As can be seen by the looooong period between updates- I write (or not) as I go. Which leads to the problem of this last one taking way too long. That is especially true since I wrote the ending at about the same time as the opening...

Appearances to the contrary, I actually do know where the story is going- I think some of the current heel-dragging is because I can see the end in sight and don't want to be "finished." Sigh.

But- back to the original point, my process is to play, pause the game and make notes (especially in-game dialogue), and continue in that vein until I reach a good "stopping place." Then more description, internal dialogue, etc. gets added to the hand-written draft, and that draft is transcribed to word processorese (and edited and polished some more).

A few days ago, I was reading a transcript of a lecture given by Zadie Smith:

http://irmadriessen.nl/publicaties/that-cr...ng-zadie-smith/

And then the next day I saw this thread had been updated.

Weird.

Are you a macro planner or a micro manager? In the context of this question, one would outline and plan first, one would post as they go.

Both are equally valid. Which one is going to keep you interested, keep it fun, keep you writing? Part of the fun of writing on forums is the (almost ish) instant feedback, which makes the experience of writing feel less solitary and lonely.

Oh, and hi all...

BURNT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Write and post, although I generally have a few chapters' worth of buffer. This used to be unintentional, but has proven quite handy in recent times - if I change my mind about what's going to happen in a way that invalidates something I've already written, I'd rather not have to go back and edit already posted material. That's most likely to happen with the most recent material, so it's best to sit on that until the following plot is also clear.

(will I ever not be bitter about the fact that it took me three tries to write chapter 15 and I ended up throwing out something like 15k words in the process, no I will not.)

What *is* the case is that I'm prone to leave some really minor blanks up to the point where I need to post the material, which has come back to bite me and my readers a few times when I don't have the energy to clean up the update and end up delaying it for ages because I can't be bothered to fix an INSERTNAMEHERE. Not that this is happening right now or anything. *sidelong glance*

Writing the whole thing beforehand is *cough* not exactly realistic *cough* seriously, have you seen since when I've been posting Adryn, I started actually writing her about five years before that, and I've still barely scratched the surface of the plot. I do have the entire plot of Adryn: Morrowind sketched out in my head including a pretty detailed picture of a number of pivotal scenes along the way, but it's prone to change both on the vague-sketch level (I frequently end up ruminating over and rearranging bits of plot we're not going to reach for years at my current pace) and at the "so I started writing this and it doesn't work and wants to be something completely different instead, what now??" level (chapter fifteen. Sob.) That also means I've learned the hard way not to skip ahead in my writing by more than a chapter or two absolute maximum - even if I have an amazing idea for how this one meeting in Adryn: Tribunal will go, it'll probably change so significantly that anything I write for it now I'd have to scrap later.

edit: Ran into some trouble with the multiquoting. Had to edit this out.


Acadian: Good points there, Acadian. I do find that posting regularly without producing chapters can give me a bit of a strenuous responsibility, and I've noticed the overall quality of my work was improved when I had chapters already written out. Fine tuning and editing as you've said is a must, and as time goes on I probably will try doing this just to see.



mAlx: Hm. That's what I did at first with my first book. I had tons of chapters already written, and focused more on trying to make dialogue as smooth as it could've been. I just didn't refine them. I do remember them being more fleshed out. So I assume you prefer posting as you go with a few chapters created?


Renee:



Hmm. Good strategy. I don't know if I could multitask and game and write at the same time, though it is an interesting alternative and way of producing something.

I write mostly in past tense too.


BretonBlood:

I remember asking you something about your writing methods back in the Bethesda forums many years ago. I was present when you started posting stories there. Much easier when you already have a story created in another forum. That's cool.



I see. This also sparked an interest in me and curiosity as to if I should repost a story already posted here in the forums and edit things out, or just scrape the old one and completely write a new one and borrow ideas from the old one. I like the outlining of important events. Seems like a great start!


I can relate to that. There are stories here that I should've finished a long time ago and yet I feel as if they're dragging on.

Hmm. I see. Usually when it comes to dialogue and lore I'll search up the Uesp wiki and the Imperial library for info, and since I don't write ingame quests in my stories I've never had the trouble of playing quests and writing about them. But that does create some ingenuity as Renee has done.



A little of both, but I'm now leaning toward the latter. I use to outline and post chapters created, but now I have a general idea of how the story is going to end or proceed, but I haven't wrote out the chapters yet.

I'll take both ideas into consideration.



Haha. I've deleted tons of chapters before because I have felt they sucked. Not bitter about it . . . well, maybe a little hehe.

I have seen Adryn's story here and read a few chapters, and my you've been in this for a long time! I see what you mean. At times I want to go back and rewrite things but sadly its been already posted and I don't want to go through the hassle of changing what's been done, which ties in with waiting a bit before posting it.

Decisions lol.

There's a story in mind that was meant to span decades and even centuries(in story) but I was so intimidated by the aspect that I stopped writing it due to the concern of wanting to go back and rewriting and editing to the point where its all a big pile of crap.

Hi folks. I’m having trouble making a decision, and I’d like some advice.

In Jerric’s Story the protagonists are presently split off in three directions. I plan to switch between Jerric and Lildereth + Darnand parts in roughly chronological order, since they are all contributing in ways that aren’t well served by a quick recap.

The issue is Abiene. I have a standalone story in her first-person point of view that only barely has anything to do with the main story, but is a big deal to her. I could just have her summarize what has happened and how she’s changed as a result in Jerric’s Story and post her side story later. Or I could put it in Jerric’s Story where it fits chronologically as a chapter-length interlude.

What do you think I should do?

Abiene is a big part of Jerric's world. I think you should consider putting her episode into his story where it chronologically fits. We're not on a clock or page limit regarding the scale of the overall story and I think hearing from Abiene would enrichen the story overall even if what she has to share doesn't fully fit the rest of the story.

If it's going to have an effect on the other story, make it part of it.

If it will be inconsequential to the other narrative, leave it separate.

Can Abiene be inconsequential to Jerric?

