antishurtugal_reborn | Entries tagged with writing

Lately, I've been asking myself this question, especially with everything that's happening with artificial intelligence (which many expect writers to embrace, or else they'll be finished; or something like that).

I admit that when creating my story and building the world around it, I used several elements from other media (books, movies, series, and even anime) as inspiration. And recently, I've been afraid of being criticized, or worse, accused of plagiarism, because of the similarities between the elements I used in my story.

Or maybe I'm just being paranoid (as I always am).

Anyway, putting my paranoid thoughts aside, what do you all think? I'm all ears.

(I have a feeling I've asked this question before, but I can't be sure.)

Current Mood: anxious

masterghandalf

Not sure if this is the best place for this, but I thought I'd go ahead and drop a post and see if it's of interest to anyone. Basically, I've been wanting to get back into writing my own original fiction lately and was curious if anyone might be interested reading some of it and offering feedback? I wrote up some rough summaries of some of the ideas I've been toying with on my journal, if anyone is interested in seeing them. Just thought I'd share, before getting back to your regularly scheduled sporking!

kirito210

As we all know, and from what I have read in many Sporks, the authors of the books do not correctly portray trauma or mental illness correctly. (or in some cases, they dismiss it as a negative, or even villainous trait)

Now the question is: how to represent that correctly without falling into cynicism or edgy?

For example, in my book, the protagonist is killed and sent to a fantasy world, courtesy of a dragon god, in order to kill five individuals. Unlike many Isekais, let's just say there will be a point where my character will see someone die and, we all know the emotional aftermath of that. (excuse me if I bring up my book, but it is so that you understand the reason for my question)

And well, maybe a common mistake would be to mention the trauma once and then not do it anymore. Also that traumas are not so easy to overcome.

Anyway, that's all from me. What do you think? Any advice?

epistler

Something that occurred to me today, what with reading the latest Fifth Sorceress sporking and chatting to a friend about the cringe-inducing attempts at "edginess" we made during our time as teen writers is that one of the marks of an inexperienced and immature author is the tendency to try and include weighty issues and subjects without understanding them. For example we have Paolini, who very ill-advisedly decided to throw in things like torture, rape, PTSD and suicide despite clearly not having the faintest idea of what he was talking about. Hence we get torture victims who don't react like actual torture victims, PTSD which comes and goes as it suits the author's whim instead of being goddamn crippling like actual PTSD, and suicide which is handled in far too cavalier and insensitive a fashion. And then there are smaller things which are still problematic, such as grief and depression just coming off as whining and sulking. You can tell all too easily that all the above were written by an immature person who has no idea of the realities of what he's trying to portray and therefore completely fails to do them justice.

Meanwhile I'm not letting myself off the hook. When I was first trying to write novels I threw in self-harm, suicide and mental illness for no better reason than that I thought it was "dramatic" and made my writing more serious and important. But of course I had no frogging clue what I was doing, and no comprehension of the fact that such things should never be arbitrarily thrown in just for the sake of cheap melodrama. They are serious subjects which need to be treated seriously, and therefore must only be there if there's a good reason for them to be there, and with the proper research. And by research I don't just mean reading up on it, but actually talking and listening to people with personal experience, if you haven't experienced it yourself. Until I experienced grief and trauma in my own life, I had no idea what it actually felt like, and when I did I looked back with shame on my early ignorant attempts at writing about people going through it.

These thoughts led me to another one, which was - not for the first time - how such immature, sheltered people trying to write about subjects they know nothing about have no business even trying to write novels in the first place for the simple reason that we write and tell stories in order to share what we have learned about life. And how exactly are you going to do that when you have learned nothing? This is the exact reason, in my opinion, why the Inheritance "saga" and its equally tedious successor are in essence "about nothing". There's no consistent morals, messages or themes other than idiotic, juvenile shit like "being more powerful than everyone else is awesome and when you're powerful you should get to do whatever you want". There's no acquired wisdom to pass on, because it doesn't exist. Or at least that's very much how it feels. I mean Paolini could have written something which draws on what it's like being a teenage celebrity or having a weird upbringing in the middle of nowhere, but he doesn't. He just writes about his favourite D&D characters playing a stupid FPS on godmode.

Current Music: I'm Blue (Da Ba Dee) GOTHIC METAL COVER feat. @VioletOrlandi

mara_dienne459

So I was wandering around my Facebook (yeah, I use that), and I found this...

https://vocal.media/challenges/christopher-paolini-s-fantasy-fiction?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Vocal%2B+-+Prospecting+-+Challenges+-+Christopher+Paolini%27s+Fantasy+Fiction+-+11.4.22&utm_term=US%2BUK%2BCA%2BAU_18%2B_Interests_FantasyFictionWriters&utm_content=Static+-+Christopher+Paolini+B

Or, for those who don't want to follow the link:

Christopher Paolini's Fantasy Fiction Challenge.

