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View Full Version : So, where are the writers?



PeanutGod
06-02-2008, 07:27 AM
Hey Everyone,

As with the Adom Brinkster forums, I assume that a lot of people here enjoy writing to varying degrees. What is everyone into genre wise? (some fantasy in amongst you all I hope). Any aspiring novelists out there? What are you favourite books etc? And for those people who know about the storyboard on the other forums, is anyone out there interested in getting another tale underway?

For myself, my favourite authors (in no particular order) are David Gemmell, Stephen King, Sara Douglass, L.E.Modesitt Jr, and JV Jones. And yes, you might as well throw Tolkien in there - he was pretty cool as well. Favourite books include LotR (obviously), Legend, the Stand, It, Face of Battle (War thing), Serpentwar Saga (Raymond Feist).

And yep, I'm one of those aspiring writers who one day hopes to have a whole series of books with my name on them!

Grey
06-02-2008, 08:06 AM
I'm a very very big Tolkien fan - absolutely love the Silmarillion and the whole "History of Middle-Earth" compiled by his son. Also very into Terry Pratchett, and Frank Herbert's Dune series. I love writers that are able to create whole universes for their characters to play around in, with all its own legends and politics and rival groups.

Though I do hope to get some stuff published some day I really don't hold high hopes for it. Currently working on a kid's book about a dragon that attacks a little English town, and an odd assortment of characters have to try and defeat him... Have a few chapters written and have a full story plan laid out, but I rarely find the time to write (or get distracted too easily).

I might be interested in a group story thing again some time, though I have no time right now. Also need to finish off the background story for Andor Drakon I started writing...

PeanutGod
06-02-2008, 05:15 PM
Aye, I've got most of Tolkiens works on my shelf, including some encylopedias of various bits of his. Terry Pratchett is awesome, although I can't help feeling that the entire thing is now becoming a bit too drawn out and too 'samey'.

I've got an entire world on the go in preparation for my novel. Going with a modern day - fantasy world time/warp, different dimension thing. It's pretty detailed, and I've got various histories of the different lands and a huge timeline that goes round my bed room wall with all little bits of info.

As for the story, what ever happened to that one we started with Ramirez, Tarandil, that troll wizard and the such?

Grey
06-02-2008, 06:17 PM
Whilst the jokes in Pratchett's books do get quite repetitive at times, I do like some of the more mature character development he's used in some recent books, especially all the Vimes stories.

You have story plans pinned up round your bedroom wall? Heh, that sounds quite cool - must keep you very inspired. I find that rereading older stuff or plans always gets my imagination fired up for much more stuff - might copy your idea some time.

The Ramirez/Tarindil/etc story just kinda died after saving Khelly or so. Everyone either disappeared or lost interest. I was considering writing an ending for it, but couldn't be arsed in the end. Starting new stuff is so much easier than picking up old stuff :)

Timpak
06-02-2008, 10:02 PM
I do write but not particulary long things and only political and economical things. I send alot of chronicals and letters to the editor and got a few published. Generally do not enjoy novels, does not tingle my brain enough, I enjoy some novels though, my favorite authors are Ayn Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche, Friedrich von Hayek, Johan Norberg, Franz Kafka, Hunter S. Thompson, Robert Nozick and Ludwig Von Mises.

I do own and have read the LotR trilogy, Bilbo and Silmarillion in english, I do believe all books should be read in the original language, assuming you can read it. But I do not enjoy them that much since I think there should be more to a story than just the story. The best fantasy books I've read are Robert Jordans Wheel of Time, but it sucks that he died and someone else writes the last book in that series.

FantomFang
06-03-2008, 03:23 AM
I've enjoyed a lot of books over my few years of life...Foremost among them being some of the aforementioned (Wheel of Time/Tolkien) and some not yet mentioned (Tom Clancy - mainly the first 2/3rds of his work - and R.A. Salvatore). I've been looking to read other stuff with summer right here, something not out of the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre that I have already read to death, something that would not only be a good read, but gives "food for thought", if you know what i mean.

Other books/series I've read include Dune (earlier = better there), Dragonlance, Heinlein, Asimov, and that seems to be the main chunk of it...