I think you should definitely write the Abiene tale, and give it all the attention it deserves - 1,000 words, 10,000 words, or 100,000 words. Don't skimp. Give it all it should have.

Depending on how it fits in with Jerric's Story, either make it part of that, or do it as a standalone piece. If it is important to JS, then I say put it in. If it really has little or no bearing, go standalone.

Agreed with all the above. Your words are too wonderful for them to not be written. Write the Abiene story as it works for you. Once that is done, if it seems to fit or to need to be incorporated, you have the talent to do so.

Thank you very much, folks! I’ll put Abiene’s adventure where it fits in the big story. Which isn’t really just Jerric’s anymore, no matter the title. I appreciate the advice!

I have had an idea for a superhero character, and I am having a little trouble with her name. She is a magical person, who uses magic to enhance her physical abilities. In Shadowrun terms a Physical Adept. At the start she is unaware that she is even using magic to do this. That will come later. Her main powers are in fighting: She has photographic reflexes. She can duplicate any move she sees. She has a limited eidetic memory. If she concentrates on a particular memory, it all comes into sharp focus for her. She can also enhance her physical attributes when she puts her mind to it. For example she thinks "I need to jump", and can do a super leap. Although by no means is she the Incredible Hulk in this manner. The cape on her costume/armor is made of shape-memory material. It can flatten out to become wings, which allow her to glide (but not truly fly - basically a wingsuit). I picture a gray or black suit. Maybe a black and gold one.

For her history I am drawing on Lovecraft's story The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward. She is a direct descendant of the titular character. Meaning she is also a direct descendant of the bad guy necromancer of the tale - Joseph Curwen. This is where she gets her magic, it is in her bloodline. I can see Joseph Curwen being a recurring arch-nemesis for her.

His family name is also my starting point for her super name. Curwen is a variation of Corvin, Corvid, or Crow. So I want to go with a Crow name for her. She could just simply be that: Crow, or The Crow. But that instantly brings comparisons to James O'Barr and Brandon Lee, which I would rather avoid. So I would like to do a compound name involving the word crow. Moldy Crow, Strike Crow, Shadow Crow, Crow Knight, Witch Crow, something like that. Like many things about her, she would go for a crow theme in her super identity without really thinking about it. It would just come to her unconsciously. It is in her blood.

I am kind of hitting a brick wall here though. Right now my top pick is Stormcrow. Which sadly has Gandalfian connotations. Though only nerds will probably get that. Then again, this is a superhero character, so that means everyone who ever reads about her! I do have an idea that if I go with Stormcrow, it will be given to her by the media. Because in this case, her magic will be unconsciously affecting the weather in her vicinity. When she is stressed it causes storms. If she is sad it is overcast. Deeper depression creates long periods of light and steady, but not dramatic, rain. If she is happy it is sunny, etc... Since she will probably only really attract notice in a super-style fight, it probably storms a lot whenever she is seen slugging it out with bad guys.

But if anyone has other thoughts I would love to hear them. I know I don't want to do a color-themed name, like Blackcrow, or Red Crow. Everything I try just comes up sounding silly, overly melodramatic, or redundant. Like Night Crow.

I am also trying to stay away from a Raven name, because the same setting will also have a character named Blood Raven. She is an older, established hero. She is also the daughter of Joseph Curwen, making her my character's great-great-great-etc... grandmother. She's a vampire too. I can see an eventual team up, and Blood Raven becoming a mentor. The news might call their team-up a Conspiracy of Ravens, or a Murder of Crows, The Blackbirds, or some kind of Corvid name.

And of course blackbirds are Turdidae, not Corvidae. Maybe consider the other Corvids, like Jackdaw, Rook, Jay, Magpie? Even Chough.

My sample group of two (one teenaged nerd, one middle aged non-nerd) produced 0/2 associations of Stormcrow with anything. The follow-up question “What about Gandalf?” yielded one “Nope” and a tolerant look.

You said you don’t want a color name, but that’s all I could come up with. How about the Black Jay? A smaller, more humble corvid. She could think of herself as the Black Jay and be named The Stormcrow by media after a black costumed stormy battle incident.

When I read Strike Crow at first glance I thought it said Shrike. Not a corvid but among my very favorite predatory birds. Shrikes are the ones that impale their prey on thorns and barbed wire. Now I want a smallish woman superhero called The Shrike!

I went over those before, and they didn't do anything for me. Many are the names of DC and Marvel supervillains, like Magpie, Jackdaw, and Rook, which makes me think of them instead.




Your very scientific poll gives me a great sense of relief. I take it there were no mentions of Battletech either? (The Stormcrow is a Medium Mech). I think I will stay with Stormcrow. Jay or a Jay based name just does not sound right to me. It sounds too nice, and happy, and sweet. Like a My Little Pony. Mockingjay sounds good however. But then I will end up being sued.

It is funny you mention Shrike. Back in the old tabletop RPG days some friends and I did a campaign where we played characters who were part of a kaer that was just opening for the first time after centuries of the Scourge. (A kaer is like a Fallout Vault, and the Scourge was a period of centuries when the entire planet was devastated by the Horrors. The name says all you need to know about the Horrors.) Anyway, our characters were the first scouts to go outside, and they ran into the Shrike - a Horror, and its corrupted minions. It still stands as one of the worst enemies we have ever faced in Roleplaying. We had to withdraw the first time around, rest up, and go back at it again a few days later. Similar to the real world bird's method of killing, it was covered in spikes and spines, that it would impale you upon.

So the Shrike would make a great villain!

Thank you both for your help, now I think I have things together. I decided to change Stormcrow's powers to make them more in line with her influence on the weather. Now it looks pretty good.

Stormcrow

Main character is January 'Jan' Ward. She is a t-girl living in Warren. She went to Warren-Mott High School, and then on to Macomb Community College. Her family are upper-middle class. Her father is Romulus Ward, a history teacher at Macomb Community College. Her mother is Barbara, a librarian. She has an older brother named Atticus, who is studying to be a lawyer.

