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Hey there everyone! My name is Scott. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen and read from Story Embers so far and would like to get to know all of you a bit more. (I joined the forum a while back but forgot how to access it!) Already, I can say that I appreciate the old-school forum format we have here. Reminds me of the good ol’ days, not to mention the format is so much easier to read for discussions.
For most of my life I’ve been interested in storytelling, so much that I devoted my time at university to study English (with an emphasis in Creative Writing). I graduated in ’09 with a BA and have dabbled in many kinds of writing since then. From technical/manual writing, to scripts/screenplays, to stage plays, to social media copywriting… I guess I’m a jack of all trades of sorts, but I wouldn’t dare call myself a master at any form or style. I’m not even formally published yet! (But that’s something I hope to change in the near future.)
Even though my goal when I was in college was to become a novelist, I have since branched out into more blog writing for nonfiction, and for fiction I write scenarios and modules for tabletop roleplay games. I know that’s definitely more niche than the novel writing that Story Embers seems to focus on, but for me, TTRPGs are a very rewarding experience, as it’s a culmination of what we know as the historical communal storytelling experience. I’ve actually begun to use TTRPGs as a way to build community with my local church and get to know people that way, especially the youth class I teach, so it’s been really cool to witness and, again, very rewarding as a writer. (Talk about live feedback!)
Story Embers has already been a great help with me as I continue to write stories for TTRPGs, even though I know most of the ideas are geared around writing usual fiction, but so much of the guidance and tips, especially for worldbuilding, character development, etc., are applicable to what I do. So while a good portion of my experience telling stories relies on my players assisting me, I still need to create non-playable characters – either protagonists or antagonists – and have them believable, along with a living, breathing world. Hopefully you get my drift!
Anyways, I look forward to talking to you all here, and to the staff at Story Embers, thanks for all you do to make this community possible.
"The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars."
- Francis SchaefferHey Scott!
So do you plan to write any novels or are you going to stick with role playing? What is your current WIP?
Glad to have you man!
@noah-cochran – I’m not ruling out writing a novel, but it won’t happen in the immediate future. I’ll be sticking to roleplaying for now.
I’m writing two scenarios. One is for Free League Publishing’s VAESEN, which will be an investigation story with a Halloween twist. Currently doing a lot of research into the Nordic culture and traditions to see what their equivalent is to Halloween, and it’s pretty interesting and ripe for story adaptation.
The other is for a new adventure/action RPG made by Two Little Mice called BROKEN COMPASS. I love classic adventure movies and am very much inspired by the Indiana Jones / The Mummy / Tomb Raider series. I’ve always wanted to write a story in that kind of a setting, and BROKEN COMPASS seems tuned just for that. It’ll be a story taking place in the Golden Age (1930s) and the adventurers will be setting their sites on Yemen’s infamous Well of Hell. I’m waiting until I get the printed core rulebooks I pledged for on Kickstarter before I put pen to paper on it, but I’ve already done a lot of mind-mapping and creature/antagonist design. I really want to put a more “biblical” scope on this one, like “Last Crusade” had, to get my players thinking about truth, a real Good vs. evil, etc. Can’t wait to see it through.
"The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars."
- Francis SchaefferHi Scott, I’m Rose! Pleased to meet you!
TTRPG is a fascinating format! I would say the majority of people here write novel format, but some people are working on poetry, short stories, scripts for comics, storylines for video games, and so on and so forth. There’s a lot of different stuff, I love it 🙂
I’ve never played TTRPG, but I know how it works, (more or less XD) and it sounds very fun!
Those scenarios you’re writing sound fantastic! I love the setting of BROKEN COMPASS, it sounds very atmospheric and generally cool 🙂
I’ve been writing for about eighteen months, and I’m working on a fantasy trilogy. I’m revising the first book and plan to start drafting the third after NaNo. (Hopefully, I’ll finish rewriting book 1 during NaNo!)
The books are named “Gilded Blood”, “Shadow Shards” and “Smoke Circlet”, respectively. It’s set in a Medieval North African-inspired setting, (which I’m having a lot of fun with. I love research XD)
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
I’m not sure what “gilded blood” is, but I love it as a name for a book. xD (Does it mean privileged blood?)
I’m not sure what “gilded blood” is, but I love it as a name for a book. xD (Does it mean privileged blood?)
Thank you! I’m really proud of it 🙂
On one hand… yes, but also no XD
Initially, I just liked the sound of it, then I reverse-engineered the book to make it fit the title XD
So, the in-story explanation is that the Goldenblooded is a term that came to be used for the direct line of ascension for the rulers of one of the tribes.
But the original meaning of the term came from a myth that said all people had been born with golden blood, and after the coming of sin, their blood turned red. So Golden-blooded would more traditionally mean righteous or blameless. And that came to be applied as a title of respect for the Lehabim royalty because they had such a long dynasty of just rulers.
(The longest of any of the tribes actually. They’re the only tribe that still has a monarchy, all the others had some sort of rebellion that caused them to turn to more democratic forms of governance.)
And I changed it from “Goldenblooded” to “Gilded blood” because gilded implies that something is purely on the outside. This points at a certain part of the theme, namely that nobody is blameless or purely righteous of their own power, and that things seem better on the outside.
And to make it even better, I connected the image of golden blood directly to one of the characters via a dream. And it just so happens that that character symbolizes all those things, perfection on the outside and crumbling within and that nobody can be righteous of their own power.
Did I vastly overthink this? You bet I did XD Still, I’m very proud of it and that symbolism is one of my favorite parts of the book. 🙂
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
Wow, that is crazy thought out…and I love it. xD It sounds like that will make the depth and nuances of your book all the better, keep me updated on your progress till completion. 🙂
Thanks, Noah! Who knows, perhaps overthinking has use this time 🙂
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
YO I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!
I’m super appreciative of symbolic fantasy, and that is just beautiful. I love it!!!!!
"Where there's life, there's hope; and need of vittles."
-Samwise GamgeeAww, thank you, Denali! I love lots of symbolism and it shows in my second draft XD It suddenly appeared everywhere, but I’m not mad about it 🙂
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
SAME HERE!!!! I was just writing a fantasy novel and then one day I was reviewing it and realized how flipping symbolic was and I may have jumped around and squealed for like an hour after that…
"Where there's life, there's hope; and need of vittles."
-Samwise GamgeeSAME HERE!!!! I was just writing a fantasy novel and then one day I was reviewing it and realized how flipping symbolic was and I may have jumped around and squealed for like an hour after that…
Exactly! I just love it when that happens! The best part of getting to invent stuff is you can use as much symbolism as you like and interconnect everything! It’s the best when you realize it just… happened. XD I didn’t consciously plan all this out, it just… appears, without any warning XD
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
The best part of getting to invent stuff is you can use as much symbolism as you like and interconnect everything! It’s the best when you realize it just… happened. XDYesss!!!!! I was literally so excited the day I realized this:
See, I have this mountain that people can climb up but don’t ever live on. It’s to wild and rugged, etc., etc. But at the end of the Epochs, when the Creator returns to His people, He’s going to live on top of the mountain and people will live with Him.
Then I realized how in this life, we’ll have mountaintop experiences with God, but we’re not supposed to cling to the mountain and live up there because then we can’t grow. But when Jesus returns, we get to do that! We get to live on the mountain!
I may have screeched when I realized how unintentionally that happened…
"Where there's life, there's hope; and need of vittles."
-Samwise Gamgee
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