ParanetOnline
McAnally's (The Community Pub) => Author Craft => Topic started by: Kali on June 07, 2010, 11:57:41 PM
-
How would others feel about trying to schedule something semi-regularly in the chat room for the authorly set? We're scattered all over the globe so there's nothing like a time we're absolutely all available, but we can try. Maybe something late night (eastern US) on weekends? It'd be nice to know when I can have some hope of not being the only person in the chat room. :)
And we could also have some targeted but open discussions. We could even post the logs on threads, so people who couldn't be at the discussion could contribute. We could start with easy stuff, like "Writer's Block", or "Do you outline, why or why not". The stuff people like to talk about, the stuff that people approach in different ways. I always think those things are interesting. Any other ideas?
-
I'm all for it. Weekends are especially good for me; I don't tend to stay up later than 11(EST) during the week. It would also be a way to do a writer's group type of thing, if people have somewhere they can put up their stuff, or a place to link to download it. Off the top of my head I can't really think of too many different topics, aside from some of the stuff that have ongoing threads, like POV and character and such, but I'll keep thinking about it.
-
I'd really love it if we can set it up for Word Wars! General writing questions seem to already be served well enough in the threads (plus the threads keep the discussions, while a chat wouldn't.)
For the next week or so, I can open a chat from 8-10pm, EST. Anyone else interested in joining me? I'll be in the Author Craft channel for a while. :) I can make it in at other times, too.
-
I am for it in principle; in practice, I have visitors for the next week and a bit, but after the 22nd I will be home on my own for a week and a half and that would be a very good time to try it out.
I am in EST, and a night person with a 9-5 dayjob; could easily be on evening, given a specific time.
-
sounds worth a shot to me
-
Seems I'm five days late to the party but I'm in as well.
-
I'm in once a week?
-
So what's a good time? Saturday nights at 10 pm Eastern? I still can't tell what time zone everyone's in, so I'm just pulling that one out of the bag. :)
-
Central time here. Saturday evenings are usually booked by my second job, but sundays and most weekday evenings could work.
-
I'd be interested if it's not TOO late; I'm not as young as I was. :)
-
What counts as late for you? What time zone? Heck, what country are you in? ;D
Late on Sundays won't work for most people 'cause most people have to be up early on Monday for work. And no matter what we do, it's not going to be convenient for someone, sadly. :/
-
Sunday afternoonish? /shrug.
I think they only way to do it is just grab a time and run with it Kali.
-
I also wouldn't mind joining when I can. My work schedule is a little hectic but I will do my best if something is set up. ;D
-
I'm in EST; my time is not normally very predictable, but I could do any specifc evening between, say, Wedneday of next week and Friday of the following week if we picked a time in advance, or earlier in the day the intervening weekend or either Thursday in that timespan (both of which happen to be public holidays.)
-
I'm West Coast and it's Summer so I'm fairly free, so any day works for me.
-
Right now, Sunday late afternoons might be good. You'll lose part of my attention in the fall when football season starts. ;D But let's see if we make it that far, first.
I like the idea of having part of the chat dedicated to reviewing work. We could make it a loose writer's group. Maybe instead of every week, have it every other week? General chat one week, review chat the second? The question there is would this violate site policies on posting.
And if the group thing proved popular, it could get its own timeslot. Once a month, I think, would be too little to help most of the people. And every week might not give busy people enough time to read and cogently comment.
So for now, how about we all try to get together this coming Sunday the 20th at 4 pm Eastern? Just to gab. Latest projects, frustrations, funny moments, whatever writerly comes to mind.
-
Sounds good.
How about we set chat times up in blocks? So different times zones and people with different schedules have a better chance of popping in? Say, 5ish hour blocks that will always be somewhat official, while other times are come and go.
-
I think Sunday at 4pm Eastern sounds good, you'll see me there unless something happens last minute for Father's Day.
-
I can't do this coming Sunday but should be up for the next one; that would be cool.
-
Works for me, and I'm likely to be around the chat room a while before that.
-
How do we go about finding the chat room? Will someone be posting a link on this thread, or is there an existing one for the JB site?
-
We're going to be using the Author_Craft channel of the built in Chat feature.