Write a fantasy fiction story for a chance to meet Christopher Paolini and win $10,000.

About this Challenge

We are thrilled to have celebrated author Christopher Paolini on board as Head Judge in our latest Fantasy challenge. We’re asking you to submit your best work of Fantasy following the prompt below for a chance to win $10,000 and — how exciting is this? — an exclusive meet and greet over Zoom with Christopher, internationally-bestselling author of Eragon and the Inheritance Cycle.

The Prompt: A grown dragon finds a lost - or abandoned - toddler in the forest. Write a story about what happens next.

In our Fantasy Prologue Challenge this summer, we invited you to start thinking about dragons — now you know why. We received thousands of submissions to this challenge, and we’re so glad to spotlight once again a genre that is both a classic and a favorite among the members of our community. Over the years, the Vocal creative community has demonstrated a keen affinity for stories themed around deep magic, debonair heroism, faraway lands, and mythical beasts. Dragons especially, of course.

“Community is incredibly important,” Christopher told us when we spoke to him, “which is why I’m participating in this challenge with Vocal. Because the act of writing – and reading – is so solitary, making connections with other people in that world and in that community becomes all the more crucial.” We have not one but three exclusive interviews with Christopher — read the first one hereand we’ll be posting the next two during the course of the Challenge. Christopher’s words will definitely encourage you as you build your stories!

The Prizes

Grand Prize: $10,000 & Half Hour Zoom Call with Christopher Paolini

Second Place: $5,000 & Half Hour Zoom Call with Christopher Paolini

25 Runners-Up: $50

Judge

Christopher Paolini is the author of the international bestsellers Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance, as well as The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm. His debut science fiction novel, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, is now available. He resides in Paradise Valley, Montana, USA. Christopher was fifteen when he wrote the first draft of Eragon. His family decided to self-publish the book and spent a third year preparing the manuscript for publication. In summer 2002, author Carl Hiaasen, whose step-son had read a copy of the self-published book while on vacation in Montana, brought Eragon to the attention of his publisher, Alfred A. Knopf Books For Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. Michelle Frey, executive editor at Knopf, contacted Christopher and his family to ask if they might be interested in having Knopf publish Eragon. The answer was yes, and after another round of editing, Knopf published Eragon in August 2003.

He also put a few videos of himself talking about the challenge, the first of which being him talking about the prizes for the contest, first of which being the 10k prize. He talks about how "when [he] was a fledgling writer, 10k would be very important to [him]." I'm pretty sure 10k would be important to anyone these days, honestly. And also, thinking about the context of that statement and remembering what his family did in order for him to get noticed and published, that's an almost... frightening statement coming from him. He also gives a few video "tips" about creating a plot, picking an idea you'll "love" (also making the story important to you), and finally world building. All I can say is good luck to the people who enter and I hope they get what they're hoping to get.

cmdrnemo

This was going to be a comment. But, I went for a walk to get groceries and realized I had rather a lot of words on the subject.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: weird
Current Location: Sea of Tranquility
Current Music: Country Roads

kirito210

Do you know what love is?

It's a doubt I've had ever since I've seen people criticize romantic relationships in teenage fantasy stories.

and the truth is that I also feel it as an element that is part of the fantasy of power

I just wanted to know and since I've never had a girlfriend, and I don't even plan on having one, well, what better than asking people who surely already have experience in the area.

kirito210

Hello everyone. It's me again with another one of my "existential" questions about writing.

What is your experience writing characters of the opposite sex from yours? Are there things to take into consideration, or is there really no need to take it seriously?

From the reviews I've read (very funny, by the way. It shows that you know how to role-play), one of the things I've noticed is that some of you know when a woman is written by a man based on certain behaviors. But how do they realize this?

And for the women of this community: What is a "well-written" female character? In the main story that I'm writing I have one or another female character and I don't know if I'm okay or if I'm being macho about it.

But, in the end, what do you think?

kirito210

I know that I will surely receive disapproval from all of you, but I have a thought that I need to get rid of.
Is it really to be inclusive when writing a book? Do I, as a writer, have to include diverse characters yes or yes to my story, and if I don't, am I automatically a bad writer?

From all the things I've seen in the entertainment media, it's hard for me to do something you like without people complaining about little things like whether a character is black, white, LGBT, etc.

