Random thoughts

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Somehow, against all odds, the plot twists sort of make sense and don't directly contradict anything! How that happened is beyond me.

I was less lucky, lol. I had to clean up a lot, and I still have a lot to clean up in my revision. But, a lot fell together just like that. Stories have a way of knowing what to do. I've found that if you trust them, very often they'll work for you.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I'm sick, lol. I have a cold. I haven't eaten all day, but I have no appetite.

 

[TheCatholicCrow]

I'm sick, lol. I have a cold. I haven't eaten all day, but I have no appetite.

Sorry bro. I'm right there with you. Been sick for about 8 days now About 3 weeks ago my little sisters got sick - it slowly passed around the whole family (there's a lot of us) and I thought I was in the clear .... but then (while everyone's immune systems were frazzled) someone brought a second bug home and we all got hit.

I can't offer you any sage advice except that you should try not to spread it Oh and watch it so it doesn't turn into bronchitis (ain't nobody got time for that). If it does - raw honey & cinnamon should do the trick.

Don't over medicate but do make good use of Vicks

But yeah ... I feel you buddy. There there.

[video=youtube_share;K-Z5wQHGn5g]https://youtu.be/K-Z5wQHGn5g[/video]

 

[TheCatholicCrow]

Made good progress in rewrites / revisions yesterday. Haven't heard from my client in a few days so I decided to take the weekend off & use it for my own book (which is taking me way too long already). To clarify, I'm ahead of schedule on my ghostwritten chapters - this isn't me just being rude.

Got three chapters posted for critiques (not here because it isn't Fantasy) and edited a couple others. Caught a massive plot hole / opportunity where Car Chase A ends with MC going into police station, & the next chapter started with him coming out (progressing into Car Chase B) ... forgot to put in a scene with MC interacting with police. Seriously ... how the heck did I miss that? I've reread it before too ... so glad I caught it this time around though. Been thinking about everything from a structural standpoint and rearranging scenes accordingly. Not sure if this'll interrupt the flow from Car chase A to Car Chase B ... but it does provide me with a great opportunity to brush up on one of the subplots which I hadn't mentioned in awhile. Plus it just makes more sense for that be in there ... considering he's being investigated for murder, the MC's interactions with police probably shouldn't be glossed over at any point.

The big murder scene is great (as opposed to the earlier little murder scene) and I couldn't be more pleased with it, but I'll definitely have to rework the beginning of the chapter since I've changed some of the motivations and stuff leading up to it. No worries though - I'm taking some weaker drafts and am pounding them into a page turning beast. Gotta expect that some stuff will change along the way.

I know this doesn't mean much to anyone (unless you've been reading my book on Scribophile but I don't think any of you are ... it's Author of Death by Stephanie Villegas btw ... in case anyone is interested in giving it a peak. It's my 1950's Noir /Psych. Thriller... about an emotionally unstable pulp writer stalking his coworker, while being stalked by an ex, and trying to keep himself from being a patsy for the mob). I've been told by several people that it feels "like a real book" (whatever that means). </end self promotion> Probably not the kind of stuff most of you read (I know) but it just feels good to talk about (I'm sure you understand).

To anyone reading this - How's your weekend going? What have you been up to?

 

[skip.knox]

Oh I totally do this only I usually use letters so it's something like "She went down to H street" or "That's X, he has family ties to the mob." or "Z is lovely this time of year. We should plan a trip."

I do the same, with a modification. I use multiple letters, so abc or aaa. Just whatever; as you say, so I don't get distract ... what's that?

My modification is that I enclose the letters with square brackets. I do this so I don't have to account for every possible letter string across thousands of words. I never have occasion to use brackets elsewhere, so a search on [ will return every place where I need to substitute a real name.

The greater difficulty, which I've yet properly to manage, is making sure the person [abc] in Chapter Five is also called [abc] in Chapter 12 when he reappears briefly. I have a bad tendency to grab a letter string then forget with which noun it is to be associated. I've tried keeping a separate list, but by the time I hop over to the list, I'm already in Distracted Mode and too readily go squirreling off somewhere. I've tried being disciplined about the choice of letter strings, but that's just laughable.

In desperation, I've come up with a new plan, which I intend to try out with my new novel. Since I am firmly in a medieval fantasy setting, I know for sure no character is going to be named Jimmy. So when I need a name, I will choose modern ones; diminutives best. I'm more likely to remember that Minor Character #7 is named [Arnold] than I am to remember he is [bbb]. Same for place names, where I'll use street names in my neighborhood, or maybe American city names. Objects may be tougher. I'll torch that bridge when I come to it.

Oh, and for those writing longhand, I use curly braces {word} because they're easier for the eye to pick up. I don't use them typing because, Shift.

 

[TheCatholicCrow]

Code brackets work nicely too ... <Obi Wan> <A> or <Evil Dude> ... as long as it gets changed before I let others read it, it all works for me

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

I'm not normally a sports guy, but the Super Bowl was pretty awesome. Lady Gaga had a cool show, Pats turned around an 18-point deficit by tying the game in its final minute and winning the first Super Bowl ever to go into overtime. What's not to like? (Unless you were rooting for the Falcons.)

