So....what do you write?

[Anareth]

Okay, I've run out of patience so I'm starting a thread myself. Sort of a very writerly "getting to know you..."

So, what do you write? Fan fic? Original fic? What kind? Published? Unpublished? Want to be published?

I write modern fantasy, dark fantasy, heroic fantasy (sorta) and some lite-SF. I used to write fan fic, and if I'm ever feeling REALLY inspired I may finish some of them (I wrote Highlander, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and a couple others.) I have sold one story and am trying to get some novels ready to shop (one is in the revising phase, and I live in fear of finishing it and not knowing what to do with it.) In the modern and dark fantasies, vampires feature somewhat prominently (as a hinge point in the dark fantasy, as supporting players in the modern.) My heroic fantasy is set in a very Asian-inspired world, as I am campaigning for the death of Fantasy-Versions-of-Medieval-Western-Europe or, if it's a fantasy society based on something west of the Elbe, I don't want to hear about it. The lite-SF is the product of mental meanderings while working the till at the park and isn't quite fleshed out yet, but I'm fiddling with it.

[Madrigal]

I used to write satire fanfics... X-Files, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, various Star Trek, and I think I once threw in some Mercedes Lackey. Haven't touched them in over a year, though, and as far as I know all exisiting copies are gone. (Thank god. They sucked.)

I'm one of those dreaded snotty litficers on occasion--two novels and maybe ten short stories/novellas/whatevers in the genre, plus some random short shorts.

I also write poetry, almost always free-verse. I don't spend too much time with this.

Fantasy... (dark, high, vampire) been there, done that, didn't like it all that much so I went back to SF. I did manage three novels, four short stories, and some random creatures I wound up putting in the Critters Encyclopedia. Nothing worth pursuing here besides one story--Anareth, you'll be happy to know I named everyone with the longest, most tongue-mangling Mongolian names I could find and based the culture somewhat on the early Mongols :fruit: ; the whole deal was very much a Heroic Quest McFantasy that I wrote largely to recover from burnout. I did also grind out a vampire short, but didn't like it or the genre tremendously.

SciFi. You'll find me writing this most often. I've got six novels here, something in the range of thirty novellas, and a bunch of shorter works. I tend to write far-future and have been guilty (still am) of writing a lost colony. Near future and hard SF I don't do as well, but it's been known to happen.

[AnnMarie]

Depends on my mood.... SciFi, only a little, because I am not real good with the Science half of the equation. Fantasy, historical romance, social commentary, poetry, humor, and the occassional fanfic. The fanfic is strictly for my own enjoyment.

I have had poetry published. And one short piece (Humor) in a college paper. I had an ediror/agent who was trying to sell my trilogy to a publisher, but she ran into problems within her company, soooo......


I keep writing, though.

[Greenrider Tresa]

Mostly SF...don't like to get too technical though, so I'm likely to just downplay that part or extrapolate on existing tech. I've written some mainstream fiction and one children's story. Which got corrupted before I could save the file somewhere else. :;sigh:;

Oh yes, and one alternate history novel which I'm not that pleased with.


Tresa

[maiken]

I write mostly children's stories, but i right quite a bit of SF books. I have one book that was published in a newspaper and i would love to have my newest work, Rings of Concordance, published when i finish it. RoC is in the FF forum now. Feel free to tell me what you think, by either Pm or the feed back forum.


mai :wave:

[D'Arcy]

Appropriately enough, I write what I read.

I read SF & Fantasy (duh), and a bit of literary fiction. My heart will always lie with fantasy, though, and those stories make up the bulk of my writings at the moment.

[Zei]

Fanfiction (Dragonriders o' Pern and Kim Possible) as well as lots 'n lots o' fantasy. As a matter of fact, I don't know how I'd live without fantasy.

[Tabra]

I write fantasy. I have one novel completed, which I classify as fantasy, but some might call soft-sci fi. I had 20 k written of the sequal before NaNoWriMo, so I've put it aside to finish my NaNo novel.
My NaNo is epic fantasy, set on a continent based on Africa and another based on India. Yep, no medieval Eurpose world here either! :)

[Anneli]

I write mainly fantasy, and I enjoy writing the occasional fanfic story too.

As my degree focussed on the language and literature of Medieval Europe, with particular emphasis on Germany and the Scandinavian countries, my fantasy tends to be based in that era as well.

Nothing wrong with Medieval Europe as a setting - IMHO ;) Heroes wielding swords are fun :bouncy:

[Ian]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with mediaeval Europe-based fantasy, if it's done right, which means research. Even if your world is totally fictional & only loosely based on a particular period of history, at least make some effort to find out what weapons, armour, costume, etc, would be available to a culture at that level of technology. And please (a personal dislike of mine) don't use modern phrases in it! There is a novel in the Forgotten Realms series (one of the Pools trilogy) where a sorceress says to her familiar "way to go" :eek: That grates on me every time I read it!

