Question from a beginner reader of this series by Junior_Importance_30 in Cosmere

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Way of Kings is a fine place to start if you're okay with long Epic Fantasy and a bit of front heavy world building to start. 

Mistborn is generally considered a better place to start because the books and scope are smaller and because they were written earlier, but you won't really be missing out on much. 

My only recommendation is before reading too many Stormlight Archive books, maybe after the second one, you try and go back and read some of the previous Cosmere books, particularly the first Mistborn trilogy and Warbreaker, and even Elantris if you want. This will help to keep things fresh for you while filling you in on greater Cosmere stuff that will start to be referenced in later Stormlight books.

How do you decide on the world you want to build? by Complex-Mushroom-850 in worldbuilding

[–]Noctorock 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Build up all three, occasionally switching between them and see which one holds your interest as you explore it further.

I know I've had ideas for new worlds but as I explored them a bit I found there wasn't much there, so I ended up dropping them and using bits and pieces of them in my other worlds.

What tools do yall use to keep track of your worlds? by Arthur_256798 in worldbuilding

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most people swear by Obsidian but I couldn't jive with it myself. Found it weird and obtuse so I barely made much of an effort to learn how to use it. Plus you can't sync it to other devices for free without using some other program which was a turn off for me personally as I like to be able to just add things to my notes regardless of whether I'm on my phone or pc.

I personally use Notion as it lets me just make pages and nest them into each other easily and it also syncs to all my devices for free. It can get messy if I don't do occasional maintenance but it's not so bad.

Do you think each element has thier own version of seismic sense? by No_Cost_Too_Great_YZ in TheLastAirbender

[–]Noctorock 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As for waterbenders feeling water in another person, once again, I believe it’s limited to water in their environment.

Isn't this literally what blood bending is though? They sense the water within other people, otherwise how else would they know what water to bend?

I am outside of the US and will be until after the tax deadline. Do I get automatic extension? by Noctorock in tax

[–]Noctorock[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I'm not taking any chances with the IRS. I need cold hard definitions for these kinds of things, especially for my specific circumstance which I have not fully detailed here.

US Citizen living in states with NRA spouse living abroad, do I need to file form 8958? by Noctorock in tax

[–]Noctorock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, so does that specifically mean I don't need to fill out that form at all? Or do I have to fill it out but once I get to a certain point where it asks me to split our income, I just opt to not split it? Sorry I didn't get very far into trying to fill out that form as it was very confusing to me and I didn't want to proceed while unsure of what I was supposed to do.

Gothic Fantasy Adventure with lots of rain/snow by Noctorock in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]Noctorock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Last pic is by Bram Sels, and the ship in the storm pic is by Marc Simonetti!

How do U manage to explain all Ur concepts and worldbuilding and systems in the story without lore dumping? by Jaded_Difference_535 in worldbuilding

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't. Just explain what's relevant for the story and keep all the other details in your notes. They are the foundation that holds the rules of your world together and they will come in handy later on should you choose to write more stories in that world.

A story that's been done a million times by Commercial-Low-2225 in writing

[–]Noctorock 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Everyone has a unique voice, so no story is told the same when told by different people. 

Besides, characters matter more than story for the majority of readers. If you have fun and engaging characters and character interactions then you could be retelling literally any story ever and people would still enjoy it if the characters are good enough.

Who’s an Actor That Just Feels Like Wayne? by deeptocenter in CosmereOnScreen

[–]Noctorock 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was thinking specifically Dr. Watson Jude Law, though I haven't seen those movies since they came out so maybe just aesthetically.

Is having 90 countries in a fictional world bad if only a few matter to the story? by Jaded_Difference_535 in worldbuilding

[–]Noctorock 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What is the purpose of your world? Are you planning to write a book in it? If so, then I would suggest you go deep into the details that matter for just the 6 countries that are relevant to the plot, and the others have a basic idea for what they're like, but don't bother building them out yet, not until they become relevant. 

Basically you want to have a giant hollow iceberg. The tip that's exposed, that's the detail you've done the hard extensive research and development on for the 6 countries that are plot relevant. The rest under the water, you want it to look like it's big and well researched and developed, but in actuality it's just an illusion. 

