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I'm working on an entry for Season Four of the Grey Rooms podcast (if anyone's familiar with it). Any review thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I'm so familiar with these characters from other writing that I have a tendency to forget details that a new reader wouldn't know. I need some fresh eyes.
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| Help! I just realized that I hate my main character! [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] |
| Is the Character Gauntlet something you (we) can still do without the activity being open? |
Schnujo's Doing NaNoWriMo?  I don't see why not! I will have to sift through seven-or-so year of emails, but I think I should still have the prompts in there somewhere. If I remember correctly, it was a daily writing activity that ran anywhere from two weeks to 20 days, and it had daily writing prompts that really put your character through the wringer. I can't remember all of them, but here were some interesting ones: Prompt: Introduce your character from a complete stranger's point of view. Prompt: Write a scene in which your character's presence can be felt, even though your character is not part of the scene. Prompt: Make your character face his greatest fear. Prompt: Kill your character. Prompt: Put your character in a no-win situation. Prompt: Give your character everything he ever wanted. Prompt: Okay, now take it away. Prompt: Your character falls in love. Prompt: Write a scene that shows your character's relationship to government/authority. Prompt: Your character is betrayed by the person he trusts the most. Go. (And many more.) Sometimes the prompts would tack on challenges like...  ...All in dialogue. ...With no dialogue. ...(Various other things.) It was a fast-paced, daily challenge. I arrived a few rounds before the member who ran it retired from the site. I managed to put two characters through it, though, and I knew and loved them both when I was finished. The prompts changed every round, though. Some of the ones above were staples, which might be why I remember them. The prompts, in addition to being challenging, help you understand what your character values, fears, and wants. They let you know how other people see the character, and how he/she responds to both great gain and loss. Depending on what sort of story you were writing (and what you wanted to learn about your character), you could probably craft your own Gauntlet and then put your characters through it. |
| So, I needed to check a few basic facts and refresh my memory on some of the generally accepted studies regarding the identities of Satan and Lucifer, since I'm using that to inform my character development in one of my stories. I did what I often do when I need a refresher: I went to Wikipedia. Oh. My. Word. The demonology, Satan, devil, demon and Lucifer pages are completely useless. Poorly written, poorly researched, poorly cited or cited only from Bible passages. The worst of it is citing a Bible passage and interpreting it in plain English without reference at all to the original Greek or Hebrew, which is actually in question among theologians and anthropologists who study the Bible. I have a feeling one of my next writing projects is going to be organizing and writing a proper Wikipedia page for Lucifer, even if it's just for my own reference because this is ridiculous. |
BradJShaw ⚓   I appreciate the link! I'll check it out. What I was looking for was which names are linked to which traditions, so just a list of names won't help much. I tend to weave a lot of theology into my writing, especially when I'm using Biblical characters and concepts. |
| Then you need to check more than just Christian & Jewish theologies, because ALL world religions have a "good & evil" |
| BradJShaw ⚓ If I include all concepts of good and evil in this story, I'll combust. I have to limit my sources for my own sanity. That said, I study religion and mythology with an academic eye. I hoard academic papers on world religions and my husband is ready to just move all my books into a single room to keep them from taking over the bedroom. I'm aware of how many different concepts of good and evil exist. :) |
I've added a few short stories surrounding the Primal Lords. Both stories take place after the "Anarchy's Rose" novella, which I still haven't published. |
| I have written very few poems in my writing life. Generally, I'm not good with poetry. I have been known to say that I out-right hate it. Occasionally--very occasionally--I'll find some I like. Several years ago, I took an online writing class which included a poetry unit. Getting me to write poetry for that class was like pulling teeth and only my aunt managed to actually coax anything decent out of me. So, for your reading pleasure, here's the only poem I've ever written that I'm actually proud of.
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| I have a new personal challenge. Short fiction that fits inside a 20,000 character limit. My best friend is in prison. He's bored. I need to fix this. |
Just finished posting a new short story for the No-Dialogue Contest!
Any reviews or comments would be greatly appreciated. |
I've updated an item in my portfolio:
I sent it through the Grammarly gauntlet and I'm pleased with the results. Reviews are always welcome. |
Grammarly is my friend.  |
| I As creative people, we use the language in ways that no softbot can manage. A business app is bound to be a little bit tone-deaf about connotation and a little bit hidebound about sentence structure. Don't let the G dictate your style or pick synonyms for you. The last thing I would want in one of my manuscripts is any ghostly co-authorship by a couple of Ukranians coding in a language optimized for AI. I'm about NI, myself. And don't get me started on the obvious potential pitfalls of a "plagiarism checker". |
| Mine too, in a way! And only the very basic form since I sometimes type the same word twice or do careless mistakes. Other than that, I don't use it for actual proofing or grammar info since it sometimes doesn't understand what I am doing. For example, it tries to undo the WdC's coding. We need to be careful with it. |
Joy  That's been my experience so far, too. I just went ahead and upgraded to premium because there are a lot of basic readability issues in my writing sometimes. I write the way I think and that doesn't always make sense to someone else. XD It's a great starting point, though. |
I've updated an item in my portfolio:
I'm still offering gp rewards for reviews on this one. It's due for the "Musicology Anthology"  at the end of July, so any and all help is greatly appreciated. I need help checking for clarity, continuity, and character development. |
| I wonder how many people will disown me if I write a novella in which Jesus is the naturally-occurring offspring of an angel who God elevates in heavenly society because he just liked the kid. |
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