4,001 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(6 replies, posted in Spirituality & Religion)

Thank you, Mike.

What happens to those who don't turn to/believe in Christ? The majority of the world doesn't believe in Him, including an increasing number of atheists. It seems like the more right-wing the Christian, the more convinced they are that the rest of humanity is going to Hell. Personally, I don't believe in a God that would allow that. That's reflected in my character's struggle. He's a fundamentalist Christian who comes to question all of his beliefs.

And what about those who suffer at the hands of evil. Plenty of children, even babies, suffer greatly in this world (e.g., from diseases and starvation). Technically, they may be sinners by virtue of the simple fact that they are human, but why are they made to suffer in this life?

Thanks
Dirk

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4,002 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(6 replies, posted in Spirituality & Religion)

No rush. Thanks.

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4,003 Topic by Norm d'Plume

(2 replies, posted in Spirituality & Religion)

As with my previous post, my MC is asking the following additional questions.

And what exactly is sin? Should sin require atonement? Since God is omnipotent, then wasn’t He ultimately responsible for creating the ability to sin in the first place? And since God is omniscient, then he knows who will sin and when. Doesn’t that mean those sinners are on a deterministic path, making their sins unavoidable? Are we just puppets in God’s play?

Any faith-based answers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Dirk

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4,004 Topic by Norm d'Plume

(6 replies, posted in Spirituality & Religion)

One of my characters is struggling to find a logical reason why God would allow evil in the world (e.g., WWII, for example, with 60M people dead). Below is a series of questions the teen is asking himself.

Can murderers ever be forgiven their sins? Can mass murderers? Should their spirits be destroyed? Why does God not prevent great evil in the first place? Is it because the outcome of evil deeds prevents even greater suffering? When God steps into human affairs through prophets like Moses and Abraham, is He doing so to save mankind from itself? Is it simply an extension of God’s original covenant with Noah never to destroy humans?

How does a person of faith respond to the question: Why does God allow evil in the world?

Thanks.
Dirk

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4,005 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(8 replies, posted in Writing Tips & Site Help)

Hi Max. I was looking through works here on TNBW but can't find a sci-fi story. My story starts in the year 3994 A.D., so I was hoping to compare our respective universes.

Thanks
Dirk

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4,006 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(8 replies, posted in Writing Tips & Site Help)

Here's a good article on this: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/fair-use-logos-2152.html

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4,007 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(8 replies, posted in Writing Tips & Site Help)

It's pretty much a given VW won't give its permission, if asked. At best they'd want final say over the book in which it is used. Google use of corporate logos in fiction/art, or something similar. If you don't ask and VW finds out, they may just ignore it, as long as it doesn't have a negative impact on VW.

If it's parody, then it's protected as free speech, as long as you don't mind dealing with lawyers. Some companies strictly defend their brands, otherwise the courts could eventually rule against them if everyone started doing the same thing.

In the 2001: A Space Odyssey movie, they featured Pan Am for ships that travelled into space, but that was a very different era, and it may have been a product placement. I don't know if Arthur C. Clarke used their name in his book. You might be able to google that too.

Originally, Lucasfilm tried to shut down many sites of fan work derived from Star Wars, even those that made no profit off their work. Fortunately for SW fans, George eventually caved and now the presence of SW on the Internet is everywhere, mostly positive.

Mikira could consider something like Vee UU, but parody may not be what she wants.

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4,008 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(264 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Ingrid Lilleland wrote:

Hi I`m new here and I hope to find this site as promising as it looks so far.

Welcome, Ingrid. See my previous post for some tips that may help you.

Dirk

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4,009 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Tom, on Google Chrome, when I've accidentally clicked the back button, I can hit the forward button and it takes me forward again, with the draft review still there (except for the latest comment box I was typing in). I'm not sure what kind of device/browser you're using, but I would expect other browsers would have a similar ability. Regardless, TNBW saves a draft of the review every time you add an inline comment.

It's a pain, but the only thing you lose is the current comment you were typing.

Dirk

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4,010 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(264 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Hi Amcii, check out the WELCOME NEWCOMERS thread started by Linda Lee in the TNBW Basic group. Also, click that new ? button near the upper right of your screen for FAQs, videos, etc. And try to make connections, especially with writers you intend to review long term. That way you'll be notified via email every time one of them posts a new piece of work. Don't hesitate to post questions, either in genre-specific groups, the Writing Tips & Advice group, or in Premium (for the widest possible exposure).

Welcome to the site.
Dirk

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4,011 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(16 replies, posted in Writing Tips & Site Help)

Charles_F_Bell wrote:

For a novice, unpublished author, writing to formula and outline may mean writing to someone else's formula. I think an author, not a TV/movie hack, to make his mark ought to allow as much "organic" growing of his work as possible. Certainly,  the advantage of putting things down in notes and very rough drafts  is to enhance retention in memory those great ideas that can flash before him in a moment of inspiration but then as easily flash out of existence.

Looking back, my first draft was absolute garbage. I bought several books on writing, from which I learned a lot of what a typical book entails (story arcs, character arcs, hero's journey, outlining, etc.). I tossed v1 without ever finishing it, although I still borrow from it. I'm treating v2 as my figure-out-how-to-write draft, including some significant, unplanned detours that weren't in my outline. I'm overdue to reorganize the outline to ensure I haven't written myself into a corner.

