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Fruity20 posted:How do you write a compelling femme fatale? Write her as a normal character with a compelling reason to act like a femme fatale, and work on execution. Some genres (noir, urban fantasy) can get away with it a bit more easily than others as well. Cursed, Book 2 of the Alex Verus series tries to do a femme fatale with Meredith (depends on your POV) but fails utterly. Meredith isn't threatening, her ability is kind of creepy and she is a bit whiny. Basically, she has no history, or motivation to back it up. The writer tried to pull his punch with the femme fatale bit with a bad execution of making her sympathetic, which didn't exactly work out. How are you thinking of implementing her as a femme fatale? Lot sof people put an emphasis on the femme part (male gaze, pair of breasts breastily bouncing as they ran) and not the fatale part. It is also important to have a reason WHY they are a femme fatale, and not have it be "Because they are a bad rear end". Neuromancer's character Molly does a pretty good job on the femme fatale part. Mieli, in The Quantum thief, also does a good job of a "get it done" female side character, but since she sometimes goes up against our protagonist she sometimes gets tricked and loses a bit of credibility as a threat. Edit: take my advice worth a grain of salt too. I am no expert, I simply read a lot of fiction with bad rear end females. Read Kate Daniels (Ignore Curran) or October Daye? Edit2: Regardless of what you write you are going to offend people, or people will say you are bad. Write, Just write. Get a second opinion when you are ready and get it from people you trust. Adjust your story as you see fit. Exmond fucked around with this message at 06:02 on Mar 24, 2019 |
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Mar 24, 2019 05:58
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On a historical note, most famous femme fatales were ordinary fairly attractive people who ended up in a good position to be recruited as spies by happenstance.
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Mar 24, 2019 07:39
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Honestly, nothing about the character you've described seems like it would be problematic. He's what, an assassin who's fairly attractive? If he's male, then a lot of the more problematic aspects of the femme fatale archetype don't apply to him, because they're rooted in assumptions about the sexual agency of women. If he's not a woman and he's not using his attractiveness/sexuality to lure his victims, then you really just have a hot character who happens to kill people for a living.
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Mar 24, 2019 12:19
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This is Duncan idaho in chapterhouse dune fyi he mind controls ladies with his magic wang it's fairly silly
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Mar 24, 2019 20:20
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sebmojo posted:This is Duncan idaho in chapterhouse dune fyi he mind controls ladies with his magic wang it's fairly silly wait  that actually freaking happened?
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Mar 25, 2019 00:36
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Yeah, the femme fatale (and homme fatale, I guess, although I can count the number of times I've read that phrase on one hand?) trope is inherently about using sexuality as a weapon/tool, not just being attractive and also dangerous. If your assassin is just a hot dude who kills people, and sexuality doesn't come into how he does his job, it's not really something to worry about.
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Mar 25, 2019 00:50
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Antivehicular posted:Yeah, the femme fatale (and homme fatale, I guess, although I can count the number of times I've read that phrase on one hand?) trope is inherently about using sexuality as a weapon/tool, not just being attractive and also dangerous. If your assassin is just a hot dude who kills people, and sexuality doesn't come into how he does his job, it's not really something to worry about. I bet u can 
sebmojo fucked around with this message at 01:45 on Mar 25, 2019 |
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Mar 25, 2019 01:39
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So this is a question without a real answer but I guess I'm just looking for how other people go about it. I find myself to be very mechanically minded when I write and I don't know if other people go about it the same way. When I'm coming at a story I'm not often thinking about what I want to tell or the emotions I necessarily want to evoke with my imagery, that stuff tends to be very intuitive and I just pull on stuff I've read before. I'm mostly thinking about actual story structure and plot elements and how to fit things together in a satisfying way. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to get any given interaction to do more than just one thing. If I need a complication to come up in a plan so that it makes the heroes struggle then I'm trying to make sure that complication is something that eithe relates to the established weaknesses of the heroes (so they're doing it to themselves somehow and I can tie it into a character arc) or it's going to be something that establishes the world or somehow sets something else up. IE if I have a heist scene taking place in a city where the number of homeless residents is an important plot point, than the complication that makes the heist harder is a small collection of homeless people sleeping in a spot that blocks a route the heist planned to utilize. This feels great to me as I append more and more narrative uses to the various actions that are happening. I won't typically plot out the actual moment to moment plot stuff but I'll have an outline of the big events and each characters intended arc and I'm constantly working to tie those arcs together between characters and with the plot itself and at no point do I every really feel like I'm CREATING a story as much as I'm simply structuring/assembling a story in the way that I know stories work well. So I'm really just wondering if this mimics how other people sometimes feel about their own writing?
