Forum & Site Discussion
Welcome back to Forum & Site Discussion.
This issue, SlashingUK escapes from Stories and Poems, to give us an article all about Sal's Story Mat. Emanick also contributes, giving his side of the story, from the depth of the RuneScape Stories section. Enjoy.
~ Jamster, wishing you all a very Merry Christmas
Sal's Story Mat - By: SlashingUK and Emanick
Sal's Story Mat - By: SlashingUK
Like almost everyone here at Sal's, I first arrived on the forums in search of answers to my Runescape needs; tips and tricks and access to the Marketplace and so on. I thought that the whole Everything… Not Runescape section was irrelevant. Eventually, I wandered in and gave the benefit of my wisdom to a couple of unsuspecting recipients in the Homework Helpline and slowly explored some of the other sub Forums. Not being a writer, and not wanting to read second-rate fiction that was too poor to appear on Amazon.com, I didn't even look into The Story Mat. This is probably where the average Sal's member remains. In this article, those "average" members can find out something about what they are missing.
In June I decided to try my hand at some creative writing. I posted my first attempt in Runescape Stories , figuring this was, after all, a Runescape site. The feedback I received spurred me on to further efforts and I've been writing creatively ever since.
From Runescape Stories , Emanick offers us some insight into this fan-fiction forum. Almost single-handedly, Emanick has made this sub-forum one of the most vibrant, interesting and productive story-telling environments around. All standards are welcomed and extraordinary imaginations are exercised in some fascinating stories.
The Roleplayers' Room is a very lively forum, but no active participant was available to contribute to this article. If you're interested in writing a future article on this dynamic forum, let me know and I'll help set it up.
Since its inception, The Library has been guided and overseen by Master Neverdead (aka Hexias ). During the summer months Neverdead's focus was taken away from the forums, so I did my best to keep The Library active. Late in November Neverdead returned and The Library is positively buzzing with fresh stories and authors like at no other time since I joined in June.
Runescape Stories - By Emanick
In my mind, the RuneScape Story Mat is the first listed subforum in the Story Mat for a reason. It has the most topics by far, and even better, it has a clearly defined jumping-off point for people to base their stories on. Unlike the other sections, every one of these topics has something in common, and so someone in the mood to read about their favorite game can always count on finding a good selection of reads, spanning the distance between poem, God Wars story, epic, or original tale. By original, I mean something that creates a whole new kind of tale, fitting into no common cliché but unfolding a whole new type of story. By no means are only these original, but creating your own sort of setting undoubtedly requires the most effort.
The most common types of stories that appear in the RS Story Mat include God Wars Stories, stories about the user's character, noob stories (humorous stories about the adventures of noobs), short stories based around a certain character, and completely original stories. Of course, there are varying levels of quality. The majority of the God Wars stories I've seen have been short, with poor grammar and punctuation and nonsensical. Generally, the ones about the First God Wars are better, although the longest story ever published on the Story Mat is one about the Second God Wars, and it's received over 300 posts, more than any other story published on Sal's. You can read Po22's Mage Chronicles, for that's what he calls it, here .
There are other stories that succeed in other genres, though. Occasionally a noob story may rise to fame and receive at least two pages of posts, which makes it much more likely to visited. ‘The 3 Noobs,' by The master of darkness, is a prime example of how to make a noob story succeed. After three months, he's onto Chapter 13, and he accepts applications for characters. If a reader is planning to write a noob story, then the best thing to do is to offer applications and write something fairly long and original. If you steal things from other stories, it tends to show.
Then there are stories about specific peoples' characters. Usually they're no good, because the writer loses interest after the first chapter. However, occasionally one can succeed, like The Life And Times Of Neferious by neferious0. The best way to do this is to introduce substantial drama, and an unclichéd theme. An engaging character with an unusual personality is the best way to display these stories. It matter little whether the character belongs to the writer or not, as long as they portray him/her well. And of course, the worst thing of all to do is to make the story sound like a game (MSLAG for short); many stories have their sense of drama cut short when we realize that it takes place online, not in a living world.
