[Saxony Tarn]

:: taking a swig of root beer :: Elenna, i wish i knew where to find such an Elvish dictionary (but then i wouldn't have this budding e-mail pen pal relationship with my Elvish consultant over across the pond B( and i do want overseas contacts)

Aragorn's questions on how to start stories, write battles, usw. -- well, let's see here -- my stories usually start clawing their way out of my head and i relent and let them out before i take too much internal damage. i didn't start writing "Afterlife Crisis" ("Trust Me"s working title until about 31 May) by sitting down at my computer and thinking, "i'm going to write some LOTR fanfic", it more or less said, "you're going to write me, or I'm going to drive you insane!" Your mileage, of course, may vary, but my best recommendation is, if it's not coming, don't force it. If it is, on the other hand, clear your calendar and have at it (which is what i hope i'll be doing tonight. There's a monster that needs to die.)

Whatever you DO have in your head, no matter how disjointed it appears, write it down. i was fortunate enough to have the opening for my tale present itself early enough (oddly enough, as other Wights have experienced, in a dream. Kid you not, i was a camera on the shoulder of one member of a party dragging a corpse out of a waterfall with intent to restore life to it. Saw the half-Orc very clearly too. Added the snarky little parody of that Scottish post-battle standard "Twa Corbies" later) You can always chain them together later (that's what 2-liter bottles of soda and huge bags of chips are for -- editing sessions!) True confessions -- in school i used to carry a stack of ruled newsprint with me and write story pieces while everyone else was finishing up the quiz (was a knack that i took tests fast, whether i knew the subject well or not. You either know it or you don't) -- yes, it was rough, it read like a soap opera constantly toggling between plots, but later it became the back history for another series of tales (the Silmarillion for the story w/ the talking car, it could be said) and i still can lay my hands on that manuscript -- wrote one episode that made heavy reference to it (had to insert one character or two into the original story) -- wrote with that pile of paper on my lap. Guess another point to make is, save your notes! (BTW, Starbreeze -- how'd your herb research go?)

Battles -- hmm, Starbreeze again? Short of getting the real-world experience of throwing punches and drinking fury, grab a bunch of action movies of the genre you seek to write on video, stuff them all into your head, let them ferment for an evening and then sample the brew. i find that music helps me get a handle on certain impressions -- in fact, there's more than one fight sequence in this tale that, if you cue up a given song at the right place, should, i hope, be able to be read/envisioned to the tune, with combatants' sparkling repartee coming in at the right points for lyrics. The point is, if you don't feel the action, how can you convey it so that your reader can? Whatever helps you to bring it forth should be tried (provided of course that it's not harmful to you or others or will land you in trouble w/ your local LEOs. Gotta include that caveat!)

Okay, i've rambled enough for awhile, so i'll get behind that bar & start serving drinks. 8 pages, here we come...

|_|) <-- Skoal!

s.t.