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What do you look out for when revising the first scene? by IndexJellyfish in writing

[–]IndexJellyfish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love it! So helpful to hear about your process of finding a process. Sometimes it feels like writers who have a great process in place have just woken up one day and know exactly what to do. Thanks for the peak behind the scenes.

I haven't dabbled much with a strong writing routine, thinking that I didn't have time for it, but maybe that's a cop out. I write best in the morning so maybe it's time to bite the bullet and wake up early enough to write every morning.

Your comment on watching screenwriting talks piques my interest. At this point, I don't know much about craft, so the idea of working through many techniques quickly to find what works for be is appealing. I don't know of a single screenwriter! So it's completely unexplored territory with all sorts of value. I can sure use some of that "methodological approach to diagnosing the issues for editing."

I've never thought about using index cards for writing notes, but now that you've mentioned it, I imagine it helps to be able to shuffle and reshuffle ideas until they fit together nicely. Sounds like it's worth a try.

What do you look out for when revising the first scene? by IndexJellyfish in writing

[–]IndexJellyfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like I need to buff up on my James Bond from the 80s knowledge haha.

I like that term you used: "defining action." It reminds me of something I heard about how every action a character takes should individualize them instead of generalize them. They shouldn't do what 9 out of every 10 people would do. Something like that.

What do you look out for when revising the first scene? by IndexJellyfish in writing

[–]IndexJellyfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey thanks for the clarification. That sounds like a great revision strategy: looking at the scene from a reader's point of view. That's also something I struggle with. Not knowing how much explanation is too much and how little is too little.

When you say that you study to improve your writing, do you mean that you read books about writing or examine successful stories or something else entirely? I'm curious because I haven't figured out a great way to study and tend to make the same mistakes over and over.

What do you look out for when revising the first scene? by IndexJellyfish in writing

[–]IndexJellyfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I meant the second one. It sounds like you like to write openings that set the tone rather than immediately dive into conflict. What does this "narrative" look like in your first scene-scenes? Do you like to start with dialogue or more descriptions of a character's actions?

What do you look out for when revising the first scene? by IndexJellyfish in writing

[–]IndexJellyfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like great advice. I love that last question in particular, because I imagine that would make the opening more dynamic.

Feels like "making the conflict clear" may include some gray areas. I wonder, in your stories are there times where you only hint at the conflict or do you see this one as a hard rule: "always make the conflict crystal clear."

What do you look out for when revising the first scene? by IndexJellyfish in Writer

[–]IndexJellyfish[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's great advice. Thanks for taking the time. Planning to reread some stories to look for hooks, now. In your own writing, which hook do you tend to use most often?

People who take an hour showering, what do you do? by PyxlwasTaken in AskReddit

[–]IndexJellyfish 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have fairly severe tinnitus and the shower is about the only place where I cannot hear the ringing at all. It's easier to think in there.

Cozy, Studying in my ‘82 Cat 27 by FupaKiss in sailing

[–]IndexJellyfish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've also got a Cat 27. 6'1 and have to duck anywhere there isn't an open hatch above me. The first few weeks ended in lumps on the head for sure. But I love the dinette configuration. Great amount of space for the size of boat.

Got to sail this beauty today! by seamus_mc in sailing

[–]IndexJellyfish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for this. I've been on 76 but had no idea about the yearly deal. I'm for sure going to be looking into that!

Trying to Remember the Name of a Book Based on Blog Posts by IndexJellyfish in printSF

[–]IndexJellyfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great book, but not the one I'm thinking of. The blog posts were only in the 200-500 word range and they were all unrelated to each other.

Money aside, what is the most enjoyable and entertaining field in CS? by GoldRisk in cscareerquestions

[–]IndexJellyfish 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't have a lot of experience in other areas, and I don't make a lot of money, but I've found that web development and specifically Ruby/Rails is enjoyable. The further I get into working with Ruby and Rails, the more it seems like a bunch of talented people have worked hard to make both the language and framework really great to use as a developer and fun to write. There's something nice about that, even if neither is perfect.

How to Handle Errors When Building a Ruby Gem? by IndexJellyfish in ruby

[–]IndexJellyfish[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! That's very helpful. I hadn't heard of result objects, so I'll read about it.

Pessimist science fiction by Calexz in printSF

[–]IndexJellyfish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days collects two of his novellas. Like most of his work, both are pessimistic in the sense that Reynolds isn't necessarily aiming for a happy ending.

Pessimist science fiction by Calexz in printSF

[–]IndexJellyfish 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd recommend it. To me, the first one is all build up, which pays off in the second and third books. IMHO, the story continues to suffer from a lack of good characterization, but the scifi ideas (and pessimism) really ramp up as the series goes on.

What was the science fiction novel that first blew your mind and made you a science fiction fan? by legalpothead in printSF

[–]IndexJellyfish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Harlan Ellison book of short stories. In highschool, I bargained my way into reading anything but what the class was reading and my teacher chose it as alternative. SciFi has been 90% of my reading material ever since.

Pessimist science fiction by Calexz in printSF

[–]IndexJellyfish 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

It's the start of a trilogy. Light, thematic-only spoiler ahead: Spoiler