Chat with Greg Farshtey

ok, so, before I begin you might want to be aware that I take my stories very seriously. Typically when I design a concept, it is very complex, and typically very confusing. I've tried to explain this to several people and every time I lost them. So don't feel bad if you're confused and/or lost, because the book does a way better job of explaining it than me (which is kinda wierd considering I'm the one writing it...) so this might take two seperate posts. K, here goes.

The book I've been working on lately is called Rift Jumpers. (No, not the LMB one. That one is based on my IRL one.)
So before I explain the team, I need to explain something else, and this is where it gets confusing. The univers is filled with energy. There are different types and charges of the energy. The different types are Nova, Anti-Rift, Rift, Void, and Neutral. The three different charges are of course positive, negative, neutral. Now the average human is classified as Neutral/Neutral, whereas the 'Rift Jumpers' are classified as Anti-Rift/(positive or negative). I'll post a chart later, showing the effects of different types and charges. Now, a Rift is a tear in the fabric of time and space created when energy of the classification Rift/(positive or negative) collides. So when two-four positive particals collide, it opens a Positive Rift! Now a Rift doesn't do anything. You can't see it. You can't feel it. It's just there. After a while, it will run out of energy and disappear. Now if more energy of the same charge collides with a Rift, the Rift destabilizes and turns into a Void. A Void is, in the essence, a black hole. You can kind of see it. It looks like a heat mirage (like what you see on the road on a hot day) only it is big. They can range in size, from being the size of a baseball, to being as wide as 32 city blocks and as tall as 3 Empire State buildings stacked on top of each other. >continued>

ok, so, before I begin you might want to be aware that I take my stories very seriously. Typically when I design a concept, it is very complex, and typically very confusing. I've tried to explain this to several people and every time I lost them. So don't feel bad if you're confused and/or lost, because the book does a way better job of explaining it than me (which is kinda wierd considering I'm the one writing it...) so this might take two seperate posts. K, here goes. The book I've been working on lately is called Rift Jumpers. (No, not the LMB one. That one is based on my IRL one.) So before I explain the team, I need to explain something else, and this is where it gets confusing. The univers is filled with energy. There are different types and charges of the energy. The different types are Nova, Anti-Rift, Rift, Void, and Neutral. The three different charges are of course positive, negative, neutral. Now the average human is classified as Neutral/Neutral, whereas the 'Rift Jumpers' are classified as Anti-Rift/(positive or negative). I'll post a chart later, showing the effects of different types and charges. Now, a Rift is a tear in the fabric of time and space created when energy of the classification Rift/(positive or negative) collides. So when two-four positive particals collide, it opens a Positive Rift! Now a Rift doesn't do anything. You can't see it. You can't feel it. It's just there. After a while, it will run out of energy and disappear. Now if more energy of the same charge collides with a Rift, the Rift destabilizes and turns into a Void. A Void is, in the essence, a black hole. You can kind of see it. It looks like a heat mirage (like what you see on the road on a hot day) only it is big. They can range in size, from being the size of a baseball, to being as wide as 32 city blocks and as tall as 3 Empire State buildings stacked on top of each other. >continued>

So yeah, Voids are pretty big at times. But what a Void does (sucking everything in like a black hole) is its trying to gain enough energy of the opposite charge to stabilize itself. Now sadly, depending on how big they are, this can take from 2 minutes to 1 year. This is because it is also sucking in more energy of the same charge. So back to our previous example, our positive rift turned into a positive void, it's stabilizing itself, but at the same time, destabilizing itself. Now, depending on size, three things can happen when it stabilizes, it can A. Explode B. Turn back into a Rift and just drain itself and die 3. Collapse in on itself, increasing pull, then explode, sending out a violent shockwave capable of tearing through buildings