She was born August, and transitioned to living female in junior high school (Grade 7 - 12 years old). She changed her name to January and started HRT then, first taking the puberty blocker Lupron, which was expensive and came in shots. This can have a side-effect of bone loss, so she had to have regular doctor visits to monitor that. A year later she stopped the Lupron and started taking estrogen and Spironolactone to create a female puberty. Her parents are moderately supportive, but still get her name and pronoun wrong at times, etc... Their insurance pays for her hormones. But they are not going to pay for SRS. They can get her through community college.

After she transitioned she was the target of bullies. When she came home with a black eye. Her mother complained to the school, who did nothing. Because of her transition they did not allow her to use either the male or female bathrooms. Instead she was only allowed to use the bathroom in the nurse's office. So she went out of her way to simply never use the bathroom in school, avoiding drinking, and just holding it. Her mother began teaching her kick-boxing. Soon she was suspended for beating up a group of three bullies. Afterward her parents transferred her to a different school. Where the bullying began again once the other students learned that she was trans. But thanks to her kick-boxing skills, and growing powers, that did not last long.

This all gave January a strong sense of antipathy for authority figures. She does not so much rebel against them, as she feels they are useless, and will never do anything to help her. Instead she absolutely believes that the only way to get anything done is to do it yourself. She also has a powerful hatred of bullies in all their forms, and a desire to shield others from them.

By the time she went to High School (10th - 12th grades), the bullying had stopped, and she was allowed to use the girl's bathroom. By now she had long since been taking estrogen, and looked very feminine. Still, her being trans was common knowledge. In PE class she was allowed to use the coaches' locker room, which had a key, and only one person could use at a time. She excelled at gymnastics, being the top in her class. This somewhat helped her popularity, which was otherwise nil. Still, some people snickered that it was because she was not really a girl. When they had a week in self-defense, she literally stunned the entire class, including the coach and defense instructor (who was brought in from outside the school). When he first introduced himself as Bernstein she murmured under her breath "like the bears". He overheard, and said yes, just like the Berenstein Bears.

The defense instructor - Adin Bernstein (no relation to the attorneys) - invited her to sign up at his martial arts school, which was nearby. She did, and learned Krav Maga. Adin still calls her his Bear.

She wanted to try training for the Olympics in gymnastics, but found that they would not allow pre-op transexuals (in 2015 this was reversed, but she was 19 and in college by that point, and no longer interested).

In college she studied English Lit. She wants to be a writer, having written off a career as an athlete. Though she does still consider either working at or starting a martial arts dojo of her own. Because of that she also takes some business courses. She has always been a fan of Fantasy and Sci-Fi novels, and was writing fan fiction for video games since childhood. This is ultimately do to her being trans. She does not like the world she lives in. So she looks for escapes to other worlds and other places.

At one time in high school she attempted to dye her hair red, like her mother's. It was a disaster, and instead came out bright fuchsia pink. She never tried dyeing her hair again.

Her family is is directly descended from Joseph Curwen.

Her powers are based upon magic, which at first she uses unconsciously to change her reality. She is specifically an Elementalist, manipuplating the 5 elements to effect her physically. She manipulates air to become faster, make super-leaps, and fall safely. She uses earth to plant herself and become immovable, harden her body to the equivalent of rock, and increase her strength. She uses water to dodge and perform feats of agility. She uses fire to increase her vitality and energy. She even uses it to quickly transform into her costume. Gadget describes her as a physical adept.

Thunder storms and blizzards tend to start up out of nowhere when January is overly stressed. This is a unconscious manifestation of her magical power. Likewise, when she is sad it will be overcast, if she is deeply depressed there will be a steady rain (but no thunder or lightning). If she is happy it will be sunny. By the time she was in college the news meteorologists had noticed these unusual weather patterns, and called them the work of the local Weather Witch.

She wears a suit made by Gadget that has shape memory material in the cape, which turns it into a wingsuit, allowing her to glide over great distances. It is similar to the Batgirl of Burnside suit, but in black and gold as in this character study. With a cowl that covers more of her upper face, closer to the eyes. Possibly black and gray instead of black and gold.

In the future she will learn to fly outright using her magic. She will also increase her other abilities, such as learning to make herself more appealing using Fire. Or just changing her hair color. To breathe underwater. To actually consciously shape and manipulate the elements around her, like moving water or earth. Or consciously controlling the weather in a small area.



One For Sorrow - A Crow (Magpie) Divination rhyme, counting how many crows you see:
"One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told. Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten for a bird, You must not miss."

January is a fan of Counting Crows, especially the song A Murder Of One.




Family history:

In June of 1923 Charles Dexter Ward sailed for London, then on to Paris in June of 1924. In October 1924 he was in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In January 1925 he was in Vienna for a few days. Then went on to Klausenburg, Transylvania. A week later he was at Castle Ferenczy, in the mountains east of Rakus. In May of 1926 he returned to Providence. On April 15th, 1927 (Good Friday) he resurrected Joseph Curwen in his family's attic. On February 9th, 1928 Curwen murdered Charles and hid his body in his study at his parent's house. Curwen himself was finally killed by de-resurrection on Friday, April 13, 1928.

While in Paris Charles met and was (easily) seduced by Gabrielle Delacroix, a librarian at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. She did not tell him that she became pregnant, and had a daughter by him in March of 1925, whom she named Charlotte. During WWII Charlotte was a member of the Resistance, and was captured and tortured by the Gestapo. She was rescued from them by Blood Raven, who was then a member of the SOE. But she died of her injuries. However, she was pregnant at the time, and Blood Raven used the departing lifeforce of Gabrielle to save her child's life. Blood Raven spirited the girl back to England, and eventually America, and named her Eliza, after her own mother. Blood Raven located Theodore Ward, who was by now an old man in retirement. She placed Eliza with him, explaining her family history. Eliza never married, but had one son out of wedlock - Romulus Ward, born in 1967. Romulus himself met and married Barbara in 1988. They had Atticus in 1993, and August/January in 1998.



