Post by Grey on Apr 11, 2013 9:47:33 GMT -6
As I'm sure everyone's realised, Fourtrees Resurrected has become very quiet of late, and I take relative responsibility for that as I am meant to be acting as a mod here. I'm sorry that the activity has been low recently, but I do have an idea - hopefully one which will mean that we can all have a bit of fun and wake up Fourtrees Resurrected again. It's been kicking around in the back of my head for a while, and I thought it's a good time to bring it out and see what you all think.
I was never all that involved in the Warriors Redesign, but it seemed like a cool idea, except that I was slightly disappointed that it didn't seem to plan to go any further than that. As much fun as it looked to redesign the characters to improve them, there's a big difference between a character in list-form and in an actual written world.
I don't make any attempt hide my feelings about Erin Hunter and the writing of Warriors (which ranges, usually, between appreciation, irritation, contempt, amusement, and fascination), and I think this has a lot to do with the fact I am a writer and I fancy myself as an author one day. The reason I'm saying this is because I have a preposition to anyone who's interested:
We should rewrite Into The Wild, or as much as it as we can, taking whatever liberties we like and writing the story as we would like it to be.
It's one thing to critique a book, but can we do any better in our version? I'm very curious - and admittedly, I want to test myself as well. I don't write nearly enough for someone who wants to make great books, and I figure - if I want to lament what should have been - I might as well see if I can attempt it personally.
In many ways, we have the same set-up as Erin Hunter. Multiple people, for one thing; can we keep everything consistent? Maybe it's harder than we thought to keep track of dozens of characters. And can we make those characters into who we wish they would be, rather than the cardboard they are?
I would love to elaborate and explore the worlds of the clans, and write in my many headcanons for the culture (perhaps including this little language I've been tinkering with), and I'm sure many of you feel the same way. With so many minds imagining this world and these characters, surely we can make something that is really enjoyable for us all - and if not, I reckon we can have fun trying anyway.
My idea for this challenge goes like this (but, like everything else, that's completely negotiable):
- the plot must stay the same; Rusty must join the clan the way he did, the major plot-points must happen the way they did, and the story must end the same way it did for the canon book.
- where possible (or rather, where acceptable) canon characters' names must remain the same.
- the setting must be exactly as it is depicted in the map of the first arc.
Those are the rules, because otherwise it mighn't be the same story at all. Everything else is fluid: we might add sub-plots, new (minor) characters, recreate the world, whatever else takes our fancy, really.
Obviously, it would need a lot of discussion, and in keeping with Erin Hunter's writing process, maybe even multiple authors and editors if that's how we want to do it.
This is going to be a sort of long-term project, because stories don't happen overnight, and we all lead busy lives, I'm sure. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing, as we have Fourtrees Resurrected as a continuous meeting-place and board for ideas, and that will keep everyone up-to-date with everything.
How does this sound to you? Interesting? Fun? A waste of time? Gratuitous and unnecessary? You tell me.
In the meantime, I thought I should at least give you an idea of some things that I'd really like to see in this story:
- differentiation between the four clans and their ways of life: as in, different beliefs and values; different customs; different dialects and ways of speaking; things that show why they live separately from each other.
- anthropomorphism that is far more realistic, because that's what makes reading about animals fun for me; Watership Down set a precedent in animal literature as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to bring Warriors to that kind of level (which is fairly arrogant and ambitious of me, I know.)
- a slightly more sophisticated, enjoyable writing style, something more suitable for our age-group, perhaps?
- a consistent naming system. That would be charming.
Those are the main four that I'm interested in seeing happen for this novel. You'll notice that there's nothing about specific characters, and that's because I don't really remember of them all that well. I was hoping that you would all get in on that, since you all have the emotional connection there, as well as familiarity, and I'd really like to hear everyone's thoughts about that.
So yes, this is my plan.
Worth a shot?
I was never all that involved in the Warriors Redesign, but it seemed like a cool idea, except that I was slightly disappointed that it didn't seem to plan to go any further than that. As much fun as it looked to redesign the characters to improve them, there's a big difference between a character in list-form and in an actual written world.
I don't make any attempt hide my feelings about Erin Hunter and the writing of Warriors (which ranges, usually, between appreciation, irritation, contempt, amusement, and fascination), and I think this has a lot to do with the fact I am a writer and I fancy myself as an author one day. The reason I'm saying this is because I have a preposition to anyone who's interested:
We should rewrite Into The Wild, or as much as it as we can, taking whatever liberties we like and writing the story as we would like it to be.
It's one thing to critique a book, but can we do any better in our version? I'm very curious - and admittedly, I want to test myself as well. I don't write nearly enough for someone who wants to make great books, and I figure - if I want to lament what should have been - I might as well see if I can attempt it personally.
In many ways, we have the same set-up as Erin Hunter. Multiple people, for one thing; can we keep everything consistent? Maybe it's harder than we thought to keep track of dozens of characters. And can we make those characters into who we wish they would be, rather than the cardboard they are?
I would love to elaborate and explore the worlds of the clans, and write in my many headcanons for the culture (perhaps including this little language I've been tinkering with), and I'm sure many of you feel the same way. With so many minds imagining this world and these characters, surely we can make something that is really enjoyable for us all - and if not, I reckon we can have fun trying anyway.
My idea for this challenge goes like this (but, like everything else, that's completely negotiable):
- the plot must stay the same; Rusty must join the clan the way he did, the major plot-points must happen the way they did, and the story must end the same way it did for the canon book.
- where possible (or rather, where acceptable) canon characters' names must remain the same.
- the setting must be exactly as it is depicted in the map of the first arc.
Those are the rules, because otherwise it mighn't be the same story at all. Everything else is fluid: we might add sub-plots, new (minor) characters, recreate the world, whatever else takes our fancy, really.
Obviously, it would need a lot of discussion, and in keeping with Erin Hunter's writing process, maybe even multiple authors and editors if that's how we want to do it.
This is going to be a sort of long-term project, because stories don't happen overnight, and we all lead busy lives, I'm sure. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing, as we have Fourtrees Resurrected as a continuous meeting-place and board for ideas, and that will keep everyone up-to-date with everything.
How does this sound to you? Interesting? Fun? A waste of time? Gratuitous and unnecessary? You tell me.
In the meantime, I thought I should at least give you an idea of some things that I'd really like to see in this story:
- differentiation between the four clans and their ways of life: as in, different beliefs and values; different customs; different dialects and ways of speaking; things that show why they live separately from each other.
- anthropomorphism that is far more realistic, because that's what makes reading about animals fun for me; Watership Down set a precedent in animal literature as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to bring Warriors to that kind of level (which is fairly arrogant and ambitious of me, I know.)
- a slightly more sophisticated, enjoyable writing style, something more suitable for our age-group, perhaps?
- a consistent naming system. That would be charming.
Those are the main four that I'm interested in seeing happen for this novel. You'll notice that there's nothing about specific characters, and that's because I don't really remember of them all that well. I was hoping that you would all get in on that, since you all have the emotional connection there, as well as familiarity, and I'd really like to hear everyone's thoughts about that.
So yes, this is my plan.
Worth a shot?
