Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

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Ark
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Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#1 Post by Ark »

Good Afternoon!

I'm looking for some people who would be interested in writing this story with me. The title isn't solidified and is just another one of my projects that I hope to see to fruition. The genre would be adventure/military/drama. Let me start with some background information and what I have so far:

Premise: MC is drafted into a war which seems to re-erupt in cycles. Faced with bitter enemies, his homeland fights numerous battles to shape the borders - hoping to encompass the resources that these countries depend on for survival. Stuck in a monotonous, never ending cycle of conflicts, MC is eventually shifted from the rear to the frontlines.

He spends a couple of a weeks in conflict, bonding with his fellow comrades and learning that war and the military is a fickle thing. After a pivotal and devastating loss, he wakes up on the battlefield, finding that his cherished comrades nowhere to be seen. Desperate to reunite with his comrades and to return home, he travels behind enemy lines to an ever furthering frontline, while in the process learning about himself and those he fought so viciously against. A story about growth, adventure, and one man’s journey through war.

I've pretty much done all of the outlining and story forming and have started writing the actual novel - what I would most likely need would be a fellow writer/co-editor to share the burden/confirm ideas, and a potential artist to help with any maps/character sketches. Priority would be placed on the co-writer. This would be a volunteer free project, so no pay/commissions. For those who wish to read more into the project, I have placed the temporary blogspot here: http://projectwornsoles.blogspot.com/

[Edit 5 Apr 2016 20:36]

I posted some supplementary information for your SA - hopefully this will better explain the direction of the story:
  • Main character (heretofore referred as MC) lives in a small developing country during an alternate interwar period. He is balancing school work and a part-time job until he is drafted into the latest conflict between his country and one of its neighbors.
  • MC is shipped off to the frontlines where he meets numerous characters and lives the daily life of war. Bonds develop and he observes and plays a part in the conflict. He spends his days fighting a villainized, relatively unknown enemy while watching some of his fellow in arms hypocritically perpetuating the same war crimes.
  • During a large scale defense, he is knocked unconscious from a nearby artillery round - only to wake up a day later with his allies nowhere to be scene. With limited supplies he attempts to head home.
  • Unbeknownst to him, the frontline in which he left from rapidly moves further away as he embarks on his journey home. As a solo traveler, MC will encounter not only the people directly affected by the war, but also the enemy that he had only fired at and never conversed with.
  • Arcs will focus on individual areas or people - story is mostly character development with the emphasis of returning home.
Thank you for your time!

If you guys need more information or would be interested in potentially joining, please feel free to post here. Thank you all for your time and hope to get in touch with some of you.

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#2 Post by Ark »

Good Evening!

Decided to post another writing sample in case you guys didn't have a change to go to the project site. Here it is!
We were a diverse group - some who looked fresh from training, others had spent many months on the field - tell tale signs being the dirt and salt on their skin and uniform. Combining units wasn’t common, though it always carried omens of bad luck - they wouldn’t be here unless the rest were dead.

As for myself, I most likely confused most who saw me - I was a corporal, yet hadn’t done more than six months in garrison after training. It was mainly attributed to the time I had gotten drafted, with three years of university studies completed. I couldn’t complain, as the raise in pay and rank held its privileges, though minor compared to officership.

Yet I could feel some of the gazes I received while waiting in front of Lieutenant [blank]’s tent. Regardless of how I earned my rank, I would be judged on the same scale by my peers. One of them seemed particularly interested, as he fidgeted and would momentarily look my way.

“Don’t mind him, it’s the first time he’s been away from home for more than 7 months”

The eldest of the group motioned toward me, then gave a hearty smile. He wore a winter trench coat over his uniform, his helmet held in his hand. He was an older gentleman, the dirt and grime highlighting the ridges and lines on his face. Unshaven and with matted hair, it looked like he had spent many more days traveling than we did. His eyes were bright, in contrast to his worn out appearance.

“No worries, I’m sure it’s the case for most people, myself included”

I returned the smile. I looked over towards his collar - a sergeant. Most likely a replacement section commander for our platoon. I couldn’t help but wonder how many times he had gone through the process of switching platoons.

“[MC], you arrived from the reserve garrison right? Hear any stories about here?”

“Not in particular - other than the frontline updates. Judging by how many trains were behind me, and how they pushed us into the carts I’m guessing you guys are really hurting for bodies?”

I chuckled. Of course they were, which is why we were condensing people from the 11-2 and 11-3 instead of sending them on leave. Even though the 13th was on leave, these guys were still here.
“Hah, no war stories? I guess that’s good, better a quiet war than one like the one last time around”

He strummed his fingers along his helmet. Quiet war as in low publicity? There was plenty of coverage back home in terms of our progress on the front. Parades were still held for the victors that returned home, and memorial services held for those who didn’t. I couldn’t recall the last conflict, but nothing in particular stood up.

“Well, at least you’ll have something to talk about when you get home. With someone as young as you, you probably have someone waiting for you back home right?”

