Timewaster's Guide Archive

That was my favorite scene in the book. I'm glad to see it's the cover.

I think the previous chapter 1 was better if only for the reason that I was hooked much earlier in it than I was with this version of chapter 1.  I can understand why the changes based on the other comments about the previous version of chapter 1: character motivation and getting to know Midius better, however this chapter felt forced and there are a couple of times where I feel like I'm being told stuff:

"He had left behind an inferior successor in Midius."

"The corpse didn’t respond, of course."

"Again, no response from the corpse.  That was one of the more frustrating things about them."

"This was no regular corpse.  It was the corpse of, perhaps, the greatest man who had ever lived.  And he had died, virtually forgotten and alone, in the middle of the fain forest. "

I do like the whole talking with the corpse thing, and it appears you are trying to show us more of Midius' motivations, however if feels awkward. I really had to force myself to read through the chapter and not skim it. For what it's worth, my suggestion would be to take some of the above and show me with dialog instead.

Anyway, that's my two cents.

So, now that WorldCon is over, the question I have is: Next year are people more likely to go to world con in Japan, or the North American Science Fiction Convention instead?


Another question...Did I read this right?

"Denver has won the right to host the 2008 World Science Fiction Convention." from http://www.denver2008.com/

I think it's a good idea to switch the order of these last two chapters. It builds the tension and makes the Vasher priest question more bearable.

Cast-iron underwear.

That stuff has gott chafe...and rust. Give me titanium with rounded edges (i.e. "comfort fit") any day.

On a more serious note: If you think about wearing pants that would essentially be like putting your legs into two tubes of PVC and jumping off a building....Or making something that looked like pants and then stepping into them and jumping off a building....something's going to get hurt.

You could say, "It grabs onto the waist", but then the pants shove up into your gut..ouch! So it's almost like there has to be some kind of shock absorber that won't have an impact on your body.  There are other articles of clothing that could be used. An example I'm deliberatly ignoring is the idea of "Elevator or platform shoes." Yick.

So the next thing you have to think of is something like an accordian...but then your pants have to be longer than your legs...unless they grow as you're falling, like the cloak of the one guy that lifted him above the crowd. That's possible, but does it work in the context of the story? I don't know.

Anyway, that was the one thing that make me go..."hum.."

And let's face it, I know people who still rant and rave over Starcraft, which is much older than WC3.

I was just looking at the world editor for WC3 and there is some serious power there. Very flexible, and customizable with all kinds of quests and objectives. And really, has there been a better Computer RTS game that comes close to it since?

I was reading though some "older" posts and noticed how much time EUOL had between posting chapters to Warbringer. Sometimes it was two chapters in a day while other times it was two days between chapters.

That led me to these questions for everybody:

How much do you manage to crank out in a day (word count)?

How long does that take you?

What do you do to get the "creative engine" going each time you sit down to write?

I'll start:

1. I usually write about 1000 words a day, but I take Sunday's off every week. I think there's more to writing, but I only keep track of the stuff that a possible reader may actually see on the page.

2. Anywhere from one hour to two hours (depends on how well I can visualize the scenes and how tired I am.). That's the whole time...from sitting down to typing the last word for that day.

3. I'll read through the outline, make some changes, read a bit from the last chapter and then jump into the word smithing itself. Sometimes I just read the last two paragraphs of what I last wrote and jump in.

So, what about the rest of you?

I just finished chapter 18. I like the way the story is progressing, and like the hints of things to come, however I think the last scene in chapter 18 needs something more.

The conversation between Siri and Lightbringer felt rushed, which doesn't seem to suit Lightbringer at all. Seems like he'd be just as happy to spend the time watching Siri and checking his opinion on her as he would with Blushweaver.  Why take the effort to go back when he could nible on treats and befuddle Siri?

Also, I understood the whole grape metaphor but it felt forced ... but then maybe that was the point.

Anyway, I'll keep the comments coming and I'm looking forward to catching up.