Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business The Writers' Discussion/Ideas Thread

I am doing okay considering I am an "essential" employee. I stopped writing my Academy stories because I got the feeling they weren't very good. I do have a lot of unpublished Academy stories that I could post though.

I shifted my focus to a RPG instead because I have successfully moderated RPG forums.That lasted for about four months. I may start a new game again if I can get enough interest.

I have a lot of species ideas I would like to write about. One is a parasite species and the other is a Collective (potentially based on Bendis's idea of Titan being a Collective).

Emily, I completely support writing and publishing. Even if you yourself do not feel they are good, perhaps others would like them a lot! And, if you're open to it, you could ask for feedback from others on how to improve them.

Stay safe; I hope your workplace is taking measures to protect you.

I'd agree with the others, Emily. There can be a lot of self criticism for work that's just fine. Also, just going through the exercise of putting things up helps the process of developing structure and content.

Thank you both! Since it has been a few months, I might just start a new thread and post my unpublished stuff in that one. Bear in mind some of the stories may seem random as I was not writing them in order....my plan was to build up to this epic event and I do not remember how far I got.

One of the good things about this forum format is that there's nothing to stop you revisiting the posts after they're up. Once you start putting them up, you might find yourself inspired to build up more plans around the epic, as you post.

Thank you, I posted the first story a few minutes ago. The next story is the main ending arc of the epic I was building to (and it is seven pages long!) so I give this story some time to see if there is an audience.

Nice! My new boyfriend and I are going for a walk and doing some chores this afternoon, but I'll read your new story soon.

A helpful article I found the other day:

https://medium.com/the-brave-writer...ative-potential-as-a-writer-593e58f23499

Good, timely piece, Fanfie.

I agree, somewhere out there are people whom any piece will speak to. And if one doesn't put the work out there, how will other people ever find it?

Great article. Thanks for sharing.

My pleasure. If I find any more equally good ones, I'll share them all here.

This past week, I've found myself in something of a creative quandary:

My new Legion fan fic series, Post-Magic Wars Legion, got off to what I consider a promising start, with some really nice comments and some scenes I was very proud of. After only one storyline and the first installment of a new storyline, my thread has gotten almost 600 views. So obviously I'm doing something right.

Problem is, the stories I've been planning ahead for just aren't fun. And part of the reason I began this project in the first place was because the Baxter Era stopped being fun immediately after the Pocket Universe revelations, and the Post-Baxter issues, for all that may be argued about their relative virtues, made the Legion *even less fun* than it already was (yes, there were the three Tenzil issues, but those were the exceptions, not the rule.)

I just find myself feeling extremely misanthropic about humanity, and deeply pessimistic (bordering on nihilism) about where the world is headed in the coming years. That's not an attitude that's conducive to fun stories. I'm even concerned that maybe the reason nobody commented on the first installment of the new storyline (Calorie Queen throwing Lester Spiffany into a fountain because he's a not only a jerk, but also a racist towards Bismollians) was because some of my personal sourness spilled over into my writing.

Maybe I'm just not in a frame of mind conducive to writing the Legion. But if I went on indefinite hiatus, then this would be *yet another unfinished Legion fan fic project* from me.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

I'm probably the absolute LAST person who should be giving advice on writing, but here we are...


Well, they were good. But I'd say that the story started out on a very "non-fun" note, but you've been providing a pretty good balance. Based on where you're plotting, do you have any "downtime" scenes where you can mix it up at all; switch out typical character interactions, put them in a silly fish out of water situation? The story arcs I like the best, and are memorable, are where the characters go on a tough journey, but then are able to decompress doing something almost whimsical before the madness starts up again. Granted, coming up with the seeds for that can be the challenge, but they may present themselves.


First, I hope you can turn off the news. God knows it did wonders for my attitude (although I totally missed the gas crisis fun we had this week in states until it was too late). But writing is an internal contact sport, IMO. And writing the Legion is even harder.

I guess my advice is to just write it if there's something you want to say. If it's a tough story, then let it happen, but if you can figure out how to write the world as you'd like to see it, definitely do that.

