Writer Support Group

oh sorry about that. what i was trying to say is they're basically an episodic web serial series. i just don't see myself doing a novel. sure how i do my rough drafts would make them border around almost 20-30 pages which would be the perfect length for a chapter. i did the math, if i did 20 pages per 20 chapters, i would get 400 pages.

edited 3rd Sep '16 6:14:58 AM by ewolf2015

A lot of people around this forum happen to be writing novels or some kind of prose fiction story because that's often one of the most accessible and cheapest ways to get a finished product. Novels don't require drawing skills, actors or trained crew, expensive equipment, or contacts in a TV or film production studio.

And don't exaggerate what I said. I didn't say that you need to read for 30 years straight before you can attempt to write, I said read every so often. The last time I read a full novel of any kind was over a year ago, and I've been making up the difference by lurking critique forums. (You should try it sometime!) In your case, you should be finding scripts to study for your medium of choice, but adding some prose fiction to your usual media consumption won't hurt. Scripts are still a text-only medium, and they overlap with prose in the way of description, dialogue, word choice, and, yes, structure. Whoever you intend to read the thing still has to be able to follow what's going on, whether you or an artist is going to transfer it to a visual medium, or the script itself is going to be the finished product.

What do you mean by "can't read", though? I do think a lot of your problems would be helped if you consumed media a bit more widely. The point of consuming lots of media is not simply to know how to avoid cliches, but to know how others use them and why, so that you can work out your own way of playing with them. I use TV Tropes to help here- I genuinely don't have the time or money to sit and consume untold quantities of books, anime, TV shows, or video games, so I'll read the trope pages corresponding to things I'm interested in writing so I can get an idea of how that trope is usually done.

It's no substitute for reading a text-only story, though. There's a lot of stuff that goes into conveying a story using text that other media just doesn't touch on, and which you'll still be learning about when you actually go to write.

like having the words paint a picture for me basically. i use have it until i got hit in the head.

Why not practice by taking an image - any image, any picture or portrait or scene - and using your words to describe it to an imaginary audience? Get back into the groove that way.

my skull broke afterwards so no. sure i've done it before and i tried my hands on it again.

edited 3rd Sep '16 7:20:17 AM by ewolf2015

I might need some advice on how to describe something. For my Transformers/Seven Samurai Fusion Fic (link for the first chapter's in my signature, for those interested), I'm currently writing the scene adapting the farmers' first attempts to recruit samurai, and something I want to convey in my writing is that while the Autobot warriors the energon miners first encounter put on a strong front for their warriors' pride, one can tell just by looking at them that they're nearly running on empty.

So I'm wondering: what easily visible signs could there be that a living robot is basically starving for fuel? Here's what I've written of the scene so far, so people can tell me where to go from there.

edited 5th Sep '16 3:38:24 PM by MapleSamurai

You might want to look up cars and tanks or even planes and use their Low On Gas warning signs for inspiration, and add that to how people and animals are when they're tired. Louder than sounds of exertion (or sputtering) might be one sign, and visually, that could come with jerkier actions or energy saving ones (instead of using big motors to do a thing, it's the smaller reserve motors that are doing it; auxiliary power). Stuff like that, mixed with panting or sweat.

Extreme economy of action might be one sign. Like, they stand unnaturally still when not doing anything in particular. Another might be a lack of fuel cells strapped to their chassis.

Researching low fuel signs for vehicles has been a bit difficult so far. Sure, it's easy enough to find it in the case of cars, but for planes, all I could find were articles on why airfares have gone up despite lower gas prices, and as for tanks... well, let's just say when a vehicle's name is synonymous with the part of a car that fuel is kept in, it gets tricky to find what you're looking for.

Fair warning: I'm not expert in electrical engineering, so take the thoughts below with a grain of salt.

Perhaps their motors strain a little when moving: with power running low, the current running through their motors is too weak to produce full torque. As a result, there may be jerks, slowdowns, or even stops in their motions as the motors occasionally fail to move their parts. In addition, there may be a mechanical whine to their movements, as though their very motors were begging for energon.

how can i make a black, white, and gray magic system work in a hypothetical game?

Define black, white, and grey. Are you talking about morality, as in good or evil magic? Black (damaging) and white (healing) magic in the Final Fantasy sense? Something else?

Defining what your magic actually does and how it works is a good beginning, as is deciding if the division between different types of magic is (meta)physical or dictated by society. And defining what kind of game it is, and what role you want magic to play.

