Do you write stories?

[Obelisk]

...💡

I did something like that before, but have forgotten about it completely. Oh well.

Any interested parties, with plenty time to spare?

I can spare time.

 

[JKgo]

I can spare time.

....Great. Thanks man. I'll PM you shortly.

 

[MatskiMonk]

@JKgo I'd like to offer, but sadly, I don't have the time these days to read anything longer than the ABV rating on my beer. Perhaps post the first chapter/section here, and if people want more they can PM you?

___

Also noticed this typo..

I wouldn't expect people to pay for an unfinished product. I also don't think you'd end up disappointed with yourself if you put it out there, and got negative responses when you knew full well that actually you'd not taken the time to review it properly yourself or put it to an impartial group first.

But I'm sure you knew what I meant

 

[Obelisk]

@JKgo I'd like to offer, but sadly, I don't have the time these days to read anything longer than the ABV rating on my beer. Perhaps post the first chapter/section here, and if people want more they can PM you?

___

Also noticed this typo..



But I'm sure you knew what I meant

It's actually not that long, the sample he sent me.

 

[JKgo]

It's actually not that long, the sample he sent me.

...Don't worry, chapters do get longer from there onwards.

 

[kolio]

....Great. Thanks man. I'll PM you shortly.

Do you mind adding me to the conversation? I am not sure how much time and feedback I will be able to contribute, but would like it to give it a read.

 

[BobK]

Any interested parties, with plenty time to spare?

I'd be willing to take a look at it as well.

 

[Sanji Himura]

I'm starting a writing project myself. It is about a martial arts tournament that takes place on Mars, and it follows one of the competitors as he tries to dispels the ghosts of his past involving the planet's war that causes him to be exiled on Earth. I have relatively unique characters planned for the story, if anyone is interested in looking at it.

 

[JKgo]

Do you mind adding me to the conversation? I am not sure how much time and feedback I will be able to contribute, but would like it to give it a read.

I'd be willing to take a look at it as well.

...I don't wanna sound like an idiot but, how do I add other people in PM convos? Sorry, I was banging rocks in a cave until a few days ago, see...

 

[Obelisk]

...I don't wanna sound like an idiot but, how do I add other people to PM? Sorry, I was banging rocks in a cave until a few days ago, see...

Should be under the list of members in the conversation.

 

[JKgo]

Should be under the list of members in the conversation.

...Okay, done and done. @kolio, @BobK, I added you guys in. Now sure how it works though.

Thanks guys.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Had an idea, thought I start something new..

This is probably as far as I'll get..

Spoiler: The start...

“Are you afraid?” asks a voice from the darkness.

There is silence for a moment…

“I have no reason to be...” Despite his resolve, the resignation in his gruff tone betrays his true feeling.

A distant scream echoes along the smashed and neglected tiles that stretch into the darkness before him, his grip on his gun tightens.

“This place isn’t for me…”

He pauses, and glances to the dwindling shafts of light creeping past the battered and rusty steel door behind him,

“...At least, not yet anyway…”

He can no longer pick his own shadow from the murky darkness around him. As the light fades quickly, he pictures how that sunset might have looked, he pictures the sunsets he remembers... the sunsets from before his world changed.

“... It can’t keep me here.” Again, he re-affirms his grasp on the steel grip in his hand.

The voice in the darkness concedes, “Very well” with a reassuring benevolence.

His eyes slowly begin to adjust to the light, his body is tense and his legs feel heavy. How long had he been stood there? He can’t recall.

His first step forward is met by another distant shriek… it’s a long way off, there’s no way it’s a reaction to his presence, but he wouldn’t be able to deny it now… he feels the fear like an icy liquid washing down his spine...

 

[Obelisk]

Had an idea, thought I start something new..

This is probably as far as I'll get..

Spoiler: The start...

“Are you afraid?” asks a voice from the darkness.

There is silence for a moment…

“I have no reason to be...” Despite his resolve, the resignation in his gruff tone betrays his true feeling.

A distant scream echoes along the smashed and neglected tiles that stretch into the darkness before him, his grip on his gun tightens.

“This place isn’t for me…”

He pauses, and glances to the dwindling shafts of light creeping past the battered and rusty steel door behind him,

“...At least, not yet anyway…”

He can no longer pick his own shadow from the murky darkness around him. As the light fades quickly, he pictures how that sunset might have looked, he pictures the sunsets he remembers... the sunsets from before his world changed.

“... It can’t keep me here.” Again, he re-affirms his grasp on the steel grip in his hand.

The voice in the darkness concedes, “Very well” with a reassuring benevolence.

His eyes slowly begin to adjust to the light, his body is tense and his legs feel heavy. How long had he been stood there? He can’t recall.

His first step forward is met by another distant shriek… it’s a long way off, there’s no way it’s a reaction to his presence, but he wouldn’t be able to deny it now… he feels the fear like an icy liquid washing down his spine...

Zombies?