Also, I think I may have missed that ep. I rely on the Time Scope as to what to read, so if there was a lot of activity, I may have missed it. I'll have to go back and check it out.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, GL. I'll ruminate on them for a while. And do please check out the first ep of the new arc. Like I said, the lack of comments had me fearing I blew it.

Hi Annfie, GL,

I think GL gave some extremely good advice here.

Personally, I don't mind not-fun stories if they show character growth, happen logically, etc. etc.

Thought I would share this.

https://www.writerswrite.co.za/prousts-questionnaire-35-questions-every-character-should-answer/


35 Questions Made Famous by Marcel Proust
01 What is your idea of perfect happiness?
02 What is your greatest fear?
03 What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
04 What is the trait you most deplore in others?
05 Which living person do you most admire?
06 What is your greatest extravagance?
07 What is your current state of mind?
08 What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
09 On what occasion do you lie?
10 What do you most dislike about your appearance?
11 Which living person do you most despise?
12 What is the quality you most like in a man?
13 What is the quality you most like in a woman?
14 Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
15 What or who is the greatest love of your life?
16 When and where were you happiest?
17 Which talent would you most like to have?
18 If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
19 What do you consider your greatest achievement?
20 If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
21 Where would you most like to live?
22 What is your most treasured possession?
23 What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
24 What is your favourite occupation?
25 What is your most marked characteristic?
26 What do you value most in your friends?
27 Who are your favourite writers?
28 Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
29 Which historical figure do you most identify with?
30 Who are your heroes in real life?
31 What are your favourite names?
32 What is it that you most dislike?
33 What is your greatest regret?
34 How would you like to die?
35 What is your motto?

Proust Questionnaire for Luornu Durgo Taine
Interview date: just after the events of Legion of Super-Heroes v.7 #23 (August 2013)

01 What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Big holiday table, loving husband, a bunch of kids, family and friends gathered around

02 What is your greatest fear?
I mean, it's not that I'm afraid of death. It's just that I'm afraid I won't live long enough to do everything I want before I die.

03 What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Inconstancy. Not in love. But inconsistency. Changeability. Sometimes I find myself doing things that in the past, I would never have imagined I would ever do. Sometimes I feel like I am not living according to my beliefs-- which only makes me believe that maybe those aren?t really my real beliefs after all.

04 What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Selfishness.

05 Which living person do you most admire?
A few years ago, I would have said Superboy, but he hasn't really been alive since the 21st century, has he? But he was alive to me-- us, the Legion-- for years. My second choice would be Marta Allon. Since completing her term as President of Earth, she has been very active in promoting the Greater Good throughout the United Planets, hasn't she?

06 What is your greatest extravagance?
Chuck would say clothing. I don't have a massive tesseract full of outfits (OK, maybe a little) but what I have is of very high quality. But my attitude is, why spend one credit for a pair of shoes that will wear out in a year, when you can spend 100 credits on a pair that you can bequeath to your grandchildren? And I far prefer timeless, quality style over the latest "fashions" that will be back out of fashion next year.

07 What is your current state of mind?
Hopeful.

08 What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Loyalty. Loyalty to a cause or ideal can be admirable, if the cause is admirable, but unquestioned loyalty to an individual is absurd. People need to prove themselves worthy of your loyalty every day.

09 On what occasion do you lie?
When people ask me how I'm feeling.

10 What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I've always felt I was too short. And lately, I have too much gray in my hair. Yes, I color it.

11 Which living person do you most despise?
H'Hrnath of Nullport Shipyards. He is a petty bureaucrat who likes to use his small, insignificant power to inconvenience others. And he's a coward. And greedy.
I should have said Brainiac 5, right? I mean, he got me killed twice.
Mordru. I should have said Mordru.

12 What is the quality you most like in a man?
Kindness. Compassion. Empathy. Those are all part of the same thing, right? I like a man who is strong enough to be gentle.

13 What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Heroism. By which I mean, she runs toward danger, instead of away. And is competent enough to handle it.

14 Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I mean, right?

15 What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Charles Foster Taine.

16 When and where were you happiest?
Funnily enough, I really enjoyed my time in the short-lived New Legion Of Substitute Heroes, with Chuck and Rokk and Lydda and Myg and even Grava. It was kind of half-way between the real Legion and Home-and-Family.