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I do the same, with a modification. I use multiple letters, so abc or aaa. Just whatever; as you say, so I don't get distract ... what's that?

My modification is that I enclose the letters with square brackets. I do this so I don't have to account for every possible letter string across thousands of words. I never have occasion to use brackets elsewhere, so a search on [ will return every place where I need to substitute a real name.

The greater difficulty, which I've yet properly to manage, is making sure the person [abc] in Chapter Five is also called [abc] in Chapter 12 when he reappears briefly. I have a bad tendency to grab a letter string then forget with which noun it is to be associated. I've tried keeping a separate list, but by the time I hop over to the list, I'm already in Distracted Mode and too readily go squirreling off somewhere. I've tried being disciplined about the choice of letter strings, but that's just laughable.

In desperation, I've come up with a new plan, which I intend to try out with my new novel. Since I am firmly in a medieval fantasy setting, I know for sure no character is going to be named Jimmy. So when I need a name, I will choose modern ones; diminutives best. I'm more likely to remember that Minor Character #7 is named [Arnold] than I am to remember he is [bbb]. Same for place names, where I'll use street names in my neighborhood, or maybe American city names. Objects may be tougher. I'll torch that bridge when I come to it.

Oh, and for those writing longhand, I use curly braces {word} because they're easier for the eye to pick up. I don't use them typing because, Shift.

Nice catch with the brackets. I use them too. Easy to Find and Replace.

But I haven't had so many unnamed characters that I have trouble memorizing yet.

I remember calling a mythological deity [Puffles] in one draft of a story once...

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

^That made me laugh. I once called the protagonist of my story 'this unnamed person' for quite awhile.

 

[Saigonnus]

^That made me laugh. I once called the protagonist of my story 'this unnamed person' for quite awhile.

I typically use "INH" for that. It means "INSERT NAME HERE" and it might be for a place, person or object.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ban]

I remember calling a mythological deity [Puffles] in one draft of a story once...

Prepare peasants, Puffles' power produces panic. Prince Puffles Plunders public places. Punishes praying preachers. Purges protesting people. Promotes pimping prostitutes. Prohibits presses. Proliferates plagues. Prevents parades. Pollutes plants. Pulverizes pirates. Perpetually perverts particular pitiful princess-procuring plumbers. Perturbs peace. Perfidiously personifies police. Pilfers parliament. Pillages planets. Pesters presidents. Pauperizes populations. Procures prohibited private property. Proliferates problematic preternatural prophecies. Perhaps pummels pets.

Please possess prudence plus patience.


(I don't know exactly why I wrote that...)

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

I'm a bit nervous about my books, that they might seem ridiculous or impossible to take seriously. I...um...have a rather 'Tolkien-ish writing style, and frequently make up words. I think my third book will just be completely bonkers and silly, for the fun of it.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Ack! I can't figure out a good enough reason to throw my MC in prison!

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I'm a bit nervous about my books, that they might seem ridiculous or impossible to take seriously. I...um...have a rather 'Tolkien-ish writing style, and frequently make up words. I think my third book will just be completely bonkers and silly, for the fun of it.

Hmm...well, some people might like it. A writing style like that may also be appreciated in the children's market too.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Additionally, it has been a very long time since I've drawn anything. I got really discouraged about my drawing and haven't done anything in a few weeks. :/ I need to be practicing though...

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Prepare peasants, Puffles' power produces panic. Prince Puffles Plunders public places. Punishes praying preachers. Purges protesting people. Promotes pimping prostitutes. Prohibits presses. Proliferates plagues. Prevents parades. Pollutes plants. Pulverizes pirates. Perpetually perverts particular pitiful princess-procuring plumbers. Perturbs peace. Perfidiously personifies police. Pilfers parliament. Pillages planets. Pesters presidents. Pauperizes populations. Procures prohibited private property. Proliferates problematic preternatural prophecies. Perhaps pummels pets.

Please possess prudence plus patience.


(I don't know exactly why I wrote that...)

O_O...just...O_O

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

I've found that I need to go back and tell two other stories before my current story even starts, and so it will be hypothetically structured into three parts.

 

[Michael K. Eidson]

Ack! I can't figure out a good enough reason to throw my MC in prison!

Who needs a reason? Seriously, the MC doesn't have to have done anything to get thrown into prison. Someone could frame the MC. There could be a case of mistaken identity by a witness that places the MC at the scene of the crime. Those are just a couple of ideas....

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

I added many poems and a huge epic saga to my Portfolio if anyone's interested.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

Who needs a reason? Seriously, the MC doesn't have to have done anything to get thrown into prison. Someone could frame the MC. There could be a case of mistaken identity by a witness that places the MC at the scene of the crime. Those are just a couple of ideas....

Those are still reasons. I'm figuring out HOW she gets thrown in prison.

She is a criminal, so...