Hello, I am out of practice as far as my writing goes, but I will not let that stop me. I want to do something simple to work my way back into writing, but I have a couple questions/ideas that I would love to run by someone. I will just list them here and if anyone finds sometime to check them out that would be great. If not don't worry it will help just putting them together here.

1. First off as far as the basics go any tips would be welcome. (overall fan-fic tips or general fiction writing tips wanted)

2. What is the proper way to differentiate thoughts, actions, and speech? Also, what is a commonly accepted way to signify the passing of time?

3. I was considering doing a single scene to get me started, but I wasn't to sure if posting it here would be ok? (I know short stories, continuous (novel size) stories, and even RP are welcome...but I will wanted to check)

3. Also as far as the future of my writing goes is it still concidered acceptable to write using quest/questlines from the actual games, or has writing that invovles this become more or less ignored?

4. Lastly selecting which characters to write about has always been a bit of a pain for me any ideas of what people are more interested in reading about lately? I most likely want to write about multiple characters in the world at the same time...Should I write about them traveling together, or as almost seprate storylines occuring at the same time?

Well that seems like enough for now. I am off to create a couple characters with writing in mind, and possible even to start writing a single scene.

Thanks in advance to any who may reply!

1. Eh, I don't do this sort of general advice terribly well. I'd suggest reading the pinned So you think you can RP at the top by Illusionary Nothing, which deals mostly with RPs but has general writing tips as well.

2. "Speech is quotations." Actions are regular print. Thoughts are italics. As to the passing of time, just putting a line such as this would be acceptable. ----------- Or just skipping lines and then informing through your writing how much time has passed.

3. As long as your writing is good, it doesn't matter what it is you're writing about. Sure the quest fics have been done to death, but not as much around here as it is on sites like Fanfiction.net.

4. People are interested in different things. I can't give you a clear cut answer, you have to look through and try to determine what you want to do yourself.

Ah. I was thinking about posting my quest fic here but I wasn't sure how people would feel about that. Not sure how much people would like it either considering a lot of it was inspired by grievances I have with a lot of the generic stories on FF.net anyways.

Well thank you for replying. I have been brainstorming so now I have an idea for one character (at least a starting point and a little something to drive his actions) I think I will just use him for something simple to start, and then see how it is received. If no one takes a liking to my writing I may just keep it for myself and come up with something else for these forums.

Also, as far as the quotes, italics, and just spacing/inserting a dividing line goes that is just what I though, but I didn't want to do it wrong and turn people off because of it.

Thanks again! I will re-read the how to RP thread and see if it helps.

I have one question how hated are cross fiction fan fiction hated here?

You mean crossovers? Depends. Like, I remember a Star Wars one that got shut down pretty much immediately. Then you have TES Bioshock, which was awesome. It depends on if you can pull it off, though the people that can are few and far between in my opinion.

Thoughts don't have to be in italics, but that's the way I prefer them. It's how I write them as well.

If you're writing fan fiction, Tamriel is real life, not a video game. Act like it. Try to cut out as much as you can that directly relates to a title in the franchise. Use different words for weapons, spells, and disciplines. Races aren't neat and distinct either. Run away from the CD as far as possible.

^ Fa sho.

Yeah I agree with this.

When writing your fan-fic don't bring game mechanics into the story. That means don't say ''He cast a touch fire spell on his enemy''. Instead it should be like ''He conjured up heat in his hand, feeling the energy flow through him, he reached forward and forced the energy into his enemy''.

Okay that was a crap example but you get the idea? Anyways to be honest I don't know a whole lot about fan-fics but I thought I'd try and help

Yeah they don have to be. But its generally accepted as a way to get the characters thoughts across on these boards.

As for your fanfiction. Do what i do. ive been writin onefan fiction on and off for almost a year. I havent posted any of it yet, i've just started writing another which will be replaced once its run its course.

The fanfic i've been writing for a while i've bee going back to re-reading and editing over and over and over to make it as close to perfect as i can get it. I never wrote it with intentions of posting it on the forums, just as a way to improve my writing skills. But I may share it once i'm happy with it.

Also, at some points i write really beautifull metaphors and descriptions. But they just dont fit the mood that i'm trying to create. Instead of deleting them i have a note pad for ideas that i will write them down on, lest i forget them, to use at a later date. So it may be a good idea to do something simular.

Also. Ideas for characters, dont sit there letting it bottle up in yourhead. Ifyou have an idea make a spider diagram an write it down, The more ideas youwrite down the more new ideas are created, i cant count the amount of times i've written down a few lines of ideas and ended up with pages of the stuff. It will never be useless, you can always always come back to it and use it.

My advice would be to find a parallel between what you are writing and something that you are familiar with in real life. That way you have a starting point and you can build your world from there. Does that make sense?

Have explosions. I've been toying with making a TES adaption of Die Hard for awhile now, and Die Hard is made of explosions. And since Die Hard is awesoe, explosions, too, are awesome.

I echo that realism is very important.

Character names are also very important. Silgrad Tower name generator is a great way to get character names.