17 Which talent would you most like to have?
I've never really been good at making money. Not that we don't have a comfortable life. But I mean, I would like to have the ability to be able to make a lot of money easily-- like R.J. Brande, for example.
18 If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'd like my old selves back. These new duplicating powers are great, but I miss it being just the three of us-- just a regular Cargggan, you know?
19 What do you consider your greatest achievement?
It hasn't happened yet. But when Chuck and I finally have kids, oh boy!

20 If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A Cargggan Cerberus Hawk.

21 Where would you most like to live?
"Where he was, was Eden." Home is anywhere Chuck is, right? Although we were pretty popular on Wondil 9; it was a nice place. We felt like we were making a difference as part of the Terran colony there. We also liked the cold weather.

22 What is your most treasured possession?
Brainiac 5 once gave me a simplified Coluan force-shield device. I don't really use it anymore, but I appreciated the sentiment.

23 What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
You don't know misery until one-third of you has died. And then another third.

24 What is your favourite occupation?
Teacher. I really enjoyed my term as the head instructor at the Legion Academy on Montauk Point.

25 What is your most marked characteristic?
Boundless, unquenchable optimism.

26 What do you value most in your friends?
I most value those friends who challenge me, and make me want to be better.

27 Who are your favourite writers?
Right. This is kind of embarrassing-- a guilty pleasure. I really love to read Nikkolya Matsuda, the Cargggan gothic romance novelist. They are quick, escapist reads, and I can toss one off and forget about them. I think she must do pretty much the same when she writes.

28 Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Hua Mulan. I left my family,too, to join a Legion.

29 Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Shayera Hol of Thanagar. She fought side-by-side with the love of her life.

30 Who are your heroes in real life?
The Legion, especially the Founders. And Tinya. And Lydda.

31 What are your favourite names?
Marie Elkins. (Laughs) Bella, Belladonna, and Bellatrix. Aaliyah, Lilliannette, Quetzalle, Lloyd, and Aaron.

32 What is it that you most dislike?
I hate cleaning up. Especially after others.

33 What is your greatest regret?
I was never able to tell Delya how I really felt about her.

34 How would you like to die?
Next time? Peacefully. Surrounded by friends and family.

35 What is your motto?
E Pluribus Unum

Lovely! and thanks for sharing, Klar! It's good food for thought for all of us.

Heehee, Marie Elkins!

Aw, nice shout out to Delya/Mentalla too.

Picking Shayera as a fave, because fighting beside love of her life... AWWWWW.

and kudos for mentioning Mulan too.

Is this the questionnaire that James Lipton would give to his guests?

That is awesome, Klar - I love doing those kinds of questionnaires for characters and Lu's seems pretty spot on. Points for mentioning the short-lived Subs II!

made me laugh but like...really, come on Brainy. Not cool!

Might be good for us, lol!

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/japan-anti-procrastination-cafe/index.html

Hmmmm, I wonder if something like this would even be viable in the states?

personally, it would only work if I had some good ideas already. But I don't think I could rush brainstorming or conceptualization.

of course, the actual writing can help flesh out half-formed ideas...

Hi, all.

It's been a while since I posted in this thread.

With 2022 almost at year's end, I have been looking over at my creative accomplishments and failures within that time frame.

I got off to a good start, but then became overwhelmed by various real life factors, some positive (finding a steady job) and some negative (the death of one of my aunts and my mom suffering a gauntlet of health problems.)

Perhaps because of the resultant darkness in my personal life, all I was able to come up with were a bunch of non-starters, including a couple of truly awful and depressing Legion fic ideas.

Then, a couple days ago, I had my best fic idea in ages: a JLA fic which would conflate the villains Starro and Despero into one good old-fashioned done-in-one JLA story with no pretentions beyond fun. I was even planning to do it as a fully-drawn fan comic!

And then? I got bored quickly because it wasn't challenging me enough. As in, I've been there and done that.

Which puts me in a strange place -- I desperately want to do something creative in a sequential art form, but standard superheroes stuff just isn't thrilling me anymore.

I'm at a loss, and would greatly appreciate some advice.

EDIT: Oh, shit! I just realized I posted in the wrong thread. Could a mod please move this post to the Writer's Thread?

^ moved, as requested