For Writers of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Feeler for next challenge

gezza — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 04:07:01 GMT

Guys

I have an idea for the next challenge (not to be revealed until 13th) but I genuinely believe it warrants a word cap of 1500 or perhaps 2000. Any objections to this?

If there are, I will look elsewhere for ideas.

The Dark and the Sinister

Stella — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:07:20 GMT

I was reading over the member bios on the home page and I struck a chord with a lot of you: evil highly intrigues me.

No doubt my favourite character that I ever created is a young man named Ryan, who seems deathly evil but is witty, charming, intelligent, hurting and truly human. Perhaps he is not really evil, then - just misunderstood. He has an evil side, of course - don't we all is the motive behind most of my evil creations - but he is undoubtably real.

And that's just it. Evil ...

A question to my American brethren/sisters

gezza — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 09:47:32 GMT

I am writing a short at the moment set in the US West and it involves Indians. A character (remember that this character is speaking in 1866 California/western Arizona) uses the word "squaw" to represent a female Indian. Now, apart from the fact that the word's origin is from the eastern Indian tribes, I am assuming that 19th C. white men may use the term generally. This appears OK.

The worry I have is in terms of reader sentiments. I believe that the word has become quite ...

How do you all handle Cliches?

bluegray — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:22:13 GMT

What with our chosen genres, we must face mountains of the "already been done too many times." So I was wondering what everyone here does to make their story stand out from the rest. Do you strive for a new kind of plot? Or a new point of view? Or a new kind of world? New style?

What lengths do you guys go to, in order to avoid being just "another one of those," and when do you finally call it quits?

I know originality is disputed to have all but dried up, ...

My journey in self publishing

knorrasky — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:47:54 GMT

Hi everyone.

Well as most of you know my book is well underway to being on the shelves of book stores around the world. Many have asked questions as to why I went with self publishing and I have decided to take some time and explain my reasons and also some of the process.

After submitting my manuscript to three publishing companies I started to get offers. Two of the big houses bit hard and at first that sounded very good, but not for long. Here I must tell you about a myth within this ...

We're getting to that time again!

Rachel Westwood — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:34:44 GMT

Okay, I know, I'm about three months early in this but November is looming and this year has gone so fast that its going to be on us before we know it. Which means.... the NaNoWriMo is heading this way!

I just want to work out how many people are planning on entering this year, how many of you already have seedlings in your mind for potential novels and whether anyone would be interested in us starting a series of workshop-like threads over the next few months to help each other with the ...

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Stella — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:27:30 GMT

Now, I haven't seen the first Hellboy film, so forgive me if I sound like I know nothing. Andy and I simply thought 'Awesome! Looks great! Let's go!' And so we went, with our friend, Conland (whose input may be included).

The premise of Hellboy is simple. Ugly, devil-looking guy works for the FBI with other ugly guys including a fish-doctor, a girl who can set fire to herself and a German dude made of ectoplasm (yeah, ectoplasm), save the world from similarly ugly guys, the end. However, ...

Ahoy!

bluegray — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:38:06 GMT

I'm 22, and dig this website. I was first made aware of its presence a few weeks back by Gezza from another website, and have since been visiting these forums regularly. Actually, I have signed up once before, but have forgotten that user name so here I am with a new one. This is actually my first post on either, so hopefully it'll be harder to lose this time around.

Funny thing is I'm not really into writing "fantasy" as it's generally spoken of on this website. Instead, I'm ...

hasta luego

gezza — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:01:27 GMT

Dudes and dudettes,

I'm on vacation for 2 weeks, the first 10 days might be difficult to get on the internet.

I may visit again tonight (my time) but if not, enjoy yourselves! I look forward to coming back with such good company.

cheers

Gezza

Times of Activity

Rachel Westwood — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:31:19 GMT

I just want to find out what the most common times are for people to be logging on here. It would be nice to be able to get some chat room functions going; timed writing races for example, but we would need to know participation and interest as well as the most common times people are around in order to make it work.

