Pretty well. Thank you both.
Now, Amy, when one of your characters grounds their staff:
- Does that mean they're tapping the ground with it?
- Why do they need to ground their staffs to get power? Or are they just doing that to focus their own inner power?
- If it's to focus power, why do they need to ground it to focus it?
Thanks.
Dirk
Thanks, NJC. I appreciate the time you took for this.
I couldn't follow all of it, so let me try with a simple example. A good old-fashioned Shoddy-brand hand mixer plugged into an old-fashioned NON-grounded outlet. Those were fun! Based on what I remember, the mixer is tapping into the electrical circuit that flows through the house, fed from the utility lines outside. If a part of the insulated wiring inside the mixer becomes exposed/worn, the current can flow/leak out from the wiring into other parts of the mixer (e.g., the spinning metal egg beaters or the on/off switch), leading to a potentially painful zap, if touched. Good so far?
When it zaps me, does that have anything to do with me standing on the Earth, or would it jolt me even if I were floating with some of Amy's magic?
Now, let's extend that to grounded outlets. Once again, the wiring inside the mixer is worn. I assume some or all of the leaking current flows through the ground wire into the outlet and down to the Earth. Yes? Is it just some of the leaking current that's diverted? So I can still get zapped, just less so?
If my basic assumptions here are wrong, then I'm a hopeless case.
Thanks.
Dirk
P.S. Amy, don't go far. When/if I understand this, you're next.
I agree with Tom. Initially, there shouldn't be much tension among the flight crew, just Reese's concerns about his crew and Delana. You can begin to increase tension there as the others get to know her better and interact with her on more friendly terms. That's a good point to begin building tension between Reese and his crew.
When I go to respond to an inline review on my (big) desktop, the response field is only 1 inch x 2 inches in size. Naturally, it's quite difficult to write coherent thoughts in such a small space.
When I go back in to view my given response, the field is the size it should be.
Thanks.
Dirk
I stopped reading the Star Wars EU books after they killed off Jacen and Anakin Solo. I didn't want to put it in the effort to learn to like new characters, only to have them killed off too. The only exception is the Darth Plagueis book about the apprenticeship of the Emperor, which I bought recently to study the writing technique. Did I mention it already? Probably. :-)
The author has excellent knowledge of the Star Wars EU, but it's a mess to follow if you're not that deep into that universe. It's information overload. The only thing I liked about it is the use of narration at the beginning of chapters to give a brief background of whatever world the MC was on. A lot like the epigraphs you and I are using, only longer.
I'm trying to figure out how to provide such background, plus the epigraphs. Perhaps two epigraphs, one for the chapter, and another a fictional excerpt from a galactic encyclopedia. I'll have to figure out how to make it work, because it's an excellent way to communicate major elements of my fictional universe (pages of pure telling!). It's quite a bit of extra work, since it will require me to define those elements in greater detail (planets & moons, palaces, cultures, history, family lineages, etc.).
For the next bunch of chapters you'll see in my book, my epigraphs are real-world quotes, which I plan to eliminate. I had originally thought to go back and forth between religious quotes (for Joseph) and atheist/secular quotes (for Apollo). I plan to change them all to be in-universe, like the two you've already seen.
I would think all of these different kinds of training would have been done many times. The days before launch would simply be their last run-through of everything. Of course, two shuttle missions in back-to-back chapters is just as problematic as two sims. Do you need the second shuttle run to be detailed? Can you make the first shuttle run be your detailed shuttle chapter, followed by a simple statement for the 2nd shuttle run that they travelled to the ship via shuttle.
And/or have you thought any more about creating a further (minor?) disaster on Earth as a way to creat more tension/urgency to the mission? Of course, then you'll have to change friendly banter to a more serious conversation (a good thing, IMO). Perhaps you can find some way to slip in Reese's concerns for Delana in there.
I'm sure you'll think of something.
