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Hi Guys, ive been thinking about writing a couple of short stories for a while now (big fan of the BL books and imitation is the best form of flattery i guess.), but would first like to run some ideas and questions by some fellow lore enthusiasts to get your perspective. So here goes;

- Would you be interested in reading fiction not generated by an "authorized" BL writer? specifically with regards to stories separate from the main story line and BIG themes. (Im not looking to bring Ferrus back, just write some stories based on the perspective of individuals and their experiences within the established storylines)

- Do you prefer shorts over full books? or vice versa?

In terms of storylines;

Im interested in writing something from the perspective of a marine interred in a dreadnought. How he handles stasis between battles, being effectively entombed within a machine and what its like to go from being superhuman to a corpse running a machine. Alongside the mental changes triggered by embracing glorious death only to be placed in permanent purgatory. What chapter would you be most interested in reading about with regards to this story?

Another is an alternative take on the whole primaris thing, Not a retcon, just another angle. In 40k nothing is ever as it seems and the story of the primaris marines is just too shiny and convenient for there not to be darker hidden reason for their inception. Would you see this as heresy? or welcome a a more thematic justification for primaris that sits beneath the established lore?


Anyway thanks in advance for the input. Let me know what you think as part of the motivation is creating something that interests and inspires the community in a way that doesn't go against the established fluff, just adds to it.

Also if you are interested in general but have no input please let me know, it may be worth me setting an email up to send stuff out directly once everything is done.

Thanks

Hey

Always interested in 40k fiction - and fan fiction can be better than BL - there are some really great stories on the fiction sub forum. On the other hand, some fan fiction is not great - just like BL. https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/forums/show/9.page

I like short stories and novels.

Less interested in Marines tbh as that can turn into bolter porn, bt it can be done well - and I mean really well - check this out if you have not already: Thunderhawk Down https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/642150.page

The Dreadnought angle could work - but some are actually I stasis so they don't experience time - IIRC

Primaris could be interesting as its much newer can gives you potentially more angles.

Please though if you are going down the Marine route - have other characters besides them. In my opinion the best Space Marines novels have a great collection of "mortal" characters.

When writing - do your research, although one of the advantages of using a Chapter of Marines that has not been explored is you can give the Chapter a whole narrative structure, if you do choose to do one of the well known ones - try and read as much as you can about them.

hope this helps.

The BL works I read are generally full novels, they also tend to be about either the Astra Militarum or Ad Mech (probably not surprising since they're the armies I collect). Space Marine novels don't really intrigue me, the last one I read was Red Tithe (the Carcharadons one). While it wasn't a bad read, it just wasn't on par with the Gaunt\Cain\Priests of Mars book I've been reading recently.

I'm actually trying to write a reason why Space Marine stories don't do it for me, but I can't actually seem to find a reason. Perhaps I just don't find them as interesting due to the lack of emotions they have?

On the subject of a marine dealing with his death and being interred in a Dreadnought, that does sound like something I'd read. That would eliminate the lack of emotion other than "Oh no, 40 of my battle brothers are dead."

Honestly I'd stick wtih something short and be prepared for disappointment. Life's too short to read fan fic... BL stuff might be hit or miss but at least know that someone somewhere read and edited it (well 'edited') and felt it was worth printing on paper. Even then it's hit or miss.

Fanfic, unless it's a mindblowing concept that GW never could/would do, is a hard sell because I don't even that guarantee.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Honestly I'd stick wtih something short and be prepared for disappointment. Life's too short to read fan fic... BL stuff might be hit or miss but at least know that someone somewhere read and edited it (well 'edited') and felt it was worth printing on paper. Even then it's hit or miss.

Fanfic, unless it's a mindblowing concept that GW never could/would do, is a hard sell because I don't even that guarantee.

Interesting take. Is this from a grammatical or story driven standpoint?

Both, either. Hell my own post is full of typos and missing words cause I ain't getting paid to write this and no one's checking my work.

I have a kindle full to the brim with everything from public domain Mark Twain to the latest and greatest from my favorite writers and I don't have time to even make a dent in it (to say nothing of all the other stuff I might read).

So making time for me to read anyone else's amateur fiction is going to be hard. Not impossible, but hard.

That's one reason fanfic tends to gravitate to cross overs (Ultramarines invade the DC universe!), alternate realities (the Rogal Dron Heresy!) or (whisper it) pr0n. Stuff that the professional writers cannot take on.

When I write these days I do it mostly as a personal exercise knowing the odds of anyone reading it and giving feedback are low.

Just fair warning.

I'm going to bump up an old thread concerning lore about homhomebrew stuff. I'll Edit in the name later. It could help to give some general tips on how people think about their chapters. Figure it could be usefull research since you seem to want to take the Space Marines route.

