Below are the 15 most recent journal entries recorded in Tale Spin: A Community for Storytellers' InsaneJournal:

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
4:16 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	So long, farewell, auf wiedersein, good-bye. Effective immediately,  tale_spin  will be no more. Sorry, guys.  I didn't update for two weeks and felt absolutely no desire to, which was when I finally realized that my heart hasn't been in this community as much as I'd thought it would be.  And, well, it doesn't matter in the long run. Writers will find other, far better and more popular writing communities to post and discuss their work with or without my help.  I wish I could have had a more positive experience with this, since it was my very first time running a community. But I guess not.  Bye. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 4th, 2009
9:20 am [lemonsofsorcery]	And you can tell everybody this is your song I'm sorry for the late update this week. I was stressed out over work-related and tooth-related business (can you say "root canal?" Yaaay.) But while I'm here, here is a quick prompt that I thought up while browsing a secondhand store, where I found a music box that played "Fascination": Pick a song--one you like, one you hate, one that has special significance for you--and write a short story about it, without using the actual lyrics. Pick a way to interpret the message of the song (for instance, "Fascination" could be about love at first sight OR it could be about some creepy guy who fixates on a woman he doesn't even know.) What can you come up with, plot and character-wise?  Please, somebody do this for me. I'm trying to keep this community alive and I ain't too proud to beg. Please? (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
10:33 am [lemonsofsorcery]	It was the best of epics, it was the worst of epics... I wanted to use that icon very badly, and then decided that I could take the words and make them mean something else for this week's prompt. We've all (hopefully) read something epic--epic fanfiction, epic poetry, epic literature in the spirit of Tolkien, Tolstoy or Homer. And there's a lot of pressure on epics to be revered, admired, and held up as great examples of writing and storytelling.  But we've all got our own opinions. What do you NOT like about epics--the general formulae, the way the characters are portrayed, the length and intricate detail? Do the endings drive you crazy because a) everything goes to hell in a handbag, or b) everybody gets a ridiculously perfect ending? So, be honest. What about epics don't you like? What do you CONSIDER epic? Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Friday, September 18th, 2009
12:07 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	One- sentence prompt I was watching the Twiligh Zone episode "It's a Good Life," with the kid who controls everything and everyone with his mind, and the general atmosphere of the episode got me thinking about how effective a nice, sunny, urban or suburban "everyday" setting can be when the theme is an especially dark one. It's the "It Could Happen Anywhere" trope, in a way.  So I decided to give you all this prompt, and you can do whatever you want with it. See if you can channel your inner Rod Serling. I don't have mind control powers, so I won't wish anyone into a cornfield if they don't use it! "It was a beautiful day in September when..." Go nuts! Well, don't really. But see what comes to mind. Current Mood: creative (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
5:31 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	Come on baby, make it hurt so good I very nearly forgot to update today. Good thing I remembered! We all like it when good things happen to our most beloved characters--when our favorite OTP finally makes their relationship official, when the hero is rewarded at the end of his quest, when a particularly hateful character gets what's coming to them. But all the vicarious happy aside, what about when things AREN'T coming up roses for our characters? When they're angsting over a friend's betrayal, fighting off a seemingly unstoppable enemy, sighing over an unrequited love, or just fighting off a cold on what is already the worst day of their lives the question soon becomes.... ....why do we LIKE seeing them suffer in these ways? It would be easy but also incredibly sloppy to write a story in which nothing but good things happen to a character. Anyone worth their salt understands that even the happiest ending comes only after there is a substantial amount of conflict and development, which inevitably means putting a character through one kind of hell or another. And as writers, this requires us to immediately get creative and start brainstorming the ways in which we will put our characters through their various baptisms by fire. And let's admit it--no matter how much we love our characters, no matter what kind of blissful reward we have in mind for them after all this is done...we like making them squirm. And cry. And think that they're never going to survive.  Does this mean we're all sadists at heart? Not necessarily. But there is something oddly satisfying about knowing what your character can endure, even if they don't, and resting secure in the knowledge that yes, things are bad NOW, but you're in control and you already know how things are going to end. In real life, we rarely have this kind of power and security. So being God-like and able to "see all ends" in this area feels good. So...what are your favorite types of angst to inflict on your characters? What kinds of angst do you absolutely love to see in fiction? Forbidden love, wasting illnesses, unfortunate misunderstandings...what's your poison? Current Mood: contemplative (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