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Mar 26, 2019 05:47
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Agent355 posted:So I'm really just wondering if this mimics how other people sometimes feel about their own writing? I'm not sure how you expect writing to feel. Writing, for me, is like anything else that requires focus and concentration. It's only very rarely a huge rush of PURE CREATIVE POWER, and usually whenever I get that sensation, I end up writing something that has to be thrown out later. Other days it's like extracting rusty nails from my skull, but in the end what I've written is at least a little better than usual. But yeah, if you have a tight plot that needs to travel from point A to point B, "assembly" is a good term for it. The creativity comes more in plotting the story in the first place, but actual writing does tend to feel workmanlike most of the time. At least until you realize it's about to go off in an unexpected direction and you either panic or go where it takes you. Incidentally, a lot of writers would probably think you're lucky that you can handle emotional beats without much stress.
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Mar 26, 2019 16:02
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Mirage posted:I'm not sure how you expect writing to feel. No idea, I just get really weird and introspective late at night when I'm writing so I ended up posting that. Just looking for how other people view their own state of mind when writing I guess. Thanks for chiming in.
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Mar 26, 2019 18:15
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I just realized the premise of an adult woman bringing teenagers along (albeit they're monsters or have superpowers) to go monster hunter feels like a premise that could fall apart. for one thing, the kids go to school during the day and there's moments where the lady has to call them in for emergencies. note: they're the same people i've mentioned in a previous question of mine about the grimore or tome.
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Mar 26, 2019 19:15
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SelenicMartian posted:The guys behind Welcome to Night Vale are starting a writing podcast in a week, with home assignments. They point out this guy as an example https://www.youtube.com/user/therockcookiebottom/featured He's been writing a song a day for ten years.
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Mar 26, 2019 20:56
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Fruity20 posted:I just realized the premise of an adult woman bringing teenagers along (albeit they're monsters or have superpowers) to go monster hunter feels like a premise that could fall apart. for one thing, the kids go to school during the day and there's moments where the lady has to call them in for emergencies. note: they're the same people i've mentioned in a previous question of mine about the grimore or tome. Depends on the intended tone of the story, but I find the idea mildly amusing and like it.
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Mar 27, 2019 07:29
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Fruity20 posted:I just realized the premise of an adult woman bringing teenagers along (albeit they're monsters or have superpowers) to go monster hunter feels like a premise that could fall apart. for one thing, the kids go to school during the day and there's moments where the lady has to call them in for emergencies. note: they're the same people i've mentioned in a previous question of mine about the grimore or tome. I think this exchange from "Chuck" could suggest one way to handle that. Sarah: “Why didn't you stay in the car?” Chuck: “You know what? It's never safe in the car!”
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Mar 27, 2019 12:43
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Chairchucker posted:Depends on the intended tone of the story, but I find the idea mildly amusing and like it. it's largely begins as a action comedy with horror elements. but eventually poo poo starts hitting the fan when the tome slowly reveals it's dark secrets to the main cast. Fruity20 fucked around with this message at 13:18 on Mar 27, 2019 |
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Mar 27, 2019 13:12
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Fruity20 posted:I just realized the premise of an adult woman bringing teenagers along (albeit they're monsters or have superpowers) to go monster hunter feels like a premise that could fall apart. for one thing, the kids go to school during the day and there's moments where the lady has to call them in for emergencies. note: they're the same people i've mentioned in a previous question of mine about the grimore or tome. Are the kids aware of the work they're doing, and do they think/realize it's more important than school? Then they contrive ways to slip out/act sick/trick teachers. Can one of the students use their abilities to help to get their allies out? Do that. Potential fun plot complication: After they've easily gotten out of school once or twice with one of the kids' powers, what do they do if that kid isn't at school when an emergency arises? Is the woman a known guardian to one or more of them? If not, can she become so (or fake it convincingly)? If not that, can she somehow inform a school staff member about what they're REALLY doing (or create a cover story) so they have an ally on the inside? Lots of options. Don't worry too hard about them.