The chat button is located conveniently next to the logout button.
-
Reminder bump!
Tomorrow, Sunday the 20th, come by the Author_Craft chat channel after 4pm Eastern! I'll be there for at least 2 hours. General chat is the order of the day, all things writerly in nature. I'm assuming this will include the skyrocketing price of coffee, 'cause I know I couldn't get a thing done without it.
-
Turns out I have to do a family/Father's Day thing tomorrow afternoon--but I'll try to check in for 15-20 minutes or so.
-
I will be at the Fringe, having unexpectedly got a ticket for one more show, starting at 3.30.
Still pretty sure I am on for next week, though. I have just had the plot of a new project come together completely after a couple of months that felt like wrestling a nest of vipers, so am feeling quite on a high here.
-
We had Father's day yesterday so I'll be there bright and earlyish
-
Well, this is frustrating...according to the site, I'm in the chat room, but it keeps bumping me off and asking for my name and password and telling me they're invalid. I wonder if it's because I have dialup?
-
I just got in and everyone was gone. darn.
-
I was there from 4 to about 5:30, then the raging case of food poisoning did me in. meh waved a plunger at me and forced me to retreat.
It was kinda fun, until the cramping kicked in (a symptom in no way related to the chat). We rambled about writing books a little, outlines or not, touched briefly on software, had just begun discussing the proper word for "psychometry" (everyone but me thinks it's psychoscopy or some ridiculous thing) and it was concluded that a) Enjorous is a geek and b) Starbeam is a Mac heathen but nonetheless has cool walls.
Also, it was agreed by the committee that "meh" looks weird with an exclamation point after it.
Same time next week, only this time I won't eat on Saturday.
-
<.<
>.>
<.<
>.<
Just because I can quote movies after one viewing, read On Writing twice in a row, and went to Borders and did a statistical project to find out the true average number of words on a paperback page doesn't mean I'm a geek!
Kali you should eat on Saturday, just make sure it's carefully washed and thoroughly cooked please :D
-
Just because I can quote movies after one viewing, read On Writing twice in a row, and went to Borders and did a statistical project to find out the true average number of words on a paperback page doesn't mean I'm a geek!
Nah, a real geek would be somebody who reread On Writing the second time carefully correlating how Stephen King describes his general memory working in the biographical bits with how quickly he revises things after drafting them in the writing-focused bits, in order to compare both with their own working methods. I remember more and that makes sense of why I need to leave things longer before revising.
Sorry to hear about the food-poisoning, Kali; my sympathies.
-
So are we still on for this Sunday? And any ideas on the topic?
-
Kali had mentioned wanting to talk about writing software.
-
Assuming my house does not melt, given the temps lately, I'll be there. Hadn't planned on any specific topic, though I would, yes, like to get into writing software some more. If anyone shows up who knows any packages, that'd be keen. Starbeam's given us a quick-and-dirty of what Scrivner had to offer. Stupid macs! >.<
That said, if anyone has anything in particular they'd like to hash out in a chat format, tell us all!
-
I'll be there, and I may be bringing a friend that's not from around the board, but she's an AIP like the rest of us.
-
Ok Sunday @5est? Hope. To be there.
-
I think we're starting again @4 Eastern but last time we were still going strong when I left around 5:30
-
No sweat. i'll set my alarm for 3 Central then. Not sure how much time I'll have, but will be fun to gab about writing a bit. :-)
-
if we want a notion for topic, I'm doing a fiar bit of thinking about how one picks names for a far-future setting at the moment. (bay name web pages for non-Western cultures are cool.)
-
What cultures have prevailed well in you world ie which from our time have survived into this far future?
-
I have an out-of-state family commitment this Sunday and won't be available to chat (or try to chat, based on what happened last time. :()
-
What cultures have prevailed well in you world ie which from our time have survived into this far future?
There's about as much cultural continuity between then and now as there is between now and two thousand years ago, except distributed slightly differently because on the one hand, they have continuity of media and records (Large numbers of them think they are still speaking English.) and on the other, there's been a millennium and a half fo separate colonised planets having very limited contacts each with each. And if a colony ship was launched in 2200 and did not land on its target and thaw out its passengers until 4700, it's had a lot less time for cultural drift than the dates alone suggest.