Gadget
Her best friend is a same age boy named Avery. He is a science geek, and has the power to create meta-tech. He also lives in Warren with his family. His father is in prison, though he insists he is innocent. His mother works two jobs, and is almost always at work. His grandmother lives with them, and does most of the looking after him.



Established superheros in Detroit include:

Blood Raven - Similar to Batwoman in costume, but with a red raven instead of bat symbol. Irish descent (on her mother's side) and Celtic motifs. She is a vampire. At first she had to literally suck blood from people or animals. But this was really just a symbol for their life energy. She has since learned to leech that energy from a victim without the need for blood. She can take only certain amounts, to avoid killing them. Still, she can smell the blood of others, even if they have no cuts. From this she can even sense blood-borne illnesses, and glean other medical information about them. For example, she can identify her own bloodline just by the scent. She is Ann Tillinghast, the daughter of Joseph Curwen and Eliza Tillinghast. She was born in 1765 in Providence, Rhode Island. In 1785 she married Welcome Potter (after her father's death on Friday, April 12th, 1771). She had several children by Welcome. From them Charles Dexter Ward was eventually born to Theodore Ward and ?

What a rich and detailed background for our new superheroine! I love your vision of how magic will work for her.

Stormcrow!! Khajiit’s favorite medium mech!!

Wow, that was excellent to read! I love how Stormcrow’s elemental powers work. They seem very natural, and it would make sense when she learned that she’d already been using them to an extent. With her background, superheroics would be her reaction to criminal shenanigans rather than just calling the cops. This is an exciting character!

Thanks for the input folks. It helped me decide how the character will work.

I finished the first draft of Stormcrow Rising. I might change it to Stormcrow Ascendant. But I would kind of like to reserve that for a future story. I like the idea of naming all of her stories Stormcrow xxx. Just as a shtick.

The story was much longer than I expected. It also turned out a lot cooler than I thought it could be. It makes me want to write more.

I have been thinking about what the in-world term will be for supers. So far I am just using the term metas. I was inspired by Shadowrun here. But I also understand that DC uses the same term, which makes me kind of not want to use it. So I have been thinking of using Amplified or just Amps for short. Another thought is to use Paranormals, or Paras for short.

Along the way I found this handy article on using brand names in fiction. I found it helpful in dealing with writing a story set in a modern setting (I think for the first time ever for me!)

The article was interesting and made sense, though not a problem I'll ever have to deal with. Modern day real world earth? Ewww.

I have also been mulling over whether or not I should have a Mass Empowerment Event that created supers in the world. I like how April Daniels used one in her Dreadnought duology. She had an asteroid made of Exotic Matter that rolls through the solar system every few thousand years. When it comes near, the proximity randomly makes people supers.

However, I already have characters who are centuries old - Blood Raven and Joseph Curwen. So supers of some sort have existed for a longer time than a Mass Empowerment Event. That does not nullify one in my mind however. The two characters above are both magical. My thoughts right now are that they and other magics existed in the past, but the Event would have increased their power dramatically. That works very well for how I am picturing Curwen, who would be more like a master supervillain now, which he definitely was not in the Lovecraft story.

Right now my thought is the Tunguska Event is my Mass Empowerment Event. Whatever hit Siberia scattered Exotic Matter/Energy around the planet. That amplified the abilities of existing magical beings. It also created the first metahumans. The numbers would be incredibly small, but I am thinking they are like mutants, and breed true. So they would increase in numbers as time goes by.

As a side note, I like the idea that there is something really creepy going on in Tunguska that the Russian government has been keeping a secret from the rest of the world. Like a Dark Lord reigning in a castle of skulls and served by a race of mutant monstrosities, or Lovecraftian monster rolling around the woods slaughtering all and turning those who get too near insane. The Russian army has walled off the entire area, and kills everything that tries to escape.


btw. Her armor is made from Hagfish slime. No joke, the military is really experimenting with this stuff for next gen armor

Is there a name for these walled in enclosures in the center of this pic? I am trying to figure out how to describe them.

Right now I am putting it this way:

The center of the largest open square was blocked out by a set of enclosures formed by cinderblock walls, a little taller than man. There were two rows of these enclosures, with four to a row. A single wall divided the rows, creating eight pens in all. Each was open at its outside end, and wide enough for two semi-trucks to back into side by side. These enclosures were filled with metals in numerous forms. There were loose chips piled up like coal, to neatly stacked crates.

The closest off the top of my head is "revetments"- in the military meaning. There is probably something more specific to the storage of bulk materials, though.

Just DuckDuck'd from my own description above (storage of bulk materials block construction) and the first thing that came up was "bays."

https://www.legioblock.com/en/solutions/storage-bays

That's it! A bay, like Michael, but without all the explosions. Thanks Three-Dog.

Unless of course, you use them to store decomposing aliens....

Hey guys, I'm in need of some advice here on writing particularly powerful characters. She's been written before but it has been several years, and because of the latest addition to lore in the Elder Scrolls, well, I'm inclined to make a few changes as well. She's a Daughter of Coldharbour who, after undergoing the ritual, died and came back as a pureblooded vampire. She's not only an original creation, she has a potent drop of Molag Bal's daedric blood in her veins. We read about characters in game like Harkon who had to be taken down with an Aedric artifact, or the blood of Serana or Valerica having enough power to blot out the sun if coupled with Auriel's bow (aside from the extended magicka pools and eldritch powers that comes with vampirism).

My characters in the past have gained skills over the course of time, i.e, lowly farmer trains over a period of years and becomes a warrior. Or young woman runs off and joins Fighters Guild. We see the changes take place. But I wanted to start from a certain period in her life as an established character with very potent magickal abilities. She's been sheltered most of her life, and has been surrounded by nothing but books, scrolls, and in the majority of her time, has lived a life of training in her castle before setting out on her own in the world of mortals. But my questions are:

1. How do I present this in a way that she isn't an overpowered character? I thought of having a chapter devoted to her training and showing her abilities after conjuring a few Dremora from Oblivion which she trains with, but to a very reasonable degree. Most of the allies and foes she faces will be from Oblivion, so she’ll have formidable and dangerous antagonists(aside from the great political arena she’ll eventually fight in). Yet how do I present a character that won’t suffer from the too powerful flaw?

