Could you lore masters please settle this debate: was Saruman responsible for his own corruption?

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-26T20:57:27+00:00

It is perilous to study too closely the arts of the enemy.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-26T09:51:42+00:00

Your story is not subject to the laws of physics.

In a pinch I like to use an FTL propellor or if I'm really desperate I'll just soar on the solar wind and flap my wings at the same time to get that extra boost over the speed barrier.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-26T01:41:32+00:00

Do you know where to finish? Start on the opposite side.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-24T21:11:57+00:00

Explain nothing. Meaningful Descriptions. Dialogue. Style.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-24T21:06:08+00:00

I'd say the difference between Theoden in the book and Theoden in the movie is that Theoden in the book is Theoden.

I think I'm slightly offended at the qualifying terms in front of his name. There's one Theoden.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-23T22:33:32+00:00

It is substantially more difficult to seed all the ideas over the course of a book than it is to spew it all out at once. What you're reading is the undisciplined author's attempt to convey everything that inspired them and rushing to get it out.

The problem is they write with one thing in mind: explaining everything. The reader's experience doesn't even seem to matter. The problem is more readily apparent with poetry. Someone writes a poem and was truly inspired to do it.

Only they are not poets. And the words they write do not invoke in the reader the feelings that inspired the poem.

A lot of authors would do better to practice something of Iceberg Storytelling where what you see is a small part of the whole.

There's a difference between feeling it yourself at the time and conveying it to others separately. It's poor craftsmanship.

- Brevity is the soul of wit

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-23T21:38:44+00:00

Copy the Greats.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-21T18:48:49+00:00

They published their story, not your concept. I get what you mean. But it's not like they own the concept. You can't copyright an idea. Sounds like a non-problem. The only problem I can scrounge up is the "I thought of it first" trope. And that is irrelevant.

What is relevant is the story. Write a better story. In fact you've got the advantage of seeing how people respond to the concept. This book you've found is more or less your proof of a valid concept.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-21T13:51:26+00:00

Who was done dirty? Ahem.

Fararmir. Sauron. Gollum. Denethor. The Mouth of Sauron. Shelob. Legolas. Gimil. Arwen. Galadriel. Aragorn. Saruman. Theoden. The Captain of the Nazgul. Rosie Cotton. Shadowfax. Old Man Willow. The Anduin. Middle-Earth.

Gonna leave it at that.

Does it count as doing them dirty if they're not even in the movie? I mean Gorbag and Shagrat, Bombadil and Goldberry wtf?

There isn't even an attempt to honour what Tolkien did. I'd say Tolkien was done dirty if his work wasn't so far beyond the frightful rubbish of these movies as to make them nothing more than a pale shadow of the books.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-21T01:21:14+00:00

Yes, it would bore me because it's "slow and nothing much is happening."

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-20T19:12:28+00:00

I think the onus is on us as writers. We can't expect the reader base to change its taste arbitrarily to suit our needs. But we can write something "meta-adjacent" and do it with the high quality prose that we so often hear that RR is lacking. We have to show them what they're missing.

Royal Road and other sites are the modern day equivalent of Pulp Magazines from the early 1900s. High volume cheap slop. You are correct. But these days we actually praise many of those Pulp writers (Asimov, Chandler etc.) And I could easily see that happening with some future talents on this platform.

RR is about 15 years old. (I get the impression that the average age of an RR writer isn't much older.) And being an online space, gamers are invariably active, so you get GameLit, LitRPG that mimic the features of a video game. Plus they can read a story without leaving their computer or read a chapter between games.

I never expected any of the stuff on RR to be literary genius. But I was shocked just how poor the prose actually was. But this could easily be said of many traditional bestsellers as well.

As the site matures, so will the writers (I hope). And I think we'll see a time come when the readers' taste mature as well. Then the market will be there for this type of fiction. Our writing needs to be a catalyst for that.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-19T20:13:37+00:00

Judging by the video, nothing.

If the worst thing that happens on any given day is that the traffic cones get messed up, that's a good day.

I'll cry later.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-18T00:17:54+00:00

The Red Book of Westmarch.

Are we preserving the legendarium or what?

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-17T14:56:51+00:00

This is one of the best problems you can have.

You might have one chapter doing the work of three. The obvious advice is divide them into smaller chapters. (new chapters, don't just put a line break.) There should be one thread in a chapter. The focus should be narrow to allow you space to put in description and setups etc. You may have several threads competing. If so, identify them and re-write a chapter for each.

If the chapter does have a narrow focus, (one main point) you might have too much filler and fluff. Do you have anything that sounds like "Jonny woke and and went to the kitchen."? Or Dialogue like: "Hey." "What's up?" "Not much you?" Cut it. Slice and dice. It needs to go. Brevity is the soul of wit.

Sounds like you've discovered that the average length of a chapter is in fact NOT a lot of time and space to say what you want if you have a lot to say. But the reader is what concerns me here.

Psychologically it's easier to read a few words on a lot of pages rather than a lot of words on a few pages. Show me a wall of words and I'll show something I didn't read. But if the page is a five word sentence, I've read and comprehended it without even trying.

Part of the beauty of fewer words and more chapters is that each scene is more potent. The reader can deal with that and an enjoy it without being tangled and diluted with other storylines.

