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Message no. 1
From: shadowrn@*********.com (xerxes)
Subject: Writing SR fiction
Date: Thu Jun 28 17:25:01 2001
[Deactivating lurking mode]
Howdy all,

After reading some excellent fiction on the net (Shapcano, Rat, Nightsky and DeckerM I can
recommend to all of you) I've decided to give it a go. I've got a decent idea for an all
evil
screw-over plot that just has to be there in SR, and a good idea about the characters.
My question to those of you a bit more experienced at this than me is whether it would
be sensible to work out the whole plot, twists and characters before you start writing
the actual thing or just let it form as you are writing it. Being a complete chaotic
person
the second one seems more appealing to me, but then again it might be a waste of time as
well.
So all mighty guru's, please give this mortal some advice. :)

Then another question:
Dont read on if you havent read any of the newer novels

<SPOILER SPACE>


...







...




<still spoiler space>





......












............






I think it was in Technobabel that Leonardo got whacked by Lofwyr, and there are
references to it in at least one other novel. He was talking about this
task that he was working on, extremely important vital to the survival of the
world etc during his last seconds. Is it known yet what that was?

All mighty Guru's please honor this mere mortal's request. :c)


Xerxes
[Engaging lurking mode]
Message no. 2
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Curtis Askren)
Subject: Writing SR fiction
Date: Thu Jun 28 19:15:05 2001
--- xerxes <a.j.denhollander@*******.utwente.nl>
wrote:
> [Deactivating lurking mode]
> Howdy all,
>
> After reading some excellent fiction on the net
> (Shapcano, Rat, Nightsky and DeckerM I can
> recommend to all of you) I've decided to give it a
> go. I've got a decent idea for an all evil
> screw-over plot that just has to be there in SR, and
> a good idea about the characters.
> My question to those of you a bit more experienced
> at this than me is whether it would
> be sensible to work out the whole plot, twists and
> characters before you start writing
> the actual thing or just let it form as you are
> writing it. Being a complete chaotic person
> the second one seems more appealing to me, but then
> again it might be a waste of time as well.
> So all mighty guru's, please give this mortal some
> advice. :)
>


Well... Here is my advice.

I tend to be rather chaotic. But, from my experiences
at just letting it flow onto the paper, I tend to
write myself into holes. I'll make intricate little
sub-plots, focusing so much detail on this one little
step, then focus on the next step... then look up from
what I'm doing and go "Why is this going over -there-?
I was taking it over -here-, and THIS doesn't... I
mean, what the hell IS this?" Think of it as... laying
down sticks in a line from point A to point B, but
keeping your nose two inches from the ground. It gets
that way, is how I feel.

My advice is to write out a plot before hand. Just a
rough draft. What I do, is kinda draw a little map. I
want them to do this, then go here, then go here, and
end up here. I fill it all in be "letting it flow".
;-)

After that, I clean it all up, and promply feed it to
the dogs.

No complaints so far though.

Hope it helps. Maybe. Or it might completely screw you
up, give you writters block, and you can end up hating
me forever.

Dr.Vyk

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Message no. 3
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Augustus)
Subject: Writing SR fiction
Date: Thu Jun 28 21:25:00 2001
----- Original Message -----
From: xerxes <a.j.denhollander@*******.utwente.nl>
> My question to those of you a bit more experienced at this than me is
whether it would
> be sensible to work out the whole plot, twists and characters before you
start writing
> the actual thing or just let it form as you are writing it.

Its different if you are writing a novel or a short story.

If its a short story, you want to have a rough idea of whats going to
happen, but for the most part, you can just come up with stuff on the fly
and fill in the blanks as you go.

If you are writing a novel, or even a long short story, you will probably
want to write out the basic plot of the story, the main sub plots and detail
out the characters. This will help preserve continuity in the work and give
you a basis for how to fill in any blanks that come up.

Detailing the plot can be somewhat important, so that you don't end up
painting yourself into a corner or put yourself into a situation you can't
resolve... deleting a few dozen pages to fix a mistake can really put a
damper on the experience.

Other than that, hope it goes well,

Clint
Augustus
Message no. 4
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Bryan Pow)
Subject: Writing SR fiction
Date: Thu Jun 28 21:40:00 2001
The way you write depends very much on who you are and how you feel about writing. In know
people
who do it 100% right off the cuff, their stories are interesting and surprising if
somewhat
lacking in theme and plot. Me personally, I like to have an exact idea of the the purpose
of my
story (I prefer to write short stories that have one distinct idea) and so need to know
where and
when everything will fit. I view my stories as a movie that i have a script for, and in
writing
it am doing the filming, everything needs to happen on que and with timming.
I'm guessing that you will fall in the middle somewhere. You would probably do well to
have an
end point and various sequences and scenes that you want to occur, but the rest will come
from
that. Some find it usefull to write own all the bits they have inspiration on first and to
fill
the rest later. Say if you have this fight scene itching to get out of your head, then
write it.
This helps insure that the parts you are excited and inspired about occur in your story as
you
first imagined them, and you won't have to force fit them later. But it does become hard
sometimes if you have written alot of such ideas and you can't seem to link them together.
Hope that helped


Ein scharfes Schwert schneidet sehr, eine scharfe Zunge noch viel mehr.
The tongue is sharper than any sword.
Message no. 5
From: shadowrn@*********.com (Rat)
Subject: Writing SR fiction
Date: Fri Jun 29 11:40:01 2001
From: xerxes <a.j.denhollander@*******.utwente.nl>

>
> [Deactivating lurking mode]
> Howdy all,
>
> After reading some excellent fiction on the net (Shapcano, Rat,
> Nightsky and DeckerM I can recommend to all of you) I've decided
> to give it a go. I've got a decent idea for an all evil
> screw-over plot that just has to be there in SR, and a good idea
> about the characters. My question to those of you a bit more experienced
> at this than me is whether it would be sensible to work out the whole
> plot, twists and characters before you start writing
> the actual thing or just let it form as you are writing it. Being a
> complete chaotic person the second one seems more appealing to me,
> but then again it might be a waste of time as well.
> So all mighty guru's, please give this mortal some advice. :)
>

Glad to hear we're gonna have some new blood in the SR Fiction
department!

For my first piece of advice, I suggest that you head on over
to the Shadowrun Writers' Forum:

http://pub10.ezboard.com/bshadowrunwritersforum.html

where you'll find a whole bunch of helpful folks who love
to pontificate, answer questions, and generally make themselves
useful in between bouts of fiction writing. :)

As for the actual writing, I can't stress the value of outlines
more. The more convoluted the plot, the more useful the outline.
At minimum I need to have a bare-bones list of the story's
major events to go by--that way I can add in foreshadowing and
have some idea where I'm headed before I get there. No need to
bog yourself down, though--if your outline is too detailed it
can hinder your creativity to make changes in the story.

Of course, there are other writers who just start writing and
go until they're done, and they produce some really good stuff
too (Shapcano writes like this, for example) so it all depends
on your temperament, how well you can keep track of lots of plot
threads in your head (I can't), and what you need to motivate
you.

Hope this helps. And you *will* post your story for us to read
when you're done, yes? =)

--Rat

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Rat - winterhawk@*********.net http://www.magespace.net
Winterhawk's Virtual Magespace - Shadowrun Fiction and More!
"If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that
thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats."
--Lemony Snicket
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