Ashi

Oh no.... What happened?

Quono. Yeah, I think I can understand you somewhat. Just don't overwork yourself. Take your time. Relax. Live your life a bit. A lot of time that what happened when you turn your hobby into work, and it takes time to readjust the change. Though you're published (congrats! it's a big achievement), just keep it going like a hobby. And you still have your Lil Q!

Thank you Yettie for your nice comment, as well as others who read and like it. I have tons of ideas about writing (I certainly have my own style, and everyone should have their own), but I feel I may or may not have time or energy to finish it for one reason or another (I am searching for a job that pays periodic wages/salaries), so before I feel I am abandoning another one of my work (which certainly look like it from outsiders' POV), I feel it's better just write out my thoughts. If it's helpful to other aspiring authors, it's super. If not, that's fine too. But at least it's a reference for someone who wants to get started (I felt I was completely at lost when I started. Internet really makes accumulating experience easier, so I feel it's nice to give back). And it also makes people understand how I write my stories, which is just one of many ways to do it, of course. I remember Cia also has written one writing tip post. More of these tips, the better, I think. So authors can have more variety of advice. I do hope I will finish the story project I am planning, but I don't like making promise....

That sounds like a fun game, Yettie. My favorite is still Monopoly, as long as people don't cheat!

I suppose it's easier to come out if you're cute.... I've heard very derogatory things said to gay people once because the person has less than a model-like look and was suggested he should commit suicide.... It's hard for me to listen, but I wasn't very out of closet then so I couldn't say much.... In any case, it's a very brave thing he did, though he was in an drama class, so I think some people probably had known.... In any case, his father is pretty cool too, supporting his son like that.

I was an early advocate of Internet Explorer, but IE wasn't usable until IE3. IE2 was a cheap copycat of Netscape. And then Netscape began to copy IE4's new features as well as flaws (remember those "channels" and "shell-integration"?) and that's when Netscape really went wrong (and bad management team really helped the downfall of Netscape). I am using Firefox now, but my brother is using Google Chrome which I find it really annoying. Firefox is getting awful unfortunately, but I can't find a better browser.... Anyways, I don't think the video is really about browser war. It's about remember the 90's. Oh, you guys don't remember the 90's.... You're either too young to know or too old to remember. Oh, and the video is wrong. It wasn't just one internet provider. It was big 3. AOL, CompuServe and Prodigy.

When I read, sometimes I have some internal dialogues for various reasons. Today the internal dialogue I had was about how much information is too much information (no, I am not talking about my daily ritual, thank you very much). At which point should I, as a writer, get my hand off. Whether it was when I was in my business training or when I was writing some programs (yes, Ashi was some sort of a computer nerd long times ago), one of the things I learned in those disciplines was trying to be as thoughtful as possible so the people under your management, or end-users of your program can finish the job they want to do without put too much thought on technicalities. That's what makes the business process or a computer program running as smooth as possible. The same thing can be applied to a piece of creative writing..., or can we? A grand assumption. I am sure most of us writers have come across the statement "show, don't tell" some time during our creation process (usually during editing stage). I admit I violate that rule myself sometimes, and hopefully I edited them out before presenting it to the world. On the other hand, as a writer, I can get over anxious whether my story is coherent or not to my readers, and I believe that's when I start to violate that aforementioned rule. But then I realize this isn't a technical writing or running a business. The point isn't about efficiency, but effectiveness. I am not trying to make readers get by; I want them to get it. A main character can be overly critical and too self-introspective; a side-effect of an excessive descriptive passage. Such implementation of detail is well-intended. I certainly was taught to make good use of adjectives to create vivid imagery. But I also believe in "show, don't tell" and that ought to be applied to both the action, as well as the mental process of my main character. And there should be some sort of balance issue when a writer is doing his/her first read-through, and decide how much information must be cut. We wouldn't want to run into the risk of making the reading process too thoughtless. Unlike running a business operation or a well-written app that should breeze through business as usual, an important concept in a story ought to be like a drama queen who draws attention to himself. Jar readers' mental comfort. Make them stop and think about why (why main character did that, and/or why author decided to write it that way). Make them confused (for now). Confused reader will have a heightened sense, an awareness of the issue, and it's exactly what we want (and therefore, such tactic must not be abused, or you'd fatigue the reader) to build a solid foundation of understanding important concepts in our writings without resorting to spell out the detail. If successfully applied, the process will make the reading more engaging, and hopefully make the story more gripping and less flat in structure. And now after I introduced those fuzzy general statements, now I am going to explain what leads me to think this way. Besides the "show, not tell" and "don't undermine the intelligence of the reader" rules mentioned, I believe in realism as a writing convention. The last time I checked, I wasn't exactly a stellar mind reader. As much as I want my readers to get inside the mindset of my main character, and put themselves into his shoes, I want my readers to... explore. What I mean by that is, through my friend making process (which I admit I am awkward at it), I've come to the realization I don't actually know them overnight. Sometimes it's easy to be self-righteous and hasty to judge because I feel I know someone so much, but in fact I don't. So I keep doing the exploration until I see people's character unfold. Some info is given under strange circumstance where the informant is in fact an unreliable narrator (e.g., when was the last time you were told someone was straight only to find out it's more complex than that? How does that change your perception of that person? How does that change the story? Does that make the person deceitful or is he only trying to protect someone or himself? Is it fair to judge someone using limited knowledge of them?). Unreliable narration and dramatic irony are proven techniques for drama, both literary-speaking and in real life. It's human nature, it's a human flaw, it's a way conflicts are derived, so let's embed that human flaw into a story. People are not always considerate or introspective in a face-to-face setting, unlike a character in a story which is a result of a writer's grand design, his channel for ideology. Real human beings are far from consistent and reliable in that regard and far more complex. Some people are more considerate than others alright, but I've yet to meet someone who takes his time and make me wait for his perfectly delivered cognitive idea in a conversation (if he did, is that what he really believes?). We grow somehow at the end of our conversation, and that growth comes from exploration and understanding. And we're going to write some fictions that allow our readers to explore human nature, and make them wade through human flaws to find out the real story, on their own. Our writing is merely a sandbox that a reader can use for creating their own story.

