Meeting at an inn

[jjcomet]

After seeing some of the discussion here I would suggest looking at The Toolbox -- The Important Bits These pointers helped me a lot.

Guess I found out about the Toolbox the hard way - after submission, instead of before. But now I know about it and can work at fixing my mistakes.
Thanks for that!

 

[Paul Meccano]

I agree this kind of setting is nothing to do with reality -- it's the literary equivalent of the castles in Holly wood films which are all cavernous halls and huge bedrooms -- but I'm on a one-woman crusade to nudge writers into bringing some elements of reality to fantasy!

To me, it's akin to the argument about what's more important -- a good plot or good writing. I want both! I don't expect anyone to spend years researching medieval history to get everything 100% accurate (which most so-called historical novels certainly don't manage!). But with all due respect to jjcomet and anyone else writing this D&D-like stuff I can't understand why someone wouldn't want to elevate his/her work and make it stand out from the crowd by thinking more seriously about food and customs and agriculture and trade and how it all fits together in world-building, rather than taking a somewhat naive view of what people eat and how they build their homes or clothe themselves.

It's not rocket science (if it were, then I'd be wholly at sea!) -- it's simply a matter of questioning assumptions, thinking a little more deeply, and looking a few things up. We want our characters to feel real rather than cartoonish cardboard cut outs, so why shouldn't we want their background to feel real, too?!

And on a more serious note, history is having a hard time around the world at the moment, with demagogues of all stripes re-writing it to suit their political ends and the mass of the population just accept what is being said without critical thinking or any research. Adding a byknife into an adventurer's hand in a D&D fantasy might not protect us from all that, but who knows, it might just get someone asking a question, which leads on to more questions, more answers and some actual thinking, which is never a bad thing.

And with apologies to jjcomet for taking this off-topic, here endeth today's lecture on my History Rules Manifesto!

I agree with everything you say.
As a designer (of spaces), I'm aware of how spaces suit a need. If a tavern was built to accept a growing population with profit in mind covering all requirements: drink, food, tables, stables (parking:0)), areas for entertainment, heating, toilets, access... I could go on. Well, in my mind, it would probably have large rooms with lots of space; large fires, a long bar with matching stools, attentive staff, and would all be a bit quaint, either that or a little posh, mostly because the patrons would be of great importance to the investors, polite, paying clients, who would be unlikely to say boo to a ghost.
However, the truth is more interesting: spaces are often designed to suit an ideal, then adapted later due to insufficient input before the design. It's unlikely these constructed fantasy worlds are so...accomodating. When was this Tavern/Inn built, and for what reason? With who in mind, or what? Was it home before a tavern, a barn, stables, or perhaps, all three? If it was an investment between a group of Orcs or something, they might have to get upset when somebody spills a drink or push tables together so that a larger group can celebrate – offering napkins.
For me personally, It doesn't need to be of this world, but certainly of the world in which it exists. What was its purpose, and what drove that purpose in the first place?

 

[Paul Meccano]

This is the reason I joined Chronicles, to have my writing critiqued

And you've been looked after beautifully.

I agree with everything that has been said here. Still, I wanted to add this point: this particular POV certainly means extra effort from the reader but requires no less from the writer, who, if justifying its employment, must dig deep; forced style often undoes good writing before it's even on the page. I say this from experience, not because what you've written isn't good, but because I can see unrealised ability here, for (possibly) restricting yourself. That said, you may well nail it for integrating such amazing feedback from this bunch. And good luck with it. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jjcomet]

The reason I logged on today was to go through the Toolbox and look up some questions. Then I saw an alert and the rest follows.

That said, you may well nail it for integrating such amazing feedback from this bunch.

You can knock me out with a feather. Thanks!!!!

I have been going over in my mind, these last couple days, exactly what you clarified for me in definition: forced style POV. Now have to research it.

I admit to every one of you who contributed with feedback, and were asking about the story's POV. All I could think of was - omnipotent third person POV ?? If one of the characters has a thought, I try and put if in.
Plus, I was considering what POVs Tolkien, David Weber (Honor Harrington series), Michael Moorchock (Elric of Melnibone series), or R.A. Salvatore (Drizzt) used? I could only answer third person. I am not looking for an argument here....... Been a while since I read some of them.

When I started my idea for this story, I simply wrote things down as they came to me. 'Verbally vomiting on the page, then go back and sift through the mess,' is something I would say to a friend of mine. And after, what I thought were corrective editing's, I had found a way to write which felt comfortable for me (with numerous pen and paper rewrites).
Guess that is why I mentioned early in these reviews (thanks again!) why I felt beaten - I was simply use to how I was writing. And now I see from a readers perspective it is difficult. Sorry for that. And again why I joined Chronicles.
So now I am nearing the point where I shall withdrawal into my story, do a lot of research, those day to day (boring) real-life things, and try and resolve my dilemma. Will keep an eye for reviews and (soon??) resubmit, 'Meeting at an inn'.
Again - any and all feed-back is welcomed.

 

[JS Wiig]

I have found it vastly less frustrating to experiment with things such as POV in much smaller chunks, such as those offered by the 75, 100, and 300 word challenges. It may be worthwhile to invest some time in, and acquire some feedback from those potentially valuable resources before embarking on a full scale remodel of your novel.

 

[Wayne Mack]

One resource I found useful was The Sanderson Lectures or directly, https://www.youtube.com/user/WriteAboutDragons/videos These are from a college level writing course taught by Brandon Sanderson and I felt I learned quite a bit from them. As they are from a course, I feel that reviewing one year is sufficient; the following years cover the same outline and details. Mr. Sanderson is an interesting lecturer and the lectures are broken into 10-20 minute segments making them easy to digest. For some reason, the the lecture segments are not perfectly sorted, so I found I needed to do a little bit of scanning the titles to read them in the correct order. They are worth 15-20 hours spent listening.

Beyond that, keep writing. The best way to learn to write is to write. There are various opportunities to try something out in the various challenges in this site. Look at the 75, 100, 300 word contests. Also, take a look at the various writing prompts in Workshop These are all short, so there isn't a big commitment in time or effort to get something down on paper and see how it looks. Good luck and keep at it!

 

[jjcomet]

Before Christmas, I picked up two writing books that have helped a lot. Along with everyone's input on my efforts - pointing me in the right direction to fix what I am writing.
I have, and will, try my hand at the various writing challenges. One thing that brought me to Chronicles.
Just going to take a bit to feel comfortable in writing in a Active fashion.