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Mar 27, 2019 16:21
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Wouldn't the knowledge-hungry book would be more interested in going to school than the kids? Maybe it does and imitates their presence with magic, while trying to get random information out of everyone. Anything: teen crush gossip, the powerhouse of the cell, the best weed in the area.
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Mar 27, 2019 21:33
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SelenicMartian posted:Wouldn't the knowledge-hungry book would be more interested in going to school than the kids? It is forever recorded in the tome of knowledge that Derek's poo poo is all stems
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Mar 27, 2019 23:04
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Mirage posted:Are the kids aware of the work they're doing, and do they think/realize it's more important than school? Then they contrive ways to slip out/act sick/trick teachers. Can one of the students use their abilities to help to get their allies out? Do that. Potential fun plot complication: After they've easily gotten out of school once or twice with one of the kids' powers, what do they do if that kid isn't at school when an emergency arises? the main cover story is that they go on field trips a lot since the main characters are part of this club of sorts. it helps that two of the staff aren't human, being a dullahan and fish man respectively
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Mar 28, 2019 15:16
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can I ask vocab questions in this thread? I've been trying to think of a word that I'm like 90% sure is a real word that I didn't just imagine in my mind. It's something like "inigrating" or similar. Used in the context of something like "an inigrating smile". My spell checker is suggesting "integrating" which also works in the context I mentioned but doesn't feel like the word I'm looking for. I'm pretty sure the word (assuming I didn't just imagine it) has a subtext of cowardliness or deceitfulness on top of cooperativeness - which to my knowledge the word "integrating" doesn't have. The word I'm looking for is used in the context of, say, the henchmen trying to appease to the villain who he doesn't want to fly into a rage. Or the mook trying to appeal to the powerful protagonist. Or something like that. Weak Character A appealing (not whole-heartedly) to Powerful Character B. I could use "sly smile" or "cowardly smile" or "nervous smile" or something similar but none of them seem to convey the exact meaning I'm looking for and, like I said, I feel like 90% certain there was a word that started with "i" that could be used in that sort of context. Otoh both google and searching the dictionary for all the "ini-" words I could find didn't turn anything up so maybe I am just crazy. But hell maybe I just can't spell, so I figured I'd ask here before I gave up completely.
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Mar 28, 2019 16:00
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sunken fleet posted:can I ask vocab questions in this thread? ingratiating
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Mar 28, 2019 16:16
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Anyone have any advice on consistency in your prose? I'm approaching the end of the third draft of my novel where I've finally got most of the story and character issues ironed out and can start looking at the book as a cohesive piece. I'm worried right now that I fluctuate a good amount in voice and style across chapters, but it's a bit hard for me to notice it because I'm so close to the thing.
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Mar 28, 2019 16:19
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feedmyleg posted:Anyone have any advice on consistency in your prose? I'm approaching the end of the third draft of my novel where I've finally got most of the story and character issues ironed out and can start looking at the book as a cohesive piece. I'm worried right now that I fluctuate a good amount in voice and style across chapters, but it's a bit hard for me to notice it because I'm so close to the thing. Seems like that would be the time to either leave it for a bit then come back or bring in outside reader(s)?
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Mar 28, 2019 17:34
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Stuporstar posted:ingratiating ayup. that's the one. Thank you.
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Mar 28, 2019 17:41
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Anyone here familiar with Chanillo? It's a subscription-based platform where readers pay to get access to serial novels. (Radish might be a similar thing). I got a DM about contributing but wasn't sure what it was about.
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Mar 29, 2019 08:17
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Glass of Milk posted:Anyone here familiar with Chanillo? It's a subscription-based platform where readers pay to get access to serial novels. (Radish might be a similar thing). I got a DM about contributing but wasn't sure what it was about. the name rings a few bells but i never really heard of it. If you wanna do it, go for it especially if you wanna get your work out there.
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Mar 29, 2019 15:49
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feedmyleg posted:Anyone have any advice on consistency in your prose? I'm approaching the end of the third draft of my novel where I've finally got most of the story and character issues ironed out and can start looking at the book as a cohesive piece. I'm worried right now that I fluctuate a good amount in voice and style across chapters, but it's a bit hard for me to notice it because I'm so close to the thing. Read it out loud. To yourself, to others, whatever. Alternatively, get someone else to read it out loud to you.
