Welcome to Gaia! ::

I recently put all my writing from the last year on a flash drive and left it at school somewhere. I looked everywhere but it hasn't shown up. It really, truly, isn't in my backpack or at home. If any of you are the praying types, please, please help me out by sending some good vibes about getting it back. I'm so trying to keep it together.

Same. D: I hope you find it!

I like how the Phantom is more of a trickster in the book, and delves into his genius and insane logic. To an extent, being needy is part of his character: he just wants a wife to love and treat her like any other man would, and take her out on Sundays. He was able to die happy when Christine kissed him because all he wanted his whole life was affection and acceptance, and this was more believable to me in the book because he was truly hideous.

Eh, I do not care which version you prefer, so long as you are not one of those idiots who only likes Gerik because he is a stud...goes for any of the above mentioned characters and more, really. I am ashamed that I have both read stories about AND witnessed firsthand how shallow some girls can be---and they are part of the reason why Hollywood hires pretty actors to begin with. Eye candy.

I say screw that. Let the characters be who they are, especially if they are ugly/plain-looking, and especially if this is a friggin' plot point in the original version.

I might have overstepped the line on that one. Rickman is admittedly not a bad choice for Snape, and I like that he is not the handsomest actor for the role. I think he might have been thrown in because I was in "epic rant mode!" and he tends to crop up when I think of characters that fangirls tend to be shallow idiots about. Also, Snape fan from book one. <3

It sucks that people don't want to stick to their guns. I have a few friends like that, but I guess I'm pretty fortunate because a lot of my friends (who are writers) I met through NaNo in the first place, so a lot of them are pretty dedicated. And even if they're not, they'll talk about writing with me. My boyfriend writes as well, so talking to him about my writing is great because he often helps me out with plots and stuff.

Don't let people get you down, though! There are a lot of inactive people in the guild, for sure, but this time of year is always the quietest. People have work deadlines, exams, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. I know that sometimes I genuinely am too busy to get online. XP It just depends what kind of schedule you keep, and how dedicated you are in the first place, I guess. :]

I try to keep up with the guild even when I'm busy - but often it doesn't happen. xd

I met people online during NaNo, and then I realised that there was a regional group in my area that would meet up in a coffee shop to cheer each other on. They also meet up every month throughout the year as well. I made some great friends there. <3

The problem with guilds like this is, unless people are totally dedicated to their writing (like the regulars, Desert, Chanthar etc.) the guild is pretty slow because we rely on people posting updates and new conversations and stuff. It would be nice to have more active regulars, but we're stuck with what we've got for the most part. :B

woooh! Ranting time! xP
Lets see....
I hate that my parents are divorced and I have to keep different stories on different computers and when i do get inspiration the draft is always on the wrong computer.
I hate that my wrists cramp up super easily making it hard for me to type.
I hate that I don't have the guts to criticize my friend's writing and so she will never get better.
I am pissed beyond belief that there are only 24 hours in a day and that at least 16 hours of them are wasted by school and sleep.
I am annoyed that i can never find a working pen when I want to start a story and i cant get on the computer.
I hate that i was cursed with a short attention span and extreme laziness.
I am soooo mad that I forgot about the pie crust in the oven and now its excessively crispy.
I wish tomorrow wasn't monday so I could stay up late when I do all my best writing.
And most of all, I hate that I'm not nearly as active in this guild as I wish I was.

Hamsters: Been there done that on the computers thing, only it is more like my computer and my hard drive where one has a draft and the other does not. XP

I want to be more active too. I have just been trying to be less lazy with IRL obligations.

