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  1. SootShade

    Writing AI characters

    I have one story idea centered around an AI, with the main concept/theme being people treating it like a human celebrity because of the presentation it comes packaged with, which leads to all sorts of issues, both because it's less than fully functional in terms of social interaction and...
  2. SootShade

    Crab

    My only thoughts are:
  3. SootShade

    What does it take to keep a reader engaged to your story?

    Pacing. I think that's really what it comes down to, especially with web novels. Whether it's getting people to read every release as they come, or to read a whole novel in one go, instead of getting distracted by all the others on offer, I think that's the most important quality. I think it...
  4. SootShade

    Favorite Character Archetypes

    Oh yeah, that can absolutely happen. I find that adding a tragic aspect to a character to make them more cool/badass generally has very mediocre results, maybe because it tends to be used as a reason for the character to be emotionally distant and closed off, for the sake of mystery or whatever...
  5. SootShade

    Favorite Character Archetypes

    This is exactly what I'm all about. A character that can overcome tragic personal circumstances and emotional adversity, and emerge from it as a heroic and admirable figure, is simply by far the most rewarding for me to read or write about.
  6. SootShade

    Post your male character and I'll tell you what I think of him from my female reader's perspective

    We'll see how it goes, once I get to actually delve into romance (probably in the next arc), since his naivete can also be a little frustrating to deal with!
  7. SootShade

    Post your male character and I'll tell you what I think of him from my female reader's perspective

    Excellent, seems like my time reading all that romance has not been a total waste. I'll take this as confirmation that he's good material for a love interest for my main character.
  8. SootShade

    Post your male character and I'll tell you what I think of him from my female reader's perspective

    Alright, I'll bite. Here's someone that was molded, to an uncommon degree, according to a single personality trait. Name: Rokus Galein Visuals: A near constant dazzling smile on a handsome face if slightly boyish face. Fairly tall and carries himself with a good posture. A well-practiced, but...
  9. SootShade

    Do you write the characters or let them write themselves?

    With the story I'm writing right now, it's been almost entirely the latter, since I started out with practically nothing planned. But when I actually plan out a story, I come up with key details that in some way define the character, usually depending on a specific purpose they serve in the...
  10. SootShade

    What do you do when you get like a brain fatigue while writing a chapter? How do you go back in the 'zone'?

    I've settled into writing chapters in stages. Ideally there will be an amount of time between each of these stages, and its manageable because I'm focusing on just a limited part of the whole process in each stage. First I go through the notes for what I've planned out ahead in the story, and...
  11. SootShade

    How do you find the motivation to write every day?

    I got so sick of my procrastinating habits that I just wrote up a prologue and a first chapter, based on a random idea that I had on my desktop, and released them on SH as soon as they were ready. From there, I managed to keep a steady pace and release a chapter every couple of days with my...
  12. SootShade

    Boy x Girl, Girl x Girl, or Boy x Boy?

    Without the involvement of gender bender, I prefer a straight romance, but Indeed. I have no doubt that I'm in the minority on this, but I find the first of those to be by far the most interesting. I don't mind GL, and I could probably tolerate BL as long as it doesn't get sexual, since I just...
  13. SootShade

    How many times you re-read chapter before posting

    Just once, with the story that I'm actually releasing. Just to proofread and occasionally reformulate some sentences. If I reread something with the intention to fix the actual story, then I'll be rewriting it at least a dozen times before I'm remotely satisfied, and I definitely wouldn't be...
  14. SootShade

    The Genre I Hate: Gender-Bender

    The fact that it naturally creates emotional conflict is one of the things that makes it a very useful trope. If you apply enough thought, then this alone can be used to create an interesting story. Though I suppose not everyone is as interested in reading about characters navigating through...
  15. SootShade

    "Curse" of immortality

    I only recall having immortality as a major theme in one of my stories. In this case the downsides are pretty obvious from the outset: It's one of the main characters that is cursed with immortality, through essentially vampirism. Whilst that theoretically means having to sustain himself through...
  16. SootShade

    A character card for writing

    I've tried to employ a similar idea for myself before, but it wasn't a very efficient way for me to work. I already end up knowing my characters *very* intimately by the virtue of how I write. The motivations of my characters are the basis on which I write the whole story, and thus all the...
  17. SootShade

    An Underrated Section

    The OP's made an argument based on the idea that this system has a flaw, and suggested a possible correction. Whether or not you agree with this assessment, reiterating the situation that he takes issue with seems to miss the point. For the record, I'm in favor of the idea. Seeing as the front...
  18. SootShade

    Flourish vs plot

    I try to always think of what the purpose is for that bit of text being there is. I think as long as there is one, then it's probably fine, but if I can't think of a reason for a piece of description to exist then it goes. If it's longer than it needs to be to fulfill its purpose, then I might...
  19. SootShade

    Which part of the writing process do you struggle with or fear the most?

    Presently, avoiding exposition dumping. For the time being, I seem to have have successfully overcome the great enemy, otherwise known as procrastination, by just forcing myself to finally publish something and then keep making frequent releases. The result is surprisingly passable otherwise...
  20. SootShade

    What is the Single Best Anime OP?

    My answer to this question changes pretty much on a daily basis... So I'll just give you my pick of the day: And then the rest of the top five that it would be criminal to not to mention:
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