I was just thinking about that story the other day. I’m not a huge Ellison fan but that one certainly sticks with you.
4 Likes
I am curious as it is a piece of English literature I didn’t know until now. It is cool discover new stuff
4 Likes
Exactly! It’s not really an enjoyable story in the usual sense, but it sticks with you like few things do. And I don’t just mean the actual narrative, but also Ellison’s writing itself. Sentences like
AM could not wander, AM could not wonder, AM could not belong. He could merely be.
or
Living under the land, under the sea, in the belly of AM, whom we created because our time was badly spent and we must have known unconsciously that he could do it better.
Are just so damn memorable through the power of the prose alone. Every single thing about this story, every stylistic choice and every little inconsistency most readers won’t ever notice, works to convey the idea of this repulsive, patheistic world where God is everything and his hatred is immeasurable. It makes you feel like the author wants to leap out of the pages and strangle you for being human, which is the exact kind of vibe I want my game to have.
The downside to that particular inspiration is that I’ll never write anything that hammers the point home more than the “hate speech” does. I think I’ll rewrite the scene in question again, just to get closer to this… platonic idea of everlasting hatred.
6 Likes
One of the greatest television shows of all time.
The novel and the show are completely different. Being a bad adaptation doesn’t negatively affect the show IMO. I’ve still got the novel if I want.
7 Likes
Yeah, I’m a total sucker for Flanagan–no one does the humane juxtaposition of compassion with horror quite like he does–and loved Hill House.
His final inversion of the “whatever walked there, walked alone” line was breathtakingly cheeky. Total upending of one of the most famous lines in horror prose? As much as I loved the series, I can’t quite say he earned that.
But he won me over to watch pretty much anything else he makes. I’m really, really curious to see what he does with Dark Tower, and whether he can improve on King’s crazy shambles of a final book.
7 Likes
Hello everyone!
It’s been a while… I have struggled to find the time to write and be proactive developing my story, although I am trying to cut in some more time routinely, in between my college coursework. 
My goal is to get at least 10k words done this month, I already have roughly 5k-ish done so far.
I actually was seeking some advice on something though, do you guys think it’s a good idea to develop a different section of a story before you finish a prior one? I tend to write from the beginning and develop things as I go, in a very linear fashion, but I have hit a hard place in one of the exposition points. I have been writing so much in one area that I am sick of writing about it, but I know I need to set up this information for readers in a way that isn’t a huge info dump; it’s just dragging so far on!
I think it’s boring me because I know all of this info and want to move on to new segments, especially since I was been working on this part for like a month already. I jumped a bit a head and started writing past that point but I am curious if that’s a good idea to continue doing that whenever I get bored of particular part of my story?
(Just clarifying, that not because of what is happening is boring, but just because I want to write something new because I took too long on writing that part.)
6 Likes
I see no problem with it, if it fits your process. I certainly write that way. Of course, if it damages your process, then it’s a bad idea.
4 Likes
I haven’t stopped thinking about Midnight Mass since I saw it years ago. He gets a free pass on anything he does.
6 Likes
The great tournament and it’s various spin offs is probably the second, I can’t think of what the third one is though
Maybe Doomsday on Demand . . . been a while since I played that one, but if I remember right I think you were genderlocked. And while it wasn’t a trilogy there was a sequel.
Fable, as for your question, I think its a good technique and at least for linear writing was recommended in most of the writing groups I took part in. That said, its not for everyone, and as with nearly everything, writing IF adds a whole new set of balls to juggle in the creation process, so can’t claim it is not without problems.
4 Likes
If you know what’s going to be in the prior one, I don’t see why not. There’s no rule here that you have to eat your vegetables before dessert. 
The only caution I’d offer is that if you find a big lump of exposition boring to write, your audience might find it boring to read, so it’s worth considering if you can break it up, for their sake as well as yours.
Yeah, that’s probably my favorite of his work so far.
7 Likes
Of course, if it is instead boring to write because you’re on your twentieth variant of the same scene…
3 Likes
Well, now. I have 24 hours to kill in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. There’s nothing really in the city I haven’t done (there’s not really a lot to be honest - you don’t come to Kyrgyzstan for the city life), so rather than walk around some Big Stone Soviet Heads one more round - I love a big stone head, particularly of Lenin vaguely gesturing to give you directions to the train station, but I do have my limits - I’m going to chill out at the hotel and crack on with some writing.
