I'd like to tell you a story

Waaaaah!!!  First year winner!!!



I'm happy, but not as elated as I think I should be.  Maybe the enormity of the task hasn't hit me yet (and maybe it will when I go back and get this thing and order and reread it beginning to end) but the story didn't...really...go anywhere.

The way it was described to me the story should have started taking over around the 30k mark but, honestly, I feel like it's just as shapeless and just as pointless as the first day I sat down to write it.  I didn't really see anything remarkable develop.  The characters are just as flat, the storyline just as aimless and cliche.  It's like the creative process never really took off.  I was just going through the motions.

Next year I'm going to do an outline FOR SURE before starting; that might be a large part of my problem.  When I first started writing fanfiction I trashed hundreds hundreds of pages before I figured out that I was the type of person who needed structure before I started.  Otherwise, I'd just wander aimlessly throughout the creative landscape for all eternity and never get anywhere.

Don't get me wrong, the characters changed.  They got some extra features, a couple of them switched motives, some interesting side stories happened that might be of interest.  But I still feel like this is no different than the shapeless mush I started with.  Except now it's in a form that other people can read and say, "Hey, that's shapeless mush."

In any event, it was a first try and an attempt to pitch myself from fanfiction to original work.  The two arts are very different!  Alot of the things I learned from writing fanfiction I can use.  Alot of the things I can't.  I figure if I do NaNoWriMo every year for the next ten years that will amount to 10 different ideas.  And, who knows, maybe just one of those will spark that interest and say, "Hey!  I could be a good story!"

The one big thing I hate about writing original fiction is that now I have this monster that I can't really share with anyone.  With the internet the way it is, theft easy to pull off, publishers shy about touching everything that's already been broadcasted to the public, I've now got to sit on this thing and just be satisfied that I wrote it.  I can't share it.  What's the purpose of creating something if you can't share it with anyone?  Geek out with anyone about it?

~sigh~  I'm going to try to story board this thing.  Sit down and get an outline together about how it should go and see if I can wrestle this tangled ball of flailing wires into some recognizable shape without getting too many scratches.  In any case, YAY ACCOMPLISHMENT!  Let's hope this turns into something!  I'll definitely be doing this again next year.

NANOWRIMO!  I'll keep this post here so it stays at the top until the end of November.

The story is...well, it's crap.  It's just a discomboberated gabble of scenes that have some type of structure but aren't really making a line from beginning to middle to end.  But, I mean, it's my first attempt at original fiction and it's not like I had a full-fledged idea to start with.  I'll tell you that writing original fiction is WAY harder than writing fanfiction.  It's also frustrating because you can't really share it with anyone for copyright and such :(

The characters are certainly coming out interesting; I like how they're forming, but the story is just blech.  Oh well.  Not to jinx myself but it actually looks like I'm going to finish!  On my first attempt!  Wow would that be exciting.

P.S. I just watched the edited version of Batman: Return of the Joker--more specifically, the darkest part of the movie--and, man...they edited the CRAP out of that thing!  No wonder people reading Deep Within were reviewing and saying I got the story wrong.  It's so edited it almost completely changes the tone of the scene...of the whole movie...of Bruce Wayne's LIFE!

I'm just...I'm just speechless.  Man.  If that's what you can do to a 10-min segment in an animated movie imagine what the newspapers are doing with politics and news.

I'm really pleased with how the Oddworld story turned out--2 reviews so far, both really good.  It's nice to see that from a fandom with only 40 stories, and one that's been pretty quiet for 3 years.  I was expecting no reviews which would have rather humiliating after putting all that work into writing and posting that short story.

I might do one more--the binge-fanning isn't out of my system, yet.  Gotta get all these characters out of my head so I can concentrate on Undead Hearts.  I made the decision this morning to replay through Oogie's Revenge, since that's really the only place you get to view Jack as a more combative, leader-type character which served as the main inspiration for Undead Hearts in the first place (along with raynos, of course).  It's also the best place I know of to view his behavior in canon form in the midst of conflict.  In the movie, he was the primary antagonizer with Oogie further antagonizing him.  This game puts him in a more traditional role as the protagonist charged with setting the world right again from start to finish.  I can't imagine Burton had a hand in its creation, though.  It feels too...mainstream, but it's helpful in getting into Jack's head from another perspective.  And the game was actually really fun and well done.  I enjoyed playing it.

Anything interesting going on in the world of fandom that I missed?  I see all the buzz about Avatar--that seems to be on a real high right now.  I watched a few episodes of the show but never really got into it, though I did find the plotline and story impressive for a Nickelodeon cartoon.  Flipping through the channels anymore I realize there are hardly any good cartoons on.  It's SO depressing.  I used to watch Gargoyles and Darkwing on Toon Disney, Justice League on Cartoon Network, Invader Zim in Nickelodeon.  But they've all been replaced with horribly drawn, awfully executed productions designed for ADD schoolchildren.  ~sigh~  Thank goodness for House and season 5 starting in September.

Also (senri, you'll appreciate this): HOMG IT'S T-O-E!!!!!  HE'S BACK! !!!!!!!!!!  YAYZ!!!!!!!

Restitution ~ Chapter 9

Oddworld ~ Bid

Just got to play through the 2 Oddworld titles for Xbox--Stranger's Wrath is AWESOME!  Hopefully I'll get some reception from the fandom.  That's the sucky thing about jumping on the ship 3 years after the fact :/

That is all....

Ahh, Sonic Unleashed is being released on XBox 360, Wii, PS3...and PS2?!  Damn...now I don't have a reason not to buy it.

I swear if this game sucks it is the last Sonic title I am ever spending money on.  Seriously.  I mean it this time.  Really.

