Author Topic: The Movie and Book Writing Thread (Read 43,800 times)

Renegade · « **Reply #25 on:** September 02, 2014, 08:51 AM »

Quote from: 40hz on September 02, 2014, 01:51 AM

If you figure out something interesting and non-trivial to use The Brain for, be sure to let me know?

It's useful for pretty much any set of complex, related information.

Richard Grove uses it extensively at Tragedy and Hope. Here's a cued up bit with it onscreen. You'll likely want to pause:

http://youtu.be/pwwYuW2tzUo?t=3m50s

I've seen him use much more complex mappings. I just grabbed that at random.

Richard is really big on the Trivium method of education, and uses the tool in that.

From the link above:

Quote

The HISTORY BLUEPRINT is a tool for auto-didactic learning, allowing anyone to begin developing a comprehensive understanding of where we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going as Humanity.

So, it's excellent for history. You can map events, organisations, people, places, ideas, URLs, or pretty much anything you can imagine. You can then get that feel for the relationships there in a more visual and interactive way.

But the same goes for tracking news topics or other kinds of events, e.g. a political campaign, sporting events, etc.

Also, for academic purposes, it's ideal for doing research as you can pin down those connections and relations nice and visually.

It would also work very well for personal research and discovery. You can continually add nodes, so it would work very well for planning.

I suppose that you could use it to design arguments/syllogisms as well.

But, I'm not sure any of that is non-trivial.

wraith808 · « **Reply #26 on:** September 02, 2014, 05:31 PM »

In all seriousness, Ren is a great editor. Though I didn't get my story published, between Ren's suggestions, and the suggestions of a friend who is a professional writer, the story that came out was a lot better. I just need to get back to it.

Renegade · « **Reply #27 on:** September 03, 2014, 01:29 AM »

Quote from: wraith808 on September 02, 2014, 05:31 PM

In all seriousness, Ren is a great editor. Though I didn't get my story published, between Ren's suggestions, and the suggestions of a friend who is a professional writer, the story that came out was a lot better. I just need to get back to it.

Thank you!

wraith808 · « **Reply #28 on:** June 22, 2015, 12:14 AM »

Thread Arise!

In the spirit of continuing to push myself in writing, I submitted a game for Game Chef 2015.

https://www.cubbyusercontent.com/pl/Driven+to+Tears/_f1e784170e5e4f7988f41e7be1a5e9eb#Driven%20to%20Tears

It was last minute- I'd forgotten the date that the competition was supposed to start. But I think it's a good idea, and I'm going to continue to work on it. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be more than welcome!

wraith808 · « **Reply #29 on:** June 22, 2015, 07:16 PM »

Well, cubby seems to not be working for that link anymore, so here are two alternatives.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/57rg5cz91aoc0rs/AADMaT34rlBiWZDq1cqtD_GHa?dl=0

http://www.wraith808.com/cms/rpg/information/DriventoTears

And a brief introduction from the Foreword

Driven To Tears

“How can you say that you’re not responsible?
What does it have to do with me?”

I decided to enter Game Chef 2015- I’d heard about it in many contexts, but hadn’t ever happened to remember it at the time it started. It seemed like a good idea at the time, so I committed that I’d at least submit something. Then I forgot about the start date, and saw that I’d missed it with only a few days left. But I decided to try anyway, and read on…

Theme: A Different Audience
Ingredients: abandon, dragonfly, stillness, dream

I have a hard enough time coming up with ideas for … anything, truthfully. Then I saw those, and was disheartened. How could I come up with something in that short of a time.

“What is my reaction?
What should it be?
Confronted by this latest atrocity”

Then the event in Charleston happened. Shootings, in a church of all places- when those within were reaching out to one without- and the one responded with senseless violence. And thinking back on the helplessness and forlorn feelings of powerlessness in the face of so many tragedies, and not understanding how people could have a lack of empathy and understanding. And the idea for this entry was born.

Originally, I was going to use 3 out of the four ingredients- I really didn’t know how to integrate the Dragonfly. But then, talking with my wife, I was able to not only figure out it’s use- but that it would be the central part of the plot- the part to make it a story of hope, rather than one of despair.

mouser · « **Reply #30 on:** June 22, 2015, 08:57 PM »

I read through the "game rules" -- very interesting!! I didn't quite follow all of the resolution rules stuff, but I loved the idea of an AI being at the center of it.. So I take it this is kind of a role-playing game where the AI player makes up scenarios and guides play and decides subjectively how to tell and interesting story full of conflict? I think the subject matter of colonizatio and survival is a fascinating one for an RPG.

wraith808 · « **Reply #31 on:** June 22, 2015, 11:16 PM »

Quote from: mouser on June 22, 2015, 08:57 PM

I read through the "game rules" -- very interesting!! I didn't quite follow all of the resolution rules stuff, but I loved the idea of an AI being at the center of it.. So I take it this is kind of a role-playing game where the AI player makes up scenarios and guides play and decides subjectively how to tell and interesting story full of conflict? I think the subject matter of colonizatio and survival is a fascinating one for an RPG.