Princess: Considering you are (were?) not even a Bat-fan, but so far have read and enjoyed everything I have written...I definitely feel the love. ^^ <3

In any case, I know exactly how you feel. I only have two friends who really write, even casually, and one acquaintance who writes (he is a recently published author), and has offered to help me. Unfortunately, the first two live some ways away from me and do not write as much, and the acquaintance, if he is not in DnD or writing, he has a day job. XP

But from my writing classes (I had one in the past two years, so...somewhat relevant? XD), I know what you are going through right now. There were a few people who could legitimately write and be interesting, but most...let me put it this way. There was this one guy whose character was supposed to be a Nazi, had long green hair, an earring, tattoos, a ton of amazing skills, and I do not even remember what else. I do remember that it was ridiculous enough that most of the class groaned. Someone nicely said that it sounded like he was trying to use an Anime-inspired character, and that maybe he should try an AU or make up a world instead of using actual history. I kept it to myself, but I thought he should have just scrapped it and started over.

I admittedly know just enough about Star Wars to make polite conversation (mostly thanks to my father and brothers)---like, little more than the "everyone knows this already" bits, like how Darth Vader is Luke's father, who shot first, and Leia's slave costume. I can also tell you what a Twilek is, and I know light sabers are made with gems that provide the color of the blade.

But even I could tell you that the concept is terrible. I would not read it even if I was in the fandom. Mostly because I see that same stupid concept in other fandoms (and I am not even going to touch "original" work...), and it takes a really, really good author to pull it off. Seriously, you could make a mad lib with it:

"[Character] is sweet/misunderstood, but with a cold shell for [reason that may or may not fit the canon. Double points if it ties into a tragic past]. [Character] then goes on a mission to [save the world/find true love/defeat the villain/all of the above/etc.], and makes friends with [canon character, and double points if a villain]."

I get bored hearing about what characters look like and their skills lists. I want to hear about what they actually do in the story. (And I think this is one reason way I get pissed off with this one chick's OC's in the thread I frequent. They never really do anything).

Actually, speaking of that one chick...mentioning her jogged some memories of AIM conversations we had. If she IM's you, there is a 90% chance that she wants to talk about her characters. And that is me being generous. In any case, I got sick of hearing about them---mostly because she ignores legit crit, but also because I hated them. I heard about their personalities and a few things they did in-story...but seeing how they were actually played killed any desire to hear more. Some of her concepts, admittedly, were a little interesting, but the execution...being generous, they leave things to be desired.

She finally got the hint when I stopped answering her IM's, and how I stopped being nice to her when the subject came up. Seriously, listening to her grates the nerves, and I got the misfortune to read her work. It was an endurance test. To put it into perspective: the bad fic that inspired to me to write "Family Ties"? That was at least four Word Document pages, and I read the whole thing despite the horrid characterization, bad spelling and grammar, terrible concept, and repeated desk/head meetings. This girl's story? A little shorter than that. I did not last four paragraphs. I was bored to death.

Even more sad? I am a lot more lenient and willing to suspend my disbelief on a lot of things than one of my two casual writer friends. She notices the little things and feels they ruin things for her, like how in Edward Scissorhands, she was questioning the logic of Edward eating and wondering how he goes to the bathroom, and that ice flakes from his ice sculptures =/= snow (which are admittedly legit flaws...), where I will just let it go and enjoy the movie, because in the grand scheme of things, I do not think it matters too much.

SHE got further in this chick's story than I did. By like, two paragraphs, but still. That almost never happens, and even she is amused that she lasted longer than me.

And unfortunately...a lot of the time, people like that will ignore you when you critique them or dare to say anything bad. Which means I have no advice for you in terms of dealing with this group. There is the old, "If you cannot beat them, join them." adage, but I could not talk about Star Wars every day, and do not wish it on you. Hell, I cannot even talk about Batman or Nightmare Before Christmas or any other fandom that long every day. And you have seen me rave. >>

In any case, you can try deviating them away from Star Wars and into another fandom/another topic, and see if you can sneak in a writing discussion.

Or, if you were an antisocial b***h like me, you could study up on the fandom and point out how their works contradict canon (befriending Anakin Skywalker? Seriously?). Seeing as I am getting "OMG HE'S SO CUTE!" vibes just from your description...something tells me they want the angsty teenager and NOT the sweet slave kid on Naboo that fixes podracers that could logically make friends...

At least then you will break up the monotony of hearing about their dumb characters and watch them squirm as they try to justify their choices. This is what makes role playing/writing rant communities fun to read.