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Ehco Corrallo

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  • About me
    Condolence Speechwriter
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    Behind a typewriter.

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  1. It's not really hard, (I say, only having reached 30,000 words in a month) but quality is pretty much out the window. It has to be. Careful writing? Same window. Good writing may surface occasionally, but it's not really the point. Words are the point (and it can be dangerous to acclimate this philosophy back into normal writing). It's great practice for rough-drafting, though. Because eventually, it's possible to write quickly well. For example, aforementioned 30,000 word novel had some good parts, structurally it was a mess, but there were good parts; and if nothing else, NaNoWriMo is really good for dredging up new ideas. Writer's block vaporizes when you have to write 1,600-odd words along with everything else you're doing. Also, it's pretty hard. Writing a lot is great. I couldn't say why exactly, but it is.
  2. I'm afraid I have to totally agree with this. Contrast is absolutely critical for intensity, and simply for selling the full value of a scene. Creating contrast is also a phenomenal excuse to write bits of story that aren't otherwise integral to forward plot motion or character development. Definitely above violence in the writing hierarchy. It does work both ways though; violence and despair is really great for making a few cheery happy moments shine. Duality! And I'm glad you pointed this out, because I was not clear enough earlier, and probably ought to have brought up the necessity of balancing tone. My point was that violence will get tiresome to write usually before it's tiresome (and bland) to read, so one shouldn't worry so much about using it sparingly; balance will come instinctively. If it doesn't, there's always the trusty red pen.
  3. Starting quickly is a great way to start. Violence is a great way to start quickly. And you've got that pretty well in hand. (Tangent: I'm a big proponent of violence. I'd say you can't have too much violence and rioting, but I suppose there is an upper limit to what the soft-stomached reader will stand. Writing violence usually gets boring before then, though, in my experience.) Otherwise, just general editing should help. You may want to split up a few sentences for clarity. And a line break after "She looked up at the assailant..." helps with clarity. The phrase: "bloodied faces" is awesome. General writing advice that's worth repeating: Omit needless words! (Strunk and White) Make sure characters want something! (Vonnegut, I think, among others) Get rid of adverbs! (Pretty much everybody). Motivation is really important when starting out. If characters aren't moving towards anything, the story can pretty easily fall apart if they aren't. (Violence unfortunately only goes so far. Sigh.)
  4. The next chapter is the one with plot, talking, and a cameo appearance by A. Loaf of Bread. War Council It starts like this: "Cypris was lying on her bunk, staring at the ceiling and panicking. She was searching for some shard of composure in the expressionless panels, but her mind filled the white blankness with pain and horrible death."
  5. Yeah. This counts. A lot. I think it shares the basic mission profile of most flights to the Mun. Get there safely, botch the landing, await an elaborate rescue. Three steps to success. You're on the board. @JebsDead score: 581 not-dead kerbals. However you like. It's a bit tidier to post when you've finished, but status updates are nice because they show progression. That's awesome; I've always had a soft spot for rovers. What mods did you use for the base building? @Van Disaster score: 350 tons of rover It's been awhile (way too long) since I've replied to this thread. And I appologize for the delay, but I'll be replying more promptly from now on. Cheers!
  6. Another chapter done! It's called Real Danger, and it has a robot! And here's another link: Real Danger In this chapter: Fingers are pointed, the engineers make a robot, and Jacob gets confused. Cheers and andiamo!
  7. Another chapter done! Been a while hasn't it? Anyway, here's the link: Space is Big In this chapter: Cypris is slightly philosophical, Emily and Conrad don't get along with Evie (at all), and everything starts going wrong. Also, there's a plot now. Well, as much as a plot as there'll ever be. I've got several episodes in backlog, and I'll be adding them over the next few days. Cheers!
