Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on May 24, 2005, 10:17:47 AM
-
Hey, there's a Wikipedia article on Brandon! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson)
Someone should add more detail than I came up with off the top of my head.
-
I thought he was a Nebraskan?
-
I think you're right. I just put that in because he's always going to Idaho. it should be edited.
-
I changed it and turned the discussion page into a editing history thing. SE wants to stick some comedy slander in there :P
-
hey, I hadn't even MADE a discussion page yet. Don't tell me you turned that into anything.
-
And he lives in Orem, UT, at least that's what it says in his bio printed in Elantris. Yes, I know it is very difficult to distinguish, but there really is a difference.
-
That was Ent, not me. I didn't post about his current living space, I think. Just fix it. That's what wikipedia is for.
-
No one noticed Sarene's name is spelled wrong??
-
that depends, did you fix it?
-
Anyone is welcome to contribute. That's what Wikipedia is for.
I've been thinking about starting an article for several days...
-
Brandon does not have his Master's. Ask him, and ask him why.
-
Huh? I thought he defended it already...
http://www.timewastersguide.com/boards/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=other;action=display;num=1090942398;start=0
-
He may have defended it, but the university will not award him his degree until he submits a specifically-formatted copy of Elantris to the library for their records. This is the only thing keeping him from it, and he hasn't done it yet.
-
Don't add sarcastic comments to the wikipedia... SOMEONE's change got reverted.
-
Rock on! I was wondering when I'd get one of these.
You guys know how to make a guy feel all warm and fuzzy. Makes me sad I killed so many of you off in Mistborn.
(Oh, and someone should add this article to the Wiki big list of fantasy authors.)
-
So submit your thing to the library already!
-
I think the WP rules have something about not writing articles, or being involved in articles, about yourself. I might be remembering wrong, but I read them back when I first sold a book, and figured it wouldn't be right to write an article about myself.
-
It was my comment. The change was from "has earned a Master's degree in Creative Writing from Brigham Young University" to "has not earned a Master's degree in Creative Writing from Brigham Young University yet, because he is lazy and has not submitted an academically-formatted copy of his thesis to the library." (additions in bold)
If the comments could be labelled as sarcastic, it is because the subject's attitude towards his own situation is sarcastic, which attitude I obtained from direct conversation with the subject. He thinks it's funny. Why shouldn't I, or anyone else?
Understandably, one would have to be privy to such knowledge to be able to avoid interpreting the comment any other way. But overall it was an honest and accurate statement (and funny too.)
-
I dunno how EUOL feels about it, but just because the Wikipedia is about gathering human knowledge does not mean that all the articles need to be dry and humorless, nor does it mean that we need to be uptight about the article. I seriously wouldn't have started it if I had known people would be getting grumpy about it.
-
I'm not being grumpy, but I guess my formal tone could lead one to believe that. I just didn't want to be accused of doing anything wrong or deriding one of my friends. I think the article's great. I'm just concerned about getting along with everybody.
And I think the whole situtation with Brandon and his degree is mildly ridiculous. :)
-
I'm not the one who reverted it. A prolific wikipedia user (or an automatic bot he runs in order to catch defacing edits) reverted it.
-
Be that as it may, people, relax yourselves.
-
I think I should be mentioned in the Wikipedia article.
Actually, I don't, but I thought it would be funny to say anyway. I suppose if I really wanted to be in it I could just go edit myself in. ;)
-
Well, I changed the original "holds" to "has earned," which I think is distinction enough, but someone else changed it to "has almost earned."
-
I changed it again. "Has almost earned" reminded me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail where Sir Robin "nearly defeated" the Chicken of Leicester (or whatever it was).
Now it says that he "resides in Orem, Utah, while he earns his Master's degree in Creative Writing" at BYU.
I think it sounds more pro-active that way.
And speaking of such, I'm signing off to do pro-active things of my own. ;)
-
I changed some stuff in the article - some guy came along and his editing fubared a couple lines in the Elantris section. I'd take those joke lines out SE. I also started a Gyorn page, but it needs a couple more details I think. Check out the discussion page for Gyorn to see what i missed.
-
I expanded and reworded a little more. Then I immediately did a minor change, and it only kept my "m" note for the second change, not any of my earlier changes (it kept the changes, just not my notes)... I should have just done "preview."
(Um...if you think I made a mistake, just say so--don't say "some guy.")
-
Well Ookla how was entropy to be able to know it was you? He's the only person in the history with a name resembeling his TWG name.
-
I assumed it was that Artas guy, since the editing looked like it had been done by someone who had not read Elantris. :)
-
When he said it in this thread I didn't guess it was me, but in the "discussion" page he specifically said I was the one who messed it up.
Not a problem, since with so many people editing things, it gets confusing, but it would help avoid communication problems, Entropy, if you would just say what you mean...
But you're right, Sprig...I easily forget that "Ookla" and "Peter" are not necessarily synonyms as far as the rest of the world is concerned...
-
They're not? The real world is such a confusing place.
