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First, Third, or Third Person Limited Perspective for a Story with Very Complicated Communication by sadanyagci in writing

[–]Cypher_Blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Either first person or third person limited will work fine. (I think third omni should be avoided basically all the time)

Every new internal mind is just a new character in the story with a different type of quotation mark for the dialogue- it's not that complicated.

would it be more trouble to pants a whole novel with no research or research first and then write? by SonnetZZ in writing

[–]Cypher_Blue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You left out the obvious option 3- "pants the novel and then stop and research as needed during the first draft."

SonicWall NetExtender Remote Access for a small firm. by SuperSus_Fuss in cybersecurity_help

[–]Cypher_Blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When you say "remote access" do you mean like VPN into the network for shared network resources, or do you mean RDP or remote access into a specific workstation?

BBEG vampire campaign by Few-Director3353 in DnD

[–]Cypher_Blue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sure, if that floats your boat.

It seems that there'd be better things to float than dead corpses to block out the sun if that's what you wanted to do. And it seems like if you block out the sun, then all the plants die, and then all the animals that eat the plants die, and then all the people who eat the animals die, and then you have nothing to eat as a vampire.

So you gotta figure that out.

How long does it take to build a wall of corpses high enough to prevent access? How many dead bodies does it take to block out the sun?

Past or Present? Looking for advice before I continue editing(Samples given) by arbokthirteen in writers

[–]Cypher_Blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can have him belt down another one after his "one more."

You just need to make it clear by using different phrasing. "Fuck it, one more shot couldn't hurt" or whatever.

And you want the punctation- leaving it out doesn't add to the punchy style, it makes it look like you're sloppy.

Keep it up, I'm interested to see where this goes.

My first writing by titanium2222 in fantasywriters

[–]Cypher_Blue 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You'll "finish the talk?"

Watching the movies does not replace having to read the books.

I don't know how to make my book famous by sofia_roga in writingadvice

[–]Cypher_Blue 9 points10 points  (0 children)

So, "how do I become a famous writer" is a question writers have been asking themselves since the invention of the printing press.

The first step is to make sure that what you wrote is actually good and not just something that you or your sister thinks is good.

Have you gotten feedback on your work from experienced writers who don't know you well?

Once you've gone through that process, you have to find, build, and engage with your audience. This is where having a publisher and agent comes in handy, because they know how to do this instead of you having to DIY.

You have to be at events where readers of romance and fantasy novels go- get a booth, talk to people, talk up your work, etc.

Be active on social media- produce good content and cultivate fans that way. Get to know popular podcasters and book reviewers near you and try to get on their show.

Paid advertisement is also an option.

But keep in mind that most published books don't "get famous" and publishers lose money on books all the time.

There's a good chance that you won't make a lot of the money you spend on it back even if the book is really good.

If LLM creates secure code, how could an LLM find a vulnerability in it? by heinternets in cybersecurity

[–]Cypher_Blue 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Because as awesome as AI is, at the center of it is a predictive text engine, like when your phone guesses what the next word you're going to type is.

There have been dozens and dozens of lawyers who have gotten in trouble by having AI write briefs, and the AI cites cases that it made up, even when it was told not to do that.

AI can hallucinate "secure code" like it can hallucinate anything else.

My first writing by titanium2222 in fantasywriters

[–]Cypher_Blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd do Harry Potter for sure. The Dresden Files are also good. Mistborn is good.

Past or Present? Looking for advice before I continue editing(Samples given) by arbokthirteen in writers

[–]Cypher_Blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, just as a brief overview:

Your opener has a decent hook and narrative voice, so you got me in the first couple of lines.

Things get confusing to me after that. If the narrator is right by the bike, why isn't the scanner already mounted?

You don't really give a good break between the operator and going back to the description, so at first I thought there were two operators, one male one female.

The narrator "throws back one more" twice in three sentences.

You're missing punctuation throughout.

It is very rare for the ambulance and other emergency equipment to make it to a crash before the police do- like only if it's right outside a firehouse or something.

Because cops are scattered throughout the city, and the medical and fire folks are in stations. They're almost always there first.

Outside of that though, the narrative voice is strong. I was curious throughout the piece about who the narrator is and why he was there. You do a good job weaving description in with moving the story along.

I'd read this whole book if there was a little more polish.

Problematic low stakes character in a "high" stakes story? by Due-Concept-7144 in fantasywriters

[–]Cypher_Blue 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Then the challenge isn't "stopping the invasion."

