PenStoryTeller

Proper grammer indicates that you use a period to indicate a pause. Ellipses are when things trail off. Like when someone ‘s voice drops to a mumble or you’re starting the dialogue in the. Example of the first. Paul turned on his heel, a hsi jaw firmly clenched as he stalked towards Rachelle. “If you come near my daughter again I swear I. Will. Kill you.” An example of the second. “...And that dear fellows is how I I lost my finger in a game of CHess with the Padishar of Iran” said Sir Reginald. ,, proudly displaying his maimed hand for effect. Tehcnically speakingyou can use whatever but the idea is to keep your punctuation style close to something the reader has already read. You can use whatever styyle uits your fancy but if it jars the user’s sensibilitries you’ll have a hard tiume getting them invested.

Here take this random, seemingly unimportant and in no way critical item.

Well tecnically you can but you’d basically require eact paragraph or sentence to completely disjointed from the previous. It’d basically be like changing a tv channel every 10 seconds. The joke is, there are people who will still find some connecting thread. Better phrase would be Porn Without Purpose. or Porn Without Presumption.

I sound masterful because I have many, many, many horrible first drafts and drabbles. I also take a lot of time to think about what i read; both the things I liked and disliked. That’s the important part. You need to think.. alot. And read a good deal to get a feel for the stuff that works for youy and doesn’t. Since I lean towards stoies that present fairly well fitting characters and a well hidden plot. I can’t take credit for that line. It’s a quotayion from another author whom i can’t remember but it’s one that’s stuck with me for obvious reasons. As for my works on AFF. I’ve got 4., though 2 are due fro some rewriting. Not the same thing - Pinky and the Brain Gosalyn's Gambit - Darkwing Duck Thursday - Animaniacs The Bet (ongoing) - Tiny toons Adventures PWP? One saying I came across recently was this. “You must always strive to be or, at the very least, appear to be impartial. Few things ruins a story for the reader more than knowing who God is rooting for.” Though even there, one can toy with the rule. Sherlock Holmes stories were a good example of this as were many mystery stories. It was a foregone conclusion that the mystery would be solved, so the fun wasseeing if you could figure out the mystery before the big reveal. Sir COnan Doyle sadly, often cheated.

Trust me. Pr authors have lots of unfinished drafts. Some because they can’t be motivated, or they’re no longer at a mental place where they can tell that story. others, will abandon a story because they see no profit from finishing it. Some authors die before they finish as well. For me I will say my fan fiic is sort of a warm up for my real novels which I’m working on. I started it mostly because I thought it was a good way to get feed back and hone my style…. I was at least half right. My style has improved a good deal and I’ve actually learned a fair deal from refining my writing process. But back to the matter of Chekov’s Gun. Remember, it is a tool. but like any tool the reader shouldonly be aware of it’s usage in hindsight if at all.Chekov’s gun, much like the red herring and the McGuffin are all elements of plot and plot is to a story what the skeleton is to a body. Just remember, the more others can see of your skeleton, the worse off you are.

That’s a good way to look at it. Just don’t front load. The last sentence of a story is immeasurably more important than the first. It’s a bad thing to turn the reader away at the begining. But, and I can attest to this, the worst thing you can do is end your book in such a way as to make the reader regret the time spent reading.. The first , the reader will think it’s just no their kinda of story and move on to something else. the latter , they get emotionally invested and follow page after page only to be met with a disappointing ending. Imagine if Tolkien had ended The Hobbbit with the whole adventure being just a dream in a sleeping Bilbo’s mind My own point of view is that you should give the reader an honest picture of what kind of story they’re in for so they can opt out.

There have always been people like yourself though. Even back in the days of Hans Christian Anderson himself. The point I was making is that many traditional publishers tend to focus on that particular pacing practice. Thus making it the one people are most familiar with. My point was that the possibilities available are greater than what we actually see presented, especially in mainstream traditional publishing.

NO problem. That’s the thing about writing. Keep your eyes open and you;lkl always find something interesting to play with.. Even the story structures we see so commonly aren’t that way because that’s how it’s done, they’re that way because that’s what publishers can easily package and market. Inb fact you’ll find that accounts for a lot of trends. Take the old gem that you need a strong opening paragraph, chapter, page. That’s not something the readers decided. Nope. In truth, readers re quite okay with stories that take their time to start slowly and build. That rule is basically there to make it easier for publishers to comb through their submission piles. They can’t afford to waste time reading 3 chapters in. If you don’t grab them wiuthin 10 pages, they toss your manuyscript to one side and grab the next one in the pile. As for literary tools. Well , nowadays people call them tropes but i call them tools. The same way, grammatical constructs and punctuation are in fact tools It’s why they say a goiod writer is well read. Reading and thinking about the works of others, gives you insight as to how the various tools are used to different effect and how you might use them in your own work.