If people could log below their local timezone and what their most commonly accessed times are, it would be incredibly helpful. Additionally, if you could indicate your level ...

Scheduled Chats

Rachel Westwood — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:55:47 GMT

I have finally managed to pull together some potential times for scheduled chats as well as to provide you guys with a graphical representation of everybodies log in times with regards to everyone else. The following link will show you a graphical version of each members common log in time so you may be able to work out between you when the best times to be online and accessing the chat rooms/forums will be.

The chart has been arranged so that all times correspond to Australian QLD times, ...

Chat Room Update

Rachel Westwood — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:38:27 GMT

I've just installed a new chat room to the forums front page (click home on the menu above - although, it should be the first oage you get to on the forums unless you have bookmarked the index directly). Give it a shot guys and let me know what you think.

There were a few glitches with the old one which is the reason for the change over.

Macmillan New Writing

gezza — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:49:41 GMT

Macmillan New Writing was launched in 2006 with the aim of discovering superb new novelists writing in all genres. It publishes one novel per month and welcomes submissions from unpublished novelists. See www.macmillannewwriting.com for details of their fiction list and submission.

I took the passage above from a writer's group in Australia, and on investigating the link, found it quite legit. I actually submitted my first novel to it (what the heck).

Anyway, anyone else who is ...

The Dark Knight

Stella — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:20:37 GMT

I can't wait for this film to come out!

Heath Ledger's final film (sob), Christian Bale is stunning as Batman, the cars, the action, the Gothic edge... it's fantastic and I can't wait. Every time I see a trailer I'm practically jumping about in my seat.

Any films anyone can't wait to see up and coming? Or are you waiting for the Dark Knight like me?

Metallica

Severian — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:25:46 GMT

Went to see 'em here in Dublin last night, and I dont care what anyone says about Metallica slowing down with age, they are as high octane as ever. Awesome concert.

They played a new song from Death Magnetic too, Cyanide. Its not classic Metallica or anything, but it's a damn sight better than anything on St. Anger.

Opinion

knorrasky — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 05:15:26 GMT

I have been working on my new novel Sevren which was inspired from last months challenge.

The problem is that it is taking a different direction than I had planned. At first I was going along the lines of my challenge story, one dragon, told from his point of view through thoughts and few words. But now I have a dozen or so characters. All animals or creatures and this is taking the storyline in the direction of... well a kids book. Is this a bad thing? No matter how I try it still comes ...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Stella — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:52:39 GMT

Not had time to review this yet, so it may be a lil rusty.

So - Andy found out about this film many moons ago, because he's the biggest Star Wars geek I have ever met, and practically peed when he realised it was finally coming out. And, me being the tolerant girlfriend, I said I would go with him to see it (plus I, too, am a raging Star Wars fan, so I had an excuse).

It's such good fun. The beginning: 'a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...' then the opening string hit of the ...

Exam Results

Stella — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:12:57 GMT

Just thought I'd let you know that I got the grades to get into the UEA this morning for Eng Lit and Creative Writing - it's a great opportunity and a rare one, 24 people get a place every year.

Highlights of July/August Challenge

gezza — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:32:25 GMT

Thanks everyone for a really enjoyable contest round! I put forward a Wilfred Owen war-inspired poem with a degree of trepidation, but you all interpreted his work wonderfully.

I submitted "Sunset in P�lyn�s Fen", a story about martyrdom and the agony of a father who has to kill his son in order to avoid having him go through torture. Comments were complimentary regarding dialogue and the way telepathy was depicted.

Wargood wrote "Blooding Day", concerning the ...

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Stella — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:58:03 GMT

Because I now fancy myself as the guild film critic (thank you everyone ) I thought I'd do a review of this one for you as well.

I went into this film a little sceptical. I liked The Mummy, and I loved The Mummy Returns, but I thought 'this'll be to cash in on the franchise'. As usual, I took my roving boyfriend Andy with me for second opinions and to pay for the tickets. I'm nice like that.

As usual, it starts with the past - telling you the story of the mummy they're going to encounter, ...