like a hot knife through butter, practically disintegrating said buildings. Now, often times, if stabilized quickely enough, it will just disappear. But now onto the subject of my characters. (Yes there is still more. Like I said, I take my stuff seriously since I'm so creative! I've been writing stories for a long time) So basically, the Rift Jumpers are a secret organization sworn to protect earth from Voids. Now, the actual 'Rift Jumpers' are just a bunch of teens who were born with different types of energy than the average human. They are either Anti-Rift/Positive or or negative. (Are you still following or did I lose you already?) (taking a break) continued in next post (which will be posted later)

So where was I? Oh yeah. So as I was saying, they were either Anti-Rift/positive or negative. Now, what they can do, is create energy through their hands. Now this energy is so hot, that you can actually see it in the form of blue light. And it is dangerous. It can incinerate a building. (Which is why they use it as a weapon against enemies. Don't worry, incineration just depends on how much charge is in it.) Now, if it incinerates something depends on how much, well, power, it has. So effects can range from simply knocking you out, to killing you. All Rift Jumpers must wear either one or two (depends on how powerful they are, the more powerful you are, the harder your powers are to control.) that have chromed steel plating and a built in screen. Now this screen is a voltmeter. It shows how powerful the energy they are using is. 10 volts can simply stun. 700 volts can incinerate a building. If they exceed 1000 volts (which can only be achieved by going nova, which is when your energy type changes from anti-rift to nova) it's called going "supernova" which is dangerous. It can weaken the Rift Jumper to the point of a coma or death. So yeah. And there are adults too, and one teen who is the trainer. Two adult scientists, one sub-director, (or was it three scientists...I can't remember) and one guy who operates a thing called a Global Void Detector or GVD. And the teens have virtual assistants. (Kinda like cortana or Siri.) so the storyline of the first book is when the main character is introduced to the team since he's "speacial" and they have to stop the bad guy from creating voids (yes, if your Void/positive or negative, you can do that, it just affects your brain and make you crazy) to destroy the world. And yeah. I'm planning on having it be a 4-5 book series. So yeah. Do you have everything you need to know or shall I continue with characters? (the plot line was just the basic grounds.)

Is Nexo81 wanting to sign a writing contract with you or something?

Nexo81	2016-02-23 19:08 UTC–5 Permalink ScribeGT6817 wrote: 1) Read a lot. I learned a lot of what I know about plotting and writing action scenes from growing up reading comics. Please note this can get frustrating, if you are reading people who are a lot better than you, but it does help. 2) I generally will stop writing and go do something else -- I might game for a while or do something physical like go for a hike. Sometimes I just sleep on it. Usually, if I get writer's block, it's because i got my heroes into a trap and can't figure out how to get them out. 3) Not entirely sure what you're asking, but one thing I would caution is don't worry too much about running out of material. I had a friend once who wrote a novel -- 4/5ths of it ended up being preparation for the main plot and only 1/5th was the actual plot, because he was so scared he wouldn't have enough main plot to fill the book. I cut 270 pages out of the book and no one noticed. The main thing I try to tell young writers is -- spend the beginning of the book getting to know your characters, and then let THEM tell you the story, instead of the other way around. 4) I would probably need a better idea of the kind of book you are writing to answer this one. Thanks for replying! 1. So for number three, does it work if you introduce new characters over time and expand on old characters over time? Or do you have to competely describe them at the beginning? 2. Game? Like board game or video game? (Ignore this question if you want to, I didn't think adults played video games!) (unless you aren't quite an "adult" (meaning really old, like 55 years or something) in which case please don't take offense to my earlier remark) 3. My story is a very complex "universe" and is hard to explain. But since your used to this kind of stuff, I'm sure you'll understand. I'll post it in a separate post in jammers.
