I thought SoloWing's novelization of Lyn's Tale was pretty good, too. (YMMV, his tact was a Stu, but at least it was still an enjoyable enough read, unlike a lot of others.)
Anyway, this post is awesome and you should feel awesome. Now I never have to touch this topic again, hurrah! :D
The idea of a novelization (and writing one) is pretty novel (lawl), but it's:
1. Not as easy as it sounds 2. It's fucking difficult
Wait, those are the same thing. No, but seriously. After attempting three or four times (and luckily never posting any failed attempt haha), I've gotta say that it's just one of those things you have to have skill to do.
You've got to:
-Make it interesting enough so that your readers don't wander off to New Novelization #2047 before you've posted Chapter Three, so you're -Deviating from canon at least somewhat, if only in small ways (tactician actually CAN fight a little, actually the tactician fails at life, oh hey ACTUALLY WIL IS AN ASSASSIN shut up I like my idea still), which can -Really irritate your audience if you do it wrong. So while you're deviating from canon you're also -trying not to copy game script too much, but -also trying to spice up the dialogue and/or paraphrase and/or whatever. And while you're at it -You've gotta make the villains real enough that they don't feel like cardboard cutouts, but that's really hard because the game only really tells you they're evil -While you're doing that you're also trying to write about scenes that don't happen in the game but have to fit within the game at the point you're writing about, so no matter how much you ship A/B their conversations have to remain as they would be at point X in the canon. -Oh and yeah, while you're at it you've gotta write battle scenes that feel real enough but at the same time fit well enough within canon that you won't lose your entire audience.
(BTW, I once had an idea that if General Wallace died against Lundgren (and yes I am aware this lolbreakscanon, not caring) then nobody would get to take on Lyn's revenge for her, and so she would eventually have to do it herself and holy shiiiiiit that needs written someday. /shelves idea again)
So my issue was all of the above, and also foreshadowing for WAY WAY WAY in the future (because I fucking LOVE foreshadowing), aaaaand doing other things: like keeping characters in character and keeping them that way throughout the entire story. I mean, it's not hard for some people I guess, but it is for me, because I get too many ideas, and y'know, I can't incorporate them ALL. i.e., you make Lyn illiterate you can't go back on that later.
You're also probably dealing with flashbacks and/or the pasts of characters whose pasts WE DON'T EVEN FUCKING HAVE A CLUE ABOUT, and this includes Lyn, since she's a focal point character. I mean, ffs, what WAS her life like before everyone died oh-so tragically? We don't. Know. AT ALL.
And then there's a tactician in there being an OC, on top of OCs you eventually have to utilize anyway (including other knights, castle staff, handmaidens/handmaids, servants, random villagers, et cetera).
So yeah. It's fucking hard to write a novelization. (What? no, not bitter at all, why do you ask)
So in short I agree completely with this post. It takes a LOT to make your story interesting. I mean, a lot. AU deviations are fun, but an actual novelization needs to really have something to it (especially if it's just Lyn's Tale, but also if it extends further) that makes the reader want to keep reading-- for a lot of reasons: for romance, or for the introduction of their favorite character, or to see if X, Y, and/or Z are going to make it back from the brink of death, or to see how you might change things enough to make them interesting and fresh without totally deviating from the canon and/or tossing tons of canon shit away.
I should also note that it's not okay to make the characters OOC for the sake of deviating. -_- But that's preaching to the choir. However, people like to do it. Not always on purpose, but sometimes people do it and they don't give a damn that they did. Sadly, this isn't referring to just Enilas.
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Date: 2011-09-21 04:40 am (UTC)Anyway, this post is awesome and you should feel awesome. Now I never have to touch this topic again, hurrah! :D
The idea of a novelization (and writing one) is pretty novel (lawl), but it's:
1. Not as easy as it sounds
2. It's fucking difficult
Wait, those are the same thing. No, but seriously. After attempting three or four times (and luckily never posting any failed attempt haha), I've gotta say that it's just one of those things you have to have skill to do.
You've got to:
-Make it interesting enough so that your readers don't wander off to New Novelization #2047 before you've posted Chapter Three, so you're
-Deviating from canon at least somewhat, if only in small ways (tactician actually CAN fight a little, actually the tactician fails at life, oh hey ACTUALLY WIL IS AN ASSASSIN
shut up I like my idea still), which can-Really irritate your audience if you do it wrong. So while you're deviating from canon you're also
-trying not to copy game script too much, but
-also trying to spice up the dialogue and/or paraphrase and/or whatever. And while you're at it
-You've gotta make the villains real enough that they don't feel like cardboard cutouts, but that's really hard because the game only really tells you they're evil
-While you're doing that you're also trying to write about scenes that don't happen in the game but have to fit within the game at the point you're writing about, so no matter how much you ship A/B their conversations have to remain as they would be at point X in the canon.
-Oh and yeah, while you're at it you've gotta write battle scenes that feel real enough but at the same time fit well enough within canon that you won't lose your entire audience.
(BTW, I once had an idea that if General Wallace died against Lundgren (and yes I am aware this lolbreakscanon, not caring) then nobody would get to take on Lyn's revenge for her, and so she would eventually have to do it herself and holy shiiiiiit that needs written someday. /shelves idea again)
So my issue was all of the above, and also foreshadowing for WAY WAY WAY in the future (because I fucking LOVE foreshadowing), aaaaand doing other things: like keeping characters in character and keeping them that way throughout the entire story. I mean, it's not hard for some people I guess, but it is for me, because I get too many ideas, and y'know, I can't incorporate them ALL. i.e., you make Lyn illiterate you can't go back on that later.
You're also probably dealing with flashbacks and/or the pasts of characters whose pasts WE DON'T EVEN FUCKING HAVE A CLUE ABOUT, and this includes Lyn, since she's a focal point character. I mean, ffs, what WAS her life like before everyone died oh-so tragically? We don't. Know. AT ALL.
And then there's a tactician in there being an OC, on top of OCs you eventually have to utilize anyway (including other knights, castle staff, handmaidens/handmaids, servants, random villagers, et cetera).
So yeah. It's fucking hard to write a novelization. (What? no, not bitter at all, why do you ask)
So in short I agree completely with this post. It takes a LOT to make your story interesting. I mean, a lot. AU deviations are fun, but an actual novelization needs to really have something to it (especially if it's just Lyn's Tale, but also if it extends further) that makes the reader want to keep reading-- for a lot of reasons: for romance, or for the introduction of their favorite character, or to see if X, Y, and/or Z are going to make it back from the brink of death, or to see how you might change things enough to make them interesting and fresh without totally deviating from the canon and/or tossing tons of canon shit away.
I should also note that it's not okay to make the characters OOC for the sake of deviating. -_- But that's preaching to the choir. However, people like to do it. Not always on purpose, but sometimes people do it and they don't give a damn that they did. Sadly, this isn't referring to just Enilas.