Aspiring Authors

[Mercy]

    Soooo this might sound a bit ridiculous but I'm actually really into creative writing. I've always had these different story ideas pop into my head and (IMO) they seem pretty good. And I think I might start taking them seriously. I just started working on a character portfolio today lol. I don't know if anyone else has ever considered writing a novel or book, but I thought this might be a good place to meet with people who had similar interests! That is, if there is anyone else. My struggle right now seems to be focusing on what I want the theme of my novel to be. I hope I don't sound too silly. Have you ever considered writing a book? 

[malena]

I am trying to be a writer. Since I got a concussion in cheerleading, my ideas simply don't stay in my head long enough to materialize. But I can help other people.

[Leorgathar]

I've actually been working out on a story I intend to write as a book I began it almost 5 years ago. I have a clear idea of what I want it to be, and I think it's progressing well (with some things I get stuck with, though ><)
I don't feel like I can become a writer, though, since I already have a much different career path to follow, but I still don't want to leave my story unfinished. It's like a very personal goal I have.

[Mercy]

Wow Leo that's awesome! You're so lucky that you have a clear idea. Mine is very vague at the moment but I keep having a few things that seem to be set in stone. I just need to work out the technicalities. What genre is your story? Mine is fantasy. The themes I'm floating around with are brotherhood, family, the power of tradition, manipulation, and overcoming traditions/other obstacles. It's a lot. I'm getting a lot of inspiration from the story of Exodus and Joseph. (Funny we know what else was inspired by these tales ) You can still be a writer on the side though right?

Malena, I bet you'd be an awesome writer! Maybe you should try to devote yourself a bit more to your ideas? That's what I'm going to try even though I barely have any time.

[Leorgathar]

Hehe I know how it is to struggle with technicalities. I had to discard a couple of ideas that I just couldn't make work, and the story now is something much different than what I intended in the beginning xD

I think mine's genre would be Animal Adventure/Fantasy, even though it doesn't really have fantasy elements other than animals talking and legends being told within the story. It's set in Prehispanic Mexico, and the characters are mainly eagles and jaguars. It's inspired in Aztec mythology and views about both species. As for the premise, it's about both a coming of age story and parenthood. It's also about finding happiness again after facing a big loss.

I'll just try to see how far I can get with this, I'm doing this only as a hobby, but in a future... who knows xD

[For Her]

I love writing, wheee! I'm currently writing on about 8 different stories (I know, bad focus, but I get my inspiration randomly) and some of them are TLK fanfics. Also things with sand because... I have a thing for writing stories about sand. Yup.

[Ruby_Fehu]

*peeks in* MEMEMEMEMEMEMEME

Haha, it's my dream job to be an author. I was even studying English and Creative Writing to help me out. I've been working on this one since like November last year but I've only just started writing it in the past few weeks (you need to do a TONNE of planning before you can start writing it) I have a notepad where all my plans are and it's like a quarter full but I left it at Pulsar's by accident so I won't be able to write in it any ideas for a while, I'm using a temporary notepad for the moment until he brings it back for me.

Speaking as a friend and aspiring author I'll warn you it takes a LOT of time and dedication, you have to treat it like a job, there are different ways to write, the most convenient for some is everyday Monday - Friday you write at LEAST 350 words. Take weekends off and by the day you started the following year if you stuck to it, you would have a minimum of 96,000 words which is the average for a novel but you have to bare in mind that is a first draft only, you should then take the following year to redraft a few times, maybe look into getting an English teacher or something to proof read for you?

The basis of planning would be as follows (this is the way I do it, but it's different for everyone):

1) Title - Think of a title, it doesn't have to be your final idea just an idea so that you and your friends know what you're referring to.


2) Genre - List all the potential genres it could fit into, you don't have to limit it. I think my novel at the moment (It's called Forgotten, so I'll keep referring to it as that) has about 7 or 8 genres it could fit into, the further into it you get, the easier it would be to narrow it down. 


3) Characters - The main focus should be the protagonist (hero), an antagonist (villain), the helper (someone who is the protagonists guide) and the love interest (if you choose to have one). You can have more but those are the MAIN characters. My characters are Ruby, Nebheh, Ezekiel and Tiwaz in the respective order. 


