Kymme Learns to Write

[Kymme]

Before I begin, a disclaimer:

Yes, I was inspired by the LEGENDARY Thanqol to make this thread. I want to challenge myself, just as he did.


So, story time: Ever since I was young, I have been telling stories to people. My parents, as well as the rest of my family, told me that since I could walk I was a natural storyteller. This "talent" then developed as I became older, and nearly everyone I knew wanted me to be a writer when I grew up, and for a while, I did too.

Now, as the years went by, as I began to read more and more and more books, from better and better and better authors, something occurred to me: What could I do to compare to these people, these giants in the world of literature? Was I really that good of a writer? That question haunted me for years, and I began to write less and less.

Now, at 16 years old, I can answer that question.

No.

I'm really not that as good of a writer as I think I am. I don't compare to real authors. And not writing isn't going to change that.

So, time to get better.

And that, everyone, is the purpose of this thread. I am going to challenge myself. I am going to write EVERY DAY, rain or shine, getting better and better. Starting now.

Edit:
Now, I'm going to begin a very, very intensive project. I'm going to write a novel. Yeah.

Day 1
Harlequin

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The boy struggled in vain against his shackles. The iron cuffs remained firmly attached to the wall behind him. They boy hung his head in defeat, and knew that it was hopeless. He was trapped.

The boy looked around the small concrete room, peering through the eyeholes of his mask. He was trapped, alright, but not alone. He shared this room with three others. One, an older lady in a ripped red dress, the other, an unconscious man in a hooded coat, maybe twenty. A normal young man might find the woman’s green eyes and buxom figure beautiful, but not this boy. His eyes passed over her as if she was a foreign creature, and he looked on, to the last of his fellow prisoners.

This final prisoner was an old man, with a shock of white hair that frizzled out in all directions. The man wore blue overalls, and he was absentmindedly chewing on a toothpick. They boy couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something about the man mesmerized him. Perhaps it was the man’s calm countenance, or maybe his posture, casually leaning against the concrete wall, shackled hands at his sides.

While the boy was contemplating this man, the young man to his left began to stir. He opened his eyes, and the boy noticed that he had eyes that shined silver, like the coins the boy had seen in the hands of other children. This, too, was oddly mesmerizing to the boy, and he was startled yet again as the old man beside him spoke.

[Kymme]

Day 2
Assorted Haikus

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Equinox
One day out of all,
endless summertime it brings.
Longest of the year.

Master
Behind paper screen,
knuckle bones held in my grasp.
"Roll Initiative."

[TaiLiu]

Heh. I must admit, I had not expected poetry.

[Kymme]

Heh. I must admit, I had not expected poetry.

Well, to be fair, I never did say exactly what I would write. Only that I would.

[TaiLiu]

Well, to be fair, I never did say exactly what I would write. Only that I would.

Oh, indeed, which is why I'm surprised that I'm surprised.

I await your next prompt eagerly. (Is it only English, or...?)

[Kymme]

Oh, indeed, which is why I'm surprised that I'm surprised.

I await your next prompt eagerly. (Is it only English, or...?)

While I do have a bit of knowledge of the French language, I don't think that I will be writing anything in any language besides English for quite some time. So, no surprises like that.

[Kymme]

Day 3
Tucker and the Trial

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Tucker Aurelius was a fool. A brave and powerful fool, but a fool nonetheless.

He narrowly avoided the massive chunk of stone hurtling his way, and leapt back up onto his feet. Standing about twenty yards away was a massive golem, a construction of iron and magic in the shape of a giant solder, clad in heavy armor from head to toe. Its enormous bulk filled up nearly half the stone chamber they both were trapped inside.

The golem reached up to the already hole-filled ceiling, ripping another chunk of stone from the rock. Tucker grimaced, tensing his muscles to leap out of the way. The knight would have tried to call out to the golem, reason with it, if not for one thing: It was a robot. Nobody reasons with robots.

Tucker narrowed his eyes, focusing inward, concentrating on his aura. His eyes began to glow, and his aura sprang into existence as a powerful blue radiance. Then, the aura began to change.

The golem heaved the boulder forward, its armor creaking under the strain. The chunk of ceiling soared through the air, trailing a cloud of dust. Then, a massive blue paw shot out, and batted the fragment of stone out of the air.

A colossal tiger, thirty feet long, stood over Tucker. A wispy tendril connected the two of them together. The tiger roared a challenge, and crouched down, ready to pounce. The golem turned its attention away from the sundered roof, and charged the Tiger. Tucker leapt towards the creature, and his tiger aura followed. Tucker struggled to keep his balance as the golem’s steps shook the room, and he launched himself into the air.