Nexo81	2016-02-23 19:24 UTC–5 Permalink JAMS ON GREG/MR. FARSHTEY ONLY! (Regarding my story/question 4) Jammers ok, so, before I begin you might want to be aware that I take my stories very seriously. Typically when I design a concept, it is very complex, and typically very confusing. I've tried to explain this to several people and every time I lost them. So don't feel bad if you're confused and/or lost, because the book does a way better job of explaining it than me (which is kinda wierd considering I'm the one writing it...) so this might take two seperate posts. K, here goes. The book I've been working on lately is called Rift Jumpers. (No, not the LMB one. That one is based on my IRL one.) So before I explain the team, I need to explain something else, and this is where it gets confusing. The univers is filled with energy. There are different types and charges of the energy. The different types are Nova, Anti-Rift, Rift, Void, and Neutral. The three different charges are of course positive, negative, neutral. Now the average human is classified as Neutral/Neutral, whereas the 'Rift Jumpers' are classified as Anti-Rift/(positive or negative). I'll post a chart later, showing the effects of different types and charges. Now, a Rift is a tear in the fabric of time and space created when energy of the classification Rift/(positive or negative) collides. So when two-four positive particals collide, it opens a Positive Rift! Now a Rift doesn't do anything. You can't see it. You can't feel it. It's just there. After a while, it will run out of energy and disappear. Now if more energy of the same charge collides with a Rift, the Rift destabilizes and turns into a Void. A Void is, in the essence, a black hole. You can kind of see it. It looks like a heat mirage (like what you see on the road on a hot day) only it is big. They can range in size, from being the size of a baseball, to being as wide as 32 city blocks and as tall as 3 Empire State buildings stacked on top of each other. >continued> (mods please post)
Nexo81	2016-02-23 19:38 UTC–5 Permalink JAMS ON GREG/MR. FARSHTEY ONLY (part two of story explanation) Jammers So yeah, Voids are pretty big at times. But what a Void does (sucking everything in like a black hole) is its trying to gain enough energy of the opposite charge to stabilize itself. Now sadly, depending on how big they are, this can take from 2 minutes to 1 year. This is because it is also sucking in more energy of the same charge. So back to our previous example, our positive rift turned into a positive void, it's stabilizing itself, but at the same time, destabilizing itself. Now, depending on size, three things can happen when it stabilizes, it can A. Explode B. Turn back into a Rift and just drain itself and die 3. Collapse in on itself, increasing pull, then explode, sending out a violent shockwave capable of tearing through buildings like a hot knife through butter, practically disintegrating said buildings. Now, often times, if stabilized quickely enough, it will just disappear. But now onto the subject of my characters. (Yes there is still more. Like I said, I take my stuff seriously since I'm so creative! I've been writing stories for a long time) So basically, the Rift Jumpers are a secret organization sworn to protect earth from Voids. Now, the actual 'Rift Jumpers' are just a bunch of teens who were born with different types of energy than the average human. They are either Anti-Rift/Positive or or negative. (Are you still following or did I lose you already?) (taking a break) continued in next post (which will be posted later)
awesome_toa	2016-02-23 19:47 UTC–5 Permalink Although this might be a bit off topic... at any point have you based a rahi (in the books or comics) off a cat?
slipperysnakeb…	2016-02-23 23:14 UTC–5 Permalink awesome_toa wrote: Although this might be a bit off topic... at any point have you based a rahi (in the books or comics) off a cat? Welcome (back) to the LMBs, awesome_toa!!!
EddyGould	2016-02-24 05:41 UTC–5 Permalink Thank you for the answers, Greg! But you missed my last 6 questions. Can you answer them please? EddyGould wrote: 11) Did Vuata Maca grew in the Matoran Universe? Or only on the Mata Nui? And was the Vuata Maca the mandatory part of the camouflage system(you know, like Kini Nui) to provide energy for beings living there? 12) Why Makuta evolved? Why other inhabitants of Matoran Universe didn't evolved? 13) Will Exo-Toa be reprogrammed to serve the new society like Bohroks? 14) How Karzahni was so distorted? Why fire provides no warmth, while the touch of ice burns, thunder makes no noise, but the sound of a gentle breeze can be deafening(or Helryx exaggerated while said this)? How the GBs provided that? My only assumption is that there are machines situated in the Karzahni dome, which "distort" the island, but who was turning Matoran into stones and reviving the stones? 15) Can rahi dream? 16) Are there other continents on the Spherus Magna? Or only one supercontinent?