You need to have ideas by yourself, we are only able to give a small amount of help.

edited 6th Sep '16 2:33:40 PM by EternaMemoria

• to answer your question, yes like final fantasy but in a more offensive and defensive kind of way. not sure about gray but i guess a mix between the two yet i wanna find out how i can make the player chose one of them rather than choosing the best one
• the game in question is Jak and daxter meets dragon age. in other words, it's a semi open sandbox 3d platformer with rpg elements.
• a few suggestions and frameworks i can build on would be nice. so maybe a few ideas and examples are ok.

I think you need to come up with more details on your own. The way you're wording everything comes off like you want someone else to plan your story for you, but that's the part you need to hammer out or else you're never going to have enough of yourself in there to see it through to the end.

what i meant is subtle ones or just examples i can take notes from. anyway..i'm not sure if this idea sounds like rip off but, i thought it was interesting how each type of magic would have it's own weaknesses and strengths that meant suit a individual's play style. like for those who want to play it safe and not die they might roll for white magic but mind you white magic is lacking in the offensive department. then there's black magic which might appeal to those hard core offensive players, just be sure to know it does have some consequences on certain stats like defensive and morality. For gray, it's a jack of all trades kind of magic set with a few elemental powers thrown in. but here's the thing, it kinda has some it's weaknesses. it doesn't have much of the defensive prowess of white or the offensive damage of black but does make it up for some what balanced gameplay as well as unlocking the true ending

edited 6th Sep '16 4:57:03 PM by ewolf2015

.....sorry about that. i was in a bit of a indescribable mood on that other day.

Anyone got any advice for giving better descriptions, specifically in regards to clothing or things of material quality? It's probably one of my weakest areas as a writer, and I'm always worried it comes across as Beige Prose.

edited 12th Sep '16 11:42:16 PM by randomdude4

Guys I'm having a big issue with insecurity right now. In ye olden days of Smallville I always dreamed to make an original fanfic on supergirl.

But now that there is a tv show and she has gotten more popular I've been getting discouraged.

Granted. I haven't seen them. But I feel they're doing much better than me. I'm feeling like giving up.

edited 17th Sep '16 11:58:35 AM by FallenLegend

Don't give up. There's lots of adaptations about superheroes, and being an "official" TV show doesn't mean it's GOOD. Look at Fifty Shades Of Gray—it's a piece of shit novel that was originally a fanfic of ANOTHER piece of shit (Twilight).

Thank you for your encouraging words :)

Now I know I discussed this before but I have a few questions to ask about screenplays.

• how can I establish a camera shot in screenplay format?
• how can I describe a transformers sequence in said format?
• how can I tell reader that characters went to another location without cuts?
• when is not appropriate to use a shot?
• is it ok have a few character descriptions on some characters?

edited 19th Sep '16 5:10:29 PM by ewolf2015

Taking into consideration the feedback I received when I asked this, here is an updated version of that same passage now describing the how the Autobots' lack of fuel was noticeable from a glance.

If anything I've written could use revision, please let me know.

No problem.

Basically, you just need to do all of the stuff that you said.

how can I establish a camera shot in screenplay format? You just say the type of shot you want the camera to have. Is it craning or zooming out? Then say so. Is it a slow pan? Also say it. And if you don't know the exact terminology, you can probably just describe what you want the shot to look like and then a camera person would know what to do.

Scripts are heavily visual, so there's not much getting around the technical details. Once you write the script, it's recommended to make a storyboard or get someone to do it for you so you can literally test out the looks.

how can I describe a transformers sequence in said format? If you mean the mecha robot series, just... describe the Transformer turning into a robot from its non-robot form. If you mean a TRANSFORMATION sequence, then just describe it with any special effects or lighting that you want.

how can I tell reader that characters went to another location without cuts? Fade-in/out, fast-forwarding through the sunset/sunrise, a traveling montage, that sort of thing.

when is not appropriate to use a shot? Basically, whenever you don't want to use a specific shot, just write it normally and they'll mostly keep the camera centered on [X character].

is it ok have a few character descriptions on some characters? Do you mean a cast list, or a character description in the narration? Both are pretty important, but I'd have to say that descriptions in the actual screenplay are more important as an Establishing Character Moment.

i meant when is it appropriate for me to use a camera angle shot and how can i describe a magical girl styled transformation sequence.