Quote:
Originally Posted by
Xaari
Wow, it must've taken quite a while to change all those tenses! I don't think your chapters are too long. I devour words like food.
I was actually in Las Vegas at a conference the past few days. I brought my laptop with me and edited the tense of my story at night after coming back to the hotel. It did take a long time, much longer than I had anticipated. But in the end, the story did sound better in the past tense. I had been meaning to change the tense of the story for a while now but just never found the time. I guess we have to make time for things we feel passionate about... I might tackle changing the tense of my other much longer story, but that one has about 80 chapters. :(
Quote:
Yes, I like reading wuxia in English, because there are as many limitations in the Chinese language as there are in English translations. For example, I find descriptors really lacking in Chinese stories. It's always he says, she says, not he snarled, she fumed. It also gets boring when descriptions of people's physical appearances in Chinese novels are limited to comparisons to weather or natural scenery. It's always the same face-like-a-flower, complexion-pure-as-jade. When writing historical/wuxia stories in English, I get to use a richer selection of vocabulary while still faithfully describing clothing, architecture, etiquette, etc. A few weeks ago, someone posted part 1 of my Gao Jianli story on Baidu Tieba, and at least two lovely girls attempted to translate it but failed. It was likely that they got stumped by the heavy descriptions and complex sentence structure. Also, Chinese authors get let off the scene transition hook so easily! All they do is add a simple scene break, and sometimes they don't even bother to do that. Meanwhile, in English novels, scene breaks are used sparingly and really aren't encouraged.
This is very interesting, hearing you compare novels written in Chinese and those written in English. Since I've never read a Chinese novel before, I am unaware of all the limitations of writing in Chinese. I have always thought it would be an advantage writing wuxia in Chinese. Now, I'm feeling somewhat relieved that my attempt to write wuxia in English isn't a total laugh for readers.
The two girls trying to translate your English story into Chinese are so adorable! I think it's a great compliment to you that people like your story enough to attempt to translate it into another language so that more people can enjoy it! For example, only some of the best and most popular wuxia stories in Chinese are translated into English by the spcnet members here. You don't see members clamoring to translate bad Chinese wuxia stories! Good for you, Xaari!
Quote:
Haha, no, I was only taught Chinese up to an elementary level, but I'm a fluent speaker and have become tolerably literate as a result of self-teaching. I'm not so good at writing in Chinese, and can probably write about 2,000 characters, but I love to write Chinese poetry.
I wish I could speak Mandarin fluently... I'm struggling with the language right now because I want to watch Wallace Chung dramas. In fact, I learned my rudimentary Mandarin by watching his dramas, the first one being Ni Shui Han. If you speak Mandarin to me, you'll think I speak the language relatively well for the first one or two sentences. Any further conversation beyond that, you'll realize, "Hey, this woman doesn't know what she's talking about!" :D
Oh, Chinese poetry! That's pretty cool! I can't even write a decent English poem, let alone a Chinese one. Care to share your Chinese poems? Of course, you'll have to translate them for me.
Quote:
I think only Dream of the Dragon Pool by Albert Dalia is classified as English-written wuxia fiction right now. I've only read the first couple of chapters, but I think it's more mythology than wuxia. There's also Jeannie Lin, who writes historical romances set in the Tang Dynasty that are sometimes inspired by wuxia. I've only previewed several chapters of her works, but the emphasis on romance really isn't my cup of tea. Finally, there's Cindy Pon, who writes YA fiction set in a China-based fantasy world. I've read both her books, Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix, and I feel like the content is so sexually charged that it's highly indecent for a YA audience. Her heroine is so invincible that I couldn't really enjoy the stories.
I completely agree that stories (or dramas) revolving completely around romance are a tad boring after a while.
You don't like mythology?
What is YA fiction? Young adult fiction? Some of the English young adult fiction, like the Twilight series, are somewhat sexually charged. I haven't read any of them (and don't plan to), but after watching some of the movies, I assume there is sexual content in the novels from which the movies are based on.
Anyway, since starting this prequel story, I keeping worrying that my content is too sexually charged. I don't think so, as I've read other novels with much more graphic scenes, but you never know what others think, right? I assume my audience is over 18 years of age, but I know some readers are turned off by sexually suggestive scenes. (So far, no one has run screaming from this story because of the kissing scenes.) People who have also read my other story (Legendary Book) will notice that the characters in the other story are not as openly physical as SCN. Those characters hug, peck each other on the cheeks, etc. There is no tongue-kissing or ripping of gowns. :p However, when I started penning SCN's character, I wanted him to be this alpha male, aggressive type. He is a bandit, after all. And what are bandits known for? Raping and pillaging. Plus, he leads a scary group of thieves and murderers. In order to prevent a mutiny from occurring, he needs to have a dominant personality and rule with an iron fist. So I cannot have him be a sedate, pacifist type who goes around giving Yan prim and proper pecks on the cheek. It would not fit in with his character. Anyway, I just hope SCN's tongue-kissing isn't going to scare readers away.
