OMG I R BACK!

Live forum: http://www.thornvalley.com/commons/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1043

Hera Ledro

03-11-2011 16:22:01

So yeah...I've been away, sort of. Suffice to say I have a good reason, but that's really no excuse for not posting every now and again.

So basically I've been working my butt off trying to make ends meet. McDonald's doesn't pay very well (I'm making 80 bucks for an 8 hour shift...BEFORE taxes), and I've been doing whatever I can to move up in the ranks as quickly as possible (more responsibility = more money). In addition to my job, I've been doing a TESL certificate on the side so that I can teach overseas as an English teacher (Italy would be DIVINE, but I might end up going to South Korea or Saudi Arabia). It's a total of a 100-hr course, which doesn't seem like much at first, but then again I am a busy bee.

On a much lighter - yet related - note, I am working diligently on my book and on the NIMH paper that I've talked about. No real developments on the paper, but the book is fleshing out quite nicely, and I'm finding myself extraordinarily engaged with my characters. No spoilers; you'll have to wait until it's out on the shelves to find out ;D

Anyways, those are the main reasons for my absence. Mi dispiace, and I will try to be a bit more active in the future.

shivermetimbers

03-11-2011 18:15:52

Writing a novel, eh, good luck. Seems like your busy with your life (those frozen burgers aren't going to flip themselves), hope everything goes well. :D


..As for me, I've been using these forums as a place to explore my inner nerd. I've been pretty active in discussions about NIMH fanfiction, and more recently been poorly expressing my opinion on certain things.

edit: Are you writing a novel or a children's book?

David Leemhuis

03-11-2011 18:39:09

Glad you could find the time to check in again. Good luck with everything!

Hey, I noticed you dropped my name on TVTropes, about my NIMH fanfiction. I haven't gotten too far into TVTropes yet, but thanks anyhoo for the plug. )

Hera Ledro

06-11-2011 17:38:40

Writing a novel, eh, good luck. Seems like your busy with your life (those frozen burgers aren't going to flip themselves), hope everything goes well. :D

..As for me, I've been using these forums as a place to explore my inner nerd. I've been pretty active in discussions about NIMH fanfiction, and more recently been poorly expressing my opinion on certain things.

edit: Are you writing a novel or a children's book?


Bah, I hate my job >_> If it weren't for the fact that it pays the bills, I wouldn't have anything to do with it, and it only pays the bills because I do the extra work necessary to do so.

I've noticed your activity, and I'm sorry to say that I haven't had much chance to really engage in the discussion D: Your thoughts and the discussions themselves are rather interesting.

What am I writing? It's a novel, but for the juvenile age range (i.e. 8-12, but I think that it's more than suitable for the older generations as well). It's a fantasy series, based very heavily on the work of the late Brian Jacques (requiescat in pace), but taking directions that he never felt comfortable taking. Do not misunderstand; it's not like Redwall or any of those books. It's much more multi-dimensional and is its own world. My writing style is far different than that of Jacques', and I enjoy deconstructing the characters in my work, both figuratively in my head and literally in the story. My work tends to blur or borderline erase the line between black and white morality. Grey and greyer are my shades (heh...TV Tropes ftw!), and depending on who you sympathize with you may find yourself thinking about morals in a more complex manner, which is what I hope to do.

The hilarious thing? The book - Dissonance being the working title - actually evolved out of a fan-fiction that I had been writing on FF.net for the Redwall FF community. Hooray for totally stupid concepts being turned into good stuff!

Glad you could find the time to check in again. Good luck with everything!

Hey, I noticed you dropped my name on TVTropes, about my NIMH fanfiction. I haven't gotten too far into TVTropes yet, but thanks anyhoo for the plug. :)


Not a problem, mate ^_^ I try to do what I can when I can; plugs take very little time to do (I plug RNFFA and this site everytime somebody asks me about NIMH), but can have a massive impact on readership and membership. Hopefully the more I plug, the more people come.

shivermetimbers

06-11-2011 18:57:36

Yeah, the discussions I partake in (and my thoughts) aren't really worth much attention. It's hard for me to get my thoughts into writing when my thoughts are racing. I tend to repeat myself and bounce around my point. Which is why I start papers early and proofread then often. I've also started writing my fanfiction that's a sequel to events of the book. Though I haven't worked on it recently, I hope to compete it by the time winter break is over.