Tucker, his tiger aura, and the golem all met in one momentous clash.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tucker, the boy knight, picked himself up off the floor. Standing before him, sliced in two, was the husk of the great golem. Beyond it, a door had opened to another hallway.

“Well,” he said. “Three down, ninety seven to go.”

He advanced forward, to challenge four.

[TaiLiu]

A brave and powerful fool, but a fool none the less.

Is nonetheless not a singular word?

[Kymme]

Is nonetheless not a singular word?

By Jove, you're right!

I don't know how I missed that. Thank you for pointing that out!

[TaiLiu]

By Jove, you're right!

I don't know how I missed that. Thank you for pointing that out!

Say, who is this Jove fellow, anyway?

[Kymme]

Say, who is this Jove fellow, anyway?

I've not the slightest clue. Interesting man, I would bet.

[TaiLiu]

I've not the slightest clue. Interesting man, I would bet.

Definitely. You should write about him.

[Kymme]

Definitely. You should write about him.

Perhaps I should.

*rubs hands together*

[Kymme]

Day 4
The Bright Boxer

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The earth rumbled as the warparty advanced. They numbered two score, and were stretched thin on the narrow path. The group was moving along the coastline, with hundred foot cliffs inland, and sharp coral and brackish tides out to sea.

At the head of the warparty, Colonel Miles Broche walked. He was a tall, heavily built man, who always wore a look as if he was about to strangle someone. The Colonel turned to the man beside him.

“Sergeant, what’s the word?”

The Sergeant, Bailey, looked up from the small tablet he was holding. The tablet showed a topographical map of the nearby area, with the warparty in the center. “We are approaching the domain of the Bright Boxer, sir.”

The Colonel narrowed his eyes. All of the tribes and villages they had passed through had warned them about this passage. It seemed that this narrow stretch of coastline was guarded by a creature known as the Bright Boxer, some sort of ancient monster from the war, centuries past. The Boxer was said to be able to crack the very mountains with a single punch, and the sole survivors of its attacks had only ever seen a bright, blinding light.

These accounts didn’t threaten the Colonel, or his men, for they had their own ancient relic. Standing towards the center of the line was a Warmech, Class 3, MK XI, Scout Chassis. It stood 18 feet tall on huge, triple jointed legs, and carried a light Anti-materiel Cannon on one arm, and a heavy Auto-Gun battery on the other. The whole thing shown a silvery grey color, and glinted in the sunlight.

The Colonel turned his attention to the path ahead, and then he saw it. Beneath the water, there was a brilliant multicolored shimmering. The Colonel snapped his visor down, cutting off the glare. A creature, long, perhaps 20 feet long, was moving along the coral. The Colonel called back, and he and his men drew their weapons. They turned to the creature, and waited.

The thing moved up until it was about ten yards from shore. Then, it leaped; bursting out of the water in a geyser. As soon as the beast cleared the water’s surface, the soldiers and the Warmech opened fire. The cloud of bullets hit the beast, but they simply bounced off of its hide.

It landed in the center of the warparty, and the Colonel finally got a good look at it. The creature looked like some sort of massive lobster, but brilliant purple, green, and blue. Where its massive claws would be, there were only two small arms, tucked up to its chest.

Before Miles could even blink, one of the arms shot out, and there was a sickening crunch as a soldier was thrown away. The soldier tumbled through the air like a ragdoll, landing in the water nearly three hundred feet away.

So this is the Bright Boxer, the Colonel thought. Gods help us. Gods help us all.

The Colonel was snapped back into reality by Sergeant Bailey. “Sir, what do we do?!”

Colonel Miles did not answer him, but he did shout out to the Warmech. “Pilot! OPEN FIRE!”

The Warmech responded by firing its Anti-materiel cannon. There was a deafening boom, and the glowing projectile lanced forward, straight for the Boxer. One of the creature’s arms shot out, and swatted the shell away. It exploded into the wall hundreds of feet behind the monster. The soldiers looked on, stunned, until the monster swatted another one of them screaming into the water. Then, they ran.

People sprinted way, trying desperately to get away from the creature. The Warmech, too, began to back away, reloading its cannon. The Boxer sprang forward, landing before the Mech. One arm shot out, snapping the Warmech’s left ankle like a twig. Then its other arm shattered the Mech’s knee, sending chunks of metal spraying into the sea. The machine began to crumble, but the Bright Boxer flicked it aside like a child’s toy, and advanced forward, to the Colonel.

The last thing Miles Broche ever saw were its brilliant, shimmering eyes.

[Deathkeeper]

Say, who is this Jove fellow, anyway?

