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Christianity what? Rome where? Gaius who?

4 years ago

Hello . joined recently (newest of the new and the noobest of em all). for the past few months I've been thinking of a story that takes in the timeline between Rome's push into Gaul and by extension the rest of western Europe and the period of the great migration of the Saxons or the period Viking adventurism into the world both old and new . so here is where i am conflicted.

The first part would be choosing between either the Migration period (375 AD - 538 AD) or the Viking age (800 AD - 1066 AD) i wouldn't waste your time with too much details i see the former as dealing with a story in the British isles and the latter in the Americas i am entertaining the idea of the latter since it would something new and exciting that hasn't been discussed much before.

The second part would be wether i will include some fantasy elements into the story . such as myths and legends of their respective cultures to spice things up and make the story more enjoyable and captivating. 

The third part would be entail some minor stuff on my mind for example would i add a narrator to the story like have the readers see it through the eyes of an old scribe or a monk . would i for example change the technological aspects of those eras as plot convenience etc ?

Anyway its been on my head for the last few months but i didn't focus on it due to combination of real life responsibilities and me being novice in storytelling and having no experience. 

So if there's any ideas or suggestions or question feel free to tell . i seen some great works here so i am not disappointed.

cheers.

 

Christianity what? Rome where? Gaius who?

4 years ago

First Part

A big piece of advice is to write what you want to write. If you just write what others tell you to you're much more likely to lose motivation which will end with nothing being written. Further, almost any idea can work, and the two you mention both sound like they could be great, but since you are entertaining the idea of the latter, I'd encourage you to go with it.

Another big piece of advice is to keep the scope of your story in mind, and consider planning things out. You want to find what works for you, but the thing with branching stories is that they can get out of hand extremely quickly, which can, again, kill motivation. Having some sort of plan/outline can thus help you moving towards a specific goal to prevent you from having the scope get out of hand.

Alternatively, consider a smaller scope story to get used to the process. Starting with something smallish is often suggested because it helps you get a feel for how CYOAs can spiral out of control, and thus stop you from languishing in some epic.

Second Part

This is up to you, both can work, but you pretty much want to figure out what role you want realism to play in your story. Think about some specifics for ideas regarding what can happen and what sorta branches you want to have to help you find the preferred choice. As you say that fantasy elements will make the story more enjoyable & captivating, I'd say go for it, since it sounds like that is what you prefer. Again, write what you want to write.

Third Part

Again, up to you, and write what you want to write. A great thing about writing is that you can go back and change things if they don't work out, so perhaps try writing the opening with a narrator and without and see which one you prefer. Same thing regarding technology (this also ties into what role realism will play).

Conclusion

You aren't going to get experience if you don't write, so ultimately, don't forget to actually start writing at some stage. Some people like to plan a lot, but it is about finding what works for you, and regardless, in the end, you'll need to actually write at some stage if you want it to get written (unless you somehow have people to write for you, lol).

I'd say, try writing in a number of different ways and styles, it is the main way to improve and figure out what works best for you. In this case, maybe write some short stories trying out the different ideas you have? Have 1000 words as the upper limit to ensure you give them all a shot, but obviously if you find one clicks with you, feel free to just keep writing.

Looking forward to seeing how this idea develops.

TL;DR
Just write what you want to write! Try different things and change them if you aren't happy. Motivation is vital, so writing what you want to write is immensely beneficial. Figure out what works for you through experimentation, there is no real wrong way to write a story (tho do put in some effort, after all, if you just roll your hands over the keyboard, chances are slim that you'll write something good).

Christianity what? Rome where? Gaius who?

4 years ago

Thanks for your detailed advice . the reason why opened this to suggestion of others was just so that i can get a feel of how to tackle this in a way that most other authors here do on their first time and was in no way intended to get others to write it for me just tips and guidance . yeah i get that branching it out would be a bitch to handle since it can go out of hand to the point of exhausting your mind and your feel of the story and i considered doing it on a small scale to test my rusty writing abilities.

Christianity what? Rome where? Gaius who?

4 years ago

I think the danger here would be the presentation of the plot. If we're too detached from the events because your story begins to resemble an essay, or a list of happenings, it would become boring. I'd try to anchor all the dry history to interesting characters - so there is a reason we should care other than 'oh I wonder what would happen if so and so...' The perspective of an old monk might be interesting, but if we're just a passive observer we're back to square one. Let the reader have primacy over their story - we don't have to shape the course of history, but how do we adapt to life during these time periods? Make sure it's interesting 'cos everything else follows.

On that note, I don't mind fantasy in historical stories as long as it doesn't break my suspension of disbelief.

Christianity what? Rome where? Gaius who?

4 years ago

Thanks for the input and shedding light over the narration aspect . yeah i guess adding the narrator would make the player feel a bit shacked to railroaded story. 

Christianity what? Rome where? Gaius who?

4 years ago
I don't care for framing devices or a narrator otherwise detached from the action because it does exactly that; detaches you from the action. I'm sure there can be exceptions but deliberately inserting this extra degree of separation between the reader and the events the character is caught up in just makes it more difficult to get immersed in the story.

As for when to set the story, it sounds like you have a clear favorite already and so I'd advise you to go with the later period that interests you the most.

Magic and so on I wouldn't mind, just if this is meant to be taken seriously as primarily a historical thing you're going to want to keep it very grounded or ambiguous.

Christianity what? Rome where? Gaius who?

4 years ago

Yeah at first i thought it would make the story a bit cool and give it that aesthetic feel but then i realized it would make the player detached . as for the fantasy and the historical elements i intend to do an alternative history kind of thing just to give me the power of bending the story to my taste especially with the viking age period taking place in the americas sine they were close to colonize it before columbs by almost 500 years . so i am relying on that big ''what if'' . and adding a bit of fantasy to it to spice things up .