Desiderius Price

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That was one possibility I explored, but then I leave out a bunch of stuff, like the small party trying to figure out what’s happening, where the small party’s manipulating the events in the main party. (They’re even having to sacrifice people of the main party, to help resolve the overall crisis, it’s that dire that there’s no other choice – I basically pushed the situation that close to total defeat.) It’s like the proper solution is a “choose-your-own-adventure” choice to the reader, follow the main party, or follow the small party, both are compelling stories, and both have main characters.

I’ve tried all of the above, didn’t like any of them. I did work out a bit of the smaller party’s timeline, of course, while working on the main party’s. However, it’d be a bit of a spoiling, at least if I did it at first. I also tried it later as a flashback (before I understood the Deus Ex), didn’t like it that way. The advantage of doing it up front, as I go along, is that the mutual actions will mesh quite nicely. However, there’s less mystery/suspense on the main party (from the reader’s perspective), because what ought to be unexplained things going on, now have an explanation. Of course, these are my recollections after about a decade since I last tried to sort it out. I do know that as I try to revise and work my way back, that unless I sort out my dilemma to the better way, I’ll be just as stuck now as I was then.

I’ve got a story that I’ve been stuck on for years, some ideas for addressing it would be nice. Like any story, it’s got heroes and villains; at a key point, several of the heroes get separated from the others. From the perspective of everybody else, this small party is believed to be dead, and therefore, unavailable/out-of-the-picture. Now, the main party of heroes keep on pressing forward, fighting the villains, but things get worse and worse for them, until it seems like certain defeat. Small party is able to observe/interact/strategize, but can’t divulge their existence until that pivotal moment. (Obviously, you can see where I’m headed with this, the small party’s actions are the ones that change the outcome.) There’s quite a bit of…action to both sides. So, my dilemma is how to best portray the two parties. If I go purely with the main party, I get the atmosphere I want, a really dark and dreary story; however, it’d seem a very deus ex solution. If I go with main to the end and come back to the small party, there’s little to no suspense for that second party and it’d come across as a flashback. If I mix the two parties, alternating the POV between them, then what happens to the main party isn’t a surprise and zero suspense. Ideas? Thanks.

Smut had better be organized, at least as organized as my “visual inspirational research material” ….

I normally don’t go that far to write entire scenes unless I’ve got computer troubles. However, the notebook has the advantage in that it doesn’t need recharging, just a pen to use. Does every idea make it? No, but a greater amount do. Sometimes things will come to me at work, and I’m certainly not going to use my work computer to record this, so a moment or two to jot into the notebook, and hopefully I’ll remember to look at the notebook later. I’m far quicker at typing too, which is why I prefer typing. However, if it’s a one liner or something, or I need to see it in a way that’s tough to do easily on a computer, I’ll use pen+paper. We’re typically talking major points to a scene or something, not generally prose. Sounds better organized than me. Most of my bills/mail just form a stack on my desk until I need that part of the my desk and thus they get unceremoniously dumped into a box to be dealt with “later”. I have been trying different takes on my software solution, the XML database for storing the data in. Generally it’s the view that a character has a file, and I put their information into that file. Ditto for organizations, or events, or places, or what not.

It’s also practice for raising my unholy army….

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I...dunno...just started to crave continuing it, got intense over the weekend, don’t know why. But, in an effort to unstick it, I’m going through the old forum topics to see if there’s something close to what I need. Otherwise, I’m putting up a new topic.

Why all this hatred for Mary (or Gary)? Just because they get to have all the cool adventures, save the day, and even hook up with the sexiest characters around! I mean, if we were all Mary/Gary Sue, we’d be immortal!

I carry a bound notebook just for jotting ideas down on the run. Sometimes, writing it out into my 3-ring binder helps. Ultimately, both of these get transcribed into a little database I have on my computer (custom software), which makes it easier to track stuff to characters, events, etc.

I’ve got a story that’s been on hiatus for ten years because I got stuck and can’t get myself unstuck.

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For ages, rape was only defined as male on female vaginal intercourse, and treated more as “theft” from the husband/boyfriend/family. There’s still places today that treat it as a shame on the woman’s family’s honor, and the woman’s killed for it, like they’re a piece of bubble gum only meant to be used once. Societies can change, which is why if it’s being historically accurate, a story can portray it as a positive, if it’s in line with the history. I mean, an old-fashioned pirate novel? Rape could be part of that. How the society responds to a rape, whether it’s condemned or praised, says a lot about that society. That said, I do tend to have a special streak of meanness I’ll apply to the rapist, even if the society upholds the act.

@InvidiaRed Moving the thread…. It’s fun, though it’s very easy to suddenly find myself with a minor1 tag in an otherwise family friendly environment. Guess I’m more of a closet wannabe nudist, so that’s why it comes out in my stories; heck, even my potter fanfics had nudity, and those protagonists being okay with (& enjoying) it. Sure, I’ve done the research into nudist colony etiquette, typical rules for those types of places into today’s world, and they state “no-sexuality”, with consequences (how well they’re enforced can be a different matter), but I definitely don’t want to ignore that aspect of human behavior, because I don’t think it’s realistic to utterly suppress it, especially if you’ve got kids/teenagers around; I also try not to over saturate with it, either. With Jeff, as I’ve explored him going nudist, he’s had to weigh how society perceives nudity and sexuality; something that’s pretty much true today. It’s a bit easier to force the introspection with males as they get an erection in a public setting, even in a clothed setting if it’s noticed; where it can be a point of bullying/teasing, teaching boys to be ashamed of it, to hide it, to pretend it doesn’t happen, to not play with it, and then wonder why boys have troubles later on expressing their feelings. I gave Jeff the benefit of being able to explore this in a free-range environment, to occasionally swing to being sexual when he feels like it – there’re naked, after all. And so with Jaimie, I deliberately had his parents see the camp, so when it comes to raising him, they decide to basically free-range him, using the cost of diapers as an excuse, with Daisy as his primary babysitter. So, Jaimie, at his young age where I start his story, simply doesn’t comprehend the sexuality side, just wants to be the human that he is. Thus, I introduce him (apart from the birth scene) going to his first day of kindergarten – which is why I could start that story with the word “penis”, focusing on the feature the teacher notices as he enters the classroom. Jaimie, simply wanting to be naked at his innocent age, causes issues … like, he needs to be able to swim, so in trying to get him a swimming instructor leads to developing Jeff’s character, because i needed one willing to work with a naked child. Risley, Ifor, and Grant were kinda forced to go naked, and they grew to like it. Dale being bullied into being naked at the start; eventually bringing Jarred along. Alyssia and Konnor, their own story. I’m kinda sensing a pattern. Of course, maybe I just like naked main characters….

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