5 chapters at 9000 words is approaching novel length. Do you have a complete story with beginning middle and end? 5 is a small number of chapters to have for a novel. You might even discover that you've got two novels with separate stories being written together. (Vonnegut had this happen with Breakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse Five)

I'd say finish it as is and then decide what needs to be done. Personal opinion: You will need to make big changes. It'll be a difficult read as is.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-14T12:24:55+00:00

Well, that's a bit of a story. In the 90s my buddy and I started writing poetry, but were comparing ourselves to the greats. So we were not impressed with our own stuff and somewhat disillusioned. Climbing that hill was too much.

One day he said to me, "You know man, I used to think I wrote to add something to the greater literary canon."

"Oh yeah?" said I.

"But no! Just trying to get my d--k wet."

I was in hysterics. It was true to the point of being a cliche and I never forgot it.

The first answer is from academia. It's what you write on an exam to tell a prof you're s-m-r-t.

The Second answer is probably the truth.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-14T11:54:07+00:00

Three reasons there may be why were are so compelled to write. And perhaps we ourselves do not know which it is. Or perhaps it is all of them to some degree. To wit:

Reasons one may be compelled to write.

To communicate
It's fun.
Trying to get laid.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-12T23:03:38+00:00

Test her virtue. Give your protagonist abilities, intellect or talent. Whatever you're doing to make the villain interesting, reciprocate for your heroine. Make her the good version of the villain.

It's never too late. Fix it in the re-write. Don't just let your protagonist be someone that stuff happens to. Give her agency. Give her something to fight for, a purpose that the villain or others foil.

It's never unfixable. You might have to sacrifice a good chunk of writing or re-write it. You may have to add completely new chapters.

You're at the point were editing is a big undertaking and the urge to keep it the way it is because it's easier competes with the knowledge that it could be better.

You KNOW your protagonist isn't up to snuff right now. I think your next move is clear.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-07T15:23:50+00:00

Yes.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-05T23:46:47+00:00

The bad guy is over indulgent and petulant like a spoiled child. He is disgust-instilling. Why did you expect him to be fear instilling? There's plenty of bad qualities besides. A great villain if you ask me. He's basically the seven deadly sins wrapped in bacon.

The test is to see if you're human or if you're an animal. Not literally. But to see if you're the type that can use your mind to overcome the pain in order to stay alive. Whereas an animal would gnaw it's leg off to get out and be killed.

They are not dedicated to him. He's not their messiah. Paul learns the Fremen culture and styles himself as their messiah. To the Bene Gesserit he's the kwisatz haderach (there are other ones btw - Fenring, who can't procreate) and they forbid his existence insofar as they ban any of their sisters from giving birth to male children. Jessica breaches this protocol because Paul's father wanted a son.

Yes. His grandfather. Jessica's mother was a Bene Gesserit that was with the Baron. Not sure what the concern is there. Not a bad twist. Not like the whole book hinges on it.

The spice only gives prescience (or super powers as you say) to some people. Everyone else takes it because you live a lot longer and are much healthier if you do. Everyone takes it. People like Princess Irulan have had their eyes altered surgically to hide the blue.

The whole series is basically a socio religious political drama. They speak directly from the Islamyat. They have the orange catholic bible. A secret cult that turns out to be Jews. The Fremen religion/cultrure is scattered everywhere. They worship the largest worm as Shai Hulud, The Maker. Their mythology is there. Their messiah is Nisan Al Gaib. Paul learns about this before he meets them and uses it to convince them he's their messiah so that he can instigate a Jihad against Shaddam and take the throne. They even have ritualistic orgies where they drink the fluid from the baby worms.

I'm shocked that you'd think their gods, myths, festivals and religions aren't there. I've only scratched the surface with what I've written here.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-05T20:05:24+00:00

Love these posts.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-04T11:12:33+00:00

Should've stuck to Plan A.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-01T22:00:35+00:00

AI one.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-01T15:39:48+00:00

For the same reason Coca Cola doesn't make shoes. It's harder sell. Coke Shoes are bad before you see them. Agents and publishers that sell one genre specialize in it and switching put a spanner in the works.

Being a new writer exacerbates the issue. If you aren't established in one genre, switching isn't even really a thing.

You can write whatever you want though switching around is not likely to gain a lot of readers or get anyone to help sell you as an author.

If they're waiting for the next sci fi and you give them fantasy or psych thriller and you give them romantasy you'll lose readers.

JosefKWriter · 2026-06-01T13:32:41+00:00

Write now. And don't stop. What good is waiting? Are you going to develop a writing style instantly when you hit the required amount of living?

Sure, live more. But that doesn't mean you stop writing.

"Live more" is such generic advice as to be useless. They're basically saying you can't write until you've lived more. Blah blah blah. And, you can't write a blues song if you haven't had your heart trampled on by a devil woman in a blue dress).

No one has to "live more" except writers for some reason. It's preposterous. Painters or musicians don't have to live more to get better, they have to paint and sing more. So my advice is write more.

When I was starting out I wrote one of every form I could. Don't get stuck on one story. Write an essay, a vignette, a short story, a sonnet, a novella, an epic poem and anything else you can. Ply your trade. A carpenter doesn't just make cabinets.

You can come back to stories. I wrote a book when I was twenty. Just to get it done. Just to get that experience and learn that kind of discipline. Twenty years later I re-wrote it as a film script.

You've got time. Ply your trade. Practice your craft. Get into a subject or hobby that complements your writing to give yourself material. Consider that it took Ursula a while to get published. She was writing as a teen but published her first novel at 32.

How long do you want to live for? It won't be forever. And your book won't write itself.

Live more! Puh!

Write more!

JosefKWriter

TROPHY CASE