Nexo81	2016-02-24 19:07 UTC–5 Permalink Jams on Greg/Mr. Farshety (part 3 of story explaination) Jammers So where was I? Oh yeah. So as I was saying, they were either Anti-Rift/positive or negative. Now, what they can do, is create energy through their hands. Now this energy is so hot, that you can actually see it in the form of blue light. And it is dangerous. It can incinerate a building. (Which is why they use it as a weapon against enemies. Don't worry, incineration just depends on how much charge is in it.) Now, if it incinerates something depends on how much, well, power, it has. So effects can range from simply knocking you out, to killing you. All Rift Jumpers must wear either one or two (depends on how powerful they are, the more powerful you are, the harder your powers are to control.) that have chromed steel plating and a built in screen. Now this screen is a voltmeter. It shows how powerful the energy they are using is. 10 volts can simply stun. 700 volts can incinerate a building. If they exceed 1000 volts (which can only be achieved by going nova, which is when your energy type changes from anti-rift to nova) it's called going "supernova" which is dangerous. It can weaken the Rift Jumper to the point of a coma or death. So yeah. And there are adults too, and one teen who is the trainer. Two adult scientists, one sub-director, (or was it three scientists...I can't remember) and one guy who operates a thing called a Global Void Detector or GVD. And the teens have virtual assistants. (Kinda like cortana or Siri.) so the storyline of the first book is when the main character is introduced to the team since he's "speacial" and they have to stop the bad guy from creating voids (yes, if your Void/positive or negative, you can do that, it just affects your brain and make you crazy) to destroy the world. And yeah. I'm planning on having it be a 4-5 book series. So yeah. Do you have everything you need to know or shall I continue with characters? (the plot line was just the basic grounds.)
nekaTydaerlA	2016-02-25 02:56 UTC–5 Permalink Jams on Greg Farshtey! Jammers Is Nexo81 wanting to sign a writing contract with you or something? So, what's your favorite LEGO theme?
ScribeGT6817	2016-02-25 13:23 UTC–5 Permalink awesome_toa wrote: Although this might be a bit off topic... at any point have you based a rahi (in the books or comics) off a cat? I haven't., no, but a lot of Rahi were created by fans.
ScribeGT6817	2016-02-25 13:26 UTC–5 Permalink Nexo81 wrote: ScribeGT6817 wrote: Thanks for replying! 1. So for number three, does it work if you introduce new characters over time and expand on old characters over time? Or do you have to competely describe them at the beginning? 2. Game? Like board game or video game? (Ignore this question if you want to, I didn't think adults played video games!) (unless you aren't quite an "adult" (meaning really old, like 55 years or something) in which case please don't take offense to my earlier remark) 3. My story is a very complex "universe" and is hard to explain. But since your used to this kind of stuff, I'm sure you'll understand. I'll post it in a separate post in jammers. 1) No, you don't. And I am not talking about describing them for the reader -- I am talking about you getting to know them as you write. The early part of writing a book is like pushing a sled up a hill -- once you get to the top (and you know your characters) the rest is just sliding down the hill. 2) I mainly computer game, although I have gotten back onto PS3 after a long long time of not playing with that. I don't board game because I have no one to do it with.
ScribeGT6817	2016-02-25 13:31 UTC–5 Permalink EddyGould wrote: Thank you for the answers, Greg! But you missed my last 6 questions. Can you answer them please? EddyGould wrote: 11) Did Vuata Maca grew in the Matoran Universe? Or only on the Mata Nui? And was the Vuata Maca the mandatory part of the camouflage system(you know, like Kini Nui) to provide energy for beings living there? 12) Why Makuta evolved? Why other inhabitants of Matoran Universe didn't evolved? 13) Will Exo-Toa be reprogrammed to serve the new society like Bohroks? 14) How Karzahni was so distorted? Why fire provides no warmth, while the touch of ice burns, thunder makes no noise, but the sound of a gentle breeze can be deafening(or Helryx exaggerated while said this)? How the GBs provided that? My only assumption is that there are machines situated in the Karzahni dome, which "distort" the island, but who was turning Matoran into stones and reviving the stones? 15) Can rahi dream? 16) Are there other continents on the Spherus Magna? Or only one supercontinent? 11) They were part of the camouflage 12) Makuta are made of antidermis. Other BIONICLE characters are not. 13) They wouldn't need to be reprogrammed, because they don't really have a set function. They would just need to be told what to do. 14) Not something we have revealed. Explaining everything about the story ruins the mystery of it. 15) Yes 16) Not that we know of, no.
