What kind of story would you write?

[ReservoirAngel]

I'm currently working on two actually.

One is a romance which I fear is doomed to never be completed
The other is a dark-ish, somewhat gritty science fiction

 

[Scarim Coral]

It would be fantasy base not sure what type (an lord of the ring like fantasy or scifi?) but it will be scifi.
I suppose dectective noir would be awesome but I have no idea on how to make something like that (I always like the narrative like games like Hotel Dust and Last Window).

 

[Richardplex]

well, primarily it would be a terrible story. A story that not even I would want to read. But, it would be a polemical book, with philosophical references and their strengths and weaknesses, and ethical dilemmas which can be used in real world arguments. It wouldn't have romance; because when it's done well, it's done well, and when it's done bad, oh god is it done bad. It would be fantasy, because I find them the most immersive. I'd attempt to have decent character development and story, because I like them. I'd prefer to have it as a visual novel though, allowing the 'player' to choose through the moral dilemmas, but without the hassle of making the rest of the game.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Written quite a few, and in my experience I'm better with the gritty and visceral than comedy, at least when doing fantasy. My main concern with the current one is that I think the main characters may spend too much time questioning themselves and not enough time doing stuff. By contrast my villains have no doubts at all.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I already wrote a story. It stank. Imagine the Lord of the Rings but terrible and written by someone who can't write for beans. Aside from that, writing a story means absolutely nothing. All you need to write a story is time and dedication. Getting a story published (through someone else you self-publishing cheaters) is the only real accomplishment.

 

[derob]

I was working on a short story with allegories dealing with the god of the old testament. It was set in a small Wisconsin town with a shop owner who'd been in the second world war, and two brothers in their early teens fighting for the attention of the shop owner's daughter.

 

[worldruler8]

Having written my own fantasy novel (not yet published), I've sometimes wondered what other people would write about if they wanted to make a story.

So I ask you, fellow escapists, if you were to write a story, what would that story be about?
Would it be gritty-grounded-in-reality, or fantasy?
Would it be romantic?
Would it be poetic? (just assume "poetic" is in whatever context you're familiar with)
Would it be a simple story or a confusing mess of plot twists and betrayal?
Would there be a message or moral to the story?
Would it be based on real events, or just stuff you made up?
Would it be light hearted, or tragic?

What would you write?

EDIT: no, you don't have to explain everything about the story, just what kind of story it would be.

Alright, let's get started with the questions you have here.
-I'm planning on writing a sci-fi, which would tell the tale of a race that actually has most of the sector around our star. No, they make almost no attempts to contact us, mainly because they view humans as a very violent race. Although the main reason is that humans remind them of themselves.
-It's going to be a hard scifi, if it can be explained with a decent sense of reality, it will be in the story.
-Most of my writing style is more macro, so it's not specific people, more specific nations. That said, it will have romantic qualities, albeit it won't revolve around them.
-If by poetic you mean I'll describe things in a truly epic way, such as making "fun facts" or describing the loud thunder crack of a particle accelerator round burning through atmosphere, causing a literal fire ball in the sky as it falls.
-it will be realistic, so it can be any of those two. I'm planning on it being a space opera, with groups of different cultures and such and how they interact. Think Lord of the Rings in space, if all the different species were just different culturally.
-I don't like being preachy, and it's not like it's a simple "do this, don't do that" sort of thing. However, it doesn't really have a specific message, it's more that this species suffers from being technologically advanced, but not morally. That's actually one of the reasons they stay away from the humans. If they fight with their own people, what of another race?
-Although some of the cultures are based on real ones, most of this is original
-I wouldn't say it's tragic, but it's certainly not light-hearted. I guess I would say visceral. It doesn't go out and say "this shit is horrific", more tells it without telling it.

 

[Dingo John]

Been fiddling a bit with writing myself.

A Lovecraft inspired universe where no man is safe, but only our protagonist is aware of this. Fantasy-grounded, obviously, but with roots in different religions and mythologies, putting a question mark to many generally accepted norms and morals. I want to make people think to themselves: "WTF is this? That can't be right... Better read on to find out wtf is going on, religion has never been this absurd or obscure before!"

Basically, it explains the creation of religions and religious cults, and a new one is slowly formed around our main character as the story develops and he is getting deeper and deeper into the dark matter that is religion and the existence of omnipotent "gods".

Also, I add a reference to Monty Python's killer rabbit. Monty Python is awesome...

 

[CrazyGirl17]

I have a a couple ideas in mind, chiefly, a story with fairy-tale characters in a steam/cyber/bio-punk setting. I'm currently working out the details, but it might take a while...

 

[Simeon Ivanov]

I'd go out of my way to make it the most awesome story ever (In the Gurren Lagann sense)

 

[CATB320]

I've written a couple short stories, and they both take place in a "gritty," unsympathetic world that end on a hopeful and tremulous note. This sounds really unoriginal; But I liked how they turned out.

 

[Da Orky Man]

I'd write my first series to be painfully bad, ala Twilight, just so I can sell millions of copies and get a lot of fans. Then I'll pull some 'Atlas Shrugged' philosophical shit on them that'll make them more intellectual. Or make my sales bomb.

That would be awesome. Please do it.

I would, and am currently planning, a sci-fi novel with themes that counteract the public opinion of things. For example, the majority of America is a nuclear waste due to the decisions of a far-right Government. Britain has turned into a much more relaxed 1984 state which is portrayed in a way to show how it may work, Africa is a single massive democratic country which is later used for commentary on how America currently works...
It boils down to a military/political hard sci-fi novel.

