trauma; it's often more impactful the less a reader knows about the details.
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Post by Saint Ambrosef on Dec 11, 2023 0:46:17 GMT -5
I agree, the context in which we're reading about this hypothetical 8 year old matters a lot.
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Post by ! (Ġray) ! on Dec 11, 2023 0:49:08 GMT -5
3rd person, mostly just their perspective on events with the occasional direct thought sprinkled in. They also won't be 8 for long, just a few chapters as the current first book has her from 8-11, with each book after having her older (she's going to be 20 by the time the canon ends, idk how many books that is though)
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#f0a9e4
Name Colour
Captain Americat
"Don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile." - Teen Wolf
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Post by Captain Americat on Dec 11, 2023 17:27:32 GMT -5
Hmm… I didn’t read what everyone else has said. But I think having a character that’s 8 be a main character is 100% fine. But telling the story from the POV might be a little harder if you’re trying to reach the audience of adults or teens. Unless it’s flashbacks, in which case, that’s different. But I’m not sure about an entire book with the POV of an 8 year old :/
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#f0a9e4
Name Colour
Captain Americat
"Don't frown, someone could be falling in love with your smile." - Teen Wolf
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Post by Captain Americat on Dec 11, 2023 17:30:10 GMT -5
^^’ just read your most recent comment: I think that’s an okay thing to do. If you have POVs of other characters as well and then have the 8 year old sharing her perspective on what’s going on and how it’s affecting her. I think the best way to make that work is to have the bits of the story where she’s the POV at 8 years old be the smallest. In a way, it’s also kind of symbolic? 8 year old has short chapters but they grow as she grows older and then you can see how her thoughts and stuff have progressed and matured.
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Post by Brownie on Dec 11, 2023 18:15:48 GMT -5
I also want to point out that anything can work; to kill a mockingbird, arguably one of the best-read american novels of all time, is told from the POV of an 8 year old. That works because the heavy topics of the book are offset some by Scout's naive youth: she doesn't understand the societal implications of the events going on around her, which makes those horrors even more stark to the reader (while also giving the book some natural levity from the nature of the narrator's innocence).
Ig it's just important to know why you're making a choice, what it's going to allow your narrative to do and how you're going to leverage that usefulness, and know the limitations of that choice and how that'll change your narrative arc. Also think of other perspectives that could also get that same information across and debate the pros and cons of using that perspective instead. Sometimes, even if the character is important, their insight might be better understood through the eyes of another's POV.
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