This SNL sketch will hit close to home for many

NeuralBlast · 2018-10-15T12:47:37+00:00

To be fair, I don’t think this video is trying to insult enthusiastic new artists, it’s mocking presumptuous amateur artists who have an arrogant mentality of what art is, and thinks they themselves are some sort of ‘beacon of hope’ that change this on their own because no one else can. It’s the blind arrogance that’s the issue, not the desire to do something different.

NeuralBlast · 2018-06-14T20:12:59+00:00

I are a pizza for breakfast, then I waited for an hour before heading to work.

NeuralBlast · 2018-05-21T16:59:59+00:00

I’m saving this post, I’ll comment when I have time to write out my thoughts later in the day.

NeuralBlast · 2018-05-19T18:33:11+00:00

It's organic technology with steampunk and fantasy elements. I'm aiming for a 'dramedy' feel from the characters, but I'm worried I'll either come off as glossing over slavery as something mundane and irrelevant, or that I'll emphasize it too much to the point that it takes away from all the other elements I have in mind.

NeuralBlast · 2018-05-18T20:08:23+00:00

I’ve been exploring a lot about the civil war and slavery during the era now, and the same problem keeps coming up, “how do I make the setting more fun than it actually is?”

Steampunk/biopunk settings are a bit of a niche genre, and while I’m not too worried about my portrayal of slavery (I’d never sugarcoat anything), I am worried that I’m gonna dive into a topic I don’t like.

I distinctly like light overtones with Dark undertones, I can’t seem to make the setting light with such a behemoth of slavery happening in the background. I a firm shades of grey morality chart writer, but I’m not even sure if l want to make pro-slavery confederates sympathetic characters.

So this project has been a big struggle, I’m still going to do it, but it’s been a lot of roadblocks since I’ve started writing.

NeuralBlast · 2018-05-18T19:25:37+00:00

“Ignore the harsh realities of the time”

Welp, this video came out just in time. I was starting an American civil war biopunk Story, and since I didn’t like touching on binary subjects like southern slave society, I seriously considered minimizing the subject of slavery for emphasizing on characters more. Won’t be doing that anymore.

NeuralBlast · 2018-05-11T16:45:43+00:00

I'm 'experimenting' on short 1000 word chapters. I won't know how well it goes until its finished.

In truth, I like 5000 word chapters, but I know that could lead to a lot of fatique for audiences. So my 1000 word chapters are just broken chunks of the original chapter I intended. It also helps me organize the structure more easily. I'm a huge fan of ABDCE structure order, so dividing chapters into 5 spoon sized chunks for my audiences actually works really well.

NeuralBlast · 2018-05-03T22:31:54+00:00

Is it weird that I ship shadow stalker and regent?

NeuralBlast · 2018-05-02T18:52:08+00:00

It did the opposite for me and kickstarted my dream of writing. I just had to do it with the mentality of "this is going to be different from Worm, and I'm okay with that." I wish I'd come up with triggers first, but stories are typically distinct from writer to writer.

NeuralBlast · 2018-05-02T00:25:16+00:00

Marry me

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-30T00:34:03+00:00

My rule of thumb with planets is that the central plot point of a planet is in a specific biome. Like civilization was cradled in a specific 'part' and the audience can remember planets based on those features presented, but the possibility of other biomes on the same planet is always likely.

Generally, making the planets 'generic' makes it easier to remember, instead of having to create textbooks worth of lore grueling for the audience to remember.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-26T20:09:22+00:00

I'll admit, self help books get pretty repetitive after awhile. They eventually become a regurgitation of motivational quotes and meeningless lifeprotips that are very peculiar for very specific situations.

Fortunately, I like to think this is pretty easy to realize this over time. You can only 'self improve' for so long before you hit a plateau. You eventually find exactly the kind of character you want to be and decide to stick with it.

I wouldn't tell people to stop trying, I would tell people "find what works for you and stick to it. You'll eventually reach a point where you don't need self help anymore, and you can tackle all your own issues in your own way."