Yeah that's true. Never ever give your character the name 'Jack Smith' or something similar. If your character is an Imperial give he/she an Imperial name. Likewise with the other races. Like Verlox said use a name generator.

And Verlox are you serious about a TES adaption of Die Hard?

Or if your like me and hate recycling names. Look at the specific race your naming, see which real life countries they are most like and give them a name from that origin. I had a Dunmer character, Dunmers reminds me of middle eastern and asian countries (the house systems etc) So i found the name, Sadie, Which is Hebrew. It fits her nicely. Incidentally my girlfriend is called Sadie so i'll have to rename my Dunmer. I also have a new fanfiction about my charactr Almerion, in the fanfiction there is a bretic vampire with the name Gabrielle, which is of french origin. Breton = French (to me any ways)

Heck yeah I'm serious. It's gonna be the greatest thing ever.

Heh, well I can't wait

:lol: I'd be first in line to read that!

You'd be behind me, mate

As to names, I always use the TIL names from morrowind page and mash two people's names together. Take a prefix and a root or a suffix and a root and make a name. Then I re-use the same name a few times throughout different stories. I know every single Altmer person that I had to make up to help my protagonist in an RP was named Iryan or Iryanil. Which was the name of my first RP character.

As far as your questions:
1. Combine details about the scene with thoughts and emotions of the character, don't reveal the plot until you are at least two chapters in and even then leave ninety percent of it a mystery, and the more realistic your dialogue the better.
2. Already covered here and in Illusionary's guide (she recently returned to the forum, by the way)
3. That's fine.
3. That's fine.
4. Make up an idea that sounds cool and go with it. Don't do a post Oblivion global catastrophe or any kind of retelling of the main quest of any of the games, especially SI. Also avoid vampires, necromancers, and assassin's guilds; unless it's really cool. Do whatever with characters, just don't overload the reader with six different protagonists, none of which are together.

Thanks, and welcome to BSF Fan Fiction :celebration:

I have been using a sound recording program to "verbally brainstorm" my characters and their backgrounds/back stories/Or the idea of what drives them. I do this because it is faster, and allows me to listen to the playback and only keep the ideas I like.

I have two fairly well developed characters, but I think 3 is gonna be the right number for me. I was thinking one from each specialization (Combat/Magic/Stealth).

Also, from what I have gathered some suggest completely staying away from the quest/quest lines from the games, but I thought this would be a great way to creatively solve the in-game quest, and allow me to focus more on character development and my writing. Would that be a mistake?

Thanks agian for all who have helped or will help in the future!

Well, like I said, it's been done to death by people on FF, but there aren't a whole lot of fanfics here anymore, and most aren't main quest. Some people are sick of it, some aren't, though in my opinion it should be more about how good the writing itself is, rather than what you're writing about.

I think one of the most important things in writing is ceating a character you care about rather than the character you want to create. I've tried several times in RPs to create a badasss necromancer for example but then after I few posts I just find that I don't care about them at all, and I drop out. It's a similar thing for story writing, if you don't care about your character but you'd trying to get the reader to like them, it's like trying to persaude someone to like something you hate, it just doesn't work and makes your writing feel kind of rigid and forced.
If on the other hand you have a character you like you can usually relate to them in some way it makes your writing flow and because you care about your character and what happens to them the reader does to.

Thats my best advice anyway And welcome to the fan fiction forums

Thank you this is great advice. I can't tell you how many times I have started to read something, but the characters just didn't come to life it almost felt as though the writer was doing an assignment, and not one time has that been a good thing.

Eheheheh... okay, I pretty much dropped off these forums for about a year, so I don't know much about current fanfictions trends... but one of your questions is close to my heart, so I'm giving it a shot.

Regarding how to write multiple characters in the same world... I think what you're asking is a matter of point of view.

On the one hand, you've got the "multiple storylines in the same world" idea. I tried it once, and it was really fun. I had three very different characters who alternated chapters: I found that this was a good way to get different perspectives on similar situations, as well as a way to pace drama, humor, or whatever else. The way I did it was to keep the characters mostly apart; they were in the same world, and they occasionally crossed paths, but they each had their own story to tell. If you were to do this, my main advice would be: if they do interact, try to avoid telling the same long conversation from more than one point of view. One pov should be enough, if you use enough body language and dialogue to tell what the other characters are thinking.

(Ahaha. The fanfiction is WAY back in summer of last year, and is probably about to be eaten by the forum, but surprisingly, it's still there. :http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=834818&hl=, http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=859168&hl=)

On the other hand, you can have them traveling together. This could be either from one point of view or be in third person--it doesn't really matter. The point is that they'd be interacting, and that just may be the key to an interesting story. Again, even if you use a first person or third-limited pov, you would be able to develop the other characters easily enough through dialogue and body language. Or you could switch povs throughout the group... again, just try to avoid repeating a long conversation, since that can get tedious if not done right.

I guess the main advice would be to go with your gut on that one. Do you see your story as being more interesting with your main characters doing their stuff together, or do you see them each with their individual storylines? It's your story, so it's your call.

Then again, I guess the main MAIN advice would be to write what YOU enjoy. Naturally. Have fun with it, and don't worry too much about what others want to read; we're all just here to have fun.