do it, that'd be sweet.

Sounds like a good idea but most of Year Zero (ARG) is like a novel only no chapters or things of that sort. Now if we are talking about the album, then yes, a much better idea than something similar.

Just an idea I had, I wrote some original fiction last year, that happened to be set in the world of Year zero. I think maybe a collection of short stories would also be a good idea?
There are many different themes/perspectives in the album & ARG, and a variety of characters, which could result in some interesting styles of writing.

Thanks for all your support so far - more is still welcome.
More Info:
-There were 16 chapters in the project, named after the songs on the album. They were my interpretations of what was going on in the songs.
-Each chapter covered a side of A4 paper.
-Main character was Angry Sniper.
-I used ideas from the album and the ARG.

Hope you find this interesting...

Well, he did say that the project was for school, and if he were to go ahead and write the whole thing he would lengthen it. It was right in the first post.


Also, yeah, it be a cool read. I say go for it.

TheGreatSchizm posted:

Hi its me again guys.
I'm trying to upload an image of the front cover of my project in case you guys are interested.
Just as soon as I figure out how...

Photobucket

I'm now attempting to answer all and any question given, as long as I can cope with it.

First of all VegaChastain, thanks for your suggestion. I've managed to strike a deal with a friend of mine who has a youtube account, so I've sent him the cover image and we'll work together to get it here ASAP.
Yeah, noticed your previous picture. Looks like an interesting book. Might look it up sometime. Cheers.

-----------------------------------------------

Thank you for your lengthy contribution, ChaseNine. I noticed you had a few good ideas and some questions...
To summarise your first paragraph, yes it will follow the album. In the project, each chapter was named after the songs on Year Zero, and they were my interpretations of the song's lyrical meanings. Sometimes I drifted a bit and added my own sparks of creativity, but it all still flows smoothly.
2nd paragraph: I know what you mean. I researched all of the info for the project from those mysterious websites that appeared as part of the ARG. I also used NinWiki (fantastic source if I do say so), for some background info on the album and some additional info about the websites. In the project, the Hyperpower! chapter was all dialogue from an unknown speaker at that point in the story (you find out who it is later). I just wanted to set the scene, so it's basically an intro to the world of Year Zero and what's been happening acording to the timeline.
3rd paragraph: Yes there were characters and real settings in it. I laced all the songs together with a storyline, though there were gaps of years between some: I think somewhere at the start of a chapter it says something like "2 years later..." or something like that. Just to keep it short for school. It was mainly centred around the views of the main character, but if a certain chapter was about somebody else, then I incorporated their views into it as well, especially if the main character wasn't involved at that point. It was third-person, so I myself told the story.
Finally 4th paragraph: There was a picture on the cover. If you wait for a little while you'll be able to see it, as hopefully I will upload it soon. And no it wasn't the Presence - that would be silly as it's on the album, like you said. See what you think of the original when I upload it.

Thanks for all your feedback so far. Appreciate it. Glad to see you all like my idea.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/31/2008 03:10PM by TheGreatSchizm.

Well, GreatSchizm, thanks for answering all my questions, and now that I know mostly what you plan and how your going about this, I'm even more excited than when I read this thread first time around.

I love your cover so far. Incredible, if that was the finished print, that would be a great one. Well good luck - I'm very anxious. If I think of more questions I'll ask, but so far it sounds like an ambitious and hopefully awe striking project! Hopefully most of the fans aside from picky ones like myself will enjoy it as much as I hope to!

You might consider asking to use the concept first, after all it is Trents story to tell.

What you say is interesting, Sovereign. I understand your opinions and you can think what you like about it. At least you gave a detailed reason for the points that you posed here, which is unlike what I've seen a lot of other people do elsewhere - posting random hate comments without any reasons for their views and not showing a hint of constructive criticism. Anyway, good for you for doing that.
Yes, your statement is true. But the way I see it, you have misinterpreted a few of my points that I posted earlier on. I'm guessing you read the post I made on the 9th December?
They were only part of the concept of my school project, and I did say I would drastically lengthen it if I were to re-write it.
I also stated that I made my own interpretations of the songs based on the lyrics and fitted them into the Year Zero world. Yes I did use some characters, objects and events from the ARG, but the story in the project is from my own imagination, laced into the information I collected regarding the world of Year Zero.
Anyway, you made a good reason, and I'm not trying to get you to change your opinions. Again, think what you will about it, and I thank you for expressing your thoughts and ideas about one of my future goals.

I'd always thought, were YZ to be made into prose, that an anthology would be more in order, perhaps tapping 16 known authors of speculative fiction, one for each of the stories. Trent said somewhere that each song was told from a different character's perspective.

Were I heading up the editing of such a project, I'd try to get Robert J. Sawyer, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, China Mieville, and (maybe) Neil Gaiman (whose style I really like, but I wonder if he'd be right for YZ). I read a story by David Gerrold a while back in F&SF that makes me think he'd be perfect for "god given".

All that being said, I'm still interested in TheGreatSchism's work, and maybe a community of YZ fanfic could arise with a concomitant body of work. That'd be sweet!

As an aside, wouldn't it be great to get hold of the Year Zero "bible" that Trent and Rob developed (and must have subsequently gave to 42 Entertainment for development of the ARG)? I know I'd like to have it.

Write it like Joyce wrote Dubliners. A collection of short stories giving the readers a window into the life of Year Zero's inhabitants...

a year zero novel would be awesome.

The creative concept belongs to Trent. You should really run this by him first. Since he has already pitched a T.V. series to HBO, he might already have something like this in the works.

TheGreatSchizm posted:

Hi Everyone

I had the idea of novellizing Year Zero for an imaginative school project last year, and everyone seemed to like it.
It wasn't very long - it was only a project. But all my mates said to me I should take it 1 step further and write a full-length novel about it. I said might do, but I wouldn't start it until at least the 2nd half of next year, as I have other more important things to do.
But before I even think about it, I said I'd need some support from the fans who like the idea. Anyone?
If it eventually goes forth, it'll be a long-term goal that I'll probably spend a very long time on, but I promise to get it done.
So who thinks I go for it?
Cheers

Go for it.
As an aspiring novelist I found some of my best ideas arise from musical imagery and concepts so I think a novel of Year Zero would be great. After all it's not just a concept album but one which tells a unifying story. (verging sometimes on an album like Pink Floyd's The Wall)