 

[MatskiMonk]

Zombies?

Nope, but it's that kind of suspense situation I was aiming for at this stage.

 

[BobK]

...Okay, done and done. @kolio, @BobK, I added you guys in. Now sure how it works though.

Thanks guys.

Okay, seems to be working. I gave the first chapter a quick lookover, will comment on it tomorrow in the PM thread.

 

[JohnBM01]

No serious work to speak of, but I kind of have been developing an eBook since earlier tonight. This time, I am looking at trying to make a story. The other eBooks I've created were two different eBooks in the realm of self help. The eBook I'm working on is rather ambitious. Ambitious in the sense that it is a work that would irk most average people. I'm not giving any specifics, but it is just something that would probably have people think, "THIS person made THIS story?"

I have given no serious concentration on this eBook and this story, but it is kind of something I am going on in a slow development phase. Maybe I'll share more details if I get further along in my project.

 

[Obelisk]

No serious work to speak of, but I kind of have been developing an eBook since earlier tonight. This time, I am looking at trying to make a story. The other eBooks I've created were two different eBooks in the realm of self help. The eBook I'm working on is rather ambitious. Ambitious in the sense that it is a work that would irk most average people. I'm not giving any specifics, but it is just something that would probably have people think, "THIS person made THIS story?"

I have given no serious concentration on this eBook and this story, but it is kind of something I am going on in a slow development phase. Maybe I'll share more details if I get further along in my project.

Brainstorm an idea, then develop it! Sometimes they just hit you out of the blue.

For example, my idea:

===
Time frame and backstory

The story idea takes place somewhere between 2150 and 2170.
So, somewhere in between 2044 and 2048, there was a reactor meltdown in New England, and the following explosion wiped out most of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. A group of scientists that went along the rescue teams had discovered that some survivors had somehow been made younger by ten or even twenty years, based on their proximity to the epicenter of the accident. Upon further investigation, they discovered a new super-heavy element (atomic weight estimated to be over 200).

===
The new element

What they discovered was remarkable. This new element was a stable atom with similar reactive properties to oxygen. It seemed to be able to bond with any atom or molecule without damaging the original molecule structure or function, DNA in particular. Analyzing the survivors revealed that they were exposed to doses of 100 to 200 milligrams of the element, and that these small dosagesreversed their physical ages equal to the dose size (100 = 10 years, 200 = 20 years, etc.) by rolling back the centromeres that caused aging. However, the survivors had no recollection of what happened in those ten years of their past.

This provided critical information on how to use the element, and immortality and reincarnation were unlocked by humanity on December 14, 2065.

===
The immortality and reincarnation

The scientists unlocked these two long-desired traits through the new element. They started production of a 100 mg pill of the element that guaranteed another ten years of life at the cost of your memories of the past ten years of your life. This could be worked around by making a very detailed log of those years before taking the pill. If a person did not desire immortality in one body, they could opt for reincarnation. A small capsule with the element was implanted in the base of the brain, and recorded everything the person experienced. Upon death, the capsule would be removed and then implanted in a newborn infant. It would be activated after the first year of the infant's life, which would completely snuff out the existence of the infant and replace it with the person who desired to be reborn.

===
Consequence

Every person and their mother wanted the pills and capsules. The initial prices were utterly high, so only the rich could get either of them. It would lead up to a society where the rich were immortal and the poor suffered. The poor just wanted the pills so they could roll back their bodies or their children's bodies to prevent fatal disorders from killing them (the pill rolls back disorders and diseases too), and the greedy rich use it to live forever and make more money off the poor.

===
Story premise

The idea I initially had here was a small rebel group a la Robin Hood that stole supply trucks full of the pills and distribute them. Several of the rebels had the reincarnation capsules implanted, so it becomes a situation where the rebels have to decide if they want to die normally or be reborn to see the results of their sacrifices, etc.

The idea of the novel is to ask "If you could obtain immortality and reincarnation at any cost, is it really worth it?"

hit me while I was driving home from class. It was during a time where I was having a bit of an existential crisis.

 

[Techy]

I have one particular story I was working on from time to time... But it's been unedited for over a month now. Just like how I haven't drawn anything in a longer timespan. When you see people who can do it far better than you, you're in the eyes of the beholder.

 

[JKgo]

....Right. I've been writing and posting chapters of my story over yonder at Novel Updates for some time now. A few days ago, I received an invite to join and post my story over at another site, called Fantasy Updates. Has anyone heard of this site?

I was thinking of posting on Royal Road Legends as well before the invite, and it should be better for me to have my story appear on more sites.

Hmm. Honestly, I haven't got massive free time at the moment, and also am a bit lazy to post on multiple sites and trying to manage 'em all.... But.... Argh. Curse this lazy streak of mine.

 

[Com Fox]

Question for all you writers, how would you write a story that involved Time Travel. What would be your rules in an attempt to prevent plot holes?

 

[niky]

Question for all you writers, how would you write a story that involved Time Travel. What would be your rules in an attempt to prevent plot holes?

