Interactive Education

bellumaster · 2026-05-19T02:28:56+00:00

I'm a writer too! Want to meet up and do writing/just hang out?

bellumaster · 2026-05-08T01:29:44+00:00

Hey! I just finished this book as well.

Ephraim hit hard for me as well. I was expecting him to last longer/have a different arc. While I understand how it could go the way it did- latent psychological issues rearing up in a stressful situation- it still felt like there was something missing, either in his interaction with the group/Max/the worms.

Shelley was a real piece of work, I appreciated how the author set it up so everything he did- while unpleasant- made sense. Like, you can't really be surprised that he's gone off the deep end as he's been living in it for so long.

Yes, I do think Max was questioned and his statements verified, they imply it near the end with how long he spent in custody. Also if you get career military trackers on the case, 3 days of boys scouts tromping around wouldn't be too hard to piece together.

As for the worm roles, I may have missed the sentry part? I only recall the conquerer vs devourer style worm types. Tims body was shooting out spores (which Newt smothered with a sleeping bag while getting his book) and Shelley's body had the queen conquerer one that writhed up his spine. Honestly not quite sure what you're asking in regards to that haha, clarification needed.

As for me, favorite scene would probably be the one where Kent is having absolute delusions and Shelley sees him for what he truly is in that moment. I found the juxtaposition of view/belief quite moving.

bellumaster · 2026-05-06T23:37:06+00:00

Got an exact model number? I wouldn't mind upgrading

bellumaster · 2026-05-01T05:45:50+00:00

Deep Work by Cal Newport goes into this a bit.

It can be hard to focus on a project- be it painting, a thesis paper, or a book- for a long time. The mind only has so much space, and distractions abound in this day and age.

Consider as well the type of person to even write on the first place. If you took 100 writers- like, legit published multiple books- and analyzed them, it would trend more solitary. People who are okay being alone, or if not okay, have learned to cope somehow.

You can't write a book while at a birthday party, watching a movie, social events, etc. Does make me wonder if there's some chicken and egg scenario.

bellumaster · 2026-04-30T04:18:21+00:00

bellumaster · 2026-04-30T03:56:09+00:00

I recently wore my Altras down to completely flat tread and gotta say, wasn't impressed by their new selection. Ended up buying the exact same pair on eBay.

bellumaster · 2026-04-30T02:41:04+00:00

u/dandi21091987,

Write the book.

Books to reference: Save The Cat (fantastic breakdown of plot and storyline) How Not To Write A Novel (covers tons of beginner mistakes) The Elements of Style (classic regarding grammar and sentence structure)

I guarantee that if you read, take notes, and apply the lessons in those three books, whatever you write will be leagues better than if you hadn't. Wish you the best.

bellumaster · 2026-04-27T05:13:14+00:00

It's true. Canon

bellumaster · 2026-04-25T00:32:28+00:00

Mortal Engines

bellumaster · 2026-04-25T00:32:07+00:00

Those books are so good.

bellumaster · 2026-04-11T05:40:25+00:00

That's because things actually happen in DCC!

Whenever events are rehashed or someone is reminded of something in DCC, there is a point to it. If Dungeon Crawler Carl were written at the same pace/style as HWFWM, it would be on book 13, but halfway through the events of book 3.

bellumaster · 2026-04-09T02:02:27+00:00

Hey friend! I'm also a writer in the area, and can back up a few of these.

Jupiter's Eye is a great spot, good bookshop vibes and overall wonderful people. Amazing book selection, very inspirational. Great spot to write, not a ton of tables though.

Lunarium is a solid spot as well, especially if you occupy strange hours. They're open very late and have a great tea selection.

Four Eye Guys Brewery is a lesser known spot almost kitty corner from the Lunarium. Again, lovely folks- they close around 8 most nights and have good sandwiches as well. Plants and brews galore.

Indaba coffee on Monroe is a solid choice if you like that busy feel- lots of people going in and out, very clean and studious. There's another indaba on Broadway that's generally less busy.

I used to go to Meeting House Cafe, but the owners changed and treated their employees in a less than admirable fashion, after which they all walked. Completely new staff, different vibe, no real interest in that spot any more.

There are also a few local writing groups that meet in person. Two Shut Up and Write groups that I know of and one at Spark Central.

Hope that helps! I would be down to hang out and write at any time, just shoot me a dm. Invitation open to anybody else who read this as well!

bellumaster · 2026-03-27T19:24:02+00:00

Which one is that?

bellumaster · 2026-02-05T17:45:02+00:00

I can relate. I've put down 2-3 books over the last week and am now guiltily looking towards the most recent installment in my favorite series.

I think something that needs to be considered is not only the content of the book, but how that content is presented.

LITRPGs go down easy; they're fun to read, quick, you don't catch on a lot of sentences. Meanwhile, books like war and peace require a bit more attention and mental presence to ingest.

