I think if you check this site for five minutes, you’ll probably come across a couple dozen articles that at least mention Star Wars. It’s a big deal for me, one of my favourite franchises and one where I’ve lost hours on, both reading or in other ways consuming stories or making up my own, be it for RPGs or just simple daydream. Continue reading Star Wars: Igniters – Time for a Revamp
Category: Writing
Writing guides, examples, and discussions plus as much fiction as I can manage!
Writing Guide – Naming
When I create a new world for an RPG campaign or fiction, I always spend most of my time with names, be it for characters, place or historical events. For me, it’s central to the process of world building, and depending on the rules of my world and its civilisations, it can help ground my fantasy enough for readers to find their way and grasp the basic concepts.
There isn’t really a big secret with naming, but I’m very particular about it. Continue reading Writing Guide – Naming
Summersalt – Character Concept – Blankface
The city of Summersalt is a dangerous place, particularly for the Summer Knights, the regulation agents for The Salt, the wondrous substance at the core of the city’s technology, mysticism, economy and everything in between.
Regulation agents come from various background but they all have one thing in common: the job is their last hope. Some like Keegan Leona Mercer, have spent centuries burning bridges and making enemies. Then there are those like Julianne “Tracer” Allen, with two clear choices: service or some ghastly capital punishment, particularly if they have her unusual skills in Saltcraft. Continue reading Summersalt – Character Concept – Blankface
Narrative Aversion – In Medias Res
I’ve mentioned a few times in the past weeks that I would write an article on my absolute most hated narrative technique: In Medias Res, so let’s make good on that promise.
While the name might seem strange, you probably already know what In Medias Res entails. If you’ve ever seen a TV series or film or any other form of entertainment that begins not at the start of a story but in the middle of it, often a crucial scene, but then jumps back in time with “24 hours ago,” or some other time, then you’ve experienced In Medias Res, which classic Latin for “In the middle of things.” Continue reading Narrative Aversion – In Medias Res
Fiction – New One-shot Premises!
Hi everybody. I mentioned a short while ago that I would come back to you with new premises and updates on the current stories.
Let’s get the updates out of the way. The stories I’ve already written are still with my proofreader, whom I’ll stick with a cattle prod this weekend to get him reading and giving me the feedback I so desperately need, so I can start working on second drafts and possibly posting the stories (sadly, don’t have many proofreaders or beta readers at the moment, though I’m in the process of roping a few more people in). I’m also thinking of getting some custom artwork made for them, to enhance the stories with a couple of visuals–well, that and the fact that I need very few excuses to commission more stuff from my go-to artist, Biddoodles. It might cost me money, but the quality is phenomenal and I just dig her style. Continue reading Fiction – New One-shot Premises!
Fiction Update – New Premises Incoming!
It’s been a few months since I set up the page for people to vote on the short stories they wanted me to write. I have already written two, the first ones people voted for, Fringes and Lion’s Claw.
I sent them to one of my proofreader, my brother in law, but haven’t heard back from him yet. Then again, my sister had a little baby girl last month so they’re a bit busy. I’m going to try to find another proofreader/beta reader for the stories next week to hopefully get these new stories up and running here. Continue reading Fiction Update – New Premises Incoming!
Total Disasters – Metroid: Other M
Metroid: Other M, on the Wii is by far the worst game released in this long-running series, critically panned and an absolute failure in every sense of the word. Even I wrote a scathing review for another site once upon a time, though you can’t find it anymore.
Some of you might not have played this entry and while I usually urge people to do so with any game, I’m not cruel enough to send you to Other M. I wouldn’t do that to my worst enemy, and I have some appalling stuff planned for them. It’s that bad.
So instead I’ll tell you just why it’s so bad, why it’s considered such a step down and back for the series and the worst possible sequel to both Super Metroid and the Metroid Prime Trilogy.
For this, I’ll focus on two things: Gameplay and Writing (characters, pacing and plot). Continue reading Total Disasters – Metroid: Other M
Character Look – The Joker
Last week I read the latest in the Opinion Battles hosted by Movie Reviews 101. It was “The Best Batman Villain.” I always read these at Emma’s site emmakwall (explains it all) and after reading the different opinions in the battle as well as the comments left on Emma’s site, I decided to drop my own, a mini-rant on why Joker was the best villain. Emma prompted me to write an entire article on it, so here I am.
My analysis on the Joke isn’t just in terms of films, but also comics, where most of my knowledge of the character comes from.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the Joker is that he’s a force of chaos, that what he does is just random and with the only goal being more chaos, but the reality is different. Continue reading Character Look – The Joker
Adaptations – Altering the Source
Yesterday I caught a few glimpses of The Killing Joke’s animated film adaptation, and while I won’t give you a review until I’ve seen it, the clip I saw got me thinking on the subject of adaptations and the ways people go about them.
TV Tropes has a vast list of different adaptation tropes, from Compressed Adaptation, where in the process of adapting the story to a new medium they cut out entire chunks of the story or universe hoping the overall experience remains the same, no matter how many holes there are. There’s Distillation, which is about simplifying complex elements of the source material to make the transitions easier. Pragmatic Adaptation is the most reasonable of all, where you cut out or remix the elements that just won’t work in the new medium. Continue reading Adaptations – Altering the Source
Entertainment – The Hook
One of the things I keep seeing when people give you recommendations on writing a novel is that you need to have a hook early on. The hook in this regards is that part of your storytelling that glues the audience to your product, and makes them stay until they’ve enjoyed it fully.
The Hook extends beyond publishing of course and it’s perhaps one of the first things people tell new creators about. Your game needs a hook early on, to grab the player. Your TV series needs a strong hook on the first episode, something to keep the audience coming back for more. Continue reading Entertainment – The Hook