Creative help thread - Ask a question! Read the first Post!

[CaptMurdock]

I have in mind two possible stories. I want to float them by you all before I start posting to minimize any nastiness coming my way (like I haven't had enough nastiness come my way from the Spoiler Board...well, my fault, I read the damn thing...)



Anyway, here are my two ideas:



1. W/T & Gunn/Fred, starring in their own widdle adventure! After a narrow-avoided brush with death , Willow and Tara decide that a nice weekend getaway would be just the ticket. Coincidentally, Fred and Gunn decide they need some private time as well. As Fate would have it (ain't I a stinkah?) they end up at the same "no-tell hotel" somewhere near San Luis Obispo. Think of that scene in L.A. Story where the two couples are in the rooms and listening through the walls during...ahem. You get the idea. I'll figure out a Big Bad later.



2. This is a bit more radical: spooging W/T into the Trek universe! Specifically into the 2370's, on a Federation starship called USS Hannibal. Fresh from the Academy comes Ens. Villo Rozen, young science officer specializing in stellar cartographer but also branches out to xenobiology, chemistry, warp theory and temporal mechanics. Also newly onboard is the new assistant counselor, Taera Kaylem (one-quarter Betazoid, but it really doesn't show). Being new and relatively low-ranked officers, they have to share quarters. All this, and the Dominion War, too!



So, what do you think? Great? Terrible? "Get a life, dude!"? Just to let some of you know, I'm not a first-time W/T writer; I think I have a pretty good handle on the characters. I'm less sure about Gunn (although I think Fred will pose few problems for me). As for putting versions of W/T elsewhere/elsewhen, there is precedent for it: Love Thy Neighbor is a recent example.



Don't be afraid of hurting my feelings, I can take it. Pretty much...

_____________________

Day 12: Went to Saruman for advice about Ring but he had become evil. Nobody tells me anything. Apparently there was a memo. Radagast the Brown probably stealing paper out of my inbox again.

-- from [link=http://home.nyu.edu/~amw243/diaries]The Secret Diary of Gandalf[/link]

[Blue77]

I liked both ideas, probably the first one better, though I wanted Fred to get with Wesley ... what can I say I'm completely Aly-biased and he's really cute!!



We're not fussy on this board, anything with Willow and Tara in it, and we'll read it!!!



So get started.



Blue

"She should have died hereafter: There would have been a time for such a word ...

...it is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Shakespeare/Macbeth

[Kalita]

Well, if I were doing those, I'd do number 1 as a one-shot filk (do you even NEED a big bad?) and make number 2 a long, drawn-out epic with mounds of plot and supporting characters.



But that's me. Just a thought...

"And the fun just keeps on leavin'."

[mollyig]

Yay! Captain's gonna write a new fic!



Probably the trekkie within, but I like scenario two! Although I'm not like death to scenario one!

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

Edited by: mollyig at: 4/30/02 8:58:05 am

[Katharyn]

This one sounds really, really stupid... but IMHO good fic is more often than not a product of knowing where you are going. Personally I have found that is best accomplished by writing the ending... it helps you think of how to get there. You can always change it later anyway. It gives you something definite to aim at and with the start is the basis for your framework... But that is just me.



No need to write it though. Just know what you want to achieve and say... what has to happen and what would be nice - as well as what should not for whatever reason.



That applies mostly to plotted fics of course... if you are just writing endless W/T goodness (and there is NOTHING wrong with that) then this is not quite as vital IMHO... The end point will make itself clear as you approach it or think of it. But if you want to tell a story with a beginning a middle and an end you need to know where and what those are.



And that opinion is fairly humble... I just think it is a shame to see fics built on excellent starting points and early parts end up rambling because the writer does not know exactly where they want to go... You don't have to know when you start writing but you need to know before you reach the middle - otherwise you risk missing the exit entirely. You may find an excellent ending anyway... but the danger is losing the reader along the way.



Not that I don't manage to ramble myself... see all the above as a small example!



Katharyn

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You hear that baby? I am going nowhere.

