Thank you, Marilyn. I'm glad you're on the mend. T'is the season for bronchitis, I guess. A close friend of mine just got home from the hospital for the same reason. Give the horses a few green apples for me once you head back outdoors.
Merry Xmas.
Dirk
If the demon is not corporeal, then it just appears human, but can't leave anything behind, such as blood, sweat, and semen. It has none of these, so it can't leave them behind. Possessing a human male and then having sex, also leaves nothing of the demon behind, since the semen belongs to the possessed male, hence no demon child.
On the other hand, if the demon is corporeal, it appears fully human, with actual blood, sweat, and semen (with demon DNA), which would result in a half demon child.
For my audience of two, are there any objections to my making "demons in human form" be entirely corporeal?
I have the exorcist, who is a demon, and I wanted to make his disintegration more interesting by listing the parts as they dissolve, including clothes, skin, muscles, internal organs, bones, and everything in between. I haven't decided yet whether his bodily fluids will dissolve with him, or if they will spill to the floor.
Also, another demon will father a child. I could have the demon possess a human male, who inseminates the mother, but then there wouldn't be a supernatural element to the baby, which I need. I figure if the demon is corporeal, he can produce his own semen. In this case, the demon doesn't want to possess the baby, but rather create a half-demon offspring.
Thoughts?
Dirk
They have the problem now that they really can't top this in terms of number of ships and Force powers. How do you make other Star Wars movies as "big" as this? I'll probably never see another one since I have no interest in Disney+ either.
Yup, a Sith dagger is in the movie, as shown in one of the trailers. Fortunately, it's not the Dagger of Mortis, which is mystical. The Sith dagger is huge and plays only a limited role in the movie, as I had hoped. Mine is more like a supernatural hunting knife and is central to the climax.
Apparently, Amazon now delivers more of its own packages than Santa. All that's missing is Jeff Bezos in a Santa suit, sitting in an Amazon sleigh, pulled by eight fulfillment workers.
Just saw Star Wars 9. Surprisingly, I'd give it an A, and I rarely think that about any film. Some of the critics who said Star Wars fans would really like it were correct. It was a very nostalgic story, with familiar planets, music, tech, heroes, and villains. I'd give it an A+, but there were some huge plot holes, even for Star Wars. Besides that, I would have liked more scenes with the Emperor in this one. He had more screen time in Return of the Jedi.
The only other movie I want to see in the theaters is the remake of Dune (a franchise wannabe), which I think is going to be released in 2020. I occasionally check out new films on Netflix, but I have yet to find anything where I wish I had seen it in theaters or on a big-screen TV. I watch everything on a 24" computer, with a hard drive that sounds like a death rattle. Besides Dune, The Skywalker Saga, and The Lord of the Rings, I can't think of anything else that would draw me to a theater.
Nuts. Got burned big time by a major Google Chrome bug. I'm used to keeping about two dozen tabs or so open at all times. When they upgraded Chrome this week, they didn't bring across all the data, including all of my tabs. At least all of my bookmarks still exist. Word is it could take up to a week for Google to develop and roll out a fix. The buggy version had already been rolled out to over 1B people worldwide, including on Android, before they stopped the rollout. I'd hate to be the development manager right about now.
Ugh. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 53% freshness rating, second worst of all nine films. That's only the what the critics think of it, though. Fans have yet to weigh in.
Hmm. The Star Wars reviews are all over the place. One said it's exactly what Star Wars fans want, but not where the story should have gone. Another from GameSpot shredded it. My money is on the Emperor as the character whoo can bring this story to a somewhat satisfying conclusion. TBD.
Imagine me telling J's tale from the POV of the less exciting Marsha. At some point Marsha would have to prove she has a contribution worthy of eclipsing J direct relationship with the reader. I think Mary Shelley's Frankenstein his this because the narrator indicates he's carrying an important letter in chapter one and that the missive could not be otherwise delivered. But I think her resolution of this condition falls shy of a true denouement
Don't forget Sherlock Holmes. If I remember correctly, the mysteries were told from perspective of Dr. Watson. I have yet to plan out Romano's guilt trip, which should make him a more interesting character beyond him carrying Connor's water. I'm not sure yet how far too push that subplot. He'll definitely be interacting with his dead ex soon. Unlike my last book, though, Romano will have to verbally communicate with his ex. Makes it much more interesting to write.
Oops. I forgot to make the grave into an upside down cross. Will fix.
Zzz. Just kidding. The current draft is focused mostly on working out the plot and characters. Next draft will include more showing, as long as I don't kill the pace. I'm also not doing enough internal monologue in some scenes, the exorcism included. I might as well be in Connor's point of view, given how little Romano had to do or think in that scene.