Don’t worry about sounding cliched but like anything else. Be aware of it. Once you are, you can use it toshape and guide reader expectations, and then skillfully subvert or redirect them. It’s one thing to talk about the sword that could never be held or pulled from the stone. It’s another thing entirely to make the story hinge around it. See what I’m saying? You can make it seem like the all important thing is the five finger death punch. or you can subvert it and make the death punch irrelevant by introducing a gun. In which case your Chekov’s Gun has become a McGuffin or a Red Herring. Literary tools are fun to play with if you pay attention to what you’re doing. It’s why I liken them to tools. There are more ways to use a Hammer than most people can dream off.

Let’s put it this way. It can either be used as a tool in writing, or as a mind set that informs your use of other writing tools. It would be foolish to be against it in either case since there are many cases for its use. Chekov himself showed this in his works, as did Poe, Lovecraft and many others. Like any tool however, careless and reckless usage can yield unsatisfactory results. Here’s a common example of chekov’s gun in action. EVer notice that whenever a movie talkes about something being impossible, highly unlikely, or absurdly improbable it winds up happening. “That shot’s impossible to make without a targeting comnputer” “No one can pull the sword from the stone” “Atlantis is a favble and legend, reaching it is impossible” Abny of those famnous last words ring a bell? But as saiud, if you use it with hamfists you’ll basically make your readers go dizzy from the eye-rolling. Improperly used and you start telegraphing things like a an easy video game boss. and then the reader just wwinds up waiting for it which means they tend to start glossing over the rest of the details. So I;m not for or against the usage. I just advise that CHekov’s gun, like any gun, be wielded with care and responsibility. I think were Chekov still alive he would say. “ The audience should never be aware that something is a ‘Chekov’s Gun’ until the Gun is fired.(as it were).

In a word Op, yes. It is still a widely used trope both in film and literature. Mostlky because it deals with the need to be effecient in your story telling. Do not waste time with details that really serve no purpose. If you’re going to take the time to describe an ornate sword, then it better play some role of import. Chekov’s gun could be renamed ‘The rule of foreshadowing’ since that’s where it typically gets used. You hjave to remember CHekov specialized oin short p[lays and stories so the mindset is one of optimal effeciency.

Tricky question. The general rule is, assume your readers are a little smarter than you,. So whatever you think is subtle, needs to be subtler.

Deus Ex machina is fine. Just don’t use it too often and do our best to disguise it. trivializes the struggles of the characters otherwise. Put another way; you as the story teller should appear to the reader as the impartial narrator of events, not the invested dictator of outcomes. Nothing breaks the reader’s trance like realizing that the story teller is consciously favouring a character. This is usually the sign of the in experienced or where the author certainly should know better, lazy writing. I’ve seen works from proffessional big name authors that are essentially chains of deus ex machina. I should also clarify that deus ex machina’s hhave a scale iin which the more inexplicable they are, the less tolerated they will be. Having a piece of the bad guys armour fall off in the middle of a climatic battle is deus ex machina but if you pull it right you can make it seem plausible. Having the bad guy strck by lightnight just as he’s aboutv to strike the finishing blow. Or the hero manbifesting and display some hitherto unseen trat or skill.. t; that’;ll basically send your reader’s BS alarms into overdrive. Proper foreshadowing can be a good mix for Deus Ex machina. Mention the decript state of the building and the traces of dry rot in the wood ahgead of time and it won’t seem so strange when the floor caves in under the the bad guy, particularly if they are larger and more heavily armoured than the hero.

Well I wrote another fic. Pleasehave a look and please x2 leave a comment or review. The story is finished but I will be adding the chapters weekly. Author: Penstoryteller Title: The Bet Summary: Babs and Shirley have a friendly bet as to who’s post prom antics will be the steamiest. Who will win and what will Fifi have to say about it? Feedback: Feedback, comments and constructive critique are all encouraged Fandom: Tiny Toons Pairing: BusterxBabs, ShirleyxPlucky, HamtonxFifi. Solo story or chaptered story: Chaptered URL: http://cartoon.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095401

You can. Stereotypical villains can be interesting \. Or you could simply make the story less about the villain. Look at Lord of the RIngs. Did you notice that Sauron (despite being the big bad) never really factors in the story? He’s there, in the same way the trees the grass and the mountains are but he’s not the focus. In such cases the Villain is more treated as a force of nature, something the protagonist must react to, In these cases the meat of the story is what sort of actions, changes and reactions the villain brings out in the characters. The raptors in Jurassic Park, Jason Voorhees, The Shark from Jaws. These are prime examples of that. Not every story needs to be focused on a grand, looming conflict. Sometimes just the task of getting from A-B is enough. Sort of like in a video game.You aren’t thinking about the last boss fight. Your attention is focused on surviving one area at a time., and I’d say that makes for some thrilliung engagement.

