..VIRTU../ ABOUT

[vvVENOM]

virusVIRTUvenom

So, about my name. I wrote a NaNoWriMo novel that had no title until after I hit the 50k word count. I had so many ideas for a potential sequel and then a sequel after that - I even wrote a lot of it out despite it not being November. XD

But the novel I wrote centered around 4 young adults in a world where normal adults, children, and the elderly were wiped out by a brutal virus. The four main characters were each part of gangs that had formed in the ghost of the city. And to be honest, I had the idea of the gangs all thought up since I was 13 or so, so I decided to revamp it a bit and create a story out of it.

So digression aside, I eventually called the first novel Virus, for obvious reasons. It's not only succinct and reveals little of the plot from the title alone, but it also opened up a ton of possibilities for the future.

The second "installment" would be set 15 years or so in the future, centered on a young woman who was an infant in Virus. She felt restricted by her adopted father, who was one of the main characters of Virus, and so she began to search for an escape from the still-wrecked city she lived in.

She eventually began meddling with the now-quiet gangs and was led underground to a massive virtual reality laboratory, called VIRTU - no, it's not a misspelling of "virtue". There's a whole lot of details that I could go into about VIRTU but won't because it's not too big of a deal.

One of the players in the virtual reality game is different, though. She's stronger than any other player in its history, and is a mysterious ringleader throughout the second installment.

At the very end, she's revealed to be an adult that survived the virus due to taking the... *drumroll*... antivirus! A twist and yet totally expected lol.

And guess what her gaming name was?

Venom.

The third installment was to be a sort of parallel book about Venom alone: her life before the virus, during the events of the first book, what her purpose in the second book served, and then what was to happen after the events of VIRTU.

So there you have it. Virus, book one. VIRTU, book two. Venom, book three.

It's as simple as that.

[vvVENOM]

On Writing

Yesss I know that's the title of a Stephen King memoir thing. So sue me. (Jk!) But this really is just about myself and writing.

I'll preface this by saying I've always been a storyteller. Though it sounds like normal kid behavior, I apparently told stories as young as being potty trained. As for actually being able to remember things, we had free time in my (6th?) grade class every day, and that's when I started my first writing adventure, complete with horribly crappy-ish illustrations of characters/beasts/etc.

I guess my first few rpfs were when I was 12, around the time I was just starting to use the internet. I think I was looking up stuff like MMOs but instead found rpfs.

I'll have you know, I was really horrible back then. But I was also young.

So I've been rping for 7 years now. Almost a decade of my life has been spent on websites like these, and I can honestly say that they've not only shaped my writing style but also me personally. I've met so many people and made so many friends - this is especially important considering I'm still a member of one site that's about to celebrate their 7th year as an active board. I've seen the admins grow and strengthen their skills so much over the years, and I know they've seen the same in me.

note: "rpf" refers to "role play forum"

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Now that that background's done all done, I figure I'll give anyone who wants to read a little bit of insight into what I draw my inspiration from and how my writing style is influenced.

Having honed my writing essentially on rpfs alone, I think I can say with some certainty that my strength in writing is in characterization. I love making characters, getting into their hearts and souls, and really just relating to them. Each of my characters (no matter how varied they might seem) all take something of me with them, whether it's a secret desire, a personality trait, or a quirk.

This means my writing is heavily character-driven. As long as the character could possibly be real somewhere out there, I will throw myself into their skin wholeheartedly. This is also reflected in non-rp writing. My narration, whether in first or third person, almost always takes on the tone of the character.

For example, take the stark difference in style between Killer's narrative and Zorn's.

Killer's just a puppy. He thinks simply, reflects on basic needs, asks the question "why" a lot. He's afflicted with strong emotions because he hasn't quite learned how to handle them yet, and he also freely complains. You can see how I portrayed his personality through the text in the thread, ! where's a bed ? !

Zorn on the other hand is not just an adult, but a strong, able-bodied wolf. His thoughts tend to lean towards thoughts of the past and of the future, and he's much more analytical than Killer. He's very controlled and level-headed, and though he feels just the same emotions, he hides them well. He's also more worldly and wise. For an example of how I tried to emulate this, see the thread ..THE OUTSIDER../

That's all for now, guys! Thanks for reading!