2. What is a best way of introducing a character's power? Her abilities range from destruction, conjuration, necromancy, and illusion being the primary schools she delves in. Yet I'm not going to info-dump all a lightning bolt, scamp-summoning undead-raising, tricky/trippy-magic show all at once. How do I balance these out and sparingly and introducing each of them? Do you guys use flashbacks to explain a character's affinity in whatever skill their using or . . . show it at exactly a battle scene? As I've said, usually some characters learn and grow. She, in due time, will expand her skills and learn more but she's already has a set of established abilities in several areas. What's the best approach to this?

I can think of two ways to avoid her seeming like an Uber Mary Sue. The first is to immediately having her face off against opponents who are just as powerful, if not more powerful than her. The second is to just not concentrate much on that aspect of her. You mentioned politics. Spending more time on machinations and manipulations would make her physical or magical oomph less important, and stress her social and planning skills instead.

Having a well-established character to start with can be tricky in the abilities, because it might seem like deus ex machina when they use their powers at an opportune moment. One way to mitigate this is to try to present such a power you know is going to be pivotal later as a Chekov's Gun. For example we see her practicing her teleportation early, then she uses it at a critical junction later. A way to mitigate it seeming uber is to perhaps have her practice session not work exactly how she wanted it. Maybe she teleports to the wrong place. Then when she does whip it out later it seems like a real achievement when it works correctly.

My other thought is to try to simply keep her abilities all wrapped up together in a logical package. For example I recently created a superhero character who can project beams of hard light. He also uses the same hard light projected from his feet to fly. He can also use it to create force fields. They all fit together, so when he pulls out a new ability, you go "of course he can do that'.

And another way to keep it from being too over-powered is to build in a "cost." For example, (unlike in the game mechanics) a healing potion drawing energy (fatigue) from the user.

So... although she has the powers, she has to use them judiciously and sparingly because each one (perhaps?) causes a vulnerability or etc. of some sort. And that would provide character-building as we watch her make choices.

RAVEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT !!!!!!!!!!!!









Treydoggie!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO !!!!!!!!!!

I agree with SubRosa and trey, especially this part:



The point where powerful characters become problematic is if the story only requires those traits where they can curb-stomp almost everyone. Having a supremely powerful fighter is not actually a problem for the story, the problem comes if the story then only consists of the literary equivalent of loving camera close-ups of action sequences where they destroy everyone without breaking a sweat.

A really great way of avoiding this is to move the plot into a realm where they aren't over-powerful. Maybe that's politics. Maybe that's stealth - the extremely powerful fighter finds they have to break in somewhere and navigate past traps to steal something without alerting anyone. Or they have to go undercover somewhere to gain information. Basically, throw problems at them that hit their weak spots.

You can even see if you can turn their power into a weak spot in its own right. Does your character ever underestimate the danger others pose to her? Discount someone because they're not powerful in the way she's used to? Act recklessly, knowing she can always blast her way out? Jump to combat or magic as a solution when a more diplomatic solution would have been possible? Having her make a mistake along these lines, and then be hit in the face with the consequences, is a great way of levelling this sort of power.

Also... OK, take this with a grain of salt because I think we write very different stories but one of the ways I deal with supremely powerful characters is to skip over scenes that obviously showcase their power. (Ex: Methal Seran, in my story, is a ridiculously powerful mage. If he runs into a group of bandits, I am not writing that fight out; I scene break to the point where his summons is sweeping up small piles of ash.) This actually serves as a reinforcement to how powerful they are, because you as the author communicate that the conclusion to this fight is so foregone you don't even have to write out the combat scene, but at the same time eliminates OTT action scenes that can make your character come off as too perfect.

(On the flip side, I'd actually tread carefully around things like training montages, flashbacks and other sorts of "justification" for how powerful they are, because that still means story time focused on the things your character is fantastic at.)

Re: 2 - do you have to infodump at all? If this is a fanfic, readers can be expected to know roughly what a powerful TES mage would be capable of. Communicating "she's a powerful mage, and also a necromancer" should be fairly doable, and at that point her throwing a lightning bolt, conjuring a scamp or charming someone shouldn't come out of left field.

Other than that, other great ways of showing this kind of thing can be to show the character using their powers for mundane things. Maybe she summons a scamp to carry her shopping, charms an innkeeper into renting her his best room, uses a powered-down lightning bolt to shock an unwanted suitor or scare off a wild animal. This is great for making your character's powers seem real, and means that when she does end up using them in an important situation it's not out of left field.

That makes sense. The story will have two main characters, one is more out-in-the-field while she gravitates toward scholarly inclinations(though isn't above being involved in conflict), so there's plenty of focus on political savvy and the like rather than other areas. Situations where she'll be less inclined to use her own arcane knowledge and more her intellect. Thanks Subrose, this helped for sure! I just need to blast past a writer's block I'm having at the moment.

Interesting piece on Chekov's Gun. I bookmarked that page for future reference.

Much like our regular RPG's, I see. Indeed both clever way for character-building and lessening the use of force. Thanks Trey!



Yes!!

I understand. This also makes sense. Focus on other areas rather than specifically combat ones. It also makes perfect sense from a story standpoint. She's forever trapped in the guise of a young lady, and is very limited in terms of displaying any combat prowess or magical abilities mainly because she's always expected to behave as a lady of the courts, nobility, etc.

I've been analyzing my rough drafts and revising the major scenes here. Though she's strong she's very young and inexperienced when it comes to human interactions, and learns some hard truths after underestimating once-trusted rivals. For the sake of blending in mortal society, she'll have to make certain decisions. For sure this is a great way of leveling it.

This does come in handy!

You mentioned using magical abilities for mundane things. Funny you said that since I have a few scenes where she uses a familiar to fetch her bottles and personal zombies to find specific books in her library. I've noticed plenty of great characters here in the forums using such skills, such as Buffy using her abilities while making camp and bedrolls. Sometimes we have a habit of forgetting such things can be used in the day to day basis for the simplest of things. I for sure haven't used this yet in any stories I've posted.