4) Bringing your characters to life - This is the most difficult but SUPER fun part, fill out a sort of resume for each main character that includes the following: name, age, gender, personality, appearance, strengths, weaknesses, sexual orientation, family tree. When you've briefly gone over them (this next bit is optional) do at least ONE page of a first person description of their thoughts etc. so you can really get into your characters heads and if they're real to you, they'll be real to your readers. 
Another thing that could be helpful is to write a little section including the character but DON'T describe any of their looks just their personality and the way they act etc. and then ask friends or family to see how they imagine the character to look and if they imagine them how you wanted them to be - perfect, if not you could change it. It's entirely up to you. You can basically play God. With my character, Ruby for example, it's obvious she's a red head because of her name but she's a feisty and sarcastic character, traits which are frequent in redheads (Ask Pulsar or my friends/family etc. XD) Look over novels that don't have films out and see how the characters are described then look at fan art. You'll be surprised just how different people imagine the character



5) Plot - Says it all, personally I make a list of 15 and fill out a plot idea in the order it would appear in my novel, I start from the 1st then go to the 15th and then just switch: 2, 14 - 3, 13 etc.


6) Scenery - (the actual word is on the tip of my tongue but I'll describe what I mean XD). No doubt in your novel you will have various specific places where you character visits etc. In Forgotten I have Richrose which is the fictional town where my main character Ruby, starts out and I also have Akallabeth. I do have more but these are my two main places where my story is set. Akallabeth is also a fictional town but it's in the underworld (Forgotten is mainly Fantasy) so I have two contrasting places but it makes it more interesting. 


7) Twists - This could fall into Plot but I think it deserves an individual section. Throughout your novel you should have a few twists that make your readers rethink everything, you're always best to drop little hints that when people reread they go "Oh yeah, that explains whatever." For example my favourite twist which I am actually considering on changing is that my character Ruby has a little sister called Iris but Iris is IDENTICAL to Ruby in many ways, same hair colour, face shape etc. but the only defining differences are their eye colours and in a twist towards the end it's revealed that Iris is ACTUALLY Ruby's daughter from this alternative world she's discovered (it's hard to explain without giving away my ENTIRE plot line). 


8) Heartless - This is my most HATED part of planning a novel. You should have your characters have a strong persona so that your readers will adore them to some extent but you need to be cruel and to really hit home or destroy your readers feels is you need to kill at least one of the influential characters off. I already have who I'm going to kill off but I am NOT looking forward to writing it. Good examples are some of the following: Harry Potter *SPOILER* death of Sirius or Fred or someone for example, Hunger Games *SPOILER* Finnick and Divergent as well *SPOILER* Tris. All of these characters broke the hearts of readers and fans when they were killed off and the authors always say the same thing - that was the whole point you HAVE to make your readers feel what your characters feel even if it's mourning the death of a character. 


9) Big End - This could vary, if you want your novel to be a one off and not part of series you need a HUGE ending that will make readers get A) closure if it's a one off or 2) Make them want to continue reading if it's part of a series. For example in Forgotten my final end (I want to make it a saga) would be a war. But the end of my first novel would be a great reveal of who the villain is, things like that.



Wow I kind of rabbited on a bit.... anyway these are some usually helpful ideas (they help me a lot) if you want anymore advice feel free to ask, my whole English course was how to be a writer and such haha. If you want I could show you an example of any of these that I've done if you need it to be made clearer. I might make a Wattpad account and upload my writing actually *hmm*. Anyway yeah... It' not silly Astraia and creative writing is something I feel confident helping with (I don't mean to sound vain D:)

[Mercy]

Woahmygosh. Ruby you're like amazing lol. This will be so helpful for me!! Idk if I'm going to study creative writing, literature, etc but this is some awesome advice. I'll write a more in-depth response to all of this glorious information later. Got a long day tomorrow! It's awesome that we all have similar interests though and that we can give advice to each other.

[cheezeegriff]

I definitely want to be a writer. Being a school teacher means my writing is inconsistent, but at least I get holidays:).

Ruby - definitely good writing tips. The most important thing is to have fun, however, because chances are none of us are getting published. If you're not enjoying the process then it becomes fairly pointless.