When I read Ovid the name was used as an alternate for Jupiter.
And if that's not right I need to seriously correct that paper.

[TaiLiu]

They numbered two score...

Hm. Isn't it 'twoscore?'

When I read Ovid the name was used as an alternate for Jupiter.
And if that's not right I need to seriously correct that paper.

Oh, I see. Fascinating.

[Kymme]

Hm. Isn't it 'twoscore?'

Hm. I've heard it said with a pause between them, so I just figured it was two words. I might be wrong, though.

And yeah, giant Mantis Shrimp and all that.

[TaiLiu]

Hm. I've heard it said with a pause between them, so I just figured it was two words. I might be wrong, though.

Hm. Maybe they're variants of each other.

And yeah, giant Mantis Shrimp and all that.

I must admit, it is rather difficult to comment on your writing. You desire to get better at writing, but it is a general goal. If it were story writing, then one would expect a single story, so that one may comment and critique on the various aspects of it. However, it is not, and one finds that one has nothing to say but to comment on grammar.

Perhaps, if I were a teacher or professional, I would have more to say, and offer better assistance, but I am unfortunately neither of those.

[Kymme]

Hm. Maybe they're variants of each other.

I must admit, it is rather difficult to comment on your writing. You desire to get better at writing, but it is a general goal. If it were story writing, then one would expect a single story, so that one may comment and critique on the various aspects of it. However, it is not, and one finds that one has nothing to say but to comment on grammar.

Perhaps, if I were a teacher or professional, I would have more to say, and offer better assistance, but I am unfortunately neither of those.

I see. Well, my real goal, I suppose, is just to write more, as to get better. I would like to get better at portraying characters, and writing stories, specifically. Nobody has to critique my stuff, and I could care less if anybody payed attention to this thread. All I want to do is write more often, so I never forget how much I love this thing that is writing.

That being said, if anyone has any advice, or any ways I can improve the writings that I post on this thread (as well as future works), that would be amazing.

[Duck999]

Do you ever record these ideas for the books you will write because you are a wonderful writer? I would record these somewhere. I would love to do something like this is I ever found the time.
With time, you could make drawings for the stories.
Ever going to write a story about Jove? If not, I would like to know so I can write a story about Jove.
By Jove! 3 edits in about 4 minutes!

[Kymme]

Perhaps...

... We could both write stories about Jove?

[Duck999]

True, and if you want to be a writer, we can be your editors. First with nonetheless, now right instead of write. Then again, I've found plenty of typos in books, and once or twice I found a typo In a museum.

[Kymme]

Oh gods, you're right!

I shall have to go back and edit out that ridiculous typo!

(Did I say "right" correctly this time?)

[Thanqol]

Earlier in my career I decided to devote myself entirely to written communication because I was told to be good at it. That single minded focus succeeded in making me actually good at it. As far as this stuff goes, I reckon I got it down.

In which case I've got several hints.

- Play By Post games. Join a bunch. They're essentially extremely focused writing exercises that can greatly expand your perspective and effectiveness so long as you treat them as a challenge rather than a rote.

I write 3-6 times as much as one of your updates every day just keeping up with my PBP games, and I do it for fun.
- Fanfiction. Oh my god, you have no idea how much writing My Little Pony fanfiction improved my writing skill.
- Self reflective learning. You liked reading something? Figure out why. Something left a bad taste? Figure out why. Sperging on forums is a terrible idea for changing other people's minds but it's a brilliant way to figure out how YOU think.

Next point is that writing challenges are really interesting. I'll pose more down the line, but my first one for you is voice.

Challenge one is to write an extended conversation between three or more individuals with no "He said" "She said" descriptions, all you got are the words in between the quotation marks. Your objective is to A) Make it entertaining because otherwise it's a waste and B) Keep the voices clearly distinct and seperate. You should be able to tell who is talking without being told who is talking at all times! Good luck!

[Thanqol]

Oh, one more thing. The hardest part of writing is structure. Structure, pacing, the transitions from scene to scene and mood to mood. It's also by far the hardest thing to practise because you need to write a completed story to see how it fits together.

It's also notable that, well, you know the saying 'great movie/game but the ending sucked'? Because very few people actually practise endings. They're hard to practise because there's so much to get through before you can do one!

One of the perennial authorial banes is just to start writing openings and never progressing beyond that; that is the face of writer's block.

The first thing I actually did on this forum, in this Arts&Crafts section, was a story called Sound and Fury. It was pretty mediocre but it was the first story I ever completed. It taught me more than a thousand witty openings and it set the tone for all the writing I've done since. Plenty of times I felt like dumping it but I powered through and saw the ending and that made it all worthwhile.