I noticed that when I receive an email notification that someone has replied to a topic to which I'm subscribed, clicking the link in the email takes me to the bottom of the last page of the topic, which is where I want to be. However, the links down the right hand side of the home page take me to the start of the first page of the topic, requiring us to click to the last page of the topic, then scroll down to the bottom. Would it be possible to change it so that it always goes to the end?
EDIT: Thanks! :-)
Karen/Tom, if you post something for me to look at, I just want you to know I don't seem to be getting email alerts. Perhaps it's something I'm doing wrong. I asked Sol to look into it.
If you're not getting a response in a reasonable amount of time, please PM me.
Thanks.
Dirk
EVAs to practice fixing damage to the outside of the ship, perhaps.
Tom/Karen, I didn't read through each of the plans in detail, so you may already have this covered, but the idea of a chapel just popped into my head, like the one on M.A.S.H. 4077.
Okay, for those of us who can't remember eletricity 101, how does grounding work and why is it needed?
And how/why does grounding work in your story?
Thanks
Dirk
No delay. Janet, are you talking about delays between inline comments?
I had a problem (gone, I think), where the site would hang at various times for a minute, but that wasn't specific to comments.
test2
Don't get me started. ;-)
Barbara Salon
Hairy's Place
Karen, I've spent the last few days researching and trying to define an ideal conservative Christian world. That got me to wondering how much of a role religion will play in your world's future. I don't recall any expressed faith yet. (Usual disclaimer: My apologies If I've forgotten.)
Dirk
Which shower/head should Bruce Jenner use? I suggest making them unisex.
They look great, Tom. Why is it that futuristic ships never have seatbelts/harnesses (mine included)? :-)
Thank you for taking the time for such a detailed response. The numbering was a good idea. I went back and did the same for my initial post.
1. New Bethlehem expects people to be self-reliant, not expecting a handout from government. How far should I take that? What would conservative Christians do to support the sick and the poor without making them dependent upon government? I've currently written it so that the sick/poor live in "havens" created around major churches, which provide support through charitable contributions. In this case, the churches struggle because there are always people in need.<< I might have the churches requiring the people in the havens to work to grow their own food. Thinking about Paul saying basically, "If you don't work, you don't eat."
I like this, although it will be difficult to carve out plots of land in the inner cities to grow food. That's usually done on a large scale in the country. Perhaps they have to take a daily shuttle to the farms. Also, what about people who can't work due to high unemployment, disability, or age?
2. - In an ideal conservative world, would there be universal health care funded through taxes? Medicare and old-age pensions from the government? Mandatory unemployment insurance? Universal daycare with the expectation that able-bodied adults work? Would there be welfare?<<If the "church" ministered to the needs of its people, there would be no need for welfare. (ideally). I would make the church desperately trying to meet what they consider the Biblical mandate to care for the widow and the orphan, but struggling b/c of the widespread poverty. Still, they don't want "government" handouts b/c they would no longer be a separation of church and state.
Your answer has led me toward an interesting change. It will be a Christian governent. That makes it more difficult to answer some of these questions, since where does the government's responsibility end and the Church's aid begin.
3. What amount should the "haves" of New Bethlehem give to the "have-nots"? 10% of income? More from the rich than from the poor? Mandatory or optional? If the church is unable to support those in the havens, should government step in and use tax dollars to fund what politicians deem necessary? That's how entitlements got started. What role should the Prosperity Gospel play in the ideal world I'm trying to create? Is it heresy?<<See above answer
See above response. :-) What about the sick or the elderly?
4. - Would divorce be allowed? What if it involves an abusive spouse? If you imprison the spouse, there goes at least one income. Where does the remaining spouse turn if there isn't sufficient income to support the family?<<Don't get me started here. In my personal experience with fundamental and ultra-conservative church, women have no rights. Many even act as if it's all right for the husband to beat his wife if she's not "submissive." Just saying, it's a chauvinistic, woman-belittling existence. Most likely, the wife would be expected to stay home and raise the kids. You can go and read my piece, that I think you've already read.