[Ruby_Fehu]

Well not to be rude Cheeze BUT my lecturer is a published author. If you got a first in her assignment she'd submit it to be published and if they liked it voila they give you a deadline. I had the opportunity to send her writing but life got in the way so I had to leave.

In short ANYONE can get published. So don't be a pessimist because it can be possible. Every single person here could very well become published if they put their mind to it. They should have fun with it as well though naturally.

[Moonbacon]

Being a creative writer/authro whatever you call it is certainly on my list of "what to do in the future"

I still have a long way to go however.

[cheezeegriff]

Wel yes. Anyone can get published but the likelihood is still less than 1%. I'm not being a pessimist. I'm being realistic. And if you do get published, the likelihood of you being able to make a living from it is something like 0.001%. Anyone can be a famous movie star, too. If they put put their mind to it.

There's an old saying that goes around writing circles that goes like this: if you can be discouraged from trying to be an author, you should be discouraged. In other words: if the "mean" things people say, or the criticism they will give, can put you off, then you really don't have what it takes to survive the industry: "haven't put their mind to it enough," to use your language. JK Rowling was rejected something in the order of 40 times before being accepted by a publisher. She was unemployed so had plenty of time to write - already has a better chance than us. Brent Weeks has a similar story of rejection. His wife supported him at first, too. My point is, even if someone's making it easy for you, it's still hard. Really hard. You're not doing anyone any favours by telling them they can all do it if they put their mind to it. It's true, but there's more to it than that.

That said, if you're hearing this and you still want to write, then so be it. Writers need to have that drive, that "need" to write. Maybe you've got what it takes. But if this discourages you then wait until you see what's around the corner. And don't let it stop being fun. That's my personal advice. Nearly every famous author has a page of writing tips and most of them are very good. I particularly like Brent Weeks' tidbit that says, "think of one thing your main character would never do. Them make them do it." But if trying to implement said advice makes the writing process slow and unfun, then don't do it. Don't like planning? You don't have to. Garth Nix didn't like planning either. Don't like writing short stories as practice, like everyone says you should in order to get published? Neither did Karen Miller. So she didn't. Sara Douglass had a really unconventional writing method: she draws a map first, divides it into factions and then makes up people's and cultures and characters, and then generates a story for that. My point is they didn't obey the so called rules. So make sure that, whatever happens, you're still having fun. Because if it's not fun then you won't write. Then you definitely won't get published.

[Ruby_Fehu]

You're not doing anyone any favours by telling them they can all do it if they put their mind to it. It's true, but there's more to it than that.

You're not doing anyone any favours either by saying that they'll never get published.


As a teacher I would have expected you to be supportive (as you would be with your students) and not shoot them down if they come to you with their wishes, there’s a fine balance between being realistic and more or less hinting at someone that they shouldn’t bother trying something. Yes you have to be realistic and keep them grounded but you also have to support them and encourage them. When I was in infants, for example I got told I had too much imagination. I took that to heart a lot and it put me right off. It wasn't until High School when I started getting high grades on my creative writing (and praise from my teachers, who told me I could be successful if I practiced some more because there was potential in me) that my confidence and hopes came back. With that, I went on to study at university under the care and guidance of a published author who gave constructive criticism which helped and she also pointed you in the right direction, which is ideal for people who have low self-esteem etc. Kids are impressionable and often sensitive, you should know this as a teacher.


You saying that members won't get published could potentially shake (or worse, shatter) their confidence, not everyone, especially those of a young age, can take negativity and discouragement well. In saying that, you could be putting a stop to the next potential JK Rowling, personally a remark like that won't knock my confidence because I know I can do it but I also know that these guys can too, you seem to be forgetting that these members are probably younger than both you and I, they have a whole lifetime to write a successful novel and get published. I wholeheartedly believe that every one of the members here can do it if they put their effort to it.


While I can appreciate what you’re trying to say, some of the members may get knocked by what you’ve said and choose not to do something that they want to and enjoy because hey “chances are none of us are getting published”, right?


Being honest, what you said is pretty defeatist. Now, there's a difference between being realistic and defeatist (not to mention how you were a bit contradictory) stating that "chances are none of us are getting published" then going on to state examples of people who got published (despite many attempts, they still achieved it). The way you said it sounds like you gave up before the fight had even started, it's also worth noting that not everyone has the same luck and skill. Someone here could actually be really skilled, we just don't know it. For all we know someone here might go on to get published and on their first try they might get it. Is it easy? No, nothing worth having ever is, but it's not as near impossible as you made it out to be.


