Hello Mr Gaiman. How Old Were You When You Started Writing Stories ? I'm 14 And I Try And Try But They

Blood of Arlathan: Solas vs Elgar'nan

Solas and Elgar'nan's war of words is truly one of my favorite moments in the entire game. So, I thought I'd post a quick transcript for anyone who may be interested.

(I did my best with the translations, using the Dragon Age Wiki as a source.)

Part One

Solas: Elgar'nan! Lethallin! Ma banal'evanuris. Ma salin ar ghilana? Translation: Elgar'nan! Brother/Friend! You are not a god. Do you need a guide? (Do you need me to show you how?) Elgar'nan: Fen'Harel, you have no power here!

Part Two

Elgar'nan: So, the Dread Wolf has arrived to defend his pawn. Solas: Your cruelty forced my hand. Elgar'nan: A hundred generations, and still the same refrain. Solas: Again you have caged our people, and again, I will set them free. Elgar'nan: But you were always stubborn, Fen'Harel. Insubordinate. Unmanageable, even by Mythal's reckoning. Solas: You have lost the right to speak her name. Elgar'nan: Ma vallas ban! Shev gar, Fen'Harel! Translation: You cannot kill/defeat me! (You set (the setting sun) never!) Come, Fen'Harel!

Part Three

Solas: The only reason Mythal joined you was that she knew the monster you would become if left unchecked. She thought to temper your brutish ego. Instead, you betrayed her. Murdered her. Elgar'nan: (Chuckles) Only the first time, Dread Wolf.

Part Four

Solas: The cruelty is nothing new, but what has happened to the vaunted brilliant mind of Elgar'nan the mighty? The blight has left you blunt and slow, a monster, not a mastermind. You used to be a challenging opponent. Elgar'nan: You saw me as an opponent. To me, you were an irritation. A fly buzzing ceaselessly. Solas: I must speak to you in this tongue. It seems elven is beyond your grasp. Elgar'nan: As much as freedom is beyond yours.

Part Five

Solas: Once the blight is free, it will rule this world, and you will be its attack dog. You will burn this world at its command, as Andruil did at yours, and you will leave only ruin behind you. Elgar'nan: This world is ruined already! Your Veil destroyed it! Solas: You could heal it. You have the strength to repair the damage without using the blight! Elgar'nan: (Choked laughter) Save your games for the mortals, Dread Wolf. The blight is my blade, and it will take more than your tricks to get me to lay it down. Your whining comes from envy, Fen'Harel, but it does not have to be so. There is a place for you at my side in a new, glorious empire. Solas: But it will not have eluvians, will it? June built them, and now he is dead. Our great cities came from Sylaise. Our deepest mysteries from Dirthamen. Elgar'nan: I will restore it all. Their achievements will not be lost. Solas: You were a bully who ruled over what others had built, and now the others are gone. Who do you have left? Ghilan'nain? You cannot rebuild a world by stitching together monsters.

WHAT TO DO AFTER FINISHING A FIRST DRAFT.

Revise a different draft.

Write a new piece.

Read a craft article. (LitReactor.com is pretty good!)

Read a short story or book.

WHAT YOU SHOULDN’T DO AFTER FINISHING A FIRST DRAFT.

Revise it.

WHY NOT?

You have to be as detached from a draft as you possibly can when you polish it. You have to be able to trim the fat from your baby and take out all those words, sentences and fragments that are stopping it from being a great story. I’m sure those words you used are beautiful and they sound amazing, but if they’re stalling the plot they have to go.

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO KEEP AND WHAT TO THROW AWAY?

Read! The best way to know what a perfectly paced story is like is to read one. There’s no black-and-white, two-plus-two way to answer this, but this is what works for me:

Avoid adverbs, those words that tend to end in -ly.

Keep descriptions to a minimum. People are interested in your story. If they want to see what a place or person is like they go to Google images. If they come to you it’s because they want to be entertained.

Change passive voice sentences to subject-verb-complement sentences. You will get the same idea across in less words.

FINAL TIP

Try not to make changes on your first pass! If your word processor has a comment function use that to write the changes you need to make. If you read and edit at the same time you’ll be doing two things at once and you’ll get tired much quicker.

FINAL FINAL TIP

Enjoy yourself! You’re an artist. Write and revise for yourself. Love it.

use a horizontal rule instead of special characters if you'd like your fic to work for people who use screen readers

This blog is against 50 Shades of Grey and sees it for what it truly is: glorification of abuse on women and literal trash

Reminders for the Anxious/Depressed Creatives

You’re more than what you make.

Your productivity does not determine your value.

It’s okay to do nothing sometimes.

Not everything you do has to result in a product.

Not everything you make has to be important, significant, or even good.

You can make things just for yourself.

You can keep secrets for yourself, whether it’s not posting some of your projects or not sharing your techniques.

You’re allowed to say no.

You’re allowed to rest.

The poor novelist constructs his characters, he controls them and makes them speak. The true novelist listens to them and watches them function; he eavesdrops on them even before he knows them. It is only according to what he hears them say that he begins to understand who they are.

André Gide

© (c ) copyright 1990-2011 Rebecca Sinclair

See the original HERE

Me writing fanfic:

Too, many, commas,,, 

Is this ooc?? 

I used that word already 

Do people even blush this much?? 

*squints* Is that canon?

Tropes

 *cries while writing death scene* 

Wait what happened last chapter? 

I wrote like a thousan- 354 words!? 

*googles the lifespan of a tropical fish* 

have I spelt his name wrong all this time? 

Would they say that tho? 

Changes plot 539932 times 

Looses inspiration, goes back to tumblr

Something I have to remind myself of a lot.

If you're a creator and you needed to hear this today:

You have no idea how many people lurk on your work. No idea how many times people go back to revisit your work. How big they smile when they simply think about your work. How fast their heart beats, how excited they get when they see that you posted something.

People are shy with their feedback. Sometimes it’s because they’re simply shy. Other times it’s because they assume you already know how great and talented you are. Could be both.

My point is, even if you barely have any likes or reblogs, don’t get discouraged. You have a lot of silent fans, but they are still your fans. Keep on creating. Because there is always someone out there who will love what you have made.