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Hello, fellow writers! Got any question that you can't find answer from Google or Wikipedia, but you don't think it needs a separate thread for? You came to the right place!

Don't be shy, and just ask away. The nice folks here, writers and non-writers, experts and non-experts, will do their best to help you.

The folder below contains links for special interest threads, mostly at OTC, but also from Yack Fest and Troper Coven.

    Special Interest Threads 

Also take a look at Useful Notes on various topics. They can be pretty useful.

Now, bring on the questions, baby!

edited 11th Apr '18 6:31:51 PM by dRoy

Cutegirl920fire CG for short from Denmark (Rule of Three) Relationship Status: Paris holds the key to my heart
CG for short
#25026: Feb 6th 2023 at 4:52:41 PM

[up] Thanks

Anyway, for people with shitty memory, how do you remember and retain the shit you read while doing research?

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."
CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit Since: May, 2009
#25027: Feb 6th 2023 at 4:55:02 PM

Take notes. Copypaste and/or summarize relevant passages, and all that stuff you remember doing in school.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Cutegirl920fire CG for short from Denmark (Rule of Three) Relationship Status: Paris holds the key to my heart
CG for short
#25028: Feb 7th 2023 at 9:39:10 AM

[up] What would be good places to keep said notes while having easy access to them?

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."
CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit Since: May, 2009
#25029: Feb 7th 2023 at 10:14:31 AM

I use GoogleDocs because it autosaves and backs up to the cloud, it's fully searchable, I can access all of my stuff on my phone or any of my three personal computers, and it has an offline mode so I can look at my stuff without internet, provided you make sure to set it up first. Other options I've used before are Evernote and Microsoft's OneNote. I've also used plain text files and Notes apps on my phone. If you're more into physical media, you could even take your notes on paper.

Edited by CrystalGlacia on Feb 7th 2023 at 1:15:15 PM

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Mysterium I am you from Winden Since: Mar, 2020 Relationship Status: Browsing the selection
I am you
#25030: Feb 7th 2023 at 1:45:09 PM

How long would the upper body (rump from hips to to throat and the head) of a normal human be in relation to the length of the legs? I am thinking of making a Cyborg character.

Florien The They who said it from statistically, slightly right behind you. Since: Aug, 2019
The They who said it
#25031: Feb 7th 2023 at 3:28:09 PM

When thinking about proportions of humans, I normally just look at a human to check.

You can do this in Microsoft paint even, just grab an image of a human and an image of something with even marks on it, and put them next to each other, stretching the comparison bar as appropriate, then you'll get a reasonable enough ratio.

Swordofknowledge Swordofknowledge from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Swordofknowledge
#25032: Feb 7th 2023 at 7:40:52 PM

Does it count as a Heel–Face Turn if the villain in question only does so due to their life being threatened? If a villain has been defeated by the heroes and begs for mercy and offers to join their side, would that still count? I only ask because I intend to make Heel–Face Door-Slam a trope for a certain character and it happens under these circumstances.

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Feb 7th 2023 at 10:50:13 AM

"Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake." —Edgar Wallace
MorningStar1337 Like reflections in the glass! from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
Like reflections in the glass!
#25033: Feb 7th 2023 at 7:54:10 PM

I'd say so. Though I'd think a second opinion might be warranted.

Nukeli The Master Of Fright & A Demon Of Light from A Dark Planet Lit By No Sun Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Master Of Fright & A Demon Of Light
#25034: Feb 9th 2023 at 12:45:41 PM

How do you write out that hmm hmm noise that means agreement?

~ * Bleh * ~ (Looking for a russian-speaker to consult about names and words for a thing)
Florien The They who said it from statistically, slightly right behind you. Since: Aug, 2019
The They who said it
CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit Since: May, 2009
#25036: Feb 9th 2023 at 4:05:51 PM

Or "Mmm-hm."