PeanutGod
06-03-2008, 07:00 AM
I found the wheel of time series very difficult to get into. Probaly the way the whole series was started


The wheel of time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become Legend. Legend fades to myth and even myth is long forgotten when the age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the third Age by some, an age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. Thwere are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But is was a beginning.



This has to be the most long winded, boring introduction ever, plus an annoying way of saying 'This series is going to go on forever and ever.......'

Thats just me though.

Timpak
06-03-2008, 07:39 PM
When I think about it, when I read novels almost 90% of them are from swedish authors.

gut
06-04-2008, 08:25 AM
The books that I can read over and over again:

Robert Asprin's 'Another fine Myth' series. I love the first book in this series, and I think
the third. The rest are good too, but the first is great.

Weis and Hickman's 'Death gate cycle' series. The whole series is good, straight to the
end. Really likable and interesting characters.

Terry Pratchet's 'Discworld' series. I seem to like the first half of all these books, better
than I like the their endings, for some reason. I think Pratchet makes better characters
than stories.

Books I could re-read sometime:

Terry Goodkind's 'Sword of Truth' series. Was a bit politically preachy, but a pretty good
story. I can re-read the first few, but I haven't yet, and won't soon. The last book in the
series was a real grind to finish, I was glad to see the end of it.

Salvatore's 'Cleric Quintet' series. I have re-read this once, and probably won't again.
It's a good story, but there are better ones.

Terry Brooks' 'Landover' series. I have not re-read this one yet, but I will. It has good
characters,


Probably there are more, and I'm just not remembering them. Currently I am in the middle
of Zelazny's 'Amber' series. I like it a lot, and will probably re-read it as soon as I'm finished.

reich
06-04-2008, 07:02 PM
Currently I am in the middle
of Zelazny's 'Amber' series. I like it a lot, and will probably re-read it as soon as I'm finished.

Amber is very original and crazy! but it also has a pulp-fiction feeling to it. Anyone tired of tolkienesque fantasy should check it out!

For people into heroic fantasy, I can recommend the author Karl E. Wagner and his Kane series! That's hardcore bloody epic fantasy, reminescent of Howard and Lovecraft, about an evil immortal warrior who travels throught the ages plotting and planning to take over the world. Check out the stylish short stories collections "Night Winds" and "Death angel' shadow" and the novels "Darkness weaves with many shades" and "Bloodstone".

Shadow_2014
06-05-2008, 10:17 PM
Wow, I'm surprised at how similar my taste in books is to most of you. But then I remember what forum I'm trolling...

I got introduced to Terry Pratchett's work in Germany, where I read 9 or so of his books. I started on his early stuff like Equal Rites and ended with his later novel, Nightwatch. I really liked his early stuff, because it's just so silly, but his later Vimes stuff is just as interesting to read, though it's much more mature.

Anyway, I also love Hunter S. and Stephen King. Just finished Moby Dick, which I think is a fantastic read. Douglas Adams, of course, but that goes without saying. Orwell, Vonnegut, Kafka, Huxley, Bradbury, Burgess, Neitzsche, HG Wells... Does anyone else know Daniel Quinn's work?

I can't remember the authors, but I also really liked Snow Crash (Neil someone wrote it, I think), Riddley Walker, and Grendel (the story of Beowulf told in the first person by Grendel).

I own the Amber book which contains all the stories, but I haven't cracked it open yet, because its size is a little intimidating.

And I write occasionally, but I always end up abandoning all the projects I start, due to my impairingly extreme perfectionism.

PeanutGod
06-05-2008, 11:11 PM
Funny you should mention Perfectionism. I was actually diagnosed with it a few years ago after I pretty much hit rock bottom and was in a right dodgy place in my life. It's an extremely hard thing to live with, but like most things, it eventually just becomes routine. However, it is extremely annoying to have to do everything to the absolute best of your abilities each time. Quite soul destroying in fact. Ah well....the price of genius is high I suppose.

