Jibber Jabber - Q1 - 29

[emilymccosh]

I credit DMing as a major element in my writing success.

What's DMing?[/quote]

Dungeon Mastering, perhaps?[/quote]

That would be a good one...

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Yes, sorry, Dungeon Mastering. (Must remember that there are many dialects of Geek Speak...)

Having a group of very smart close friends try to kill me for thirty years taught me to think on my feet, to build a story from what the characters do, not from what I want them to do.

Bluntly: it taught me how to Pants.

And thirty years of worldbuilding taught me, well, worldbuilding. And even when it comes to that, I Pants: I do just enough to get the story started, add more as my characters explore, and build a mental model so that the new stuff I add is consistent with what has come before. That's how I build my game worlds -- rough sketch to start, details as needed -- and it's how I build my story worlds.

Does it work? Well, remember the fundamental rule: What works for me might not work for you (or vice versa), and what works for one story might not work for another.

But does it work for me? I like it so far, but ultimately only the readers can judge.

[emilymccosh]

Yes, sorry, Dungeon Mastering. (Must remember that there are many dialects of Geek Speak...)

Having a group of very smart close friends try to kill me for thirty years taught me to think on my feet, to build a story from what the characters do, not from what I want them to do.

Bluntly: it taught me how to Pants.

And thirty years of worldbuilding taught me, well, worldbuilding. And even when it comes to that, I Pants: I do just enough to get the story started, add more as my characters explore, and build a mental model so that the new stuff I add is consistent with what has come before. That's how I build my game worlds -- rough sketch to start, details as needed -- and it's how I build my story worlds.

Does it work? Well, remember the fundamental rule: What works for me might not work for you (or vice versa), and what works for one story might not work for another.

But does it work for me? I like it so far, but ultimately only the readers can judge.

Ahh, so just like Howard off the Big Bang Theory...

Yeah, I can imagine how that would help with your storytelling. (And, yes there does seem to be proof it's working for you ) I've never played DM (or D&D), but I guess that's just because I don't have any friends nerdy as I am...

Hmm...I need to work on that...

Thanks Martin!

[disgruntledpeony]

Yes, indeed, dungeon mastering. I keep forgetting that not everyone knows what that means, myself. I think I was running a Pathfinder game and a World of Darkness game at that point. I'm a big fan of World of Darkness (modern day horror setting), which has bled into a lot of my recent story ideas. I'm strongly debating on dipping into the setting I created for my Pathfinder game for story ideas, though... I put a lot of effort into that game.

[storysinger]

Now we're gaming 29 style.

[bobsandiego]

I've run gamed since 1979.
it's a blast.
my current player don;t know I plan on shutting down my current campaign and that the adventure's end is the big finale.

[s_c_baker]

Happy thing new!

I mean merry year open!

Uh, MAY ALL YOUR STORIES FIND HOMES, AND ALL YOUR REVIEWS BE INFUSED WITH GOOD CHEER!

Good enough.

(PS I am a teetotaller, so no I'm not drunk.)

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Happy New Quarter!

(Also not drunk...)

[Rebecca Birch]

Happy New Quarter!

(Also not drunk...)

(What is this drunk you speak of? Can it be made by chocolate? No? Okay, not drunk either.)

[storysinger]

Whashappening, has shomeone spiked my eggnog. Hic!

[Ishmael]

Dunk? Who's Dunk? Is it the same as Dunc?

That is a Scottish nickname. Short for Duncan.

Who was not really king and who was younger than Macbeth and not murdered but killed in battle and nowhere near Dunsinane and apart from that the Shakespeare story is quite accurate apart from the witches and Malcolm Canmore not being the legitimate heir and Macbeth being king for fourteen years not days and having visited Rome and been a jolly good chap by Dark Age standards.

Happy new year anyway.

[MattDovey]

I've never DMed (though I've sat at the table a number of times) but a lot of my writing is based in my time spent LARPing. It helps with quickly imagining characters (from all the times I wander in as a barely-fleshed out random to serve a specific plot purpose, and have to spin backstory out on the fly) and keeping them consistent (so used to inhabiting a character and reacting as they do, so I (hopefully) avoid characters acting out of character).

Roleplay, in general, is marvellous for writers.

[storysinger]

307 to go.

[Galen]

I make a tiny contribution to the effort of this bold endeavor.

Clearly what a glorious quarter this was.

[amoskalik]

29 seems to be a theme around here lately. The first prime after 23 which has its own deep meanings.

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

I make a tiny contribution to the effort of this bold endeavor.

Clearly what a glorious quarter this was.

Even tiny contributions keep the thread alive. Thank you!

[storysinger]

We need to add a lot of posts here as quickly as possible to get to 5000 faster. Don't just read this thread, make a comment. You can do it.

[emilymccosh]

Here, I have a question that should fill up a bunch of answers...

Can someone please explain the Hugo Awards to me in simple language...There is tons of crap to read online, but I have no idea what they're talking about, so...

1) What is the controversy with Sad Puppies...

2) What was all the uproar at the last Awards where a bunch of people voted for No Award?

Thanks!

[disgruntledpeony]

Here, I have a question that should fill up a bunch of answers...

Can someone please explain the Hugo Awards to me in simple language...There is tons of crap to read online, but I have no idea what they're talking about, so...

1) What is the controversy with Sad Puppies...

2) What was all the uproar at the last Awards where a bunch of people voted for No Award?

Thanks!

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2224&start=0 This does the best job of explaining it that I've seen. (Please keep further discussions about it there as well. The reasons why are explained therein.)

[s_c_baker]

Whatever you do, don't read the Wikipedia article, which is so pro-Puppy it hurts.

[emilymccosh]

Thank you both. I'll go read that article. Yeah....I went to Wikipedia a while ago, but I didn't understand most of what I was reading so I just quit. But your advice is noted.

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

It's getting a little quiet around here...

[OldDarth]

Bet we're all busy writing, writing, writing!

[ThomasKCarpenter]

Marco...

[Martin L. Shoemaker]

Polo...

[storysinger]

That was a long time with no post on this thread.

[ThomasKCarpenter]

Polo...

Well, hello there Mr. Nebula Nominated Martin L. Shoemaker. :)





If you haven't read his story, yet. Go now!!!

http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/shoemaker_08_15/

[emilymccosh]

So I have a random question for anyone who might know the answer. The forum statistics at the bottom of the page says "Most users ever online was 136 on Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:16 am". Seriously? The most users I've ever seen online at once is 8. Does anyone know what in the world was going on on Jan 11, 2012???

[storysinger]

That is a crazy statistic Emily. Maybe one of the long time forumites will enlighten us.

[ThomasKCarpenter]

That is a crazy statistic Emily. Maybe one of the long time forumites will enlighten us.

The fact that it was at 3am suggests that it's not real. I don't recall anything in particular around that year that would have led to that many people checking the forum at that time at night. Probably a glitch in the matrix.