Writer's Block Daily

Wondering whether to make a character human or not.

Goddamn it, why do I have to give a military/law enforcement/etc background to anyone who is remotely badass. :/

^ Because it works.

I need advice on how to turn insects into yokai.

If it's a direct change as in right away then you are on your own. Otherwise just do the thing they do with inanimate objects and cats. Have them live a hundred years and then BOOM! Instant magical being.

First, right now I just want to focus on Kabutomushi and o-kuwagata since those two seem to be the most popular japanese insects. I'm not sure what kind of magical power to give them when they reach an advanced age ("advanced" is left vague)

Second, I think the 100 years only applies to tsukumogami.

I think it applies to two tailed cats too. That or a cat that lives long enough will sprout the second tail and become a Yokai.

Yeah, I think at this point, because of the formatting of my WIP, there's no way it could be published professionally.

Hello, self-publishing.

There's plenty of published books with strange formatting. Or is this a copyright issue you're concerned over?

6x Now I'm interested in finding out what happens to a mayfly that lives for a century.

I don't know how to write formal paper outlines.

It ended up being like a mini paper or something. "This is what I'll do, and then this, and then this." Am I supposed to be using asterisks or something??

Ugh I need to turn this into the school's tutoring place anyways in order to get the full grade on it, they'll probably explain what the fuck I'm doing.

@Nocturna: I am using no fewer than seven colors for text and it's come to the point where it is unreadable without them.

@Major Tom - I guess, but among the core 6 members, 3 of them, including the main character, have some years of service in fantasy equivalent of SAS, Force Recon, Pararescue, but only one of them is currently in a job that requires use of physical force (he's a police officer). It just feels a bit odd, although I can't explain why.

I don't remember if I said this here already, but I submitted a few poems to my school's yearly art newsletter.

What could be some reasons why people need adventurers? In my fantasy novel, the town inn is an Inn Between the Worlds, situated between our world and Middle Earth (not that one) where people post ads for adventurers on the bulletin board.

Guides and escorts for trips through the world, maybe specific tasks like "I need an item acquired/recovered/stolen" or what not.

Ok now that sounds like a fun idea.

Okay, so my uncle just called me so he could critique my story (I sent it to him to read). He said he liked it, but his major complaints was the stiff dialogue, repetition, stiff/somewhat unrealistic characters, and grammar/spelling issues. (He also said that he recommended that I make the setting fictitious but that wasn't a major complaint)

So, before I work on the next book, I'm going to keep his criticism in mind and tweak the first book.

edited 10th Feb '13 4:34:34 PM by Masterofchaos

Morwen! I think today's Writing Excuses could have been tailor-made to some of the questions you've asked about recently. :D

Can anyone confirm the rumor that each head belonging to Yamata no Orochi has a unique personality? If so, what are those personalities?

Is a Yamata no Orochi a real thing? Because I haven't met one.

Yes

I see no evidence that it is a real thing on that page.

edited 11th Feb '13 12:33:09 PM by ohsointocats

8-headed snakes (I think it's that) might happen every million years. 2-headed ones exist, though.