In the meantime, MORE FANFIC!  This is copied almost exactly from handwritten notes so it's going to be a little choppy.  I'll buffer that out in later stages if it's necessary.

This time we're really returning back to roots...really.  Sonic...as a WEREWOLFHOG?!  Are ya KIDDING me?!  Are ya kidding me?

I want to cry and play this at the same time.  Given my experience with the last game, however, I'll think I'll just wait for all the cutscenes to be posted on youtube.

It's funny how the minute my stressful and largely unenjoyable job disappears my writing comes back.  This only reaffirms my suspicion that stress debilitates my creative abilities.

On the planeride home from picking my apartment I filled a 10-page notebook almost front to back (minus a few sheets that I ran out of time on) with nothing but Sonic drabbles.  And more are on the way.  I'm working on getting everything off of paper onto computer so you guys can read them.  I haven't been posting regularly for so long ~calls out~ ANYONE STILL OUT THERE?!

The move is going well.  Still a little concerned about the small size of the town but have received some positive results from preliminary online dating in my new zip code so that's good.

Went to see Video Games Live last weekend...!!!  It. Was. AWEOSOME!!!!!!!!  I'm a little disappointed that they didn't play any Sonic the Hedgehog music, but every other popular video game was there--Halo, World of Warcraft, Mario, Tetris, Civilization, God of War, Harry Potter, you name it.  It's a combination symphony concert, variety show, comedy act, and art festival celebrating the entire culture of video games.  I even picked up a sweet shirt with the logo on it!  They have about 50 sets and can only get to around 20 per show so, chances are, I'll be going back.  If you can make it I'd definitely recommend, especially if you're big on video games.

I'll probably update with writing over the next couple days as I'll be on the road driving to Texas and will have some downtime in the hotels to write.  Best wishes to all!

Inspired by watching the movies for the Sonic the Hedgehog game released for 2006 (you know? the one that was supposed to reinvent the series? again?)  There's definitely some human/hedgehog affection goin' on in there somewhere.  But I can't figure out if it was friendship affection or lurve affection.  If it was indeed lurve affection I think it was all one-sided...on Elise's part.  Sonic just...doesn't work that way.  I did cringe, however, when I figured out she was going to kiss him.  And I'm pretty impressed that they killed him off for a little bit--that was good!

Looking at the story and being able to watch it, beginning to end, all the way through the game really isn't that half-bad.  But I didn't have to play it.  The Sonic 3D games have been, as a group and individually, a horrible and shaming disaster for the awesomeness that is Sonic the Hedgehog.  This game had so much potential, so much drama, and the story was almost there!  But I don't need to play the game to believe all the bad things the reviews say about it.  Sounds like the same things are wrong with it as they've been since Sonic Adventure.  Horrible voice acting, sketchy character movements, a sucky camera, and frustrating gameplay.

Anyway, on the good side, it inspired fanfiction!  It's a rough, fresh off the fingers, so be prepared for some crappiness and mistakes.  Because of this I'll update the story on lj as it strikes me.  Right now I'm most concerned with keeping the energy alive.

( Sonic the Hedgehog ~ Remember )

Oy, sorry, been out of commission for a while.  My goal today and/or this weekend is to get the rest of the Christmas presents done.  I have ideas for all of them, I just need to set fingers to the keyboard and let the writing flow.

I also have RL news and Death Note commentary, but I'll cover that in other posts.  Hope everything's going well out there!

Next up, senri's request for some Larxene, Marluxia (and possibly Naminé) storytellin'.  This one was an interesting scribble to write, mostly because I had to familiarize myself with the Organization XIII characters featured in CoM (read: not in KHII).  I can see why the Organization is so alluring for fandom--there's a lot of room to play, there.

Hope you like it!

First Christmas giiiiiift!  This one for obabscribbler who requested some Bunnie/Knux tragedy.  Merry Christmas!!!  Hope you like it!

Merry Christmas, everyone!!!  Hope everyone's holiday was full of sugar and love and presents and family and togetherness cheer!  I haven't forgotten about your writing presents--working on them :)

I can feel this series starting to circle the drain, victim of Anime Sin #5: inane, uninteresting, "a day in the life of..." storytelling.

RIP, Deathnote.  I fear it won't be long.

Meme ganked from senri:

Give me any fandom we have in common and I'll tell which character I would pair you with for the following:
1. OTP
2. OT3
3. crack
4. PWP
5. BFF

Dear prick at work: I win.  Still no love, me.

DEATH NOTE!

I owe you guys a scribble.  How about...Invader Zim?  This one from a fic-that-never-was.

This idea was an early brainchild for Restitution and was actually written out, in almost complete entirety, in a hand-written notebook I carried around with me.  Many scenes and ideas made their way into the final draft for Restitution but, because of the enormous difference in plot, a lot of others didn't.

The basic premise is one I'm surprised I haven't seen more often.  It was going to be a "body-switch" fic in which an accident in the Membrane labs leaves Dib in Zim's body and Zim in Dib's.  As you can guess, chaos and some hilarity ensues.  What follows is a clip from one of the peak elements of the story in which Zim (in Dib's body) is accosted by a school bully that's all too common to the human's daily routine.  But this confrontation isn't going to go like the others, as the bully soon finds out...

Uh....yyyyyeah.  Ignore the last post?  I did write it but didn't get far.  How about some Xiaolin Showdown instead?  ~placates~

What? Change the dates so it looks like I did this scribble in time for September? I would NEVER...!

My ninja turtles movie came yesterday!!! ~hugs~  And now I am inspired to write....a GARGOYLES/TMNT CROSSOVER!!!!!

Coming this September to a scribble near you.