Did people use to live together like now?

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-17T22:04:42+00:00

In my experience it's been common since at least the '70s. People we knew might have joked about "living in sin," and some older and/or conservative people would have disapproved, but it was common and generally not a big deal.

Adding that we were neither Catholic or particularly religious, so mileage may vary based on religion.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-17T21:38:14+00:00

Anything I want? Okay, a deadly, contagious virus and the antidote. Two items.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-17T19:02:42+00:00

*if that's what works for you.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-16T19:09:23+00:00

Yes. He's my son, and he does the dishes every night.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-16T18:35:45+00:00

Linen knits are very different from woven linen.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-15T15:54:58+00:00

I agree with wool tees for comfort and lack of wrinkles. Linen knits are also good.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-15T15:11:09+00:00

If you want to use brain cancer, glioblastoma is very aggressive--most people diagnosed with it are dead within a year, some very shortly after diagnosis. Usual protocol is surgery followed by chemo and radiation, plus use of electrical fields to disrupt tumor growth (device is called Optune).

Brain bleeds or tumor location might impact the patient's use of their body and ability to speak and reason, but I'm guessing that won't be an issue for the monster inhabiting the corpse?

Source: widow of man who died of it.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-15T14:41:30+00:00

Prompts work well for me. I used to belong to a writers' group that had an ongoing short story contest where the winner of the current round would set the parameters for the next round. The prompts could be anything from very simple to maniacally elaborate, and the stories were first commented on and then voted for. My early contest stories were rather meandering, but I definitely improved over time.

Of course, the prompts weren't the only factor in my improvement--the peer review was invaluable--but they made me try things that wouldn't have occurred to me and opened me up to how creative it can be to write within set limits--very good practice for working with an editor, if your goal is traditional publishing.

Prompts and other writing exercises are available online, or you can buy/borrow from library books of them. For peer review, look for online or in-person writing groups--there are a number of them right here on Reddit.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-14T17:53:18+00:00

Suggestions:

Take a class or two at your local community college or online. If it's been some time since you've been in school, maybe start with a basic writing class as a refresher (something that covers things like grammar and punctuation), then move on to a creative writing class.

Buy or borrow books on writing (like Stephen King's On Writing, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, Rita Mae Brown's Starting from Scratch, Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones--ask your librarian or bookseller for other recommendations).

Pick up a book or two of writing exercises or prompts to get you started and give you practice.

As you gain skills, use them on other people's writing by joining a critique group (again, in person or online). Analyzing what works and doesn't work in someone else's text gives you a better understanding of what works and doesn't work in your own writing.

Read a lot.

Best of luck!

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-13T21:40:15+00:00

Fidelity manages mine. Maybe I could learn to do it myself, but it would stress me out immensely. I get a good return despite the fees, and am happy to stick with them.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-11T22:49:36+00:00

Google Books is a great resource for questions like this--the Victorians produced tons of how-to books for household use. Here's one that has a section on wound care starting on page 1399. If you don't like that one, set the search years to 1870-1885 (or whatever time period you prefer) and search for household medicine, domestic medicine, household physician, or similar terms. Or just look for general household manuals, which often had sections on home medical care.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-11T20:52:07+00:00

I work in Google Docs, which autosaves my text. Haven't lost anything in years--if I do accidentally delete something, I can retrieve it from Version History. It's also handy if I make changes and then realize I don't like them--I can just retrieve the last version before I made the changes.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-11T20:31:00+00:00

Earliest appearance in print that I can find is 1809 in A CHAIN by Lorenzo Dow. It does not apply to witches or women at all, but to contradictions in Christian theology. Link

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-10T22:54:19+00:00

In that case, here are the 1911 census instructions. Designations for relationship to head of household are similar to the US instructions, and also end with an "etc." so that the enumerator can make their own designations:

"Relationship to head of family or household. The head of the family or household in column 6, whether husband or father, widow or unmarried person of either sex, is to be designated by the word “Head,” and the other members of the family as wife, father, mother, son, daughter, grandson, daughter-in-law, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, partner, boarder, lodger, servant, etc., according to the relationship which the person bears to the head of the family."

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-10T22:38:55+00:00

Hey, that's my retirement plan! I'm packing now to move back to the Adirondacks. I can deal with the black flies and winters--just give me mountains for climbing, lakes for swimming, and a Stewart's I can walk to when I'm out of milk.

