Timewaster's Guide Archive

I do things the hard way. Instead of thinking up a plot, world building, or developing characters, what I do first is list about a dozen ideas "tension" ideas. I think let those ideas roll around in my head for about a month, and then sit down and write the opening scene. With the opening scene down on paper, all the ideas of how to weave together click in my mind. I then sit down to write a plot outline, and then write.

Of course, only about two thirds of a really good plot outline makes it to the final draft. As I'm writing the first draft, it often changes. Little ideas come up for unespected places for how to better convay the story and I add them in. The second draft is all about fixing consistency erros, adding depth to the side plots, and scattering info. The third draft is all rewrites.

But now I am wondering about that male pink power ranger. What are his hopes, dreams and aspirations based on being a pink power ranger? Does he somehow feel inferior to the other power rangers? Could he finally find someone to look beyond his pink exterior and love him for who he is? Oh, the drama! 

The Pink Ranger’s name is Kyle Grant. He is seventeen, and a senior in high school. He was raised by a single mother (who had “attachment issues”) and his three older sisters. His mother was in her early forties when he was born, and his eldest sister, Linda, had graduated from high school two months before. His other two sisters were also in high school when he was born, but their not important enough to his story to talk about right now.

Linda and his mother alternated the responsibilities of raising Kyle. He was the baby of the family…until Linda got married and had a daughter named Trelawney. Kyle was six going on seven when this happened (five when Linda married) and suddenly found that he was without mommy number two.

That began the competition for Linda’s attention between Kyle and Trelawney. (Linda was a strong willed, level headed woman who acted the part of "daddy" for Kyle.) The battle was long and bitter, each of the children going to great lengths to catch Linda’s attention (her husband wasn’t too happy about the ongoing war between the kids, and he eventually divorced Linda in part because of it).

Then puberty came kicked in…

Kyle had long ago adopted the theme of “imitation is the most sincere form of flattery” and has been copying Linda’s strong, assertive personality for years. It got to the point that they had eventually become his own. So when it happened that he came to  be chosen to be a Power Ranger and the only available costume that was left was pink, he didn’t hesitate to accept it and the duty to his planet. (The other Rangers think he’s gay, but Kyle doesn’t feel compelled to correct them.)

Every angle for vampires, elves, dwarfs, warewolves, orcs--powerrangers?--, has already been done. If none of these species were ever used in a book again it would still take you YEARS, probably more along the lines of decades unless that was all you did, to read all the books with just one of them.

The reason I won't read a book with these (and more) creatures (and varying colored powerrangers) is because the only way you can keep my interest is for them to be so different from the originals that they should be named something else (why is the pink ranger always female ).

Wow, I have two that say yes, and one that says no, most of the rest are refusing to answer by saing Maybe 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a scene in Well of Ascension that takes place directly after Vin and Elend have sex?

You just beat me to it 

I could see Elden getting a little bugeyed when checking out Vin (of course the times he would've done this were probably during Vin's POV), but honestly If Kelsier, or one of the older men did I would've been a bit creeped out. I don't think too much "dddaaang!" would've helped the novel.

TROGDOR!

No, sorry, but I was reminded of Trogdor when you described your story.

Burninating all the country side. Burninating all the peasants. Burninating all the thatch roof cottages. Trogdor strikes in the NNNIIIIIIGGGGHT!

This is probably the biggest reason I didn't use cursing in my latest manuscript, because it didn't feel right. There are numerous essays about cursing in fantasy, and to sum them up: What the author is trying to do is translate a different language into english (or whatever language you are using), and so there by if something is a direct one-for-one translation, why use the english translation instead?

Now, I'm not saying that you should do this, but I think culturally relevant and derived curses are more effective if you don't want to uses real ones as jjb has said.