I'm not saying that they HAVE to do planning, as I stated those planning tips helped for me, but they may not for other people. It's all about experimenting. I tried going straight into it, brain storming etc. before finally doing the planning tips I suggested and it's helped.


Astraia, Moon, FH: If you put your heart and mind into it I'm sure you could get published and make the forum proud. Like I said before if you need a proof reader too, you know where to find me. I'm even willing to give you some suggestions if you get writers block ^-^


Also here’s my wattpad username, I’ll upload soon: Wattpad

[cheezeegriff]

I never said they'll never get published. I said the chances are none of us are getting published, and I said anyone can get published but the likelihood is still less than 1%. I don't know whose posts you're reading but they're not mine.

And as a teacher I'll say exactly what I said in my first post. For clarity I'll expand on that: 'Make sure that, with all the rules and advice that'll be dished out to you, that implementing it doesn't kill your enthusiasm for writing. As the chances of getting published are so low, making sure you're enjoying what you're doing is the most important thing. Because if you're not enjoying yourself, what's the point? There are easier ways to make money if that's all you want.' Now, if you think that reads like it's my intention to discourage children then perhaps part of my message was lost in text form. The emphasis is on ENJOY YOURSELF.

The rest I wrote for you, since you take exception to my point of view (which is fine. I'm happy to disagree and have this discussion which follows. Maybe I'll learn something or maybe I'll teach something) so if there was something in there you think would discourage young, sensitive souls, well - my apologies, kids. It wasn't meant for you. But now, speaking to you, Ruby (whom I assume is an adult seeing as you're attending lectures and stuff): JK Rowling survived more than 40 rejections. I'm sure I wouldn't be able crush her spirits.

I think you're a little overconfident for the abilities of people whose futures you don't know. Sure: If they put effort into it, of course. But how much effort is the catch. Mark Twain didn't get published until he was 50 or so. Are they willing to put in that much effort, or will they give up if they're not published by 30? What if life gets in the way, as it does for most? You might end up looking after kids by yourself (as is the norm these days) and you'll put them before your writing endeavors. Are you truly telling them that if they don't get published, it's their fault because they didn't put in enough effort?

Why would they stop writing if they enjoy it? If they're only writing to get published, then they should stop. You seem to be saying that the only reason these young people write is so they can get published. That makes for a rather dull life if they're not enjoying themselves.

I don't know where you're reading this defeatist attitude. I'm still writing, aren't I? As for being contradictory: The writers I mentioned as being published are the ones that had plenty of time. And even they found it hard, even with the odds stacked in their favour (more than the rest of us, anyway). Or they were the ones who ignored the kind of writing advice your lecturer gives and just did it because they enjoyed it. Both these points supported my original argument of 'ENJOY YOURSELF, above all else'.

Yes: I know you weren't saying the advice you gave was mandatory for publishing. I was trying to support that statement. I hope I still am supporting that statement. I just know for me, trying to do everything right kind of killed the joy of writing. So now I make sure it's enjoyable and relaxing to write.

For the "kids" Ruby mentioned (and for you, Ruby): Here's an article I found in about 15 seconds by typing into google, "Should I be a writer." (here)It's basically my point of view and I don't think it's pessimistic at all. This is brutal honesty: my favourite tidbit is a statistic (which I assume is true) that the average author's wage is 600 pounds. That's the average. So if you're making 1000 pounds a year you're doing way better than average. So don't write for the lifestyle. Don't write for the money. Don't write to be like Richard Castle (who isn't even real) or Dan Brown or JK Rowling. Write, because, it's fun.

[Leorgathar]

Hmm ok, I'm no expert in the subject by any means like you guys, so maybe my opinion isn't the best xD

I'm learning so much from your discussion, which is good, I agree in part on both sides. I can agree with cheezeegriff, that the chances for anyone to get their story published is indeed low, and about how important it is to enjoy the writing process rather than worrying about publishing beforehand. Before thinking about how you're going to publish your novel, you first gotta have something written to publish. On the other hand, I also agree with Ruby in what comes to encouragement. I don't think the chance of getting your novel published is as low as 1% IF you can come up with something good and have relations with the right people. It's also a strike of luck, of course, but not impossible. It's that little spark of motivation that keeps one writing. Nurturing that desire to write in others implies inspiring them with big examples and letting them know what they can achieve if they really put their effort to it.