Finally finished. Only one more phrase of overlap: in nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sanctee; amen. It only happens to be Connor's favorite way of starting and ending all prayers, and he says it three times in my chapter while fighting the demons. Fortunately, in the Exorcist, it's only used to give absolution to the dying priest. It's not used during the exorcism. I'd be cursing like a sailor if it had been the latter. Still, I need to figure out what, if anything, to do about the prayers that overlap.
Nuts! I'm reading The Exorcist and there is far more overlap between my chapter and the book than there is between my chapter and the screenplay. I was afraid of that. However, I only use a fraction of the prayers from the Rites of Exorcism compared to the book. I even went with a different subset of the prayers compared to the screenplay, but the book uses some of those, too. No wolf-like growing or biting yet, although the girl does make animal noises. At one point the exorcist reads the verses from Luke about Legion, but fortunately, there is only one demon in the book, whereas my reverend mother is possessed by all of Legion. I have more to read tomorrow, butt I'm hoping the similarities don't get any worse.
Kill me now. I just learned about the Dagger of Mortis in Star Wars. There's a whole history (dark/light) about it in the Clone Wars, and it may appear in Star Wars 9. I'm really hoping it doesn't play a huge role, if any, in the movie. I'm within a few chapters of introducing one myself, which was always intended to be central to the climax of the trilogy. I'm screwed if it's central to the Emperor's demise.
There's hope yet. Disney franchises routinely film scenes that only appear in the trailers, in part to throw off people who leak the plot. In one of the promos, Rey holds the dagger in front of her face on Endor, overlooking part of the wreckage of the second Death Star. It may also be a wayfinder, leading her to something important. A loot box, perhaps? :-)
From Mark Twain:
“Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”
...
Memphis Trace
That is so funny.
I highly recommend the Pride & Prejudice movie with Kiera Knightly. One of the best films I've ever seen. Much better than the book.
Writer's Digest is accepting nominations for the 101 best websites for writers. Please nominate TNBW so it gets on the list. It might lead to more paying members. Nominations are due (roughly) before the end of this year to be considered for their 2020 list. To nominate, email wdsubmissions@aimmedia.com with the subject line 101 Best Websites Nomination. There are multiple categories; of them, Online Writing Communities is the best fit for TNBW. Please mention that in the email.
Sol, it would really help if the trial period was longer than a week (e.g., a month) so new users have a chance to get up to speed on the site and build a few relationships before having to pay for membership. What's the harm?
I had them grouped but didn't like it. I can reword some of them so that the he/she don't all appear at the beginning of sentences. I can also sprinkle in the character names a bit too reduce the number of pronouns.
If you think the last example was bad, check out this one I just noticed in the chapter:
Connor managed to take a breath. “In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti! Amen!”
She winced and briefly lost her hold on him.
He inhaled deeply and repeated the words.
She convulsed and cried out.
He forced her hands from his neck and spoke the words a third time.
She shrieked and stepped back.
He closed his eyes and moved his lips in silent prayer.
She came at him again, warily, growling wolf-like.
He concluded his prayer. “Bring it!”
:-)
Here's what I came up with.
The nun said, “Connor, the reverend mother is asking for you.”
He walked to where she lay on the floor and knelt beside her.
Palermo took his hands in hers and kissed them, tears streaming down her face. Her irises had turned from red to a natural brown. “Thank you, my child!” She swallowed with difficulty and struggled to continue. “Beware the road ahead… dark… everything depends…” Palermo squeezed his hands. “God is with… Always.” She breathed her last.
A tear rolled down Connor’s cheek and he closed her eyes. “The angels await you, Reverend Mother.”
EDIT: Oops. Ray, I missed your two suggestions on first read. Your first one uses a filter word (noticed), which are similar to saw, heard, felt, etc. When you leave out the filter words, you get a deeper POV. In lieu of your second example, I simply deleted her letting go of his hands. It's implied by him closing her eyes.
Thanks again.
Dirk
Nice catch. I've been encouraged recently to replace name references with pronouns, assuming no confusion. It didn't occur to me how it reads because I'm too close to this chapter.
Thanks
Dirk
Wow! Nana Mouskouri can really belt out Amazing Grace. I've listened to many renditions of the song over the years. Hers is the best so far.
The answer to your first question depends on whether you can make the chapter names important, such as a hook, a little misdirection, or foreshadowing (e.g., The Emperor's Fate). I would definitely include a chapter number, otherwise people have to remember what chapter name they were on when they last read from the book. Given that you probably have dozens of chapters, I would use Arabic.
