So, I want to write a thing.

So, I want to write a thing.

Simple, right?

I want to write a story. Not a fan fic, not a role play, a story.

As this has always a bit of a literary community, this is a desire I suppose is shared by some of you.

I want to write a good story. Not a mediocre one, but a good one. I have written, in the past, stories that were okay. Alright. Half-baked.

My hard drive and notebooks are filled with snippets, ideas, and attempts. Some, I cringe when I read. Others, I wonder what kind of medicine I was on, because it must have been strong stuff.

I want to write a good, complete story.

I have heard the advice, 'just sit down, and write!'. I have followed said advice. It didn't really work the way I wanted it to. I have tried multiple times. That's how I've filled my notebooks.

I am going to post stuff here in my attempt to write something. I'm not sure where this road is going to take me. It may lead to disaster. But, hey, you get a free show out of it, hey?

Feel free to throw in your thoughts here if you like, the thread's open. Maybe you can give good advice. Maybe I can give some in return.

I want to write a thing. Here I go.

Good Luck!

The horrid realisation that I'm probably screwed? The horrid realisation that I'm probably screwed.

Right, so from what I've read, a pretty good place to start is to decide what your story is going to be about. And by that, I mean not 'about six ponies that solve problem using magical satellite cannons then write letters to actual goddesses', but more 'about how friendship truly is magic'. As long as one serves that theme, the story will feel thematically consistent. Only nerds notice/get hung up over technical inconsistencies. Everyone notices a thematic inconsistency, even if they can't quite explain how it is wrong. Say if an MLP episode teaches a dodgy moral lesson. Or if Gravity Falls went against finding out about mysteries.

So, what theme am I planning to go for? Probably something like 'we all have our little evils and prejudices, whether we know them or not, whether we admit to them, or not.' Maybe other themes will fall into place, but for now, I think that's a good starting place.

So what does that mean? Well, it means no character in this piece is going to be perfect. That said, there will be no out and out evil people. Maybe there would be no actual singular villain, except the villain that lives in all of us. Maybe the society, the community itself is that little bit tainted, and that it is impossible to live in it without that flaw. You can see right from the outset that this is going to have a rather different tone than, say, Harry Potter or MLP. Though it is true that neither have perfect protagonists, it is also true they have a very clear antagonist to beat, and that overcoming inner neuroses will unlock magic powers to defeat physical enemy.

This story's protagonists might not even be able to overcome their neuroses, and they certainly don't have a clear physical enemy. The closest thing to such will probably be them. The outsider. The other. But even these would be at most a mirror to reflect the evil within them. The complication in this tale will probably not be resolved through action heroics. Maybe a couple of my chars will be frustrated by this fact, as I know many of us will. I do not foresee any easy answers.

There never truly is an "easy answer" to story writing. Tis a tedious system.

"Their lies are worse, though. Remember the posters we saw? The ones that said we ate babies?"

A setting that has always interested me is the home front. When the young men (maybe women?) go off abroad to get killed, what do the people at home do? Whilst we are experiencing something similar with the incursions into the Middle East, the WW1 and WW2 propaganda and general attitude has always somehow resonated.

Such a setting would fit into my proposed theme quite well, and would introduce another theme;The dehumanization of an enemy.

Sorry if my writing atm is a little dry, this is very bare bones and analytical. In the meantime, here's something I want to ask the floor. When creating any piece of art, visual, verbal or otherwise, how do you start?

Whenever I think of a story, I always like to start with the ending. If you know how your story ends then all you have to do is get there!

What I've found in my modicum of experience in storytelling is that most people remember the beginning and the end of a story the most, so I would most likely get a beginning and an end.

Another thing I always try and keep in mind is the scope of the tale. Is this from one character's perspective or many? 3rd person limited or first person or whichever you choose would effect what we know of your characters or how the conflict plays out. Especially if you plan on playing with having no explicit antagonist, what would be more fun: having the reader see the evolution of these characters through the eyes of others, all together through the eyes of the narrator, or from their own perspectives?

Just my 2 cents... I am both intrigued and riveted by the concepts mentioned!