Guys, what I see here is 2 people who really love writing, and both of you have very valid points in your arguments, but I think both can agree that writing is fun, and that joy comes before everything, no matter what the chances are of having it published afterwards. So let's talk about writing, shall we?

As for me, I'm a dentist, I have my career path settled and my time to dedicate to writing isn't exactly the best. But for the time being I'm writing only for myself. I write because I think my life wouldn't be complete without getting this story out of my head. If when I finish it someone likes it, then I'll happily rest in peace xD

[cheezeegriff]

Thanks, Leor, for making me feel like a valuable contributor.

[This Land]

I think in short terms, what you said is true Cheeze, but was just a bit too shortly explained and seemed a bit too blunt thus members misinterpreted it another way. You just have to be carefull when saying certain things as it can hurt people's feelings.

[malena]

Astraia--

I do devote myself. The ideas just don't stay in my head. I have a bad memory since my concussion.

[Mercy]

Malena- I'm sorry, I hope I didn't come across as insensitive. I was just thinking that it might help if you took the time to write down the idea while you had it. I'm sorry you have that problem.

I think I agree with Leor on a lot of this. Right now I just want to get my story out of my head and on paper. That's my priority lol. It will be enough for me then if I can read it and enjoy it. Then, I can try and get it published, if I think it has a decent shot and after getting a lot of feedback from others. Btw Ruby that's an incredible offer! If I ever get enough down it'd be awesome of you to proofread it. I think you and Cheezeegriff both have good advice.

[cheezeegriff]

For the purposes of getting back into the subject of writing, here's my story idea:

Working title: Fleshmancer
Genre: fantasy

Back cover blurb:
Lumitar's little brother is a sickly child, not worthy of inheriting her father's position as chief of their clan. Despite her father's misgivings she takes him South to be healed by the fleshmancer, a powerful but disreputable magus who can cure any disease. But along the way she learns that the fleshmancer exacts a terrible price for his services. One that will take her entire life to repay.
The empire of Koros is falling to its many enemies. Yacobus, a drug addicted shape shifter with no face of his own, is ordered to find and bring back the Fleshmancer. Only he can create the beast's of war required to turn the tide of battle. Both Lumitar and Yacobus find themselves in the courts of the northern king, Thurin, known to derive his strength and long life from the secretive fleshmancer. Both befriend Aenor, the king's daughter, desperate for freedom from the fleshmancer's experiments. Yacobus must decide how far he will use the young girl to discover the fleshmancer's identity and complete his mission. He assumes a handsome visage and begins to court the young lady. Meanwhile Lumitar is suspicious of Aenor's new love. She works with her friends, and with her newfound powers, to discover his horrifying secrets.

[Ruby_Fehu]

Working Title: Memories (Currently stands at)
Genre: Teen fiction, fantasy, romance

Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Ruby Fehu always thought herself to be a normal girl with a slightly dark past. She was living a normal life with her parents, brother and daughter until a storm hits the small town of Richrose and brings with it an end to her once peaceful life.

She is introduced to a dark and mysterious new drifter in town, one who her brother seems to know a lot about. When she too, begins to learn about this drifter it brings with it many old memories for her brother, but entirely new for her.
When the handsome, dark and tall drifter opens up a few long forgotten memories, Ruby finds that she is far from normal and that her brother has always known more than he let on when they grew up together.

Ruby's life is thrown into disarray when she learns that she had two skills that she thought near impossible. With the discovery of these skills; Ruby finds herself under a lot of intense training alongside her brother and the mysterious drifter who she soon learns, has a long and complicated history with him. One that entwines with the life she knew before.

[cheezeegriff]

Hey Ruby. I'd really like to know more about the story than your synopsis gives away. I understand you probably don't want to give away the "near impossible skills" Ruby has, but what's the source of danger? Where's the excitement coming from? I mean sure, she's undergoing training, but to what end?

I suppose what I'm saying is I need a little more to hook my interest.