Then there are short and long stories, which tend to be more interesting than the above examples, except perhaps God Wars stories. Short stories are almost never continued past the first chapter; I have literally seen over a hundred disappear that way. Thus, they rarely become long stories. However, in the event that an interesting title is selected to attract readers, and there are regular chapters added, long stories can result that receive multiple pages of posts. I was lucky enough to achieve this twice, first with my second story, The Asgarnian Champions, and second with my third story, The Meteor Wyrm. However, that's another story. Or rather, stories. Agh. Never mind.
I like to think that the Story Mat has prospered since I began running a reviewing thread in it (although to be honest, it has suffered a bit of a relapse). While the majority of story-posters don't bother to apply, many people do, and I give them reviews roughly forty lines long. (Microsoft Word lines, that is.) Usually, it's divided into sections detailing the good and bad of the writer's language skills, storyline, characters, and general things that don't fall into any other category, like description. I also mention which character was my favorite, and why. There is also a complicated rating system that I use to evaluate a story based on its perks and downfalls, which has several catagories ranging from Primitive and Novice up through Intermediate and Advanced, to Expert, Master and Legend. It also includes number ratings from 0 to 85, 85 being as good as J.R.R. Tolkien, the best fantasy writer in history.
My system is so strict that only one author (Chaoserver) has gotten a rating of Expert (59), and nobody has gotten anything higher. The typical story features at Novice or just beyond it (the current average is 22), but if anybody puts multiple chapters into their work and requests a review it's bound to rise quite beyond that. It's possible for a noob story to get high Intermediate (33), and for a character-based story to reach halfway from Intermediate to Advanced (39). One excellent one-chapter story made it nearly all the way there, at 41. For a list of the best authors and the attributes that make them so successful, click here [hyperlink to a section at the bottom of the page*]
It would be a huge mistake to say that this was all my work. My reviewing partner Fruityfed, though he is no longer active, wrote a huge amount of writing tips that could be helpful to anyone in the process of writing their own story. And on occasions when I haven't been present (and some occasions when I have), SlashingUK has stepped in to do some reviewing of his own.
So, if you're a budding author, what are you waiting for? We at the RuneScape Story Mat can offer plenty of tips on how to write a story, and we can review it if you're having difficulty trying to decide how good your story is and what its errors are. We won't bring you down - we'll try our best to find your weak points and tell how to improve them, and we'll compliment you on the things you do well! (You can also profit from reading the reviews of other people - after all, writing is a universal art, and in an advanced state, the different kinds of writing and forms of expression of different authors, even in the same genre, complement each other in a symbiotic dance rich with variety and spice.)
* 10. ZacharyB. While his stories lack a final element that would push them to be truly fine, they have a fine plot, good language, and excellent suspence. 43/85
9. Jumpeplowski. His simple yet well-drawn and character-based battle scenes make him a truly advanced writer. While his description is often splendid, his language is often too plain for my taste. 43/85
8. Screaming Shadow. While Screaming Shadow often struggles to maintain clarity, his intriguing characters and his fine imagination make his stories a pleasure to read. 45/85
7. Pottsy6. Pottsy has excellent characters and a great portrayal of drama. His scenery and description is often splendid, and his best attribute is the ability to afflict emotion upon his unsuspecting prey - the audience. 46/85
6. Henrique651. Henrique is the King of Description. When he has a mind to do it, which is very frequent, he can show us description in his story so far unmatched by any other writer. Although his characters could use a little work, he has a fine plot running, which is sadly often interrupted by an outbreak of mild misspellings (Henrique is Portugese). 48/85
5. Master Neverdead. Possibly the best author who still writes frequently on Sal's. He has a marvelous way to convey information, full of florid language and elegant plot twists. Although some of his minor characters suffer from lack of detail, or merely from lack of existence, he remains the Top Ten ranker who most threatens to overflow his rank and reach even higher on the scale. 52/85
4. Po22. While Po is not the best at language, his portrayal of an epic war is unrivaled on Sal's, except perhaps by Chaoserver. He takes us out to the front lines of the Second God Wars, and he keeps us there for long enough to grow woozy from lack of peace. But it's a positive woozyness, and easy to enjoy. 53/85
