The Overlook Hotel

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3:54 PM

Q: Asking questions in the middle of a narrative

I'm writing a short story. And I realized the opening is filled with question marks: Ming was disturbed by the faint sound of a piano. He put down his guitar tuner and glanced at the clock. 12:01. Isn't a little late for practicing? Curious, he pressed his ear against the wall. The song w...

KitFox

I added some room owners, then I've realized that this isn't actually my room, so sorry Writer's mods if I stepped on your toes.

It's noon, and I'm starting the writing exercise now.

meer2kat

@KitFox the one from yesterday?

KitFox

4:10 PM

Yes. Here is mine.

Now to read the others.

meer2kat

Darn, it's blocked at my workplace so I can't read yours. :(

KitFox

You can't read Wordpress at your workplace?

meer2kat

nope

KitFox

We both used the name Maria. I didn't read any of the others before i wrote mine.

meer2kat

@KitFox Were the stories similar? That's strange haha :)

KitFox

4:21 PM

No, mine was church-based.

meer2kat

Oh that's cool (maybe? guess it depends haha!)

2 hours later…

Matt Эллен

6:12 PM

@KitFox creepy. I wonder what's about to happen

KitFox

Really? Creepy? Neat.

Matt Эллен

Yeah. It feels like it's building up to a jump scare or something

KitFox

Boo!

Matt Эллен

jumps

KitFox

I was thinking that she was either a demon or an angel.

I like it enough that I might expand on the idea.

Matt Эллен

6:26 PM

Cool. do it

KitFox

It's this thought: back in the day when we still fought to win souls.

What happens when the preaching is done, and the war is fought and the souls are divided up?

Matt Эллен

ah! I thought maybe she was a priest or something

@KitFox oooo

KitFox

I had this notion of recruiting souls for Armageddon, and then when the war goes from years to decades to eons, eventually you just take whoever is still willing to fight.

Stop worrying about the qualifications.

Start worrying about when it will ever end.

Matt Эллен

I like it. would you go into the back story?

KitFox

I'm not sure. I hadn't thought it through too much. I think it would be basically a story from the trenches.

In that way, it becomes an allegory about the slide from idealism into pragmatism.

Matt Эллен

6:33 PM

I see

KitFox

In the bit that I wrote, there is a parallel between the church and the candle, and the feeling was that her reflection on the idealism of the past (winning souls) re-ignites the memory of the passion that she used to feel about the war.

Which is symbolized by her lighting the candle in prayer.

Remembering the power of what used to be.

Matt Эллен

Oh! I thought she'd put it in the ground and was about to burn down the church.

I totally misread that bit

KitFox

But of course, all that is in my head. You can't see that because I wrote it in ten minutes.

Matt Эллен

KitFox

And it probably seemed that way because I was debating having her burn down the church.

I couldn't decide which side she was on or if it mattered.

Matt Эллен

6:36 PM

KitFox

I thought yours was creative. I thought the captives were mice.

Matt Эллен

They were meant to be people, but the central character had treated them like mice

were he a cat

KitFox

See? Brits do know how to use the subjunctive.

Matt Эллен

I learned it from Americans.

KitFox

I think I will make a cup of tea before I give my webinar this afternoon. I can't decide between lapsang souchong and jasmine though.

Matt Эллен

6:42 PM

Jasmine sound refreshing

I don't think I've had it

KitFox

It's jasmine blended with green tea. It reminds me of sitting in the garden at night with the girl I had a crush on in college. It's very soothing.

Matt Эллен

awww

KitFox

I know, I'm so adorable, aren't I?

Matt Эллен

yes :D

KitFox

Did you notice that you are italicized, by the way?

meer2kat

6:47 PM

eek i keep coming back to this room and get spoilers from your story since i haven't read it yet. i need to stay out of here!

Matt Эллен

oh! I'm an owner :O

when did that happen?

KitFox

A few hours ago, after I read the transcript.

Matt Эллен

KitFox

It might get reversed by the local governance.

I wasn't thinking when I did it, but it's not my jurisdiction.

Matt Эллен

true, true

KitFox

6:49 PM

I anointed a few others who I know and trust as well.

Matt Эллен

good good

Stack Exchange

7:09 PM

Q: How to weave the world's socio-political state into a story?

So I am working on my book and in my head the socio-political structure of the world is very important to demonstrate to the readers. I feel like not sharing it ends up presenting my characters (fish) without a framework to live in (fishbowl). So how do I make sure that reader understands the f...

technique narrative

Stack Exchange

7:21 PM

Q: Does anyone know where this is from?

I hope Im asking in the right forum... Does anyone know where this is taken from? ''Out of the infinitely large number of worlds and possible scenarios, this was the one chosen for them, by the random yet definitive hand of nature itself; It was the end. They knew it, they both knew it.....he...

creative-writing

3 hours later…

Stack Exchange

10:10 PM

Q: “Personalities” or traits of the seasons

I am writing an essay for "A Man for All Seasons," and I want to find some ways that the seasons could be personified. For example, I believe that winter could be portrayed as harsh or brusque, and spring could be happy and light. Are there any more descriptive personifications for each of the se...