Truth be told, I'm just a lighthearted metal-head kid who's not an eloquent writer or speaker, like you are. Just don't make a "Twilight" type of novel; since you're aiming for the demographic that's growing up with that crap, you have to tread carefully when it comes to morals because children at that age take what they read and hear to heart. In fact teach these children that dependence on one dimensional men, acting like you're completely helpless, and partaking in campy love triangles are NOT cool.

A lot of talk about "Redwall" around here. I guess I should check it out.

Pennsylvania Jones

06-11-2011 20:33:43

Yeah, the discussions I partake in (and my thoughts) aren't really worth much attention. It's hard for me to get my thoughts into writing when my thoughts are racing. I tend to repeat myself and bounce around my point. Which is why I start papers early and proofread then often. I've also started writing my fanfiction that's a sequel to events of the book. Though I haven't worked on it recently, I hope to compete it by the time winter break is over.

Truth be told, I'm just a lighthearted metal-head kid who's not an eloquent writer or speaker, like you are. Just don't make a "Twilight" type of novel; since you're aiming for the demographic that's growing up with that crap, you have to tread carefully when it comes to ethnics because children at that age take what they read and hear to heart. In fact teach these children that dependence on one dimensional men, acting like you're completely helpless, and partaking in campy love triangles are NOT cool.


While we're at it, he should also teach them that when you're cornered by a bounty hunter, you should NEVER let him shoot first... Because there's no reason for him to miss. ;)

A lot of talk about "Redwall" around here. I guess I should check it out.


http://www.thornvalley.com/gallery/fan/d/38891-2/141piglets.jpg[" alt=""/img]

Seconded![/quote]

[img="]http://www.cksinfo.com/clipart/animals/Shrew.png[" alt=""/img]

Carried! ;)[/quote]

Heh, Redwall joke. [img="]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/jcg60625/blush.gif[" alt=""/img]

My recommendation is to watch the TV show, not the condensed "Movie."

Steven

Hera Ledro

07-11-2011 15:20:14

Yeah, the discussions I partake in (and my thoughts) aren't really worth much attention. It's hard for me to get my thoughts into writing when my thoughts are racing. I tend to repeat myself and bounce around my point. Which is why I start papers early and proofread then often. I've also started writing my fanfiction that's a sequel to events of the book. Though I haven't worked on it recently, I hope to compete it by the time winter break is over.

Truth be told, I'm just a lighthearted metal-head kid who's not an eloquent writer or speaker, like you are. Just don't make a "Twilight" type of novel; since you're aiming for the demographic that's growing up with that crap, you have to tread carefully when it comes to morals because children at that age take what they read and hear to heart. In fact teach these children that dependence on one dimensional men, acting like you're completely helpless, and partaking in campy love triangles are NOT cool.

A lot of talk about "Redwall" around here. I guess I should check it out.


A lot of writers are like that, to be honest, and even I do that to a degree. Even during the writing stage (though I deny the existence of a PWR model of the writing process), I tend to re-read as I write and correct little errors and stuff. The bulk of my post-writing editing tends to go into more story-based stuff, I find; re-writing story plots, establishing new plot bunnies, etc.

I'm not an especially eloquent speaker. My writing might bely a tongue of eloquence, but I'm a terrible speaker. I ramble and stutter and lose focus very easily. My writing is more flowery (I don't really think I even border on eloquence, or at least attempt to avoid doing so due to my distaste for the arrogance it may relay), but only because I edit as I write and re-work what I say. I also try to be professional in my writing (though I'll not avoid putting personality into it ;D), and I do my best to relate my point as concisely as possible, to avoid confusion. My early writing was absolute tripe, also; I look back at my Biker Mice From Mars fan-fictions from early on, and I can't even summon up the will to re-write or uber-edit them. They're just so...ew.