Character Death

OGO — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:06:15 GMT

Sometimes I meet someone who has a character who cannot die...and it really shows. It bleeds the whole risk factor out the scene...yet, it is the event that infuses daring. I read about a famous knight called 'hotspur' who was a champion and a famed gallant in old england, when he met Richards scutifer (shield man), the prince of wales known as Owain Glyndwr, he aborted his mission to fight Owain and he joined him in rebellion against Henry, as their previous King, Richard had been so badly treated ...

I'm Sorry

Corvus — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:19:03 GMT

It seems that writing is the most fragile part of my life. The moment anything goes slightly wrong, the instant I get even slightly upset, worried or depressed, writing is the last thing I want to think about. And with my current financial woes, there's a lot of upset, worry and depression in my life right now. In short, I can't even think about thinking about writing. And that's why I've been so silent.

I wanted to participate in the challenges. I wanted to lay out ideas from the novel ...

Ships, the sea and the like

knorrasky — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:28:22 GMT

For my next book I need to write about an ocean voyage, discribe the ship and such as this. Do I add pirates in a traditional sword/medieval fantasy? Or would this sound out of place? Is there a rule on this?

I know Wargood is working on pirate fantasy but does anyone else have any input that may be helpful. I have exactly zero experience in this reguard.

To set the tone, I am going to have my main characters find a sea port and then they must find a willing captain to smuggle them into ...

CHALLENGE FOR JULY/AUGUST: BLOODING DAY

Wargood — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:32:28 GMT

Lian patrolled around the well hidden camp on silent feet. It was a tiny, fireless camp of Nightwalkers; the warrior society to which she was pledged. Only the toughest were selected to become Nightwalkers. Lesser warriors who wished to join a society became Frontrunners. The Frontrunners rode ahead as scouts when the Korgen Horde was on the move, and they were usually the first to encounter the enemy. The enemy was anyone who lived behind walls. the Frontrunners took note of villages, towns ...

Writers' Challenge July/August - Sunset in P�lyn�s Fen

gezza — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:48:17 GMT

Ragmarond! Can you read my mind? The voice seemed distant; vaguely familiar. Can you understand me! I can sense you are hurt� try to get your head together!

The burly scout shook his head as he regained consciousness. He was in pain, a great deal of pain. He heard distant muttering and closer by the distinctive tittering of the Blue-breasted Wren. He opened his eyes and he saw the sun about to set, but he had never seen it so red � and then he realised that his eyes were filled with ...

Going away

Stella — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:04:43 GMT

I won't be here til Friday - I'm going to meet my boyfriend's family *urk!* so I'll see you soon.

Stella*

Challenge for July/August - Severen

knorrasky — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:50:16 GMT

Years had passed and so had the memory of him. Severen had grown old and he no longer had the urge to fight and no one came looking to kill him. There was a time though when he would go out like a warrior and he would lie low all those whom he chose. Merely for fun he would kill and many came to his land to seek vengeance, many a knight had died on his land as they pushed forward on their impossible quest. But now the land was quiet and the days were empty and he longed for the exhilaration of ...

What are you reading right now...

animal74 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:26:01 GMT

We had a thread for this in the old forum and it was neat to see what people were reading. When you're done your current book, tell us what you're starting next!

I'm currently reading Sir William Scott's Ivanhoe. It's a great book. It really sucks you in despite being over 150 years old!

Query Letter Workshop

gezza — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:26:11 GMT

How does this sound for those who want better query letters, and those who want to help those who want to improve?

How do we want to do this?

Busy...

animal74 — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:22:00 GMT

Hey, sorry for my inactivity, life got busy (joined a ball hockey team, my wife started working P/T and my daughter got mobile!). Hopefully I be around more. I haven't had the chance to write a lot on my stories, but I've been doing other types of writing. Anyway, I hope you are all doing well and I look forward to getting back in the loop!

Writing Site of Possible Interest

Rachel Westwood — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:17:37 GMT

Has anyone ever heard of a site/community called Storywrite? What are the general impressions? I have an account up there and find it to be quite usefull for showcasing those works that I never intend to publish for various reasons.