It's a balancing act between the amount of structure a new writer needs vs. the ability to write based on inspiration. There are good authors on both ends of the spectrum.

Dirk

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4,012 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(16 replies, posted in Writing Tips & Site Help)

mikira (AKA KLSundstrom) wrote:

Oh my gosh Janet, you made me remember a time when I had been blocked in one of the stories I was writing, due to not being able to find a good way to describe a castle I wanted to describe, so I put the story away and started writing something else. Then one night while I was trying to fall asleep the ideas for that castle came to me and it wouldn't allow me to fall asleep until I got up and wrote a long note about it. The next day I sat down and wrote two more chapters in the novel I had put aside because of that creative blockage.

The lesson I learned from that experience is: Sometimes starting a different writing project can loosen your worry about what your trying to write, so the creative juices can start flowing again for the story you had put aside.

I had a months-long writer's block last year. I used the time to read a dozen or so books, researching topics relevant to my story. Naturally, my reviewers had trouble picking up the story where I left off, it had been so long. I have the same problem writing most new chapters right now; each one is a daunting effort, so I take a break and just read other people's work. I'm starting to run out material to read, though. 500+ points and counting. :-)

Dirk

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4,013 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(7 replies, posted in Writing Tips & Site Help)

Charles_F_Bell wrote:

Sci-fi/action/thriller is generally written in the safe way and not in an elaborate way because boys and men are literal-minded, rather than laterally-thinking, for the most part, and thus simple is better.

I resemble that remark. :-)

Thanks, Charles.
Dirk

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4,014 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(342 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

njc, do you get a status message of the form "waiting for site to respond"? I get that with Chrome and TNBW, where the site appears to hang for as much as a minute. During that time period, opening additional tabs to the site all hang as well, although all my other tabs/sites work fine during that peiod.

This is probably unrelated, but I had Chase hang on me today (first time) and I tracked it down to a web traffic tracking service that Chase or Chrome or a Chrome extension apparently uses. I disabled all extensions and wiped all my cached Chrome data and managed to get past it. I'm not sure if it will clear the recurring problem I get with TNBW, though.

Dirk

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4,015 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(22 replies, posted in Science Fiction, Steampunk, and Space Opera)

The series opener with Q/Picard was painful to watch. Q was largely consistent throughout the series, but thankfully Picard became less of a wide-eyed explorer and more of a solid leader for the Federation.

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4,016 Topic by Norm d'Plume

(1 replies, posted in Spirituality & Religion)

I just read a terrific poem by a new member, Natural Giggler, called The God I Serve.

Highly recommended.

Dirk

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4,017 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Thanks, Sol. Speedy, as always.

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4,018 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

I doubt others would go for this, but the two lists (if any) I would most like to see on the home page are works from my connections and, to encourage reviews for new members (to keep the site up and funded), a list of new member works. The others I have no use for. I doubt that's true for those who dabble in poetry or essays, etc.

Either get rid of the lists as Vern suggests, or make them collapsible, as others have suggested. Like Vern, I can live with whatever the decision.

Dirk

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4,019 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

As long as we're redesigning the home page for Sol (grin), I suggest adding the genre for works listed on the page. There's enough room next to each work, since the icons are tall enough. I was browsing the latest ten looking for sci-fi stuff. I know it's only a few clicks away, but as long as we're going to display the works on the home page, we might as well add other useful information.

Thanks, as always.
Dirk

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4,020 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

JP, after reading your post about the images, I went back to look at them on my home page. While they could be reduced further, it was during the act of looking at them all that I spotted an essay by Erndog, whose work I had never read before. I now have several new sci-fi books to try that may be along similar themes to mine. I might have spotted the essay on the old site anyway, but the image caught my eye.

Of course, if we're going to dedicate space to images, new users should definitely be encouraged to use images, since the sea of generic red book covers from so many authors is just background noise to me. I rarely notice them. I'm guilty of judging a book by its cover, but with so much to read.... New users should also be encouraged to make their Book Content Summary as informative as possible, as if they were writing the back cover of their printed book, the target audience, the kind of feedback desired, etc.

Perhaps, a hyperlink called "Not getting enough reviews?" at the top of the homepage of users with suggestions for how to increase reviews....

Dirk

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4,021 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Another idea would be to find an in-your-face place to put a site tip to encourage new members to go introduce themselves and their work in Premium and ask for feedback. And nudge them to do reviews to get reviews. Perhaps they get a popup tip right after posting.

Dirk

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4,022 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

One minor aid might be to highlight works from new members, not as a separate list of ten, but just something like you do in the forums where you highlight online/offline with the green dot. Perhaps color their pen name differently in the lists of works, with a tooltip that says "New Member".

I'm happy to review something coming from new members from time to time.

Dirk

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4,023 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

SolN wrote:

I also prefer to have Connections at the top. Those are the ones I'm most interested in. New entries (not of my connections) could be next.

Well, the problem is that new writers are joining the site and not receiving any reviews. If this continues I'm going to need to tweak the point system. New members aren't going to stay if they post their content and receive a resounding - nothing. Putting connections at the top will only exacerbate this problem.

Good point.
Dirk

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4,024 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Home and End keys in Google Chrome appear to be exactly what I wanted.

Dirk

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4,025 Reply by Norm d'Plume

(46 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Sol, do you know if there is a keystroke combination that jumps to the bottom of a web page?

Thanks
Dirk

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