General Writing

  1. 101 alternative uses for a lightsaber - #3

    Heating water, perhaps for a cup of tea or a bath. .
  2. A Word on the Opening Paragraph

    I'm not a terribly experienced writer. I came to the forum a few years ago as a demonstrably poor writer who wanted to get better. Through the encouragement (and occasional head bashing) I found here, my writing improved. I want to pass that along. I said elsewhere, and I'll say here (in particular because I'm not the first person to say this, but it bears repeating): The sole job of the opening paragraph is to draw readers in; to tell them that they want to read more. It doesn't matter...
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  3. Alone...

    I find it so funny that in a world with what 8 billion people give or take the ones we don't know about.. That people are getting to the point where we feel we are better off alone. Because it's peaceful.. Now I will just say I like my alone time just as much as the next person. I like to feel at peace and not having to worry about walking on eggshells or being afraid of what might come out of my mouth that might possibly offend someone. For the whole 26 years I have been on this planet...
  4. Angela Carter on the Tale vs the Story

    Getting back to my posts concerning different kinds of stories, here's something I've posted on the board that I'd like to be able to find, so I'm putting it here in my online notebook (the first part is by yours truly): Fairy tales are not like regular stories because they're archetypal. They're about types rather than individuals. Even if an individual has a name in a fairy tale, they represent a type. The names are often strange, like 'Horsehair went to wash himself in the creek as he...
  5. At a Loss for Words

    The clearing between the pines was brown with decayed needles covering the floor. Looking out, the milo grew high and power lines hung loose. There were gun shots in the distance, coming from the farm further down the mountain. As I moved out of the clearing, the soles of my boots sunk into the soft ground and my hands glided over the tall grasses. I followed the trail further up the mountain and when I glanced back, the roads were far away. Another shot echoed in the distance. I could...
  6. Beauty In The Night

    1972 It was late Friday evening. I’d just walked in the door after a hard afternoon shift at the local steel mill. My thoughts were only on the pizza I was carrying, a couple of cold beers, and the warm bed I would soon be sharing with my wife. I don’t remember where she got the idea, but it was close to Halloween so I shoulda known she’d be doing something witchy. As soon as I sat down on the couch she came out of the kitchen carrying a shopping bag and sat down beside me, “Hi babe”, she...
  7. Can I borrow you lighter?

    A mourning soul, nothing more than a half carton of Marlboros, stands there pleading for an escape. I understand why, but seeing myself in another is too hard to handle. All I can do is accept his wish and pass my lighter over, hoping it'll provide some comfort and resolve. Then the utterance of passing chatter withers into solitude.
  8. Character, Plot, & Theme

    Recently in a thread on this forum, a member put forward two potential “driving forces” of a story (plot & character) to suggest where the greatest share of a writer’s focus should be. I then chimed in to say that I subscribe to a theory of three potential driving forces, those being: character, plot, and theme. And in this post I’ll go into more detail about those three, as well as what I view as their hybrids. (1) Plot-driven: I opted to start with plot because I suspect it’s the most...
  9. Clarity, Power, and Discovery in Writing

    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...
  10. Current status

    Currently working on a fantasy trilogy, I think it will be a trilogy, but you never know an idea may hit that extends it beyond that. Book 1 has the MC and companions sucked into a prophecy, the MC doesn't believe in, and is basically forced into helping with. For the gamers out there it is a basic escort quest. The story uses an onion villain, though at this point we only really see the outer layer villains. This work has been through a few edits, and is currently out to beta readers....
  11. Decaying Mind

    Sometimes it feels like my mind is slipping. Too many universes to keep track of. Or perhaps my psychosis sickness is making itself heard... not literally. I just feel so stupid at times. Like my mind is really decaying. I recently comissioned two artists for illustrations outside their expertise. It only occurred to me to search for the right artists after I had comissioned the first two. What the hell, mind? What the hell is going on? Years ago, I would not have made that mistake. I seem...
  12. Draft One Completed

    I have now written to completion draft one of my first ever book. At sixty four thousand words (around 106 A4 pages) it sits ready for extensive edits, which is the next part of the process. It has taken me more than ten years to refine the world and around three years of writing the current draft. Though the end result lacks my contentment, I am confident that I will improve the work to the best of my ability. The story is about a grey skinned human who grows up in the slums of a city...
  13. Geometric or Geomatian Numerals

    These are called Geomatian Numerals and were created by Countess Aductuine as her only good and lasting achievement. Countess Aductuine was born into a monarchy in the Bevarianne galaxy. She was raised to be a commander in the monarchy's fleet. Throughout her years, she schemed her way to power and fortune, leaving behind her a trail of sorrow. She was a slave owner who kept captives from many various cultures and alien races. Problems occurred when teaching her slaves to count, she found...
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  14. I need help deciding on a place for a pack of werwolves

    I need help deciding on where and what area or town on the west coast could be preferably close to what I need for the pack land in the werewolf book I am writing . Any help is very appreciated and accepted . so here it is what is needed exactly : 1). west coast town 2). a small town at least 30 mins from any small city were they would have the necessities like a mall or fancy restaurants and of course humans would be here but not in the werewolf town 3). in this small town I'd like to...
  15. Immortal Words

    We’ve discussed immortality in the Science thread, but it occurred to me today that we never touched upon the kind of immortality we as writers hope for—to live on in our words. It’s a nice thought, that what we create from our depths, from our blood, sweat and tears, will never die. We put who we are into our writing and the writing survives. In 23 BC the Roman poet Horace began the final poem in his Odes with these lines: I have finished a monument more lasting than bronze, more lofty...
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