I'd be very interested to know what the experience is of other women.
5. - What societal punishments should there be for violating the various Ten Commandments? For example. not keeping the Sabbath or taking the Lord's name in vain. << Read up on how those were punished in the Bible. I'd try to stick close to that. Deuteronomy might give you good info.
I'd be interested to know what other members of the group believe.
6. - Would there be corporeal punishment for some behaviors? Kids getting spanked at Future-Mart? Adults getting caned? What about capital punishment? Under what circumstances (murder, treason, child molestation, ...)? What about older practices documented in the Bible such as stoning? Should New Bethlehem rule one out but not the other? I use public hangings in my current draft. I figured if society's going to kill people, it should be very public, so everyone once again learns the lesson it's supposed to teach. I extended that logic to make the hangings live across the planet.<< I say, yes, to the corporal punishment. Read up on Puritan practices.
Are we talking about just corporeal punishment of kids? What about caning of adults?
7. - From a fairness perspective, should the state be required to provide the same financial resources to defendants as it does to prosecutors? Not everyone can afford O.J. Simpson's defense team.<< Not a religious issue. I say, make the defense attorney a state appointed position. for every defendant.
It falls under my attempt to separate Repulican beliefs (smaller government) from conservative Christian beliefs, which may not always align. Some court cases are incredibly expensive (millions of $); giving defendants access to those same resources would double the cost to society.
8. - What should be the minimum age for capital punishment? Some crimes by juveniles are so atrocious they get transferred to adult court, with the possibility of a death sentence. The youngest person ever sentenced to death in the U.S. was 10 when sentenced (killed at 19). The youngest person actually executed was 14, by electrocution. I went with 14 for the scene as currently written, for his role in treason that could have caused the overthrow of New Bethlehem by its enemies. << Bar mitzvah is 13. In many societies that is considered adult. I think 14 is good.
Other opinions?
9. Obviously, abortion is out. Would abortion be allowed if a pregnant mother's life is at stake? What about birth control? The Catholic Church says no. Who takes care of unwanted children? What if there aren't enough willing adoptive parents? The government again?<< Id say that the father would need to petition the court if his wife might die. And, maybe these folks can find some form of natural birth control. Then, again, I'd advise about tackling all social issues in one story.
What about prayer for the life of the mother and baby, rather than the court? I won't be tackling all of these issues in one story, but I want to understand the conservative Christian mindset on as many issues as possible, so I can accurately portary those that I need.
10. How should New Bethlehem intervene in the growing instability between the two major powers in the galaxy (one of which it is a member of)? New Bethlehem's population is 100 million people in a galaxy of tens of billions, but is a resource-rich world and constantly threatened with conquest, so it spends staggering amounts on defense. Should it be interventionist, near the vanguard of all galactic disputes, thereby building and maintaining influence that may help it survive, or should it step back, allowing more powerful worlds to lead, trying not to draw attention to itself from among its potential enemies?<< The government would go with the one that would benefit them the most or fall most in line with their beliefs.
You know my story better than anyone here, Janet. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared peace in our time right before Hitler rolled into Poland. I'm leaning toward making them interventionist in my next draft, but would like to know if anyone has a different opinion. Turn the other cheek?
11. - How would this society appproach environmental questions like Big Oil vs Global Warming? Should the government use tax dollars to provide subsidies for oil drilling, solar energy, both, or neither? Should the government provide subsidies for farmers to support farms in bad years? A subsidy for one person may be seen as pork to another. And subsidies have a bad habit of becoming permanent because politicians want to get re-elected.<< Another social issue. I say make them good stewards of what they have and willing to conserve if it doesn't cause hardship.
That doesn't really answer the question about subsidies. Who gets subsidies and who doesn't? Do we have lobbyists pushing their agendas in a government overrun by money? Also, this is going to be a Christian govenrment, so social issues are heavily intermingled with religion on this world.