Thank you! Yes, the AI is sort of the GM of the scenario, and I chose to make it as far away from Earth as possible in order to allow people to explore interesting stories that would otherwise be a bit touchy. One of the ideas that I put in there that I love is the fact that the AI's decisions before the colonists get there might put them in a pickle, i.e. the ideal is no alternate intelligent life as a competitor to the biosphere... so the AI might have wiped the indigenous population out almost to extinction. Exploring what the leaders do when that is found out would be an interesting question.

The AI represents everything else outside of the colonists conflicts within their schism- so everything else in the biosphere. And the AI player does frame the scenarios- but the individual leaders set the resolution in order and decide whether to follow the idea that they want a functioning colony- or to grab for their own power even at the expense of the colony's well being.

And yes, I know I need more examples and refinement. I wish I'd had more time before the actual deadline, but after the competition is over, I plan to refine it- I'm really enamored of the idea, and the kinds of stories that can be told within that framework.

bit · « **Reply #32 on:** June 25, 2015, 02:49 AM »

quote: Now... time to drop the gears into grammar Nazi mode!

Terms of engearment.

http://tvtropes.org/ is useful & entertaining.
For instance: Rule of Cool

Quote from: Stephen66515 on August 29, 2014, 01:44 PM

Let's put this through the "Ren Test"

Here is a short section from a book I am writing, which I would love to get some opinions on

^I had no idea Renegade was such a 'word Samurai'.

Not that I'm any judge, but don't stop writing.
The more you write, the better you get, pure and simple.

bit · « **Reply #33 on:** June 25, 2015, 10:11 PM »

"Stand behind your work. Take into consideration people's criticism, but don't allow negative comments to bring you down, and make you doubt your abilities. If you have something to say, or a story to tell, just tell it. You can't please everyone, so if you feel good about it, then it's perfect." - Alena Parker

bit · « **Reply #34 on:** June 27, 2015, 02:32 PM »

I'm not knocking the 'Ren test' at all and think it's way cool.

Bad punctuation is to be avoided at all costs.

On the comic relief side, may I offer Victor Borge's Phonetic Punctuation.

Personally, in pursuit of better writing, I would like to offer a method which I call simply 'headphone review'; play back what you've written paragraph by paragraph in text-to-speech on headphones or speakers, and see how it sounds.
As a general rule, if it plays well, it will read well.

I've caught more bad writing and typos that way.

I've become something of a 'minimalist' writer myself.
Whatever seems obvious or redundant, I try to weed it out.
For instance; 'He was wearing a black colored tee-shirt.'
Revised; 'He wore a black tee-shirt' ('colored' is self-evident and redundant).

And I've begun shying away from time-related words, such as now, suddenly, then, and so on.
The text just seems so much cleaner and clearer without them.

BTW, in compositional mode I write 'normally' with multi-sentence paragraphs, but when posting to DC, I prefer one sentence per line b/c it helps me with clearer thinking.
I'm also something of a compulsive reediting fanatic with my DC posts.
In lieu of a 'signature' my posts always seem to say 'Last Edit:' at the bottom.

wraith808 · « **Reply #35 on:** June 27, 2015, 04:09 PM »

It's not in all reality a 'test'. That was just a joke. It's actually professional level editing for free, and not just of grammar or spelling, but of the actual structure of the piece. And if you're planning to do something with your writing, it's worth its weight in gold. Once you submit your writing- to a publisher, a contest, or even on your blog- that editing is going to make all the difference.

bit · « **Reply #36 on:** June 30, 2015, 04:21 AM »

^Like a 'book doctor'? For free? Wow, that's very commendable and unusual.
Usually people charge considerably for that kind of thing.

I couldn't decide whether to comment in this or mouser's Be prepared against ransomware viruses... thread, and decided this post is more a literary than a technical observation.
Ransomware viruses remind me of an AI form of the movies Black Widow and Praying Mantis (1993); the virus enters the computer's domain under the guise of romance, enchants the victim, then turns serial killer extorting for money.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #37 on:** July 07, 2015, 02:14 AM »

I've continued to write, since authoring Kyrathaba Rising in 2013. Three more books, each under a different pseudonym. My average income from Kindle/Audible over the past six months is about $115 per month. So it's fun-money. I play with it.

I cash in a lot better on proofreading/rewriting. Of course, I've been cultivating connections with authors via FB, G+, and LinkedIn for a couple years, now.