Silfir
06-06-2008, 12:53 PM
I love the Discworld series, especially the ones about the Watch. Some Discworld novels are better than others, so much is true, but in the worst case they're still entertaining. I've read a lot of them in German (obviously), but recently I've made an effort to buy the original versions in bookstores that have an international section. It's trivial, luckily, because of his popularity. Because there are so many I usually still find some that I missed (it's sad that I've gotten all the Watch ones already).

As for writing, well, I do write fiction (indeed fantasy, though recently I've become engaged in science fiction), but unless you can read German, you're not going to enjoy my stuff much. Generally, I always hit one or more snags in my stories that sometimes take months to overcome, if I ever do manage to continue. It's probably due to a lack of structure and discipline, and also because sometimes I realize what I'd planned to write sucks balls and I have to think of something else. The most major pieces of writing I've done recently are the ADOM guides.

Grey
06-06-2008, 03:16 PM
Hmm, that reminds me, I did a very brief foray into video game journalism once, for a site a friend set up where you have to review a game you know you'll hate for 30 days. I did dance games (http://www.the-unbelievers.com/category/stepmania/). Yeah... Was an interesting month, to say the least ;)

Shadow_2014
06-06-2008, 09:25 PM
Funny you should mention Perfectionism. I was actually diagnosed with it a few years ago ...

I wasn't aware that one could be diagnosed with it. Was that something you intentionally seeked diagnosis for?


Ah well....the price of genius is high I suppose.

Too true.

PeanutGod
06-06-2008, 09:52 PM
Well basically, having a rather up and down life, I've suffered from depression a few times. And after one rather dodgy bout, went to get some of those happy pills I heard so much about. Didn't get any happy pills, but got diagnosed with Perfectionism instead. It's not great to live with, and it means I stop and start a lot of things because I don't think they'll be good enough, plus refuse to write at times because I feel what I put down should be perfect first time, even though to think this is stupid. Horrible condition! Go look it up!

Gulfd'An
06-07-2008, 08:37 PM
Did you have problems like that before you got diagnosed? Just saying because if you were already mentally stressed and got misdiagnosed you could have ended up giving your self the condition or at least making it worse than it was.

I have really enjoyed any of Isaac Asimov's books that I have been fortunate enough to read (foundation series and I robot). I read the hobbit and all but the last of LOTR at a very young age (eight or so) and a few years later I reread them all over again (including the last book this time) now I am thirteen and have read the hobbit a total of six times and LOTR series three times. And of course my favorite of all was Douglas Adams hitchhikers guide to the galaxy trilogy (I know there are five books it is a little joke he used). I read wheel of time (all eleven) twice but I never really liked them I just needed something to do.
I have read countless other books I liked but I can?t recall the names of them (for example this historical navy book with a Irish doctor and a guy named Jack something that I only read three of cause I couldn?t find the other twenty, and this other series I remember nothing of other than the fact it was good and the authors name was Elizabeth Moon also that it was Sci-fi). And another two of my all time favorite books were war of the rats (a stalingrad WW2 novel), and animal farm.
I have always wanted to write a book but I can never stay serious and it ends up like the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy only with out any apparent plot and slightly less comical.

PeanutGod
06-07-2008, 09:41 PM
Did you have problems like that before you got diagnosed? Just saying because if you were already mentally stressed and got misdiagnosed you could have ended up giving your self the condition or at least making it worse than it was.

.

I've had the condition for a long time from what I gather. My parents apparently noticed that I was always hard on myself growing up, restarting projects and constantly berating myself for getting things wrong. Part of it also stems from the fact that my brother is a certifiable genius, so has always excelled at most things he touches. It's probably a subconcious 'Hey, look at me for once' cry for attention. I'm not saying that its all bad, indeed sometimes it is good because some brilliant work comes from forcing myself. But to do things over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over can be pretty soul destroying!

