posted
I guess these 2 kind of kill my novel then. Seeing as it is about a serial killer who tracks down his victims through the playing of an online D&D game.
posted
Eh... I don't think it means that at all. "based on a D&D campaign" to me, means that the plot itself reads like a D&D.
As for the serial killer stories, most likely he means no "typical" serial killer stories. I mean, think about it, how many hundreds of serial killer stories do you see everyday? On the news, in the newspaper, in TV shows, and even in the horror genre of books.
Your serial killer who makes use of an online D&D game to pick his victims is probably not your stereotypical serial killer. I say keep writing the story and see what you think of it after. I'd be willing to read it.
posted
and I think, as Eric said somewhere else, these are not Rules and they're not written in stone and there are exceptions. You just need to be doubly brilliant to pull one of these things off.
Posts: 1750 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I liked them all except the "no ___ stories" ones: no waking up, no serial killers, no high school. Thing is, I don't see these as drawbacks. I get that they may be common in the slush pile.
I thought about this, and I've written one "MC just woke up" story, and one story in high school. (Out of some 30-40 stories.) Ah, well. I hope the editors will look at the quality of the story, rather than having knee-jerk.
posted
Am I the only one tempted to take all those "thou shalt not" edicts and try to figure out how to make a clever, new story with them? Heh. Naw, too much trouble.
Posts: 2026 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Those rules very much remind me of my Trial Advocacy class at law school. We got a lecture on "The Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination." The lecturer, a judge and former litigator, began the lecture by saying:
"There are ten commandments to conducting minimally competent cross-examinations. I say minimal competence because it's the lowest acceptable standard. It's also a standard most of you will never reach. But with these commandments, some of you might avoid making fools of yourselves in court. A virtuoso litigator--a master of the craft--can and will break each and every of these commandments. But YOU must NEVER, EVER, EVER break ANY of these rules."
quote:Am I the only one tempted to take all those "thou shalt not" edicts and try to figure out how to make a clever, new story with them? Heh. Naw, too much trouble.
posted
Not based on a D & D campaign? What if your selling to WIzards of the Coast? (Just kidding I do belive that you can write a dragonlance novel without clinging to the D & D structure.)
Posts: 1895 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
Just to clarify, Kathy Wentworth was to some extent talking about WOTF specifically. While WOTF is open to horror stories, they must be supernatural horror, not just crazy serial killer horror.
Posts: 1517 | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I know publishing professionals who are strongly opposed to the trend of basing characters in Horror novels on D&D characters. Going back to source material and/or basing characters in less well-used traditions might give a new writer an edge.
Posts: 245 | Registered: Aug 2005
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