The Concept/Development Thread

Have you ever struggled with putting together a design or a story? I've found that talking to other people and bouncing ideas off of them helps a lot when trying to figure things out, so why not make a thread where we can complain about various things in our creative projects and discuss? Your query can range from a character design (what does it implicate about the character? Does it fit the personality? Does it fit the universe? What about colors?), a rough story concept (I like post-apocalyptic...how do nuclear fallouts work? Is that too much? What about a natural disaster or a disease? How long do diseases spread etc.), or anything else creative, so long as it comes from your brain, haha. We might even branch this off into Cosplay construction tips too but I think it'll be best just to reserve it for writing/drawing sort of things.

Now if you're worried about getting plagiarized (I've been there, I understand) you don't have to spell out every single detail about your brainchild. In fact you can keep all your ideas to yourself if you really want to, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't participate. Feedback is an amazing thing.
Also please try to look at the ideas themselves and not how they're presented. (ex: favoring one person's design over another because you like the art style better)

Awesomesauceness! :D I'm infamously self-conscious about talking about my stuff (although that may change), but this is a great idea and I'm glad you brought it back!

Thinking over Knightface things.  I should've kept things simpler than they were, but now that it's this sworling tentacled monster of an idea, I might as well put bows on the tentacles.  Being exposed to Elder Scrolls lore isn't helping keep things simple, either, but here are a bunch of things I wanted to iron out in Knightface that aren't spoilers.

Character Races
Indigenous Monsters, animals and plants
Cultural Divisions in Fashion/Weapons/Armor/Architecture
Religious Divisions
Symbology

I think I've bitten off more than I can chew.  <_>

Oh man I have so gone through that too man. It's ok. I'm guessing you still want Knightface to be largely an emotional journey so all of this world-building wouldn't be as emphasized but is still handy for background info considering you're drawing it all out.

When in doubt, base off of reality and go wild from there? You have a pretty good idea of what all of your regions are climate-wise, yes? Hotter places all year round are more prone to body art since people would be wearing less clothing, colder places probably rely on animal fur and blubbers to keep warm...etc. As for cultural divisions maybe the types of crops or centers of each place's economy? Every culture has those one-three things they are known for like an activity like surfing or maybe a particular type of wheat?

I'm not sure what to help you with in terms of symbology, though. I hope this helps somewhat and isn't tooooo redundant. ^^;

I have the same problem with my stuff (well, that and coming up with names for all the things). One thing I do to get ideas for stuff is keep a file of pictures and references that remind me of particular characters or places (travel and fashion blogs on tumblr are good for this, also maybe art history and archaeology of different cultures or time periods depending on what's relevant to your story). As Salut said, I think generally a good rule is to remember that societies are shaped by their environments, which could include natural features like climate and resources as well as their history and relation to outsiders (like maybe people who had a lot of wars with hostile neighbors would be more militant and that could be reflected in their overall aesthetic), and so on. I really suck at this tho, so don't take my advice without a lot of salt. ;3

Thanks, guys! That was incredibly helpful! :D

*accidentally revives thread. no jk this is on purpose*

This is all very helpful ;u;



I have a lot of ideas, and I also have been very self-conscious about my ideas. I have always feared that my ideas weren't original, or that everyone will think its dumb.
...
I should consider actually writing down my ideas and trying to get them all to flow together. ;A;

Wilhelm wrote:I have a lot of ideas, and I also have been very self-conscious about my ideas. I have always feared that my ideas weren't original, or that everyone will think its dumb.

OMG, I feel the same way, especially about not being original.  Actually one of my biggest fears with writing is being accused of plagiarism, or even just accidentally ripping off something that already exists. D:  On the other hand, not very many ideas are completely original, and some of the best ones come from remixing old themes and concepts in a new way, through your own perspective and experience.  (I try to tell myself all that, but I still worry. ;P )

And also, I think you should do what's meaningful to you even if you think other people might find it dumb or silly.  You gotta do it for yourself, y'know? :3  And chances are, other people will appreciate it more than you think.

I guess that's the thing: there's always going to be haters. In the end, the story you create is mainly for you. It isn't exclusively for you because other people can find some form of resonance or solitude in it, but whenever I dream up something I try to say that it's just something my mind decides to craft. I mean think about the things you enjoy and why you enjoy them, and compare your reasons with another person's. Or the fantastic world of headcanon. Oh man, does that get crazy XD. I agree with Stitched in saying that originality doesn't really exist, and originality isn't something you should go for in a story since that's setting you up for endless nights of "I'm not original enough"

... How you phrase things and present things are what makes your writing or creativity unique. I really hope you don't forget that.

Try not to be discouraged: You are always good enough.

Also a great TED talk I put up on my tumblr that is pretty relevant to this topic, now that we're talking about creativity in general.
http://www.ted.com/talks/young_ha_kim_be_an_artist_right_now.html

That's a good way to look at it, I believe. Though I'm pretty self-conscious about my own work too, rarely, if ever, sharing things with others. Lately, I have been working on a comic, managing to create 45 pages before running into writers block (dammit). I haven't shared this one with people yet, well, bar my brother anyway, but even he's only seen bits and pieces of it. The purpose of this project was to prove that I too, can be original in my creations. But that might not be entirely possible (like others have said, and I definitely agree) I also tend to work off the ideas of others whilst changing something up A LOT. Whether I put my own spin on it, or just flat out attempt to improve it and make it better. All in all, I am very easy to inspire when focused.

I was also a bit smarter when it came to handling this project. Every time an idea hit my head, I jotted it down (as well as summarize what I've done so far) in what's now a very sizable wordpad document, which is good so I can always go back and reference it later. (Trust me, folks. Jotting down ideas as soon as you think them up helps. It will also help to plan out as much as possible first. If you don't, then you're likely ensuring your project's destruction. A painful lesson I learned the HARD way.) I know I'm not done, as I'm sure I'll pick up that pencil and paper again, I just need to find that 'drive' I had a few weeks ago. As for what's going to trigger that, I can't really say. What a pain.