Thanks Kaz!

My writing process is.... I suck at writing and finishing stories. I can picture everything I WANT to write I just don't know how to put it into words that are good writing, not like the talented people here on this forum anyways! So I end up with writer's block and never get around to finishing my stories.

(Raises paw). I "think" we are getting close to finishing the fits and starts of our story, but I hear what you are saying.

So- to your specific- "knowing what you WANT to happen, but how do you make it good?"

Write the things you KNOW need to be there. Sentence fragments- phrases that have meaning to you- anything to get words on paper (or screen). And just keep doing that until you decide- that's all the stuff I can think of for now. And then- step away from it. Let it "cook". In a few days, come back to it and start thinking about what needs to go where, and how to connect the pieces. If you have the ending- write the ending, then figure out how you got there. Make it up. It's YOUR story, so no one else can tell you it's "wrong."

My 1/2 Septim anyway....

I wouldn’t say your writing sucks at all, and writing stories and finishing them can be challenging but luckily there are plenty of ways of getting over them. One thing I do is just sit down and think of my characters, setting and plot. I think about their aspirations and wants and what’s keeping them from obtaining that, the antagonists, etc.

George R.R Martin said there are two different types of writers:

I hear you a lot on this one. Writer's block used to be a semi-permanent feature in my head.

Honestly, the thing that's helped me the most here? Forcing myself.

Absent other commitments, I currently have a routine that requires me to write 300 words every day. I picked 300 because it's small enough that even if I'm not feeling the writing (which is basically always) it doesn't feel insurmountable, but it's large enough that if I stick to it I write more than 100k words per year. I have a whole routine for this: an alarm that goes off at which point I will go make myself a cup of tea, light some candles, sit in the one particular armchair with my laptop and write.

Thoughts on this:
- the #1 thing that will help you learn how to get what you picture into words is practice. (Also very high up here is reading, but that's easier to manage.)
- real, imperfect, flawed writing that exists for other people to use is far better than a perfect story that only exists in your head.
- even if you can tell which sections you bashed out just to hit the word count... your readers won't.

(That last point is really striking. Under my new regimen I've written stuff that around word 306 trailed off into "ugh this all SUCKS it's not GOING ANYWHERE delete later". Generally, when I come back to that section a few weeks later my reaction is "what was past me on about? this is fine!")

He forgot to mention the type of writer who starts an epic series and then sells it halfway through to hack tv people and then goes on tour to ride the coattails of the show’s popularity when he should be writing.

FINISH THE DAMN BOOKS GEORGE!!

Thank you guys! These were all really great advice, I am going to try and learn from them and put them into practice in hopes that I can finish some stories. Really appreciate it.

Just don't try to use my writing method, which is to implement the story as a mod first.

I'm currently writing a new chapter of Clark's Skyrim story, and I've only managed to build three levels of the dungeon, and most of that needs a lot of clutter, room bounds and portals, and other work.

I know this is a long shot, but does anyone know much about Boston in the Colonial era? Namely right before and after the Revolutionary War? I found some maps online and few sketchy details, but I would like more background info on things like neighborhoods at the time, leading citizens, and the like.

I ask because I decided to change January's family history. I am throwing out the idea of using The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and making her a descendant of the titular character. It was just getting too messy thinking about Lovecraft, and deciding how to portray him in story. Since they were real, how did he know about what happened? Was he involved somehow? Was he a mythos prophet? Just a hack who got it all wrong? In the end it is a lot easier to just scrap it all.

I am keeping the general inspiration of the story however, in that January's ancestor - Nátthrafn - was an ancient undying necromancer. I am glad I decided to go this route, as in the last few days I have worked out a much more interesting background on him. He was a Viking born in the year 999, was outlawed from Denmark, journeyed to Constantinople, served in the Varangian Guard, was sent to campaign in Italy and Sicily. There he came across an ancient evil book (The Scripta Mortis), and became a necromancer.

He was thrown out of the Guard for his use of foul sorcery and knocked around Italy. He met Cnut the Great of Denmark (who was in Rome for the Holy Roman Emperor's coronation) and joined his entourage as a 'spiritual advisor'. He left with Cnut for England, where he became an Eorl, running a shire on the Channel coast.

He had to run for it when William invaded, and headed steadily north. But the 1400s he was in Iceland. There he became Gottskalk Nikulausson the Cruel, Bishop of Holar. He is a RL person who wrote the book Rauðskinna (or Red Skin), which in my fic details how to resurrect him. Turns out this was just in time, because his days were numbered.

The Pope sent a fixer out to investigate him - The Hexenhammer - Heinrich Kramer (another real person, who wrote the Malleus Maleficarum, the Hexenhammer title I came up with). Kramer was technically dead by this time. But a little thing like death never keeps a good evil witch hunter down. He faced down Nátthrafn with a mob of locals backing him, and killed Nátthrafn.

Two centuries later one of Nátthrafn's descendants found the Rauðskinna and resurrected him (the descendant died in the process of course). Nátthrafn traveled to the New World, settling in Boston in 1760 under the name Corbin. There he married, and created a shipping business in the triangle trade. He and his wife Saoirse had a daughter - Branwen (who would become Blood Raven). But again he murdered the wrong people, and dark rumors of necromancy surfaced. In 1775 John Hancock, Sam Adams, and a mob of Sons of Liberty attacked him in his catacombs (filled with undead of course). For good measure they brought along Jemima Wilkinson (a RL spiritualist who would later be known as the Public Universal Friend), who shielded them from Nátthrafn's magic with her own powers.

Saoirse and Branwen were not harmed by the mob of course. They were only women after all. In fact they were not even in the house when it all happened. So they lived on to have their own adventures, and horrors, in which Branwen became a vampire.

All this background will come into play eventually, as Branwen/Blood Raven will play a big role in January's future. Likewise Nátthrafn will return, as will Hexenhammer.