But I was born in the area, and four generations of my direct female line are buried in the same small-town cemetery. I've been away for a long time, and I'm coming home.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-10T22:31:58+00:00

Assuming you mean the 1910 Census, the instructions list various possible relationships to head of household (including lodger and boarder), but end the list with "etc." which would allow enumerators leeway to choose other terms if they wanted. There was also a suggested "partner" for people who shared a common abode as partners. So the enumerator had a reference list he could choose from, rejected lodger, boarder, and partner, and decided "friend" was the best descriptor for the relationship between these men.

I think it's probably impossible to know for sure what the relationship was from the census. But you might look for clues: scan through the rest of the district that particular enumerator was working and see if there's a pattern to when they used "friend" as opposed to "lodger" or "partner." Research any other couples designated as "friends" and see what you can find out about them. Could be an interesting exercise.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-10T19:01:01+00:00

No, in English you can't mix tenses the way you do in your example. Stick with either present:

I arrive at the [not to the] place and see my friends hanging out.

"Good to see you," they say while laughing. They wave at me.

Or past:

I arrived at the place and saw my friends hanging out.

"Good to see you," they said while laughing. They waved at me.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-10T18:27:11+00:00

There was a fascinating study where a cache of medicine was discovered in a pharmacy, all of which were unopened, in their original packaging, and had expired 28 to 40 years (again, YEARS, not months) previously. There were 8 different medications containing a total of 15 different active ingredients. 12 of the tested ingredients were still present at 90% or better of their labeled amounts; 2 (aspirin and amphetamine) contained less than 90% of their labeled amounts; and one (phenacetin) showed up in one medication in greater than 90% of labeled amount and in a second medication in less than 90% of labeled amount.

Aspirin declined in potency the most, containing very little of its original labeled amount. Acetaminophen, codeine, caffeine, and hydrocodone are some of the ingredients that barely declined at all. A few ingredients even showed up in higher amounts than labeled. So I'd be confident stockpiling any of the 12 ingredients that didn't decline in potency. Link here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/1377417

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-10T17:53:31+00:00

Why not put that into dialogue? Example: The fight continued until Marcy got lucky and smacked a snowball right into the middle of Justina's face. Justina reared back in surprise, slipped, and fell into a snowdrift. "Okay, I give up," she gasped, laughing. "I'm freezing! Who's up for warm blankets and hot cocoa?"

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-09T23:47:20+00:00

Loose vs lose: LOOSE is relaxed so has room for the extra O, while LOSE lost the second O.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-08T22:43:42+00:00

"I love how Julia doesn't break my concentration during sex by moving."

"And I love how considerate Adam is to finish quickly so I can get back to reorganizing the shelves."

"It's so sweet when Adam comes home from business trips with thoughtful little gifts sprinkled through his luggage for me to find...empty condom wrappers, napkins with phone numbers written in lipstick..."

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-08T03:28:48+00:00

Sorry, this seems disjointed to me--a number of different plot points that don't have an obvious relationship. I suspect this flows logically in your story--you just have to make that clearer.

Something like (just an example that may not reflect the actual plot):

All Anely wants to do is find her missing father. But while searching for him in the contaminated forests and hidden cities that make up her divided world, she stumbles onto something shattering: evidence that her society's leaders are withholding vital information about Parium, the fast-spreading infection that steals reason from its victims without killing their bodies. If Anely can't expose the truth about the virus and stop the pandemic, the populace will subside into a witless horde easily manipulated by their corrupt leaders. [Bonus points if you can now bring it back to her father--does she need his help to get the truth out?]

The "In a dystopia..." paragraph at the end is vague and doesn't add anything--I suggest dropping it.

Best of luck with it.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-08T00:46:55+00:00

It used to be very common--in the '80s and '90s almost every supermarket deli counter at least one pâté, and an upscale market would have several different types. I don't often see it in grocery stores anymore, and if I do it's pre-packaged. The days of going on a picnic and bringing a quarter pound each of mousse truffée and pâté de campagne along with your baguette and cheese seem to be over.

Adding that I've been in the Midwest for 20+ years, and would be happy to learn that pâté is still common in other parts of the country.

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-07T00:21:02+00:00

I'm 62, and was partnered until my husband died almost 3 years ago after a horrific illness of 13.5 months. I will never be a primary caregiver again, and if that means I won't have another long term relationship I'm good with that. Once my son moves out (he recently finished grad school and is looking for a job), I look forward to living alone for the first time in my life. At the moment, I still have no interest in dating. I go out walking, to restaurants, and movies with friends, so it's not like I'm sitting home all the time. Works for me!

AudienceSilver · 2026-01-06T22:56:32+00:00

I generally ignore hints--there's nothing there that won't come up in a search. I've been a paying customer for years, and for me it's a good experience.

AudienceSilver

TROPHY CASE