News Archive

~by Fealome

When it comes down to the fine detail, a Ringer might easily wonder, “Was there anything Tolkien left out?” From page one of The Fellowship of the Ring it’s clear that the story we are reading isn’t just a story. It a world, a history, a language (or two), an architecture that ranges from grassy hobbit holes to towering citadels. An art form that could be called “magic.” There comes a point when it begins to look less like an epic story, and more like a travel brochure. Where is our round-trip ticket to Middle Earth?

Contrary to common rumor, it is not located in the vast appendices at the end of RotK. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but a ticket to Middle Earth can’t be purchased on Travelocity, either.

However, this elusive ticket (or something as near it as possible) can be bought from a very different venue- the box office. If you’ve managed to collect all three LotR movie soundtracks, you have probably heard the echoes of reedy flutes in Hobbiton, or the clash of metal in Isengard. But take all that movie music and roll it into one sweeping work of art, and then you have a glimpse of Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings Symphony.

As any music fanatic will tell you, the wonder of live sound in a concert performance is something that can never quite be replicated. Going to see The Lord of the Rings Symphony performed live is an experience that a true fan will remember for the rest of their lives. The music, with all its magnitude and depth, will pick you up and drop you like a West Wind into Middle Earth. There, you’ll soar around, taking in every sight with greedy eyes for a good two and a half hours before falling gently back into your seat, dizzy as the house lights slowly come up. As CoE member Dwarflord said after going to the Symphony performance in Vienna,“I feel as if I visited Middle Earth yesterday.”

When I listen to the soundtrack, I tend to see Elijah Wood toiling up Mount Doom in a curly brown wig, or Billy Boyd standing in Denethor’s great hall at Minas Tirith. But at the Minneapolis Symphony last October, it felt like I was listening to a hidden element in Tolkien’s vast world.

So if you’re lucky enough to live anywhere near Cincinnati, Ohio USA, don’t miss the chance to buy your ticket to Middle Earth this September!

Want to buy a ticket, but don’t know where to start? Click here for information!

~by Shadowfax_Pip

One does not necessarily need to be an exceptional writer to write fanfiction. If anything, it will improve one’s writing skills- usually for the better. However, there is such thing as weak or inconsistent fanfiction, mostly due to a main character that is not well-rounded (such as the infamous Mary Sue), a wandering plotline, or even an inability to end a story, resulting in a story that drags on…and on…and on…and on… In this article I hope to give some pointers and a loose guideline for writing good fanfiction.

(1) Characters Is the character(s) you are working with consistent? If he (or she) is made up for this particular story, a good idea is to develop the personality and decide whether or not he is well-rounded (meaning believable). Adding a few flaws makes a character seem more real, more human than just mere words on a page. The flaws can be major or minor, depending on the character’s role.

If you have a difficult time finding a good imaginary character, a way that I find useful to get past the slump is to find a name. I often have names leap to mind that I write down and later invent a personality that seems to refelct the name. With a little practice it is quite easy and even a little fun–I have tons of characters who don’t seem to belong to any story (yet) but are enjoyable to develop.

(2) Plotline Do you have a definate plot in mind? All too often I have begun a story without a real plot in mind and have either lost my steam after a few pages and gotten stuck or waded on through, resulting with a story that wanders here and there like a dog on a country run.

After I attempting several potential stories that ended up either unfinished or weak I took to writing outlines. Just a few sentences with an idea of where you want to go will suffice, and seeing the plot on paper will help work out any problems with consistency. In your mind it may make perfect sense, but writing it out will help solidify a plot’s believability.

(3) Endings I find ending a story to be the hardest part of writing, mostly because I feel I’ve left too much unsaid!! But all things must come to an end, especially stories. There are thousands of ways to end a story, but I’ll only cover a few.

Epilogues are effective for tying up any loose ends, and in case you don’t know what an epilogue is I’ll explain. An epilogue is basically a short final chapter that tells in a condensed form what the main and/or secondary characters do later in life. They can be rather vague, and that’s where us fanfiction writers come in

Some endings are rather open, hinting of more to come or that much was left to speculation. These I sometimes dislike, as I want to read more! But, as with the epilogue, that’s where we fanfiction writers come in.

