The Writers' Corner

[Darth_Slaine]

Do you write a story with a theme already in mind and create the story around that, or do you come up with a plot first and let a theme "organically grow," adjusting the plot to accomodate?

 

I try to develop my theme, and an idea of how I want the audience to feel as they read, before I get the plot done. Plot is not terribly important to me. Neither are characters, really. I want to make people think and feel.

 

You could write the world's saddest plot with the most tragic protagonist but, if you don't know how to express those feelings to the reader, the entire story is a sham. Conversely, you can write a happy character getting off a bus on a Tuesday and it could be heart-breaking.

 

Plot and character are just there for formality's sake.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Darth_Slaine

[ScwortzForce]

I've loves star wars since I was a kid and with this forum I have a chance to contribute to the legacy in my own way.

[AlyxDinas]

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how one writes without considering theme. Plot necessarily flows from the desire to say something. It doesn't have to be deep. Sometimes, confusingly, I don't even know if what the text expresses has to be what the author planned. But I think that the kernel has to been there in the conceptual phase.

[Remiel]

I try to develop my theme, and an idea of how I want the audience to feel as they read, before I get the plot done. Plot is not terribly important to me. Neither are characters, really. I want to make people think and feel.

 

You could write the world's saddest plot with the most tragic protagonist but, if you don't know how to express those feelings to the reader, the entire story is a sham. Conversely, you can write a happy character getting off a bus on a Tuesday and it could be heart-breaking.

 

Plot and character are just there for formality's sake.

 

hmm, but isn't it the plot and characters that make up the theme? Theme is the central idea of the work right? Well how can a reader find the theme of the story if it doesn't really have a plot and other important elements. A theme on its own doesn't stand, it has things surrounding that give it emotional power and understanding. I think your underestimating the power plot and character have on the theme, or really the story itself..

 

For me the theme comes last, I start with an idea of the theme sometimes, but it doesn't really come into full fruition until the end of the story. The theme is the result of the work.

[Darth_Slaine]

hmm, but isn't it the plot and characters that make up the theme?

No. I would say that plot and characters are only there to embody the theme when necessary.

 

Theme is the central idea of the work right? Well how can a reader find the theme of the story if it doesn't really have a plot and other important elements. A theme on its own doesn't stand, it has things surrounding that give it emotional power and understanding. I think your underestimating the power plot and character have on the theme, or really the story itself..

 

This is related to what I mean when I say that plot and characters are a formality -- they are only useful for providing the reader with a form that can be recognized. If I could just write theme I would and it would save everyone a lot of time. Think of it this way -- a painting needs to be painted on something but that something isn't generally the focus of the painting. You don't look at Guernica and say, "Damn that is some fine canvas under there."

 

Plot and character are pretty boring. I can't say I spend much time on them. It's not really the plot or the characters that get you with Waiting for Godot, is it?

 

 

@Alyx: I've got to type up my thoughts on It Cannot Be Helped for you! I triple-Sith promise to send them to you very soon!!!

Edited March 6, 2012 by Darth_Slaine

[AlyxDinas]

@Alyx: I've got to type up my thoughts on It Cannot Be Helped for you! I triple-Sith promise to send them to you very soon!!!

 

There's no rush. I'm behind on updating it and will be for most of this week due to an excessive workload. Take you time. I'm appreciative of any feedback. I know the work has a lot of room to improve.

[Remiel]

This is related to what I mean when I say that plot and characters are a formality -- they are only useful for providing the reader with a form that can be recognized. If I could just write theme I would and it would save everyone a lot of time. Think of it this way -- a painting needs to be painted on something but that something isn't generally the focus of the painting. You don't look at Guernica and say, "Damn that is some fine canvas under there."

 

Plot and character are pretty boring. I can't say I spend much time on them. It's not really the plot or the characters that get you with Waiting for Godot, is it?

 

Well, technically you could write a theme all by itself, but, of course, it would be empty words since it won't have much support.

 

I see your comparing a canvas with characters and plot and that just isn't right; again, I feel your underestimating these elements. If anything characters and plot are like the stokes and the paint of a painting. Theme isn't something on the surface, its in the background of the story, which is why people sometimes struggle to identify theme.

 

There are great works that writers create that, people have to ask "how did you create something like this?" and the writer can only answer, "I was just trying to write a story...". I've come to find that emotion from the text, the theme, is something found by the reader and based on their perception. This is why I personally write without thinking about the theme too much, because at the end of the story everyone has a different take on the story as a whole.