[Zahir al Daoud]

I'm going to disagree (slightly) with Katharyn, at least in terms of my own process. Yeah, knowing precisely where you're going in a fic can be a great thing--or it can a handicap that keeps you from exploring something wonderful your imagination washes up to the shore of the conciousness.



I'd personally say its most important to know what you are writing about, and to know that on a really visceral level. Writers write best from passion, imo. They need to focus that passion and then sail where that passion takes them.



My first version of "From Childhood's Hour" sputtered and died *because* I knew precisely what the ending would be. The new one only became alive when the theme--loneliness--forced me into some realizations (not coincidently, it pretty much told me how the story would end).



But maybe that's just me...

[Katharyn]

I know what you mean Zahir... perhaps I expressed that badly. Rather than an "ending" I should perhaps of said the "end part." That is not the same thing as I said.



The end part makes you think about what you need to address and wrap up prior to that.



Zahir is quite right IMHO that the development of your story should flow from passion rather than strict structure. The whole "end" as I previously indicated would tie you down assuming you think if that as the final third or quarter of a fic... the end part which is probably smaller than that "ending" is easier to mess with and rewrite...



See I can have my cake and eat it too!



Katharyn

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You hear that baby? I am going nowhere.

[Blue77]

Well, I'd rather eat the cake and still have it because if I had it and then ate it, I wouldn't have anything left at the end ... but that's me, just quirky I guess ... yes I've been called mad on a few occasions.



My actual nickname in work is psycho ... enough said really.



I think a great fic is also about supply and demand, you can tell your story but to a certain extent you have to give people what they want.



And here's that easy cause we all want Willow and Tara to get with the so it's an easy crowd, but very fun with the way that we all drag out the eventual goodness.



Sam

"She should have died hereafter: There would have been a time for such a word ...

...it is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Shakespeare/Macbeth

[tommo]

Yep, the basic ideal of storywriting is to have your "What If" scenario. So for instance, I decided "What if Tara was to turn up in Season 3 Buffy rather than Season 4?"



Where you go from there is up to you. But generally your fic should answer your "What If" scenario and the question it asks.

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"It's between a hitch and a kink, with a side of twinge. It's okay."

[CaptMurdock]

I have to say, in my own experience, that my "Jose Chung" idea petered out because I had really no idea how to end it.



Still, one sometimes have to give stories room to evolve in a particular direction.

[jomarch]

Ok, I've been trying to keep busy and have been working 12 to 14hour days. Anyway, I also found that I have been writing more, so my question is has anyone done a story on Willow & Tara's coffee date in Entropy? I sort of wrote something and will not post it if it's been done by anyone else?



Thanks

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You must think that something is happening with you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand; It will not let you fall

And Death shall have no Dominion

[tommo]

It doesn't really matter if anyone has written it; I mean, good fic is good fic, despite the subject matter having been covered already. I'm all for it. Heh.

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"It's between a hitch and a kink, with a side of twinge. It's okay."

[Rally]

and void

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"It's a thing."

Edited by: Rally at: 5/7/02 6:10:08 pm

[Jennifer]

I need a little help with a music video that I'm trying to make. I'm using Windows Movie Maker. I got my clips uploaded, and arranged on the storyboard. I got the song uploaded. But I can't figure out how to get rid of the sound on the clips so I can play the song without interference of the dialouge. Did that make sense? The song and the words on the clip play at the same time and I need to know how to fix that. Any ideas? Thanks.

Willow and Tara's Love
|| Jennifer's Journal

[Rally]

Well I am not familiar with Windows Movie Maker, however, I often use TMPGEnc to compress my media. It allows you to take the video and audio sources seperately. There for you can point it to your compiled video and then point the audio source to your music wav file. Then it will lay in the music for you.



However I am sure there must be a function in WMM that allows you to add and remove audio tracks.

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Evil's... good.

[wizpup]

Can anyone help me with some questions I have about the US system for post-graduate education.



Specifically I'm interested in teacher training, PhD's, post-grad research fellowships, funding arrangements, how long stuff takes etc.



