wait up. I'm slow.
852 2017-05-30 22:50:31
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
You can get away with it using this little trick IMHO
853 2017-05-30 11:36:21
Re: Beware random quickees (18 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Seems to originate from new user Nyx whose profile page is littered with code possibly seeking vulnerabilities
854 2017-05-30 03:57:02
Re: Sol, Hacked by NYX (5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
A temporary work-around for this problem is
a) disable scripting
b) remove the offending quickee
c) re-enable scripting
855 2017-05-30 03:48:42
Topic: Beware random quickees (18 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Hey all... just a PSA... malware code running about in the quickees redirecting you to some spam site. Advise avoiding them until Sol can resolve
856 2017-05-29 03:34:35
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
a) You could have it that all weapons in your universe injure and don't kill. (kinda ew)
b) Pull a Lucas and have the gunmen have terrible aim. (Actually when you look at it. GI Joe had this problem too. So did the transformers cartoon - it wasn't until the movie that any of them actually struck a target).
c) There is killing but the camera isn't really centered on it. Kind of like Firestarter's r*pe scene. We know it occurred, but the camera never quite settles on it (admittedly, reviewers are asking me to show that moment explicitly, but I can't fathom why)
Interestingly, I've never held back on violence with intent to get to a specific rating. in Firestarter's case, the idea of suppressing it is to ensure the scene doesn't overwhelm the story. Lord of the Flies was up there for violence, but we were reading it by like age 12. Actually, I was reading Green Arrow & Black Canary kill people by grade six and look how I turned out .
Anyway, on a more serous note, it sounds like you're appplying movie ratings to literature. By that approach, watching Julius Caesar getting stabbed thirteen times by his trusted friends would never be allowed into a grade 10 reading list, and don't get me started about Romeo and Juliet's underage sex scene and subsequent double suicide.
I vote... just write the story and let readers decide the rating as pertains to their own perceptions.
-K
857 2017-05-28 12:37:22
Re: Stephen Kink (22 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I've often wondered why Hollywood hasn't done a Christine remake. Imagine her re-cast as a Dodge Avenger in hot pink coming out to Justin Bieber.
But on a more serious note, there's a lot you could do with that story in the hands of the write director (which, sadly, very few Stephen King movies ever seem to see)
858 2017-05-28 01:18:06
Re: I am thinking of leaving site. (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
...and off she goes
859 2017-05-23 22:11:18
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
If it's excruciating, why not use general anaesthesia? I can get that for much less than excruciating irl such as having a tooth drilled.
860 2017-05-22 19:45:32
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Not me. Mostly caught up in the marketing engine. And this current series is so very hard to write
861 2017-05-18 09:43:59
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
careful... he's Canuck now. "Cooked food" means poutines and beavertails
862 2017-05-17 23:16:53
Re: The Sorcerer's Progress (1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
description that must stand Amy's scrutiny.
Yeah, good luck with that
863 2017-05-17 02:11:27
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I've snipped / killed characters who had far more relevance
864 2017-05-11 23:20:35
Re: eyes going wide (5 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I guess I'll chime in since I'm one of the perpetrators...
I don't have a fit with a POV character's eyes widen... but I will notice it every time, and if I'm noticing things it means I've been kicked out of the story.
Ah, but why did I notice it? I can't explain that easily, so let me give you a parallel example from another story here (slightly paraphrased for brevity)
Helga's nostrils flared
Yes, you know when your nostrils flare - and sure you can even perceive it, should the nostrils in question be of sufficient diameter. However, I must ask if you've ever seen a beautiful member of the opposite gender and thought "Boy are my nostrils flaring!". If the POV character points out his reaction (be it nostrils or eyes, a tapping boot, or a ruptured spleen) I'll tend to zero in on that, which might not be the writer's intent.
But fear not... plenty of writers use this device. Remember Pippi Longstockings? IIRC her hair adjusts position depending on her level of excitement. Doesn't seem to have dented her book sales.
865 2017-05-03 21:49:04
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I liked Windsor
866 2017-05-03 05:09:04
Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread (354 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
this summary... it's marketing text eventually destinedfor mass market? Or only for use during the search for a publisher?
867 2017-05-02 22:50:00
Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread (354 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
mmm 15 yrs old and murder was 14 years ago. I see what you did there
868 2017-04-28 04:33:01
Re: Acts/ Dictates/ Mandates/ Mantle - Amy's Thread (1,905 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
naming the room is a short cut
869 2017-04-20 19:30:22
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
You snuff 'em we stuff 'em
870 2017-04-17 13:11:35
Re: Tom Oldman = B Douglas Slack (8 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
To clarify, I had an unusual case where all the characters existed in in-print books and were being actively searched. Combined with an uncommon name, Google couldn't help but join them up. But then tnbw had more hits on my character-names than any other site, so Google happily indexed it first.
I'm not experiencing the issue with this other series of which none is in print and character names are common. (Also I've hidden my name on here).
871 2017-04-17 12:47:11
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
The company name doesn't fit into the tapestry you've woven. It's like that one pesky red thread that sticks out.
I presume it's like my use of the word "Internet" suddenly in VQF. I've contemplated references to some of the other major brands of today, but I'm so far in the future, I can't see any of those companies surviving. My setting experiences (social) entropic loss. This is to say, the broad message is cultures tend to boil down to nothingness over time, barring brief spikes of inserted energy. This is true of the others such as Star Wars where basically tech hasn't much improved in the past thousand years and there seems to be no will to move forward, and Enders Game where it took an alien invasion to get mankind to stir.
Your setting is one of renewal where old things become new again. This is quite unusual in sci-fi (quick: name all the movies/shows in the last 30 years with a greco-roman, mayan/aztec, Prussian, Babylonian, you-name-the-empire cast in space. Done? Off the top of my head, I only came up with Star Gate). As a result of this scarcity, you're going to have to do unusual things like have a company called Acme.
Side note: In VQ, Arkaya Corp is my equivalent of Acme. They made the droids that hunt Andrea down in her chapter one, and run the waste disposal company in Laurie's story. They so this and much more through a vast series of subsidiary companies. I've devoted significant page space to joining all these companies up, but you might want to go that route if you decide against Acme.
As for chapter one, my thoughts of the AI remain the same. I haven't commented that because I don't want to prompt you into an editing spree on a chapter one. Not until you write those other words "the end". I think a good chapter one is finalized after the last chapter is set in stong. The two chapters should reflect each other in theme, style & tone (reflect -- not rival)
Hope this helps
872 2017-04-16 14:57:59
Re: Tom Oldman = B Douglas Slack (8 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Careful... Google will follow you here. You may get cases like I did where tnbw results show up in searches ahead of your actual sale items
873 2017-04-11 00:37:03
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
a) IMO You don't have to say 100% time "Hey there's guards"... saying "They walked down the hall" instead of "he walked down the hall" would suffice.
b) Rebecca has had great success in naming 2 of the honourguard such that they can interact with the scene a little. This is great for keeping them valid.
c) I know I couldn't pull this off. You mean there are 4 cannon fodder characters hanging around? They'd be dead within 2 chapters, I promise.
d) He has a knife??
874 2017-04-06 12:25:53
Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread (354 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
bzzt!
875 2017-04-03 07:16:57
Re: The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (1,217 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I'm not rooting for him because I've been told it's a sham. I can't say my unbiased opinion becauseI'm tainted