I thought briefly. I had friends in college, but they weren’t close enough to send me off when I left at first. The old lady at the store I worked simply smiled and gave me bread for the trip. There was [girl who represents life before war] that I corresponded with, though she most likely kept contact to ensure I returned her books.
Hopefully I'll have some concept art to post, feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

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Lodratio
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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#3 Post by Lodratio »

A journey through a war-torn land, huh? Might be cool. I'm a bit confused since you call it a LN/VN. Do you want to have choices in there, or is it meant to be a single, linear story? Since you're going with an episodic road trip format your story should be pretty flexible. I think there'd be a good amount of potential for different outcomes.
'MC tries to get home, but when he comes home he's no longer the man he was'
'MC tries to get home, but he changes so much on his way that he abandones that desire at some point (maybe he finds something that's more important to him)'
'MC tries to get home, but then he gets captured by enemy soldiers and becomes a prisoner of war. When the war is over, and he comes home, his home is no longer what it was'
etc.

Good luck with your story. Don't put too much pressure on yourself when it comes to writing updates. That kind of thing really doesn't matter that much.

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#4 Post by Ark »

Lodratio wrote:A journey through a war-torn land, huh? Might be cool. I'm a bit confused since you call it a LN/VN. Do you want to have choices in there, or is it meant to be a single, linear story? Since you're going with an episodic road trip format your story should be pretty flexible. I think there'd be a good amount of potential for different outcomes.
'MC tries to get home, but when he comes home he's no longer the man he was'
'MC tries to get home, but he changes so much on his way that he abandones that desire at some point (maybe he finds something that's more important to him)'
'MC tries to get home, but then he gets captured by enemy soldiers and becomes a prisoner of war. When the war is over, and he comes home, his home is no longer what it was'
etc.

Good luck with your story. Don't put too much pressure on yourself when it comes to writing updates. That kind of thing really doesn't matter that much.
Yeah, the reason I called it a LN/VN is because I'm in between on whether I would want to try to do a kinetic VN, or go with just writing a novel. Right now I'm going with the latter, though if I ever got enough resources I would try for the former.

In terms of updates, do you know if people like them in the recruitment section? I'm at that weird limbo where I am technically looking for some people, however I need to have enough info to get people interested.

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#5 Post by Lodratio »

Helping someone else with their project is a matter of trusting them and their vision, so it's only fair that you put in some work by yourself for now, and only make a thread in the recruitment board when you have something to show your commitment. Can't expect other people to show serious interest in your project, to the point where they might even want to help you with it, until you have shown that you take it seriously yourself.

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#6 Post by Ark »

Lodratio wrote:Helping someone else with their project is a matter of trusting them and their vision, so it's only fair that you put in some work by yourself for now, and only make a thread in the recruitment board when you have something to show your commitment. Can't expect other people to show serious interest in your project, to the point where they might even want to help you with it, until you have shown that you take it seriously yourself.
Yeah, I'm trying to do a balance between info dumping and providing enough info to accurately depict my progress. The blogger I have is a happy medium hopefully where I'll upload writing samples and some of the details I've framed out without spoiling too much.

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#7 Post by Ark »

Good Evening!

For those that are still following this, have good faith that I am still working on this. Some basic information for your situational awareness.

- The prologue is roughly 40% written - will be around 20,000 words when completed.
- There are 4 planned acts, each should be roughly 20-30,000 words.
- Acts I-III are pretty much solid in terms of events, the final act is still in flux

Let me know what questions you might have and thanks for your interest!

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#8 Post by Ark »

A minor update for those whom are still following my progress.

- Prologue first cut has been completed, ended up being 23,000 words
- Act I will be started
- Basic character concept sketches received
- Landscapes being worked on/additional side work.

Let me know what questions you might have and thanks for your interest!
Last edited by Ark on Tue Jun 14, 2016 12:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#9 Post by Ferdokki »

What artwork style were you needing for this game? Any examples?

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#10 Post by Ark »

Ferdokki wrote:What artwork style were you needing for this game? Any examples?
Probably something that would be a mix between sketched with watercoloured styled effects. Will most likely be the traditional VN style of art just due to ease of finding of arts/ease of sprites/backgrounds.

Once I get some more stuff to show visual wise, I might be able to upload some of the concepts.

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#11 Post by Ark »

Good Evening!

Just another brief update - decided to just keep you guys in the loop here instead of the blogspot. If things pick up, then I'll shift to there so I don't flood the forum here.

- Total of 31,000 words, ACT I in the works.
- Additional sketches being received, will bundle/present them in the near future.
- Pretty much finalized the end game/character developments that are planned.

In the near future, I'll update the main post to catalog everything. Until next time!

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#12 Post by Ark »

Started a WiP thread with some of the things I had - please feel free to post here still if you are interested in joining. MODS, feel free to advise if this thread should close down if the WiP is up or vice-versa.

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#13 Post by Ferdokki »

Maybe post a link here to the WiP thread?

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Re: Project Worn Soles, Adventure Bildungsroman LN/VN

#14 Post by Ark »

Ferdokki wrote:Maybe post a link here to the WiP thread?
Here you go!

viewtopic.php?f=43&t=39008

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