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Mar 29, 2019 20:12
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Glass of Milk posted:Anyone here familiar with Chanillo? It's a subscription-based platform where readers pay to get access to serial novels. (Radish might be a similar thing). I got a DM about contributing but wasn't sure what it was about. If you're wanting to do quick releases, just go Kindle Unlimited. There's a MUCH larger upside (Michael Anderle pulled down $276K in a month from KU. Your results may vary, he's prolific and is an extreme example) and the only immediate downside is a 3 month exclusivity lock-in. KU pays for page reads, the more page reads, the more you get in royalties. The current "Meta" for KU is to publish short works as often as possible (aka serial). The catch is that one day Amazon will change the monitization and make you poor again at any point.
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Mar 29, 2019 23:26
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So guys, I'm doing a group project for theater and we gotta write a script that's educational, motivational, and pg. so no lewds or violence.
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Apr 1, 2019 13:50
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Don't leave us hanging.
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Apr 1, 2019 17:10
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Yeah, who’s playing the book?
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Apr 1, 2019 17:21
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It's a test. Write the most disgusting erotic fanfic you can to show that you understand the true spirit of theatre.
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Apr 1, 2019 18:42
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feedmyleg posted:It's a test. Write the most disgusting erotic fanfic you can to show that you understand the true spirit of theatre. Be sure to include “tasteful nudity”. Perhaps the actual phrase. Remember, pornography is in the eye of the beholder.
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Apr 1, 2019 19:05
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How much of a dick move to the readers is it to introduce a new POV character, have them running a side story for a little bit, then kill them and their entire group of supporting characters? Should I strive to directly connect them to the main characters in some way? I mostly want to use them for worldbuilding and establishing the threat, without needing to find some contrived way of jamming the main characters into that area.
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Apr 3, 2019 19:14
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Introducing characters to kill them off as an example is a thing people definitely do. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rats_(novel) Also, the side story in Repent, Harlequin. The question is if dying is going to work in first person. The Castle of Aaargh?
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Apr 3, 2019 21:30
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I think it would be okay but would work best if the story somehow references them again later. Like the main character finds the remnants of their battle later or their bodies are found in the monsters lair or something.
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Apr 4, 2019 00:00
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In anime (watches as the whole thread shits itself) it's used as a trope subversion. Hey here are these adventurers in cyber punk town. They are police and hey we are in for standard Cyber punk stor- annd they just got murdered by an eldritch abomination, who is our actual protagonist. These are usually done at the start. Using it as a "Surprise this genre isn't what you thought it was" makes it serve as double duty to show what genre the novel really is, or a shift, and to generate a memorable moment.
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Apr 4, 2019 02:23
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Happens in a lot of genre fiction. I've seen horror books where it's unclear which group of protagonists will survive and which will eat poo poo to demonstrate that zombies are dangerous. That's probably preferable to having characters who are obvious fodder, unless this is just some brief first chapter, or something. The clever thing to do, if you're going to kill off a group of protagonists, is to tie that into the plot somehow: either they do something that will become relevant when the other protagonists run into it (look, the hangar doors are unlocked!) or they see something that the other protagonists don't, leading to dramatic irony where the audience is aware of some important detail the protagonists aren't.
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Apr 4, 2019 02:44
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I have a weird request, one that probably isn't a good fit for this thread, but how would I go about coming up with asetting for D&D? And are there any resources for creating adventures? I had an idea of one campaign that takes place inside a mountain-sized mechanical golem that was housing the spirit of a fallen god of war and industry, and inside the golem are small towns and villages and fortresses and foundries filled with either slaves and unwitting innocents or zealouts and mercenaries, all working to maintaining the golem as it walks across the breadth of the land to its destination; a giant volcano that it would ascend and plunge itself into, using the sacrifice of the souls of its occupants to regain his godhood and plunge the world into endless conflict. Like, the golem and the people inside would be a metaphor for the self-destructive nature and greed of the military industrial complex while at the same time being a kickass setting for a campaign.
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Apr 4, 2019 05:16
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Thanks for the tips. The plan is for having 3 "main" plotlines to run simultaneously at the beginning, each with a hopefully compelling and likeable protagonist. Plots A and B will eventually merge, and Plot C will die to reveal to the readers just how bad things are getting, so Plots A and B have increased tension.
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Apr 4, 2019 05:27
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