When/where is the story set?

Yesterday, the New Guilder Federation had a new Empress.

The question of 1st or 3rd person is actually kinda interesting. The 1st person way would certainly be an interesting way to go about things, and is worth talking about.

The best way I've heard 1st person writing described as is 'acting and writing combined'. Not only are you creating a setting and orchestrating a series of events, you are describing them through the eyes of a character. The saying, 'we see things not as they are, but as we are' is particularly apt in this. In contrast to a 3rd person narration, a 1st person says as much (if not more) about the narrator as the what s/he sees. A character might be much more descriptive when seeing a person she is attracted to, for instance. This is important, probably the most important thing about writing in first person, every word said is going to his/hers. Everything has to written with his/her thoughts in mind.

Now after all that good stuff, I'm going to throw it all away and say that I'm probably going to write in third person. In these initial stages, it is possible that I will change my mind, but here are the reasons why I think 3rd is the way I'll go:

- It's easier. Duh. Instead of writing with someone else's voice, I'm writing with mine.
- I want the character's thoughts to be up for interpretation, possibly misinterpretation. More than a few of these guys will be bluffing or else playing their cards very close to their chest.
- My narrative inner voice usually takes the form of an old British gentleman who has just invited you over or tea, has the tendency to ramble, and uses the exact same tone when talking about the weather as talking about when one of his mates barely survived stepping on a landmine, only losing two limbs, an arm and a leg. Thus, this narrator has a tendency to colour my writing to great effect, generally reflecting apathy to even the most horrid of circumstances. Though trying to act as some of these characters would undoubtedly be great exercise, I doubt my ability to write anything of decent length before relapsing into old habits.

Now, to the setting.

The lead up to WW1 is quite possibly one of the most fascinating pieces of history. Ever. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend you read up on it. War was somehow both inevitable and yet preventable. One could say that the modern world was shaped by these events.

I'm not going to set my piece in this world. Not only would I get hung up over real life details, I'm not sure I can do real life justice. Instead, I'll do a setting based on the turn from the 19th to the 20th century. A mind well versed in the period would easily be able to draw parallels to real life.

I'm not exactly sure how much magic I'm going to put into it. There are going to be some fantastical elements to make up for the fact that the tech level is not up the RL equivalent, but things have gone 'beyond the time of small parties, even beyond the time of guilds'. People have wised up to the fact that problems are not always solved by heroes, but the lesson about solving problems through conflict has yet to be learned...

Tomorrow, war would be declared.

Now if I continue the pre-WW1 Europe analogue, the country that would be in focus would be the Germany analogue. The country of disparate states bound together by a common history and language, upsetting the entire regions politics for quite possibly the worse. Add in a splash of America's 'manifest destiny', and you have an extremely young, volatile, militaristic nation.

So what happens when this nation becomes headed by a Empress as young as itself?

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It was generally agreed that the birth of the Guilder Empire coincided with the birth of Ruka of Diment, unified by her father, Rukon the Great. When Rukon died suddenly, his young daughter would be crowned Empress Eternal of the empire that was the same age as she. Surrounded by enemies on almost all sides both external and internal, both Empire and Empress will have to grow up fast.

Who or what exactly is the Guilder empire? Other than the German allusion and the possible reference to the Princess Bride (Florin vs Guilder anyone?), what makes this country different from the homefront of which this story is set?

Are they a different race or the same, making it harder or easier to demonize them? Speaking of demonization and disillusionment: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the vibe that your story is focused on one community and perhaps at times looks at the war that has enveloped the world from almost a historian's standpoint. Giving the reader insight to how the war is progressing, who is winning (I say winning like someone actually won from WWI...), and how that balance of power is effecting the characters.

IF this is the case and I could be horribly incorrect... how prevalent is the presence of the enemy population in the lives of the town/city in which this story is set? Is there a individual, a family, or a community of expatriots in a nation that is at war with their homeland? on a scale of the Germans in the US to the Japanese in Canada during WWII how harshly are they treated?

I hope I'm not infringing, but my curiosity MUST (at your leisure) be sated!