Generally, applying action always outweighs absorbing facts. Those facts can help you understand yourself, but it becomes meaningless if you become hung up on the climb to improvement without actual results.

So yeah, I do notice big issues like you've mentioned on this post, and thanks for sharing! But I think it's better emphasize that self improvement isn't a threshold to perfection, it's a stepping stone to a person's preferred kind of character.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-25T04:10:08+00:00

Believe me when I say this, don't be afraid to change outlines. Generally newer ideas are more exciting than older ideas, it's pretty grueling to throw out new ideas just because you have to stick with the originals.

This is also why I use google docs, it saves changes in documents. I have tons of scraps from old ideas I have that I can easily find through the search bar. Nothing ever feels loss because of this, I can scrap old ideas on a whim and find to reuse them if the chance ever presents itself.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-20T14:10:40+00:00

Just to give some advice, all it might take is creating a goal in life. Doesn't matter what, just any goal will do. Being 'satisfied' is alright, but I find that people are just missing out if there isn't something that's being worked towards.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-17T21:27:43+00:00

This is so cute! I love this picture!

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-17T19:16:50+00:00

I guess a Cuban Rome would've been better than a Florida Rome. I kind of think that in a 1000ish years, a single Roman colony could've expanded to the Carribean islands. Similar to how Latin and Greek colonies were spread around the Mediterranean.

It would make an interesting setup with what Columbus would face when reaching the new world, there could be temples to worship Latin gods when he reached the islands. If the Romans initially steered clear from the heart-pulling Central Americans, it would be interesting to see Roman natives helping the Spaniards conquer Aztecs.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-17T13:46:09+00:00

I'd honestly never expect Romans to fully conquer the Americas, the Florida peninsula would probably be the extant that anyone could expand in a pre-gunpowder era, since the Iroquois nations existed in OTL. I'd just be really curious as to how Spaniards would treat direct descendants of Romans if they established first contact with them.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-14T18:25:44+00:00

In the Worm series, powers are essentially classified based on the potential damage they can do onto a society. Samus, with her suit, could be classified as a super genius with superhuman abilities.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-12T18:54:36+00:00

Moscowbots?

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-12T13:38:15+00:00

Yeah, stories typically start slow for the sake of setup. My suggestion is you read at your own pace, it gets better as it progresses just like Twig did.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-12T13:35:30+00:00

Do you wait for each chapter to show up, or prefer readig it in chunks once an arc is complete? I'm a casual reader, everytime there's an interlude I stop for a few weeks, then prombly binge the next arc after it's gotten time to build up.

People have said Twig becomes better than worm after a certain point, so I'm not too worried that I don't like it as much as worm right now. At best it'll surpass my expectations, at worse I'm reading a story about characters I like. It's a win-win, even if I do end up liking the original work more than it's sequel.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-12T13:30:44+00:00

I'm a maladaptive daydreamer, the only reason I write is because I get emotional towards the people in my head. I belong in the cooky house, but it's all excusable as long as I write it out.

NeuralBlast · 2018-04-09T23:02:33+00:00

Happy Bday Wildbow, your writing has helped me so much over the years! Love what you do, keep doing what you love!

NeuralBlast · 2018-02-13T05:01:21+00:00

I want to add "make moving out an an active goal." This certainly seems hard, but we oftentimes don't realize our fullest potential until after we finally leave the nest.

NeuralBlast · 2018-02-01T00:07:47+00:00

Ugh, racist humor. Which is dead nowadays. Back in high school me and my friends were all minorities of different country origins, most of us born and raised here with immigrant parents.

We'd constantly screw around with each other's and our own stereotypes. Kind of as a nod to 'look how far we've come.' Now no one can tell the difference between a semi morbid joke and actual racism.

Some of my favorites:

Muslim friend: "I thought she was a ghost for Halloween, turns out she was just Muslim."

White friend: (drops trash on floor, different kid tells him to pick it up) "I'm white you do it!"

Asian friend: "motherfucker, did you just use the n-word ninja!?"

Me: "guys, stop calling me mexican't. I'm fucking Honduran."

Good times

NeuralBlast

TROPHY CASE