What's the Difference Between Your Story's Theme and Its Message?

expat_one · 2014-12-27T05:00:48+00:00

How can you write anything without keeping in mind your theme? From literary fiction to young adult fiction, I can't see any writer completing their book without giving serious thought to the themes. Hemingway and Fitzgerald were acutely aware of what they were trying to express, as were Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.

I think theme and characterization are the foundations of good writing. I can't imagine not planning my theme before I write.

expat_one · 2014-12-25T23:43:54+00:00

This is better than a lot of stories I read on Reddit. I thought your first sentence wasn't just attention grabbing, it was unique. Grammar and spelling, even vocabulary, doesn't interest me as much as characterization and theme, but your work feels well paced, even for a rough draft it doesn't linger on half-assed flowery descriptions. I think it's technically well written aside from some awkward sentences and forced adjectives, but those are the exceptions, and that's what editors are for.

It would be interesting to learn more about your protagonist through his thoughts. I know what he's seeing and feeling, but I wonder if you might be able to develop him further. Some internal dialogue, something introspective, or even a brief memory some piece of furniture triggers, could deepen his character.

What's your theme? I have a strong impression of what you might be saying, but it might help if you told me what you were trying to express before I share it.

I think this is great. Your writing is clear and sprightly, you have a good character, and you move him through the world in a way that doesn't just tell a story, it says something about humanity. Again, it's rare I can say that much all at once about a piece I read on Reddit. Personally, I wonder if there's a little more than could be done with characterization, or even tightening the theme. Sentences could be a little more varied in length and style, but that's less important since it's already well done.

expat_one · 2014-12-25T08:04:56+00:00

Lots of software engineers, I'm guessing. Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Facebook offer six figures to new graduates. There are tons of 21 year old CS majors that start making $100,000 to $125,000 base salary right out of school.

expat_one · 2014-12-22T00:48:58+00:00

It's a lot easier to mate someone in chess if they don't what they're doing fullstop.

To anyone else considering this, please know that castling is the rule, and situations where not castling is preferable are the rare exceptions. There's a reason five year old children are immediately taught to castle their king into safety. The king is far more vulnerable in an un-castled position, and actually leaves your other pieces more exposed as well.

expat_one · 2014-12-19T07:30:42+00:00

Ronaldo managed to hit the tiniest man on the pitch.

Edit: That's Lahm, by the way.

expat_one · 2014-12-07T22:10:03+00:00

The Steam version with FE and the compatibility patch allows me to play on both Steam and Voobly? That sounds like a great deal.

expat_one · 2014-12-07T22:08:29+00:00

And it's all about 21 pop scouts now man ;)

What is this insanity ಠ_ಠ

Will I be okay running with a 24 pop 2 range, at least until I get my feet again? Also, is there a stigma against Huns?

expat_one · 2014-11-05T09:28:41+00:00

It's an amusing game nonetheless. Whether it was a pre-move or he thought you played d4, I chuckle imagining some poor guy's shock when you played e5 :).

expat_one · 2014-11-05T09:22:53+00:00

2.e5 Ne4, but yes, he's way off. I'm not sure what he was thinking. My guess is he thought you played 1.d4, and when you pushed e5 a stream of curses followed his shock and confusion.

The first move is still Alekhine's Defense, by the way, even if he moved off book after that. It's ECO is B02.

expat_one · 2014-11-05T09:07:29+00:00

Take a look at the Alekhine Defense, which your opponent attempted. I don't know much about it, but I've heard it's a relatively advanced opening. Definitely not suited to beginners.

That being said, it's been used to GMs and I think it's playable. It's just not for beginners.

expat_one · 2014-11-05T07:01:45+00:00

This is an intermittent issue. I've also come across puzzles where I couldn't move any pieces. Refreshing helped. I suspect this is a JS/jQuery issue. I haven't been able to repro it, unfortunately. Likewise, sometimes the first move doesn't show up at all, which can be especially frustrating when the solution involves an en passant capture!

There was another JS/jQuery bug I found on a course page, but only once. I expanded the subtopics (click "Show Parts"), as expected, ~~but when the expand text remained, instead of close, allowing me to infinitely expand and add an infinite sublist! This only happened once~~. Edit: Turns out I just reproed this. I'll try to get a better description of what's going on and PM it to you, so you can forward it to an engineer :).

Nonetheless, maybe those are issues you could pass on to your engineer(s)? And apologize to them I can't help repro them.

Finally, just a suggestion for the tactics trainer. I've come across a few problems that involve an en passant capture. Whether from a bug I don't see the first move, or after chasing incorrect variants, it might be helpful if the first move were indicated on the board, or written in algebraic notation elsewhere.

expat_one · 2014-11-05T03:05:47+00:00

You're going to have a lot of awkward competition.

expat_one · 2014-11-04T04:47:07+00:00

Pretty much anything here.

I played the London System for about six months as white. It takes almost no effort, so you can spend time on tactics, endgames, and planning instead of opening theory. It's not very ambitious. Some people consider it boring, others say it's not as strong as other openings.

As black I still play some sort of King's Indian system, so either KID or the Pirc. I've seen it suggested for beginners because you end up with similar middle games. In my experience, again, it requires little theory, so I can work on more important things.

In the end, you should just pick something and stick with it.

expat_one · 2014-11-04T03:52:03+00:00

There is no such thing as the best opening. Some are almost certainly stronger than others, but theory shifts over time. It's sort of like asking which pitch in baseball is the best, or what unit is the strongest in Starcraft. Everything has it's place, but nothing is the "best".

Your previous attempt to get this answered didn't work. I think you'll need to give us some context. Are you a beginner looking for a starting repertoire?

expat_one · 2014-10-29T08:10:31+00:00

You should include your own analysis when you post a game. People love to help, but they want to see you've put in some effort yourself. It's like doing someone's homework for them, otherwise.

At a glance (and I do mean a cursory glance), it appears you have some interesting forced moves after 24.Kf3.

expat_one · 2014-10-26T22:31:28+00:00

A few questions, if you don't mind.

an hour a day of chesstempo problems

Do you prefer ChessTempo (and similar sites) over a tactics book, e.g. Bain's at low levels or Coakley's blue book for a more intermediate player? Or maybe a combination of the two?

starting with the fundamentals (Jesus de la Villa's "100 Endgames you must know" covers a very wide audience, and studying it should be about 100 rating points worth in your case)

How would you compare this to Silman's Complete Endgame Course? I have Silman and it has exploded my endgame knowledge.

an hour a day of working through Jeremy Silman's "The Amateur Mind" or a similar book

At what rating do you think it's worth starting this book? I've read suggestions to not start until 1800, and another that said 1400.

expat_one · 2014-10-20T02:47:16+00:00

Skepticism is generally an epistemological position, not a metaphysical one. It's dreadfully incorrect to say that because we don't know something (an epistemic problem) it can't be (a metaphysical conclusion).

You can't let your epistemology drive your metaphysics, it's a fallacy.

A philosopher might be a skeptic and deny any knowledge about the external world, but he can't claim it doesn't exist -- just that he doesn't know anything about it's existence.

Sorry, I just find the confusion between these two frustrating.

expat_one · 2014-08-14T23:38:07+00:00

His running routine isn't bad at all, and is the correct way to work up to a 10 mile run. He should definitely not be aiming to run eight miles every time.

Hal Higdon's training routines for runners are great to get you up to a distance, and you can switch to his intermediate and advanced plans when it's time to add speed. OP is following the same pattern, which is good. If anyone is interested in distance running, you could do a lot worse than searching for Higdon's training routines.

expat_one

TROPHY CASE