Henneth Annûn Story Archive

I'm a Believer! is up! Feel free to discuss your story here! Challenge closes 3/9/05. , Meril

 

Ok I will kick off... I apologise if this sounds cliched... I wanted to write from the point of view of an Orc after it's hoard has captured an elf (never called by name). The story takes place after the fall of Mordor when the Orcs are a homeless, wandering race. I am trying (not sure how well) to get across the desolation and self-hatred the Orc feels about itself and its kind. A brief extract: "I began to ask myself why it still ate what was forced food down its throat and why it had not yet died rather than endure the coming humiliation. Why would it still cling fiercely to life now its twin was torn from it? I had no answer, but then why would I? I could not think why anything would cling to life. Life was a place of suffering and torment. When I meditated upon death I always came back in my thoughts to this life. When the time finally came for me to leave it there were no gods for me to go to. Morgoth was defeated cast into the void and his servant, my master Sauron had been brought down by a Hobbit. What god would have me? I was ruined and fallen my misery could not even be ended by death itself." There isn't any dialogue in the narrative, it's all internal. I am having some difficulties with this. Anyone who has successfully pulled this off please give me tips!

 

Hi Sophia, I am having some difficulties with this. Believe me, I can sympathize! The mind of an Orc is a dark and disconcerting place to be, as I learned with my story Enmities. The good news is that I believe I'm getting where I wanted the story to go. The bad news is that I'm also currently in my 3rd major rewrite... Not to dishearten you or anything... A tip, for what it's worth, is to attempt your story from several points of view (first, third, omniscient). Like you, I started out in 1st person internal monologue, which seemed the best POV but which left me very uncomfortable. I then shifted to third person, which at the very least made it sit easier with me because it gave me some distance to my character. My third version is another 3rd person POV but with parts done in dialogue and so far I like it the best. Keep at it, keep experimenting, is all I can say. Good luck, Amanda.

 

There isn't any dialogue in the narrative, it's all internal. I am having some difficulties with this. Hi Sophia, I second Amanda: try another POV. It is the same as with Amanda's story. You write well, but no Ork would think such introspective fine words. It sounds not like Ork-thinking. So write it as a human thinks about an Ork, which is what you did rather nicely. I began to ask myself why it still ate what was forced food down its throat Might this rather be 'I began to ask myself why it still ate what was forced down its throat' ? (food eliminated) ***** If you really want to write as an Ork, you should go and hear a street-gang vilifying each other with relish. Suppressed self-hate leads to self-aggrandizement not to self-depreciation IMO. But I suppose no-one would like to read your story then. So if you want to show a more understanding view on Orks you either should write in 3. person or you must choose an aberrant Ork, one who is not a typical Ork. Or try it by using an human female captured by Orks for breeding. What god would have me? I was ruined and fallen my misery could not even be ended by death itself. sounds definitely not like an Ork I could envision. Best wishes Elanor

 

Orcs do seem like they are very difficult to write about. I've never actually tried it, but kudos to anyone who has. You've done a very hard thing, and made something very interesting come out of it. I think for this challenge, I'm going to write something along the lines of a reunion between Elrond and his mother. CLF

 

Meril, Great challenge! Ooh, it's made me all giddy and my creative juices are buzzing! Absolutely great! I need to think of something to offer up to this thing, since it's just too good to avoid. In fact, I was wondering, and I don't know who to ask, so I'll ask you: I'm writing an AU epic at the moment (SSP: Adraefan), where the Valar feature prominently - but mostly as bastardized Greco-Roman gods. There is prayer, there is Valar interaction, there is religion. However, since it's almost completely removed from what The Professor wrote (since his Valar don't involve themselves in Third Age Middle-earth affairs), it is almost entirely non-canonical. Would this story still be viable for entry into the challenge? It would offer no revelation to Tolkien's creations, since it's so AU. And, as an aside, since I am very ignorant, what exactly happens to a story when it is entered into a challenge? Thanks ahead of time, Aeneid

 

Hello Aeneid. You asked: And, as an aside, since I am very ignorant, what exactly happens to a story when it is entered into a challenge? Think of entering a Challenge as filling out a form that says "This story will go with that challenge." It's just a form, one that points to two things: the story sitting in an archive (Public, General, or Beta) and the Challenge form sitting in the Open Challenges file cabinet. Your story itself stays where it is; the site code just flags it as an entry in a particular Challenge, alongside other entries into that same Challenge. A story can have an infinite number of such forms, indicating it could be entered in an infinite number of Challenges, were we so proliferate as all that. So in that sense, nothing whatsoever happens to your story. However, assuming that the Challenge gets five story forms (as opposed to placeholder (see item 7) forms), then when it closes, the Challenge will be put in the public Challenges archive, and all stories attached to it by means of their entry forms will be visible to non-member readers, whether or not the stories have gone through the review process. The only exception is if a story is also listed in the Beta archive--we assume stories in Beta, regardless of the status of the Challenge, are not ready for presentation to the public. As soon as the author moves the story to the General archive or the story is voted into the public HASA archive, it will show up in the public Challenges archive. More information about how exactly one enters a Challenge can be found here (especially "How To", numbers 6 and 8 on entering Challenges and on setting status flags, which is required in order to make sure your entry is visible to the general public). There will be a quiz later. Kidding, I'm kidding! If you have any other questions, nrink or Kari or I will try to answer them.

 

I've put the first section of my possible entry into the beta section... It's called "The Unveiling" and can be found under charecter Elrohir. I would greatly appreciate some feedback.

 

All right, folks, replying to a couple of questions here... Apologies... college life is tough... Sophia- Would love to take a look at your story, but I can't see it! One of these can be done to fix that: (a) You've set the chapter to private. Go to edit chapter, and set it to public, and everyone can see it, (b) the chapter number is set to zero. go to the story page, and change the chap # to 1. Aeneid- I have read the first few chapters of Adraefan, and let me tell you, it is fascinating stuff! Go ahead and enter it in the challenge: the more the merrier! Off to do more french homework, and then perhaps write... Meril

 

Obsessed. Yes, that's me. I started a nice little PWP for the brothel challenge and within 3000 words needed to know the details of a Dark Mythology. I can't leave the larger sociological/anthropological issues out of *anything*! I’m double dipping here into the ‘I’m a Believer Challenge” and the “HASA Birthday Challenge”, because I have wanted to know for some time just what it is that the emissaries of Sauron tell people that is so attractive. Here is my first take on the subject. Remember this does not have to be "true" or "exclusive", just believable. I know it contradicts the Tolkien mythos in most places. I also assume that the late Third Age Men this is destined to be told to live away from the elves or the Númenorean kingdoms and would not know the 'real' story of the creation. I have had a lot of excellent input into the myth from Tanaqui (especially the ‘fire’ explanation), Marta (helped me find Sauron’s role), Cheryl and Lady Aranel, who are the best beta readers any author could wish for. Find it here Musings on a Dark Mythology Any comments on my odd specualtions are very welcome here or in my forum. Gwynnyd

 

Well, Meril, you gave me the thumbs-up and you're the owner, so Adraefan has indeed been entered. I just hope I did everything right. Here's to prominent Valar and the manipulation of mortals! Aeneid

 

I had done it wrong and put the entire story in the summary *red face* I am very sorry...have fixed it now. Just double checking...

 

Here's to prominent Valar and the manipulation of mortals! Cheers, Aeneid! *toasts* ~Meril

 

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