Hey all,
I've been thinking about trying my hand at writing a wee bit of Oolite fiction. Do y'all have any pointers about the particularities of writing for the Ooniverse? Like does anyone care about how well one does with interpreting the lore (a wobbly concept though it may be in this realm)?
– Hattie
Suggestions for a new writer?
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phkb
- Impressively Grand Sub-Admiral
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Re: Suggestions for a new writer?
Don't be too tied down to the "lore". There are things that happen in the game that would make no sense in a story world. And in the end, the thing that everyone loves is a good story.
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Captain Beatnik
- Deadly
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Re: Suggestions for a new writer?
Hello Hattie,
and welcome to the Oolite storytellers!
One of the most beloved and renowned authors, the great J. R. R. Tolkien, once said:
“A story must be told or there’ll be no story, yet it is the untold stories that are most moving.”
So my advice to you is simple: hold on to that thought. If you carry a story within you, please share it with us!
And don’t worry about whether your story perfectly fits the existing lore. The Ooniverse is vast and has more than enough space for every story.
I’m really looking forward to reading yours.
Best regards,
C. B.
and welcome to the Oolite storytellers!
One of the most beloved and renowned authors, the great J. R. R. Tolkien, once said:
“A story must be told or there’ll be no story, yet it is the untold stories that are most moving.”
So my advice to you is simple: hold on to that thought. If you carry a story within you, please share it with us!
And don’t worry about whether your story perfectly fits the existing lore. The Ooniverse is vast and has more than enough space for every story.
I’m really looking forward to reading yours.
Best regards,
C. B.
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. (Douglas Adams, 1952 - 2001)
You have to try the impossible to achieve the possible. (Emil Sinclair, 1877 - 1962)
You have to try the impossible to achieve the possible. (Emil Sinclair, 1877 - 1962)
Re: Suggestions for a new writer?
Sometimes, some guidelines might be useful... but it depends on how you feel about it. Here's my 2c.
Since Aegidian apparently originally based Oolite on the original 1984 Elite and its direct descendants (not the later 1993/5 Frontier games), I recommend the following minimal examples:
1. The Dark Wheel by Robert Holdstock (1984) https://archive.org/details/the-dark-wheel/mode/2up
2. Imprint by Andy Redman (1991) in the back of the Elite Plus manual, after p. 86. https://ia801304.us.archive.org/19/item ... l_text.pdf On the back cover of the 1984 The Dark Wheel, it says, "A sequel to the novella is planned for publication in 1985." Imprint is as close to that sequel as we ever got, and as close as anything else out there also.
3. The Virtuous Misfortune by Dylan Smith (2006) https://web.archive.org/web/20231122095 ... estory.pdf This was the first ever published Oolite fiction, and which apparently maintained the original tradition.
There is also some lore in the 1984 BBC Space Trader's Flight Training Manual. https://archive.org/details/elite_acorn ... l/mode/2up
Personally, I'd like to see some fiction that is rigorously true to the original lore, but set within the broader Oolite universe. ...but I'm no author.
Looking forward to the story that you're going to write, Hattie. Enjoy!
Since Aegidian apparently originally based Oolite on the original 1984 Elite and its direct descendants (not the later 1993/5 Frontier games), I recommend the following minimal examples:
1. The Dark Wheel by Robert Holdstock (1984) https://archive.org/details/the-dark-wheel/mode/2up
2. Imprint by Andy Redman (1991) in the back of the Elite Plus manual, after p. 86. https://ia801304.us.archive.org/19/item ... l_text.pdf On the back cover of the 1984 The Dark Wheel, it says, "A sequel to the novella is planned for publication in 1985." Imprint is as close to that sequel as we ever got, and as close as anything else out there also.
3. The Virtuous Misfortune by Dylan Smith (2006) https://web.archive.org/web/20231122095 ... estory.pdf This was the first ever published Oolite fiction, and which apparently maintained the original tradition.
There is also some lore in the 1984 BBC Space Trader's Flight Training Manual. https://archive.org/details/elite_acorn ... l/mode/2up
Personally, I'd like to see some fiction that is rigorously true to the original lore, but set within the broader Oolite universe. ...but I'm no author.
Looking forward to the story that you're going to write, Hattie. Enjoy!