-
I'd play it safe and stick with short, one syllable names when possible, honestly. I don't think the tradition of nicknames can ever go out of style - people are too lazy. ;)
-
I'd play it safe and stick with short, one syllable names when possible, honestly. I don't think the tradition of nicknames can ever go out of style - people are too lazy. ;)
One thing that does happen in real life and does not happen enough in SF is some name becoming extremely popular and getting three people in one class at school with the same name and the sorts of nicknames and contractions that develop to work with this; I am aiming to do something of that sort later in this project, though not in the first story in the setting.
-
I'd play it safe and stick with short, one syllable names when possible, honestly. I don't think the tradition of nicknames can ever go out of style - people are too lazy. ;)
Also, fionding short, one-syllable names that let you have a cast of dozens who are suitably distinct each from each and are not rude words in any language ? Not easy.
-
to simple to identify by location as in middle ages? Sam from YYY for Sam YYY.. or Pam from Foundation Line ZZZ as in Pam ZZZ or even Pam102 ZZZ etc Might help keep the characters straight and their locations in the readers mind. Simple and easy. Could have fun with the isolated groups developing their own names or the others getting unique while the isolated keep to names grounded in 2010 for example.
-
to simple to identify by location as in middle ages? Sam from YYY for Sam YYY.. or Pam from Foundation Line ZZZ as in Pam ZZZ or even Pam102 ZZZ etc Might help keep the characters straight and their locations in the readers mind. Simple and easy.
Hits scale issues, though. You come from a city of a billion people, you do kind of have to specify "no, it's Fred from 93274546 _West_ Pico della Mirandola" and that makes them long enough that you might as well have longer names to begin with.
There's also the issue of: here is a thousand-person mission from Sirius seven hundred and fifty light years to the Hinder Stars. Thirty of these people are called Fred and come from Bolshograd. Precisely how many people in the Hinder Stars will find "Fred the guy from Dorian Grey Street, Bolshograd, Sirius" suitably distinct from "Fred from Bosie Douglas Street, Bolshograd, Sirius" when most of what's in their heads is "OMG travellers from another star" ?
(I have been using "Fred" and "George" as my first two default name fill-ins for examples since I was eight or nine; no reference to our own Iago or to the sodding Weasley Twins is intended. I suspect it came from reading something about the chunk of European history that had rather a lot of monarchs with similar and overlapping full names. Likewise "Bolshograd" as a rough translation of "big city"._
-
Reminder bump! Tomorrow, Sunday June 27th, in the Author_Craft chat room at 4pm Eastern, we'll be getting together to discuss all things authorish, including names, software, and whether or not 'authorish' is an appropriate grammatical construction.
-
The universe is trying to tell me something.
I'll be there when I can, but we have a big blob of red on the radar screen that's oozing in our direction. Either that, or it's raspberry jam... No, no it's definitely a thunderstorm. Since I'm still on dial-up, I tend to fry modems if I stay connected during t-storms. Start without me! I'll be there when this passes.
-
:( I had to bail early! This is a great idea though. Thanks.
-
I was there for a bit over 2 hours, and another Sunday chat successfully concluded! This week, we talked a bit more about writing software, what it does, do we need what it does, how we handle tasks (like keeping notes) that writing software does, and how MS Word is basically like democracy: Its awful, except that it's better than anything else out there.
We also dabbled a bit on the importance of names -- the right ones, the wrong ones, the anathema that is placeholder names -- and briefly touched on RPGs and their impact on writing. Starbeam gave us a great link to a podcast on that subject, which I reproduce here with no permission from anyone whatsoever: http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/02/07/writing-excuses-4-5-roleplaying-games-as-a-tool-for-story-telling/ (http://www.writingexcuses.com/2010/02/07/writing-excuses-4-5-roleplaying-games-as-a-tool-for-story-telling/)
Somewhere in there, we also mentioned the usefulness (or not) of deadlines, daily wordcounts (the motivation and demotivation thereof), and talked a little about how "stupid readers" can make for good beta readers as long as you realize what their stupidity is telling you. We danced a little with the topic of infodumping and about all we agreed on was that it's bad, but not if it's entertaining at the same time.
We also learned that neurovore is capable of wordcounts of nigh-Chekovian proportions, that Starbeam actually writes by hand and can later understand most of her words, that meh's beta readers think his work is moody and disconnected (which means he's a shoe-in for a Pulitzer one of these days), that Enjorous should expect a call from Tom Clancy after he publishes his latest piece, and that Ink Slinger is single-handedly deforesting the world with all that printing-to-edit.
In closing, I have no idea what anyone's actual genders are, so don't mind the random pronouning.
See you all next Sunday!
-
For the record I am a guy so the pronoun use is correct. Today was a ton of fun and pretty darn productive, I'm managed to achieve my daily word goal :D
-
I don't print to edit until I'm done at least...
And usually after 3 edits I walk away from it. There's just something about having it on paper in front of me...(and my hubby bought a CASE of printer paper when we needed a ream). It's wasting money not to use it. :)
-
It's still wasting trees. :P
-
It's still wasting trees. :P
Not it she keeps the printouts forever. Watch Ebay in 10 years. ;)
-
I do keep my printouts. I have a file box.
-
Don't mind me; I'm just jealous you have stuff TO print out! And I like the multi-tiered binders. "Needs to Marinate" made me laugh.
-
I'm going to steal it fwiw :D
-
is this going to be an every sunday thing?
-
We've done 2 in a row and we're planning on one next Sunday.
-
We also learned that neurovore is capable of wordcounts of nigh-Chekovian proportions,
Hmmph.
For much of 1844, Alexandre Dumas was writing twelve hours a day. During which time he had, at peak, five different serial novels appearing in newspapers of which he was handing in chapters.
It would appear to have caused a breakdown of sorts, and incidentally led to the Marie Antoinette cycle not getting a proper conclusion. But compared to that, I'm a piker.
-
We've done 2 in a row and we're planning on one next Sunday.
I will likely not be around for that, but almost certainly the following Sunday.
-
We might have to arrange another time other than next Sunday. Seeing as it's Independence Day, any thoughts on that?
-
We could bump it to Monday. Not everyone has off though, and I kinda hate to interrupt the flow. I know the fireworks here don't start until nearer to dark, and the barbeques and stuff are all earlier in the afternoon. If there are a lot of conflicts with the 4pm time, we can move it to Monday or Saturday, but if it looks like most people can make 4 on Sunday, we might just keep it.
Thoughts? Input?
-
I have Monday off, and as far as I know, I won't be doing much of anything else on Sunday. And if anything does get planned for Sunday, the chat would give me an excuse to leave early. That would be nice.
And I've just gotten used to having to interpret my writing, but I still have moments where I have to skip a word and figure out something else to put in its place because I have absolutely no clue what it was supposed to be. I used to have to decipher my grandmother's writing, and mine's starting to look like hers. I think that's why I can do it.
-
I dunno if I can be on Sunday or not, but I do have Monday off with no plans...as of yet. No one has told me what time we're BBQing on Sunday.
-
We could bump it to Monday. Not everyone has off though,
We could have it this coming Thursday, which is Canada Day. Surely everybody has Canada Day off.
-
Or you could skip a week?
-
Or you could skip a week?
Heathen!! >.<
I'd rather not skip, just 'cause it's nice to get into a rhythm. Plus the more regular we are with these, the more chance other people will stop in and ramble too.
I mean, there's nothing stopping people from being in there and chatting any other time of the day or week, of course! I just think it's nice to have a steady, regular time when you *know* people will be there, ready and willing to share your trials and tribulations.
-
I agree with Kali, if we skip one it would be too easy to skip another and then eventually the idea will just be that.
I'm all for Monday afternoon at the same time as people have mentioned.
-
How bout both Sun and Mon so if people miss one they can catch the other?
-
If consistency is such a big thing, then just leave the date as-is.
-
If consistency is such a big thing, then just leave the date as-is.
Because if most people can't make it due to the holiday, then it would be worth the skip. Hence the question. Hence the discussion.
-
Just made a poll on a separate thread to discuss this issue.