12. - Should women on my world submit to their husbands? This comes up primarily because the current monarch is a queen and her husband is a prince, like Queen Elizabeth & Prince Phillip. Whose decision should dominate in such a relationship when the Queen disagrees with the Prince about a matter of state? Like Queen Elizabeth, my story's queen is a legitimate descendant of King David. <<Make this an ongoing argument. Make the Queen actually vocal about this issue. See what I said about women earlier. And do remember how God raised up Deborah and Esther.
Any other opinions on this?
13. - How should New Bethlehem deal with homosexuality? Should it be illegal? What about those who claim to have been born that way? Should they be required to undergo reparative therapy if the parents want it? Since Joseph will be homosexual, is it a sin if he has homosexual thoughts even if he resists any temptation to act on them?<<If this is a fundamentalist/conservative world, they would stone them. It would be a crime and one punishable by death. Joseph would soooooooooooooo try to hide his sexual orientation. You could make it so that they are allowed to live, but outcast to something akin to a leper colony.
I'd like to hear other views as to whether stoning/killing would make a return for homosexuality. There's no question that he's going to hide it, but first he has to realize he is one. This will be a major part of Joseph's character arc, so I'd like to get his society's response right.
Thanks again for the detailed response.
Dirk
I already have the Ark of the Covenant (New Bethlehem's flagship). How could you forget something written a mere two years ago? :-)
What follows are key questions I have trying to create an ideal fictional world for conservative Christians. I'm not expecting anyone to answer all of my questions, but I wanted to put this up so that there is a single thread to capture the conversation. One common thread through many of these questions is the extent to which an ideal Christian government should be involved in society vs. the role of the church.
Although this is not specifically a Christian story, it ultimately reaffirms faith. But it's going to be a dark and difficult road.
As I've mentioned in other posts, one of my characters, Joseph, grew up on a highly religious world, New Bethlehem. In the current draft, I describe it as a fundamentalist Christian world, where people two millennia from now go in order to practice their deep faith in peace among like-minded individuals. That includes a belief in the inerrancy of the Bible. I'm considering modifying my fictional world to encompass other conservative Christians in addition to fundamentalists. Provides for more diversity of opinions in that society that should help propel the story.
By way of additional background, Joseph begins to hear God talking to him at age four and, because of his beliefs, never questions the reality of who he is hearing. His mother assures him it's just dreams or an imaginary friend until Joseph learns to stop talking about it. He spends twelve years growing up talking to the Lord every day. He does eventually learn about mental illness, but dismisses the possibility. He's absolutely certain that his God is the same one that spoke to Noah and Moses.
That's when Joseph's life begins to unravel. God asks Joseph to create a new religion that increasingly upends all of Joseph's ideas about Christianity. God's stated purpose for this request is to save an increasingly violent galaxy from the Apocalypse using a new religion that will sweep the galaxy like a tidal wave, ultimately returning mankind to paradise.
Joseph's been put into a nearly impossible position. Option 1 is to give up on the voice in his head as never having been real, take the throne after his mother, and live out a quiet life on his homeworld, trusting that God will take care of the galaxy. Option 2 is to continue to believe in the voice in his head and follow it wherever it leads to save a galaxy on the verge of self-destruction, an option that eventually leads Joseph into slavery, prison, and unimaginable personal loss. Is he the future version of Job?
Having written about 3/4 of my 2nd draft, I realize in hindsight that Joseph is too secular to be the future king that his people would expect him to be. Joseph can quote chapter and verse as well as anyone, but doesn't live it the way he should. I want conservative values in my next draft to really seep into Joseph's bones. I want his well-intended decisions to lead him so far astray that, live or die, he can never be the same person again. Next draft, he also has to deal with being a deeply closeted self-loathing homosexual.