ScribeGT6817	2016-02-25 13:33 UTC–5 Permalink nekaTydaerlA wrote: ScribeGT6817 wrote: nekaTydaerlA wrote: ScribeGT6817 wrote: nekaTydaerlA wrote: So Greg, I know you're getting asked a million questions per day about Bionicle, Ninjago, and essentially anything LEGO. What have you been doing lately? Are you still working with LEGO, or do you have some other business you're working for? Wait - I know! You got fed up with LEGO cancelling Bionicle, so you've gone to work for... Mega Bloks! GASP! I am still at LEGO Company, as Editorial Director, working mostly on the print magazines. BIONICLE was always a sideline for me, it was never my actual job here. Yet you are swarmed with question after question about Bionicle. Does it have something to do with the books? And the comics, plus the fact that I spent years answering BIONICLE questions on a fan site. While I did not create BIONICLE, I was probably one of the more visible members of the story team and so I am identified with it (the original version, anyway). ...And yet Christian Faber is the one who really got the Koli ball rolling, so why can't LEGO have a "Chat with Christian Faber" topic - or do they have one, and I missed it? They probably could, if they wanted to and if he was interested. But Christian is not a LEGO employee and I am. Christian worked for an outside creative agency during the time he was involved with BIONICLE. (Plus, Christian was one part of a large team that created BIONICLE -- he did not invent it himself, so it is not accurate to say he is the one who "got the ball rolling." A lot of people did.)
lukeloveslegos…	2016-02-25 13:34 UTC–5 Permalink ScribeGT6817 wrote: lukeloveslegos424 wrote: Greg, as a fan of Bionicle, I have wondered, could the Kanohi Olmak create a portal around a activated Doom Box, if so, what would happen? This is considering the portal leads to one of the alternate universes. That's a good question. You have a couple possibilities here, depending: 1)" The Doom Box winds up in the other universe and destroys it, or ... 2) The Doom Box expands so rapidly that it absorbs the portal. If the portal is intact, at least some people would be able to escape through it before the main universe was destroyed. Which do you believe is more probable? Also, are there any other inhabitants of Keetongu's island? Or is it only Keetongu himself?
Elchibidog	2016-02-25 14:34 UTC–5 Permalink Hello, don't know if you still look at these, seeing as how posts are still relatively recent maybe you do. My main reason is that I want to know what plans were had for ending Yesterday Quest and The Powers That Be, why those never recieved an ending and could you come up with 1? Most likely you've gotten this before. Maybe plans were to continue the story and when those fell through so did the stories, yet it would be good if these 2 tales had some sort of ending instead of such a huge cliffhanger that has no finish. My other reason for this is that I am a fan and have been of Bionicle the original. I do not like the design or seemingly simplistic story for the 2015 reboot. As a fan, and an aspiring animator I am begining with friends to create an animated series which will stay true to the original Bionicle, and will actually begin with why Takua was banished from Ta-Koro and go through the GBA game story before the story proper. In this way, your books and contributions to Bionicle, Greg Farshtey, will be heavily relied on, and truly adapted. My plan is to do the whole series. The design will stay true to the toys with only differences for real reasons (moving hands, but no masks that act as faces like the movies did). If I cannot find designs for the characters that never made it as actual sets, we will be designing those staying more true to the design of the toys and those "like characters" (the Toa Hagah will have similar designs to those released). This is ofcourse a fan work and will recieve no money, and so copyright infringement will not be an issue... I realize some of the reasons for the reboot, but would point out there are ways to rerelease and continue a story that would have been better and seen greater financial gain with less effort. Even utilizing other media like an animated series or more accurate/fun video games...
Nexo81	2016-02-25 18:09 UTC–5 Permalink ScribeGT6817 wrote: Nexo81 wrote: ScribeGT6817 wrote: Thanks for replying! 1. So for number three, does it work if you introduce new characters over time and expand on old characters over time? Or do you have to competely describe them at the beginning? 2. Game? Like board game or video game? (Ignore this question if you want to, I didn't think adults played video games!) (unless you aren't quite an "adult" (meaning really old, like 55 years or something) in which case please don't take offense to my earlier remark) 3. My story is a very complex "universe" and is hard to explain. But since your used to this kind of stuff, I'm sure you'll understand. I'll post it in a separate post in jammers. 1) No, you don't. And I am not talking about describing them for the reader -- I am talking about you getting to know them as you write. The early part of writing a book is like pushing a sled up a hill -- once you get to the top (and you know your characters) the rest is just sliding down the hill. 2) I mainly computer game, although I have gotten back onto PS3 after a long long time of not playing with that. I don't board game because I have no one to do it with. 1. Ok! 2. Oh, that's too bad... 3. Did you see my posts in jammers? They contained my description of my story.