chibiforte

Basically, I'm writing a "light novel"-esque story.  But, what does this mean, you might ask?  Let's ask Wikipedia...

"A light novel (ライトノベル, raito noberu^?) is a novel with anime or manga style illustrations, primarily targeting teens and young adults. The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called ranobe (ラノベ, ranobe^?) or rainobe (ライノベ, rainobe^?) for short."

Okay, that was a bit too much on the katakana side, but you get the idea.  And how are these written (when not in Japanese, of course)?

"Light novels also frequently have very short paragraphs, often only one or two sentences in length, and are usually driven by dialogue. The overall effect is for a very fast read."

That's the basic effect I'm trying to master.  I just want it to be read quickly, to where the audience doesn't have to spend days trying to finish a single volume.

See, this idea came about out of the blue, and even I don't know exactly where I got the idea.  I guess part of the inspiration came from reading the translated Haruhi Suzumiya light novels, and because I liked the style of writing so much, it stuck with me.  Now, I think this would be the best way for me to write a novel series.

Considering how few light novels there are out there that are actually translated for an English-speaking audience, shouldn't we English-speakers have our own alternative?  I've been looking around the internet, but I gotta tell you, I haven't found a single idea like mine.  I've found fan manga written and drawn in the way I'm doing so, of course, but not a full blown literary series like I'm planning.  I think I've essentially cornered the market on the subject matter I'm going to tackle.

And while I know I'm going to get shellacked on this choice, I'm obviously going to go with Japanese names, terms, and overall culture as the backdrop to the series.  It just makes sense, considering I'm lifting the entire writing style from them, so why not just go all the way?  And, in a way, it feels like I"m going something every other anime fan wants to do: create my own series.  Sure, it won't be animated, but this is the next best thing.  If I can also find a decent artist to make illustrations to go along with the chapters, then so much the better!

This project is basically an outlet for ME, so I can do what I like (write) and have fun with it.  I'm making it available to the masses simply because it'd be nice to have feedback.  I can't edit my mistakes by myself, you know!

Just for the record, I'm not even done with a single chapter yet.  I'm doing so much preliminary work, like character personalities, designs, storylines, settings, character arcs, etc.  This is the sort of thing that's done by serious writers. :P

I'm thinking of doing all this preliminary work while I'm still in high school, and once I'm in college, I'll start the actual process of writing it.  Sound good?

Well, here it is.  Let me just remind you that this is a rough draft, so it is prone to errors and mistakes.  My apologies for any you see.  I didn't get to go through and edit it like I wanted to do, but I feel that it's probably best to release it like this, before I make too many changes to the original work.  I'm putting it up as a Sendspace link, since I think that it is better for you to actually see it as a file rather than reading a loooong journal entry for it.  Well, it's not very LONG, but it kind of drones on.

Test Chapter - "Ten Years Later"
[19.1 KB]

Also, keep in mind that this is a very spoiler-centered chapter.  It is a chapter I plan to use in the future as an ending to one of these novels, so obviously there will be spoilers.  I was thinking of taking the names out so that it won't be a spoiler for those who stick around with me for the next few years, but I decided that it lost its impact if you couldn't see the name.  So, if you're actually planning on reading these novels I put out in the future, maybe skip over this one.  Or maybe I'll change the names, I don't know.

What I'm looking for right now is a bit of criticism.  However, I do not want you to even mention the religious influences in this chapter.  Do not even allude to it in your comments, if you choose to leave one.  Don't even say, "Oh, I didn't care for the religion, but it was okay".  I will delete any comment that even partially alludes to it.  The Christian aspects are not even up for discussion.  Just critique the writing style and general mood of the story, or anything else that has nothing to do with Christianity, okay?  I'm not bending my story for someone who doesn't like where I get my inspiration, and if you're as "open-minded" as you say, you shouldn't even be bothered by it, right?  Sorry to be rude here, but I'm not dealing with the same closed-mindedness and bigotry that I have to deal with every day.

Well, now that the PSA is over, go ahead and download away.  I'll probably be making a thread in the guild sometime tonight, if I decide to do so.  Just enjoy it for what it is, and give some constructive criticism on parts of the writing that I have to work on.

I did it... I finished the test chapter for the novel series I'm hoping I'll be able to write.  I worked on it last night and today, and I'm proud to say that I kept it somewhat understandable.

You see, if I actually work on this novel series, this is going to be a pivotal chapter in one of the later novels.  Yes, that means that spoilers are HUGE.  I can't imagine that anybody I know would actually want to read any novels I put out, so if you just read a chapter, I'd be happy.  Be forewarned, though: very heavy Christian influence.  In fact, the entire series will be, so if that offends, then you're better off not reading.  But if you are as open-minded as you say you are, then reading it wouldn't hurt you, right?

I'm also thinking of placing this in the writer's sub-forum in the guild.  I don't know how people will react to the content, but considering that I'm an original member, it shouldn't be a problem, right?  I'll put a disclaimer in there, as well.  It couldn't hurt to get more opinions.

I'm going to try to go through it tomorrow and edit whatever is needed.  It won't be a fantastic chapter, considering that I'm only one person, and I have limitations to my understanding when it comes to certain grammatical rules.  I also didn't make up an outline or anything, and just wrote whatever came to mind.  It's also not very long, either.  So, if you can put up with that, I'd be thankful.  I'll make sure to put it up as soon as possible!

(possibly through Sendspace, considering it's in a certain format that wouldn't translate well to LJ)

I must say, I really enjoyed myself.  Granted, this isn't the correct way to write a novel, but it worked out in the end, right?

I'm writing up my opening statement right now.  I've been working on it for about... three hours already, and I can't be bothered to deviate from it.  It's probably the best thing I've ever written, hands down, even if some parts are difficult to understand (due to my inability as a writer).  This is mostly for my own reference, so I can always refer back to it when necessary, but it would make a great little mini-book to read for anyone (and is what I'll use to show others).  I just need to organize things better... x_x;

And I didn't want to miss my daily quota, therefore... here's a short post. xD

And that's why you get the Clark Kent icon, because he is a writer at the Daily Planet (after he becomes SuperMan, of course). :D