I get ya. what i’m saying is, find the happy medium. I mean You don’t need to go over the top to add meaning to a character’s name. If you’ve done your caharcter right, whatever name you give them, will be defined by them. Sometimes you can get away with descriptive names.. See Last Unicorn: Shmendrick the magician and the Miserable King Haggard. But think about the name Bilbo Baggins. There’s a name that is pretty much nonsense, it was the whe way it was because it Tolkien liked the character names to be something you could sing.Think of of the Dwarves. Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur and of course Bombur. I suppose the best way to arrive at a good name for a place or character is to frequently read the story aloud to yourself. Your ears will tell you if the name sounds right. The names don’t have to hold meaning to the reader. They just have to hodl meaning to the character and the world they live in. There’s no wrong or right way, but paradoxically, you know when an author has skewed too far into not caring or gone overly pretetious with their naming scheme.

What is the purpose of your antagonist.Are they soimply an obstacle, or are they meant to be a straw man, or reflection of the hero? These are the sorts of questions you need to ask. Best advice I’ve heard.? Treat and write your antagonists as if they were the protagonist of a different story centred around the same events. That will generally get you thionking about them interms of who they are and why they are as opposed to them being convenient amorphous plot-spackle .

Easy. DOn’t overthink it. Go with the combination of phonemes that create just the right emotional impact you’re trying to go for.

The Deus Ex Machina is typically a trope born of poor planning , tight deadlines and frustration as much as it is lazy writing. A Deus Ex Machina like any writing tool, can be used to great effect. The greatest rule I’ve heard is that. COincicdeence and Chance should never solve problems. They may change the problems but if they solve the protagonist’s problems. It invariably trivializes the struggles of the protagonist. Worse,coincidence, chance, happenstance and deus Ex machina’s occur too frequently… it jettison’s the reader out of the experience. Too see deus Ex Machina done well. I’d recommend Reading A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony. But let’s take Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Bilbo finding the ring could be seen as Deus Ex Machina right there. But note. The ring does not actually unilaterally solve Bilbo’s problems. It merely gives him a tool to assist him in figuring out solutions to his problems. By itself the RIng is as much a risk as it is a boon.. One might also see the ruscue by the eagles as Deus Ex Machina, but again it doesn’t really solve their issuesso much as deliver them from one problem to another, and initially Bilbo isn’t certain if the Eagles are helping. See how that works? One trick is to make someonthing seem like Deus Ex when actually it’s something that you’ve been subtly dropping clues about: The protagonist is told about the age of the buildings in a particular part of town. ANother chapter someone off handedly remarks that a great fire in the cuty destroyed all but a few of the oldest wooden buildings. IN another chapter, mention the unusually rainy and humid season, they;ve had the last few months. SO when the wooden roof of the old chapel collapses during the climactic chase scene, allowing our heroes to escape. An astute reader will probably remember those tidbits, or pick them up during the second read through. Of course, the Chapel must have been one of the buildings that was spared in the fire, so the wood was very old, worse still, the ususually rainy and humid conditions would promote or accelerate rot in the old wood. STill random that it chose then to collapse but it';s not like a tree branch announces that it’s going to fall on your car during the night. If you need too use a Deus Ex Machina. Use it early in the story. Let it be part of the inciting incident. If you write your characters into a situation that you need to use a deus ex machina to get them out… then you’re not playing fair with the reader. The reader’s mind will shift from, “How will they get out of this situation” to “How will the writer get them out of this situation.”

If you want to leave hints and clues to your mystery, then you’re playing a dangerous game. Keep them subtle enough that the reader will recognize them in hindsight rather than use them as foreshadowing. Or in other words. Make your clues subtle enough that the reader won’t see it on the first read through but will recognize things during the second. The best clues are usually not what you show happening, but rather just alluding to something that happneed off page. Having the main character notice a tear in the cuff of the butler’s sleeve. Have an off hand comment that the woman was seen talking with someone named Marcus.

No set process. I just pick whatever rolls off the tongue. If I get thoughtful about it. I ask myself. What did their parents name them. Which gets me thinking about the background of the parents and the family upbringing. I rarely do that anymore since the name, is basically the most unimportant part of the character. You can name a character anything.A great souding name will not save a poorly written character.

Still there. Problem persists . SHould note I am using firefox.

trying now: Nope it still does it. It flashes my Member page for a split second and then bumps me back to login.

Ever since the site face lift I’ve been having an issue logging in. NOt a password error. Rather, It logs me in, I see my member page for a fraction of a second and then it redirects me back to the login screen.

Hey there. PenStoryTeller here. Just thought I’d give a plug to my most recent story. THursday.- http://cartoon.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095281 Author: PenStoryTeller Title: Thursday Summary: The story centers around Dr. Otto Scratchnsniff and the uncomfortable and rather frightening relationship he’s developed with his patient, Dot Warner. Feedback: Feedback and critique strongly desired. Fandom: Animaniacs Pairing: Dot x Dr. Sratchnsniff Warnings: It’s not particularly smutty or graphic. Mostly implied, but it does concern a minor. Solo story or chaptered story: IT’s a short chaptered story URL: : http://cartoon.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095281 And a big thanks to those who have already reviewed.