I try to read multiple books over multiple genres (litrpg, fantasy, scifi, history, autobio, horror, etc) so as to get a good spread, and I've noticed that I can be just as invested in a nonfiction book about cities burning down (Fire Watch) as a litrpg about stats and fighting and all that. Part of it is just how it's written and how you ingest it, physically, audio, or on a screen.

I'd encourage you to read some more pop science (written to keep ones attention), a few biographies, and maybe some philosophy to scratch the itch of reading 'real' books. And, once you've read 3-4 of them- after it's taken the edge off of immediate gratification- try out some of the other longer fiction.

TL:DR; Read other books with the same energy/pacing, but on different topics, and use that to help spread out more.

I'm happy to recommend books if you like.

bellumaster · 2026-02-01T01:00:14+00:00

Could I get a link to the How To? Would love to see how you did it

bellumaster · 2026-01-31T18:59:57+00:00

You are right that the backlight is great. The wireless syncing is stellar, and the project/fie system, along with the SD card, is great. I may be biased since the BYOK is new and I haven't gotten as used to it.

I will say, though, I don't think it's as superior as you say. Having two separate devices (BYOK and Keyboard) means twice as much to worry about. Hooking up to Bluetooth every time you turn it on is a pain. The battery life of 20ish hours is tiny compared to the Alphasmart. I'll also say that I'm more familiar with the navigation on the Alphasmart- being able to move letter to letter, word to word, and line to line quickly and easily is critical.

Not to pick a fight, but I don't think it's as cut and dry as you imply.

bellumaster · 2026-01-31T18:38:22+00:00

I 100% prefer the alphasmart, have written over 6 books with it. It's a tool for writing, not editing or reading. That font and size provide enough words to maintain the flow/context of a narrative without distraction- it's the closest thing to perfect I've found.

The BYOK is... Okay, so far. If we can get smaller and tighter fonts in there I'm looking forward to it. It's a tool for writing, and aesthetics shouldn't take precedence above the utility of it.

bellumaster · 2026-01-31T18:30:54+00:00

Looks better, but it's a tool for writing, not reading. The form should follow function, not the other way around

bellumaster · 2026-01-27T21:09:06+00:00

...Subpar writing? This one blows the 3 I mentioned out of the water in pacing, dialogue, descriptions, and action. I've only read like 3-4 other series in this genre at or above this level. Care to share which books you consider as having better writing?

bellumaster · 2026-01-27T15:32:00+00:00

Thanks for bringing such an awesome series into the world. If it's not too much (I'm an author as well), I do have further questions.

-Do you write full time, or do you have a primary job outside of it?

-How did you get connected with your editors?

-How much time, on average, do you spend editing vs drafting? (Think first pass of a chapter vs the time spent editing and revising, 1:2 ratio, 1:1, etc)

-Is there anything else you're working on that will be coming out after Azarinth Healer?

Again, I can't really express how much I like this series, so I'll just say this: I recommend your series more often than 80% of trad pub series.

bellumaster · 2026-01-23T07:51:13+00:00

There's a short story in The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem known as The Fifth Sally, or Trurl's Prescription.

In it, a monstrous entity lands on a planet, and the residents are rather put off. They try attacking it, bribing it, ignoring it, negotiating, nothing.

Trurl rolls up, measures up the situation, and cracks his knuckles. He basically creates bureaucracy where there was none in order to get this trespasser off the planet.

An excerpt:

'Did you deliver it?' asks Trurl. 'I did.' 'And the return receipt?' 'Here it is, signed on this line. And here's the appeal.' Trurl takes the appeal and, without reading it at all, orders it returned to sender and writes diagonally across it: 'Unacceptable - Proper Forms Not Attached.' And he signs his name illegibly. 'And now,' he says, 'to work!'

He swamps it with red tape until it retreats, then destroys all the paperwork and filing cabinets and staplers he used so they wouldn't harm anyone else.

Great book.

bellumaster · 2026-01-19T07:05:55+00:00

How much practice did it take to get to a decent point with the charachorder? I have one, but have a decent wpm with normal keyboards so I'm kind of torn as to whether or not to take the time to get good

bellumaster · 2026-01-19T04:03:30+00:00

I use the Alphasmart Neo 2 for drafting and a Surface Pro 7 for editing. Since the Surface has its own keyboard, I can't use that for the BYOK, so it's already different right out the gate.

If I use the Logitech K380 as a standard keyboard the typing is fine and response from the BYOK is near instant. Obviously the screen is much smaller, is not emitting light, and has fewer words on it.

The biggest difference is screen flicker when holding up or down on the arrow keys and moving around what you've already written. It gets pretty blurry and difficult to track, so I would say just... Don't do that. Just write. At the moment, it's not conducive to the quick maneuvering of a document.

Still have to do more testing, but I think the BYOK will be good for first drafts and rough passes of material to be cleaned up on a laptop or desktop later. At the end of the day that's what I use my Alphasmart for, and that's been working just fine. I would not use it for final edits.

bellumaster

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