As for me, I did fairly well this month. Not amazing, I’m still too busy to write more than a few hundred words a day, but at least my pace is steady. I’ll be releasing another 16000-word update later today, so at least I’ll worm my way into the next release digest.
8 Likes
Today’s random fact, I’m snickering here over how my “I hate everything” security sergeant is an absolute videogame nerd.
(It’ll be plot-relevant later.)
4 Likes
End of month report….
Words written: 0
Story concepts gained: 2
Plots developed: 1
Code written: Too much. Way too much. Especially as in every other programming language I have ever come across this is a basic built-in object with its own methods. Ok sure, it is completely unnecessary in the majority, but when you want to use it…. Gaargh! So if anyone understands why “timestamp()” doesn’t actually provide anything remotely related to a UNIX or UTC timestamp please let me know.
Forthcoming vanilla CS date and time module: 1
7 Likes
Which line do you think is better guys?
The waters ripple as a school of fish swims close to the surface, birds chirping in the background.
The waters ripple as a school of fish swims close to the surface. Birds chirp softly in the background.
4 Likes
Depends on the context. The first if it’s the only description in the scene. The second if it’s part of a scene where more description follows that part.
Example 1:
The waters ripple as a school of fish swims close to the surface, birds chirping in the background. You register it in the back of your mind, but most of your attention goes to untacking your horse.
(Description - Action)
Example 2:
The waters ripple as a school of fish swims close to the surface. Birds chirp softly in the background. The moss on the trees of the opposite bank of the river seem to shimmer in the light of the sun that’s only barely peeking over the edge of a nearby mountain range.
(Description - More description)
7 Likes
Ahhh okay. So you’re saying the first line would fit better if there are no more descriptions. I just wanted those descriptions since the MC is going toward the river. So the get a quick visual of the river without resting on it too long.
I loved that you added a little something to it too 
.
For context here is a small portion of the scene:
You gaze down once more, then walk away from the grave, leaving the sword behind.
Your eyes drift toward the river.
The waters ripple as a school of fish swims close to the surface. While birds chirp somewhere in the trees beyond the riverbank.
You walk toward the river’s edge and kneel down. Your reflection greets you.
You dip your hands into water, and the surface ripples, distorting your reflection as the cool water washes over your wrists.
You scoop up a handful of water and rub it across your face, droplets trickling between your fingers. Your skin feels refreshed.
You lower your palms and gaze down, watching your distorted reflection gradually reform in the water. You have:
7 Likes
I did some coding, and sent in the art ideas, marketing blurbs and so on. I’ve spent most of the latter half of the month recovering, which has been going well. Hoping to start some relatively gentle coding as December begins, and to continue physical and mental recovery.
I likely won’t be able to do a rundown of November WIPs and updates, but I’ll see if I can at least put together a release, beta and interview list over the next couple of weeks.
13 Likes
Minor addition to this, I hit the word count that I wanted to hit with a 40k word update, but I am not finished yet, so it will increase more.
6 Likes
This one should be connected by a comma instead of separated by a period because of the ‘while’. It shows the two things are happening simultaneously.
7 Likes
Oh right! My bad. I should’ve seen that. Thanks!
5 Likes
I’d say it depends… run-on sentences can become exhausting if they’re too long. And unclear, but that depends on how long they are and how they’re constructed.
6 Likes
Agreed. A lot of it depends on what’s happening with a specific sentence and what’s going on around it.
@Fusion_Ultimatum I don’t think your way is ‘wrong’ - anymore than your teacher’s way is ‘wrong.’ For me, these kinds of stylistic decisions are mostly a question of: what effect I want to achieve? and how much energy can I devote to achieving it?
If you find it breaks your imagination to worry about where the periods are and what the reader’s experience is, maybe don’t think about that while you’re writing a scene for the first time. Personally, I’m very much a fan of doing whatever feels most natural for the first draft – and then, if necessary, going back through and reworking the style in the second draft. (But only if necessary.)
Plus, there’s more ways to create breaks than just periods; semi-colons, parentheticals, em-dashes, and hyphenated asides can all give you breathing room without sacrificing flow. I find reading things aloud can also be very helpful for figuring out when certain kinds of punctuation work or don’t work.
7 Likes
I finished my literature review around the middle of the month, and it was accepted by the graduate college. So that’s good.
10 Likes
I spent about half of November sick with some lingering virus, so got less done than I’d hoped-- but a bit more than in October. Onward and upward!
12 Likes
20 minutes til December for me, and I can be the bigger man and say that I have both valued and succeeded. I did get jumped by a couple writer’s block like I mentioned before, but I am happy with the progress I made.
I will finish the update tomorrow, and then get absolutely steam rolled by my semester exams.
8 Likes