The Solamar Saga

genx_xslacker
For everyone born between 1965 and 1976, your commnunity is here.

localgrr
The home of Local Girl's Day in Pictures.

oh_my_tatt
A place for showing off and discussing tattoos.

Cries forever and ever.

Hey, I just joined, and I'd really like to get some critiques of my works. I also post over on IndyFluency, so if any of you folks are members there you may be familiar with me.

Anyhow, this is a piece I wrote after a break up with my lady friend that ended a lot better than I thought it would. It's not really about that, but that was the situation under which it occurred. It is micro-fiction bordering on macro at 950~ or so words, if I remember right. It's a decently short piece is what I mean. Just a story.

housematehorror
Horror stories from the world of shared living spaces. EEK!

Many writer's are simply free writing, edge of the seat, writers. However, there are a few writer's out there who like to outline things before they start writing. While I free write, I do make notes here and there. Very unorganized notes. If my notes were to become a little more organized, I think my writing would improve drastically.

So I come here today to ask you this:

What outlines, spreadsheets, and maps do you all use? There are so many different types. Character outlines, story line outlines, etc. What works best for you? 

I'm being rather curious, but I think in the long run this may help me out. Please feel free to make a few suggestions as far as 'resources' go! Thanks! 
 

...was made of fail. But part of it turned out to be a good thing. I went out of town with my sister to a city called Sioux City which is on the Missouri River (and about an hour's drive from where I live). Everything (almost) that I wanted to go there for I didn't get. Because they didn't HAVE it.

My list consisted of Blue Wilderness (high protein, low carb) dog food because my Innova EVO (grainless) hadn't come yet and I was going to be out after Sunday, Pro Plan for Hershey cause the EVO doesn't work out for him (he has diarrhea), graphics card for the computer and a guide for Pokemon Diamond.

First stop was Petsmart and I really wasn't expecting the Blue Wilderness to be there for the sole fact they've been out every other time I had gone there to get it. Well they actually had it this time so I bought the smallest bag possible and also a bag of the Pro Plan for sensitive skin and stomach because Hershey does pretty well on it (has no corn which he has a reaction to and he also can't have anything with lamb in it). My sister and two nieces went to Gordman's while I was there, to go clothes shopping for school which is why they came along.

Then it was off to Michael's because Pennie (sister) wanted cake decorating stuff so I went off to get some more Micron pens because they don't really last that long and I also got a Prismacolor colorless blender 'cause I can never have too many of those. I also got a how-to book on drawing dragons because I absolutely suck at dragons. I wasn't even thinking about art supplies when we came here so this doesn't count ;P

Then Best Buy. Didn't have a single card I could get for my computer, or so I thought. Every card there had a minimum 300w power supply or higher requirement and I had thought mine was 250w because that's what I gathered from the website on its specifications. According to one of my gamer friends, it actually IS 300 but he found me a card for $44 off newegg.com so he saved me a lot of money considering the cheapest card at Best Buy was $99. So I also bought a 1GB memory card, total cost including shipping turned out to be $78 and they will be arriving here tomorrow.

After that we were off to the mall. Ate then stopped at Software Etc. to get my guide which they didn't have (and I didn't think to look at Best Buy and I bet there was one there). More kiddie shopping at JCPenney then went to Victoria's Secret where I bought a bra. Then I went to Hot Topic and got a few things there...a HIM shirt with the heartagram (that I'm making sure my grandmother never sees), red eyeshadow that I can't find locally, a spiked collar (yes, a spiked collar) and a studded wristband. I am slowly on my way to looking the stereotypical Goth...mwahahaha. I am reluctant to give up the blue jeans which I may never do so I'll make up my own subgenre of Goth: the blue jean Goth *snicker* Okay, so maybe when I get down to my ideal weight I'll try out black pants and skirts and such but for now we're sticking with the denim.

Let's see, what else. Oh well we went to Barnes & Noble and I almost bought a couple books. One was the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe and the other was Grimm's fairy tales but I decided not to at this time since they'd just be sitting around. I have other stuff to read first and I'm sure they'll be there for quite awhile. Found the art section (that I was kinda looking for) near the checkout isle when my sister was checking out so I didn't hang around there for long. Shoulda bought a couple how-tos on Manga/Anime but I didn't. I will next time OR I will order online but with books, I kind of like to look through them first before I decide to buy unless it's a book I definitely want.