Since real time travel would either involve paradoxes or self-correcting loops in which cause and effect lose all meaning, I'm not sure you can completely avoid plot holes... or at least tremendous leaps of logic.

Steven Baxter, for example, was hardcore. His time traveling Xelee lived in self-contained time loops with no logical beginning or end. Others, like Bradbury (Sound of Thunder) exemplify the "you can't go back again" mantra.

Best you can do is map things out and make sure that you never break your "in-universe" rules. If you follow one theory or mode of time travel (branching dimensions, self-sustaining loops, changes that radiate forward but don't affect Traveller, etc), you should ideally stick to it and not sidestep your own rules when it's convenient.

One thing some sci-fi writers do is purposely craft in-universe rules to facilitate good storytelling. Niven did this with his Time Traveller series, playing fast and loose with temporal physics to make things exciting... but ALWAYS following the rather arbitrary rules he set for it at the start.

 

[JohnBM01]

I haven't worked on my *ambitious* story, but I have been thinking a lot about how to pace it along with certain surprise elements to it. Again- I am not serious developing this story idea, but I am not disregarding or neglecting it. More like taking my time and here-and-there development are the ways I describe this project.

One other story idea was meant to be a YouTube video project I had in mind. But then, I realize I may want this to be another eBook project. This one is not as ambitious; but rather, more a sports-themed project. I am even less serious trying to develop it much currently. I have loads of ideas on the pacing of this one.

Everyone will have different levels of development to these stories. As long as you get them done and in a way you are happiest with, that is all that matters.

 

[JKgo]

...So, yeah - a status update.

I've been writing and posting the chapters of my story/novel and I think it's going fairly well.

On Royal Road Legends, I started out at 3500th or something similar in ranking, but now, I sit around 710. Which is an improvement, right?

Also, I'm getting okay reviews and comments, which is quite encouraging as well. Although, there was this troll guy who left a review score of 0.5... As far as I'm concerned, he can kiss my ***.

 

[Obelisk]

...So, yeah - a status update.

I've been writing and posting the chapters of my story/novel and I think it's going fairly well.

On Royal Road Legends, I started out at 3500th or something similar in ranking, but now, I sit around 710. Which is an improvement, right?

Also, I'm getting okay reviews and comments, which is quite encouraging as well. Although, there was this troll guy who left a review score of 0.5... As far as I'm concerned, he can kiss my ***.

Good job!

Status update for myself, been doing a creative nuzlocke run. (very niche Pokemon thing)

 

[JohnBM01]

My own *ambitious* story hasn't been updated or developed in so much time because I've focused most of my creative energy on designing a game (or at least a game prototype). Not much has changed with my story, except that I almost want to incorporate certain events into what I normally had as a casual sort of story.

After making two eBooks, I want to attempt making a picture eBook. Think more along the lines of comics or something. The first eBook I ever bought was mostly a picture eBook- "I Am Pusheen the Cat." Yes- I think Pusheen is the most awesome cat there is. Anyhow, making a picture eBook requires you to not only design some quality art, but also tell a great story within the pictures. My early thoughts were actually about a kid-friendly eBook. However, I am very poor at thinking about what I could actually make that kids (and perhaps even their parents) can enjoy. You can only stretch some things so far without going to material teenagers could probably appreciate. I haven't yet developed anything as far as any picture eBook project.

So there is my own update. This past December 2016 has actually been one year since I published my two eBooks.

 

[ULTRAVIOLENZZ]

Is it wrong that I "write" stories through directly visualizing it in storyboards? I'm having a hard time writing as you can see with my posts. And even in my native language, I can't construct proper sentences let alone paragraphs.

 

[JKgo]

And even in my native language, I can't construct proper sentences let alone paragraphs.

...I know what you mean, brother.

Good job!

Thank you!! I see you're a GTP staffer now - congrats, man. Looking forward to reading your contribution in the News section.

BTW, did I just single-handedly revive this thread?!

 

[Obelisk]

BTW, did I just single-handedly revive this thread?!

I think you did!

Thank you!! I see you're a GTP staffer now - congrats, man. Looking forward to reading your contribution in the News section.

Thanks! I've already got an article under my belt.

 

[Com Fox]

Is it wrong that I "write" stories through directly visualizing it in storyboards? I'm having a hard time writing as you can see with my posts. And even in my native language, I can't construct proper sentences let alone paragraphs.

I do it all the time. I find it hard to put things down. I've thrown out so many ideas because of it.

I still have my "bank" of ideas on everything I scrapped and I must say my bank is very full, but I don't how to use any of the ideas I've stored.

 

[Mrs Wolfe]

Updates: I'm taking a revision class and am revising one of novels. I have no problem writing them, but I've never learned to revise! So I went with someone whose classes have been good fits before and coughed up the cash to take one of her big courses and learn how to revise.

In other news, my resolution is to submit five short stories this year. -_-: