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5:03 PM
@Mussri @DForck Hullo, coming?
@Mr.Shiny is not here.
Hmm, who else usually comes?
@Gigili sometimes joins us.
 
KitFox has added an event to this room's schedule.
KitFox has added an event to this room's schedule.
KitFox has removed an event from this room's schedule.
KitFox has added an event to this room's schedule.
 
hmmm. I have nothing to report story-wise. I drew a balrog.
I think I've got an idea how to finish off the Harold and Maude story, but I still need to tidy up the last installment
 
Hmm. I think I got confused about UTC. What time is it there?
 
brb
 
5:09 PM
KitFox has removed an event from this room's schedule.
 
which is 17:00 GMT
 
KitFox has added an event to this room's schedule.
 
Frig.
Of course.
 
KitFox has removed an event from this room's schedule.
KitFox has added an event to this room's schedule.
 
OK, I think I've got it now.
 
5:11 PM
yay!
 
That took much longer than necessary.
I haven't done too much on the story either. I have an idea of what I want to do, but I haven't had a chance to sit down and do it.
I have it open right now to do it, but I was planning on taking a shower first.
 
groovy
 
Where did all our business go?
 
hello!!!!!
 
Hi @DForck!
@Nathan might like to join us too.
You guys talk amongst yourselves. I'll be back in ten or so.
 
5:15 PM
how's your story coming @DForck42?
 
@MattЭллен the odd neighbors one? mine's done
you?
 
well, I need to clean up part two and write part three
brb
hi @ΜετάEd did you partake in the exercise?
how did you find writing the third part @DForck42?
 
@MattЭллен not too terribly difficult
i ended up missing the first week, so i was able to jump in the second week, and had an idea to bring it all together in the end, so the third was just tieing up everything (at least in my brain)
 
nice. did you feel like you got to know your characters?
 
@MattЭллен like the previous one, i took a little bit of inspiration from real life
so in my head i had an ok idea of how they acted. not sure how well i was able to differentiate them int he wriitng though
 
5:30 PM
@MattЭллен The odd neighbor exercise?
That one I missed. I was thinking today would be flash fic, but apparently that was last week.
 
@ΜετάEd last week was cancelled
"In the 8/28/2012 chat, we will write some microfiction during the chat session for fun and practice! Bring ideas, and a link to your blog or favorite pastebin so you can share your stuff!

(NB: the 8/21/2012 chat was cancelled)
"
 
yeah, we can do micro fiction this week. maybe we should wait for kit to get back
but, back to the other exercise
 
@MattЭллен Carry on! I'm up for flash fic if we get to it.
 
@DForck42 - I can tell the difference between Bill and Loren, so that's good.
 
@MattЭллен yay!
 
5:39 PM
Please don't wait for me. Go right ahead.
 
@MattЭллен what'd you thing of the twist at the ending? Was it obvious, did you catch it at all?
 
Oh, that was a twist?
 
@KitFox well. dunno if twist is the right word
 
It was pretty predictable that it was some sort of sex thing.
A twist would have been if it was a professionally framed Monet or something.
 
@DForck42 well, you didn't give any clues to what it could be, so it was a surprise. That couple must go through a tonne of lube with one of those!
 
5:43 PM
@KitFox ahh
 
I just can't imagine what else could be so embarrassing that one partner didn't want to talk about it.
 
It would have been twistier if Loren had said "It was a sex swing..." and then Bill had said "You mean, like the one we have?"
"Yeah, but theirs was red."
Or something.
Embarrassed by neighbors' sex gear is not really a surprise.
Embarrassed by neighbors' sex gear because it is nicer than yours, now that's a surprise.
What do you think? Am I way off base?
Maybe I am just too used to that sort of thing.
 
Personally, I wouldn't find it shocking at all. I'd probably want to see how it was rigged.
 
5:49 PM
I did think the "sex machine" was a more normal thing to be surprised about
 
:-D
is anyone else's done that i can read?
 
@KitFox I remember the first time that happened.
I asked why they had big eyebolts screwed into the bedframe.
 
I remember the first time I stumbled upon my mom's sex gear.
 
After that, nothing surprised me.
 
covers head, shivers
 
5:52 PM
i haven't had any experiences like that so...
 
nor have I :D
not in the flesh, anyway
 
Really? Well, my point is not that it isn't surprising, but that it isn't a surprise that it's surprising.
So it doesn't make for a very good twist.
 
But that's OK if you're not going for a surprise ending.
 
ehh, i was wanting to play with people pre-concieved notions more about the two main characters. was loren a guy or girl to you?
 
5:57 PM
Um, I didn't really think about it.
 
ok
anyway, are we doing the micro fiction thing?
 
So were you trying to make that character ambiguously gendered?
Let me read it again.
 
@KitFox When my sister and I cleaned the house out after mom's death, we found ... nothing. Which was a bit of a relief.
 
@KitFox yes. kinda wanted to make it where you filled in the spot with what you thought, and then challenge what you thought later on by telling you (indirectly) they're a gay couple.
it probably all works better in my head than how i wrote it, i woulnd't be surprised
 
Well, I noticed the neighbors were gay.
 