Personally, I feel that it is not so necessary. If any author wants to include it, it will be because it is born and not to please a certain demographic group. And this is being said by an ignorant middle-class moron who has no right to complain, and who surely doesn't know what it's like to suffer. But still, the truth is that those kinds of things are what make me worry.

I am a writer, not a propagandist.

If you want to destroy me, go ahead. Although I'm not lying when I say that some things make me curious.

ultimate_cheetah

I saw this excellent video from Terrible Writing Advice (a great channel where advice is given sarcastically), and thought you might all enjoy it. It shows how complicated and how trite rebel groups can be. You might recognize the Varden being described in here.

Watch on YouTube

ignoresandra

In my reading, I’ve noticed a couple different books which have villains that to me echo the potential Galbatorix had as a villain. Each of these villains possesses deific power the protagonists can’t hope to match and bear striking similarities to Galbatorix. A godlike villain is a great way to demonstrate how your protagonist deals with situations where victory is impossible or seems impossible or to set up a story where violence isn't a valid answer.

When executed properly, this can lead to a tense story where you're not sure if the protagonist can make it or turn the story into a study of a single character who isn't your protagonist.

We all know what a godlike villain leads to if it's not executed properly.( I should experiment and learn more... )

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: Under a surprisingly heavy cat
Current Music: Holding Out for a Hero

hidden_urchin

We've discussed a lot about the thinness of TSiaSoS, whether in characterization, world, or plot, but this discussion between Kate Elliott and Fonda Lee really gets at the heart of the challenges with large books. I think this audience might appreciate what they're talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSVKYXFDJ5M

torylltales

A Better Greg: A spaceship AI with the digital equivalent of mental illness, from 1995, but doesn’t come across as obnoxious, played for laughs, or disrespectful to people with actual mental illnesses

Gregorovich’s antics in To Sleep, especially the chapter “Ferro Comitante”, made me start to think about another mentally ill ship-mind (in this case, an incredibly advanced humanlike AI, rather than a literal human brain in a vat), from a book published in 1995: Earthsong, by Victor Kelleher.

( Read more... )

If you would like to read the book for yourself, the story is Earthsong, by Victor Kelleher. ISBN 9780670867110, out of print by now but you should be able to find second-hand copies around the place. Or try asking your local library.

kirito210

Hi guys, how have you been? I hope it's ok. Lately college has kept me busy and I haven't had time to write my book ...

or so I think.

Sometimes I feel like I become self-sabotaging and don't continue with what I like to do.

I've heard that I shouldn't think too much about the future, but about the now, but how do I do that? How can I have more confidence in myself to unblock myself and continue with my story?

What do you think? Has it happened to them?

I would love to hear from you and, who knows, receive advice from you.

torylltales

( Read more... )

ssbob90

Note: This is a pretty long read since I want to make sure I clarify the details and I don't know how much is superfluous.

( Read more... )

Some things I want to clarify: The highlight of this is that I want to show how Kurgren, the protagonist, and Nihalos, the villain, are two sides of the same coin with their backstory and events. Showing how evil is made by those who refuse to change, take culpability in their actions, or do self-reflection.

Another thing I want to highlight is that William didn't became Nihalos by circumstance, at least not directly, but by his own decisions, with only little influences. That he became Nihalos because he refuse to accept that he made bad decisions, that everything they did are "just" or "necessary for the greater good".

Sorry if this isn't the right site but there are no other places I know to ask for writing advice.

chuckling_ghost

It's a simple enough topic enough, and yet at the same time so commonly flubbed.

This is one of those things where less can be more, more can be less and less can be less.

Galbatorix for example is the designated villain of the Inheritance Cycle, but because we see so little of him and the effects of his rule, he's just a great big void of a character that we can write whatever we want into. His backstory, once revealed, makes him out to be a tragic character. The more we learn about the environment he was in from the elves, the more he looks highly sympathetic and even heroic when compared to what we can infer about the Riders.

Eragon and his allies on the other hand are the designated heroes, but everything we see of them just makes them look worse and worse.

This can be done right, villain protagonists can be really fun to read and explore. However where the Inheritance Cycle trips and falls flat on its face is that the narration and author treat the villainous protagonists as heroes. If the author and narration made it a satire of the victors writing the history books, it would be good and possibly great! If it were just straight up a villain protagonist story, then it would be just fine! However this is not the case and we're left with the mess called the Inheritance Cycle.

One other way this could be fixed is if the designated villain, were actually WORSE than what we see of the designated heroes. Evil vs Evil is almost always interesting even if it's sometimes highly disturbing to watch.

So the question is how to make a villain enjoyable while also filling their role well.