 

Unfortunately I'm unfamiliar with Waiting for Godot, but now I'm aware of a very interesting story, so thanks.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Remiel

[AlyxDinas]

To be fair, some of Beckett's work to theatre is what Finnegans Wake is to literature. Worth noting but ultimately an exercise in patience and of questionable success when it comes to form. Godot's probably his most well known specifically because it is the most tolerable. Few audiences are going to be that interested with Act Without Words I, even people who know absurdist theater. And trust me, I know. I've performed it. *whistles* Ha! Theater references!

 

I think Remial has a point though. Theme generally is enhanced by certain things. To call to the example, I don't admire Guernica simply for the expressed themes or even because of my knowledge of Spanish Civil War. A very large part of me enjoys it because I find it beautiful. And often, when I think of it, I recall certain things. The center horse's wide eyes. The man on the far right with outstretched arms, as if we were trying to climb up and away from the madness. Similarly, for Godot part of me finds a greater enjoyment in the characters of Vladimir and Estragon than in merely apprehending the existential nature of the piece.

 

I guess my point is that while all things serve theme and ideally help develop it, we ought not to let that completely distract us from simpler goals in our writing as well.

Edited March 7, 2012 by AlyxDinas

[greypilgrim]

I don't have theme in mind when I write fanfic, except that I try to keep my work thematically consistent with the original. Most of what I write is to explore corners that the original artist didn't show to the audience. So like in the fanfic I just posted, I'm exploring the idea of what PC death is and how the first few healing abilities for the Smuggler work and where the equipment comes from and whatnot. Oh, and where the h*** you live before you've got your ship.

[mousestalker]

I generally go for the cheap laughs.

 

::runs out of the room::

[General_Malor]

Do you write a story with a theme already in mind and create the story around that, or do you come up with a plot first and let a theme "organically grow," adjusting the plot to accommodate?

 

I definitely have a theme in mind as far as growth of characters, overall feel, artistic slant, subtext, and meaning. But other than that not really.

[greypilgrim]

The smuggler character starts out with a ship (in theory). But the YT-class freighters work best with a crew of 4-5, though you can manage with a crew of 2 and a good astro-droid.

 

So what happened to the crew?

 

Time to write some backstory...

[Bakarn]

I worried when I first came up with the concept of the Riftgoers that they might be mistake for a Reaper ripoff. Having played Mass Effect 3, I'm content. There's no way I could screw them up as much as the Reapers.

[AlyxDinas]

I worried when I first came up with the concept of the Riftgoers that they might be mistake for a Reaper ripoff. Having played Mass Effect 3, I'm content. There's no way I could screw them up as much as the Reapers.

 

Nyuk. Nyuck.

[Calinaph]

Hey, all!

 

With 1.2 around the corner, I find myself waiting more and more for the Legacy system. I think the whole "family tree" aspect of the Legacy system is pretty intriguing and has really gotten me thinking about the family dynamic of my characters and how they interact- not just with the stories that Bioware is telling, but, also, with each other.

 

I was curious as to what other thought about the family tree as well as how you plan to approach it (if at all).

 

How do you plan to reconcile both Sith and Republic having the same Legacy last name as well as the inherent conflicts with the story that that brings about? As well as the inherent conflicts of them being family period can bring about?

 

For instance, I have a Jedi Knight that had a secret love with a 2nd Jedi Knight, who then became a Sith Lord- however, my problem with that is that in the origin story, the Sith Inquisitor CLEARLY started as a slave.

 

I also have an Imperial Agent... now... it's difficult for me to imagine a Top Secret origination like Imperial Intelligence even CONSIDERING a candidate for Field Work with familial ties to the Republic- let ALONE including them in the Cypher program!

 

those are just two very basic examples.

 

SOOO... do you just overlook some of those things for the sake of story?

 

I'm curious as to if anyone has thought about it from the familial point of view with all of your characters and whether or not the same inconsistencies /nit picks bother you and, if so, how do you plan to remedy them?

 

I think the problems are less if you have, say 8 Republic characters or 8 Empire characters- it's not until you decide to mix the two that things start to fall apart a bit.

Edited March 22, 2012 by Calinaph

[Darth_Slaine]

Hey, all!

 

With 1.2 around the corner, I find myself waiting more and more for the Legacy system. I think the whole "family tree" aspect of the Legacy system is pretty intriguing and has really gotten me thinking about the family dynamic of my characters and how they interact- not just with the stories that Bioware is telling, but, also, with each other.

 

I was curious as to what other thought about the family tree as well as how you plan to approach it (if at all).

 

How do you plan to reconcile both Sith and Republic having the same Legacy last name as well as the inherent conflicts with the story that that brings about? As well as the inherent conflicts of them being family period can bring about?

 

For instance, I have a Jedi Knight that had a secret love with a 2nd Jedi Knight, who then became a Sith Lord- however, my problem with that is that in the origin story, the Sith Inquisitor CLEARLY started as a slave.