If no-one has ever heard of it I can give you a bit more info, or you can drop by and see for yourself. It is a showcasing community (much like writing.com really) where authors can sign up to create their own pages and host their written stories and poems for ...

Writer's Challenge July/August - Farewell

Stella — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:16:51 GMT

Cora shut her eyes against the coming sunset. Another day passed, and no farewell. She cursed herself daily, gave herself little punishments in an attempt to force herself to say goodbye if only to stop the self-torment, but she couldn�t bring herself to utter those fateful words.

He was dangerous. It had to be done.

But he was her friend, her companion, her partner. They had stood victorious on the battlefield, bleeding, breathless but beaming in their triumph; nights of drinking in ...

Writers Challenge for July 14 to August 13

gezza — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:57:18 GMT

One of my favourite poets is Wilfred Owen - an incredibly sensitive and talented writer who wrote his best stuff while in the Front during World War I. One of the great tragedies is that he was killed in action seven days before Armistice Day.

The following poem is short and poignant. Please base your short story on it.

As usual, the story has to be between 200 and 1000 words in length. If you want to be rated, please state so at the end of your story posting.

Happy hunting!

I ...

High Lights of June/July challange

knorrasky — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:22:00 GMT

The Writers Challenge for June/July was to write a story based on the Song, �If You could read my mind� by Gordon Lightfoot.

The month started out slow with many of our regulars away on holiday but once they returned things picked up!

� Gezza gave us �The Wish�, a story about a lost sole who is set on the the right path by a girl at a well. Stella noted. Nice. It's sweet and gentle and very cleverly done through dialogue. It doesn't need a great deal of description because the speech says ...

Perspective

Malice — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:29:39 GMT

I've hit a bit of snag in my latest project, mostly in that I cannot decide which viewpoint to use. I'm interested to hear what others think about differing perspectives in writing style. First, second, or the all powerful omniscient third person? I am aware that third person is the generally accepted norm, but I'd like to challenge you to consider where you think the alternative perspectives fit in and in what kinds of environments they work. Watcha think?

Hey

karmicangel — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 05:32:04 GMT

Hi

I am a 23 year old South African hoping to improve my writing.I think writing groups are great for beginners as we can help each other develop our skills through constructive critisism.

Looking forward to reading your works

karmic angel

Be gone for a few days

knorrasky — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:09:11 GMT

I have got to go out of town for work. Be back in a few days.

Out of the Loop

Wargood — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:23:28 GMT

I'm going on vacation this week: seven glorious days without my mother-in-law around 24-F'n-7! We're taking the monsters to Myrtle Beach, so they can cry and whine continuously in a place other than our house. Sorry, been a rough week.

In any case, I'll be off-line for a little while: Don't move the site and change it's name while I'm gone!

W

What's up?

knorrasky — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:58:25 GMT

Hi everyone.

Couldn�t help but notice that things have slowed down around here. So what�s up with everyone? It�s summer here in the USA and many people are on vacation or busy working. It is a hectic time of the year for us also, we are in construction and with all of the flooding in our area it has been hard to get our work done.

I was talking with Gezza and we were wondering what would be of interest to all of you that would help with participation here? We know you are busy ...

A HELP TO WRITERS!!

Panos — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:06:51 GMT

Well hello. I am epic creator and i found the way in order someone can create a perfect story that without doubt can be success. READ WELL PLEASE.

1) YOU MUST KNOW WHERE YOU WILL WORK. TO PC TO PAPER

2)WHAT YOU NEED IS THE MOST IMPORTANT: TO PC FOR ANYTHING YOU WILL NEED THESE PROGRAMS: jarte plus, mindjet manager pro,a dictionary.

3)YOU MUST HAVE MANAGEMENT MIND THAT CAN BE IMPROVED THOUGH MINDJET MANAGER PRO

4)YOU MUST HAVE A LOT LOT LOT IMAGINATION

Notes: WAY IS LONG ...

A HELLO!!