-
Boo!!! I prefer "standalone" as one word!! (dictionary.com)
-
I prefer it as hyphenated, because of Merriam-Websters (and that's the way EUOL has it on his website).
-
What's dictionary.com's source dictionary on that?
Hyphenated words are so tricky. The reason they're hyphenated is that they're on the transition to becoming a compound word, often.
-
American Heritage 4th.
However, google examples are overwhelmingly against my preference, especially in the phrase "stand-alone novel." v_v
(We actually use AmH instead of Merriam-Webster's here. One thing I definitely agree with is how it uses "goodbye" instead of m-w's "good-bye." But I reserve the right to disagree with the dictionary...)
-
American Heritage is Houghton's dictionary (I mean, we published it). That's the only one we used in the school division, for obvious reasons.
-
Maybe EUOL will give his opinion at some point.
Good to know that you guys use AmH. I always used M-W's at work, since I worked from the Chicago style guide, and Chicago uses M-W--so that's why M-W is my default. I was the one who changed it, but my final decision wasn't because of M-W but because of the fact that EUOL has it hyphenated on his website, and I'm a stickler for consistency.
It definitely would not be "stand alone" because it is an adjectival phrase describing "novel." It would have to either be hyphenated or closed (according to Chicago, at least). And that is what we are disagreeing about. ;)
Funny how such a small thing can be so controversial. Sometimes editing gives me headaches.
-
I'm staying out of this one. Wikipedia is supposed to be third-party, so I don't really want to stick my fingers into what you're writing.
I do appreciate it, though!
-
I'm staying out of this one. Wikipedia is supposed to be third-party, so I don't really want to stick my fingers into what you're writing.
Very wishy-washy, EUOL.
"So then because thou art luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."
--Revelations :16, KJV
:D J/k
-
Okay, since this is a group effort and many of us are online, I have a question. I'm thinking the plot paragraph (much better now, kudos to whoever did that) is a little heavy on its focus on Sarene. I thought Raoden could use one more line. I wrote it, but I don't know if it makes it too long.
The text in red is the sentence I am thinking of adding.
Struck down by the same plague that turned the gods into walking corpses, Prince Raoden of Arelon is imprisoned in the fallen city while his former subjects are told that he is dead. He toils to overcome the constant pain of his condition and build a meaningful life for himself and the fellow inhabitants of Elantris. Princess Sarene, his bride-to-be, arrives a few days later, held by a legally binding contract that says she is married to a man she never met. Widow of a dead prince and a new member of the dubious Arelon nobility, she struggles to find out just what is going on and to help the downtrodden people.
Opinions?
-
In my opinion, no dictionary is any more viable than any other as a source, assuming it holds to some kind of internal logic. Hyphen, no hyphen--do what feels good, man.
-
Thanks, Fell--but I was specifically asking for an opinion on the sentence I was considering adding to Wikipedia (see previous post).
-
Sometimes simultaneously-written posts will show up in a weird order and look like they're ignoring context.
As for your question, I don't like the word "toils." It implies boring drudgery to me, rather than the exciting struggles of a fantasy hero. Maybe "strives" is a better word.
-
Nice reformatting of the raoden line, I was never that happy with the flow of those sentences. And yeah, that extra sentence looks good.
-
Thanks Fell and Entropy. I'll replace "toils" with "strives" and put it in.
-
He probably started writing before you hit "post."
Anyway it sounds good to me. I also dislike the "downtrodden people" line...anyway, it's collaborative, so if you think something is better, just change it, and if someone else doesn't like it, they can change it. As long as it's not just adding and deleting hyphens, any addition is a good addition--maybe it won't be right at first, but someone will fix it later to something they might not have added themselves if left to their own devices.
-
And then I'll change it when your all still in bed. :)
-
Brandon, someone added a birth year of 1978 to your article. That's, um, not right, is it? And is your age on your website's About page still correct?
-
nah, that can't be right. '78 is when I was born, and I'm pretty sure EUOL is, what, 3 years older than me? Well, anyway, I'm sure he'll straighten Wikipedia out whenever he sees this.
-
EUOL's Birthday is '76, I went ahead and changed it. Also he's got his Masters now so someone should change that part.
-
Oh, he finally turned in his thesis? But he's still teaching...is he going beyond Masters now?
-
I don't think he has any plans for a doctorate any time soon. He's teaching because BYU hired him.
-
Arrrrr... Right, yeah. Somehow I momentarily forgot that not all teachers who aren't graduate students have doctorates, even though Linda Hunter Adams is a prime example...
-
Does BYU even have a doctoral program in English?
-
Uh, Sprig? '75. It's confusing because I've got a December birthday. I should update my website. I mention how old I am, but not my birthday, so it gets out of date every year....
-
Isn't EUOL's birth year 1975? I was born in 1976 and EUOL is almost exaclty one year older than me.
-
huh, I always thought it was '76 since I was '78.
-
Since his birthday is in December it would be very close to '76.
-
No, Fish--no Doctoral program in English at the Y.