Stories

[kyonides]

I've been trying to write interesting stories, but my lack of experience and my love for quite long and wordy sentences had become some sort of handicap there. I can't help it, I do love long sentences, even if they might confuse you after a while. This situationt led me to ask you the following stuff just because I can.

What's your favorite type of character?


What are your favorite genres? (Or should I say which? )

What would you think if the protagonist dies at any point before reaching two thirds of the whole story?


What would you say if your favorite character dies too soon in your own opinion?


What do you think about conlangs? (Fake languages created by the authors for some specific purpose like describing a whole fake culture.)


What do you think about monsters and aliens?


Should we include them in our stories?



Or should we lean more on human beings than monsters or aliens?


Do you like to meet unknown, mysterious characters that never reveal themselves (completely)?


Do you prefer to read stories full of drama or packed with lots of action instead?


Do you prefer to take a look at stories that reflect reality as much as possible or not?


Should stories end with a happy ending, an ill fate or just leave you hanging?


Should a story include lots of heroes and NPC?


Or should we rely on villains and defective heroes that end up being pretty much helpless instead?


Do you think it is really necessary to describe characters in detail? (Including those like the shopkeeper you will only meet once)


I think I still got tons of questions to ask you here, but for now I guess these should suffice to let you start this discussion any time soon.

[Siletrea]

I've been trying to write interesting stories, but my lack of experience and my love for quite long and wordy sentences had become some sort of handicap there. I can't help it, I do love long sentences, even if they might confuse you after a while. This situationt led me to ask you the following stuff just because I can.

What's your favorite type of character?

depends on the book
What are your favorite genres? (Or should I say which? )
manga? action and animal
What would you think if the protagonist dies at any point before reaching two thirds of the whole story?

*mindblown*

What would you say if your favorite character dies too soon in your own opinion?

I'd cry and probable not read further
What do you think about conlangs? (Fake languages created by the authors for some specific purpose like describing a whole fake culture.)
interesting but overly awesome if its actually translatable and cohesive

What do you think about monsters and aliens?

if used properly theyre vital to a story even if just by definition
Should we include them in our stories?

depends on the story

Or should we lean more on human beings than monsters or aliens?

who says a human isent a monster at heart?
Do you like to meet unknown, mysterious characters that never reveal themselves (completely)?

as long as I can eventually find out about them then yes!
Do you prefer to read stories full of drama or packed with lots of action instead?

ACTION!
Do you prefer to take a look at stories that reflect reality as much as possible or not?

depends on the reflection for example One Piece actually reflects ALOT of real life topics while still being highly fantasy
that being said I'm sure chapter 887 is released by now so I'd better go read it
Should stories end with a happy ending, an ill fate or just leave you hanging?

bittersweet is good at times...to sappy kills things and I'll fate should only be used sparingly
Should a story include lots of heroes and NPC?

a few heros is fine NPC's are great! but multiple villains? NOW were talking!
Or should we rely on villains and defective heroes that end up being pretty much helpless instead?

this sounds GOOD! more books and literature should have defective villians
Do you think it is really necessary to describe characters in detail? (Including those like the shopkeeper you will only meet once)
no hell no...unless its certain senarios where the explination is needed

I think I still got tons of questions to ask you here, but for now I guess these should suffice to let you start this discussion any time soon.

hope that helps! ask more anytime!

[MetalRenard]

What's your favorite type of character?
An anti-hero who struggles with moral decisions or a normal person who has to make decisions with real consequences.
I've recently finished reading Pandora's Star which is full of "normal people" who make lots of small choices but they build up to a massive plot point.

What are your favorite genres? (Or should I say which? )
Science-fiction. Aliens, Virtual reality (Ready Player One was amazing), space-ships, an in-depth study of the human condition.

What would you think if the protagonist dies at any point before reaching two thirds of the whole story?
Go for it. Stephen King kills all his characters eventually.

What would you say if your favorite character dies too soon in your own opinion?
Author's choice. I respect it. It has to be justified though!

What do you think about conlangs? (Fake languages created by the authors for some specific purpose like describing a whole fake culture.)
Despite being a linguist, I dislike conlangs. I feel the major problem with them is that they often come from the perspective of someone who doesn't understand the true origin of languages. Language is culture is language. You can't have one unless the other is fully developed too, which includes thousands of years of history. You can't separate the two - Tolkein understood this perfectly!

What do you think about monsters and aliens?
Love 'em!

Should we include them in our stories?
If it makes sense. I've recently finished watching season 1 of "Colony" in which the Earth is colonised by an alien species but we never see them, only the effects of their influence via politics.

Or should we lean more on human beings than monsters or aliens?
This depends on your story. Back to Pandora's Star, there's a fascinating alien who communicats with infrared light signals but the human who meets him only realises this thanks to retinal inserts which store the patterns and a very advanced AI which helps translate after many months of trial and error.

Do you like to meet unknown, mysterious characters that never reveal themselves (completely)?
Sure, why not? It has to have a reason for this though.

Do you prefer to read stories full of drama or packed with lots of action instead?
Both are fine. I like political drama and space ship battles equally!