4:03 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	It's not unusual to be loved by anyone This week, the topic for discussion/thought is highly unusual romantic pairings, and the readers who love them. Or hate them, as the case may be. Let's face it, the "she's a human, he's a vampire" sort of pairings have been done literally to death. I'm not necessarily thinking of human/nonhuman relationships in this case. Are there any human/human pairings in the books you have read in your life that really made you go "Huh. Really? Those two? Whodathunkit?" And did you find yourself supporting the pairing, or did you have serious doubts about it even after the story ended? And when it comes to creating our own pairings, what is your preference when making a literary match? Does one have to be braver, smarter, more talented or just more interesting than the other? What kind of backstories make for some very interesting character establishment? Do you like your romantic leads to have lots in common, or be complete opposites? Even if they're radically different, what attracts them to each other? Better yet, what makes us route FOR the Unusual Romances? Is it because we love how refreshingly different a take on love they provide, or because we see something comfortingly familiar in even the weirdest of love stories?  Your thoughts? (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
9:32 am [lemonsofsorcery]	All good stories must come to an end The only bad part about a good book is finishing it, and having to return to our regularly scheduled lives. But some endings--and everything that comes before them--stick with us well after we've put the book down and resumed our normal activities. There are endings that come as a huge disappointment, given all the expectations that we built up along the way. There are endings that fulfill every ONE of our expectations and have some additional pleasant surprises to offer as well. There are even more endings where we either have to grit our teeth and accept that the author did was s/he felt was best, or just close the book and shake our heads firmly, stating that we will NEVER accept that those characters got together and the more deserving ones didn't.  Personally, I hate the kind of stories that end with no character development to be seen, when the couples I've been routing for don't actually get together (and there's no hope for a sequel,) or when the last line just doesn't do it for me and I still have tons of questions that have gone unanswered. Any time it feels like the author was just being lazy or ran out of ideas, it upsets me. We've all read our fair share of books and so had to deal or not deal with their endings. Which have made an impact on you--which have scared you, made you think, made you smile, or just made you want to throw the book across the room?  Bonus points if you can recall your favorite Last Lines. :) Current Mood: crazy (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
10:11 am [lemonsofsorcery]	A little less conversation, a little more action Since last week's theme was romance, I decided to do one for the adventure genre this time around. I am also trying to distract myself from posting part of a story I'm writing on another website, since I posted the first part yesterday and I want to keep people waiting just a little while longer till the second part! So. Who here is a fan of the adventure genre? There are hundreds of authors who write or have written brilliant adventure stories--Tolkien (of course,) Douglas Adams, Eoin Colfer, etc. I'm just naming the few that I've read. It's a pretty broad genre, seeing as any story with a lot of action in it could qualify as "adventure." But there's more to it than that--The hero/heroine of the story has to be fulfilling some kind of personal quest along the way. It can't be as simple as "Average Boy fights a troll, rescues a princess, has a nice lunch of goat's milk and apples, kills a hydra in the local pond, and calls it a day." That's not adventure, that's just a day in the life, albeit it an interesting one. What makes adventure so much fun to read, besides the fact that we get to live vicariously through the characters on their journey? Is it the connections we make with them, or the way we relate to their initial feelings of unfulfillment or longing for "more than this?" What kind of adventure/quest stories really made, or continue to make, an impression on you? Who is your favorite hero/heroine, sidekick, villain, etc? Current Mood: curious (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
8:56 am [lemonsofsorcery]	Let's fall in love Unless you'd rather not admit it on pain of death, romance is still alive. At least in literature. From the insanely popular Twilight saga to Shakespeare's entertaining quadrangles, to the enduring Lizzies,  Darcys, Janes and Rochesters of Bronte and Austen, romance somehow never dies. The heroines and heroes might, rather violently, but the beliefs that led to their demise live on.  So here is a writing prompt/discussion topic for all who may either love or hate the romance genre--What is your idea of a "genuine" romance? If you could write your own, would you incorporate your favorite plot points (evil twins, mistaken identities, Mary Sue rivals) or veer off the rose-petal-strewn path and draw from real life? Are there some cliches you never want to see again? Which ones can you never get enough of, and why? If you like, you can write a short blurb from a favorite/original romance fic as an example of what you like or hate about romance. Please keep it to under six sentences.  (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 7th, 2009