  8. You can do this in the current game, and although it's not binary (I agree that on/off options would be nice, if game-breaking), where gameplay is concerned, it's the same result: If you tweak with the career difficulty settings enough, you can make it so that reputation or money or science won't be an issue by raising the starting amount and increasing the multiplier. Crude yes, but effective. For the sake of balancing, you could make the remaining resources scant to start with, and cut the multiplier. Or not, for imbalance's sake. Maxing out starting funds, science, and rep, and cranking the multipliers for the aforementioned is a pretty easy -- if technically workaround-y -- way of implementing the fabled 'Sandbox with contracts'. But don't take my word for it, because I've never tried it. Just a thought.
  9. I just finished writing a 245 page novel (so...book length); I chucked the reader straight into the thick of things on page 5. Worked fantastic. I was going to say that! *Feigns righteous indignance* But yeah, starting strong is important, not just for the reader, but for the writer also. We tend to make assumptions about our readers (or maybe we don't, maybe I'm just assuming that), that may or may not be accurate; it's important to consider the whole 'writing' thing, also. Also remember that the first sentence is only as important as the second, third, or fourth. Sacrificing a solid first paragraph for the sake of a punchy opening line is not an advisable course of action (it's yours to take if you want to take it, though). Also: I'm sorry what? With the exception of grammar? Pedantic rant following: This is not poetry. There are a number of rules that can be broken in creative or informal writing, but you have to know the rules first!!! Sentence fragments. Multiple exclamation points. Exclamation points at all! Comma splicing, commas themselves. You need to know the rules of usage so that you can better understand what 'mistakes' to make, and which ones you shouldn't and when you've made a number of mistakes in rapid succession like I just did (in order to make an example). And better use of grammar promotes, longer, clearer, and more varied sentences. Subject/verb sentences are excellent, but it's inexcusable to use them because you can't find another way of phrasing action because your knowledge of commas and clauses is limited (I'm referring to myself). If you want to write formally, too, you shouldn't have to completely change your mode of thinking; grammar should be natural; you're going to have to edit someday. And beyond that, it'd be a real shame if your ideas were discarded because you put an apostrophe in the wrong place and came off as an amatur as a result. Cheers! Ehco Quick disclaimer: My grammer's not spectacular, nor do I claim to be an expert, but I think proper form is important for no other reason than to wilfully misuse the english language; you can't deliberately break the rules without knowing what rules there are.
  10. Probably returning to Kerbin from a Duna flyby (I failed the capture burn) with unwieldy shuttle...which had nothing but monopropellant left in the tanks. (I'm not great at interstellar travel, much less interstellar travel via RCS.) One member of the crew survived reentry, via a glitch that stopped her in midair when the cockpit exploded while she was on the ladder. Then she fell into the ocean. Survived that, too. (This was after a large number of quickloads/quicksaves.) The entire incident led me to design an airdroppable retirement bungalow. I'll try for Duna again eventually.
  11. My username is personally ubiquitous. It originated before I knew how to spell 'echo.' It stuck because plenty of people actually do know how to spell 'echo.' I've never once run into a conflicting username. More accurately, Ehco Corrallo is my protagonist. He's a very different character from Emoticon Writer (my avatar).
  12. 6/10 Toilets are a convenience, nevertheless, there'll be a hefty plumbing bill for a simple problem. I'll defer to The Princess Bride for this one: ('cause why not?) Westley: To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose. Prince Humperdinck: And then my tongue I suppose, I killed you too quickly the last time. A mistake I don’t mean to duplicate tonight. Westley: I wasn’t finished. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right. Prince Humperdinck: And then my ears, I understand let’s get on with it. Westley: Wrong! Your ears you keep and I’ll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, “Dear God! What is that thing,” will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.
  13. And...there's another chapter already! The Last First Bit "Reyes didn’t really want to go into space, not specifically, but there was only so much math to do regarding Earth, and there was quite a bit more math to do regarding space. A potentially infinite amount of math; possibly even the answer to infinity itself. Reyes was perfectly willing to climb into a rocket if it meant he would be able to do lots and lots of math." Cheers!
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