-
Given the poll results, and since I think most people have had time to weigh in, it looks like Monday is going to be the best day for people. So I'll be in the chat room on Monday the 5th at 4pm Eastern, ready to chat about everything writerly! I'm looking for some good web sites, so if anyone has some bring 'em along.
-
Poor Liz. That's gotta be frustrating. Here's what we see in the room:
(16:06:09) ChatBot: LizW65 logs into the Chat.
(16:06:13) ChatBot: LizW65 has been logged out (Invalid IP address).
Any mods know what the heck that is, or how to fix it?
-
The Sunday-No-Wait-It's-Monday Chat is safely concluded! This week, we talked about Starbeam's latest project (seriously... wow), discussed music and noise as necessity for writing, briefly mentioned 'casting' our novels (whether we meant to or not, what impact it had), talked a little bit about what makes something a real flaw and used Harry Dresden as an example, the plot-or-not topic came up again (we do love analyzing this one to bits) and got some good discussion going, segued into magic systems and then into character creation which took us right back to 'casting' novels, then it was dinner time and I left.
We also learned this week that Starbeam is an EVIL EVIL SNOWFAIRY CRUSHER WHO GOT PUT ON TIME-OUT, that Enjorous has an "in" with some agents via a slightly shady librarian contact (it's all quite mysterious), that Jeno's outlines are more comprehensive than my first drafts, and that when I'm rich and famous I'm going to charge all of you people for autographs.
Next week, we're back at the regular time. Sunday, 4pm Eastern!
-
Poor Liz. That's gotta be frustrating. Here's what we see in the room:
(16:06:09) ChatBot: LizW65 logs into the Chat.
(16:06:13) ChatBot: LizW65 has been logged out (Invalid IP address).
Any mods know what the heck that is, or how to fix it?
Four seconds! I think that's a record for my staying logged on so far!
ETA: Fred says there's nothing he can do about this, so it looks like I will remain chatless until such time as I get another internet service. :(
-
talked a little bit about what makes something a real flaw and used Harry Dresden as an example
well, darn. That would have been a lot of fun for me, as I am inclined to see Harry as having rather more flaws (and Jim as intentionally putting them there) than many people who post here acknowledge.
I am going to miss next Sunday's chat too, because of unexpectedly going to Readercon, and the next two weekends I have visiting sweeties, so I shall not be around for some time.
-
Reminder bump! Tomorrow, Sunday July 11 at 4 pm Eastern in the Author_Craft chat room of the forum, I'll be there with anyone else who shows up to talk about writerly things. My pagan group is meeting at 10 am so I should be on time. Gosh, I hope I don't mix up topics...
-
Reminder bump! Tomorrow, Sunday July 11 at 4 pm Eastern in the Author_Craft chat room of the forum, I'll be there with anyone else who shows up to talk about writerly things. My pagan group is meeting at 10 am so I should be on time. Gosh, I hope I don't mix up topics...
Anyone know what 4pm Eastern works out to in British time? My geaography is bad enough but adding time zones into it too my brain will ecksplode.
-
9pm, I think. :)
-
Ty Kali,
am usually out but will perhaps try an every two weeks approach.
;D
-
Did Kali forget?
-
Sorry guys, I had rehearsal to get to today. I'll be missing the next 4 weeks as I"ll be in the middle of a show at 4pm on Sundays.
-
Not gonna be there tomorrow guys, sorry. But you can show up and chat anyway, you don't need me there!
-
I'll be here!
Or is it there?
-
I'll be here!
Or is it there?
How about both?
-
This week's Author Chat (Sans Kali) revealed a revelation as to why Liz can't enter chat. The chat feature is possessed by a woman she once killed and now is haunting her, preventing her from using it in a bid to drive her mad. We may need to exercise the chat.
Enjorous can write 12k keeper words in a week if he's sequestered at a lake. Jeno actually starts his/her stuff over more than I do, and Tbora has had writers block lasing over six months.
We found that the real difference between Urban Fantasy and Supernatural Horror can really boil down to scope. Open versus closed environment, hero versus an everyman, and monsters as monsters versus monsters as monsters as characters.
Once again, Starbeam is shooting for the stars and wants a monster that is both monstrous and likable. And we all wished her good luck with that.
All in all it was a very productive chat which included a nice harping on Twilight.