Gulfd'An
06-08-2008, 01:39 AM
From what you "gather". So you see that is just what others have told you. Now if you truly are a genius you would be able to tell on your own. Who knows maybe you aren't a perfectionist maybe you are just a hard worker. If you are hard on your self then you will just be forcing your self to do better which is a good thing in fact most people can't be hard on their selves most of the time so they never do there true best. So you say your brother is a genius? Well it probably runs in the family. You have the same parents so your genes come from the same place so if he was just born with a "larger brain" then average then in all likely hood in some way you would have too. If it was something about the way he was raised that made him think more complexly you still share the same parents so would probably have been raised in very similar ways. So unless he had some genetic malfunction that caused him to have a faster or better chemical computer in his head or was raised in just the way to be a genius you have all the same possibilities to be one too and you should have to put just the same amount of effort into things as he does. Of course for all I know he may have been brought up in just the right way that he will always know more then the average person or as I said earlier he could have a different chemical structure in his brain causing him to be ?smarter? than average. Either way it isn?t his fault he had no choice of his ?genius? but you on the other hand (as stated by your self) are genius in your own ways and the only person that can be held responsible for that is you (and possibly your brother for causing you to try your hardest). So who really is the genius? The random occurrence or the hard working sibling?

And then there is the fact that you made your self a perfectionist by trying your best at every thing so is it really a disorder or something that is there because you want it to be there? If I went out and started acting like a wacko for fun and got thrown in a mental ward couldn?t I just stop acting and be normal again? You became a perfectionist to get attention because you had an abnormal brother but if you wanted too couldn?t you just stop seeking that attention for a while? Maybe long enough to take a look and see if the attention is really worth it if it means giving your self a disorder that is slowly eating away at your soul.

I know that all of that was based of speculation seeing as I know nothing about you or your brother, but I hope that I was at least sort of right in some ways?..

PeanutGod
06-08-2008, 06:17 PM
"From what I gather"

I'm going by a Doctors and a Psychiatrist's professional opinion here. Maybe it was the way I was brought up, maybe it was something I partially inflicted on myself. I'm not a shrink so I don't know.

Anyway, enough of discussing my issues, let's get back to the post at hand, eh? Writing.

Grey
06-08-2008, 06:20 PM
I tried to do some writing today but my brain decided to melt instead. Heat really isn't good for this sort of thing, nor is the amounts of alcohol I've been drinking lately...

Worst Player... ever
07-10-2008, 09:15 PM
I've always liked horror myself. my favorite all time author is Brian Lumley, who wrote the 'Necroscope' series. The first book is actually the worst of the series, and even that one is pretty good. I'd highly, highly recommend him. He's the type of guy who can spend 50 pages writing about nothing and I would still enjoy it. I'm currently reading 'Tale of a Body Thief' by Ann Rice... she's not bad. the problem overall is that it's difficult to horrify me anymore, since I've become desensitized to nearly any concept that you can throw at me.

Non-Horror fiction, I really enjoyed Mary Roach who writes morbid factual books, and James Clavell, who wrote Shogun and all of that associated series (Taipan was the best book out of that bunch, despite the fame of Shogun IMO).

I used to write short stories. I had a few fiction stories (horror/fantasy) posted on a website about 6-7 years ago, but I lost them when the website went defunct and my hard drive subsequently crashed. I also used to write for the sports department at my local newspaper, covering high school level games. It's always cool to see your story in print, and know it's being read by thousands of people. :)

I've got a couple of problems though. First, writing at a high level is really, really competitive and really, really hard. I'm not bad for a beginner. If I wrote a short story along with 99 other aspiring writers, I'm pretty sure that what I wrote would be in the top 25%. My stories got good feedback. But it's not good enough. There are people on these fansites who are absolutely brilliant and write for free. It would take years for me to get as good as they are. I've found that there's a border with any activity where you go from 'hobbyist' to 'really good'... and when you approach that border, the activity is no longer fun. It's serious... it takes a lot of hard work to cross that line.

My second problem is related to that. There are a few things that I do where I am at the 'Not bad for a beginner' level. For example, I like to write bad video games and I also like to draw on occasion. I'm not good enough at either of those things to brag about them, but I'm good enough to make me think I should work at them and try and get better. A little talent can be a dangerous thing. These other hobbies compete with writing for my time and creative energy, and over the past couple of years have tended to win. I just need to pick one thing and stick with it, I guess. :(

mdrew93
07-10-2008, 09:40 PM
I love Piers Anthoney's Xanth series. There are over 30 books in it with more on the way! I have about 20 of them. You guys should check them out! you can get them at most libraries.