So that was my "fun-filled" Sunday. And now it's time for bed and PLEASE PLEASE can I not dream about Bill again? I hate it and I don't know why I'm doing it. I can has different dream?

dwseason4
A journal where the alternative fourth season of the TV show Doctor Who is being written.

lol_comics
Keep youself smiling at the little things with some funny comics.

bikes
A community for everyone who loves bicycles, motorbikes, and more.

( Today's topic is: )

( Aborigian )

( African )

( Afrikaans )

( Akan )

( Akkadian )

( Albanian )

( Algonquian )

( Ancient Chinese )

( Ancient Egyptian )

( Ancient Greek )

( Ancient Indian )

( Ancient Japanese )

( Ancient Mexican )

( Ancient Middle Greek )

( Anglo-Norman French )

( Anglo-Saxon )

Got the computer yesterday and took the case off this morning thinking I could put my graphics card in it but there was one thing which didn't cross my mind. Most, if not all, computers nowadays are manufactured with PCI-Express slots. My HP is old enough that it has the older version (VGA?) so of course that mean I cannot put it in and the stupid computer has an Intel chip that is completely incompatible with Horizons (the game I needed a computer with XP for). So I guess what that means is I'm going to go to Best Buy tomorrow when I go out of town with my sister and get a new card. The memory in the HP is also not compatible but I think I can live with 1GB for now, although there is a 1GB memory card of the kind I need at Best Buy for 30 bucks. The graphics card will cost 80. My DVD-RW drive will fit, I just got to figure out how I got the stupid thing in there in the first place so I can take it back out.

WoW has been installing all day, makes me wish I bought the retail version so I don't have to wait for it to finish. It's still got a bit over an hour to go (it fluctuates between 70 some minutes and two hours so who knows how long it will really be) then I get to install the expansion (which I DO have discs for) then install the patches...yay me! /sarcasm

THEN I get to do the same thing all over again with Horizons. I'm sure there's an easier way to do this but obviously I'm not computer savvy enough to know how. But hey...I can probably put together a whole computer from scratch by now.

Greetings shiny new member here and for my inaugural post let me just say that it's very awesome to have found a writing community that also seems to focus on the discussion of writing rather than solely people posting their work. And so in celebration of this I give you one of the most recent things I've written and a query.

First a summary, I suppose.

Art may be food for the soul, but to feed their bodies, a group of artists, writers, and musicians ally themselves with a man named Christophe. Christophe leads them far from the bright innocence they began with, keeping them firmly under his thumb and forcing them to mix their art with hard drugs and shady dealings--and not in the Oscar Wilde way. Four years after first meeting Christophe and falling prey to his wiles, Armand, the hypothetical leader of this group, wakes to rainfall, piano music, and disaster.

This may or may not be an excuse to write purplish-prose in present tense. Warnings include implied drug use, vague m/m relationships, and the afore mentioned purple-tinted writing style. This has been unbeta'd, so if you notice anything that needs fixing from grammar to syntax to style to flow, don't hesitate to let me know. There is a prologue, but I don't think it's necessary to have read it. This is 1,121 words

Rhapsody in Red
( Exposition - The first section of a movement written in sonata form, introducing the melodies and themes. )
And now the query.

Every time I get to at least the second chapter of something, the doubt starts to set in. Will anyone like it? Is the plot too fantastic? Should I simplify? Would that cheapen it? Will anyone understand if I don't? Will it still be interesting if I do? Does it even make any sense? Is anyone going to call me on my BS?

It's not as bad with this one as with some of my other pieces, but still. My plots tend to be a bit on the wild side. Part of me still hasn't outgrown the phase where you want to put a dragon in EVERYTHING even if it makes absolutely no sense (no, that does not mean there will be a dragon in this).

So, what do you guys think? Is there ever a point where you begin to second guess yourself? What do you do when that happens?

Poll #1212830 My knowledge is awsum.
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

I'm thinking of putting my collection of different languages into tagged entries on my LJ, would you be interested if I did?

I'm thinking of putting my collection of different mythologies into tagged entries on my LJ, would you be interested if I did?