Some criteria I think are crucial: ( Read more... )

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: under not enough blankets for this degree of cold
Current Music: Youjo Senki: Los! Los! Los! (German dub by Selphius)

edward9

This quote is from 2019. Thought you all might enjoy it.

"World-building is as important as ever. In fact, I’m more of a stickler for internal consistency than I was back at 17. No matter what you’re writing about, whether it’s fantasy or not, you can’t go around breaking the rules of your fictional world. That’s the fastest way to lose the trust of your readers."
Christopher Paolini
( Read more... )

galbyisourking

So the Alagaësia of Inheritance canon is...not original, and that point’s been made a lot before by people far more qualified than I. Although I’m certainly going to try and preserve the most interesting parts of 1.0, there are definitely going to be points where I heavily retool the worldbuilding. Part of this is just trying to improve the overall quality of the world, and part of it is admittedly my own biases as a content creator coming through.

Because at the end of the day? I like weird fiction. I like stuff that goes outside the norms of what “regular” fantasy should be, and that means that the 2.0!Cycle isn’t going to fit within the molds that post-Tolkien fantasy are so keen to exploit.

Dwarves were one of the first things I wanted to change about the Cycle. You might get elves written as more like fae than Tolkien’s elves, you’ve definitely got wood elves and sea elves and dark elves and junk, but dwarves? Dwarves have little to no variation in fiction - sure, you have some more unconventional dwarves, but those are few and far between. So I decided to try and spice things up, give them some unique traits while still retaining some of their old ones.

The Inheritance Cycle is already heavily influenced by Norse language and mythology, so I thought I might look to it for inspiration - after all, Norse myth can get really weird. At first, I didn’t really find much that was helpful; dwarves remained short, bearded people who lived underground and were really good at blacksmithing. Then, I found an interesting detail: in some older stories, dwarves were more like maggots, colonizing the corpses of the first giants.

And then I got an idea.

( A very, very interesting idea... )

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Music: We All Lift Together – Freya Catherine

galbyisourking

When I first read the Inheritance Cycle years ago, I thought it was one of the best book series out there. Granted, most of that admiration can be traced back to my relative immaturity at the time, but even looking back on it now there are still moments that stick with me. Eragon and Saphira’s awe at discovering the world is round, the glimpse inside Thorn’s mind we get in Inheritance, some of Oromis’ speeches in Eldest are all scenes that even today influence my worldview and the way I write.

Of course, that just makes the overwhelming suckiness of the Inheritance Cycle an even greater blow. There are hints of a really good book, but they’re buried under mountains of filler, unsympathetic protagonists, antagonists who seem more like heroes than the actual heroes, and more plagiarism than the Roman pantheon. Maybe it could have been a good book series if Paolini was allowed to develop it as he wanted to, rather than rushing it out the door to satisfy his parents’ greed and egotism. Sadly, we’ll likely never know.

The Inheritance Cycle deserved better, and that’s why I’m making this series of posts. My goal is to talk about the changes I’d make to the series, to flesh out some of the more interesting concepts within it, give it a unique identity of its own, and hopefully make it an overall better work of fiction. Before I do that, however, I need to establish a solid basis for further development, the core pillars of this work’s identity. Once I’ve got the themes figured out, it’ll help guide the worldbuilding, the plot, characters, and other aspects; guidance Paolini unfortunately lacked as he wrote the series by the seat of his pants. Ah well, you know what they say about hindsight.( Read more... )

Current Mood: creative
Current Location: the fortress of writitude
Current Music: Prologue – Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

Profile

Where the Heart of Anti-Shurtugal Rises Again.

July 2026

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

Syndicate

Page Summary

Style Credit

Style: Green Machine for Lefty by sarken

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

Page generated Jul. 16th, 2026 01:54 am

Where the Heart of Anti-Shurtugal Rises Again.

Entries tagged with writing

Navigation

Inspiration and plagiarism: what is the line that separates them?

MG's Writing Ideas

how to write ptsd and other traumas

Writing About Heavy Topics

So I Was Wandering Around Facebook...

About this Challenge

The Prizes

Judge

On the Subject of Genocide

Love?

Writing characters of the opposite gender.

diversity in writing

Reminds you of a certain rebel group, doesn't it?

On Godlike Villains

Fantastic Discussion on Writing Large Novels

A Better Greg: A damaged spaceship AI

advice

Thoughts About Writing: "What Makes A story", by Ursula K LeGuin

Advice on writing my villain in my book

The Makings of a Great Villain & the Best You've Ever Read/Written

Paolini Quote

Inheritance Cycle 2.0: On Dwarves and Deicide

Inheritance Cycle 2.0: Introduction & Themes

Profile

July 2026

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags