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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

eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#17576: Oct 23rd 2020 at 10:08:29 PM

Vasily Grossman's WWII works are quite foundational. I've got his journal compilation on my reading list, and you can look up his shorter prose works online.

If you want something accessible, you can look up VICE News' conflict journalism in video form. Other well-known works include Evan Wright's Generation Kill (by a Rolling Stones journalist embedded in a US Marine recce unit during the 2003 invasion of Iraq) or Martha Gellhorn's The Face of War (which covers many 20th century conflicts over several decades).

As you can guess, many professional writers fought in combat for one reason or another and wrote about it afterwards. YMMV on whether you can call them "journalists", but George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (from the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War) is one of the best-known works in the category. And if you want to go way back, you've got Xenophon's Anabasis and Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War, both written over a couple of millennia ago and available on public domain.

Thing is, war journalism is a pretty diverse profession. Your journalist might be a freelancer, or they could be working with an established media outlet, or a disreputable tabloid, or an outright propaganda outlet. Many militaries have their own internal media wing staffed by soldiers with journalistic training, and some have adjacent civilian outlets (like the US Military's Stars and Stripes) that might or might not be limited to writing things the military wants it to (we call this "editorial independence").

Your journalist might also be a conflict specialist, or an established general-purpose journalist tasked with covering a particular conflict, or even a newbie trying out their luck in a dangerous field. They're going to have their own leanings and biases; professionals in respected outlets would typically try to be as objective as possible, but if they're working for a propaganda outlet, then that bias is the point. And a journalist who comes in to look for war crimes and misconduct would be critical of authority figures from the start. They might be a military veteran themselves, or acquainted with the situation through their prior work on the region, which would help them navigate the situation. Not that it stops dangerously unprepared amateurs from diving into conflict journalism, of course.

War correspondents would often choose to be embedded in a particular military unit, through the country's Department of Defence-equivalent or the military's PR wing. This comes with its pros and cons: they'd be closer to the soldiers on the ground and theoretically enjoy their protection, but they'd also be limited to what the military allows them to report. And of course, they'd be at risk if their unit comes under enemy attack. Stray bullets and shell fragments don't exactly stop to read the "PRESS" written in big letters on your flak jacket. If your network is chasing that sweet, sweet frontline footage, then this is pretty much the only way you're getting it, outside of the military's official media releases and amateur journalism by local civilians.

It's considered bad form for war correspondents to take part in the fighting, since that would make them an unlawful combatant. Regardless, if your correspondent is a freelancer with no respect for ethics, or working for a blatantly jingoistic outlet, then they might film themselves firing a weapon or waving a flag for the clout.

War isn't just shooting. It's a transformative event that affects the entire society. If you only cover soldiers in the frontline, then you're going to have a very limited perspective of the war. You'll want to cover the perspectives of the civilians, politicians, refugees, aid workers, local law enforcement, even the "enemy" side and criminals. A single journalist would probably focus on one story at a time; a large news outlet could employ several specialist reporters to cover different sides of the war. If the war causes a runaway inflation, or a rise in fringe religious practices, or threatens endangered species in a particular forest, then your journalist would probably need to interview the relevant experts both in and outside the region.

Not only this is all challenging work, but it comes with a hefty baggage of risks. War breeds instability. And a foreigner doing "white-collar" work makes an attractive target for robbers and kidnappers. When they're not being embedded in a military unit, a lot of war correspondents would be holed up in a cushy hotel behind the lines, socialising mainly with their fellow journalists. A journalist who's not already familiar with the area might follow international agencies like the MSF or UNRWA to get access into "crisis" zones. But the more common way is to hire local "fixers" to give them leads on a story, help them communicate with local contacts or even do most of the actual reporting on the journalist's behalf. Many wartime news stories were written by armies of anonymous fixers who went uncredited on the bylines — whether because of editorial rules, or the journalist wanting to hog all the credit, or because it would make them a target for unfriendly forces.

The rise of new media in the 21st century allows anyone on the ground, including random civilians and soldiers, to put their content on the internet for the whole world to see. And some of this reporting can be quite polished! The war in Syria evidently hasn't stopped many locals from getting quite good with cracked copies of Adobe Premiere Pro, for one. This all makes it easier for full-time journalists to figure out which stories to chase and whom to interview. As you can probably guess, this amateur coverage is going to be biased to various degrees and might raise more questions than they ask.

And lastly: try as they might to be objective, a war correspondent will never be a truly neutral force on the battlefield. Combatants and civilians alike might look upon them as an unwelcome exploiter of their suffering, or as a symbol of prosperity from a more peaceful land. They'll need to smooth things out with bribes, quite often; the Soviet troops guarding Afghanistan's Salang Pass in the '80s were quite notorious for shaking down their own journalists. Their local contacts are going to ask them what's it like in their homeland, or for souvenirs, or education and immigration advices. A war correspondent might wake up to a WhatsApp message from their local contact months after they've left, begging for help with their child's hospital fee after being wounded by a stray mine or to get them out of the country and away from the wrath of approaching enemy armies. And like any other soldier or civilian, many of them would wrestle with their trauma long afterwards. Just as they followed the war, the war would find its way to follow them home.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Maslovar_Tiatov Since: Jun, 2019
#17577: Oct 24th 2020 at 8:49:02 AM

[up] Wow. Just wow. Your post helps a lot to understand the basics of war journalism. Thanks a lot!

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#17578: Oct 24th 2020 at 8:26:22 PM

"How well-insulated would the person holding the rod need to be? How would the arc work?"

The way you would do this isn't just with insulation between the current and the operator, but with distance. You would design such a system so that the active part of the lightning rod, and the counter-current generator, are located some distance away. If your story requires a hero to be holding an actual rod, then it would be long enough (20 feet should do it) that only the "skyward end" of the rod would be made of conductive materials. There would be a grounding wire running from the end of the rod to the Earth, and the counter-current generator connected to the grounding wire. As soon as the lightning bolt makes contact with the rod the grounding wire would disconnect and the counter-current would begin generating. Mind you, an average natural lightning bolt typically has several hundred million volts behind it, so the counter-current needs to be really impressive to reverse that flow. The engineering challenges here are obviously tricky—but not necessarily impossible.

Edited by DeMarquis on Oct 24th 2020 at 11:27:09 AM

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#17579: Nov 1st 2020 at 8:22:55 PM

Cross-posting from the Psychology Thread:

I got an American MMA champion who was an Olympian wrestler (with a silver and a gold medal) who graduated from Standford and reigns as a champion in UFC while also doing a part-time MBA in Harvard. Everyone regards him as an overachieving, but also an extremely boring man.

He has never smoked nor drank his whole life (he doesn't even consume caffeinated or carbonated drinks), doesn't watch movies or tv series (though he is fairly well-read in Shakespeare and Sherlock Holmes stories), and never dated anyone nor has a plan too. While he earned a fair amount of money as an Olympic gold-medalist and UFC champion, he lives in a small studio apartment.

Basically, he's pretty much an ascetic, whose lifestyle involves nothing but studying and fighting.

Here's the question: What would cause someone to live such a stoic and ascetic life, other than strict parental upbringing and cultural background? I don't think any kid or teen would just wake up one day and decide, "To hell with all the pleasures." [lol]

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#17580: Nov 1st 2020 at 8:35:35 PM

"Pleasures" is a lot more of a subjective concept than society tends to make it out to be. If he actually enjoys what he does - and doesn't really enjoy the stuff he avoids doing - that's not that bizarre.

dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#17581: Nov 1st 2020 at 8:42:38 PM

Hmm. A good point, actually.

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
#17582: Nov 2nd 2020 at 4:30:23 AM

Does anybody know a place where i could ask people for advice about writing a war/if the plans and troop movements i have come up with are realistic?

~*bleh*~
dRoy Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar from Most likely from my study Since: May, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just high on the world
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
#17583: Nov 2nd 2020 at 5:16:30 AM

Combat Writing Thread.

Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#17584: Nov 2nd 2020 at 12:26:14 PM

There are also a couple of sci fi threads in world building that might be helpful.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
ewolf2015 MIA from south Carolina Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I-It's not like I like you, or anything!
MIA
#17585: Nov 2nd 2020 at 4:45:02 PM

is finding some ancient japanese talisman in the middle of a california dig site improbable? (sorry for the specific question, btw)

MIA
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#17586: Nov 2nd 2020 at 4:49:16 PM

Isn't that the plot of The Terror: Infamy?

Anyway, Japanese immigrants started to arrive on the US West Coast in the late 19th century, so any talismans would've been presumably brought over by them. But there was at least one documented incident of Japanese sailors being stranded there before that, and a few hundred Japanese Catholics had settled Spanish Mexico (by way of the Philippines) all the way back in the early 17th century.

Edited by eagleoftheninth on Nov 2nd 2020 at 4:58:20 AM

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
AdeptGaderius Otaku from the Anime World Since: Nov, 2018 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
Otaku
#17587: Nov 2nd 2020 at 6:02:00 PM

Is it possible to craft a simple camera using basic electronic components and off-the-shelf items?

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#17588: Nov 2nd 2020 at 6:21:47 PM

It depends on what you want the camera to do. Simply imaging something can be done using a cardboard box with a sheet of white paper in the back and a circular hole (iris) cut in the front. If you want that image to be any good, you'll need a lens, and shaping the lens properly requires more than just a DIY attitude. There's at least some math involved and precision cutting or grinding. Still, you can get premade lenses fairly easily, depending on how you define "off the shelf".

The tricky part will be recording the image. Creating your own film negatives would be a challenging bit of DIY chemistry, but once you have that, you don't need any electronics, just a manual shutter. For a digital image, you need a sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD, and I wouldn't imagine you'd be very successful putting one of those together in your home shop. You can buy them, of course, so again a lot of this depends on how you define "off the shelf".

The camera body is just a fancy box. If you want control over the image quality, you'll need an aperture that can be adjusted to manage light levels and a focusing mechanism to allow shots at more than one distance. If you are handy with circuit boards and have gotten this far, it probably wouldn't be too tough to whip up a controller for your apparatus.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#17589: Nov 2nd 2020 at 7:28:01 PM

CCD pinhole cameras are actually easy enough to make - you can find a few DIY guides online. Really, though, the easiest way to get a CCD would be to get the camera/webcam it's in, which would net you the lens as a little bonus. And seeing how cheap old point-and-shoot digital cameras could go for nowadays, it'd be a lot simpler to just get the whole camera in the first place.

If you want to go 100% DIY, then a film pinhole camera would be what you're looking for. At it's simplest, it's just a box with an aperture hole cut into one side to let light shine onto a film on the other side. Roughly speaking, there are a couple of things you'd need to watch out for:

  • Without getting too far into optical physics, you're not going to get a focused image without a lens. It's like a person with heavy myopia trying to see without glasses. You can generally get a higher-resolution image with a smaller aperture, but it's not a linear relationship, is no substitute for an actual lens and nets you a dimmer image in turn. Speaking of which...
  • Since you're relying on unfocused ambient light to do the work, you'd need a fairly long exposure time - from several seconds to the better part of an hour, depending on your subject. Moving subjects are out of the question.
So there's that. At the minimum, you could maybe, iunno, strip the lens off an old webcam or flip phone and see where it gets you. The shutter mechanism can be made from bits of cardboard and string, either in the form of a fancy mechanical iris or a much simpler trapdoor/sliding door. You could also work in a viewfinder with a mirror periscope in front of the film, which flips up when the shutter is opened to let light onto the film.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#17590: Nov 2nd 2020 at 7:41:00 PM

Yeah but where are you going to get the actual film from? DIY photographic negatives seems like it's not a thing.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#17591: Nov 2nd 2020 at 7:46:19 PM

Online retailers? I mean, I've heard of enthusiasts making their own DIY film/emulsion (from a film-using friend), but that might as well be dark magic for all I know.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
Nukeli Since: Aug, 2018
AwSamWeston Fantasy writer turned Filmmaker. from Minnesota Nice (Elder Troper) Relationship Status: Married to the job
Fantasy writer turned Filmmaker.
#17593: Nov 3rd 2020 at 5:13:19 PM

Wait. Are cross-posts even allowed?

Actual Filmmaker trying to earn a Creator page. Gleahan and the Knaves of Industry — available now on streaming and blu-ray.
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#17594: Nov 3rd 2020 at 5:52:31 PM

At the very least you should provide us with the question you are asking and some context. Expecting us to go over and read the other thread is somewhat rude.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
ewolf2015 MIA from south Carolina Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I-It's not like I like you, or anything!
MIA
#17595: Nov 6th 2020 at 5:06:30 PM

i'm reading way too into this but is a college internship involving going on a dig spot plausible?

MIA
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000)
#17596: Nov 6th 2020 at 5:19:46 PM

Probably? My college had an archaeology class (taught by my uncle, incidentally but unrelatedly). If it'd make sense for the school to have this sort of program, then sure.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#17597: Nov 6th 2020 at 5:38:32 PM

It's more what kind of business has digs that require interns?

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
eagleoftheninth Shop all day, greed is free from a dreamed portrait, imperfect Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Shop all day, greed is free
#17598: Nov 6th 2020 at 5:55:31 PM

Archaeology, geology or palaeontology, sure, though those programs would probably involve field work as part of their regular coursework anyway. Or your character could be a civil engineering student doing an internship with an infrastructure contractor, working mainly in an office but visiting construction sites on a semi-regular basis. A mining company would also work.

One day, we will read his name in the news and cheer.
ChicoTheParakeet Since: Oct, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#17599: Nov 6th 2020 at 9:42:18 PM

"This is an original fantasy book with no superheroes, two non-white leads and an opening chapter featuring graphic robot sex. I thought we might be cancelled by our third issue."

This quote really rubs me the wrong way. Some of my stories have white leads due to the setting. I also have a fondness for superheroes. I know I'm not Vaughan but I want to do by best to succeed. My cast is varied in gender and race but I tend to have white leads due to the settings my works take place in.

My various ideas include: postwar vigilantes, European mythology, global war, pun names. What do I do to make my cast go against the norm?

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000)
#17600: Nov 6th 2020 at 10:57:05 PM

Well, for the mythology part... a lot of mythologies, especially in Europe, are a blend of other culture's mythologies. It wouldn't be farfetched for some of the Deities to be POC, or you could even play it as them being able to change appearances and want to take forms that they're comfortable representing themselves with. Europe also had a lot of cultural mixing, such as the Muslims in Spain; depending on when and where the story takes place, that'd make it easier to include non-white characters in the main cast.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall

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