pippychick

That’s interesting. Just for the laugh, I tested my latest chapter. It has 449 sentences, of which 9 start with ‘the’… I’m assuming that’s ok. It’s like two per cent though.

That’s a pretty good rule. Forces you to get creative as long as you don’t twist yourself into knots avoiding it. I’ve heard you mention it before and ever since I’ve kinda just been half-assedly avoiding starting sentences with ‘the’ and more aware of it when I do use it. 

One rule I follow is to never start a story with the word “The”, and I’ve extended to try to be a solid choice too, either a sound, or a more concrete, tangible thing.  [And this rule came from a teacher of mine, who pushed us to not start a sentence with the word “the”… something I normally manage (though, on occasion, a “the” will slip to the start of a sentence)]
 

Thank you so much!  
Yes, I think you’re right about Tormund. He finds hope where he can, and if it can’t be found, he will make it. He’s the opposite of Clegane in many ways, who seems to have found some kind of weird home in hopelessness. It’s like his friend. Yet he’s just as much of a survivor, and just as impressive. During the course of this story, it will be interesting to see how their sway over each other changes. For this upcoming war, and perhaps for a while afterwards, Tormund has the more appropriate outlook. Brienne is where the two meet in the middle. But later, Clegane’s outlook might prove useful, really, and wouldn’t it be interesting if Tormund ever came to rely on Clegane’s strength? On that ability to let despair in and still win anyway?
As for the actual ending, I am having interesting thoughts about Varys now, in order to thwart my evil muse (shhh! don’t tell it anything!) Daenerys will never ‘break the wheel’ – she’s likethe Readers’ Digest Prize Draw – too good to be true. Chase that and you’ll chase it forever. Varys, however.. I think he’s got definite anarchist tendencies. If anyone is a candidate for breaking the wheel, and probably melting that bloody chair… it will be him. And if anyone will think it’s slightly weird that three people as hard and experienced as Tormund, Brienne and Clegane can go wandering off into the north with the Night King dead, never to be seen again. Well, that person is Tyrion. This will work. I am sure of it. Well, I’ll leave Westeros in a happy place. The next tyrant is not my concern.

I think inspiration is dreaming whilst awake. There’s no other explanation for the way the ideas leap between nuances of meaning and plot the way they do. It also explains the way that things can seem utterly silly once that inspiration leaves.
That being the case, I often feel like if I can hold onto the atmosphere and emotion of a thing, rather than the intricacies of it, then it stays for much longer. To keep it is to perfect the art of dreaming the same thing over and over again.
And, since I write fanfiction, I often find once the original inspiration has struck and you’ve begun writing, you need more than inspiration then. You need to a strike a balance between many closely related things. Inspiration is one, motivation, dedication, impetus, fanaticism and total immersion in the source material are the others. Get it right, and the story will flow like water. And if you’re posting, feedback (and lack of it) is a blessing and a curse. Feedback will buoy you up, but it can also interfere with your ideas. Lack of feedback can make you give up completely, unless the muse is particularly insistent.
 

I think inspiration is dreaming whilst awake. There’s no other explanation for the way the ideas leap between nuances of meaning and plot the way they do. It also explains the way that things can seem utterly silly once that inspiration leaves.
That being the case, I often feel like if I can hold onto the atmosphere and emotion of a thing, rather than the intricacies of it, then it stays for much longer. To keep it is to perfect the art of dreaming the same thing over and over again.
And, since I write fanfiction, I often find once the original inspiration has struck and you’ve begun writing, you need more than inspiration then. You need to a strike a balance between many closely related things. Inspiration is one, motivation, dedication, impetus, fanaticism and total immersion in the source material are the others. Get it right, and the story will flow like water. And if you’re posting, feedback (and lack of it) is a blessing and a curse. Feedback will buoy you up, but it can also interfere with your ideas. Lack of feedback can make you give up completely, unless the muse is particularly insistent.
 

Yes, stress and feeling like no one’s even reading has a huge impact on my inspiration as well. Makes it all the more fleeting. Makes it hard to work up the motivation to attempt to grasp those wisps, and if you manage to grasp one, there’s still the battle of trying to convince yourself it’s worth it to do anything with it. Sometimes it’s hard to see the point.
Sometimes it’s just work and family related stress that completely blows the smoke of inspiration right out of the air, but the will is still there. Stronger even, and desperate for the therapeutic clacking of keys and laying of thoughts, because when you need it most, it’s hardest to grasp. 
At least that’s my experience. 

Much like BW, I've got a million ideas in my head...  Usually fighting each other  (...six things on the go and one trying to be published...too many ideas, not enough time)...
I can be inspired (and write twenty chapters pretty much non stop) by a simple song lyric or something I've seen in movies or just random thoughts I have...  Which are most of the ideas...  And where the idea for the newest one came from (two lines in a song, lol)...  But that inspiration can be lost just as suddenly too…
Having a broken spirit kills that inspiration flat dead...  Trust me, I got a lot of Inspiration hidden in the basement...  And for me, that happens a lot... 
Stress kills...  And when nothing's gone right (Just like right now, laptop's fried itself (I hate this damned city))...  And bad times...  And that feeling that, while I know people are reading, it doesn't feel like it... 
The inspiration wavers and, oft times, cracks, breaks, and disappears...  I've been lucky lately...  But even then, the inspiration for STA, BaH, CHHW, even Hunted and BP have all wavered because of those factors all coming together right now...  Sucks when you're always thinking the worst…
 

Yeah, I write them down ASAP too, but that helps remember the ideas, not so much retain the inspiration. For me, an idea and being inspired for an idea are two drastically different things, and in my hands, a fully formed idea is worthless without the inspiration to bring it to life. 