But anyway, if anyone could give me some pointers on Boston of this era I would be much obliged. I have some ideas for where things like the houses were. An original one in the North End next to a cemetery, where the catacombs were (and where Nátthrafn did his necromancy). Plus a mansion on Marlbrough street, near the Governor's Mansion where he and the women actually lived. But if I could nail down these locations better that would be great. Also, afterward Saoirse and Branwen moved out to Saoirse's father's house. He was a shiprwright, so I pictured him living near the docks. For now I figured his house was in the North End, on North Street.

This resource might help.

I chased a link from the collections page.


In particular, this 1786 version is close to the correct period and has some decent detail.

And this 1770's version has some nice detail.

Thanks! I found this page yesterday, that when zoomed in gives both a map and some details, like where the Governor's mansion was, and the schools. Sadly though, it is from 1722, and I can imagine a lot may have changed in the 50 years between it was made the events of my fiction.

The basic street layout has not changed though, and the names on these new maps are much easier to read. By comparing the newer maps, I can see where new streets have been added.

But I was hoping that besides maps, I could get some background info on society. Where did the poor people live, where did the rich ones live, etc... What were the neighborhood names. I know Beacon Hill and the North End, but can find very little else. For example what I have found on Beacon Hill is that it was next to the common, and seemed to be a low class district with hooligans and brothels. Then in another place I read of wealthy people building mansions there? The North End seems the same. I know it is the oldest part of the city, and it is ringed with wharves and shipyards. One thing I read was that again the wealthy built mansions there among the laborers and sailors. So again, wtf?

I know where the Governor's mansion is thanks to the site I linked to. I imagine that was a high class neighborhood. The next street over was even paved! *gasp* But I have no idea what the name of that neighborhood was. Or how much of the rest of the city was paved by the time of the 1770s. That is really the kind of stuff I am looking for. Where did the rich people live? Where did the poor people live? Where where the ethnic enclaves (if any).

I know that Saiorse's family was Irish, and that at this time period Boston had not become a great Scots-Irish stronghold yet. That would not happen until the 1800s. The Irish would have still been rare, and I know they were discriminated against by the Puritans. I read accounts of some them being driven out of other communities in New England, and being forced to settle on the frontiers, around Worcester.

What I have been working on for this story was that Saiorse's father was a shipwright, and due to this valuable skill his Puritan neighbors could overlook his Irish descent to some extent. But he would never have been able to live in high class town, or been part of high society. Natthrafn showed up pretending to be English gentry. He married into the family for money (as he had none), and in exchange he brought Saiorse's family into higher social circles, as befitted an Englishman of good blood. Natthrafn took that original stake and struck it rich owning ships and running sugar, slaves, and rum in the triangle trade.

So his second house, bought after he was rich, would have been in a high class neighborhood. I picked the same street as the Governor's mansion since it just seemed like it would be snob alley. But I could be wrong. I picked the North End for his original house before he got rich, and the same part of town for Saiorse's father, since it is nearest to the docks and shipbuilding industry. But again, I could be wrong here too.

I suppose it does not really matter, as who is going to really know if I am screwing up or not? I guess I am just a perfectionist. Still, I am hesitant because I just read The Ballad of Black Tom. It was a great character-driven piece. Far better in quality than the original Lovecraft story it was based on. But the author made several little technical errors. For example, he described the police as having M1911 Browning Hi Power pistols. The 1911 was a Colt of course, although it was designed by John Browning. But the Browning Hi Power was a completely different gun. He got the two of them mixed up into a single gun. He likewise gave them machine guns which had not gone into production yet. I would like to avoid making niggling little mistakes like that.

I just realized that since April I have written 111,000 words and change. All of them for the Stormcrow fic. I have not been this hot as a writer in a long time.

SubRosa, I've found that inspiration sometimes comes from unexpected sources. So glad you've been motivated to grace us with the wonderful Stromcrow story!

New ways to be motivated...

(and AMEN!)

I am facing a plot conundrum. There are two major villains working together behind the scenes in the Stormcrow fic. One is Jan's extremely great-great-etc... grandfather Nátthrafn, who is pulling strings from beyond the grave. The other is a current, living family member of Jan's, who is working to summon/resurrect Nátthrafn. This family member is working up to gaining the skill and power they need to call up Nátthrafn by summoning Abyssals, creatures that exist where Nátthrafn is (literally, the Abyss).

I have decided that these summonings can be anchored to our world by a sacrifice. This makes them immune from being magically banished. They can only then be defeated by straight out killing them. This is why Blood Raven cannot just wave a hand and make them wink out of existence.

I am looking at two options for these sacrifices, animal or human. This makes a really big difference in the end. Because when the whole thing finally comes out, the family member will either be an animal killer, or an honest to goodness serial killer. The first will not gain a lot of attention. The second will draw international news, which will have major repercussions for January.

Option #1 - Animal Sacrifices. Because of this the summonings do not gain as much attention, until the Abyssals enter the public eye (eg. Chapter 4 Pride). Even then, the attention is concentrated on the monsters, not the family member. After the the final battle is won, Nátthrafn is blamed for all the summonings in the past. The family member has already met their fate, incarcerating them is not a consideration.

Option #2 - Human Sacrifices. This brings the murders to public attention. The one from the night of the Flying Dutchman fire (Chapter 3) is mostly ignored by the Detroit PD, who put it on their backburner. It is just one of hundreds of murders for them. The one from Ferndale Pride (Chapter 4) receives a lot of attention from the media, and Ferndale PD. Each successive summoning includes a human sacrifice, making the family member a serial killer.

After the final battle, January would want the conjurer to be publicly outed as the murderer of all the sacrificed people. Even though again, the family member is beyond being put in prison. Blood Raven argues against this, and insists that Nátthrafn take the blame. She reasons that for one, it will not make a difference to the families of the slain if the killer is identified as the family member or Nátthrafn. Justice was served in any event.