 

I also have an Imperial Agent... now... it's difficult for me to imagine a Top Secret origination like Imperial Intelligence even CONSIDERING a candidate for Field Work with familial ties to the Republic- let ALONE including them in the Cypher program!

 

those are just two very basic examples.

 

SOOO... do you just overlook some of those things for the sake of story?

 

I'm curious as to if anyone has thought about it from the familial point of view with all of your characters and whether or not the same inconsistencies /nit picks bother you and, if so, how do you plan to remedy them?

 

I think the problems are less if you have, say 8 Republic characters or 8 Empire characters- it's not until you decide to mix the two that things start to fall apart a bit.

 

At the moment, only two of my characters are related so I see the bunch less as a family than as a philosophical legacy. My stories have reflected this, to some extent, as they usually have small connections to one another here and there.

 

Before I go, I wanted to welcome all our new writers and readers!

 

I have been sadly neglectful of many things here -- including boosting reviews and writing my own stories. It is hard to find the time these days, but I promise to try and do better.

 

Keep up the good work!

[fungihoujo]

At the moment, only two of my characters are related so I see the bunch less as a family than as a philosophical legacy. My stories have reflected this, to some extent, as they usually have small connections to one another here and there.

 

Before I go, I wanted to welcome all our new writers and readers!

 

I have been sadly neglectful of many things here -- including boosting reviews and writing my own stories. It is hard to find the time these days, but I promise to try and do better.

 

Keep up the good work!

 

Ya, none of my characters are completely related- though, there is some similarities with some- mostly rivalries/friendships/partnerships.

 

I've also been neglectful- two moved in a month, new job, working day and night. Been hectic but getting back in the swing of things so to speak.

[Osetto]

Greetings everyone, new writer in the midst!

 

Just thought I'd throw in a quick introduction before posting some stories. I silently read some of the fan fiction produced pre-launch and started working on some works of my own, but ultimately got sidetracked with nothing in a finished state. But eventually, with a rather high count of hours spent in game, I found myself drawn back into the writing foray. Being a new writer, I have little knowledge of what I might consider my inherent strengths and weaknesses so I look forward to any thoughts and critiques anyone might have to share with me.

[greypilgrim]

I'm not planning to incorporate the Legacy system into my stories at all. It's a game mechanic like Social rank, IMO. I also tend to keep my stories fairly sparsely populated anyway.

[General_Malor]

So... is everyone gone from here or what? ^_^

[elliotcat]

Yikes, necro!

 

But this is a neat thread, I never knew it existed. It would be fun to get the discussion going again! I'm kind of shy about my writing sometimes, so it helps to get to know the community.

[General_Malor]

Haha... not really a necro... you're looking at one of the oldest community staples of these boards. Started by some really cool and dedicated community members, way back in TerminalPleasure's time. Aye, I remember a time when Walsh would argue with Alyx and Niarc until they were blue in the font. Or when Slaine would point out some great bit of unknown fiction on here. Even the rare times TheBBP would show up and he and I would bring some Trooper pride to the Corner.

 

This was once a glorious hub of debate, discussion, and camaraderie among some of the greatest writers(namely me) to come through these boards. And I want them back!

 

I've been going through a bout of nostalgia with these boards for a few days now. So yeah, don't mind an old timer like me... someone who's followed and played this game since the start... I've followed this game since it was nothing but a site saying that something was coming and you could sign up for a newsletter. Oh the old days... ^_^

[elliotcat]

Well, it's always good to have new friends, right?

 

Got a topic you want to discuss?

[General_Malor]

I got it, in light of the fact that we have some really cool new writers 'round here that I don't really know I'll go with an oldie but a goodie-

 

Question!

 

What does writing mean for you?

[Osetto]

Question!

 

What does writing mean for you?

 

Writing, at its base, for me is simply the means to create something. Make something material out of the immaterial thoughts and ideas in my head. Putting something out into the world that people can read and respond to. Affecting someone through some means, whether it be providing information, entertainment, or inspiration. Writing is probably the medium I'm most comfortable with but if given the chance I would readily carry the principle over to movies, television, video games... I guess I just enjoy the infinitely complex simplicity that lies behind one person's craft with the written word. For me, writing is using whatever talent I think I possess in the hope of providing something to the reader.

 

Which I suppose raises another question. Would I write if I possessed no prospect of an audience? Writing passes the time and I find it a mentally engaging activity. But if I am the only one I feel is taking something away from the experience, my motivation drops quite a bit. But here, so long as I know a single person keeps coming back to read what I have written, I am going to tell a story.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Osetto