Agree with BW. The really good inspirations are the ones that stay with you, that develop themselves in your head instead of fading away. Any idea that quickly vanishes from your mind probably wasn’t worth your time, anyway.

I can so relate to this. I have so many things floating around in my head, but when I try to pin them down, they’re gone, or else the words are awkward, and don’t fit right. I know what I want to say—it’s right there, on the tip of my tongue—but then I try to define it, and the whole mess falls apart in my hands.
I’ve decided it will be written when it wants to be written, and I can’t force it, whatever it turns out to be.

It feels like such a fleeting thing. You feel like you can reach out and grab it, but then it wisps through your fingers and dissipates like smoke. Sometimes I can grasp it for the length of a song and formulate an entire universe, but as the song ends, it fades like a dream and ten seconds later, it’s gone. The details are still there, but the visions, the emotions, the characters voices and desires are suddenly all very 2 dimensional and not strong enough to weave into a good story foundation. 
There are times, though, when it’s not such a flight risk. When I can grasp it and put reins on it and attach every passing whimsy to me like a dog sled. 
I’m not asking for help or advice. Inspiration is such a personal thing, no amount of “try this” will change my reality, but my reality is ever-changing. I’m interested in your experiences with it. Either right now, or over the years.  

That is the best, I have not been listed as a Virgin in many decades. 

The spoiler tag just hides the image, but it still loads, as far as I know. 
We have the Art Room thread. Maybe we need to confine all images there, so people can avoid the image-laden posts altogether if they choose? It would be easy enough to moderate that—delete any post containing an image other than an avatar if it’s posted outside the Art Room. If you need to provide illustrations for your challenge or request, do it in PM, or email it. Does that work?

Based on what I’m seeing in the HTML, my hunch is the browser would load it automatically (it might wait, but it might not).

Just a moment…. testing the spoiler idea….
 

I don’t… I don’t even… what?
Ok, Really, I’m not and I don’t think anybody else is suggesting porn pics should be blocked here, I’m just saying URLS that folks can click save lot of hassle for folks who don’t want to see it. Just because the porn isn’t embedded anymore doesn’t mean it’s gone or blocked, or something. I’m not going for a “Take your porn from your cold, dead, sticky, calloused, hands” first-amendment challenging moment here, man. Just suggesting a compromise to help out some of us because lately I’ve clicked a few threads (and in one case a profile with animated lets-hope-thats-a-skinny-dwarf porn) that have content that could get quite a few of us in a world of shit in a way that text doesn’t yet manage unless it’s supporting terrorism or something equally unpleasant.
I’ve had to quit other sites completely because of this issue – not in a flouncing way, I just deleted my profiles without comment and moved on, because they were geared heavily towards art and some of the art would probably flag with ISP check lists.. This is a story site and doesn’t need embedded images. URLS work just peachy and politics and all the rest don’t really have any other impact on it.
I feel kind’ve like I am repeating myself or getting a little pissy here so I apologise if this is the case or if I’ve caused any offense with my suggestion.

That’s kind of the point JayDee is making.
In our respective countries, rules are all different. In my own country, the UK, it’s illegal to view anything that might be considered to cause a danger to life, and so that could include quite a wide range of things, being as it has no concrete definition. Basically, here, you’re on thin ice really with anything concerning BDSM. They really don’t like it. AFAIK they (the government) are asking ISPs to keep records on those who are accessing that kind of material. In a link I posted a while ago, they’re also including sound files in that, so audiobooks and stuff might well fall foul of our law if it describes those kinds of things.
From what I’ve seen, when they want to take someone up to make an example, they won’t care if you had a choice over seeing the image or not, which is why I’m in complete agreement with this idea.

That’s kind of the point JayDee is making.
In our respective countries, rules are all different. In my own country, the UK, it’s illegal to view anything that might be considered to cause a danger to life, and so that could include quite a wide range of things, being as it has no concrete definition. Basically, here, you’re on thin ice really with anything concerning BDSM. They really don’t like it. AFAIK they (the government) are asking ISPs to keep records on those who are accessing that kind of material. In a link I posted a while ago, they’re also including sound files in that, so audiobooks and stuff might well fall foul of our law if it describes those kinds of things.
From what I’ve seen, when they want to take someone up to make an example, they won’t care if you had a choice over seeing the image or not, which is why I’m in complete agreement with this idea.

Actually, I don’t want most NSFW images to pop up for me at home, which is where I do the bulk of my work. I shouldn’t have to close my browser window whenever the bell rings.
The other consideration is how child pornography is defined here in the US, which is visual. Pictures of under-18 characters in flagrante delicto is actually illegal here. Someone may love the idea of Harry and Draco getting it on while still first years at Hogwarts, but photoshops of Daniel Radcliffe and Tom Felton while they’re still under 18 are an issue for me. I don’t need that on my browser history, thank you ever so much.

I believe actions are what count, not thoughts, but governments seem to think differently.  And I agree with the original suggestion.

If it were my dystopia (that I’m writing to), I’d be short listed for “natural selection”.

Since I’m in the same boat as you, JayDee, I completely agree.
*sighs*
I just know I’m on a list somewhere. But then, we probably all are.

Since I’m in the same boat as you, JayDee, I completely agree.
*sighs*
I just know I’m on a list somewhere. But then, we probably all are.

I suggest a rule that non-written porn content (drawings/photos etc) only has a URL posted with a description of content for users to decide if they want to view it. Reason being that while America has that freedom of expresson thing, a lot of the drawn porn stuff is illegal elsewhere, such as in my jurisdiction. When you click into a thread and the pictures are right there it’s too late to not have it on your hard drive and ISP record. There doesn’t seem to be any need to hotlink it, as those who want to share and view the pictures would still be able to do so.
It’s a suggestion anyway.