Twilight? Oh dear god, NO! It's one of the stupidest books I've ever read, and serves only to be smut for an emo demographic that wants to keep itself in its fantasies and dreams for ever and for always, and to heck with reality. I'm the first to admit that reality is HIGHLY subjective (philosopy, ho!), but simply denying obvious truths - not religious stuff, mind you, since those are very clearly subjective and instantial - for the sake of your own lust is incredibly immature. Twilight is just bad vampire fan-fiction that should be used for toilet paper.

...Yes. I have very strong feelings towards a series that is so ravaging the literary canon that people have laboured to establish.

Interesting thing about the Twilight demographic, though; the age range there is early to late teens (i.e. 13-17ish). The series itself, due to its smuttiness and lack of respect for proper storytelling (a trait common in many popular works, such as Stephen King sh- I mean, novels), has turned into a series that appeals not only to idiots of one generation, but idiots of several. Yes. I just called my mother, sisters, and many friends idiots. I've done it to their faces (though with considerably less venom in my tone), so this is really nothing new.

Don't misunderstand (great, now you've got me in ranting mode...NERDRAEG FTW!); a lot of books out there are terrible, just like a lot of movies. Jacques' works based on Redwall are far from epic writing. But, despite the Mary Sues and Deus Ex Machinae etc. etc., they do the one thing that most people seem to forego in favour of money in our contemporary age: they tell bloody solid stories. The writing is par, give or take, and the characters are often two-dimensional (with some exceptions), but all in all at the end of the book, you're satisfied because you just read a good story. Nothing amazing, but good, and considering the young demographic the novels appeal to, that's something extraordinary.

ANYWAYS! Moving on from my nerd-raeg.

Redwall is a decent series. It's one of my favourites because it doesn't try to be everything at once, and it doesn't forego good stories for commercial income or lust value. Out of all the books, Martin the Warrior is probably my favourite, though Mattimeo seems to be growing on me since I started reading it again.

Yeah, the discussions I partake in (and my thoughts) aren't really worth much attention. It's hard for me to get my thoughts into writing when my thoughts are racing. I tend to repeat myself and bounce around my point. Which is why I start papers early and proofread then often. I've also started writing my fanfiction that's a sequel to events of the book. Though I haven't worked on it recently, I hope to compete it by the time winter break is over.

Truth be told, I'm just a lighthearted metal-head kid who's not an eloquent writer or speaker, like you are. Just don't make a "Twilight" type of novel; since you're aiming for the demographic that's growing up with that crap, you have to tread carefully when it comes to ethnics because children at that age take what they read and hear to heart. In fact teach these children that dependence on one dimensional men, acting like you're completely helpless, and partaking in campy love triangles are NOT cool.


While we're at it, he should also teach them that when you're cornered by a bounty hunter, you should NEVER let him shoot first... Because there's no reason for him to miss. ;)

A lot of talk about "Redwall" around here. I guess I should check it out.


http://www.thornvalley.com/gallery/fan/d/38891-2/141piglets.jpg[" alt=""/img]

Seconded![/quote]

[img="]http://www.cksinfo.com/clipart/animals/Shrew.png[" alt=""/img]

Carried! ;)[/quote]

Heh, Redwall joke. [img="]http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e132/jcg60625/blush.gif[" alt=""/img]

My recommendation is to watch the TV show, not the condensed "Movie."