10:01 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	A request for members As you may have guessed, this is my first time ever running an asylum/community. As such, I'm trying to do everything I can to keep it regularly updated and fresh. But I may need a little outside help.  If some of you could promote this asylum a bit, that would be great. I've already submitted two promos to asylum_promo, but my first was rejected based on "bad HTML" (not sure what that means) and I've just submitted another one which I HOPE will be accepted and posted. I really want this to be a place where writers can feel comfortable posting their material and be able to connect over a common interest.  Thank you for being so patient with me, and I will be eternally grateful if we can interest a few more people in this idea.  Current Mood: hopeful (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, July 31st, 2009
4:09 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	Prompts, anyone? Still quiet around here. I will be trying to update at least once a week. In the meantime, have some prompts! Choose as many as you like and write whatever first sentence comes to mind. If it inspires you to write more, go for it! Pleas post your first sentence in the comments. 1. Lemon-colored stripes 2. Melting chocolate 3. Dust-covered books. 4. Old, flaking paint 5. Sign of Aquarius 6. Velvet mask 7. Half-empty bottle 8. Antique mirror 9. Favorite doll 10. First day of autumn Have fun! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, July 24th, 2009
9:12 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	Story to share I finally got the IJ cut to work and then it wouldn't let me put anything else in the entry, so here's a little background on the story I just posted: I wrote it for a correspondence course that I'm taking on Creative Writing. Every module has a written assignment that pretty much requires you to write a short story based on the reading you've done. I had to write two action sequences linked by a sequel for this one, and the story below is what I came up with. It doesn't have a title because it's so short, but I like it and my instructor said a lot of good things about it, which made me happy.  The theme was also inspired by the recent swine flu pandemic. The main character, Alex, is sort of a rehash of another character who is very near and dear to me, but I changed his backstory and age a little so he wouldn't sound like just a recycling of a character I'd written about before. It took me a while to get the story down to the moment of real "action," since I'm so used to writing a story with a proper beginning and slowly building the plot from that point on.  Anyway, do read and review! I take concrit very well. :) Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
9:07 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	Brief short story to share ( Short action sequence w/sequel, Untitled, PG ) (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
6:22 pm [lemonsofsorcery]	Waiting on the world to change I'll be honest--being the mod of my own community is an entirely new experience for me. But I thought I'd post a little Q/A for those of you (*waves to the two very gracious people who have joined so far*) who have decided to join. It's not required, of course, but I thought it would serve well as a bit of an ice-breaker. 1. What kind of genres (fantasy, romance, science fiction, etc) have inspired you as far as writing your own Original Fic? 2. Have any particular fandoms (Harry Potter, LOTR, anime, etc) acted as your "gateway" fandoms to writing your own stories?  3. What authors do you admire?  4. Describe your most/least favorite attempts at your personal Original stories. 5. How long have you been writing original stories? 6. What have you learned in the process? 7. Does anything else besides writing help inspire you? Music, movies, certain landscapes, people, etc? 8. What is your best defense against writer's block? Enjoy, and be honest! No one is here to judge. :) Current Mood: curious Current Music: I'm Looking Through You--The Beatles (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, July 17th, 2009
9:41 am [lemonsofsorcery]	For we have flax-gold tales to spin Welcome to Tale Spin, a community for all who enjoy reading or writing Original Fiction.  What I have in mind is a place where anyone can come to post, read or discuss their own Original work or anyone else's. You can be seriously considering publishing your work, just branching out into Original Fic, or have been creating your own imaginary worlds for years.  Recommendations are accepted, so long as it isn't a crossover or fanfiction-related story.  All are welcome to discuss the writing process, the highs and lows, etc. We can all relate to how difficult/rewarding writing can be! Please post responsibly, use tags, and do NOT start flame wars or sock puppet battles with each other. If you and another writer get into an argument over something, please take it somewhere else. This is not a community in which you can bash other writers, past, present or future. We're all friends here.  There is pretty much no rating system if you want to post your own work. Just give the appropriate warnings if your fic contains strong language, violent imagery, explicit sexual situations, etc.  Also: PLEASE DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. If your work was "inspired" by another writer, please say so. Don't take credit for what you know isn't entirely your own.  Finally: Be gracious in accepting criticism from others. We don't all have thick skins, but writers are pretty much doomed to always be hearing from the critics. It's a fact of life. Accept what you want, ignore what you don't. As for those doing the criticism, BE CONSTRUCTIVE. "This sucks" or "That was so stupid" is not helpful. Be concise and polite if/when you mention something you didn't like or understand in a fic. Be honest, but keep the writer's feelings in mind. That is all for now! Have fun on here and play nice with each other! Current Mood: cheerful (4 Comments |Comment on this)