Following are some of my open questions. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
1 - New Bethlehem expects people to be self-reliant, not expecting a handout from government. How far should I take that? What would conservative Christians do to support the sick and the poor without making them dependent upon government? I've currently written it so that the sick/poor live in "havens" created around major churches, which provide support through charitable contributions. In this case, the churches struggle because there are always people in need.
2 - In an ideal conservative world, would there be universal health care funded through taxes? Medicare and old-age pensions from the government? Mandatory unemployment insurance? Universal daycare with the expectation that able-bodied adults work? Would there be welfare?
3 - What amount should the "haves" of New Bethlehem give to the "have-nots"? 10% of income? More from the rich than from the poor? Mandatory or optional? If the church is unable to support those in the havens, should government step in and use tax dollars to fund what politicians deem necessary? That's how entitlements got started. What role should the Prosperity Gospel play in the ideal world I'm trying to create? Is it heresy?
4 - Would divorce be allowed? What if it involves an abusive spouse? If you imprison the spouse, there goes at least one income. Where does the remaining spouse turn if there isn't sufficient income to support the family?
5 - What societal punishments should there be for violating the various Ten Commandments? For example, what should happen to those who don't keep the Sabbath or use the Lord's name in vain?
6 - Would there be corporeal punishment for some behaviors? Kids getting spanked at Future-Mart? Adults getting caned? What about capital punishment? Under what circumstances (murder, treason, child molestation, ...)? What about older practices documented in the Bible such as stoning? Should New Bethlehem rule one out but not the other? I use public hangings in my current draft. I figured if society's going to kill people, it would be very public, so everyone once again learns the lesson it's supposed to teach. I extended that logic to broadcast hangings live across the planet.
7 - From a fairness perspective, should the state be required to provide the same financial resources to defendants as it does to prosecutors? Not everyone can afford O.J. Simpson's defense team.
8 - What should be the minimum age for capital punishment? Some crimes by juveniles are so atrocious they get transferred to adult court, with the possibility of a death sentence. The youngest person ever sentenced to death in the U.S. was 10 when sentenced (killed at 19). The youngest person actually executed was 14, by electrocution. I went with 14 for the scene as currently written, for his role in treason that could have caused the overthrow of New Bethlehem by its enemies.
9 - Obviously, abortion is out. Would abortion be allowed if a pregnant mother's life is at stake? What about birth control? The Catholic Church says no. Who takes care of unwanted children? What if there aren't enough willing adoptive parents? The government again?
10 - How should New Bethlehem intervene in the growing instability between the two major powers in the galaxy (one of which it is a member of)? New Bethlehem's population is 100 million people in a galaxy of tens of billions, but is a resource-rich world and constantly threatened with conquest, so it spends staggering amounts on defense. Should it be interventionist, near the vanguard of all galactic disputes, thereby building and maintaining influence that may help it survive, or should it step back, allowing more powerful worlds to lead, trying not to draw attention to itself from among its potential enemies?
11 - How would this society appproach environmental questions like Big Oil vs Global Warming? Should the government use tax dollars to provide subsidies for oil drilling, solar energy, both, or neither? Should the government provide subsidies for farmers to support farms in bad years? A subsidy for one person may be seen as pork to another. And subsidies have a bad habit of becoming permanent because politicians want to get re-elected.
12 - Should women on my world submit to their husbands? This comes up primarily because the current monarch is a queen and her husband is a prince, like Queen Elizabeth & Prince Phillip. Whose decision should dominate in such a relationship when the Queen disagrees with the Prince about a matter of state? Like Queen Elizabeth, my story's queen is a legitimate descedant of King David.
13 - How should New Bethlehem deal with homosexuality? Should it be illegal? What about those who claim to have been born that way? Should they be required to undergo reparative therapy if the parents want it? Since Joseph will be homosexual, is it a sin if he has homosexual thoughts even if he resists any temptation to act on them?
Thanks in advance for all your help.
Dirk
When I read your post's subject line, I figured it was a critique of my work. :-)
Thanks for responding, Kenny.