Next Sunday same time, and Kali better be here!
-
Once again, Starbeam is shooting for the stars and wants a monster that is both monstrous and likable.
Ditto! Twisted minds think alike? ::)
-
Jeno actually starts his/her stuff over more than I do
Her. :D
-
I thought so, but was being careful.
-
So, Kali's been MIA for the week, but I still intend to be around tomorrow at 4 Eastern.
-
So, Kali's been MIA for the week, but I still intend to be around tomorrow at 4 Eastern.
Ditto.
-
I forgot I made plans today to go see Inception...looks like I won't be around afterall...:'( :'( :'(
-
I'm in right now. :)
-
Good news and bad news... Good news, I HAVE A JOB!!!! Whew.
Bad news, it's going to prevent me from being able to host on Sundays. I hope you'll all keep up with it, because it was a lot of fun.
-
Good news and bad news... Good news, I HAVE A JOB!!!! Whew.
Bad news, it's going to prevent me from being able to host on Sundays. I hope you'll all keep up with it, because it was a lot of fun.
Awesome and congrats. Maybe a different day/time if people agree?
-
Congrats Kali!
Best of luck to you.
I'm sure we'll figure out something.
-
Awesome and congrats. Maybe a different day/time if people agree?
I'm always flexible with times.
-
What great news on the job! What sad, but understandable, news on being unable to host. People really enjoyed the sessions. May I had out several hugs to you for having done it so far? Is there someone else who will take it on? meg
-
Star and I have pretty much been hosting them in Kali's absence.
-
Little late of a reminder, but I'm there.
-
Yay for new job!
I must apologize for my absence, but the show closed yesterday so my Sundays are mine again.
-
Woo! Inky's back!
-
:) And I just finished another edit on a piece I wrote :D Hoping to get it posted to my site later this afternoon.
-
Woo!! And she's doing authorly things while the rest of us...yeeeeeeeeeah
-
Had to have something to do while I had no projects to get done at work ;)
-
I remember those days. I miss my job sometimes :P
-
Woo!! And she's doing authorly things while the rest of us...yeeeeeeeeeah
Hey, I got 8,000 words done this weekend.
Will be writing Wed and Fri this week, because the following weekend's a convention. And Wed should be easy to get wordcount out of because what goes in at chapter 9 is a minor rework of what was previously chapter 4.
-
Well then, It seems those not coming to the AC's are more productive...coincidence?
-
Well then, It seems those not coming to the AC's are more productive...coincidence?
It would only be directly competitive if the author chats were scheduled for Friday nights, for me.
-
Well then, It seems those not coming to the AC's are more productive...coincidence?
In a "those that can, do, those that are blocked blab about it"-sort of sense of coincidence, I guess you mean to indicate here?
-
Reminder post.
-
In a "those that can, do, those that are blocked blab about it"-sort of sense of coincidence, I guess you mean to indicate here?
Meh, I was just being sarcastic.
-
That's OK, I was being self-denigrating.
-
Late reminder.
-
Anyone still interested in this, or have time for it?
-
I would have come but I had to spend most of my day settling into my new place...which by the way sucks!!!
-
I wanted to be there, but real life chores called. I hate being so busy that Sunday is the only time I have to get stuff done. :(
-
Anyone likely to be around on Sunday? It looks like I may be free late morning/early afternoon.
(The free first month of Netflix in Canada, characterised by a remarkable selection of bad movies and claims about not being able to get Canadian broadcast rights for good ones, runs out end of this month, so if you don't show up I may have to fall back on Resident Evil: Extinction.)
-
Netflix as in streaming or DVD-by-mail?
-
I'll be around this Sunday...finally.
-
Netflix as in streaming or DVD-by-mail?
Only streaming thus far.
-
On the other hand, if I have one more day's work to get the thing done, and a chunk of free day coming up, it's not impossible the project may just mug me outright.
-
Only streaming thus far.
I gets all my comfort-TV like Yes, Minister & The Charge of the Light Brigade or, going with teh Milla, The Messenger on teh streaming here.
-
I'm around pretty much every Sunday. The chats have just been dead the past few weeks; I'm guessing because of school starting and everyone moving and all.