[Kirsui]

I'll just quickly pop in and say that I too have been planning a fantasy story for quite a few years now. When I say "a few years", I mean something like 10. xD My problem seems to be not really having time to put into writing that story of mine, or properly planning what will happen in it. Amusingly enough, however, I've got most of the lore figured out, including partial cultural histories, customs, locations, species, main characters and the like.

It's more of an eternity project that I focus on every now and then nowadays out of fun, rather than an actual desire to make it into a book and get it published. I'm being realistic with it anyway, since the story is in Finnish, and publishing books from the fantasy genre in Finland is ridiculously difficult.

[Mercy]

I don't really have a lot of this worked out. Especially the names and stuff. But hopefully wiring down this story idea will help me start to focus on certain aspects of my story. I'd like to make it a trilogy, but this is my idea for the first book.

Working Title: The Prince and His Claim (Not set in stone. At all.)
Genre: Young adult, fantasy

Synopsis:
                      The kingdom of Arioch is on the brink of economic disaster. The kingdom is in massive debt to it's closest neighbor, which is pressuring payment as soon as possible. The ruling King of Arioch is suffering from a terrible disease and passes away leaving his eldest son, Kenric, in charge. Kenric, the high prince,(our protagonist, about 21) does not feel fully capable of his position and suffers from anxiety during his father's mourning period leading up to his claiming of the throne of Arioch. Kenric is kind but slightly spoiled, and isolates himself from Cormac, making Cormac think he is worthless to Kenric. Kenric's younger brother Cormac (about 18) is a jealous and angry boy who also exhibits sociopathic tendencies/paranoia and hates Kenric. Cormac is left extremely unstable after the death of his father, the only person besides the boys' younger sister Dinah, whom he has felt any emotional connection with. Dinah (16) is very close with both of her brothers, but loves Kenric more. Her and Kenric were the only ones along with their father who were aware of Cormac's sociopathy, and his mental illness is a great secret in the royal family. Cormac is considered sickly by the servants and advisors of the royal family, and he has been visited by many doctors and healers since his youth. During the mourning period, Kenric resides in the temple of the gods, to make his spirit tantamount with the god of night or resiliency, the god he has been chosen to identify with since childhood.
                       After the mourning period ends, Cormac holds a great feast for his brother, inviting the royalty from other kingdoms including the one Arioch is most in debt to. At this feast, Dinah meets the young ascending prince of the kingdom Arioch is indebted to and they fall in love. At the end of the night they arrange to meet again. Cormac, at the end of the night, drugs his brother and takes him to his own chambers where he strips him and beats him to the brink of death while disguising himself as a man from the kingdom Arioch is indebted to. Cormac then wraps his brother in black linens and then has his mute servant ride out into the desert and abandon the body in a dried up well, a place where slave traders are known to stop by. Cormac secretly follows his servant and murders him on his way back to the palace, laming his servant's horse in the process. Cormac is declared next in line to the throne of Arioch.
                       Kenric survives in the well for a day and a half and is found by slave traders. Barely alive, Kenric travels with the band of slave traders across the great desert into the land of Rashkent and is sold into slavery. He worries for Dinah but feels that he is honestly better off as a slave. He prays that Cormac will be manipulated by his advisors and manage the kingdom well. He becomes the slave of a great priest, a kind man, but a strict one, who will not allow Kenric to speak in his presence as is the custom of the land. While there, Kenric learns more about himself and takes on a wife.
                       Meanwhile in Arioch, Cormac blames the kingdom Arioch is indebted to for the disappearance of the high prince. Dinah is distraught over the disappearance of her beloved brother and writes to her lover, the young prince. Blinded by her love for him she doesn't believe that he caused the disappearance of Kenric, and is suspicious of Cormac. They're arranged meeting takes place but while there, the prince kidnaps her and takes her back to his kingdom. He tells her that while he did not take Kenric, he will accept the claim. He tells her that both Arioch and his kingdom are failing economically, especially since Arioch has failed to repay its debt, and that the disappearance of two royals, one of whom which the new king of Arioch is very close to, will certainly lead to war. And war will bring with it new jobs for the people of both kingdoms.
                       The book will end with Cormac discovering the theft of Dinah, suffering a seizure, and declaring war after he ascends the throne of Arioch. Kenric will then overhear the news of his sister's disappearance from his master and grow enraged thinking that Cormac has killed Dinah. He then swears that he will kill his brother and reclaim his kingdom.