6:02 PM
yeah, i don't think i played it up enough.
 
Well, so they all live in a gay commune or something?
Is that what you meant by "the community"?
 
@KitFox yes
 
I see.
@ΜετάEd Yeah, well, it was just a vibrator, but it was while we were moving stuff out of her bedroom to renovate it. She claimed it was "you know, a massager..." I spoke not a word of it.
 
@KitFox lmao!
 
@KitFox Ah. I remember helping to move my stepdaughter out of her apartment and finding her vibrator. With her brother. We gave it a name.
 
6:05 PM
Hahaha.
Hadn't she already named it?
I understand women like to do such things.
 
@KitFox You think we were going to ask?
 
What did you name it?
 
And we made a little tableau with it.
 
Are you kidding?
 
I don't remember now what we called it. But we were impressed.
 
6:07 PM
Was it a King Dong or something?
A purple jackrabbit?
12 inch black mamba?
 
You could tell me anything. I think it was bright red.
 
Ah.
Corvette.
Well, if it was truly impressive, chance are it was just for show...
Unless it was a nexus, of course. Then she's got some well-worn friends.
At least, I think the reds are the fatties.
 
@KitFox It was hiding in a drawer.
 
this chat session took such an interesting turn... :-D
 
@ΜετάEd For show to certain audiences.
 
6:09 PM
OK, I've fixed up part 2.
 
@KitFox That, sure.
But I didn't ask.
Just made a diorama out of it.
 
@DForck42 Well, here is a good point, though. In order to really write well, you need details.
@ΜετάEd Did she say anything about it?
 
@KitFox Her complexion closely approximated the vibrator, actually.
I mean when she saw it.
Not all the time.
 
Hahahaha. Poor thing. How old was she then?
 
6:12 PM
@KitFox yup. i'll just write this one off as trying somethign different and failing. onto the next one
 
@MattЭллен I haven't finished yet, but the first part reads much better.
@DForck42 There is no failing in writing. You've explored something. I think you could improve it if you had a better understanding of your subject matter.
 
@KitFox probably.
 
@MattЭллен Oh yes, I see a lot of improvement in the flow of the narrative. The conversation seems much more American too. And I really felt the confusion tactic that Molly was using.
You still have "on holiday" though. That's very unAmerican.
 
@KitFox yup
 
@KitFox d'oh, I missed that bit
 
6:16 PM
We vacationed.
Making it a verb is so very redneck.
 
done
@KitFox indeed, my spell checker doesn't like it!
 
@MattЭллен Nice. But you missed an "I."
 
"flora shawl" should that be floral?
 
Is this going to tie into the story about the pillars?
And the one with the girl with the box?
 
@KitFox ta
@KitFox hmmmmm. probably not
 
6:22 PM
Please? Will you put them all into a novel?
 
@DForck42 ah! thanks.
@KitFox but they're not even in the same universe. one's a dream sequence!
well, I suppose a dream sequence can fit in any universe
 
@MattЭллен Wait, what?
 
But, a dream sequence is usually symbolic of something, and it can only fit into the universe it's symbolic of
 
But...but...
Hi @Nathan.
 
HI @KitFox :)
 
6:26 PM
Have you got any writing you'd like to share?
 
No, but
I have a clear idea for some that I can likely sneeze out
 
Oh, before we lose @ΜετάEd to boredom...flash fiction.
 
The words are easy for me
heh
 
oh, so you'll play our microfiction game!
 
Its the ideas that are worth sneezing over that aren't
 
6:27 PM
Do you all want to do some splash writes? Or should we have an assignment for flash fiction for next time?
 
Sure, that sounds fun while I'm taking a break
 
OK. We'll have ten minutes to write on a topic.
 
I do, if I understand your meaning.
Okay. Go?
 
@Matt you pick our topic first.
Everybody ready on their blogs/pasters?
 
@NathanC.Tresch right, the Box story Kit's referring to is me exploring my subconscious and it relates how I was feeling about the relationship I was in at the time.
 
6:28 PM
Yeah I can write it in textmate
 
@MattЭллен gasp
 
Since my blog isn't ready, I'll suffer with it for now
 
@KitFox I pick....
 
OMG that makes so much sense!
 
@MattЭллен how interesting that you're so willing to bare your soul like that
 
6:29 PM
walking to and possibly riding on the subway
 
THat's the topic?
 
yes. 300 words max
 
er
I'll try
 
Finish at X:40.
 
I dont think I even managed 300 words
 
I've no idea
 
I'm out of practice
 
but that was the max anyway
 
6:43 PM
it's 10 to 300 words
so if you wrote more than ten you're good
 
I wrote the start of something that I didn't think was ready to come out yet
:)
 
@MattЭллен I think I would like that even more if I knew about the Flower Pot Men.
Weeeeed.
 
thanks :D
 
6:47 PM
My blog is still ugly
That's the first content I've added since I put it back up, and I haven't yet imported any of the old content
It was very fun and my brain feels far more limber, so I thank you both very very much
weeeeeeeeeeed
THat made me laugh, @MattЭллен
As usual, mine is first person
 
@DForck @ΜετάEd Were you with us on this exercise?
 
