Random Thought Thread

Thanks! Yeah she's almost 9 months old now, my first one, and my parents' third grandchild she's almost standing without any support, so proud of her! It's funny 'cause I swear I love her more now than I did when she first arrived. So much personality in those little baby babs!

 

I'm going to be devil's advocate right now and say: I think human babies aren't very cute. My dog is cuter.

 

@Mckk's little human is VERY cute. But my cousin just had one and it looks like a shrivelled wizard.

Whereas 99.9% of dogs are cute.

 

I don't find it strange that you'd feel that way. When they first come out they're basically either inanimate or upset about something. By 9 months they're actually starting to get some personality, you can play with them etc.

Of course, probably most of it is that by 9 months they're letting you sleep through most nights. Hard to love anything that wakes you up every 3-4 hours.

 

That's because you see the parasite that plans to drain away their parent's sex, youth, time, dreams, and bank account. And that's just before the parasite leaves home, and goes on to help drain the world of our ever decreasing resources.

 

Sheesh. Cool it with the moody cynicism.

 

Random thought: I quit writing 5 times in the last 2 weeks.

 

So you love writing

 

Perhaps "the dreamer builds tomorrow, but the sleeper maintains today"?

 

Nah. The key problem is the word 'maintain' - the phrase plays out the concept of maintenance as a bad, weak, or foolish thing, but it is none of those.

If I were to rephrase it, I may write it like this:

"The visionary sees the future, but the coward only dares look at today."

Can't think of anything better right now, but I would say the focus should be on the concept of either being scared (don't dare to see what the future holds) or that of being blind (can't see the potentials of the future). It is not maintaining today that is bad - it is when you can or will only take care of today that's lacking wisdom.

Or, "The poor man concerns himself with only today, while the wise plan for the future."

If you are looking for snappy or proverbial sayings, Proverbs from the Bible could be good inspiration.

 

I want to kill off one of my mcs - I've only done in once in one draft and then rewrote it to change it.

 

How did he or she die?

 

Well, with mine, it was kinda ironic and almost funny that I cried in terror when my baby simply would not wake up to feed. She slept for hours and hours and hours - like, 6 or 8 hours straight in the first few days of her life! She only wakes up twice a night, maximum, unless she's ill. Since birth, she usually wakes up just once, actually There was at least a couple of months when she didn't wake up in the night at all.

But she was very inanimate with a super grumpy look initially, definitely. It's hilarious to look back on those videos and see her perpetual frown hahaha!

@Oscar Leigh well each of our babies need someone who adores them completely - so yes, you should totally think of your dog as the cutest!

@Tenderiser - a shriveled wizard!? Oh please use that line in one of your WIP!!

 

At the very end of book the mc was taken to a hunting lodge were the rich hunted the poor with guns. The story took place in a grim future. ( this story was written even before The Hunger Games back in 1998 ) I was probably heavily influenced by Planet of the Apes & Duel in the Sun. My mc was low class and about to lose his station with the wealthy people and revert back to his old life. He'd also just learned his wife had betrayed and left him.
He strips off his clothes and runs into the forest to become a target. His friend chases after him to stop him - and one bullet takes the two of them out. It was appropriate for the story keeping with the hopeless grim tone. But it was too dark for my tastes.

 

Oh gosh... that sounds like a powerful ending though. Just reading your post gave me chills - imagine a whole scene that the entire book has led up to - would have left quite an impression.

I'm thinking you should have stuck with it. It really sounds like... wow.

So what ending did you go with in the end instead?

 

@peachalulu - This reminds me of another story—The Most Dangerous Game—where a big game hunter goes after people because they're the biggest challenge of all. Can't remember all the ins and outs of the story, but I read it when I was in high school. I can't remember the author's name.

I just looked it up. Richard Connell. I can't think of anything else he wrote.

 

I had two that remain as unsatisfying - one was that he goes back to the life he started with as a drudge without his wife and family - humiliated and alone. And another that he stages a revolt - ala Metropolis - exposing the upper class as being evil ( hunting the lower class ) and have been covering up their abuse for years. Neither were quite as satisfying as the first ending. It was the first time I ever killed off an mc before.

 

Jumanji < luckily Hemingway's not about to slap me for that

 

I re-wrote that post because I got it very wrong. It wasn't a Hemingway story at all. Brain blip. It wasn't Jumanji either, though! It was called The Most Dangerous Game, written by somebody named Richard Connell. Can't say his is a name I associate with any other story.

 

It's okay, he's not about to slap you for it either! Wow, just realised post-editing the source—lot's of mischief to be had. Shall we re-pen the Two Ronnie's Mastermind sketch?

 

I don't think I ever saw that sketch, but it was probably a hoot.

 

I seen the movie a few years ago on YouTube. It was pretty good and some Ya author in the late 90's did a book like it that I came across a few years ago - can't remember the author, I'm getting them mixed up with Bebe Faas Rice. Anyhow, everytime I come across something like that I'm tempted to start reworking the novel.

 

Okay, just watched it. Je comprends.

 

A worthwhile excursion.