Needless to say, most of what I write falls into the fantasy category, though some of it crosses over into SF.

[Kater]

Most of what I write could be catorgorized as Fantasy with a dash of Science thrown in. I am a terrible speller (as anyone who reads my posts can tell!) so I live with a dictonairy on my desk as well as the spell checker on my computer!!

[AnnMarie]

Most of what I write could be catorgorized as Fantasy with a dash of Science thrown in. I am a terrible speller (as anyone who reads my posts can tell!) so I live with a dictonairy on my desk as well as the spell checker on my computer!!

Same here, Sis! I wouldn't know what to do without my Spellcheck!

[ladyholdermara]

I write songs mostly but I AM working on and off on a sci-fi/fantasy tentatively called the Terransights. lol I don't know if I'll EVER get published lol my only goal so far is actually finishing it. I been working on it for about three years and only have the first chapter done lol

[Lady Legira]

Fantasy, Fan-fic and :runaway: erotica

I love my spell checker and Beta reader :D (BardMaiden)

[Anareth]

I am just tired of Western Europe simulacrums. All the same armor, thatched huts, peasant farmers...cultures exist East of the Elbe and Oder-Neisse and southeast of Austria, you know.

As for something like "Way to go", I would only object if the setting actually WAS Midieval Europe and/or it stuck out significantly from the way the characters spoke the rest of the time. If the rest of their speech has been filled with "Forsooths" and "My most noble liege," then yes, it's going to grate. If not....(I haven't read "Forgotten Realms," just "Dragonlance", so I don't know if that stuck out or not.) There's another pet peeve--characters who talk like escapees from Tolkien, or worse bad B-movie costume dramas. He could get away with hoplessly formal. Most writers cannot. It sounds stilted and silly. Why, because a character is an Elf, for example, does everyone assume it needs to talk like some misty-headed fey fop with a stick up its rear? (Wow, I think I just channelled Grey Bear. Except he wouldn't have said rear.) Unless you're TRYING to annoy main characters and readers alike. People didn't run around in the Dark Ages talking like characters from the Iliad. Why does every other second-tier fantasy author, and a few of the top tier writers, seem to think they have to all sound like they were touched by the tongues of prophecy?

Gah. I've just read too much bad fantasy and SF. And fan fic. Fan fic is often the worst of the genre, distilled, and I was guilty of it myself, too.

[Jorine]

Poetry. I don't like myself writing freeverse, though. I like the challenge of saying my piece and having it rhyme and have a lovely little trotting pace. "My Dance" in "Jorine's dorky little poems" was written in 3/4 time - and it won first place at the local college's annual creative arts contest in the college division (they have a lot of divisions ranging from pre-k through community) so it is being published in the next "The Palm Leaf" which comes out roughly at the same time as next year's contest.I also like to write contemporary fantasy - I have a story about a hidden colony of Elves living in the Frio Canyon (20 miles north of where I live) occasionally one of the elves will break away from the community and go out and live in the "real world" - my main character is Gwendolyn Meadows who runs a small private school with her cousin Franklin ("It's FRANK and if you call me Franklin one more time....) who wears a black cowboy hat and a huge leather duster while teaching in the Pre-K/Kinder classroom. Understand, please, living in the "real world" means they live 20 miles away and go home every weekend because Gwendolyn is still a big ol' mama's girl and Franklin was sent along to keep an eye on her.

I also like to write children's stories.... in verse.

[granath]

Apart from translations (can be quite creative sometimes) and Talent RP (I haven't written any for ages) I have written some prose poetry. Only in English and Spanish, though, my first languages Finnish and Swedish are too "prose" for me to be creative in. I have also noted down the beginnings of a few ideas for stories, but to take that step and actually write them down...

[Maedhbh]

I write whatever I feel like at the moment. Poetry. Short stories. Usually science fiction. Have wrote only three books so far. All three of them got destroyed (by outside means) before I could even think of publishing them. Do have some of my poetry published. Would like to have a book done one day.

[McClance]

I write little else other than science fiction. Long science fiction, I might add. I used to write Star Trek stories from 1997 to 1999. But in 1999, I began developing my own science fiction series that's a combination of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Babylon 5. Today, I continue to work on that series. Recently, I employed a few ideas that I got from playing Zelda and from reading Anne McCaffrey's Pern series.

I've also noticed recently that my writing style has a lot in common with McCaffrey's. At least that's what I thought.

I'm not published yet, but I am working on it. :bouncy: :) :D

[Kugai]

I write Sci-Fi. My stories tend to be set in my own Universe (as those who have seen my Stories in PF will know). My full novel is, currantly, on hold, but I plan to go back to it soon. I may even start with a rewrite with the 60 odd pages I've done so far.