I guess this won't be of interest to many readers so if you can help me with this, but don't want to post it here, you can e-mail me at wizpupandme@hotmail.com.



Thanks, and yes it is for a fic idea.



jo

[Katharyn]

Jeez Jo... you had to go and spill the juicy details*S* Actually no... it gets juicer than that doesn't it?



Oh how early is my taunting? ALOL



Katharyn

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You hear that baby? I am going nowhere.

[Sher]

Hey I'm looking for a medical link that would have termanology and different symptoms for illness/injuries....



I think we shoudl have one listed in this post at all times... I mean come on we're dealing with the scoobies here. hehehe





Sher

<3

[Rane018]

this is certainly something that can be handled by simply just google-ing it or yahoo-ing the symptoms. google.com, yahoo.com... webmd.com... use the search engines, very good resource for everything

[wizpup]

Katharyn - your taunting is unbelievably premature, hope you don't rush everything like that *g*.



Is this what I have to put up with being a collaborator? (just have to use the word now you've taught me how to spell it!)



fun, fun, fun...



jo x

[Katharyn]

Here is another good pair of words....



"Smut writer."



ALOL



Katharyn

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You hear that baby? I am going nowhere.

[tommo]

You called?

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"It's between a hitch and a kink, with a side of a twinge. It's okay."

[Katharyn]

No Ruth... if I had called you I would have said "erotic literary artiste."



Then I would have said "smut writer" when you gave me the disapproving glare... okay, okay your are a smut writer...*S*



Katharyn

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You hear that baby? I am going nowhere.

[tommo]

Yeah, erotic literary artiste works for me. But it's a mouthful. Rather like...oh wait...this isn't the "Tell-All Smut Thread". Ooops.

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"It's between a hitch and a kink, with a side of a twinge. It's okay."

[Katharyn]

Yes definitely off topic... so I shall use this post to refer readers to Jo's (Wizpup's) question above... we would really like any help



*S*



Katharyn

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You hear that baby? I am going nowhere.

[tommo]

For grad school information, you can go to any college website and look up info on what courses entail or how long they're likely to take. Most Masters courses can be done over a period of about four or five years, depending on what subjects you study etc.



I suggest you pick a college and then look at their postgraduate studies section. Hell, send off for a prospectus if you feel the need. They're really accommodating and will send you lots of information if you ask for it.

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"It's between a hitch and a kink, with a side of a twinge. It's okay."

[wizpup]

Ruth - thanks for that, I'll give it a go if the need arises. (Jeez won't anyone let you be lazy 'round here?) *G*



Owl - thanks for your e-mail.



jo x

[TrueXena]

Howdy folks, just dashing in, to get some Clip ideas.



I'm needing to know which are the best scenes, of this season. Preferably 2 to 3 scenes per episode for this whole season 6.



Sorta like you see a scene and in your mind you say "HEY! Thats from such and such episode" Anyhoo, thanks to any and all who reply.



(ohh, and it doesnt HAVE to be just be Willow & Tara stuff, but that doesnt hurt either)

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Tara: "C-can you just be kissing me now?" - in 'Entropy'

Tara: "Its good to be a chicken casserole." -in 'Answering Darkness' By: Sassette

Tara: "Evil's....good." - in 'Seeing Red' (shooting script)

[Catwalks]

would someone please help



one of my fav music vids is the Willow one with Linkin Park's Crawlin as the music - problem is ... it's in Real file format



my machine has a conflict with this program and all the conversion programs need a working version of Real to make the conversion to avi or mpeg so ...



would someone (please please) convert it for me



the Real version of the vid is about 9Mb and I have a copy I could send



thanks a million in advance *beggin*



Belle



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

"Dude! like you're getting in the Boob light alright!" - AB Stuff photoshoot

[Rally]

The problem with converting from Real Media to another format is the lack of software to do the conversion. There is one program called Tinra that supposedly does the conversion, but I have been unable to locate a copy of it thus far.

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...more like the evil laugh of ... you're a dead man!