Panos — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:14:21 GMT

Hello. I am panos from Greece and i am epic writer. My story has the name The White Kingdom Empire.

I use the best programs and today i finished the srction of good: Commanders System. I am looking for a safe spot to talk and discuss. I guess i found it

New Book Cover

knorrasky — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:08:31 GMT

Thanks to everyone who commented on my book cover I was able to reach deeper and come up with the NEW cover for my book. Thanks Wargood, you came up with the inspiration for this cover!!

I hope that everyone is as happy with it as I am!!

http://www.freewebs.com/knorrasky/bookcover.htm

So... yeah...

Eve Tarvend — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:58:01 GMT

Um, hello. I've been searching high and low for a writing forum that I'd be able to feel comfortable in, but all the ones I found had like, four digit members or more. Too much for me. D: ANYHOO, I found this place, checked it out, and decided that this is the forum for me. I's 18 years old, am a High School graduate, and am also a member of the United States Air Force. I am an uber avid fantasy writer, currently writing four books (one of them being the first of five or six books. D: ), and ...

Shared World Building Exercise

Rachel Westwood — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:08:41 GMT

This is a just a feeler; trying to guage interest in an idea for the future - if it interests you let me know, if not I'll add it to the scrap pile. But how would people feel about working on a shared world-building project as a group? The idea would be that I draw up a map, and then each member selects an area (making sure to leave plenty of space for future members should they wish to take part) then each would take their area and flesh out the geography of it. Place you mountains and lakes ...

Moved: The Final Crusade

Rachel Westwood — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:25:11 GMT

Just a heads up to let people know that I have moved this post to the Themes board temporarily.

"I wasn't 100% sure about this actually, because technically it doesn't look like a piece of the work but more of a synopsis of the general novel. However, I would agree that it does need to go somewhere else. Either the excerpts forum (I'll send you the information and give you access) or one of the other writing discussion areas. This particular one, being a general area is viewable by ...

possible new discussion areas

gezza — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 06:34:14 GMT

This is just a thought... I was wondering whether it is warranted to have two new areas of discussion:

Firstly under General Writing Discussion, I noticed there wasn't a subcategory that covers (for want of a better word) themes. We have the very tangible stuff already - plot, character, action etc, but we don't have one for subtleties. If a short story has a strong theme with an emphasis on something subtle - such as a particular style that adds atmosphere, or a moral message, or whatever, ...

Highlights of May/June challange

gezza — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:54:54 GMT

Thanks for those who submitted entries in this month's challenge. I felt a little sadistic on this, my first moderation job on this site, so I challenged everyone to write a piece inspired by Pablo Picasso's Guernica. The tricky part of this challenge was that those in the know about it's history - that it is considered one of the most powerful anti-war statements of the twentieth century (and related to a very low point in humanity) - it would be difficult to separate that understanding from ...

Inspirational Books

Stella — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:27:12 GMT

The Wind Singer by William Nicholson is, for me, the book of books. It's beautifully crafted, the characters are believeable and you care for them, and the world is just astonishing.

It was this book, at age 12, that made me start to write. And since then a great deal of books that have inspired me have fallen at my feet - Garth Nix's Old Kingdom trilogy, Johnathon Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy, G.P Taylor's Shadowmancer - some for good reasons and some for bad.

Which novels have inspired ...

Favorite Fantasy/Sci/Fi Movies and TV shows

knorrasky — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 04:26:31 GMT

I spend a lot of my TV time on the Sci/Fi channel. I like SG1 and Battle Star Galactica. I remember being in school in the 80s and doing a book report on BSG. Good book!

As for movies. Star Wars is great! Of corse X-Men and movies like that are fun too.

So what does every one here like?

What type of Music?

Severian — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:51:07 GMT

Well, I cant help but notice that this area has a total of...no topics. So, seeing as how I do love music, I've decided to start one off at least.

The best question to get people talking about music is, I suppose, the obvious one.

What type of music do you listen to?

I personally love rock, blues, heavy metal, and I'm patrial to certain orchestral music as well.