Conversation Between Somewhere_ and Bardothren
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  1. Somewhere_
    October 24th, 2016 6:00 PM
    Somewhere_
    What did you think of me applying the true definition of "rightful" and "legitimate," and applying them to politics as i sort of explained?

    Im almost 17, but I tend to be into "adult" stuff, like history books, political theory and economics books, etc.

    Balance. A character so focused on details he misses the obvious. So focused on the future, he misses what he has now (hint for tragedy here). I want the reader to question the ethics of the main character, so he is good-intentioned, but sometimes has bad means. Question the morality of ostracism vs the pragmatism of ostracism. I kinda want this to be a running theme, and this can applied to the character's relationships- who does he let into his life and not let into his life?

    Much of my thinking is philosophical meandering in real life. xD But ya, i gotcha.

    The beginning will consist of grotesque details and introspection. With an action-packed climax and ending that is stand-alone, but could continue for more.
  2. Bardothren
    October 24th, 2016 5:21 PM
    Bardothren
    Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, I should warn that Junot Diaz' story is intended for a slightly older audience. I'm guessing you're old enough to handle it, but you've been warned.
  3. Bardothren
    October 24th, 2016 5:20 PM
    Bardothren
    That story in question is a professionally written work by Junot Diaz. A quick google search should bring it up.

    What I refer to by balance are traits that complement each other and allow the character to struggle. Extreme cases of imbalance include Mary Sue characters, grim edgelords who find pain and suffering in everything, the like. It's important to flesh out characters with traits that have both positive and negative aspects... such as an optimist who always motivates everyone around them with their positive attitude but often fails to see the shortcomings of their own plans.

    You should also be careful of exploratory "bathtub" stories, or stories that don't have any action. Such stories often get bogged down in philosophical meandering and fail to hold an audience's attention. The key is change - it's perfectly possible to have a dynamic story take place in a jail cell with someone's thoughts as long as there's a journey made with those thoughts.

    I personally would avoid an introspective story, but that's mainly because that plays with a lot of my weaknesses as a writer and none of my strengths. So, another advice I have is to write what you're good at and practice what you're not... either path leads to improvement as an author.
  4. Somewhere_
    October 24th, 2016 4:46 PM
    Somewhere_
    to be honest, Im really liking this world. I might write a paragraph a week or something for the multiverse!

    Where is that 2nd person story? Did someone on PC write it?

    I was thinking just writing how the character thinks. Idk if that is proper though. What do you mean by balance and the proper way to portray the character?

    I might write it similar to how I wrote my other story (hope) in the writing section of PC. The character starts in a unique prison cell. It seems like my pace. More descriptive and exploratory than adventure and action. And I can always have the option of the story i mentioned early with actual adventure and crap.
  5. Bardothren
    October 24th, 2016 4:34 PM
    Bardothren
    Whatever floats your boat. In any world, much like the real world, there's a story to tell for every person that lives in it. I'm personally more partial to the tried and true third person omniscient narrator, but I have done some first-person perspective from time to time and even tried second-person for the heck of it. I think the second-person narration turned out pretty well, but it's quite a gamble from a narrative perspective. Second-person asks the reader to step into the shoes of a character, which can have interesting results if the role and the reader's perspective clash. There was one interesting story, called "How to Date a BrownGirl (Blackgirl, White Girl, or Halfie)" which pulls this off with aplomb, and I'd recommend it for a quick read if you want to see what second-person perspective can do.

    I'd also look to balance out your character. It'll be quite difficult to portray a character that has minimal human contact, so you should be wary of how you approach a desolate wasteland setting. There's a million and one ways to make this scenario work - it's largely how you write it.
  6. Somewhere_
    October 24th, 2016 3:56 PM
    Somewhere_
    I loved Koutesu no Kabaneri lol. I draw from another book series a bit, but I forget the series. I read it in middle school. I also read a few steampunk/dystopian mangas over the summer. Not to mention, my usual fascination with zombies and political theory.

    I think my MC would be a young man/late teen, who is a son of a criminal. Which is important of course because criminals are ostracized and not accepted in any kingdom; however, immigration from other city-states is welcome. And gang members/former gang members are easily distinguishable because of looks, general attitudes, etc. And the MC is sort of in-between- not a gang member or criminal, but quite a member of the city-states. So he does not fit in anywhere.

    I never mentioned a mother, so his goal could be looking for his mother across the various city-states and gangs. Possibly to only find his mother as stored information in a robot or database or something, where the personality is the same and everything.

    I love writing in first person, so I would most likely write in journal entries. I could also write in journal entries of many, many different people to build up the world I guess. Or just write Hunger Games-style- 1st person and in the present tense. I think i prefer the last option.
  7. Bardothren
    October 24th, 2016 3:30 PM
    Bardothren
    Sounds a bit like Koutetsu no Kabaneri (heavily fortified trains, walled in city states, zombies everywhere, that sort of stuff). You've got quite a world thought up, all it needs is a plot and you're good to roll. A merchant trying to keep his train caravans safe seems like an excellent frame for a story in this world... lots of conflict, a wider perspective of the world, and a lot at stake.
  8. Somewhere_
    October 24th, 2016 3:23 PM
    Somewhere_
    Well at least you arent forever alone like me lol.

    You can survive outside the walls, but its very difficult. The zombies are highly intelligent and hunt in groups, so you have to avoid where they congregate and nest.

    There are also gangs and various renegade groups that hold territory, but they are unsafe compared to kingdoms and they tend to be violent. Especially towards women because kids do not live too long. They are violent because gangs are made up of ostracized criminals and former groups rejected by the initial creation of the city-states.