 

[Doctor Glocktor]

Mary Clotter and her pals Ronnie and Hermanly.

 

[Kohake]

Would it be gritty-grounded-in-reality, or fantasy?
Would it be romantic?
Would it be poetic? (just assume "poetic" is in whatever context you're familiar with)
Would it be a simple story or a confusing mess of plot twists and betrayal?
Would there be a message or moral to the story?
Would it be based on real events, or just stuff you made up?
Would it be light hearted, or tragic?

What would you write?

I'd have a really hard time keeping things realistic. I grew up with Zelda, Ninja turtles, Spiderman and so on. That's the kind of stuff I like.

I don't know if there'd be any romance in it. It's not really somthing I've experienced myself so it'd be hard to write about it.

I don't have a clue about poetic writing and I have a hard time apriciating it, so probably not.

I'm a big fan of the twisty plots. If I can predict what will happen I'm much less intrested in reading the story. I like people out-smarting each other, but that also goes for the protagonists. I'm not a big fan of the "you were doing exactly what the villian wanted you to do" twists because it has nothing to do with inteligence. It's just limited information.

Yes and no. I wouldn't be telling the reader "this is what you should think", but I like posing a question and sugesting an answer.(the one that is, imo, correct) The last thing I'd want is a strawman antagonist. The protagonist and antagonist would, as is common, have diffrent views on the matter, but I don't want a stupid protagonist, and there is no glory in defeating a fool or a weakling, so they both need to make sense.(That doesn't stop me from thinking one is right and the other is wrong)

Stuff I made up. I guess it's a personal preferance, but writing about real events feel even less interesting to me than fan fiction. I'd never want to write a senario about something exactly like reality, so why not make it mine and just creat something similar and keep the stuff I like?

I don't know really. It definetly wouldn't be happy-go-lucky but black and gray gets boring really fast imo.

I'm all for super heores and magic, but I like realism in the sense that cars don't blow up and people don't protect thier secret plans on a computer with a password that is hidden on a piece of paper somewhere in the room. When you go to war you bring shields and you use spears in formation. I would never use the fantasy ganre as an excuse for things not making sense.

 

[ScarlettRage]

well, I always wanted to write about Tudor & Stuart England.. Historical Fiction. If not, I would love to write a fantasy novel.

 

[Blue_vision]

I've got a shit ton of stories going, but nothing quite finished. I try to keep them very emotionally engaging, and they need to have some higher-headed topic, philosophy to think hard about when it's all done. As much as I can appreciate a story for the sake of a story, I feel like there needs to be more in it. I also feel the need to make a story well grounded in reality and plausibility, though there's a couple I'm doing that are complete fantasy. In terms of message, sometimes I simply try to explore ideas and intend the reader to pick what they want and take their own ideas from the text, and sometimes it'll be about something I'm thinking about. But I try not to force a point of view down anybody's throats.

Generally straightforward plots, but plenty of little places for the reader to get into and explore if they want to. Also, poetic in the sense of word choice and line flow: I really dislike exposition, especially within characters. If I'm going to explore a character, it's going to be from inside their head, slowly and gradually from what they say and what they do.

I do prefer the realistic nitty-grittyness of the world over everyone lives happily ever after, but I don't want to make anyone depressed. I think that if I were to do things properly, the reader would decide how they felt over the ending.

aaand that's how I write stories. Now to actually finish one of the dozen I've got going.

 

[Harkonnen64]

Confusing plot, with a love triangle, and magic.

So you're writing an anime?

jk, I like anime, be gentle...

 

[Harkonnen64]

I once wrote a short story in my high school English class. It followed an ex-spy in a low-fantasy world setting who set forth on an expedition to find exceedingly rare, glowing gems in the lost (to everyone but him, that is) ruins of an ancient civilization of people living in the caverns of a cold, high mountain. He finds a way in to find the abandoned underground city using them as streetlamps.

Many, many streetlamps fueled by many, many rare gems...

...And he promptly gets eaten by the ravid, tentacled wolf-like creatures, now free to leave the ruins thanks to our stalwart young protagonist...

...And I got a D on it.

Whilst 3 people who stole their stories off the Internet got A's on their papers.

-.- That teacher never did like me. (Granted, the story could have used a bit more refinement, but still.)

 

[spartan231490]

Confusing plot, with a love triangle, and magic.

So you're writing an anime?

jk, I like anime, be gentle...

I'm writing a high fantasy. Think wheel of time.

And anime is the shit

 

[FalloutJack]

Well, I would write an awesome story. Lemme answer those questions, then...

{1} I'm pretty sure it is essentially good versus evil, breaking a few cliches, and a blast of humor for luck.

{2} Both, if you can believe it. My world shall make a consistent sense that you can follow, even when magic is involved or weird sci-fi science.

{3} In places. I don't have just a single story in mind. I have a universe. There will be romance as it develops.

{4} I know several different uses of 'poetic'. I'll start by saying that I'm not a poet, and then say that I will probably take poetic license, use poetic justice, and so on. It's a slippery slope.

{5} These two extremes you mention both sound negative and not accordinf to my style of writing. I am both complex AND I make as much sense as humanly possible.

{6} Possibly, but I'm going to say not on purpose. My point of writing is to entertain. You take from it what you will and I hope you enjoy it all the way.

{7} Yes? Seriously, you're assuming I can't have it both ways. If I involve Earth in one of my tales and it is meant to resemble OUR Earth in OUR time (which CAN happen), obviously I'll have to use real events. But I am a fiction writer still. Real events in fiction are still real, right?

{8} Again, the answer is yes. I have that kind of dynamic ability to mesh the magics.