The Avali Nexus

lol, I like it as it is. but be prepered for many twists

 

That... is a brilliant idea.

I've got to take a fiction writing class next semester, so I'll keep that thought in mind.

 

I've decided I'm probably going to abandon the character backstory I had planned. I came up with many ideas in my head and probably had 3 pages of content thought out and ready to put out...
But then I realized, the whole damn thing sounded like another one of the pathetic, self conflicting, cry for attention and help. I know already all of you hate that annoying aspect about me, it's a left over from my once severe antisocial tendencies I've been desperately trying to break by being a part of this. I keep doing dumb shit to grab attention without consciously realizing and then trying to push it back or make it worse, it's terrible I know. I don't want to further damage what I've gotten here so I'm just not going to write or post any of my writings because they are all tainted by this.

Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up with that quickwrite the other day, or if it was really as crappy as some of you let on and in that case, I have even more reason to give up creative writing pursuits...
(i'm going to stop myself here because I can already feel myself starting to do it again)

 

I did the first three parts of my story in about two and a half hours. If you're enjoying writing the story, just keep writing. When I looked back and saw just how much I'd written in such a short time, I was really surprised.

 

I cant completely agree with you there, keeping it in yourself may be good avoiding fooling yourself in the short run but if you keep accumulate it in in the long you'll end like a pressure cooker. The more pressure it builds up , the more likely it'll blow up just like your mental state.

Just try to let a bit out, even typing it out on a notepad or on a word document just to keep it for yourself can help letting off some pressure. The point is dont be afraid to express yourself even it means fooling yourslef, you can get a better view of yourself at other's perspective.
Now I feel like I'm making a fool of myself, but I could hide it in the dark grey text =P
I ain't gonna fix it even it's in the wrong shade of grey, my ipod and I are running low on power.

 

did you read mine?

 

Yes. Not my cup of tea, so to speak, which is why I didn't comment on it. My question still stands, did you enjoy writing it? In my experience, writing something you like tends to both make writing go faster, and make the writing better quality.

 

Ain't such a thing as a reason to give up writing, only reasons to practice more.

But I feel some of your difficulties for character creation. What I've found to be the key is to separate yourself from your character. Don't write yourself in as an author avatar, because that tends toward the "Mary Sue" character archetype (in your case, edging toward Sympathetic Sue, it sounds like?). The key is to give your characters a decent backstory, the biggest obstacle to which is "awesomeness" or "suckiness", depending on whether you're trying to write a badass or a woobie. While writing a backstory, though, sometimes it's easy to forget that that information isn't actually a story itself. It isn't important that the character have an interesting backstory, just that the backstory put them in position to do interesting things. If I write a backstory about a Black Ops agent's awesomeness, there's two problems with that. The first is that the rest of the story will have to be even more over the top to keep from being a letdown. The second is that a backstory isn't as immediate of a tale as an actual story, so I won't fully experience said Black Ops agent's awesome.

So, practically, what do you do?

1] Don't overemphasize any one theme. Don't make characters too awesome, or too sympathetic, or too smart from the beginning, because then they can't improve/decline.
2] Always, create reasons for them to have done these things. Going back to the Black Ops character, why was he selected to join the program? Is he insane? Freakishly good at killing, and not much else?
3] Always, always, always give characters both flaws and strengths. Balance is key, because it's hard to sympathize with either Mr. McPerfect or Sir Butt Monkey.
4] Do, don't tell. It's cliche, but it's loads better to have a character's traits be made evident through his actions rather than through a backstory.​

Here's an example of a character I recently created just for fun, but haven't ever used. See how I apply these suggestions:

Rahao is an extremely old lone grey-market trader. Any more, he's just a brain in a old, combat-grade cybernetic shell, having lost all his limbs, most of his organs, and the rest of his pack long ago. He's a bitter, cranky old gentleman who runs goods back and forth between colonies for a living, refusing to accept aid from anyone. He's personally experienced, observed, and inflicted enough suffering that he feels an irreperable disconnect between himself and the rest of society, one that he doesn't particularly care to fix any more. He's a bit of a harmless sociopath, in the way the truly old can sometimes be; never tired of watching someone squirm uncomfortably. But deep down inside, he still holds strong to the morals and ethics of the young, idealistic researcher he once was. He has a will of iron, and, despite his now deep-seated cynicism, refuses to stand by and do nothing when villainy is unopposed.
​

Some things I'd like to point out about how balancing his traits makes him more interesting: while he's basically superhuman because of his augments, his backstory also explores the traumatic origin of those augments. He's a physical demi-god but an emotional and social cripple. He's not a knight in shining armor. At best, he's a knight in sour armor, but probably even more cynical than that. He's mean and a little cruel. But this is balanced by the fact that he's not a bad guy. He's done some horrible things, and part of his problem is that he doesn't admit to himself how horrible they were. But he's also done and continues to do good to those who need it (and yes, he does good to you, not for you).

Also notice that I kept his achievements and accomplishments vague. This gives me more options when writing the story. He also has an interesting motivation that allows him to get involved in an absolutely huge variety of situations: he wants to do the right thing and is old enough he doesn't particularly care if it hurts to do so. One of the more promising storylines would be to pair him with a bright, idealistic young'un for the character conflict that it would cause. Each could learn something from the other: the rookie could learn the importance of discretion and the meaning of sacrifice, and Rahao could be forced to move out of his emotional shell a bit.

I guess the biggest thing you can take away from this is not to mope and complain about your failures, but to move on and learn from them.

 

well, writing is a hobby of mine. I love crafting stories, but with low morale, no feedback show me it's not worth continuing

 

This is probably a bad place to get feedback. Try finding a group of other writers to get feedback from, they'd be much better at it than us.

 

perhaps, but if you liked it. that enough for me to say it's worth it. everyone has that interests, so a writer like me can't please everyone. but my partner sure did enjoyed being a part of it. I RP, and do so in story format, so I work better on the run. I can craft stories in mere seconds, and I refine them later, adding and taking words to make it sound better.

 

Well, there's nothing stopping me from writing multiple chapters in a day. I've got part 3 in a text file here ready to go. I'm just thinking maybe I should space them out a little.

 

Just a little trick with the Avali weapons.

 

I didn't see anything wrong with the story, so you have my seal of approval

Well...... I do believe I misunderstood.

 

Badassery!

 

thank you

 

This is useful, thank you.

 

If this thread has taught me anything, it's that I'm extremely melodramatic. I really should learn to just sit down, shut up, and learn my place.

 

"Do, or do not. There is no try."

 

Indeed.