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Congratulations !
 
WoW! :eek:

Once more I must say that I am most honored by the fact that my work is still considered for these awards, having won my fair share for earlier time spent on the forum. In fact, I am truly pleased knowing that of the five times I have won the WoW, they have all been for different AARs. The first for For the Glory of Persia, the second for Into the West, the third for The Eagle in Winter, the fourth for 40 Years On: Friedrich von Manstein's Brandenburg and now for The Longest Night. That may be more self-promotion than is necessary but given that I don't do it often, I am going to take this chance. :p I can't believe that I still have such great readers and commenters all these years later.

Folks, this marks my 7th year on these forums and I have loved just about every minute of it. True, there have been a few hard times but the group always maintains such a friendly and encouraging atmosphere, I always return. How could I not?

These awards were always a way for the winner to give a little background on themselves and I took the time to look back at previous speeches. It is interesting to see my own progression from those earlier days. When I began, I was not yet 30 years old. Now, I am about to turn 36 in March. I still work at the same job and am still trying to work on my writing such that I could make something of it. This place offers me that opportunity to not only read other great works of fiction, but so too to practice my own craft. That, and play some great games. Not to mention the wonderful friendships I've made with several members of this forum.

I'd like to give some shout outs to folks like MrT and Lord Durham who always showed me the way and taught me what a good member might do once they've joined the group. Their writing was such that I could not help but try and learn from them as well as from folks like Storey, Secret Master, Director, stnylan, Mettermrck, The Yogi, CatKnight...I could go on and on. The newer folks that have come on board since I joined have also taught me much. I cannot possibly name them all, but you all remain an influence.

I am honored to have received this awAARd for a fifth time. Thank you, demokratickid for passing it to me and being such a great fan of my latest AAR! And thank you to those commenters out there that stick with me through thick and thin, long pauses at times and the rush of many updates at other times. Folks like Semi-Lobster, Ksim3000, Myth, Qorten, J. Passepartout, Rensslaer, GhostWriter, Stuyvesant, jwolf, Judge, Amric, Storey, TreizeV, Hajji Giray I, Estonianzulu, Anibal, Nil-The-Frogg, Chief Ragusa, anonymous4401, Whispering Death, Lord E, Duke of Wellington...all have given me great support throughout my tenure.

But most of all, I really must thank two men - stnylan and Director. These two are not only two of my closest friends (neither of whom would I have met without this place), but they have likely read just about every word I have ever typed on this forum. Not only do they continue to teach me how to be a good member and further a writer, they assist me with the story each time and give me the kind of feedback that helps me grow, that helps me know when I've moved off course and they help keep me grounded to the narrative. Finally, they are just some damn good guys that I've had the pleasure of sharing a drink with. I appreciate you two more than you likely know.

This has grown much longer than I planned and I fear I have moved off into MrT territory as a result. But dk wanted a speech and thus he has it. :D

Thank you to those that have and will offer congrats in this thread. Thank you to dk once again for selecting me. Thank you to LD for having such trust in me as a moderator and member (as well as another I am able to bounce ideas off of.) And thank you to AARland and Paradox for giving me a place to play!

This is very much an honor. I will be sure to enjoy the week, especially since I just completed The Eagle in Winter. That's always a great feeling! :)
 
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Congratulations!
 
Congratulations coz! There are few finer members around, and I spose you can write ;) I must admit, the plot behind The Longest Night is superb. Being that I actually make a story up as I am going, bad practice I know, I look at your well laid novel and I think 'Damn, why don't I do that?'. On your part, it is amazing that you can get me to do that, I rarely veer from my own ways, now I need to get my lazy self motivated and actually plan it! Well done, my friend!
 
Deserved. :cool:

I can only wonder how that mind has shaped the AAR. Does he plan all of it out beforehand or does he go with the flow :D

No matter, it is always brilliant. Though I think there should be references to newer songs ;)

Congratulations coz! There are few finer members around, and I spose you can write ;) I must admit, the plot behind The Longest Night is superb. Being that I actually make a story up as I am going, bad practice I know, I look at your well laid novel and I think 'Damn, why don't I do that?'. On your part, it is amazing that you can get me to do that, I rarely veer from my own ways, now I need to get my lazy self motivated and actually plan it! Well done, my friend!

I guess I should speak on this as well. In my rush to thank folks, I did forget to answer this from earlier. :eek:o

I am a firm believer of building a "skeleton" of a story before starting. Once you have that, you can begin to fill in the actual meat of the story. In something like Into the West, that was a pretty sturdy skeleton. With The Longest Night, it is not as firm. I must admit that I have gone the "Director Route" which is unfair to Director to call it such. I do so as he had this issue with his Dragons AAR - throwing out many different strands and then trying to make them work. I've also seen Storey work over the years and while he may have a solid story in his mind, I often get the impression he's simply winging it - and to great effect! The man has the uncanny ability to work himself into a corner and then find a way out that is entirely plausible for story purposes but also is highly entertaining offering cliffhangers, suspense, tension and an excellent resolution built on what he's presented his audience.

I write more as a scene builder. Coming up as an actor (which I was throughout high school and college) I am very familiar with scene study and what makes for a solid scene with character beats and motivation. I often feel I spend too much time with dialogue and not enough with scene building - atmosphere and descriptors. With this latest work, I have paid more attention to that while still trying to get that good dialogue out.

I mostly care about characters. Without them, the story goes nowhere. There must be some kind of arc. Once I've figured that out, I can usually build a decent skeleton and from there, the fun is filling it in. This is not to say this is the only way to work, but the one I find the most effective. Once you have a skeleton and a character to care about and perhaps relate to, then the story tends to take care of itself (as long as the writer has the will to write, which can be tough at times.)

I'm still working on all of those aspects, but I remain more than pleased with not only the result but the reception. It lets me know if I'm doing the job right or not. ;)
 
I never plan ahead, and I don't think I will or can. My mind cannot simply go beyond the next update. :D

Even when starting a new AAR, I just pick the main subject and wing it. Of course this both pros and cons.

Nice speech/es :)
 
Congrats, coz1!
 
Congratulations coz! Regrettably, I've only had time to flick through the Longest Night, but the WoW is clearly well deserved!
 
And the accolades keep coming :)

Congrats coz1!!!

The Longest Night is truly a great read. :)
 
Excellent choice. Coz is one of the great writers of these forums and he although he has won before he certainly deserves this award this time as well. I would say the fact that you keep winning just shows how much we all appreciate your writing coz!

Congratulations :)
 
That is a great choice - 'Longest Night' is very good and, I think, getting better as more of the pieces fall into place.

I vividly remember the automobile trip to Washington where coz1 and I helped each other work out the problems we were having with his 'Into the West' and my 'Dragons'. He is quite right that I didn't script mine nearly enough; landing that whale just about killed me. It turned into one of the longest-running AARs on the forum, and I think that was to its detriment. To his credit, coz1 roughed out the entire arc of 'Into the West' - and if you haven't read it, it is epic in scope, characters, scenes and complexity of plot - and then stuck to it. I'll be a better writer when I can do that, too.

coz1, you should remember that friendship goes both ways; if I have helped you some, you've given me a great sounding board, help with setting scenes and some pointed (and true) advice on characters.

Enjoy your time in the spotlight, and as has been said before, 'Write on!'
 
No less than you deserve, my friend.