I realize that that summary was very convoluted and I know that a lot of the characters/places need names, or at least better names lol, but I hope that you could understand most of it! If you have any advice/criticism I would really appreciate it if you would pm me instead of posting on this thread. I will probably make more changes to this post as my story develops.

[Leorgathar]

Well, I enjoyed reading all three summaries of your stories, I'd be glad to hear more from them and read some of your progress whenever it's possible

I thought I would also share mine here, so let me know what you think


Working title: "Knights of the Sun" (or) "The Eagle's Mentor" (I haven't decided yet xP)
Genre: Animal/Adventure

Synopsis

In times before the Spanish conquest of Mexico, legends were told among the Aztec tribes of the sacred rivalry between jaguars and eagles. Most of these stories were forever lost with the coming of Christianity to the New World.

However, animals do remember.

Cuauhtzin is a golden eagle chick who just can’t wait to grow her own wings so she can fly off from her nest, where she first saw the light after she hatched from her egg. Every new eaglet is assigned to a mentor to learn the basic rules of flight and hunting. One day, her own mentor brings with him his other apprentice, Tenoch, a young eagle on his first day of flight whom, in secret, Cuauhtzin convinces to take her on his talons for her to experience flying for the first time. But with such a reckless decision, a reckless accident is bound to happen, and so Tenoch loses his eaglet passenger in the jungles of Central Mexico.

Alone, unable to hunt for her own food, and without wings big enough to fly, the defenseless young chick must find a way to survive in this vast, deep jungle, where legends of ferocious jaguars and other ancient evils stalk from behind every tree, haunting the hearts of the bravest.

[cheezeegriff]

Astraia, that looks like a pretty good synopsis. It's hard to make a synopsis interesting as you can't go into details about the characters. It'll be interesting to see how it reads.

Leor, looks interesting, but I can't work out who convinces who of what. Who is the she? I like the south american setting though. Hope they find some ruins and cenotes:).

[Leorgathar]

I guess some rephrasing is in order thanks for the feedback, I'll see how to fix that ^^

Basically, Cuauhtzin is the little female eaglet, as well as the main character. She hasn't grown her wings yet and she really wants to fly, so she convinces Tenoch, the male young eagle, to take her for a flight. Tenoch then loses Cuauhtzin in the jungle, and that's where the plot begins unfolding.
From that point on, the story is about a jaguar who finds Cuauhtzin and helps her to survive in the jungle during the time it takes to grow her wings. This jaguar's name is Tleyotl, and he serves as a trainer and a fatherly figure for Cuauhtzin. (That's actually what the second working title means, "The Eagle's Mentor", but I have reasons to like the first title better xD). Cuauhtzin's disappearance also alarms the eagles, who begin a frantic search for her, and this creates tension in an already existing rivalry with the jaguars. I'm still trying to figure out who the "villain" of the story is or what his intentions are. It'll be a jaguar, that's for sure, but I'm also basing it on an Aztec mythological creature known as the Nahual, which creeped the hell out of me when I was a kid. So in a way I'm bringing back one of my childhood horrors in this story xD
As for ruins and cenotes, you bet there'll be

[cheezeegriff]

That makes better sense. Thank you:).

[mistiria78]

I just wanted to say that I have been writing my novel for about two to three years now and I love every second of it. But be careful of writers block that's what I have at the moment. So that's what brought me to start role playing again.

[Leorgathar]

Alright, so a couple of days ago (on Valentine's Day, precisely) I posted a drawing I made along with a little story on my Deviant Art page. In it, I used characters from my own story that I mentioned above (Knights of the Sun), and it was intended to be some sort of Valentine's Day special, so I put some special love into it, but sadly I just got very little to no feedback from it ><.

I don't usually do this, since I'm not the kind of person who draws or writes just to get some comments (and asking for them doesn't really suit me xP), but I was wondering if some of you could give it a read and let me know what you think. I'd like to see if there's somewhere I can improve in my writing, or if it makes sense at all. I'm all open for some constructive criticism ^^

You can read it here, as well as see the drawing itself
leorgathar.deviantart.com/art/The-One-and-Only-513790896