I haven't finished the whole story. But so far I feel the story starts rolling around Chapter 4, which a lot of little bits begin to fuse together and make more sense and suspense builds. It's a wonderful story, Nephy. Because I haven't finished the whole story, so I can't just comment on some of the questions you put out, but I will try to finish it (I am a slow reader) so I can answer those questions! So far I like Noah's character (though he wasn't exactly perfect). I love the medical detail, but then I studied a just a tiny bit of medical stuff back in school. Some of the terms (I don't remember which, but I believe it was introduced in Chapter 3 that got me baffled and wish it would be explained in more detail (perhaps slowly or in a non-intrusive, logical way). Great job!

Happy Birthday! It's okay to be a wallflower.

I also do a lot of photography and hiking. Though my photography isn't just something that's light weight and purely for fun anymore. There are plenty of analyzing and scouting and reshooting and learning from mistakes that I do, a lot of times I find myself seeing a place, not as a fun place to to visit, but as a study.... Each season has its own character, so use them wisely, Alex. I find Summer to be the most boring season to shoot photos though, at least in California (well, except for beaches). Winter and Spring give the most opportunity. When I was a kid, I spent most of my idle time reflecting. Thinking about something in life and mistakes that can be done better. Now that idea has come back, though I have a different interpretation. When one is way too busy, because of house chore or work, one no longer thinks. Take some time off, reflect, recharge, and let many concepts that came across during work to sink in a little, so we can have time to process them, not at their face value but the deeper implication. It's not too different from doing photography, or any creative process.... The more you try to squeeze it, the less creative juice will come out.

I don't do it, but if it gives you comfort, then you should do it. Everyone has their own grieving system. I usually just stay in bed and think about them, and quietly cry to myself if needed, so I won't surprise people (crying is not something people connect me with). If people judge you by your grieving system, then it's very narrow minded of them, and they should have more feeling.

Happy Birthday.

I always like her. And I completely agree with Krista. Sure, a public figure like Jody Foster can't really enjoy the degree of privacy like us normal people, but they shouldn't be pestered to disclose everything either. If she likes everyone to know about her sexuality, she can. If not, leave her alone! She should be seen as one of the most talented actresses around, not merely confined by her sexuality. In any case, I think she has had a stellar career.

The best sleeping medicine for me has always been.... Something inappropriate to say to queerlings in the open, but it's something I bet every adolescent boy would sooner or later discover.... It makes you sleep like wood....

Happy Birthday, CassieQ!

I've always wanted to join a book club.

Happy Birthday Kyle.

And thirty years later, bar from the AIDS scare, everything else still has a similar counterpart lingering around....

The MC could be either gender. Thanks for the review, KC.

Oh, goodie, NNN. Thank you so much for the very detailed review!

I think I'd rather cruising on a Vespa, 15mph. (just in case you are wondering which color, green with pearl effect).

Merry Christmas everyone.

I know a little bit, but if you need very heavy animated objects, I might not be the right guy.... But I am glad to help and share insight of what I learned from building web sites from scratch, and subjects about user experience of interface design. Do build from content first, Yettie.

I just read this thread.... But I am saddened to hear his passing. I only recently chatted with him, on the subject of bisexuality, and now I heard his passing. It's really unreal. The guy is a real nice person from the brief moment I've talked to him. A man bereft so early, really makes you think. I also wish his boyfriend well. It must be very hard on him.... It's especially admirable how he talked so nicely, while he was educating me on the subject of bisexuality, while he was dealing with cancer..., and I was completely clueless of his ailment.... RIP.

A very nice topic to discuss! I remember one of my English teacher just called it "keep verbs together." It is apparently (or if you prefer, "it apparently is") for clarification reason and language refinement. The last example (the teddy bear examples) all four sentences have different meanings, and I am not sure if the last one makes sense..., and the third one is pretty muddy. Yeah, sometimes you need to just say to heck with it. I think it's in the same league as mix long and complex sentences with short, simple sentences. It's nice if you do. It's not like you will you be put in a concentration camp if you don't. It depends on the author's discretion and probably defines an author's unique style also. A very nice article for contemplation! The example about the oath of the President of the United States takes made me laughing out loud. As an American, I must give a protest of such tongue-in-cheek remark!