And my narrator, although being quite reliable this go round, isn't in general reliable at all. That's the start to the new idea I had
 
Oop. There he goes.
 
It just sort of came out
 
Yeah, they do that.
 
6:50 PM
Yeah, I'm aware, I just didnt expect a freight train
I expected a trickjle
Trickle
I'm quite happy with Drupal over wordpress, being a technical sort
I have to go code some more for my corporate masters soon, but I feel better prepared now, my brain really does feel more limber
 
I rather liked Alma. I wanted to keep going. I didn't notice the time.
Weeeed.
 
Yeah, that was clearly a longer measure which I got a snippet of, @KitFox
 
@KitFox intriguing. yeah, certainly a relatable character. I like the descriptions too
 
@MattЭллен, please don't be so self depricating, I'm a little envious
 
I keep giving my women A names.
 
6:53 PM
;)
 
@NathanC.Tresch how do you mean?
 
I'm of course referring to your title
 
The title of your blog
 
well, I'd be too embarrassed otherwise
 
6:53 PM
And the envy, well, you put out somehting that made me laugh
 
good :D
 
In 10 minutes
 
Oh you should read his stuff.
 
I plan on it
 
Matt's very funny and surreal.
Well, his writing is anyway.
 
6:54 PM
Whereas I'm very serious and stodgy
 
I haven't enough information to judge that for myself.
 
I don't mind, I rather like the heavy feeling I give to most of my stuff
 
@NathanC.Tresch I like yours. I got a bit confused towards the end as I couldn't tell who was talking at points. Seems like the beginnings of a good detective story.
 
@NathanC.Tresch You have more of a novel in mind, I think.
 
Yeah, @MattЭллен, that's what it was
mmhm
Well, no.
I have to flesh out the guy.
 
6:55 PM
yeah, 300 words isn't a lot to work with
 
I need to write more short stories with him as the main character, I think, thats usually how I develop my unreliable protagonists
I let them tell their stories
 
@MattЭллен I think for the free write, we shouldn't have a limit.
 
He is certainly the same character that appears in my longer stories
 
@KitFox you mean the other stuff we do?
 
Yes, I might sneeze one of these times
 
6:56 PM
@MattЭллен No, I mean for the ten minute writes.
 
And end up with more
 
And maybe we should do one every time?
 
I'll show up for sure if we do
 
You want to do a flash fiction draft for next week?
 
@KitFox oh, yeah. so ten minutes, no word limit. that's good.
I wasn't counting anyway
 
6:57 PM
For next week I really just want to get my blog in order and show it?
 
Yeah, sure.
 
The exercises are always optional.
 
Yes, of course, but if there is one I'll probably try to do it too ... In fact once my blog is in order I suspect I'll want to play with it. It's far shinier than my wordpress blog was.
 
Next week, let's do a first line prompt. "She did her best, but she was young."
Micro fiction.
Here's a helpful site.
And there's one that MetaEd posted...let me see.
 
7:02 PM
Agreeed
 
the line prompt has my wheels going already
 
Here is the other.
Let me write it to pin it.
For the 9/4/2012 chat, write a microfiction story (no longer than 600 words) using the first line prompt: "She did her best, but she was young."
 
So shall I write something to show?
Okay!
 
Does that sound good?
 
7:05 PM
@KitFox so that should be ready for the session, or we're doing that during the session?
 
My good story was turned down by the place I submitted it
hm
But, otoh, a girl I let read it told me it reminded her of one of my writing idols, Palahunik
So it can't be all bad.
 
indeed
publishers are concerned with profit not talent
 
The feedback I got from the publication was "It's quite good, but unfortunately not for us"
Which may be a form letter
 
@MattЭллен Should be ready for the session. We'll do some more...what should we call that, speed writing?...in the session too.
 
It's pretty dark, and it involves IV drug use
 
7:07 PM
@KitFox cool
 
7:32 PM
I'm trying to decide if I want my logo to be smaller, or my title to be bigger, I mean on my blog. Obviously the title hanging out up there with the logo pushing the header down looks silly
 
5
Q: Weekly Chat Writing Topics: Summer 2012

KitFoxThe Tuesday afternoon chat was going well, and we agreed amongst ourselves to have an informal writing exercise every week. Chatters are free to participate or not, and to ask for critique or not. The criteria for the exercise are posted and pinned in the chat room. Chatters are encouraged to ...

There.
 
7:58 PM
I see we're back!
 
yeah! you should do the 10 minute fiction thing.
 
Doing it.
 
8:20 PM
Hey, that's more than ten minutes!
Anyway, gotta run. Laters!
 
8:35 PM
Even from behind, I sensed he was nervous. He walked quickly down
the crowded sidewalk, with his coat shrugged high up and his head down.
Good, I thought. You can push them out of the way tonight, and
I'll follow. Nobody looks out for anybody, and the crowd tires me out.
I trailed him easily, all the way to 36th Street and down the
subway stairs. Maybe somebody was looking out for me after all. He
was still with me at the platform, elbowing his way to the front.
When we reached the ledge, he didn't stop. He hopped down onto
 
9:04 PM
 

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