[Vyon]

I write science fiction mostly. Generally "soft" science fiction with more emphasis on people and relationships than futuristic science and technology. I'm particularly interested in relationships between different cultures and kinds of people. There's usually a lot of either telepathy or magic in my worlds, and they have their own gods and religions, which sometimes clash.
The lack of both magic and religion is one reason why I found Pern fanfic difficult and still haven't finished "One dark Night" two years after joining the original Kitchen Table. I know exactly where the story is going, but haven't had the time to sit down and finish it.

Then, for light relief I write childrens stories. I don't have an audience for them at the moment, nearest accessible granddaughter is only three. The four year old is coming back to New Zealand from Switzerland next week. Her father is currently stuck in Bankok, after being caught in transit on a standby ticket during the tsumanmi disaster. He should be back by the end of the week, then, no doubt, he'll have a tale or three to tell.
:wave:

[Bronze-Dragonrider]

Well I'm only a beginner writer, but I write about several different things, fantasy: like knights and dragons, some sappy romance, just general everyday life, some poetry, and starting on Pern fanfics. Might do some Stargate SG-1 or Spider-Man fanfics in the future. Need to learn some more on plot building, but I'm working towards getting published, probably only short stories.

[Feena_bronze_rider]

I write fantasy and Sifi fanfics and non fanfics..... But I've only been writing sence 2002.... nothings been published yet.

[jamnar]

I prefer fantasy, but sometimes get sidetracked into modern fiction with a twist and some horror (interesting add-lib for the kids' bedtime stories in previous years - why not write it down?) Most of my stuff is all over the place, but generally relates to the same story.
The place I've created in my imagination is a world colonised by humans over the top of an ancient civilization that hasn't entirely gone away.
Sometimes it goes a bit Matrix, with me thinking "what if all the humans were just gamers wired into the pivotal roles?" but that's because I'm influenced by what I read (last example Tad Williams - Otherland series)
There is a place for dragons, werewolves, mystics and telepaths there. I also have a bad habit of imagining my favourite actors in roles I write for them, it helps when imagining facial expressions and mannerisms.
That one about the infinite monkeys and Shakespeare? I need them for the editing if I ever decide to string it all together. :D

[Greenrider Tresa]

I write mainly SF, done one children's story and some modern short fiction though. And poetry. I've attempted non-Pern fanfic once and abandoned it. Also, I've done one alternate history novel with a friend, and started but never finished a fantasy. Least, I think shapeshifters would be considered fantasy, if they're not in an SF environment, like the Weft.



Tresa

[T'ley]

I've got two Fantasy books on the go, one being the sequel to the other of which I've only written a page or two, one Futuristic, which is not going very fast, and one current military, SAS/freelancer which is not quite as long as my Fantasy. My Fantasy is 15,500ish words at the mo. but I am aiming for 800,000 gove or take. It is 27 sides of A4, I am aiming for 200 ish will give me 500 pages (ish) book size. :) I am going to try to get one Published when I have finnished one. Though, judging how long it has taken me to get this far It will prolly be a couple of years + university work, so hopefully by 2011 I'll have something in the shops. If i publish it will anyone buy? :)

I do like writing in my own created language.

Aetheris Braselae
(Live long Brothers)

Cya

[Deb Krol]

Ah--actually, I write mainly non-fiction, mostly for magazines, on Native American issues and arts, that sort of thing. I review books for Native Peoples Magazine and News From Indian Country, I edit newsletters, and write, write, write for whoever will pay me [and a few who don't, but I usually get a free ticket to a fundraiser or some sort of gala, that sort of thing...:)]

I have dabbled in SF/fantasy, but mostly for fun [as an escape from deadlines, and chasing interviews, and researching, etc....] I actually got a personalized rejection letter from Stanley Schmidt [the old editor of Analog!] once and I'm working on an entry for Writers of the Future--but as about 99 percent of my living comes from non-fiction, my SF writing must regretfully remain a hobby for now.

Deb

[Lady of the weyr]

fantasy/Sci fi/ romance- that what I write in.
My current and 1st proper one is on the writers story Forum now and its in 2 parts -the prequel (SG1) and the main (Pern) but they are linked, you'll see where.
Let me know what you think of it, I'm still writing it, so I gave you a taster of it.
PM me for feedback. TY! :)

[B`dgyr]

Fantasy...I've played with some vampiric stuff from time to time, but I can't get the idea quite right....I know what I want in myhead, but getting it on paper is hard! What I hate is when I think I've got it, I go away and leave it for a while, and then, when I come back, it stinks!
Nagatyr, on the Critter/RP Forum, is actually my world that I am writing about now. No, I'll not use anything from the forum in it. That would be cheating. (Other than my creatures Icreated for it and Scylla NasPhaeton, who is myself.)

[Ryuu]

SciFi with a Fantasy feel. I do a lot of research trying to get the technical background established before I start putting the story to trons. Also, I plot out the story in my mind, setting the images and the order of the flow before writing it down.

Most of my stories are based on gaming sessions that I ran with several of my friends, but many things (the short-stories--including TS&FL) are spinoffs from the main novels that I'm working on.

[Lady Faizah]

I write fantasy, mostly. The occasional short story set in the modern world, usually involving myself and my friends. But mostly fantasy, with fantasy characters.

[JayEgo]

I write rarely!

I have some poetry, though I've not added to the collection for some time! Not more than the odd few lines here tand there anyway! I think I'm over the part of my life that inspired much of that side of my writting! There are three of my favourite pieces avaiable to read on my website!

As for novels... Well, I've got a few floating round my head but the closest I've come is generating fifty plus thousand words through NaNoWriMo 2004... I've yet to finish the story and then edit it to something I'd let other folk read but ultimately, given the time and patience, I'd hope to at loeast submit the work to a publisher... Maybe?

Ja¥son xx

[Tygress]

I tend to write fantasy. The occassional poem just jumps out usually when I'm particulary moody. I must say my writing has improved very much from the first novel I wrote back in high school. Argh has it acctually been 8 years! :eek: Dialogue and more dialogue. I'm much better at describing now. I also have toyed with an idea inspired by a college course on postmodern writers, of course if I ever acctually write it out it'll probably turn into something modern fantasy. *sighs*

[GoldriderAria]

Well, I started out writing fan fiction (Wheel of Time, a little Mercedes Lackey, Star Wars, Star Trek Voyager, Babylon 5, Buffy/Angel) mostly in High School, some cowritten with my best friend, a bunch of just me stuff. Have written a little Tolkien fan-fiction in the past year, haven't had time for much else.

By preference my original work is mostly straight fantasy. I love sci-fi, but nothing I write there will ever be entirely science-fiction because I don't consider my scientific background solid enough and wouldn't want to ruin a work with bad science. I'm working on a book trilogy, entirely unpublished at this point. :)

During college I got my undergrad degree in creative writing, so I did a lot of short stories, poetry, and screenplays. Much of which were entirely modern, because I discovered that "academia" doesn't think much of fantasy, and so I didn't get to write a lot of it for them.

Now, I'm doing a lot of writing in my PBeM's and working on my book when I have a spare moment. But at the moment the main thing I'm writing is my Master's Thesis (medieval lit and Tolkien), which takes up most of my time. ;)

[Monkeysrule]

I write, just for fun, Pern fanfics and am currently working on a story temporarily called "The Wolf Monkey Adventures". I can't figure out what genre it is.

[Keita]

SciFi and fantasy. I started out (mostly because of a dare :roll: ) to write Star Trek Fan Fics. I found early on that I couldn't get a grip on those characters I didn't create myself, so I gave up...only to find that I couldn't STOP writing! So I thought about it and finally decided to give writing my own stuff a go...and I haven't looked back!

That said, I DO write mostly for fun. I enjoy worldbuilding for some reason and I have several SciFi and fantasy worlds on the boiler. I'm only semi-serious about 3 or so of all those worlds (2 fantasy, 1 SF) that I THINK might make it "out there" ;) . None are even remotely finished (except for some short stories that I wrote as historical excercises) and won't be ready for some time yet. Too busy doing the Masters! :eek:

[Vyon]

I enjoy world building too, though hitching the world to a viable story is sometimes a problem. Or the story goes flat mid-way. Like the infamous fanfic. I've got a beginning, too many characters (deliberately, I'm going to need them all) a middle, an idea, a good end, and a lot of mind-pictures. Putting them all together, however, is something else again.

So's doing my University assignments. For some reason, I just can't get enthusiastic about the history of historians. Wonder why???? :wave:

[queenrider melody]

So far I just write fantasy short stories, Pern Fan Fic, and romance novels. There are three that I want to finish and get published, one fantasy and two romance novels. The fantasy novel is called MUTT, a story about one girl and a pup she finds on her door step. I'm not finished with it yet, so I'm not sure if it's going to be a novella or a novel. One of my romance novels is called Moon-Blue Eyes, one that I know is going to be a book that'll be published, even if it takes twenty years after I finish it to get it published. The other romance novel is one I'm just building around one scene.

[Maedhbh]

Of late, about the only thing I write are the weekly reports at work. :faint:

[SFAHarper]

I have one three page original story inspired by a painting that was ripe for a story. It is a medieval total fiction story but can certainly be woven into a full fledged fantasy novel at some point. I have one fan fiction story, but I got bored with it. I prefer original fiction that leans in the fantasy or sci-fi genres. I've got umpteen million plots and stories I've started, however, I always get writer's block. Unfortunatley, I lost my only complete short story when my first bloody computer crashed. Curses.

:note: SFA :note:

[McClance]

Unfortunatley, I lost my only complete short story when my first bloody computer crashed. Curses.

:note: SFA :note:

That certainly stinks.

[SFAHarper]

All is not lost! I have recently been inspired for a brand new short story.

[Brenda]

I write poetry sometimes. I haven't done much fanfiction - I did two Pern ones that were describing scenes that would have taken place in Dragonsong only with other characters -
Mirrim's Vigil describes her waiting alone in the Kitchen Caverns because she "didn't dare go" to the Hatching -
"News from the Weyr" describes Elgion returning to Half-Circle Sea Hold with the news that Menolly is alive and going to the Harper Hall - first to Alemi, then to Mavi, and then to :noface: Yanus.

I also am working on "Ghost in the Tunnels" which is a Pern fic not linked to any of the books; I have an idea for another such story, and two story ideas which describe significant scenes but change the outcome. I keep giving myself goosebumps with those.

[Vyon]

:roll: Oh, and I was razzing the Mayor during a "Where is Tauranga City up to with coping with the May floods" meeting, and got told I was writing a report on the flooding in my street and the adjoining part of the local golf course. Serves me right for sticking my neck out!:devil:

[Shalyn]

Of late, about the only thing I write are the weekly reports at work. :faint:

Word. I just finished writing a...manual for work. One that only me and my boss will ever look at, but it has all the how-to's in case someone else has to come in and do my job. Bo-ring.

Actual fun writing? Fantasy. A lot based on ideas I get while dreaming, or if I just happen to have an epiphany.

I also have a suspense/action/adventure idea - two actually - which I need to find help with because those are two genres that I don't even like to read, let alone write. But they'd both make awesome movies!

Re-written fairy tales. Or using the fairy tale as the base.

My big fantasy has required a lot of world-building, which I kind of do during the writing. But this one has so much potential since it has a definitely unique magic system.

Pern fanfic. I need to finish the one I'm working on, so I can get back to my real writing! And I'm only up to Chapter 13. Argh!

[cwolf]

Crossover fanfiction here.

Buffy crossed with Trigun.
Some random halloween fics in Buffy including one where:

Giles became Moe of the Three Stooges
Xander became Larry
And Principal Snyder became Curly


Buffy/James Bond: Xander's Mother was one of the Money Penny's. Xander became adopted by Bond.


Had a Buffy/Repairman Jack (F. Paul Wilson) in mind. But Paul informed me nicely that there are too many legalities involved due to the movie that is currently in production. So I can never introduce it to any websites.

Am currently part of an ongoing Multi crossover universe that has been around for 3 years on fanfiction.net. Called the Misfit Verse. Main crosses in it. X-men universe/G.I. Joe universe.

Current project: Forge and three triplet mutant children of Shipwreck calling themselves Trinity screw up and the firefly ship "Serenity" and all aboard get dragged into their universe. (Post Serenity)

[Annadel]

Speculative Fiction, Sci-Fi, Historical Fiction, random children's stories, poetry, the rare song lyrics, and fan fiction when I get bored or come down with writer's block.

I've had several short stories and poems published in college literary journals, four or five shorts published on The Writer's Hood while it was still in business, and a little freelance work here and there. I'm currently trying to get "From the Ashes" published and working on "final" revisions on Right of Succession before trying to get it published. (If only I had been older when I started it, maybe I wouldn't be so sick of the story even when I'm trying to weed out the stupid, adolecent, wildly over simplified and optomistic asspects I incorporated as a teen and didn't realize were there until a year or so ago. *sigh* )

I've been having a horrible time of writer's block concerning anything even remotely related to the Yekara Series, so I've delved into some fan fiction in the past month or so. I started out with Unseen Fate, an X-Men/Star Wars crossover. Then, while studying I Kings, I got the wicked idea of making Jezebel an immortal, and so was born The Lady's a Harlot, a Highlander fan fic. Both are up on fanfic.com if you're bored enough to read them. I always appreciate constructive comments. I'm becoming acutely aware of how much I need to improve my skills, especially when it comes to summaries and query letters.

[Grey Bear]

I write general fiction, horror and science fiction. Horror I only got into very recently, and even then its not even that original - most of the stuff I write about is taken from Scottish mythology and makes for quite evil stuff. General fiction, well, just nonsense really.

Science fiction - I write "Hard" Science Fiction to a degree. I'm in love with technology, architecture and design and it shows in the stuff I write. I can quite happily write a whole chapter on the look of a city without even putting in a single character (hijacking the infamous "This is how much bread it takes to feed X" plot device to describe a city is so much fun) and like the stuff I write for horror, I'm not afraid to steal ideas from mythology and warp them to suit the story. I don't like romance novels - I find the characters weak and insipid, with no bearing to how people behave and react in real life - and if I do have a romance in anything I write, its either background noise or if it has to be central, I don't let it dominate the story. One of my favourite tools when it comes to that sort of problem is to adopt a style similar to the first couple of chapters of Brave New World - juxtaposing scenes, chop and change, make sure that the reader isn't always looking at the same thing. I'm also quite spare on things like "He caressed her marshmallow soft inner thighs and buried his head in..." preferring to just keep the language simple and minimalistic.

