Tidbits

Story prompt concept: what if the affliction of the various fairy tale princesses was actually an interpretation of a character flaw? For example, Aurora is a heavy sleeper or narcoleptic, Snow White has an eating disorder, or Cinderella is a former heiress now under crippling debt. And so on.

Tidbits

Writing prompt: "They have to be large to appear so small."

Tidbits

"Man, why do Stephen King movies tend to suck?"

"Maybe it's the source material?"

"...NO."

Tidbits

A new grammatical horror:

Their're.

Tidbits

I like a thesaurus more than a dictionary. They remind me of words I may have forgotten.

Tidbits

That moment when you're thinking of story ideas and a random scene you thought of a decade ago and never used comes to mind.

Tidbits

Turns out "incented" is more proper to use than "incentivized."

Happy Valentine's Day

"I need a place to eat that's cheap but sounds fancy for Valentine's."

"How about a Venezuelan Steak House?"

"Venezuelan? Don't you mean Brazilian?"

"No. At a Venezuelan steak house there's no steak. Or meat. Or food. The head manager just berates you for an hour about how it's your duty to appreciate being there."

"...How much?"

"A billion bolivars. So about 50 cents."

"I'll take it."

Tidbits

I love crazy conspiracy theories. They make me want to imagine a world where they could happen and write about it.

Tidbits

"I've never inspired true love, but I have caused a few cases of Stockholm Syndrome."

Banned Books

There are four new authors to add to the Banned Book Week celebration: Larry Correia, Michael Z. Williamson, Brad Torgersen and John C. Wright. All four are having their books protested and removed at indie book stores in Toronto by a politically motivated smear campaign. They dared to challenge the white supremacy of Scalzi and others and now their minions are hitting back through whatever means they can.

(The stores that kowtow to such customer outrage should be ashamed of themselves - it's not just anti-intellectual, but bad business!)

Tidbits

"I'm not the guy who gets the girl. I'm just the guy who's with the girl for a little bit until she find someone she likes better."

Story Prompt: A Twist

Story prompt idea: take a question with an obvious answer and create an AU where the answer is a twist.

Examples:
Who's buried in Grant's tomb? An unknown soldier.
What color was Washington's white horse? It wasn't a horse.
What weighs more: a ton of feathers or bricks? Feathers have varying weight thanks to being anti-grav.

And so on.

Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den

Think "Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo" is impressive? Here's an entire poem all with the same root sound - "shi" - but varying only by inflection and actually making a complete poem.

« Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »

Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
Shì shì shì shì.

« Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den »

In a stone den was a poet with the family name Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions.
He often went to the market to look for lions.
At ten o'clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market.
At that time, Shi had just arrived at the market.
He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die.
He brought the corpses of the ten lions to the stone den.
The stone den was damp. He asked his servants to wipe it.
After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions.
When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses.
Try to explain this matter.

Tale of the Bladesmith

Years ago I used to make swords. I made swords with other bladesmiths. It was a close knit group - one had to prove their dedication to earn entry. The reward was mentoring and access to splendid materials for sword making. One day, those bladesmiths exiled me from their forge, fearing I'd bring them dishonor.

Then, years later, they announced a change. All would be welcome in their forge to learn and use their unique ornaments and embellishments and to craft fresh blades from iron that sat dormant. Encouraged, I found others and opened a new forge, next to theirs, one that used the items they'd graciously offered to all.

The goal of making the swords was not revenge. I sought not to stab those who'd banished me, but to demonstrate my worth. For I had long practiced bladesmithing on my own, in the wilds, and found new techniques they did not have. I would combine these techniques with the untapped potential of the resources they offered freely

But as the forge was opened, they came, anger clouding their mind. As they marched, they stumbled, and fell upon the swords I'd made. They ruined themselves for no reason other than anger and rage, perpetuating a grudge that was now one-sided. Their blood lay on the ground before their forge, frightening away all they'd hoped would join them. The fires of their furnaces went dark.

And now only the one they'd banished remained.

Hate is a sword that cuts its wielder worst of all.

Bechdel Test

DOA Extreme Beach Volleyball passes the Bechdel Test.

Shadow of the Colossus does not.

Something to consider whenever someone tries to seriously employ that as a measure of narrative quality.

I Go On

"But everyone thinks you're a monster!" said the child, horrified at the implication. "How do you go on?"

"I go on because I must," was his reply. The voice acquired a punctuating low bass as it grew more solemn. "I go on because the opinions of others do not shape me. It may make the going harder, but I have goals and dreams and I shall not rest until they are fulfilled. I do not crawl away and abandon my pursuits because others believe I have caused harm when I did not. Their beliefs are their own, as my purpose is mine."

The wizened face no longer appeared quite so weathered or tired. A fire burned within, one that gave a breath of vigor the boy had not seen before. "I go on because I know that I am not a monster - and that knowledge is all that matters."

Horror Setup

A good horror setup: the unknown. Have your characters watching the action and not knowing what the threat is, caught with only glimpses. Your imagination fills in the rest and the tension adds suspense.

Random City Names

A handy link to generate random city names:

List of generic forms in place names in the United Kingdom and Ireland 

Since I do steampunk games, this is especially useful.

Tidbits

Random line of dialogue: "You're just trash upset that no one will take you out."