    Sometimes gangs make contracts with the city-states to keep the outside area safe, especially when they trade with the trains.

    The kingdoms do not cleanse the lands of zombies if they are totally protected by walls because they do not venture outside the walls. The kingdoms with territory outside the walls will. But they are usually only temporary fixes to the zombie problem.

    kingdoms trade with other kingdoms with highly fortified trains. But they can be unreliable because of gang raids or zombie attacks depending on the location. Also many, many people died building them.

    People inside the city-states are fairly wealthy because many of the lower-class died in the original construction. Within city-states, the economies do very good. the economies grow, especially when the trains are successful in trade. However, population growth is slow because of lack of farming space (which hinders the economies a bit). The economies of the gangs rely on parasitism and minimal trading. They are mostly self-sufficient.
  9. Bardothren
    October 24th, 2016 1:37 PM
    Bardothren
    Sounds like an interesting premise. Is it possible to survive outside the walls and if so, how? Is trade possible, and how risky a venture is it? What about communication between kingdoms? Do the kingdoms try to cleanse the nearby lands of zombies or leave them as they are? There's a million and one questions, and each answer you provide fleshes out another corner of your world.

    EDIT: and I suppose I'd be in the market for a girlfriend, but I'm not interested enough at the moment to put any effort into it. Oh well.
  10. Somewhere_
    October 24th, 2016 12:31 PM
    Somewhere_
    dude ya need a girlfriend/boyfriend! xD Im trying to get a girlfriend, but eh. Im going to begin exercising regularly, so maybe ill look more attractive. Im also just terrible with relationships. I think I'm too nice lol.

    i see. Perhaps by focusing on a single world I am limiting plot potential. Well, I also love post-apacolypictic stories. A world with zombies in a post-libertarian /NrX society would be sick now that I think about it... it just feels dark. Idk how to explain it, but its like it makes sense. Possibly some steampunk.

    Basically, strong borders are something that would occur in a totally NrX society, as well as possibly extreme sectionalism as well between city-states. Im thinking of a very decentralized post-libertarian version, rather than an Ancient Regime powerful-monarchical world.

    So the main character is the son of an evicted criminal from a kingdom. And he desires amnesty in a kingdom, and of course all kingdoms are surrounded more or less by walls. With zombies outside. But of course they aren't the slow zombies- they are more like black humanoid creatures with leathery skin, long sharp nails, and flesh-tearing teeth. I have the image perfect in my head because i love to use these creatures in imaginary scenarios.

    And the zombies will be the explanation of the various kingdoms/city states as the city states (backdrop) spawn from former government.
  11. Bardothren
    October 24th, 2016 12:09 PM
    Bardothren
    Two dates? That's two dates more than I've had :P

    I suppose that starting with plot makes it easier to see interest than starting with a world, but I'm sure that something will occur to you eventually. also, doesn't seem like the reply went to my notifs so I'll check it out.
  12. Somewhere_
    October 24th, 2016 8:43 AM
    Somewhere_
    thanks for reading it lol. I replied to you, but idk if it goes into your notifications.

    That was really helpful actually! xD I dont really get attached to people in real life (except my parents), so I think it will be difficult for me to get the reader attached to characters. And I can't really have a love interest because I have never been in a relationship longer than 2 dates and I failed to kiss when I had the chance lol.

    The problems of the characters definitely depend on the political system. For example, a population under a monarch would be less happy with the political system and be unified under natural opposition to the monarch (at least in the beginning stages as class consciousness decreases over time) While in a democracy, sectionalism is more of a thing, and class consciousness is non-existed between ruled and ruler, but more apparent in rich vs poor (and this increases over time).

    A culture under monarchy becomes less liberty orientated over time, then at the end stage, it shoots through the roof. while a culture under a democracy becomes increasingly egalitarian over time.

    Cultures under monarchy would be much more religious, and under democracy, much more secular.

    There is more, but i wont bore you.

    What would the characters want though? I dont know. If I created a post-libertarian/NrX society with monarchs, the monarchs would probably have minor territory struggles. But those wars are between monarchs and the people aren't involved; towns arent destroyed, so I couldn't do a "character caught in the middle of this larger conflict" sort of story.
  13. Bardothren
    October 23rd, 2016 5:23 PM
    Bardothren
    I may have read it... I also just saw your first blog entry :)

    As for sad and tragic... what a coincidence! My blog entry's about death, the nuke of all feel-stabs. Maybe that'll help?

    As for political theory in narrative... in all things with life, thinking about peoples' interest is vital to understanding how the world works, and interest ties everything together. Let the fuel for your political discourse also fuel the conflict in the story... what problems would individuals have in this system and what wants will they struggle to achieve?
  14. Somewhere_
    October 23rd, 2016 5:18 PM
    Somewhere_
    I think I want to just write it like a history book lol. That would interest me. But no one else. I literally have no clue how an actual story could fit into it all.

    to be honest, I think something like I wrote in the fanfic section would fit me better. Have you read "Hope?"

    I think ill work on brainstorming. But I want something sad. Something where the main character or good guys lose. A tragedy with a lot of emotional investment. I just dont think i have the skill.

    Its almost better for me to stick with political theory. My imagination explodes with political theory. While i do have a good imagination for stories, I just can't write it out like i can political theory. Maybe because political theory aims to be objective, and is thus limited to logic?
  15. Bardothren
    October 23rd, 2016 5:09 PM
    Bardothren
    The key to making a story is to put two interests at odds with one another. That's all it takes. Have two people want something and make it so only one of them gets it. Interest creates conflict, conflict creates tension, tension creates interest.