3. Sryen. Sryen is the King of Characters. He manages to maintain a realistic and believable story, while creating a cross-kingdom on-and-off war with splendid embodiments of innocence, humor and sacrifice. (Oops!) With believable emotions and characteristics coming from both description, background, and simple actions, Sryen is peerless in this area. 54/85
2. Sephiroth_king. Sephiroth_king is the King of Symbolism. He has an amazingly epic trilogy, which portrays a startling contast between Good and Evil. While it's often hard to understand what's going on, Sephiroth_king makes such a drastic and desperate world of Gielinor, albeit heavily altered, that it's hard to deny him the #1 rank. Until, that is, you read Runescape Chronicles. 56/85
1. Chaoserver. Chaoserver is the King of Plot. While his stories are dark and entwined with blood and guts, they drag you in so deep that once into the stories, it's hard to stop. Especially with his early work, the Runescape Chronicles, Chaoserver creates a dark and enveloping atmosphere of desperate hopes and extreme sacrifice. Once you read Chaoserver's stories, it's hard to think of him as anyone but Master. 57/85
The Library - By: SlashingUK
I always wondered why a Runescape fan-site had an area for general story and poetry writers. After I started writing here I posted some of my stories on a dedicated story-writing site and, I must say, I think Sal's is much better. There is a small, enthusiastic group of authors and reviewers here on Sal's. If anyone posts a piece, it will definitely receive comments, and they are always helpful, unlike the other site I tried where stories can be ignored for months or receive unhelpful or insulting comments.
The range of writing is astonishing, from poems to stories, scenes to epics, and high-school dramas to high fantasy sagas. The styles also cover the full spectrum of writing and have even included a couple of plays for the first time since I've been a member. There is something here for every taste (assuming you like fiction!).
Here is a whirlwind review of some of the best of The Library. For beautiful language and imagery, check out Vengeance by Cresenne . It's a work in progress, but the descriptions are wonderful, showing us all just how writing should be done. If you love characters, read anything by Lord Vega , his stories follow an unusual person or people through transformational events in their lives and sometime their deaths too. All of Lord Vega's stories have by far the best characters in The Library. If you're after something original and darkly disturbing you might try out the short story Fingers of Death by Chaoserver or my own short, Barking Dog . Both of these stories are readable in about ten minutes and are tied for first place in Neverdead's Bookcase – Hey Neverdead, does this say as much about you and the sort of stories you enjoy as it does about the writing itself? Speaking of Master Neverdead you can enjoy his (unfinished) fantasy story The Champion Of Phallix which has a wonderful style and tone to it. If you're interested in war stories, take a look at Zhuge Liang's Milne Bay (sequel, The Tide Turns in progress) which draws attention to the much forgotten action of Australian soldiers in halting the advance of the Japanese in World War II.
There are many other excellent examples which are either abandoned or taking a very long time to complete. If you don't mind missing out on an ending, take a look at Extinction by Evin290 , Trial and Error by Simple13 or The Story Of The Door by Meen .
Alternatively, take a look at one of the reviewing threads below and pick something off the list.
If you're interested in writing, there are currently three ways to generate interest and get reviews on your story.
1. Post and Hope – Most posts get some sort of response. This is the easiest method and low key enough that you won't get inundated with feedback.
2. Neverdead's Bookcase – Post a request for Master Neverdead to conduct a full and thorough review. Neverdead's reviews are amazingly deep and thorough. I've had one story posted for five months on two separate story forums and received comments from about twenty different reviewers, but the sum total content and usefulness of those reviews is less than the single review I received from in Neverdead's Bookcase. Be prepared for full critique. Neverdead will leave no weakness unexposed, but also, no strength. The story also gets a rating, which unlike the Reviewing Circle, is consistently applied across all stories. Take a peek in here to get some recommendations of good reads and personal author ratings too.
3. Reviewing Circle – Review the previous poster's story to earn the right to have your story reviewed by the next poster. The ratings in this thread are made up by each reviewer in turn, so there's a big margin of error and overlap between the rankings. Nevertheless, you should be able to get a good indication of what stories are considered a good read and why. Especially where there is more than one review of a story.
One final point - if you do happen to visit The Story Mat and take a peek at one of the stories, plays or poems you find posted there, please leave a comment. Even if you only read the early part of a story, the author will always be pleased to know you stopped by to read some of what they made the effort to write.
I look forward to seeing your posts in Sal's Story Mat.
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