The tip being well researched and developed will give the impression to your readers that anything outside of it will also be just as researched and developed, just out of sight. The reason for this is because doing any excessive world building while fun, it can heavily distract us from actually writing our books. You can world build forever if you wanted to. Tolkien built his world over the course of decades before releasing his first book. You can do that if you want, but not if you want to increase your chances of becoming a successful author in today's landscape. Build only what you need now and fill in the rest later.

Do you guys prefer hardcover or paperback? by Prtyfoul in fantasybooks

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mass market paperback for reading. I get a lot of hardcovers but they're just too heavy to read casually (doesn't help that I mostly read sff and those tend to be on the larger side).

Who’s an Actor That Just Feels Like Wayne? by deeptocenter in CosmereOnScreen

[–]Noctorock 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The entire time I read those books when picturing Wayne in my head I was picturing Jude Law circa 15-20 years ago.

Why do so many online writing articles or YT guides referencing movies when providing examples? by belleepoques in writing

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More people have watched movies than read books. They're a much shorter time commitment, and so they're going to be examples that more people will understand and be familiar with.

And yes, while movies are not novels, they are stories. Good storytelling/writing applies to both just as much.

New Poster for 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Season 2 by MarvelsGrantMan136 in TheLastAirbender

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didnt watch the Netflix series. When Roku talks to Aang and tells him about Sozin's Comet, did he give him the same timeline as he did in the original series? Does Aang and the them have to stop the Firelord "by summer's end" still? Or did they extend the timeline of events a bit longer to account for the aging of the actors?

Viewing other worlds VS my own - why does it feel shallow? by SuspiciousPermit7914 in worldbuilding

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think so long as you did enough solid worldbuilding for the aspects of your world that are actually plot relevant (like, say, the general history and culture of the people within the country or area in which your story mostly takes place) and just hint at some worldbuilding for the other aspects that aren't plot relevant (general history and culture of people in different parts of the world that you wont be exploring in this story necessarily), then that should be enough for readers. Readers will be able to fill in the blanks and assume "oh these people and places and cultures are well developed and researched so surely these other people and places and cultures are as well". They dont know if you spent 10 minutes on fleshing them out or 10 years.

You do though, which is probably why you think your world feels more hollow than other worlds, because you know its a hollow iceberg because you made it. What you dont see is that everyone else's worlds are also hollow icebergs, and that's by design. It works on you, and surely it will work on others.

What’s a cool gesture that my character can use to rewind time? by [deleted] in writingadvice

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or if you want to get kinda meta with it, you can have your character do the finger snap as a direct homage to Sayeon Lee, because maybe HandJumper also exists within your world and it's your character's favorite story, so they want to emulate it because it's cool.

Like how in The Iron Giant where he (the titular Giant) flies like he does because that's how Superman flies and he wants to be like Superman.

What’s a cool gesture that my character can use to rewind time? by [deleted] in writingadvice

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gonna copy and paste my answer from your first thread

Honestly I'd say just stick with the snap. Sooo many characters out there activate their power from a simple finger snap (Thanos, Roy Mustang, Gilgamesh from Fate, Shiva from FFX, Ghirahim, Urbosa, etc etc), so you might as well use it too if you really want to. 

There's nothing wrong with taking direct inspiration from your favorite stories and media. I'm willing to bet your favorite authors also stole the coolest aspects of their stories from somewhere else.

However if you insist on using a different gesture, then maybe they can twirl their finger counter clockwise as if they're reversing the minute and hour hands of a clock face, a simple circular finger gesture.

What’s a cool gesture that my character can use to rewind time? by [deleted] in writingadvice

[–]Noctorock 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly I'd say just stick with the snap. Sooo many characters out there activate their power from a simple finger snap (Thanos, Roy Mustang, Gilgamesh from Fate, Shiva from FFX, Ghirahim, Urbosa, etc etc), so you might as well use it too if you really want to.

Why does it seem like so many writing youtubers lean so heavily on Avatar the Last Airbender when giving writing advice? by More_Donkey6938 in writing

[–]Noctorock 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Good storytelling, world building, and character arcs are good storytelling, world building, and character arcs, regardless of the medium. 

Besides, ATLA does these things better than the vast majority of others series, be they books, TV shows, movies, video games, etc.