Steven[/quote]

Oh Guosim, I love you so ^.^

Actually, I would recommend against the show. It certainly makes some characters a bit more realistic (though YMMV; I personally still find a lot of them as Sue-ish as before), and it gets very well-done in the [i]Martin the Warrior[/i] arc (i.e. Season 3), but it is still arguably an unsuccessful rendition of the books. They did very well, though I think they went a bit too far in limiting the violence. So much Bloodless Carnage and off-screen deaths and attempts to avoid blood out the wazoo. That being said, this was made whilst the censors were on a rampage (...oh, if I could get my han- I mean, if I could get my paws on them...), so if it had been made in the early '90s or closer to today's age, where the censors are starting to get some sense knocked into them, it might have been a lot better.

But, as always, books are better. End of. ;D

shivermetimbers

07-11-2011 17:36:58

I think part of the problem is that I'm always listening to music when I'm writing on these boards, so my writing suffers because of it. I'm not a terrible paper writer, in fact I've written many good papers, it's just that it takes more effort on my part.

I actually respect Stephen King......to an extent. I'll admit that most of his stories are utter slilit (I've actually enjoyed The Shining and Pet Semetery) and that he recycles the same plot-lines and characters constantly, but writing horror in novel form is very difficult and I can respect anyone who at least tries. The priority is to unease the reader. King understands this, he just goes about it the wrong way. He tries to be too graphic and descriptive in describing events and packs in as much graphic content as possible (he's especially guilty of this in "It").

The key element of horror is atmosphere, and it's hard to do in written form. It's actually best to be vague and let the reader fill in the blanks themselves, as the less the reader knows, the more they're at unease.

The unknown=anxiety/fear...again, King knows this, it's just that the unknown for him is usually just a vague supernatural force that causes terrible things to happen. He thinks that if he leaves said supernatural force ambiguous, that the reader would relate to it themselves. In actuality, it's just formulaic bullslilit that he uses again and again.

That's not to say ambiguous supernatural forces are bad, it's just they aren't enough to keep the reader at unease. Not even if they do graphic scary things.

It's much easier to suck the reader in with a good story and characters than it is to create atmosphere. Try writing horror yourself, I'll be very interested to see what you come up with. Prove me wrong.

Pennsylvania Jones

07-11-2011 20:36:03

Oh Guosim, I love you so ^.^

Actually, I would recommend against the show. It certainly makes some characters a bit more realistic (though YMMV; I personally still find a lot of them as Sue-ish as before), and it gets very well-done in the Martin the Warrior arc (i.e. Season 3), but it is still arguably an unsuccessful rendition of the books. They did very well, though I think they went a bit too far in limiting the violence. So much Bloodless Carnage and off-screen deaths and attempts to avoid blood out the wazoo. That being said, this was made whilst the censors were on a rampage (...oh, if I could get my han- I mean, if I could get my paws on them...), so if it had been made in the early '90s or closer to today's age, where the censors are starting to get some sense knocked into them, it might have been a lot better.

But, as always, books are better. End of. ;D


I was talking about the Show vs. the condensed "Movie." I'm wasn't bringing the book into it at all. But of course, I'll bet the book is WAY better than the show OR the movie. I'm reading the Graphic Novel currently; it should be a little more faithful to the book. ;)

SPOILER ALERT!!!

For me, the limited violence in the show wasn't a problem. This WAS a problem:

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/k511/Pennsylvania_Jones/RedwallFAILURE.jpg

Even the BABY was blowing a raspberry at the big, "scary," eyepatched rat! :evil: There are other issues, too, like "They defeated me with... PORRIDGE?!?!?!", the dishcloth that looked nothing like a tapestry AND YET SOMEHOW FOOLED CLUNY AND HIS HENCHMEN FOR TEN WHOLE SECONDS, and, of course, the bell that took so long to fall that Cluny could've dodged it before it hit him. All of these things only serve to make Cluny seem a much less capable villain than he's obviously supposed to be. Heck, if I do buy the Redwall show down the road, it'll only be to make a fanedit movie that removes all of the dumb junk and keeps the good stuff. Overall, the show itself isn't half bad. But, to be honest, the thought of doing a fanedit for Redwall is the only thing that's keeping me coming back to it, always saying "Hmm... What could've been edited better here?"


Steven