From alt.pub.dragons-inn Thu Dec 15 17:09:31 1994 Xref: netcom.com alt.pub.dragons-inn:7978 Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!crl.dec.com!crl.dec.com!jac.zko.dec.com!leggy.zk3.dec.com!orb!not-for-mail From: hutch@ibeam.jf.intel.com (Steve Hutchison) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [ADMIN] Writing Other People's Chars was re: another newbie... Date: 15 Dec 1994 17:19:07 -0000 Organization: Duchy of Wabesylvan Obspauk Lines: 111 Sender: news@Orb.Nashua.NH.US Message-ID: References: In-Reply-To: from "Liana Elandrian" at Dec 14, 94 10:40:37 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL11] Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I've added the ADMIN header so people can tell this isn't a story thread. It's a good idea to do that with discussions. Liana writes: > I don't *know* the official policy, but I don't like my characters > doing things that I don't think they'd do. And how can anyone else know > what I've got in mind when I write about this character I've created? > *Especially* when I've given very little information about her. The official policy was posted from the faq a few days ago, but it basically is, don't write what other characters are doing and post it without permission from their owners. The method used by those of us who are collaborating in writing is to use email -- if you are interacting with someone, you can write very short segments (which is a drag if you want to have things get done in less than years, or put in details, because the lag between posting and the other people getting the post can be as much as 3 weeks, in some cases. Normally it's about 2-4 days, which is not fun.) This is a lot like the way they do it on alt.dragons-inn (for which see discussion below). Or, you can go ahead and write what you think the general storyline would be, write dialogue and so forth for the other characters, and then email it to the other writer(s) so they can fix the places where their character appears. This can be a LOT of fun. You don't have to put in the complete interactions, you can end up changing the flow of the story that was sent to you, all sorts of things like that, but you have to be willing to let other people TOUCH your story. If that isn't something you want to do then you need to write just solo bits, and that can be fine too, but it's a LOT of fun doing the other kind of writing too. As for the issues of characters being written "strangely" by other people who don't understand them -- yes, this is EXACTLY why the custom arose of emailing posts for acceptance by owners of other characters who appear. This means, when someone says NO, you don't post until you can either fix the post (usually they'll write their bit) or until you can remove the section with their character in it -- which may mess up your story. Them's the risks of collaborating though, and I've seen it happen maybe once or twice in two+ years. > Well, I'm not a role-player--I'm a writer. There's a difference. I > have never played a role-playing game; I know nothing of role-playing > etiquette. I only know what I write. > And besides, I came here after spending almost a year over on a.d-i, > where we tend to do things a little differently. So I guess I'm bringing > a bit of a bias here, too. This is interesting. Since there wasn't really any discussion on the alt.config group when Dave Womack revived the alt.dragons-inn group, the newgroup didn't get honored in a lot of places. When the group alt.pub.cloven-shield was created it was supposed to supercede alt.d-i and alt.dragons-inn was linked or aliased to cloven-shield. That all happened before Womack found alt.dragons-inn and re-newgrouped it. I recently referred to it as a "ghost" -- this offended Dave, for which I should be sorry, but that was my understanding, since it doesn't exist on my main news machine. I had to go hunting on some other newsfeeds before I found it. Anyway, it's quite lively, and it has the same sort of "feel" that alt.pub.dragons-inn had when it first formed. > My characters are my own personal creations. They're all a part of > me, in some way or another. So how can I allow someone else to just jump > in and alter what is part of me? My thoughts and my feelings are tied up > in these characters, and I *don't* like others telling me what to think and > feel. > And before you say that I'm a bit too possessive, or that I'm too > involved with my characters... I'm a writer. I plan to do this for a > living once I graduate. OK -- this I have to reply to. I'm trying (after too many years) to get published. I've been frequenting the "writer" forums at several SF conventions recently, talking to editors, etc. I do not intend to stomp on your dreams. This is not saying "don't write" because you will waste a LOT of time if you don't write. But make sure you have other skills or that you will be able to get into some other career at the same time, because writing will not pay the bills. There are thousands of members of the SF Writers Association of America. There are maybe ten who are able to make a living only from their writing. Most of these got their start under different market and publishing circumstances than exist now. You will have to work your way up to the point where you can support yourself on your writing. So, make sure you can get a day job, one that you can live with, because you'll need it, at least for a while. Also, you're going to have to learn to "let go" of your characters and your stories. Yes, this is a good place to practice that. In the real world there are these critters called "editors" who absolutely get in the way of you ever being published, if you can't work with them. You will have to be able to tear out scenes you sweated blood over, you will have to deal with them saying really stupid things and realize that they are your reader and if they think your character was doing something weird, then you better re-examine that section. You're going to have to be able to defend yourself from them too. And the collaborative writing style that happens here can let you learn how to do that but you have to be willing to let other people rewrite sections of your prose, tweak your dialogue, and put words and actions onto YOUR characters. I've got several characters here who reflect some part of my personality, or what I wish my personality was like (grin) and I don't like it when people mess them up. I had to figure out how to write with people who didn't know the "voice" or the way that some of my characters would act. Oh yeah -- not every character should be a reflection of some deeply treasured part of yourself. I totally despise Archmage Thorn, who I didn't create but who I have written more than most other folks, so I'm stuck with "defining" him when people ask. Hutch