Discussion: Q4 Volume 39

A fire breathing dragon for roasting marshmallows is simply brilliant, @physa! And thanks for the candy, @craydimensional. We will make it through folks! Although we might have to put someone on fire patrol to put out the smoldering pillows while I'm away. Or point the dragon in the opposite direction.

Posted by: @pdblake

Me neither, but it just means our stories are much more unique and will stand out more

^^  This is true, actually. Whoever wrote about sentient lawn chairs, yeah, that stood out in a totally good way. 

Posted by: @physa

[just noticed the dragon station where you can get your marshmallows flamed]

Anne McCaffrey had tiny dragons in her Pern series. How cool would that be? We need dragon emojis.

"Sentient Lawn Chairs" 
I love it. Whomever came up with this, well done!

Posted by: @jvashley

"Sentient Lawn Chairs" 
I love it. Whomever came up with this, well done!

I'm guessing sentient lawn chairs would communicate via telepathy and not want to be sat upon.

@physa I love your tent posts!

@karyenglish Ooooh! Thanks so much for the update! I'm very excited for quarter 4 results!

[bats at a swarm of flying lizards]

[sits down on a lawn chair in front of the tent]

[melted dark chocolate from my flamed marshmallow s'more drips down my chin]

[and onto the arm of my lawn chair]

[oops, what a mess]

[the lawn chair tilts forcing me on the grass]

[I attempt to stand up and dust myself off]

[the lawn chair glares at me demanding an apology]

[sorry, sorry, sorry]

[didn't know it was sentient]

[the lawn chair calls a flying lizard to lick up the messy chocolate]

[and a fire breathing dragon to chase me away]

@physa you are so funny! This is hilarious! 

@physa if you win this quarter, you need a Tshirt with a tent, campfire and marshmallows for the convention in April.

I just got my computer up after moving halfway across the country to see that Q4 judging is almost complete and now I'm stress eating cheesecake in the middle of my kitchen without anywhere to sit because my furniture is 4 days behind me. I'm lactose intolerant so that should be fun.

On a real note, I love that it appears that some stories challenged the status quo!

Total noobie question here, but can someone explain what western storytelling implies?

Thanks Kary for the update! Can't wait to see who the finalists are, best of love and luck to you all! <3

I'm curious about that as well. I thought maybe stories that take place in the USA, but that's Western Location. I figure my storytelling is based on hero's/heroine's journey, save the cat, Farland method, etc. Curious to learn the difference.

I understood western storytelling to mean using one of the following structures: three act structure, hero's journey, seven point structure, MICE quotient, or any combination thereof. I'm likely missing a few, but I think these are the most common.

@watt_writes I understood it to mean the same as @ease and @axeminister

I recall reading an article by Ursula Le Guin about the circular structure of story telling, which is different to the hero's journey which is / can be considered more of a male-focused structure (apologies for any oversimplification / misinterpretation of her views on the hero's journey). However, I cannot now remember if that circular structure was considered to be a non-Western type of storytelling, I think it might be because (again if I remembered correctly) the example given was from / popular in Indian storytelling.

Happy to stand corrected, especially given my hazy memory.

Thanks for the info guys! I studied molecular biology in school so I'm like a little magpie when it comes to literature, taking whatever shiny new morals I can find ? 

[I approach the tent to console my Q4 main character who I understand is sulking over a cup of hot chocolate]

[the lawn chair rushes me at the entrance so I retreat to the back]

[I find a handy tunnel leading into the tent and open the trap door to the common room]

[I eavesdrop on a stirring conversation about eastern vs. western story telling]

[the mind boggles at the copious ways of telling a story]

[I get a flamed marshmallow from the dragon station to top my hot chocolate]

[I find my main character staring into the fire as if staring into the pit of hades]

["there, there," I say.]

[I pat my main character on the back.]

