Blogs

  • Musings on Fritz Leiber

    [CENTER][IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/mZSvK4BL/Lieber-Montage.png[/IMG][/CENTER] Here's a rather massive paragraph from the beginning of the book [B]Witches of the Mind[/B] by [B][I]Bruce Byfield[/I][/B], a critical assessment of the overall literary achievements of [B][I]Fritz Leiber[/I][/B]: [INDENT]"In [B]Fritz Leiber and Eyes[/B], the best effort to define an approach so far, [B][I]Justin Leiber[/I][/B] [COLOR=#0059b3](Fritz's son)[/COLOR] takes this diversity [COLOR=#0059b3](of his influences)[/COLOR] for granted. "Fritz simply likes to write a lot of different kinds of things," he...[/INDENT]
  • A way to explain the Dunning Kruger effect

    Put simply, [B]the Dunning Kruger effect[/B] says: [INDENT][SIZE=6][COLOR=#ff8000][B]Beginners are unable to see that their work isn't as good as the work of more skilled artists[/B]. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/INDENT] First to dispell a very common misunderstanding—it doesn't mean they're stupid. It just means they haven't learned certain things yet. I first ran up against this in drawing, and I think using some visual aids can help get the principle across clearly. One of the ways I've heard it put best is by drawing instructor [B][I]Robert Beverly Hale[/I][/B] in one of his excellent figure...
  • LocalScriptMan videos

    I already posted several of his videos on the topic of [U][URL='https://www.writingforums.org/blogs/character-web.66484/'][B]Character Web[/B][/URL][/U], but he frequently puts out great videos I want to collect where I can quickly find them. So here's a place to do that, no particular topic. [CENTER][MEDIA=youtube]6sF0FBAR6yI[/MEDIA] [B][SIZE=5][COLOR=#b30000]What if Character Sheets weren't awful?[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B] [/CENTER] He says he used to talk about [I]theme[/I] (he sure did, it was all over his character web videos), but now he's moving away from that. It seems like he's working...
  • Clarity, Power, and Discovery in Writing

    [CENTER][MEDIA=youtube]IsQUT9xRYSg[/MEDIA] [/CENTER] This is actually stuff I've known and been doing (and promoting in here) for a long time. I usually talk about it in relation to journaling and what I call 'writing about a story before you write the story.' In each case they're ways of exploring, structuring, and developing your thoughts about a subject. You can also do that in freewriting if you keep it to a subject and don't just slap down pure gibberish (which is an extreme form of freewriting). I often start a writing session with some fun gibberish, silly rhymes, and anything that...
  • Horror Story Devices via Fritz Leiber

    First some links to several online articles about how to write horror: [LIST] [*][U][URL='https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/nwwf.aspx']Notes on Writing Weird Fiction[/URL][/U] by H. P. Lovecraft [*][U][URL='https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/shil.aspx']Supernatural Horror in Literature[/URL][/U] by H. P. Lovecraft [*][U][URL='https://medium.com/swlh/learning-to-write-horror-from-edgar-allan-poe-a20f2854c97e']Learning to Write Horror From Edgar Allan Poe[/URL][/U]...[/LIST]
  1. Secondary characters

    I have been thinking about one of my secondary characters, lately. So far I have set him up as the stereotypical big dumb brute. But I wanted to explore him more for the readers. So I gave him a pov scene all his own. Due to his race, fantasy genre, he has a speech impediment, so I went completely internal dialogue for the scene. I went back into his memories, instead of an actual flashback, to show some of his past trauma, and establish more of his character arc, even though he is basically...
  2. What can be learned from Buffy?

    [​IMG]

    When I first joined this message board, I had just finished watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the series, from beginning to end. I think it was the best show ever made, bar none. Despite some heavy contenders like Breaking Bad, or Jessica Jones—none of them have anything like the perfect mix of creativity, humor, and fun Buffy offers, along with intense drama, sometimes to the...
  3. Concepts

    Concepts

    A concept is whatever my mind can conjure. A mental picture. I have a concept of a cat. It is a four-legged, furry creature, purrs, smaller than a dog. I base that concept on observation. I have a concept of freedom. This requires a lot more input. Freedom is the absence of outside restraints. Freedom is the realization of who my most authentic self is. Freedom releases me. Freedom is valued.

    Concepts are formed in different ways. The more abstract the concept, the more...
    Tags:
  4. Characters in King and Spielberg

    I want to tie together several threads, most of which come from recent blog posts.

    I'm not sure where I'm going with this, it's exploratory. Sometimes I use my blog as a journal to delve into ideas like this and see where they lead.