I hate Fantasy with a vengeance. I think its a poor man's mythology, ignorant of the mythology that surrounds every culture. I find that fantasy can be broadly divided into two schools - Pre-Tolkien and Post-Tolkien. Pre-Tolkien had elements that made fantasy a little bit more interesting. Tolkien pumps out a few books and suddenly all Elves are noble, all wizards wear floppy hats and all lands can be conquered by tacky jewellery. And it makes me laugh when I read fantasy, because you can just tell where the writer was influenced by Tolkien. Theres very little that is fresh and new and innovative in either Science Fiction or Fantasy, but Fantasy has so much more of a scope for failure. And I'm with Anareth - get the damned lingo right you fools and stop putting "Yo man, check out my staff!" into stories.

And someone, please, for the love of furry kittens, STOP MERCEDES LACKEY FROM WRITING! Quantity? Yes. Quality? Zero.

GB

[Aranel]

GB, did you HAVE to mention elves that weren't 'noble and goode'? You just gave a story of mine a new plot. It didn't NEED a new plot. It has several already.

Dad gummit.

*wanders off muttering*
;)

[Grey Bear]

GB, did you HAVE to mention elves that weren't 'noble and goode'? You just gave a story of mine a new plot. It didn't NEED a new plot. It has several already.

Dad gummit.

*wanders off muttering*
;)

Elves aren't pretty. They're not noble. They're not wonderous creatures that live in woods and prance about with crappy long hair and pointy ears. Thats the romanticised version. Elves - at least in English and British mythology - are nasty, ugly little troll-like creatures who hurt, who kill and who maim.

That idiot Tolkien has a lot to answer for.

Same goes for any aspect of mythology - theres always something nastier under the surface. Take, for example, Helen of Troy. Face that launched a thousand ships is also well-known for being quite the harlot and spends a lot of time in Greek myth on her back. And we ain't talking for medicinal reasons. (Of course, I do love it when classical writers and lecturers gloss over What Zeus Got Up To With Ganymede. Teehee)

GB

[leahiniowa]

I'm with Deb Krol. Non-fiction articles and essays. Mainly about Jewish life. Yes, I've been published. You can google my name and see an OLD article of mine, even. (And also translated into Portuguese, which is cute.)

I started working on a project translating chassidic texts from Yiddish/Hebrew into English, and want to get back into it. Hope once my office gets made I'll be able to.

[Vyon]

Elves aren't pretty. They're not noble. They're not wonderous creatures that live in woods and prance about with crappy long hair and pointy ears. Thats the romanticised version. Elves - at least in English and British mythology - are nasty, ugly little troll-like creatures who hurt, who kill and who maim.

That idiot Tolkien has a lot to answer for.

Same goes for any aspect of mythology - theres always something nastier under the surface. Take, for example, Helen of Troy. Face that launched a thousand ships is also well-known for being quite the harlot and spends a lot of time in Greek myth on her back. And we ain't talking for medicinal reasons. (Of course, I do love it when classical writers and lecturers gloss over What Zeus Got Up To With Ganymede. Teehee)

GB

Round here, the "elves" are supposed to have eaten their flesh raw. You don't want to know what it was before that.

And wasn't it what Zeus got up to with anything? The Greek Gods were up to quite a lot that wouldn't be acceptable in modern fiction.

[leahiniowa]

Lol . . . GB, the other day we were at a friend's house, and Doc wanted to nap there, and said, "All I need is Nimisha's Ship and I'll be happy." I pointed out that our friend had offered his bookshelves for us to peruse, and Doc said, "I like SCIENCE FICTION, not FANTASY . . . ." and went on to mutter things about enchanted wishing wells and unicorns!

[Annadel]

I tend to prefer the idea of the "Elven Born" idea prevalent throughout Dark Ages Europe, especially in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Any child born with a prevalently noticeable defect or large birthmark was considered evil, born of the Elves or in possession of a "Witches Teat." Such children were shunned or even killed due to the belief that they were inherently evil.

In what limited fantasy I do, I combine this idea with that of changelings and/or wodewose. The "elves" in my stories are these human children, stolen away and raised by others of their kind, who have an ingrained hatred for "humans" and have mastered the art of mixing herbs to create many different effects ranging from simple healing potions to horrible poisons and psychotropics.

[leahiniowa]

Sounds cool, annadel.

[Shalyn]

Elves aren't pretty. They're not noble. They're not wonderous creatures that live in woods and prance about with crappy long hair and pointy ears. Thats the romanticised version. Elves - at least in English and British mythology - are nasty, ugly little troll-like creatures who hurt, who kill and who maim.

That idiot Tolkien has a lot to answer for.

<SNIP>

GB

So Tolkien decided to put his own spin on elves. What's wrong with that? Isn't that what writing fantasy is all about - using your imagination? That's what Anne claims to have done with dragons (though the Asian cultures have always portrayed dragons as good, or at least not the man-eaters which the Europeans seemed to have done).

Though I would like to see a well-written story featuring the nasty types of elves, too.

[Ian]

While not exactly traditional in portrayal, the elves in Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies are definitely nasty.

[Grey Bear]

While not exactly traditional in portrayal, the elves in Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies are definitely nasty.

Oh, they are wonderful. Far better to read than Tolkien's. I've nothing against imagination, but when you practically tear mythology to pieces to accommodate your story - and Anne is guilty of this too - you really do ruin it for later generations.

GB

[leahiniowa]

It also irks me when people tear history apart to suit their story. Feel like whopping them upside the head!

[Brenda]

Grey Bear - Just to clarify, if Tolkien hadn't used the word "elves" to describe them, would you have a problem with them?

[McClance]

Oh, they are wonderful. Far better to read than Tolkien's. I've nothing against imagination, but when you practically tear mythology to pieces to accommodate your story - and Anne is guilty of this too - you really do ruin it for later generations.

GB


Where's the imagination when one writes according to pre-conceived ideas about how Dragons or Elves or whatevers are "supposed" to be?

I, and I'm sure all those who enjoy Pern, certainly prefer Anne's vision of Dragons to all those tales about evil Dragons. Don't forget, too, that Anne's Dragons aren't even of Earth origins--that's just what the colonists of Pern decided to call them.

There are also many other authors who paint Dragons as honorable creatures--Don Callander, Byron Priess, Elizabeth Kerner, the creators of Dragonheart, and others.

[cwolf]

what if they put a note in front saying it's an alternate history type of world

It also irks me when people tear history apart to suit their story. Feel like whopping them upside the head!

[leahiniowa]

cwolf that's a totally different thing.

[Brenda]

Where's the imagination when one writes according to pre-conceived ideas about how Dragons or Elves or whatevers are "supposed" to be?

I, and I'm sure all those who enjoy Pern, certainly prefer Anne's vision of Dragons to all those tales about evil Dragons. Don't forget, too, that Anne's Dragons aren't even of Earth origins--that's just what the colonists of Pern decided to call them.

There are also many other authors who paint Dragons as honorable creatures--Don Callander, Byron Priess, Elizabeth Kerner, the creators of Dragonheart, and others.
He didn't say anything about dragons in that post. He aimed his distaste purely at Tolkien's version of elves, and though he hasn't replied to my post I have a feeling that by another name those elves would not have been quite as distasteful to him as part of a plot.

[cwolf]

Could be worse. There's a fantasy/romance writer out there (can't remember her name. And don't really want to after trying to read one of her books).

Her elves tend to have sex at the drop of a bat. And the scenes are extremely descriptive. The main character is a half elf (or is it Sidhe) princess who has been tasked by her mother who hates her to find a husband. So each night she has to have sex with a different Sidhe. Sometimes every two hours.

What, doesn't she have a life?

Now, granted I have a problem with that. But you would think that she would have announced that it belonged in the Romance section. But no, it's where any child old enough to read can pick it up because it has elves in it.

I have a feeling that by another name those elves would not have been quite as distasteful to him as part of a plot.

[McClance]

He didn't say anything about dragons in that post. He aimed his distaste purely at Tolkien's version of elves, and though he hasn't replied to my post I have a feeling that by another name those elves would not have been quite as distasteful to him as part of a plot.


Perhaps not directly. But he blames Anne for "[tearing] mythology to pieces to accomodate [her] story". I assume he's refering to her Dragons.

Unless Anne has also invented her own version of Elves that I don't know about...

[cwolf]

which version of mytholigical dragons did she tear apart? There are so many after all.

Perhaps not directly. But he blames Anne for "[tearing] mythology to pieces to accomodate [her] story". I assume he's refering to her Dragons.

Unless Anne has also invented her own version of Elves that I don't know about...

[leahiniowa]

I wouldn't be quick to assume that GB "blames" or "doesn't blame" anybody. Sometimes his eloquence muse just takes him over, and he succumbs.

[McClance]

which version of mytholigical dragons did she tear apart? There are so many after all.

:shrug: Don't ask me. He just said she was guilty. :shrug:

[Aurelia]

I like writing fan fics. I also really enjoy writing fantasy stories (mage, king, etc.).

