The Overlook Hotel

Stack Exchange

02:47

0

Q: Should academic writing belong in Writers?

I don’t agree that academic writing Q. like How do I implement a scholarly citation style in an online format? should be in writing SE. They bring nothing to any other types of writing and should belong to the Academia SE. Obviously, I can just avoid them, but is there a way to vote on the iss...

Stack Exchange

09:07

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Q: Building new species. How deep and how complex?

In my latest project i developed new species not far different from humanoids. I am making whole history, gender interaction, abilities, their psychology and trying to discribe their life and development from birth to adult person. I even made patology report and developed special character, who...

character-development science-fiction planning

Kit Z. Fox

12:07

Chat day!

user116848

Yes it is!

Kit Z. Fox

Hi @Arrowfar.

user116848

Hi @KitZ.Fox!

Kit Z. Fox

I am in a very deep rabbit hole.

user116848

Where? On SE?

user116848

12:20

So my internet works like one hour and then stops working for another. Ugh.

Kit Z. Fox

ugh. no, an advice column I enjoy reading.

Stack Exchange

14:40

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Q: Creating An Original World

I've been thinking of a few ideas for characters and concepts, and i am aiming to create a massive world. A world with its own deep history and rich lore, but i feel like this is difficult to do, because of the fact that if i based this world in sort of a fantasy realm, it would be to similar to ...

originality

sharky101

16:59

hi guys

Anyone up for the exercise?

Not sure about what it is

hmmm nobody's online?

Faheem Mitha

17:13

What exercise is that?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

17:29

The "weekly" writing exercise

Faheem Mitha

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Where is it?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Usually we do a 10 minute flash-fiction write.

Sometimes we do other things

Last week's topic was "The Heart of Pluto" and you can see what was written by looking at the room's stars on the star board

Faheem Mitha

And where is the topic stated? I don't see it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

17:46

Jul 15 at 1:39, by Kit Z. Fox

Topic for 7/14 free-write is: The Heart of Pluto. Ten minutes. Go write.

We haven't picked a topic today

@MattE.Эллен @KitZ.Fox @Andrew @sharky101 @Arrowfar Anyone up for the exercise today?

Stack Exchange

0

Q: Purchasing copies of my own book with my own ISBN from Amazon prohibited?

Someone told me that if I use my own ISBN on books I publish through Createspace that I would not be allowed to purchase copies of my own book. Though I think this is ludicrous, I would like to know, with absolute certainty, whether or not it is true. (I always use the free ISBN; it just makes my...

publishing self-publishing isbn

Napoleon Wilson

Are there any restrictions regarding the length or form of the written stuff?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

for the exercise?

no

well, unless we set one... it's all very informal

usually there is a time limit

I am usually way over the limit

Napoleon Wilson

And what's the time limit? Or is that subject to negotiation, too?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

18:05

It's usually 10 minutes, but yeah, anything is possible. Sometimes we have longer assignments, like "do this and bring it here next week" but usually people forget to do those.

Kit Z. Fox

Hi!

I'll get my thing ready.

Hey! It's my 50th one!

I'm ready when you're ready.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'm ready

@NapoleonWilson are you joining in? @FaheemMitha ?

Faheem Mitha

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Dunno. The rules are - write something in 10 minutes on a random topic?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

those are the usual rules. We pick a topic. You can suggest one.

Napoleon Wilson

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I don't know, depends on the topic and my mood I guess. I'm not to call a writer in any way and I guess the only thing I'd remotely dare to write (let alone publish) would be a haiku (if it could even be officially called thus), I guess.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

18:17

we could do something different if anyone has suggestions.

Kit Z. Fox

@FaheemMitha Yes. It's meant to get you into a mode where you write without getting caught up on editing.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@NapoleonWilson It's not really publishing. It's just an exercise.

Kit Z. Fox

Usually we produce spectacular crap, and that's the point. To know that it's OK to write poorly. ;)

Faheem Mitha

@KitZ.Fox I see. Something like "describe how it feels like to be Superman flying over the Rockies?"

Napoleon Wilson

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yeah, still people are gonna read it. ;-)

Kit Z. Fox

18:17

Sure.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@NapoleonWilson Yeah... well, it's up to you.

Faheem Mitha

And this is written off-line and posted here?

Kit Z. Fox

If you want.

Or you can do it and not share.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@FaheemMitha That's a pretty specific topic, usually we have more abstract ones, but specific is good too.

Kit Z. Fox

Or you can not do it and pretend that you did.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

18:18

@FaheemMitha Most of us write it on a blog or google docs and then post a link here.

Faheem Mitha

@KitZ.Fox hmm. That's unlikely to catch on at the universities.

Napoleon Wilson

But I saw this event on the chat page now the 1000th time that I just finally decided to see what it's about.

Faheem Mitha

Or in the schools.

Kit Z. Fox

@FaheemMitha Well, we're not a university.

Faheem Mitha

@KitZ.Fox I noticed.

Kit Z. Fox

18:19

You can fib if you want.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@NapoleonWilson So, jump in with both feet! It's just writing. If it sucks, that's fine! It's practice! If it's good, then great!

Napoleon Wilson

Sure.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

So... are we ready? Is "describe how it feels to be Superman flying over the Rockies" the topic?

