Well, after getting Oblivion again and finally surpassing the time I had spent on it back when I was 11 and it first came out, I'd like to now go to these forums. I've been in fallout for a while, and wasted to come here, but after reading just the titles I knew everything would go over my head. So, could anyone give me some tips as to what they would like to read about. Im thinking about following the main quest, but no before tying in why my character started out in prison, or just going off on a tangent about living in Cyrodil.

Help a redguard out.

I love Redguards.

Sadly, people don't follow quest line stories (unless they have epic plot twists) here, because we've seen it all 20 million times over the past four to five years. If you like Redguards, or Raga as it is in their native language, then I suggest this:

Do not write what we are interested in. Most people here will read anything, because they just do. Me? I'm more of a writer, and don't read as much Fanfic stuff as most of these guys do. You need to write something that you want to write, as that is what will drive the story. The more you want to write it, the more your writing skills will improve, and the better the story will be.

This. Main quest stories are a dime-a-dozen around here, and unless they epically twist the story up, then I almost guarantee people will get bored. However, I feel I must warn you that if you are looking for more then a "Good job, I want more!" type post, ie. actual constructive criticism, you may be disappointed as those have taken a nosedive in frequency around these parts.

In the end though, if you enjoy writing about it, you won't care. Like me! Nobody has really commented on my story but I enjoy the genius that is my own plot too much to stop writing about it, despite the apparent lack of agreement on said levels of pure genius.

Okay, thanks for the help, I'll begin working on this story soon after I finish these other chapters..

Well... to get my attention, it would be a good idea to have the first chapter include Ass-kicking, Absurdity, or Akhajiit.

two rules you should always follow: make sure it is interesting, and make sure it ties together. no one likes lose ends

I disagree. Interesting is purely opinionated. One person might find politics, long dialogues and such terribly boring as they only want blood, gore, gold and six. While another might be the opposite and find court intrigue, long dialogues and political back-and-forths a riveting read.

Priceless. xD
Personally, I get really bored of reading about the main quest. There's far too many of those stories, same goes for average lives in Tamriel. I recommend trying to come up with your own original story and continue you to build it your own way.

and that would make it interesting, would it not?

To one person, it might. But to please everyone with a story is a pointless attempt. You will never ever please every single person with your story. You can please a vast majority of them, but I guarantee there will always be one person out there who just doesn't care for your story and thus it is uninteresting to them :shrug:

i never said "appeal to everyone" i said make it interesting. and i agree that not everyone will like what you write... thats why i write for myself

RP what you will friend if its well written and descriptive i know ill like it!

Amen to that. I write purely for the joy I get from writing.

And I know what you meant, but interesting is purely opinionated. I guess in general a story is interesting or not, regardless what a readers preferences are.

haha yea man. i find a great plethora of things to be interesting

Discussions about interest aside, I would agree that another main quest story would not be in your best interest if you are seeking meaningful critique. You said you had something in mind for before your protagonist is thrown in prison, why not expand upon that? I wrote a whole story to set up a completely different plot line about two years ago, and I ended up liking it more than the actual story

To sum up what just about everyone here has said, do not write what we want, write what you want. If you want to sell a book, write with an audience in mind that will love your story; if you want to have fun with the book, write whatever comes to mind. Don't make it some absurd tale about Guar and Nirnroot, but pick something in Tes that interests you and go with it. When I started out I loved assassins to death (pun intended), and that was all I wrote. After that I moved into necromancy, arena-fighters, the Dunmer-Argonian slave trade, and even skooma based stories; my point is, write about anything, but make sure it interests you.

If you're starved for ideas, you can take a look at some of the lore- that usually inspires me to think of a "What if?" scenario. Or, if you're not as much into lore (which I do not recommend), think of a book or movie you really liked and base a story off that main idea.

Either way, the good thing is that you write something Keep up the good work!