I thought it might have something to do with the Spam Assassin badge, but there is one other person who has that badge and she doesn't have the mysterious dot badge. <img src="/images/emoticons/dontknow.gif" alt="dontknow">

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He'd been sick a while. Rest in peace old friend.

Welcome to Stories Space.

It seems everyone on the site have lost theirs. I will chat to Gav to see why that's happened.

Personally, I only write traditional forms of poetry when I want to challenge myself to colour within the lines. So yes, traditional forms of poetry like sonnets and haikus have set rules that need to be adhered to.

That said, there are no rules against coming up with your own style of poetry, it might just be the new 'traditional form of poetry' someday.

I think the problem we have on the site isn't that we're not getting enough members, because there is a steady flow of new members, but more an issue of how to have members who actually contribute actively and regularly. I would also love to see us hit the 3000 mark, but not if there will still only be the same few regulars who actually log on daily.

I think a better question would be how we can draw in more readers to the site. The reason a lot of members don't stay is because no one ever reads or comments on their stories.

And like Rebs said, if there are things that are driving members away, feel free to message me about any gripes you may have. I'm happy to listen and help in any way I can.

I’m going to post this here instead of sending it in a private mail, just in case it can help any other writers who are writing fantasy. I will send you ideas for the actual prophecy in a private message.

Firstly, prophecies are fun to write and add a bit of mystery, but I would suggest they be avoided unless they are absolutely essential to your story. I’ve also written stories with prophecies (yes, it feels great to write them), but there are also downfalls to adding them to a story.

Prophecies make your stories predictable and being predictable is boring. Not only is it boring, life can’t ever be predicted – my humblest apologies Nostradamus – so they are hardly ever reliable. I know, you’re thinking, But it’s fantasy… , and yes, it is, however no matter what genre you’re writing, a good writer wants to convince their readers that everything they’re reading is true. Yes, you want to be that kind of writer who makes their readers question their own sanity.

And if the story is about a prophecy that actually comes true at the end, it does limit the way you end the story. So basically, your reader already knows how the story starts and ends. But alas, do not fret, that only means you have to deliver a brilliantly written body that leads up to the ‘written in stone’ ending.

That said, if you really need to have a prophecy, there are ways of writing it that can actually make your story stronger.

Personally, I prefer twisted prophecies where either it comes true, but not in the way everyone – including your protagonist – expected. So when writing it, don’t make it sound like an instruction manual, be cryptic. That way you leave enough room to twist your plot around what everyone is expecting to happen. An even better twist would be if the prophecy has either been replaced or changed over time, so that even if your protagonist did fulfil it, everything will come crashing down since they’ve played into the antagonists hands. Something that might be even more interesting would be if the protagonist finds out toward the end of the story that he/she was never the instrument, but that their actions would only lead to the actual instrument being revealed. Interesting and fun, but a lot of hard work. Worth it though…

Something else, leave the prophecy writing until the story is complete. Trust me on this, you will find it easier to write the prophecy around the story you have, rather than writing the story around the prophecy.

Be realistic. Imagine finding out that there’s a prophecy that predicts you will be the saviour of worlds… how would you react? I know what I would do. Everyone knows that saviours have to become martyrs. Right? I would be questioning my own existence. Was I born specifically so I could save others? Noble as it sounds, it is something you need to adjust to. So please do not make your character embrace this new role without question or pause. It’s not realistic. And yet again, it is boring. Let him/her fight against it at first (even though everyone knows you cannot fight against destiny – it’s called a prophecy for a reason). Let him/her question everything and allow a bit of selfishness in, that is after all human nature. There has to be a trigger that makes him/her want to fulfil the prophecy, find that and there is hope your story will not be too predictable.

I won’t go into much detail about the writing of the prophecy, since that does depend on your personal writing style, but here are a few tips.

Like I said, sometimes it’s best to leave the prophecy for last, but that’s really up to you.

Do not make it too wordy. Do not make it sound like a tutorial – adding names and places and everything else that makes it too rigid. Be vague, merely implying bits and pieces here and there.

Write out whatever you want the protagonist to know, bearing in mind that the antagonist will also know what you know. Then go back in and add the mystery by taking out actual names and describing people and places with metaphors or riddles.

Another cool trick is to give a few things obscure meanings so they are left open to misinterpretation. That is one way of not having a predictable ending. So basically, both the reader and the characters might think the prophecy is about one thing, when really it’s about something that could be described in the same way.

Do not let the story begin with all the things in the prophecy already known and clearly understood. Leave some room for new things to come in and amaze your readers, as well as your characters.

No, there is no rule that your prophecy has to rhyme, but it does add a bit of drama. Me, I’m usually too lazy to rhyme anything, but if it’s cryptic enough, it’ll fly without rhyming.

This makes me want to start a story that has a prophecy in it now. I have too many other unfinished stories, but I am very tempted.

And if anyone has anything to add to this thread, please do. It’s always good to share what you know if it can help others improve their writing.

I hope this helps. Happy writing. <img src="/images/emoticons/happy8.gif" alt="happy8">

Let me find out from Gav and get back to you.

Hi. Feel free to send me a message, I will try to help where I can.

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