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When I used Word, I used to run the spellcheck mostly to find and eliminate passive sentences, and to check those stats, because I didn't want them to get very high. IMHO, in fiction, if you want a reader to follow the storyline and characters, it's really important to be easy to read. But.. having said that, I kind of think it's important whatever you're writing. I mean "A Brief History of Time" is a great book because it's easy to read and comprehend, and so it lets the reader in. Instead of wading through it, you can relax and let Hawking tell you cool secrets about amazing things. There are exceptions. Out of curiosity I checked a website to see what some classic authors score like (some of Oscar Wilde's are quite low), and Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass was at the top, but that's different, because it's like reading someone's soul. Robin Williams springs to mind here, ranting about measuring poetry. Whitman's score is a failure of the equation. Wow.... that's a startling conclusion. Maybe I should always have aimed high.

OK, I lecture and write on non-fiction subjects. Many members of the general public who are interested in my field (read my story) know of me and my work.

Despite almost having a nervous breakdown having to write about "Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man" in Freshman Composition in college, lately I seem to have a skill at analysing characters in stories. As we've been discussing how Tara now enters in with Jack and Kayla, I thought I'd add some compare and contrast of different female characters, and their attitudes about sex. I have made these and similar comments to these authors either privately and/or in public forums. Bashful stated that I "understood Nicole better than [he did]", and much of "Chris and Christie: Making It Work" was inspired by my comments. So let me throw this out for all a'yunz to discuss "What girls want out of sex" Tara (She Is the One, jashley13) Tara's had bad experiences with guys who only want her for sex, and seeks geunine love and devotion. She desires the emotional connection with a guy, and to be wanted for who whe is, but she's still seeking it through sex. I say, if she finds a great guy first, the meaningful sex will follow. I think she should wait for the guy who wants to date her without any expectations of sex. Nicole (Being More Social, bashfulscribe) Nicole craves intimacy but fears commitment, because relationships end in painful breakups. She wants to keep guys at arm's length, while still being a proud slut who engages in casual sex to convince herself that she's wanted. But, other than Adam, how many guys want her for more than the sex? She lets herself be used, rather than commit herself to the one who really loves her. Christie (Chris and Christie, theblackknight) Christie plays the role she thinks is expected of her. She endures bad sex and suffers verbal abuse because that's what cheerleaders are supposed to do for football players. When she finds true love and intimate sex with her nerdy neighbor Chris, she hides their relationship rather than risk her social standing with the 'in' crowd. Hannah (One Thousand Apologies, Joe Long) Hannah has seen her mother jump from guy to guy, and has sworn not to make the same mistakes. She only engages in intimate sex and with the man she loves, and is hurt whenever it seems that he might not take their sexual relations as seriously as she does.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was mandated to use the scale to evaluate reading materials for my students. I tossed it in the trash. Newspapers don't make the grade. The writing therein rarely moves past fourth grade. Ignore it. It's useless.

Saw Ultron at the drive-in. I hadn't seen many of the Marvel movies (liked Thor best) and thought it was OK. The character of Ultron wasn't really scary to me. Raymond Reddington in a metal suit. However, my wife really liked it, and we've started going back to watch the earlier Marvel movies on demand. However, your mention of the movie created a timeline error. The movie came out in May of 2015 and the scene that referenced it took place in July - the future! There was an earlier mention of New Year's Day being IIRC on a Wednesday, which would have been 2013, and as the story is told in past tense I was going with it taking place about two years ago. Yeah, I'm that kind of guy to notice this. While writing my story, which is set in 1979, I have a spreadsheet with a line for each date, and columns for the weather, news, sports scores, and release dates of movies so I can keep the background details accurate.

Hey everyone! Time for Reality Check! - The cabin the gang stays at is modeled after one I stayed at with my family when I was younger. We didn't own it but I always remembered the oddity of its design. - Everything involving ranch is pretty much, word-for-word and action-for-action, exactly how my wife introduced me to it. One of a few things she's gotten me addicted to. - Jack's thoughts on the hike very much reflect my own whenever I go walking in the woods. I live in an area that doesn't really allow free-roaming through woods (they prefer we use paths, but I've been on more than a few walks in the woods themselves and it's always a very 'poetic' experience for me. - Jack's thoughts and reactions to The Golden Compass were exactly my own. The trilogy itself, His Dark Materials, are my favorite books of all time and I've lost count of the number of times I've read them. (side note: hugely disappointed with the movie. I understand they wanted to avoid the controversy of the book but they really missed the mark on what made the story so unique). - I was very disappointed with Avengers: Age of Ultron. One of the most disappointing theater-going experiences of my life. Probably not as bad as Prometheus and Les Miserables (which I couldn't wait to see and which ended up being horrendous) but still a massive disappointment to me. Thankfully, I saw Mad Max: Fury Road a couple weeks later, which more than made up for it (seriously, if you haven't seen it yet, go do so ASAP) - While my wife and I have not have a threesome yet, Jack's thoughts are very much the thoughts that have gone through my head when my wife and I have talked about it in the past. Don't know how I would react in real life (since it hasn't happened yet) but I imagine I'd be thinking very much as he did if presented with a surprise like that. And, since I wanted to add a bit to these posts, my Bad Idea Confessional: - I had originally planned to have Kayla break up with Craig at the end of Chapter 2, her having caught on very quick to his act and dumping him. I realized fairly quickly that such an act would render her going out with him and becoming his girlfriend almost completely pointless. Yes, she does eventually dump him, but only after enough time to get wise to him and realize that Jack is a better choice in a more realistic way. I think I was just so eager to get them together that I forgot that proper development was required. I actually was in the process of writing the section when I stopped, thought about it, then redid it. I think it ended up working well, since Jack and Kayla actually had some time to get to know each other first and for Craig's actually douchiness to present itself; as douchey as he was, he would make an effort to keep it a bit more downplayed, at least at first. Gonna start Chapter 33 soon. Got plenty of ideas in my head for how it should go so hopefully it should be quick, but not so quick that I have to sacrifice quality. See you soon!

"READ THIS STORY OR I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL"

The Debtwich Horror? A play on the name of the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Dunwich Horror". lol I'm terrible at thinking up names as well. I want a word processing software that can 'read' my story and give me a suggestion for titles!