{ ＩＮＫＬＩＮＧＳ v.4 } A Thread For Writers

[bee buzz]

viewtopic.php?f=57&t=3276956&p=104374458#p104374458

Not sure if any of you are interested, but I'm going to be doing a travel log. It's not exactly story-writing but still an exercising in technique, etc. Especially description. So if any of y'all want to follow along that'd be cool!

[NopesaurusRexx]

trying to get back into writing, i have a story id like to investigate when i have the time. any good tips on how to ease back into it?

Start by writing a little here and there, even if it is just a random scene. Then work at slowly connecting them. You'll get into the writing by writing the scenes that are right on your mind and it will get you excited to work on the rest.

[Ranger of the North]

Good grammar is important, of course, but it will only get you so far. Studying Linguistics actually cured me of a lot of my grammar nazi ways, as there's much more focus on how people use language, not how it "should" be used.

Huh, cool. I do IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) and I do their grammar books as well as the structure/style ones—it's really fun and helpful!

trying to get back into writing, i have a story id like to investigate when i have the time. any good tips on how to ease back into it?

Hmm... well you could look up prompts online and write a few short-stories to ease back in, or you could find similar style/plot/whatever books to give you ideas/inspire you or something? c:
...other than that: no, sorry...

http://www.chickensmoothie.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=3276956&p=104374458#p104374458

Not sure if any of you are interested, but I'm going to be doing a travel log. It's not exactly story-writing but still an exercising in technique, etc. Especially description. So if any of y'all want to follow along that'd be cool!

I'll check it out

[Nitro Indigo]

Speaking of grammar, Fanfiction.net user named ScytheRider has some very interesting writing advice. I'd like to try bettering a story I didn't like one day.

Also, I have an idea for the general plot of Dragon Flightless now...
"The first thing you need to know about griffons is that everything you know about griffons is wrong."
In the world of Glory, Lightning Daybreaker is a young, wingless dragon who lives in a remote valley in the country of Alpinia. When he leaves home one day to climb the nearby mountain, a rite of passage for the locals, he comes across an injured griffon named Amelia [insert surname here]. While most dragons hate griffons, Lightning slowly forms a friendship with her, and the two eventually change the world.
...Problem is, I can't think of a good way to get it started.

[Captain Peregrin]

[i]"The first thing you need to know about griffons is that everything you know about griffons is wrong."

That right there seems like a good beginning (at least for a first draft) ^.^

[Nitro Indigo]

Now that you mention it, maybe I could write it in first-person? I enjoy writing internal monologuing, and first-person would allow it to have a more "chatty" tone. I was originally planning on having Amelia say that, by the way.

I'm also having second thoughts about calling her "Anima", since it's Italian for "soul", but the meaning goes no deeper than "I happened to like the word", and when people do that with Japanese they get accused of cultural appropriation.

Speaking of being accidentally offensive, I'm worried that having Lightning go off to do a rite of passage like that might make him look unintentionally Inspirationally Disabled. Except... you don't need to be able to fly to climb a mountain, in both our world and theirs.

[Ranger of the North]

Speaking of grammar, Fanfiction.net user named ScytheRider has some very interesting writing advice. I'd like to try bettering a story I didn't like one day.

Also, I have an idea for the general plot of Dragon Flightless now...
"The first thing you need to know about griffons is that everything you know about griffons is wrong."
In the world of Glory, Lightning Daybreaker is a young, wingless dragon who lives in a remote valley in the country of Alpinia. When he leaves home one day to climb the nearby mountain, a rite of passage for the locals, he comes across an injured griffon named Amelia [insert surname here]. While most dragons hate griffons, Lightning slowly forms a friendship with her, and the two eventually change the world.
...Problem is, I can't think of a good way to get it started.

Oo that sounds great!
Starting is often tricky, huh. I find that prologues help for some reason XD A look into the world/characters' history or something~

[Livini]

I'm also having second thoughts about calling her "Anima", since it's Italian for "soul", but the meaning goes no deeper than "I happened to like the word", and when people do that with Japanese they get accused of cultural appropriation.

I don't think that would be a problem. Anima is also "soul" in Latin and a lot of authors (especially in fantasy, I would imagine) borrow stuff from Latin, usually with a deeper meaning, but even if you just liked the word, no one is going to fuss about cultural appropriation just because of a Latin name.

[TheSongOfTheStars]

Out of curiousitiy, why is it usually only Latin that people use when writing a language/ looking for names?
Totally not bashing your choice or anything Nitro, I'm just curious what you guys think.

[Nocte Luna]

Out of curiousitiy, why is it usually only Latin that people use when writing a language/ looking for names?
Totally not bashing your choice or anything Nitro, I'm just curious what you guys think.

Because it's used to make so many of the romantic languages (spanish, italian, french, etc.) it's easy for a lot of people to somewhat understand where Latin words come from without having to do too much work (for example, my username. Luna sounds like lunar, which in English means it has something to do with the moon.) especially if they know/understand the romantic languages. So many people know or speak words with Latin roots in them (including English) , writers can add another 'level'/element of depth to their story and make it more meaningful by using a different language - but one that's easy to translate back into multiple languages or easy to guess what the word means, based on the words that are similar in one's own language. It's also easy to make names/words sound unique if they're in Latin.

But that's just my interpretation of this, I understand everyone has different reasons for wanting to use Latin.