History lesson? History lesson. History Lesson~

Age of the Golden Imperium

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There's always a precursor empire, isn't there? Well, not always, but it's a theme that resonates. A time of Eden, where everything was peachy and all blemishes erased by the photoshop that is time. The Golden Imperium (or simply the Empire) Stretched all the way from the Sunset Sea to the Wall of Thorns. But as all empires of this nature, it fell due to many disputed reasons.

Ervish or Dorven?

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Church? What church? What, religion? You mean gods, like the heathen desert Furies worship? No, no, no, my friend. We have philosophies. Two main ones, in fact. Each has its little intricacies and details, but the main point of division is the question, 'Are we servants of fate, or are we masters of our own?' To be Ervish is to be fatalist, accepting ones lot in life, whilst Dorves believe that the strong should be whatever they like. The Golden Imperium used to be Dorven, but as it expanded and required a more ordered society, it became Ervish. Dorvens, of course, point here as the reason the Empire fell.

The Inheritors of the Empire

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As the Golden Imperium fell, of course others rose to take its place. The important ones with our story are going to be the Terrins (formerly part of the imperium) and the Roddish (never part of the Imperium)

Age of Heroes

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The 'Wall of Thorns' is a misleading name. It's actually the lands disputed between the Golden Imperium and the 'monsters' known as Fae. Setward (towards the sunset) of the WoT are the 'Folklands' whilst Riswards (towards Sunrise) is the 'Faelands'. This 'wall' is not a single line of thorns but rather patches of thorny forests stretching up and down the continent. So there is an overlap between the Folklands and Faelands. After the fracture, the Fae took much of the Wall, but they were halted by parties of 'heroes'.

Rise of Guilds

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As more and more heroes funneled against the Fae, many parties allied together to make even greater groups. Particularly large groups were called 'Guilds' and their power in the region grew to the point of creating counties and kingdoms in disputed territory. This territory would be called 'Guildland' or later, 'Guilder'. The 'Guild Princes' would be powerful in their own right fighting amongst themselves as much as hated Fae.

The Federation of Guilder

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Despite this, the Guild Princes were never as powerful as the likes of, say the Kingdom of Terrin or the Roddalands. In many cases, they were used for proxy wars between the great kingdoms. This persisted until the Guild of Sator through combination of diplomacy and military might created the Federation of Guilder, a defensive pact between all Guilds. The pact would be headed and enforced by Sator, of course.

Fall of Federation

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This Federation waxed and waned for many, many years until the Kingdom of Terrin became the Grand Terrin Republic and decided that the best course of action would be conquer everybody. The GTR was Dorven, and the Guild of Sator was Ervish, which was a bit of a problem for Sator as many Guilds were Dorven, and with an extremely accomplished General at the GTR's helm, Sator was bloodied and the Federation dissolved.

Remilia's Ambition

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The GTR's dream of conquering everybody fell apart when the Roddish allied itself with the prominent Guild of Remilia and defeated said prominent General in a series of crushing defeats. This meant that the Guild of Remilia found itself the second most powerful guild behind Sator and decided it would really like to be a bit stronger. The Guild Prince, Rukon, hired a man called Jerald of Linica to be his Chief Advisor and together they planned and plotted.

The three founding wars.

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1. The War of the Frozen Sea
   Not really a war, but a series of battles against the fae, further establishing Remilia's dominance in the region.
   
2. The Great Guild War
   A brutal conflict against the 'Guild' of Sator. Sator's loss meant that they would be excluded from any future federation of Guilds. New Guilder Federation formed.
   
3. The Bitter War
   A war against the GTR, again proving its power. Terrin's loss made the country very bitter, thus the name.
   

A new Empire

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With the Bitter War won, (almost) all the Guilds united under the Remilian throne forming the Guilder Empire. The founding of the Empire coincides with the birth to its heir, Imperia Rukarina Eternia of Remilia.

Phew...that's all for now. Next time, we move on from the past to the present, where the world's newest empire hangs precariously on the cusp of war.

Long live the Empire. Long live our Empress. Long live Guilder.