For those who haven’t noticed, in the Dance of the Night thread there is now a link to Chapter 1 of Dance of the Night. Still very much a WIP, about 5k of words cut as I’m on the wrong computer, but introduces you to most of the ROs (one you have to actively find, and one comes in chapter 2, but they are around). There is also the opportunity for sexy times, opportunity to pack bond with an otter, and an opportunity to have a dream that reps the trans community in a historical setting.
9 Likes
You’re very sweet. Thank you, this helped my anxious brain feel much better.
Oh my god, yes, thank you this. Can someone help this poor Ace individual out?
Hehehe, I see what you did there!
…As someone who played all five books and skipped nearly every one of those scenes, I feel very called out. XD That said, I’m gonna have to go back and look at them, now… Maybe the coding will help me feel less ick over it.
WELCOME BACK! Glad to see another person bogged down by irl.
Oh ew, fuck no, what the fuck, EW. >Cue full body shudder<
I OWN THIS BOOK AND I STARTED READING THIS BOOK AND I HAVE YET TO FINISH THIS BOOK BECAUSE THIS BOOK GAVE ME NIGHTMARES. I highly recommend this book.
As someone who also over-researches for silly things, I feel this in my SOUL. >looks over at my several page long document on different tea types<
Oh wow, that is just so evocative. It makes me empathize with a fuckin light house. Good job.
Another thing I feel in my soul. You and me both, honey, you and me both. Gimme a fistbump.
I see this advice SO OFTEN around writing circles, and… honestly, I don’t know. I can’t. I physically cannot. I’ve tried, and there’s this roadblock of confusion that forces me to go back and write linearly. Perhaps if I didn’t have that, it would be viable, but… I dunno.
HAHAHAHAH THIS IS ME STOP CALLING ME OUT OMG. I wish we could put gifs in these posts easily, because I’d put one of me flopping over sobbing here.
HAPPY JUNETEENTH!
That said, I’m trying to work on my game a little today and honestly, it’s giving me fits. TAT Whyyyy.
Okay, enough wining, and back to work for me.
11 Likes
I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of a warning that wouldn’t cause the same reaction. 
(On the plus side, that’s exactly the reaction I’m also picturing the MC to have.)
(One of the characters needs them, so they’re not there just to be creepy.)
2 Likes
Meanwhile I’m more worried a jar isn’t an appropriately sterile environment to keep prosthetic eyes in and they should be packaged individually 
5 Likes
They are in individual jars. With labels on them. In a sterile solution, but the MC obviously doesn’t know (or care) about that one.
(I mean, if you’re making that kind of a find in the lair of a supervillain with a reputation of kidnapping people who are then never seen again, “gee, I hope those are properly sterilized for use” probably isn’t going to be your first thought, even if you’re not instantly going “eeek, get me out of here fast”.)
3 Likes
I’ve finally decided to postpone Daemonglass and focus on Season Three of UnNatural, which I have also decided will be the final one.
Now, to focus on where I want to take the story next, considering the main planned plot of Season Three ended up being used in Season Two to get past the writing block I had writing it.
So I’m just thinking of possible ideas. So far I am leaning towards a rare festival which occurs when a new Unnatural is being created and the preparations take a year which has certain effects on the unnatural world which the SCI has to deal with.
10 Likes
You clearly never worked in a chemistry lab with biological samples, where the most panicked thought I ever had was "someone lowered the fridge/hot chamber by one degree, MY STERILE ENVIRONMENT!!! THIS ENTIRE MONTH WAS A WASTEEEEEEEEE!!! "
9 Likes
Granted, I haven’t, but please also note this isn’t a chemistry lab (well, medical storage) the MC has any familiarity in, so whichever sample is contaminated isn’t the MC’s problem. They also have no knowledge of what those are for and whether or not contamination actually would be harmful, generally speaking. (Also prosthetic eyes are very easy to clean, according to the info of this one company that makes them. Just be careful to not scratch them.)
4 Likes
Then it might be worth asking yourself if you’re overdoing it a bit with the variability, or at least whether you could make more use of gosubs (i.e. reuse text without having to retype it) to not have to rewrite most of the scene every time you put a new variant out there.
If the answer to all those questions is no… then you’ve just got to power through it one way or another.
7 Likes