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
MsOranjeDiscoDancer from Revachol Since: Aug, 2022
#25037: Feb 9th 2023 at 5:19:01 PM

*khm*

Edited by MsOranjeDiscoDancer on Feb 9th 2023 at 5:19:09 AM

hail, holy queen of the sea, you're whirling-in-rags, you're vast and you're sad
Nukeli The Master Of Fright & A Demon Of Light from A Dark Planet Lit By No Sun Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Master Of Fright & A Demon Of Light
#25038: Feb 10th 2023 at 11:40:38 AM

I'm experimenting with different character creators for Red Revenge character designs. Coming up with faces and haircuts has always been the hardest part of character design for me.

The setting is 1920s-1930s in Germany and 1930s-1940s in France, the character is a WWI veteran. Which hair style would be better, undercut or whatever you call it, brushed back?note 

~ * Bleh * ~ (Looking for a russian-speaker to consult about names and words for a thing)
Swordofknowledge Swordofknowledge from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Swordofknowledge
#25039: Feb 12th 2023 at 7:02:05 AM

[up] @ Nukeli:

I would argue this is a largely personal decision but can offer some advice. The first one (hair missing on the side of the head) gives off a greater sense of the damage that has been done to this character in whatever incident caused his facial scarring. Even if it isn't actually true, the baldness of the area near the scar makes it seem as if the damage extends far past its actual limits.

The second picture (with the hair more intact and full) makes him seem far more intact and normal looking.

"Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake." —Edgar Wallace
Swordofknowledge Swordofknowledge from I like it here... Since: Aug, 2012 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Swordofknowledge
#25040: Feb 12th 2023 at 9:28:22 AM

Edited by Swordofknowledge on Feb 12th 2023 at 12:38:53 PM

"Fear is a tyrant and a despot, more terrible than the rack, more potent than the snake." —Edgar Wallace
Count_Spatula Inter-Dimensional Traveler from United States Since: Apr, 2019 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
Inter-Dimensional Traveler
#25041: Feb 12th 2023 at 11:40:33 AM

So, I have been working on a novel for the past few months, and I have hit a rut. It's a crime drama/thriller, a genre that I normally don't write nor read. However, out of all the story ideas I have so far, it is my most developed on, so I figured I should write it first.

Now, I find myself overthinking the plot and various scenes, as I am trying to avoid contrived coincidences and glaring plot holes. I am also not that familiar with a lot of mystery tropes, aside from the stuff everyone would probably know via Pop Culture Osmosis.

The story starts off as a standard murder mystery, but overtime, it is revealed that the murder is part of a larger conspiracy. The killer is figured out fairly early in the story, with the rest of the plot being dedicated to bringing them to justice.

Would the readers feel cheated if they picked up the book expecting a murdery mystery, only for the plot to transition into a thriller/action story later on?

Should I trudge onward and continue with the rough draft, or scrap it and write something else?

CrystalGlacia from at least we're not detroit Since: May, 2009
#25042: Feb 12th 2023 at 11:49:34 AM

If you still want to keep writing it, then keep writing it and figure out marketing and all that later. As long as it makes you feel good, writing is never a waste, and if this is going to be your first fully completed story, then it'll be a good learning experience for plotting a long story all the way to the end, regardless. Besides, I feel like mysteries and thrillers tend to be sort of intertwined these days.

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
MorningStar1337 Like reflections in the glass! from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
Like reflections in the glass!
#25043: Feb 12th 2023 at 4:42:58 PM

Looking for ideas for The Fair Folk (or technically Alien Fair Folk) plotlines? I have an idea of the domains of the seelie and unseelie types to be half of a tidally locked world, but while that is good a sa setting piece, it isn't actually a ploy unto itself.

ArsThaumaturgis Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
#25044: Feb 13th 2023 at 12:01:24 AM

[up] Well, it occurs to me that both the Fair Folk and pop-culture aliens are in the habit of abducting humans—perhaps a plot might be done around a changeling situation. (You could even focus on both the child and the changeling left behind, and how they adjust to their new respective worlds.)

Otherwise, what sorts of stories do you like? That might provide some direction to inspire our suggestions.

Now, I find myself overthinking the plot and various scenes, as I am trying to avoid contrived coincidences and glaring plot holes.