Napoleon Wilson

Sounds interesting.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Writing Exercise 2015-07-21: Describe how it feels to be Superman flying over the Rockies (10 minutes)

go!

Kit Z. Fox

18:35

Superman flying over the Rockies

2

Napoleon Wilson

The yellow sun swallowed by the blue ocean, turning the sky red. I hope that is a good omen, for I can use it in the fight that awaits me. The majesty of those mountains never failed to astonish me. But as much as I could use some distraction, I have to focus on the task at hand. Just let this land and its calamity give me the strength I need.
But yet again I find myself wondering how from any parts of the universe I got to land in such a place. May I not be born here, there's nowhere else I'd rather call home. If only its native inhabitants would value this planet as much as she deserves it.

2

Sorry, didn't know how else to publish it in the shortness of time. I hope it isn't overkill to just smash it into chat.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Superman flying over the Rockies

2

Kit Z. Fox

@NapoleonWilson It's OK. It helps to publish on a blog or Pastebin and put a link here, but only because it makes it easier to read.

Napoleon Wilson

The only blog I have is for Haikus based on movies. But I could have made a Man of Steel haiku instead. ;-)

Kit Z. Fox

Or create a writing blog.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

18:41

@NapoleonWilson This is good! Just one thing: I'm confused about your use of calamity as a source of strength.

Kit Z. Fox

Oh yes, I wondered that too.

@NapoleonWilson The mood feels very heroic.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 That sounds like so much fun!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

calamity is like disaster... were you looking for something like calmness, tranquility?

@KitZ.Fox yeah I'm jealous of my characters :p

Napoleon Wilson

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Well, it might not be that thought through. But I'd already used the majesty and beauty of nature.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@NapoleonWilson Yeah, majesty, beauty, those are good, they rarely collocate with calamity

Napoleon Wilson

But well, my Superman gets a little too brooding and environmental.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

18:44

Unless you are talking about, say, a forest fire or a volcano

Napoleon Wilson

Oh crap, I think I meant calmness. Ooops.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It makes sense for Superman to be an environmentalist, considering his home planet was destroyed.

Napoleon Wilson

Or tranquility, sounds even better. I'm not the biggest fan of "-ness" constructions anyway. They always come across a bit clumsy to me (at least as a non-native speaker). So I instinctively search for an alternative for calmness, albeit the wrong one in this case.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

calm + tranquility = calamity :p

Napoleon Wilson

But that was indeed fun, even if I'd never been able to produce such things as you did under the pressure of 10 friggin' minutes. ;-)

Kit Z. Fox

18:52

You get better at it the more you do it.

Which is sort of the reason for the practice.

Also, it's a warm-up for more writing.

I think these were the first ten-minute ones I did, although they seem too long for that: Lightning Rounds.

Maybe we used to do fifteen minutes?

I can't believe it's nearly three years ago.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

yeah seariously

Kit Z. Fox

@Mr.Shiny is due to write a novel this year.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

heh

I know, I'm what, two? three? novels behind you and Matt

Kit Z. Fox

three now.

Well...Matt skipped a year though, I think?

There was the horror story one and the librarians one.

I can't think of a third, although I'd like him to finish the box story.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'm better at starting stories than finishing them. That's my big problem.

Kit Z. Fox

18:59

Right. That's why NaNo.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I honestly don't know how you found the time to do that.

Kit Z. Fox

Me neither.

I didn't do much else besides work and parent.

Cut back on sleep a little.

Think a lot.

Especially when driving three hours a day.

I wanted to finish that story too. I can't give it the time i want.

Stack Exchange

0

Q: This is right. Or that is right?

Opinions sought. I vaguely remember that the expression "This is right" (meaning "I agree with what you just said") appeared in the 1970s. And I remember it because, if I remember correctly, it replaced in no time the till-then familiar phrase "That's right". Forty years later, it's normal to see...

style editing word-choice grammar

Kit Z. Fox

19:48

sips tea

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

slurps coffee

So this article contrasts what Trump and McCain were doing during the Vietnam war.

Kit Z. Fox

Can you believe that guy?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

What's hilarious, in a sad clown kinda way, is that even back then Trump was getting in trouble for being racist.

> That same year, the Department of Justice slapped the Trump Organization with a major discrimination suit for violating the Fair Housing Act.
“The Government contended that Trump Management had refused to rent or negotiate rentals ‘because of race and colour,” according to the New York Times. “It also charged that the company had required different rental terms and conditions because of race and that it had misrepresented to blacks that apartments were not available.”

In a way I really want Trump to win the Republican nomination, because that should guarantee a Democrat win.

AND be hilarious to watch... like when Palin was running for VP

Kit Z. Fox

So painful.

My dad had a student deferment, so I shy away from throwing out that kind of thing in a mocking way. Plenty of people avoided the draft by staying in school. I don't think that is shameful.

But it is shameful to mock anyone who serve, and especially those who gave more than most.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

yeah it's a legit reason to not be drafted

Kit Z. Fox

19:58

All gave some, some gave all.

etc

oh crap, meeting

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

And frankly I'm even supportive of draft dodgers and other people who refused to fight, since I'm not a fan of conscription.

But still, you should show some respect for the vets.

especially if you didn't go to war yourself.

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