[I tell my character, "It will be okay no matter how the results go"]

[My main character flashes a weak smile at me]

[I've done what I can for now]

Most of what I've learned about non-Western structures comes from anime. If you break down the fight scenes - in Western media, it's neck and neck until the end when the protagonist figures out the trick to finally take out the antagonist, at which point the end happens quickly. In anime, the first half of the fight consists of the protagonist getting ABSOLUTELY BEATEN DOWN, until the protagonist unlocks a new power which puts the two on equal footing. Then they clash some more until the protagonist is able to pull out the win. Interesting point - in anime/manga, the episode/chapter end would not be at the moment of despair - it's at the moment of unlocking the new power, because it's a promise that the next episode is going to be an absolutely awesome fight. 

I've also noticed some different values - teamwork vs strength of individual, more likely inclusion of multiple languages (instead of everyone speaking Common/English) - as well as more experimentation with present tense and second person. 

Posted by: @karyenglish

FYI - forgetting your header or leaving the page numbers off won't DQ you, and we see it enough that mentioning it won't either.  😉

I have spent like month in betaread-improve cycle.
My thoughts:
If I got DQ because of question about DQ I think I would need a therapy—NEED TO SAVE THIS GUY 
Good to know you aren’t that strict, and I overreacted
😀
Peace,
VR

@reigheena cool training-arc-seinen findings. I never thought about looking at it from the craftsman perspective. Thanks to you NOW i can see the hooks. Need to rewatch some…

if you want to try some different anime (not to mention rest of non-western culture) i would advise:

1. Graveyard of fireflies (prepare tissues)-war time tragedy about orphans trying to live on their own
2. Legend of galactic heroes (110 episodes but WORTH IT) i have never seen/ read anything like it. If anyone can recomend, please do so. Expressing all my love for this series would take too long, so i will just tantalize - there are battles but most of the fighting is against humanities own weaknesses.

@watt_writes I may have it wrong, but I think Western storytelling is more closely involved with a single character and their journey through the story and non-Western is more plot-driven and is normally told from multiple points of view

<looks around, notices everyone in tents, foxholes, and pillow forts>

<fluffs a few pillows, checks the helmet straps on a couple of newbies>

Looking good in here. Keep it up!

<reaches into pocket to produce the Holy Hand Grenade of Fancy Pantsy Resultsomancy>

<counts on fingers - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...>

FIRE IN THE HOLE!

<pulls pin, chucks grenade>

Thursday.

<runs!>

[Kary shows up]

[OMG, OMG, OMG]

[ducks under the nearest table]

[ ]

[hot chocolate spills everywhere]

@karyenglish   It's Thursday OMG

@karyenglish Does this mean all the finalists have been called? ?

Posted by: @ease

@karyenglish Does this mean all the finalists have been called? ?

I think the finalists are being called nowish [first call]. The second call should be about 10-14 days later [which is about when the rest of the results show up in email inboxes]. I could be wrong, but based on other quarters... Good luck!

Wonderful news that Q4 results will be coming soon! May you keep your phone lines open, and may that call from Joni be for you!

All the beast!

@physa You crack me up!

Posted by: @wulfmoon

Wonderful news that Q4 results will be coming soon! May you keep your phone lines open, and may that call from Joni be for you!

All the beast!

I will try not to let 4 QTR mania distract from writing 1 QTR story. I was able to plot this one out using tips from "A Howling Good Plot." I figure a week or so for emails.

Posted by: @craydimensional

Posted by: @wulfmoon

Wonderful news that Q4 results will be coming soon! May you keep your phone lines open, and may that call from Joni be for you!

All the beast!

I will try not to let 4 QTR mania distract from writing 1 QTR story. I was able to plot this one out using tips from "A Howling Good Plot." I figure a week or so for emails.

I'm happy my masterclass helped you, Cray. All the best with your Q1!

Where the rest of the world sees and experiences Friday, we see and experience Thursday.

Because:

It's Always Thursday in WotFia.