Quote:
Don't sweat! I love your writing! There are no glaring flaws at all! I guess the four issues I have with novels in general are:
1) flat characterization
2) predictable plot
3) poor prose quality
4) lack of appeal to the senses
Your stories definitely don't fall under any of those categories! I loooove the names you give to places as well. Forest of Shifting Echoes, North Star Town, Cherry Blossom Inn...aaaah!
Thanks! :) I actually think my plot is pretty predictable and my characters are pretty flat, but I've been told by many readers that I am too critical and finicky with myself.
I like fanciful names. By the way, there will be a romantic scene explaining the origin of the name, "Forest of Shifting Echoes."
Quote:
If you must insist that I pick out a flaw, though, the only one I can find at the moment is your tendency to begin sentences with "ing" verbs. Of course, considering that your stories are so action-packed, it really isn't a problem.
I'll keep that piece of advice about the "ing" verbs in mind when I write the next chapter. :)
Quote:
If you're interested in taking a peek at the first part of my Gao Jianli story, here's
Burning Clouds.
I just read the first few pages of your story! It's awesome! I don't know what other word to use for it. I'm usually very polite when I comment on other people's works, but rarely do I get excited about a story. Since we're on the topic of wuxia stories written in English, I would like to say that Burning Clouds definitely more than adequately conveys that "wuxia feel." Ah! I especially love your description of the zither playing! How long is this story? You should publish it and make some money!
Quote:
Also, two other wuxia translators and I are currently discussing potential publication of an English wuxia anthology. I'm planning to contribute about 25,000-30,000 words. Would you be interested in it, by any chance?
An anthology of short stories? Thank you for asking! I'm very honored that you asked. Are the stories in the anthology going to be interrelated? It sounds like such fun! But I don't have any short stories. Plus, I'll be very honest here. I have a low opinion of my writing skills. I don't want to be the one bad apple in the barrel and ruin the anthology. If you and your friends are not afraid of my potential bad apple effect, then I'd be happy to consider the invitation depending on how much time I have. :)
Quote:
Haha, well all I had to do was look below the Wuxia Translations subforum and ta-da, there's your story! I watched all of Too Late to Say I Love You just over a year ago, and it was my first time seeing Wallace Chung. I must admit, my first impression of Wallace Chung (I don't mean this negatively at all) was that he resembled Barack Obama. I think his acting skills are first-rate. But he's all yours, because my physical ideal is Yuan Hong, haha.
Actually, most members don't bother looking at the Fan Fiction forum. I think many are too busy to read. Even the ones who have time would rather watch dramas than read a story. So I'm surprised but glad you saw my story and decided to give it a try.
Ahahahahaha! Wallace Chung resembles the President of the USA? :D I guess he's a lot tanner now... Ahahahaha! I wonder what Wallace Chung would think if he happens to see your comment by accident! Your comment is just as funny as another reader's recent comment, although your comment is about Wallace Chung the actor and the other reader's comment is about SCN the character. In fact, that reader's comment about SCN is so funny that I want to share it with you. :D
From readers Black Rose and Mimi at winglin forum:
Mimi: (referring to SCN and Yan's scene at the bottom of the cave in Chapter 6) Too bad nothing naughty happened between them in the privacy of the cave. :-) But I suppose it was too soon in the story.
Black Rose: (in response to Mimi) Not true! Ha ha ha! Something naughty DID happen between Black Rose and Sit Chung Nam in that cave! Sit Chung Nam showed her his family jewels but she was just too polite to investigate!
Yea, I choked when I read Black Rose's comment about SCN's "family jewels" in the nude scene. :rofl:
I used to be nuts about Yuan Hong, too! I thought he was so sexy in LOCH 08 and Young Warriors of the Yang Clan. However, my interest in him faded a bit after I saw his bare chest. He's pretty thin. Not that Wallace Chung is the most muscular guy out there, but I like his lean muscular body. I don't like grotesquely overly muscular men with the popping veins.
Quote:
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that I love Agatha Christie's novels too! I looooved Anthony Browne in Sparkling Cyanide.
I saw a play the other day based on Christie's novel Ten Little Indians. I have not read that story before and loved the twist in the plot when I saw the play!
I haven't read Sparkling Cyanide before. I'm going to look for it at the library or maybe they might have an e-book for loan! I used to have a lot more time to read, but now, I'm just too busy. :(