I'm leaning toward primarily using fleet and force, as discussed elsewhere in this thread. Those two terms are mostly self-explanatory and are applicable to both home fleets and the Praetorian Fleet. I'll probably have to create an equivalent to the Praetorian Fleet for the Realm, since both sides need more than just home fleets if they're going to patrol the galaxy and respond to emergencies.
Swarm is nice. Perhaps the Realm's equivalent to the roaming Praetorian Fleet is the Realm Swarm.
Edit:
I realized I also need battle groups. It's too simple to say 100 warships. It's more realistic to say ten battle groups, where I define the size of a battle group the first time I use it (e.g., about ten ships). So, I have battle group, force/armada (generic terms for a subset of a fleet), fleet (usually capitalized, such as the Magellan Fleet), and Realm Swarm for the Realm's roaming fleet.
I currently have four warship types, which is probably two too many and will be trimmed: colossii and battle cruisers for the Imperium, and dreadnaughts and destroyers for the Realm.
Theoretically, I also have classes of ships related to which generation of ship it is (e.g., older Centurian-class battle cruisers). I don't plan to use classes more than a couple of times, as they'll only get in the way of the story. I only do it to add a little depth to my story.
Finally, I have ship names, limited to about seven ships, four of which are destroyed in chapter one (v3), and three that will duke it out in the climactic battle.
To Kenny's comment, this is just an exercise in consistent naming/capitalization rules for me to be able to keep it straight. I don't plan to throw all of this together in one scene. Only what's needed for the scene.
I'm awaiting a couple more author replies before I finalize this.
Thanks.
Dirk
Thanks for the info, Tom. This is useful. However, I don't want the reader to shrug and move on. I want them to at least understand which fleet or force their reading about. If I set it up properly, then when I introduce a new planet like Magellan, they'll immediately know that it has a home fleet called the Magellan Fleet, and a subset of that fleet will be called a Magellan force and/or Magellan attack group.
I'm just reading a Star Wars book about the apprenticeship of the Emperor to Darth Plagueis that I was hoping to learn from. However, it tries to name every building, bridge, and blade of grass - pretty much showing off that the author has drawn heavily from the Star Wars Encyclopedia. Every second character is from a different race, with its own physical attributes, and sometimes multiple names/titles. The result is a barely readable mess.
One thing it does do that I like is that it takes a page or two at the beginning of many chapters to do a little telling to set the scene, describing the planet, people, culture, and history. It eliminates the need for artificial conversations to give the reader the same info. It's something I used in my previous draft and was told by more experienced authors to get rid of unless they were important to the story. In such cases, I was encouraged to put present the information as thoughts or dialogue. Personally, I liked doing them the way I had. If Star Wars can sell millions of books, then they're doing something right.
As for the ships, I'm thinking about some combination of your ideas and Amy's. I hope to keep it simple enough to be easy for readers to get it right away, without me hitting them with names that have no obvious connection to the planet they're associated with. The 5th Fleet in the U.S. Navy gives me no information as to its mission and location. I then have to explain that to the reader, and they have to remember it, or worse, skip over it every time the see it. So, I'm thinking the Magellan Fleet for the planet's whole home fleet, and a Magellan force (or attack group) for a subset of that fleet going elsewhere in the galaxy.
I'm still mulling over Amy's suggestion to use different names instead of fleet, depending on which side of the galaxy's cold war you happen to be on. Thus, the Realm of Stars (one of the two galactic powers) might refer to their fleets as floatillas or assemblies. Those don't readily mean much, so it's a name I have to introduce and describe, and the user has to remember it. Fleet and force are pretty easy. The only special case currently is the Praetorian Guard and Praetorian Fleet, under the direct command of the emperor. As mentioned above, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's personal legions) comes directly from Roman history. Praetorian Fleet is a futuristic extension of that concept.
I asked a few more people to weigh in to see what they suggest. I'll probably end up drawing on some combination of everyone's ideas.
Thanks, as always.
Dirk