Personally I'm not a fan of Astartes novels. I stick to Inquisition or guards stuff commonly. My favourite is the stuff that deals with regular life in the Imperium, such as Shria Calpurcia, Eisenhorn or Necromunda (just got ahold off Karl Jericho!). I've been thinking about writing some fanfic myself about some slightly rare topics. Stuff like 1. a couple getting married in the Imperial church and their struggles in Imperial employment and beliefs. Possibly an invasion occurs in an nearby system and they follow the news and do their part. 2. A young brash adventures noble who steals a ship on a quest to simple walk on an Eldar Craftworld. 3. A pilgrim going on hitchhiking trip through the Imperium. Visiting many very diffrent worlds and earning his keep by preaching the Imperial creed in various churches. Stuff like that. I feel like there so much more to the Imperium then the military, but it's rarely explored.

As for Space marines this is a good way to understand them a bit. If you plan on writing about them you should definetly have read this at least once. First published in 3ed, the daily schedule of a regular marine: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Daily_rituals_of_a_Space_Marine

Edit: homebrew lore ideas. Some great stuff there, enjoy.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:


When I write these days I do it mostly as a personal exercise knowing the odds of anyone reading it and giving feedback are low.

That's a pretty good way of looking at it. It's nice to get some positive feedback (I've been fortunate enough to have some kind words said about stuff I've put up) but if you go in with Kid's philosophy it'll probably go better for you.

 Necroagogo wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:


When I write these days I do it mostly as a personal exercise knowing the odds of anyone reading it and giving feedback are low.

That's a pretty good way of looking at it. It's nice to get some positive feedback (I've been fortunate enough to have some kind words said about stuff I've put up) but if you go in with Kid's philosophy it'll probably go better for you.

Agreed and great attitude to take - when you get some feedback its a bonus

Thanks for the feedback guys, im under no illusion this stuff usually just quietly fades away into the interwebs never to be seen again.
Its more of a personal project than a quest for recognition, but id like to think some people out there would share my dislike for ott bolter porn and would like to explore the flawed psyche of a super human with only one purpose. Also i think theres a lot of interesting subjects in the culture of each chapter.... not a single shot has to be fired.

I'd certainly be interested in that kind of fiction.

Also, I know you say that this is a personal project and you aren't trying to get published or anything, but you should definitely have a listen to Episode 136 of the independent characters podcast.

Good luck.

Process wrote:
Thanks for the feedback guys, im under no illusion this stuff usually just quietly fades away into the interwebs never to be seen again.
Its more of a personal project than a quest for recognition, but id like to think some people out there would share my dislike for ott bolter porn and would like to explore the flawed psyche of a super human with only one purpose. Also i think theres a lot of interesting subjects in the culture of each chapter.... not a single shot has to be fired.

Yeah that sounds like an interesting concept. Nice idea

All the talk of people finding it hard to find time to read fan-created stuff is part of the reason I like the 'fluff snippets' way of doing things that the codices do, and try and emulate that. Successive little 2-to-3-sentence snippets of fluff interspersed between pictures of models (or other artwork) is a really low-effort way of absorbing a story. It's part of the reason that comics and graphic novels are popular as a concept, and why webcomics tend to have more legs than web-novels. You can tell often quite a complicated in-depth story and the reader doesn't quite realise it.

Still, keep it concise, sharp and interesting and I'll read it

 Nerak wrote:
I'm going to bump up an old thread concerning lore about homhomebrew stuff. I'll Edit in the name later. It could help to give some general tips on how people think about their chapters. Figure it could be usefull research since you seem to want to take the Space Marines route.

Personally I'm not a fan of Astartes novels. I stick to Inquisition or guards stuff commonly. My favourite is the stuff that deals with regular life in the Imperium, such as Shria Calpurcia, Eisenhorn or Necromunda (just got ahold off Karl Jericho!). I've been thinking about writing some fanfic myself about some slightly rare topics. Stuff like 1. a couple getting married in the Imperial church and their struggles in Imperial employment and beliefs. Possibly an invasion occurs in an nearby system and they follow the news and do their part. 2. A young brash adventures noble who steals a ship on a quest to simple walk on an Eldar Craftworld. 3. A pilgrim going on hitchhiking trip through the Imperium. Visiting many very diffrent worlds and earning his keep by preaching the Imperial creed in various churches. Stuff like that. I feel like there so much more to the Imperium then the military, but it's rarely explored.

As for Space marines this is a good way to understand them a bit. If you plan on writing about them you should definetly have read this at least once. First published in 3ed, the daily schedule of a regular marine: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Daily_rituals_of_a_Space_Marine

Edit: homebrew lore ideas. Some great stuff there, enjoy.

number 3 should be a thing. "hitchhikers guide to the Imperium"

Interesting comments guys, I appreciate the feedback