Writing Ch. 4

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Author

Silver Snake

Magician of NUF|Show-off|Awkward|Genius
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Well, I'm here again. I seem to do well with writing the second part of a story, but the beginning seems to mystify me. I thought it would pass and I would come up with an idea in due time, like I did for Ch. 2. But it's been almost a week now and still, I'm unsure of how to proceed the story.

Okay, the same as last time, I need an idea for what to write next. Because I again left off the chapter on such an open end that I'm unsure of what would or should happen next. It's a story set in a VRMMO. The chapter is supposed to start off with the MC finishing the tutorial mission that landed him in the starting village.
Here are some of my ideas:
  • Animal hunting
  • Fishing
  • Crafting
I kind of want the MC to dabble with or start lifeskilling; basically gathering and crafting. But that is really boring. Ugh, I have a headache. I need an aspirin. There, all better. Now where was I? Ah, yes, lifeskilling. The actual act of continuous hard work, for the majority, is excruciatingly boring. The interesting bits are usually the process of getting accustomed, learning a better way, and the moment of accomplishment and achievement - gathering something super rare or crafting something of high quality.

I refuse to write about the literal process of any of it for more than a paragraph. And therein lies my dilemma. How do you spice up the mundane parts of upping a skill in a video game? You connect a mini-game to it; or you add on a quest that gives bonus exp to a lifeskill. That sounds much more fun.

The process of a mini-game seems a bit small minded, so I think it'll be a quest. Now good people of NUF, I ask you what sort of quest linked with a lifeskill would be interesting to you? Here are the lifeskills in Olympus Online (the VRMMO game for the story):
Gathering Skills:
  • Divination
  • Farming
  • Fishing
  • Hunting
  • Mining
  • Woodcutting
Crafting Skills:
  • Alchemy
  • Cooking
  • Enchanting
  • Artisan
Here are some of my ideas that I'm currently coming up with on the spot:
  • A fortune teller lost their tarot cards and last remembers going through the shady, dark alley in the bad side of town.
  • A farmer became crippled by a bite and needs my help to hunt whatever thing/s that bit him.
  • A fisherman/woman lost their pole at the bottom of a lake and asks me to fetch it for them
  • A hunter is looking to hunt the biggest baddest bear of the next forest over and is looking for anyone who wants in
  • The local miners aren't going anywhere near the mines these days because of something that keeps on making noise there
  • A woodcutter runs into the village near out of breath saying that they found a wolf dressed up as a grandmother and had the voice of child
  • An alchemist requires some special ingredients for their next concoction and asks for assistance
  • A cook needs the egg of a harpy for the coming festival
  • An enchanter requires monster cores to enhance their wand
  • An Artisan lacks any inspiration and requires you to pose for them
Please give me an idea of what to write about next! Any replies would be highly appreciated; helpful replies even more so. If I use your idea I'll give you 1000 NUF bucks, or a (virtual) pat on the back. Whichever you prefer.

P.S.
Huh, look at all those ideas I came up with and all those words I wrote. Maybe I don't need an idea and I need only to think about it for more than five minutes and start to write it down. Please don't mind this post script. On your way now.

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Comments

    1. anyudr Oct 24, 2018
      @Tycheri I reread my words and noticed that my words are really annoying. Apologise again!

      Sighed in relief seeing that you did't get angry.

      I deeply understand that the story ends here. I used to write a little too. But I throw it away far before finished. Sometime we might catch up with great ideas. But when it comes to writing, things are totally different.

      Wish you a good luck for the next story !
      Tycheri likes this.
    2. Silver Snake Oct 24, 2018
      @anyudr I don't think I'll continue it. Describing the system and world of a VRMMO, while doable, doesn't seem like something I would know how to do well. When playing MMOs I mostly just level up and hardly ever reach the end game or join guilds. I think, I think, I think I'm still looking for another story. Currently, I'm writing about a bored god who has no concept of empathy dropping down to earth and becoming a human. And in the end he has to learn to cherish humanity before being worthy of godhood again. Though I could only write 500 words, so I'll probably scrap that too.
    3. Silver Snake Oct 24, 2018
      @anyudr Thank you very much for your words and your thoughts. I love that you read my stuff so much. I have the biggest smile right now.

      4. My bad, I thought a kilometer was a quarter of a mile and not more than half. I probably could have said something like, "the boards ivory tusks glimmered in the sunlight," or, "the steam from their bodies was mixing into their dust clouds so much that I could barely differentiate the two."

      1. I'm still trying to get the balance of western novels and web novels in my writing. I think western novels over explain, while web novels could do with more explanation.

      2. I think I said they(mage, archer, and warrior) were players. All except for the merchant. I want the game to have a UI for important things like health/mana bars. But being able to check if a person is an NPC or Player from a profile check seems really immersive for a vrmmo to me. The reason that the MC didn't talk to anyone else earlier was because there was no reason to. The whole reason he talked to the mage girl was to learn how she casts her spells. And he wanted to learn more about skill/spells because he was caught in a dangerous situation and was unable to completely defend against it on his own.

      3. I wanted to make my game hard. I like tough video games.

      5. The MC was more so teasing in a friendly way.
    4. anyudr Oct 24, 2018
      Just read the first 3 chapters of Olympus Online. I love the discriptions of scenes and fighting. I have to say the begining of story was good, but can be better.

      I also want to share some of my thoughts that poped up during the reading. Apologise if they're offensive.

      1. the story so far was straightforward but maybe too straightforward. As a webnovel, it's important to attract interest of readers at the first sight. People may get bored reading long-paragraph settlements, which do nothing helpful to the storyline.

      2. Are the companions Realplayers or NPCs? This confused me throught the chapter. Won't you want to check your teammates are NPCs or not right after the mission starts? Why no talking until you came across the bandits?

      3.The first mission seems tooooooo hard for a VRMMORPG. Deliver a letter, or fighting against rabbits might be a better chioce. How can a level 1 player fight against a mob? even you have companions, you are still outnumbered. That's really weird. Have you ever played RPGs?

      4. You can't see something like "tusks" or "smoke billowing out of their pore" a kilometer away. Even if you are in a VRMMORPG. The long side of football field is 105 meter.

      5.I personlly don't like the plot of bird. Why would you scold to her? You are the one who give out the order. That's rude and vexatious. Are you make fun of her? Were you proud of that and thought yourself funny? That's just bully. I would just quit the novel after reading this unless there's some strong enough reasons for why MC do so.

      I suggest you can read Sword Art Online to see how a professional author starts a story.
      Tycheri likes this.
    5. Bitter Sweet Oct 22, 2018
      I like the mine idea. The mines could've turned into a small dungeon courtesy of an antagonist or other reason.
      Tycheri likes this.