Nothing in the works right now, so if anyone has a co-authorship idea or some group writing project, I'd like to hear about it.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #38 on:** July 07, 2015, 02:18 AM »

Here's a little script that'll run in the background and correct up to 4500 common mistakes, AS YOU MAKE THEM, in whatever editor you're typing...

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #39 on:** July 07, 2015, 02:30 AM »

I broadly agree on the problems of redundancy, but it might be a little different about visual ones such as "black colored shirt", because sometimes that can give a listener a useful added second to process the visual cue.

I also wonder how you can completely remove "suddenly" if that's an aspect of the story. You're reading this post, when

BOO!!!!! I PUT A SPELL ON YOU! AND NOW YOU'RE MINE!!

Suddenly Bette Midler appears!

mouser · « **Reply #40 on:** July 07, 2015, 05:42 AM »

kyrathaba, can you tell us more about Spunky exe? Did you write it yourself, or find it? Is there a web page for it or a video? More information on what it does, etc.?

mouser · « **Reply #41 on:** July 07, 2015, 06:38 AM »

Quote

Three more books, each under a different pseudonym.

how fascinating!!! can you tell us more about the books and why use a different pseudonym for each? I would have thought it would be beneficial to establish a name..

bit · « **Reply #42 on:** July 07, 2015, 08:54 AM »

Quote from: mouser on July 07, 2015, 06:38 AM

Quote
Three more books, each under a different pseudonym.
how fascinating!!! can you tell us more about the books and why use a different pseudonym for each? I would have thought it would be beneficial to establish a name..

^Agreed and curious; one would think it extremely valuable to establish a name and go with it.

Here is some info on how to set up pen names at Amazon.com, which is most interesting.

I cannot reveal the name of my co-author, which prevents me from revealing my own name.
In setting up co-authorship at Amazon Kindle, I found out they will only pay royalties into one bank account, not two, so suitable arrangements must be made to accommodate this limitation somehow.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #43 on:** July 07, 2015, 11:10 AM »

Quote

kyrathaba, can you tell us more about Spunky exe? Did you write it yourself, or find it? Is there a web page for it or a video? More information on what it does, etc.?

It's an AHK script I wrote that incorporates some of the AutoCorrect.ahk script and has some additions of my own. Basically, it uses hotstrings and replaces some errors "on the fly" -- mainly misspellings.

The pseudonym choice for the other three books was due to concerns that family members would identify some themes/characters as being reflections of themselves, if they knew I was the author

Branding is important, but after two years of dipping my toes in this writing industry, I think the majority of Kindle authors are posers, exaggerating their reported sales, etc.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #44 on:** July 07, 2015, 11:16 AM »

Quote

I did find that I liked a vintage version of MS Word for final setup of hypertext chapters and so on, for just before uploading to Amazon's Kindle Author Central, but just prefer O.O. 1.1.4 for daily use.

I'm with you, bit. I use Writer for all my document needs, both writing and proofreading.

bit · « **Reply #45 on:** July 11, 2015, 03:48 AM »

^Awesome! Keep writing your apps & great literature!

bit · « **Reply #46 on:** July 14, 2015, 06:47 AM »

Quote from: kyrathaba on July 07, 2015, 11:10 AM

Quote
kyrathaba, can you tell us more about Spunky exe? Did you write it yourself, or find it? Is there a web page for it or a video? More information on what it does, etc.?

It's an AHK script I wrote that incorporates some of the AutoCorrect.ahk script and has some additions of my own. Basically, it uses hotstrings and replaces some errors "on the fly" -- mainly misspellings.

The pseudonym choice for the other three books was due to concerns that family members would identify some themes/characters as being reflections of themselves, if they knew I was the author

Branding is important, but after two years of dipping my toes in this writing industry, I think the majority of Kindle authors are posers, exaggerating their reported sales, etc.

Oh yeah, hey, that's one of the best ways to create realistic characters with good back stories; name them all after your closest friends, relatives, and neighbors, work up a good narrative, and then forget to change out the names for fictional ones just before publishing.

jk

kyrathaba · « **Reply #47 on:** July 24, 2018, 02:50 PM »

I have a Pandoc question. I'm wanting to produce some documentation in epub format. There are some listings of C# code, and I want to show line numbering in those code listings. Anyone know how this is done?

wraith808 · « **Reply #48 on:** July 24, 2018, 03:32 PM »

Quote from: kyrathaba on July 24, 2018, 02:50 PM

I have a Pandoc question. I'm wanting to produce some documentation in epub format. There are some listings of C# code, and I want to show line numbering in those code listings. Anyone know how this is done?

You're trying to post here with line numbers? Is that the question? I'm just not sure...

kyrathaba · « **Reply #49 on:** July 24, 2018, 03:36 PM »

No, I'm generating an epub with Pandoc. It highlights code listings appropriately but it doesn't show line numbers in the code listings of the produced epub. Wondering if there's a way to do that.