This is perhaps a situation in which—if you're not doing so already—it might be helpful to plot out events in their entirety in some form of chart. That might allow you to keep track of characters' actions, locations, and motivations, and thus might aid in avoiding plot holes.

Should I trudge onward and continue with the rough draft, or scrap it and write something else?

I'm inclined to agree with CrystalGlacia: If you're still enthused about the story, then the writing of it seems to me to still be good practice, and an expression of your creativity.

That said, if you're not still enthused—you do say that you're in a "rut"—let me ask: How far into the project are you? Are you just begun? Deep into it? Nearly finished?

My Games & Writing
MorningStar1337 Like reflections in the glass! from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
Like reflections in the glass!
#25045: Feb 13th 2023 at 9:58:39 AM

I was thinking somewhere along the lines of "exploring/escaping fairyland" plots

ArsThaumaturgis Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
#25046: Feb 13th 2023 at 11:04:36 AM

Well, that is a plot indeed—what specifics are you lacking, then?

My Games & Writing
MorningStar1337 Like reflections in the glass! from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
Like reflections in the glass!
#25047: Feb 13th 2023 at 2:41:42 PM

The general baseline is that the protagonists were given a mission to investigate a tidally locked planet due to reports of people being found there despite it seemingly being a barren world. They wind up crashing on the planet, encountering the fey and eventually wind up transformed into them in the process. There is a technical way of escape, but it depending on how one views cloning and engrams.

The mains tumbling block is in a way, getting from point A (the crash) to Point B (the whole cloning thing). Which is to say I struggle to find ideas on what the protags wind up in while trapped on the fairy planet.

ArsThaumaturgis Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: I've been dreaming of True Love's Kiss
#25048: Feb 13th 2023 at 11:35:15 PM

Which is to say I struggle to find ideas on what the protags wind up in while trapped on the fairy planet.

Aaaah, that's very helpful! Thank you for so elaborating!

Okay, so a few thoughts, in no particular order:

1) A common theme, as I recall, is that it's dangerous to eat of the food of Faery. Commonly there's a lavish feast set out that the protagonist is direly tempted to eat.

So, in your case, you have a crash-landing. Perhaps in that devastation, the protagonists lose some of their food supply. Thus threatened with starvation, they must decide whether to ration what remains of the food that they brought with them—or to risk eating of the produce of an alien planet.

And since it's sometimes the eating of the food of Faery that prevents one from leaving, perhaps it's the eating of the fairy-planet's produce that starts the transformation that you describe.

2) Another common theme, as I recall, is that the Fair Folk have various rules and strictures that govern how they behave, and how they react to others. This may dovetail nicely with the idea of aliens, who might well have a psychology and culture very different to what we as humans might expect.

Thus I could see various cultural clashes arising from differing taboos and expectations.

3) And finally, there's the old "iron thing". Perhaps your aliens are sensitive to it, or perhaps more specifically to electronics. This might produce some tension between the crashed starfarers and and locals: the former may want to keep their equipment (hoping that it will aid them in survival and possibly escape), while the latter might be sickened or otherwise harmed by it.

My Games & Writing
Nukeli The Master Of Fright & A Demon Of Light from A Dark Planet Lit By No Sun Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
The Master Of Fright & A Demon Of Light
#25049: Feb 14th 2023 at 1:33:52 AM

[up]x10 @Swordofknowledge

It was supposed to be an undercut, which was apparently popular in the relevant time period.

The scar is from WWI, and while i haven't really figured out the details, it's propably supposed to be worse than the generator allows. In the story, he wears a face prosthetic to cover it, so maybe there's even an actual hole. Massive and serious scars are semi-impossible to make in character creators, if they have scars at all they're usually "cool scars" like thin slashes.

Edited by Nukeli on Feb 14th 2023 at 2:17:17 PM

~ * Bleh * ~ (Looking for a russian-speaker to consult about names and words for a thing)
MorningStar1337 Like reflections in the glass! from 🤔 Since: Nov, 2012
Like reflections in the glass!
#25050: Feb 14th 2023 at 8:30:19 AM

[up][up] I see. Thanks for your inputs


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