But more importantly, if the family member is identified as a serial killer, then January will never escape from the shadow of that. Not only will she be the subject of a heightened level of media scrutiny that will make her life as Stormcrow more difficult, but it will also poison her hopes of being a writer, as she will always be the author whose family member was a serial murderer. Finally, Blood Raven asks January to think of her other family members. Learning that their close relative is dead is bad enough. Learning that they were also a murderer would be even more crushing, and put them under so much more negative media scrutiny.

Finally she questions January's true motives. Is implicating the family member really a desire for honesty, or is it for one more stab at personal revenge against them?

January OTOH fears that if she covers it up now, the truth will eventually come out on its own, even if years later. Then she will be ruined for suppressing the truth. Blood Raven insists that they can keep it a secret, as only the two of them really know what happened. January says that Nátthrafn knows. Blood Raven insists that he will be telling no one from where he is. Besides, it was not the kind of thing he would think of. In the time he is from, it would not be a thing that would damage one's reputation after all.



I am waffling between the two options. I started with Option 2. Then changed things to #1. Now I am thinking of going back to #2 after all. It ups the stakes if humans are being sacrificed, and makes the conjurer a lot more villainous. But #2 makes the aftermath really messy. Serial killers get a lot of news. If the family member is officially implicated as the killer, I think it would really ruin January's chances as a writer. But maybe I am wrong. I really cannot name a single family member of a serial killer. But is that because these people tend to avoid public life? A writer gets attention, people look into who they are, and in the internet age, that is so easy. A single Google would tie January to the murdering conjurer. I think that would haunt her career forever. And I really do want her to be a writer. Granted, she could write under a pseudonym. But again, this is the information age. That kind of thing does not hold up like it once did.

January would really want them publicly outed. It is just the right thing to do. Also, the truth has a tendency to always come out eventually. She would prefer it come from her first, rather than blindside her later in life. Or even after she is dead. Not just from her sense of ethics and desire to look good. She is keenly aware that she is the first openly lesbian (and eventually openly trans) superhero. As a trailblazer, she knows she has to be absolutely perfect, for all the people who come behind her. If any will ever be able to come behind her.

Blood Raven might be able to convince her to put all the blame on Nátthrafn in any case. There are a lot of good reasons to do so. Not the least that ultimately Nátthrafn was the one engineering things, and the family member was basically his pawn. Blood Raven could even mind wipe January, so she does not know the truth. But she would never do that.

But keeping that secret would be emotionally devastating for January. Granted, as a writer this is fertile ground. This could lead January down a path to something like substance abuse, or cutting, or something else equally self-destructive. With an eventual redemption in the end. Perhaps even her learning to forgive their family member for the things they did.

But, I don't know if Jan could do it. I think her principles would win out, and she would want her family member publicly implicated. She might change her name afterward, or write under a pseudonym. Blood Raven could even take some control of the media spin, by making it clear that the family member was being controlled by Nátthrafn, and ultimately another victim. She is no friend of the media or the police, but Blood Raven would absolutely do that to protect January. Maybe that will be the route it goes.

Still, protecting her surviving family members from the media shame might win out with Jan. It is a conundrum.



Finally I have Option #3. Cut out the sacrifices - human or animal. This would be the simplest, and really the most like a comic book. I shy from that however, for precisely those reasons.


Option #4 is changing the Conjurer to someone who is not a family member. But this is really not an option. January being from a cursed bloodline is central to her story. That curse does not affect only her, but everyone she is related to. It has killed her ancestors in the past. That atavistic horror will always be there for her.


In any case, I could use ideas for options I am not seeing. Or ways the current options might go. Maybe I am overthinking it all, and having a family member implicated of murder should not be so damaging to Jan's literary career?

I would go with the human vs animal sacrifices. As you say, the stakes are higher and that is appropriate for an epic superhero story.

As far as the aftermath, there is indeed lots of fertile soil there for character development of both Stormcrow and Blood Raven. Having Crowgirl wrestle with the very questions you debate sounds like good stuff.

Now for the ultimate decision regarding handling the aftermath, Blood Raven is right for the following reasons:
- The mortal family member was indeed acting as a pawn for Nátthrafn and who is to say the dead spirit was not indeed controlling his ancestor? Meaning that the ancestor was somewhat of a victim as well.
- There is nothing to be gained from Jan exposing her family to the notoriety of having a serial killer in the family. As a super, she should shield her family from the side effects of her profession.
- The more scrutiny there is upon Jan’s family, the greater the chance of her identity being discovered – don’ want that.
- That Jan would feel her decision is the better of two less than ideal choices is very ‘real’ and emphasizes that everything is not always wrapped up tidy and without residual aftereffects.
- This path avoids complications regarding any writing career Jan may aspire to - as you have pointed out.

Jan is heavily influenced by her heart and passions. This is a great opportunity display the counterbalance of ‘head over heart’ counsel that she would likely be getting from both Blood Raven and Gadget. Though not in her nature, she might conclude that sometimes it is the better course.

So far that is what I am thinking. Though I still keep waffling, and hoping I might see another option.

I have also thought of another idea vis a vis anchoring the summonings and making them immune from banishment. They could be grounded in our reality by instead using the Classical Elements in their conjuring. Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. So a pile of salt, a lit candle, a cup of water, things like that. The Abyssal itself would provide the Spirit. That would make it literally and metaphorically a part of our world. I think regardless of how it goes, the Conjurer will start with that, and move up to animal sacrifices. Then the final decision is if they go to human ones or not.

The human sacrifice by family member is the strongest story line- to me. And what it allows you to do is show (once more) January's strength of character. In my head, she will not dodge the "association"- but will simply say words to the effect of "Yes, that is true. And...?" Force the issue. If someone wants to imply that she (and perhaps other metas) is/are fatally flawed (bad pun, sorry)- they are going to have to come up with something better than- "Well- ya know- your relative did these awful things, so doesn't that mean you are awful too?"

She can point out that George Washington was called "The Town Burner" by the Native Americans because of his punitive (and possibly genocidal?) expeditions prior to the American Revolution- just as one example.

Anyway, in my mind, this story has been about Jan facing and overcoming adversity. This is another chance to show that.