[Shalyn]

Oh, they are wonderful. Far better to read than Tolkien's. I've nothing against imagination, but when you practically tear mythology to pieces to accommodate your story - and Anne is guilty of this too - you really do ruin it for later generations.

GB

What mythology. Almost all civilizations have a draconic mythology, but each interprets them differently. I do know that the Asian mythologies portray dragons as somewhat more benevolent, but that's as far as I'm going to go with that, since I'm not well versed in Asian mythologies.

As for elves - I've read "mythologies" portraying them both nasty and nice. It almost seems as if the nastier ones are the small elves while the "nicer" ones are human-sized. Must be a Napoleon complex or something.

I also don't think that any writer is "tearing mythology to pieces". Middle-Earth was basically an AU from our Earth. Pern is an AU from our Earth. Lackey's elf-based series is an AU from our Earth. I have never, and yes, I'm not well travelled, but I have never heard of or seen anyone mistaking any of those interpretations of the Fae as being hard-based on the mythology of Ireland, Scotland or England.

And cwolf - the author/series you're talking about is Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series. Which personally I think belongs in the "Erotica" section of a book store, not fantasy and not romance. Because, sorry, any child can pick up a romance novel, too.

[Brenda]

I have never, and yes, I'm not well travelled, but I have never heard of or seen anyone mistaking any of those interpretations of the Fae as being hard-based on the mythology of Ireland, Scotland or England.
That's why I was saying, it's only the name "elf" that would be objectionable.

[cwolf]

There isn't one, surprisingly, in any of the bookstores where I live.

Which personally I think belongs in the "Erotica" section of a book store, not fantasy and not romance. Because, sorry, any child can pick up a romance novel, too.

[Shalyn]

There isn't one, surprisingly, in any of the bookstores where I live.

Oh, same here. But there should be. Though, with the graphic descriptions of most romance novels, I guess that it would go into the romance section.

Heck, I certainly wouldn't want my 12 year old reading someone as tame as Nora Roberts, but I'm sure they do.

[Grey Bear]

Nothing like a bit of a hot potato to make people talk! *teehee*

:D

GB

(Don't you people know what Piss-Take means?)

[cwolf]

I've read the J.D. Robb series.

Oh, same here. But there should be. Though, with the graphic descriptions of most romance novels, I guess that it would go into the romance section.

Heck, I certainly wouldn't want my 12 year old reading someone as tame as Nora Roberts, but I'm sure they do.

[Vyon]

There isn't one, surprisingly, in any of the bookstores where I live.

There is one in the second-hand bookshop here, but not in the new bookshops. So where do they come into the system new, are they BORN well-thumbed?

[Bane]

I've written poetry, mostly free verse. I like to say I write sci-fi minus the sci but that would be fantasy. Not many people would read anything I write anyway. I haven't been published.

I do have 2 first places in a high school science fiction short story contest. I don't have copies of those stories...:erm:

I have a couple up here, but they don't really work out...

[leahiniowa]

Bane, do you think perhaps your writing might fall into the "soft" science fiction category?

[Dancer]

wow, I just found this thread so thought I would add my 2 marks! :2cent: (pretending I am a rich holder).

Currently I write fanfic in Dragonriders Club and am working on a novel (been told its in the classic SF mold but I dunno...) I also have a few short stories wirtten and several other ideas boiling. Ideas is never a problem for me - I have notebooks full of them - but time to write them all down is another matter. I write fanfic as a way to keep me working, as its fun, you can get instant feedback and there is no real pressure, if you know what I mean.

I am also a member of British Science Fiction Association and part of one of the Orbiter groups which is a round-robin by post writers group. I think thats enough for my first post, he he. :bouncy:
Nice to meet youa all.

Dancer

Oh, and Hi to Anareth, I used to write K'rel in North Ranges Weyr. Glad to see its still going.

[redrider]

I have written a pern horrer . i will hopefully post it soon.

[persephone]

I'm trying to do manga style comics. Because I like manga. Yes.

I'm guilty of fantasy writing. Hehe. And Tolkienesque elves. I just really really like pointy ears. They're fun to draw. And so I end up with human sized characters with pointy ears. Sure, I could call them something else, but people are just going to look at them and say "elf." :erm: I'm a bad, bad person.

[Robsia]

Fantasy, Fan-fic and :runaway: erotica

I love my spell checker and Beta reader :D (BardMaiden)


Oh - I write erotica too - hard core stuff too! I used to keep it really under wraps till I went on a writing course and 'confessed'. I took a couple of stories in for some of the others to read and they seemed quite impressed!

Aside from that, which I really only write for myself, I have written a light sci-fi/fantasy novel, which I'm quite pleased with (currently at the re-draft stage) and some children's stories which I don't think are very good - I don't think it's my forte.

I rarely write poetry although I did once write one poem which was pretty good.