Do you prefer to take a look at stories that reflect reality as much as possible or not?
Not necessarily. I like to philosophise about the human condition... This doesn't require a life-like setting or reality.

Should stories end with a happy ending, an ill fate or just leave you hanging?
Do you want me to feel happy or get me to buy the sequal too?

Should a story include lots of heroes and NPC?
Sorry to repeat myself but Pandora's Star does this brilliantly. I lost count of the number of characters whose 1st person perspective we see the story through, including the hugely dangerous and completely alien species we lowly humans encounter. They experiment on us without even understaning our physiology which leads to a gruesome result (they don't understand that screams mean fear or pain... or that the red stuff in our bodies is vital to our survival).

Or should we rely on villains and defective heroes that end up being pretty much helpless instead?
Whatever advances the plot and gets your message across.

Do you think it is really necessary to describe characters in detail? (Including those like the shopkeeper you will only meet once)
Again... If it serves the plot. Just enough detail so I can picture it but not so much as to distract from the point of your visit to the shop.

[DerVVulfman]

What's your favorite type of character?
WEREWOLVES!!!! Just kidding. The hero who is actually 'vulnerable'. The first Die Hard actually achieved that fairly well (Not the others). Sam, Frodo and Aragorn had fairly vulnerable moments in Lord of the Rings as well.


What are your favorite genres? (Or should I say which? )
High Fantasy such as Lord of the Rings perhaps. You're getting a post from someone that actually read the Silmarillion (JRR Tolkein's 'bible' for Middle Earth). I also have copies of the first actual 'Conan the Barbarian' novels. Not exactly the same as the movies. And Manga/Anime of 'mainly' a Fantasy edge. No Gundam.


What would you think if the protagonist dies at any point before reaching two thirds of the whole story?
As a movie critic said when he saw the title: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, "What? They don't find him?" Kinda hard to tell a story without the protagonist at that point.


What would you say if your favorite character dies too soon in your own opinion?
When Aeris died in Final Fantasy VII, I wanted bloody revenge.


What do you think about conlangs? (Fake languages created by the authors for some specific purpose like describing a whole fake culture.)
Seen it before, even in the Tolkein material. So I have no worries as long as treated well. Of course, when your audience is reading about two characters speaking in said conlang, it is usally 'said' to be in the language.


What do you think about monsters and aliens?
When one thinks monsters, they tend to fall back upon old standbys. As far as aliens, it seems rather hard to get past either human-like variations, lizards or insects (thank to some TV miniseries or Starship Troopers). And if one talks monsters, they tend to always make them evil. But what of the 'human monster' being the more malevolent?


Should we include them in our stories?
Definitely depends upon the story. In the 'Conan' novels, there was no actual trace of monsters. You may have had primitive ape-like men discussed, akin to neanderthal like men. But they almost never appeared in the first dozen or so. Oh, yeah. The ape-man in Conan the Destroyer WAS lifted from one of the novels (a total suck-fest of a movie IMO).


Or should we lean more on human beings than monsters or aliens?
Oh, NOW I get to this query after the previous inquiries? Depends on the story. In a whole galaxy far, far away, the only malevolent and destructive alien was Jar Jar Binks!!!!!


Do you like to meet unknown, mysterious characters that never reveal themselves (completely)?
Sometimes, an enigma works. Keeping things secret works. Subtle references, foreshadowing the events that may occur or give a hint who (or what) the character may driver the reader's attention.


Do you prefer to read stories full of drama or packed with lots of action instead?
Please do not write a DBZ novel!!!
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT Tell a little bit of a story... FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT Tell a little bit of a story... FIGHT FIGHT!!!
How lame. You need to make the reader care for the characters, to despise the villain, to shock the reader if someone is endangered!


Do you prefer to take a look at stories that reflect reality as much as possible or not?
In high fantasy, not all that much. However, I also have read the Vampire Chronicles from Anne Rice, and enjoyed reading the characters like Lestat, Louis and company deal with the modern world.


Should stories end with a happy ending, an ill fate or just leave you hanging?
it's kinda hard to have a cliffhanger if everyone was happy. How they pulled it off with Star Trek II and The Empire Strikes Back was fine. However, the basic premise of drama is (I) Create the situation (II) Put the heroes in the worst dilemma, and (III) resolution.


Should a story include lots of heroes and NPC?
Just depends on the story. I will say that one needs to flesh out the characters a bit. To be honest, I didn't really know one dwarf from another when I first read 'The Hobbit'.


Or should we rely on villains and defective heroes that end up being pretty much helpless instead?
Helpless? Never make the villains helpless! If the heroes are against morons, the battle would be over quickly! So much for being heroic. You want the reader to be drawn into wanting the hero to succeed, even when wounded and hurting... Especially when he is wounded.


Do you think it is really necessary to describe characters in detail? (Including those like the shopkeeper you will only meet once)
NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE (even if all of a sudden, that shopkeeper turns out to have the medallion that can lead to the alien spaceship... then describe him/her later) NOPE NOPE NOPE.


I think I still got tons of questions to ask you here, but for now I guess these should suffice to let you start this discussion any time soon.