Consider it. Plow through to the terrible end and then dump it and start again. Old saying goes is that every author has a certain amount of utter garbage they've got to get out of their system before they can start writing quality material - I know I had about five years worth.

[Kymme]

Earlier in my career I decided to devote myself entirely to written communication because I was told to be good at it. That single minded focus succeeded in making me actually good at it. As far as this stuff goes, I reckon I got it down.

In which case I've got several hints.

- Play By Post games. Join a bunch. They're essentially extremely focused writing exercises that can greatly expand your perspective and effectiveness so long as you treat them as a challenge rather than a rote.

I write 3-6 times as much as one of your updates every day just keeping up with my PBP games, and I do it for fun.
- Fanfiction. Oh my god, you have no idea how much writing My Little Pony fanfiction improved my writing skill.
- Self reflective learning. You liked reading something? Figure out why. Something left a bad taste? Figure out why. Sperging on forums is a terrible idea for changing other people's minds but it's a brilliant way to figure out how YOU think.

Next point is that writing challenges are really interesting. I'll pose more down the line, but my first one for you is voice.

Challenge one is to write an extended conversation between three or more individuals with no "He said" "She said" descriptions, all you got are the words in between the quotation marks. Your objective is to A) Make it entertaining because otherwise it's a waste and B) Keep the voices clearly distinct and seperate. You should be able to tell who is talking without being told who is talking at all times! Good luck!

I accept your challenge, good sir. I shall make it Day 5's goal to write and extended conversation.

And also, I actually have joined a pbp on another forum, but it seems to be on hiatus. I shall take a look around these forums for others to join.

[Thanqol]

I accept your challenge, good sir. I shall make it Day 5's goal to write and extended conversation.

And also, I actually have joined a pbp on another forum, but it seems to be on hiatus. I shall take a look around these forums for others to join.

90% of PBPs die in the first three months.

Be ready for that, but also do all you damn well can to get it past that initial hump. Those that survive are keepers.

Also, start paying attention to phrasing:

I accept your challenge, good sir. I shall make it Day 5's goal my objective tomorrow to write and extended conversation.

And also, I actually have joined a pbp on another forum, but it seems to be on hiatus. I shall take a look around these forums for others to join replacements.

Some of this is subjective but you want to strive for excellence in all things.

[Kymme]

90% of PBPs die in the first three months.

Be ready for that, but also do all you damn well can to get it past that initial hump. Those that survive are keepers.

Also, start paying attention to phrasing:



Some of this is subjective but you want to strive for excellence in all things.

*nods*

I ought to reread my posts. Thank you.

[Kymme]

Day 5
The Meeting

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“Alright, ladies and gentlemen! Consider this meeting: BEGUN!”

“Do you always have to be so loud?”

“Why do you, dear, have to be so rude?”

“Oh, will you just lay off? And stop calling me dear.”

“Don’t be like that, dear. I know you enjoy it.”

“Tooooooooooooooooooootaly.”

“Uh, guys? Remember the meet—“

“Don’t roll you eyes at me, dear.”

“Then don’t call me “dear”, dear.”

“Hey, that’s my line.”

“GUYS, COME ON.”

“What do you want?”

“I concur, dear, what do you want?”

“We are here to have a MEETING, you two. And I just said, like, THIRTEEN LINES AGO, that our meeting was begun. And you two have been arguing over the word “dear” for AGES.”

“Whoa, looks who’s all macho, now.”

“Yes, I agree. Perhaps you should calm down.”

“FINE.”

“Volume, dear.”

“Exasperated sigh. Fine.”

“He’s self narrating now? Why do we even hang out with this creep?”

“Because we are meeting with him, dear.”

“This is completely pointless, isn’t it.”

“Yeah, I thought so to, dear.”

“Wait, are you guys leaving?”
”I’m afraid so, dear.”

“Why though? I thought you guys were my friends.”

“We are your friends, dude.”

“Its just that, well, dear… “

“We don’t exist.”

---------------------------------

“Alex?”

“Yeah, mom?”

“You were tossing and turning all night.”

“I was?”

“Yeah. Honey, did you have a nightmare?”

“No, mom, I didn’t have a nightmare.”

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, dear.”

“Sure ma— wait a second, what did you say?”

“Oh, nothing; I was just scolding you. My motherly duties and all.”

“O-Okay, mom.”

“Well, get out of bed, young man. Breakfast is ready.”

“Sure thing, mom.”

I probable crit-failed this one, but it's just a first draft.

[TaiLiu]

I probable crit-failed this one, but it's just a first draft.

A most amusing first draft!