Mineswept

I'm addicted to Minesweeper.

No, really.

I was tempted to post a picture of myself attempting to play the advanced version, but I decided not to be deceptive. Truth is, I'm not even very good at it. It frustrates me. I tell myself I'm building up a tolerance for numbers (something not included in my particular brain package, evidently), that I'm learning logic (if this mine is here, then it can't be here, so I can click here ... whoops) and that I'm familiarizing myself with the level of graphics on my new laptop.

See, it came with these cool sound effects, and all the mines blow up when you find one, and it even has a "Flower Garden" mode for the people who can't handle the violence mines entail ...

Ahem. Sorry. Point is -- I couldn't hide this from myself for long -- I'm procrastinating. I almost always have a word document open in the background that I can't stand to face. At least, not yet. Just one more game.

When it's not Minesweeper, it's electronic chess, or solitare, or you-name-it. The fact that my fans are clamoring for the full edited first draft sometimes does light a fire under me, but there are those times when nothing will come together. So I resort to that lovely little game icon on my taskbar.

"So be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left..." (Deuteronomy 5:32)

Sigh.

Writing/revision is tricky and exhausting. So is my mind. I will go to no end to convince myself that I am doing something productive when I'm really just wasting my precious time. A little aside here, I do think that the occasional game break is good. Get your mind off the story, get a fresh look. Chess, minesweeper, whatever your procrastination method is, go for it. Just make sure to come back after a reasonable amount of time? Please?

*makes note to self and resolutely glues the word document to her screen*

Discoveries (Helpful Ones)

So y'all are thinking that it's about time for another post?

Well so am I.

*beat*

Hmm, how about some discoveries that I made recently? Writing-related, of course. Here we go:


So yesterday I was browsing my Youtube favorited videos, and found a demo of swords by Darksword Armory. I decided to visit their site and check out their inventory, and I found that I really liked it. Although it doesn't have as much volume or variety as a lot of other medieval sites, they have a nice setup and feel very clean and easy to navigate. And their swords...man. This site is a really good source for pictures because of the clear views of the weapons themselves. They also feature some very nice test videos of the swords and their *heh heh* destructive power. Their portfolio of each sword is very informative with a bit of history about each one.
All this can be found at the Darksword Armory website.

Yes, this is a Dungeons and Dragons generator. No, I don't do D & D. I have, however, found that some of their material is very useful for writing. Take, for instance, this gen. You can input the first letter and last letter of the name, the first letter of the surname, the character's race, and other things to give it a specific feel. There are various name generators I like to use but this one was the most helpful one I've discovered recently, so I am most generously sharing it with you. *elegant bow*
The generator can be found at this location.
Other generators I like to use are Chaotic Shiny, Seventh Sanctum, and Yafnag.

One more before I have to go:



Alright, admit it. Most of you writers have injured a character at one point or another. Yes? So now that we have that established, I have observed that it is rather difficult to injure someone when you don't know how precisely that person is built. I only found this site a couple days ago, but I can already tell it's going to be very, very helpful. It offers large and detailed diagrams and explanations of almost every conceivable part of the body. I have yet to explore the rest of the site, but it appears to be interesting and I will keep you posted on that.
This can be found at Bartleby, Great Books Online.

Let me know what you think of these!
E

On Unconsciousness (and falling into it)

I don't know about you, but in my current story (and in my next one as well, I imagine) I have several of my perspective characters [n. characters from whose perspective you write] being knocked unconscious. This happens rather often, but ways of expressing him can become extremely cliche. Sure, in the context of the story it's dramatic, suspenseful, and perhaps induces a bit of pity/sympathy, but how many times do you think you can use "everything went black" before your readers start to notice something?

Some authors I know of stretch the experience of being knocked unconscious into so many very looong sentences that I wonder if the character is ever going to actually black out. Tolkien, for instance, with Pippin in Return of the King. It takes him two whole paragraphs until "his eyes saw no more". While I don't necessarily have a problem with this and it fits with Tolkien's style, if I ever tried it the attempt would sound very, very cheesy.

Other authors will use a process of a few sentences, with the character seeing snatches of the world outside, possibly trying to claw their way toward it or willfully sinking, depending on the situation -- whether the character is fed up with his current position or wants to stay around to see what happens or possibly save himself from getting skewered, for example.

Most authors try to express it in two or three words, i. e. "everything faded" or "darkness closed in" or "blackness descended". While these are simple and effective, they are also used far too often.

Let's take a look at the last two, shall we?

I really think the "process" technique is good for certain situations when you want to prolong the experience and add more detail. If your character has been recently injured and you want to add some throbbing or whatever, now is the time to do so. If he thinks he's dying you can put in something about savoring life for a last, lingering moment. Try panic, fury, regret or cold acceptance for emotional detail.

On the other hand, the "phrase" examples are much more common and (as I have stated before -- maybe I'm trying to make a point? ;) ) profusely overused. While the "process" technique offers a good place for detail, I tend to think that the shorter version is a place for action. Unfortunately many authors who use this technique fail to employ strong verbs. Strong verbs are a must for any action sequence and especially one of this sort because it carries so much impact. If you want to use this "phrase" technique and you insist on following the template, go find a good, old thesaurus (no, really) and look up alternatives to the words already in use. Some starter words for a word like "fell" -- as in "fell into darkness" -- are plummeted, plunged, or sank. You could also try playing with engulfed or swallowed -- just don't use the same phrase over and over again. Variety really is the spice of life -- and good writing.

I tend to use the "phrase" technique for emphasis, with things like " slumped into unconsciousness" and "blackness claimed him" and, most recently, "plummeted into the waiting abyss". I've also read some interesting plays on the common template, things about black sparkles and fighting darkness (and losing). What kind of things have you come up with?

Also, if any of you ever decide to do stupid stuff like banging your head into a brass doornknocker (ahem, Sir Emeth) and faint as a result, try to remember what it feels like for someone who has never actually been unconscious, okay? ;)