Other endings are very sudden, wrapping up the story in the last chapter while keeping the reader absorbed and unaware that the end is approaching. These are rather effective, as the reader usually has to take a few minutes to absorb all that has been told and distracts them from ranting and raving that the story is over already.

This is just a basic outline as to how one can write fanfiction (or fiction of any sort). Good luck and good writing from SP and the Realm of Nessa!

~by Shadowfax_Pip

Why write fanfiction? What is the appeal of using someone else’s characters and storylines? Wouldn’t it be more rewarding to write your own original story?

These questions assail the writers of FF, and sometimes even dissuade young writers from writing FF or even their own stories because they feel that it isn’t ‘original’ enough. This is not the case. Fanfiction is an excellent way to begin writing because you can modify a storyline to fit your specifications. Originality does not mean that everything a person writes has to be their own.

But back to the original question: why write fanfiction? Well, for me it is a bit of a release from the pressures of daily life, my medication to ease out of life’s grind. For others, it is a grand passion: writing these stories is a creative outlet in which to impress their ideas and thoughts, and a way to get to know better a character whom they understand to be a friend. And, for some, it is an escape. Nothing is so appealing as the lofty vistas of another world, and though they cannot reach it they can dream.

Another question is: why use another person’s background and characters? Wouldn’t it be more rewarding to invent your own story?

The idea of inventing an original story is very appealing, but such an undertaking can involve a whole lifetime and still not be finished. Just look at J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis. Both spent nearly their whole lives working on their greatest works, and still were not finished when they died.

However, perhaps it is even more appealing to ‘meet’ someone you are attempting to know and go off on a grand adventure with them And putting that grand adventure against a background you know well is even better, for (from a writer’s point of view) it ensures the thorough feel that a story should have.

Perhaps something that gets a critic’s dander up is the all-too-common presence of the Mary-sue. The Mary-sue abounds in fanfictions, unfortunately, and although it gives the writer pleasure to see themselves scoring it big with a character or circumstance they can control, other people usually don’t care to read such predictable adventures. The sheer ratio of Mary-sues as opposed to good fanfiction is probably what provokes the critics to disliking fanfiction.

This is just my take on fanfiction as a whole, and I’m not sure if I’ve been very thorough on this subject, but I hope I’ve helped to defend it somewhat.

Today, August 20th is Alan Lee’s birthday. He was born in England in 1947, and will be 60 today. You can read his cast bio here. You can view a gallery of his art work here and his sketches here.

Many happy returns Alan.

Today, August 20th is John Noble’s birthday. He was born in 1948 in Port Pirie, Australia, and he will be 59 today. You can read his cast bio here and there are pictures of John in the role of Denethor here.

Many happy returns John.

Last night CoE’s first ever Middle Earth Trivia Night was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who came and had fun! Another Middle Earth Trivia Night is being planned for the very near future so keep your eyes open!

Our winner last night was cirithungol Congratulations! and in second place was HildifonsBank.

The Realms need your help to choose a special icon for the Poetry Contest that is hosted by Lossendiliel in our General Realms Forum. Please come by and check out the submissions here and also check out the Poetry thread here.

The Humor Section is hosting an Inter-Realm Parody Contest that will run through September 10th. Get ready for some hilarious revision of Tolkien’s world! Click here for more information.

This week, the book club will begin discussing Chapter II of The Children of Hurin; The Battle of Unnumbered Tears. Please feel free to join in the discussion and to post any questions you may have.

Stuff.co.nz report that Bob Shaye of New Line Cinema has been in communication with Peter Jackson’s representative, about getting him to direct The Hobbit.

They also report that Sir Ian McKellan is currently in New Zealand and at a news conference said, “there was no doubt that a rumoured reprisal of his Gandalf role in a film version of The Hobbit would be discussed with Jackson and Walsh.”