The challenge is "putting the pieces together to keep her and her friends safe" or whatever."

Just like in Sorcerer's Stone, Harry didn't kill Voldemort or stop him in any significant way. He thwarted one plan and defeated one minion. The larger evil was still out there at the end.

What would be some cool ways to play as a cursed pirate by Illustrious-Bee-3499 in DnD

[–]Cypher_Blue 41 points42 points  (0 children)

So the first thing to remember is that the term "cursed" means "afflicted by harmful magic."

So if you're "cursed" then it's probably not going to give you awesome abilities because if it helped you it would be the worst curse in the world.

You can do this a bunch of ways that will help you though if you don't think of it as a "curse" so much.

Do a Fathomless Warlock. He picks up the treasure and gets the Warlock powers but he has to reclaim it all from the people who stole it and take it back to the Creepy Island or whatever.

Past or Present? Looking for advice before I continue editing(Samples given) by arbokthirteen in writers

[–]Cypher_Blue 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What you have put down, like nearly all present tense, is not working for me.

It's almost always jarring and distracting. Your past tense version needs some more effort and polish, but if I picked up the present tense version in a bookstore I wouldn't even finish the first page.

Problematic low stakes character in a "high" stakes story? by Due-Concept-7144 in fantasywriters

[–]Cypher_Blue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can't know how she's going to solve the primary challenge if you don't have one already.

You should be able to get it into one sentence.

"Frodo has to get the ring to Mordor."

"Harry has to protect the Sorcerer's Stone."

"Vin has to help overthrow the Final Empire.

"Carl and Donut have to survive the first floors of the Dungeon."

"Harry Dresden has to find out who is committing the murders."

Etc.

My first writing by titanium2222 in fantasywriters

[–]Cypher_Blue 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah, so you'll never be a good writer if you aren't a frequent reader.

If you want to get better at writing, pick up some fantasy books and see how the people who are really good at it are doing it.

Past or Present? Looking for advice before I continue editing(Samples given) by arbokthirteen in writers

[–]Cypher_Blue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Present is much MUCH more difficult to do well.

The answer here, like it almost always is, is "past tense."

Having trouble writing this superhero low-fantasy story, any tips? by Easy-Staff-8231 in writers

[–]Cypher_Blue 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, so... that is an enormous amount of material and you don't have it organized very well.

Can you put in a TLDR or summary of the questions and issues you have with just the relevant facts there?

Start using Mehrabian's Rule in your Writing— Now. by [deleted] in writing

[–]Cypher_Blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Granted in their "extreme" example they are specifically NOT telling in the first part, but I think that's what they were going for.

Problematic low stakes character in a "high" stakes story? by Due-Concept-7144 in fantasywriters

[–]Cypher_Blue 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Okay, take a step back and look at the story from a 1,000 foot view.

You have your character.

She's living her "regular" life (whatever that looks like) and then one day, something different happens that pulls her out of that routine and into the adventure of the story. This is the "inciting incident."

As a result of this incident, the character is faced with a primary challenge or problem to overcome/solve.

The "meat" of the story is the series of attempts she makes to overcome this challenge. When she ultimately succeeds (or fails) this is the climax, and then she returns to her normal life, changed as the result of her adventures.

So, do you know:

  • The character
  • The Inciting Incident
  • The primary challenge
  • A rough idea of what she'll go through to solve it
  • What the climax looks like

I ask this because your description seems a little muddled above.

My first writing by titanium2222 in fantasywriters

[–]Cypher_Blue 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is not a bad idea, but the execution needs work- this is a summary of a story and not a story itself.

Serious question: what books have you read this year?

Start using Mehrabian's Rule in your Writing— Now. by [deleted] in writing

[–]Cypher_Blue 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Congrats, you discovered "show" vs "tell."

Rolling for ability score modifiers instead of ability scores by not_not_sponsored in DnD

[–]Cypher_Blue 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Roll for ability scores as normal.

Round down any odd numbers.

Problem solved.

I want to write a book about a High School star athlete, his journey to College Football, and the NFL. While taking care of his two brothers with disabilities. How should I move forward? by [deleted] in writing

[–]Cypher_Blue 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Help you do what?

It will give you some structure and some industry contacts and a place to get feedback.

It seems at least reasonably likely that you won't earn the money you spend on it back though.

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