    In both Carrie and Salem's Lot, Stephen King was, among other things, depicting a town that was too coarse, that didn't allow for the people in it to grow up decently, because the general...
    Categories:
  5. Lithium Ion batteries (rechargeable) and safety

    Recently I was looking into getting an eBike and ran across the fact that many of them are known to suddenly burst violently into flames, either while charging, while riding, or just while sitting somewhere. And not only that, but the flames can't be put out. I posted some info about it on the message board a while back, but I've been looking into it more and I've found some...​
    Categories:
  6. Wip 2

    I have wip2, at about 55k, and am going back through turning narration into scenes. I am finding that by using a generalized narratio0n of events I can make the transition from pantzing to outlining a bit easier. It does mean more editing but I can live with that since the process of outlining is becoming easier. I was able to sit down and create a story board outline for wip3 from this experience.

    The cork board in scrivener is allowing me to plot scenes with a sentence to paragraph of...
  7. Exploring the origins and psychology of slasher flicks

    Watching Halloween for October fright-fest. This is notes toward a movie analysis, so it contains spoilers, for several slasher flicks.

    It all just came together for me. I was puzzling all through the movie (once again)—why all the Freudian pathologized superego stuff in all these killers—Michael Meyers, Jason Voorhees etc? Why the weird blending of mother and son in the first 2 Friday the 13ths?

    I started thinking I should look into the production...
    Categories:
  8. The Inner Life (when characters come to life)

    I'm using this entry to collect together certain threads where I've expounded on my ideas about the inner life—of human beings and of characters. Here's the thread that sparked this:
    But the underlying ideas connect up with my thoughts on characters having an inner life of their own, which I wrote about rather extensively in these threads:
    • ...
  9. What no one tells you about Online Dating .....

    One thing is that there actually are different types of online dating. :superconfused:

    So generally, people go online, they make their profiles and either try to fill out a bunch of stuff, or they say nothing at all. However, the intent is generally universal, you are trying to meet someone. Right?
    Obviously, what you are looking for can be different, as in ...just someone to talk to, just someone to hook up with, someone to love, someone to spend the rest of your life with. I'm sure most...
  10. RL sucks

    Today was the first time in a while I have had the time to actually sit down and put words on the page. Between incompetence at shippers, and over blown expectations, I haven't had time for anything but thinking about scenes and plots. And even then I often can't slip my focus enough to do that properly. There are too many out there that do not understand these new fangled inventions like mirrors or turn signals. All to often I find my work a day thoughts focused on how to avoid someone...
  11. Random Thoughts on Intentions

    Random Thoughts on Intentions

    Intentions are abstract things. The idea before execution. The starting point. Intentions are the necessary precursor to action. There can be no movement without first intention.

    Intentions alone have no movement. They sit. Intentions do not count if they collapse in on themselves.

    Intentions are always stated in the future tense. “I will…” or “I’m going to…” Intentions are an investment in the future.

    Intentions require vision. You have to see...
  12. Terrorism

    As far as I know, it was a Danish individual with dual citizenship who burned the Quran here in Sweden, him and an asylum seeker from Iraq. No actual Swede burned any Quran in a way that garnered so much attention, as far as I am aware.

    There are also conspiracy theories amongst extremists that the Swedish social agencies are stealing Muslim children.

    And here we are, with extremists chanting death against Sweden and dealing it because of a Dane and an Iraqi. If it wasn't serious I would...
  13. What is that song!

    Ever have one of those days where you just cannot get a song out of your head? I have had this song stuck in my head all day. I literally could not hear any other part of it in my mind except for this:

    " Ever know when the time is right to take the reins.
    Down the road they're gonna find out anyway but it's too late
    Ya know leaches like pretending that they're everything they're not.
    I don't like it, I don't need, I don't want it. "

    Yeah, that is it, all I can hear, kudos to anyone who...
  14. Transcendent Writing

    Transferred from What are you Reading Now?—

    Oh crap!! One look at the title and you have to know I'd be all over it in a heartbeat: Transcendent Writers in Stephen King's Fiction: A Post-Jungian Analysis of the Puer Aeternus. Two of my favorite writers, and it's about not only psychology, but transcendence! It's like the quad-fecta (is there such a thing? Well, there is now!). Moreover, it covers pretty much my favorite King...
  15. Southpaw

    This morning I spent the first hour of my day practicing on the keyboard. I actually like starting my day out one of two ways. Either practicing the keys or working out. I know seems like very different ways to start a day out. However, it is what I enjoy.
    Anyway, so this morning it was the keys. :)
    Since I had successfully played ' The longest time' at my friends, Let's call her Sarah, house Sunday night when we were hanging out without needing my sheet music. I decided I had at the...
Loading...
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice