My service is back

[cornerofmadness]

Just like last time no service visit, no explanation. I'm not even bothering to tell them it's working again. I swear to god there's a switch somewhere these idiots keep pushing.

One of my students has made me very uncomfortable. He was injured and I've been helping him get a medical incomplete and he got me a Christmas gift. That's not that unusual. He knows I like the coffee shop in town but a 50$ gift card was too much but he refused to take it back and got upset when I tried to make him. Sigh.

Speaking of uncomfortable, when I first started nano years ago, the forums were a fun place to be. This time every thread I watched ended up being a mess of sarcastic assholes, especially in the two I started. I stopped going back and today I went to them just to see. Some basically called anyone doing what I asked about a hack (meanwhile someone else pointed out about a dozen very prominent detectives who have exactly what I was talking about) and another thought it would be funny to include a list of 101 ways to make my detective super ugly. I can't even. Ah well now I'm reminded why I've avoided the forums the last few years.

Didn't write nearly enough today because I didn't even get home until 8 pm.

Today's snippet

"True. Tell me, have you lived in the Royal City for long? It's quite different from where I'm from and I will need to get to know it better."

"I've been here all my life. I know it well, better than this one, I'd say." She inclined her head to Zvon. "He's not nearly as adventurous as some."

"Me? I am so," Zvon protested weakly pointing at her with his fork.

"I think you're missing the point," she replied and he eyed her like a puppy seeing stairs for the first time. He didn't get that his brand new boss might be flirting with her, She wasn’t entirely sure herself since it was understated but if Marin wanted to see the city he could surely make his new junior partner show him but he had asked her. "But if you'd like, Marin, I’d happy to take you around."

"Thank you. At the moment we don't have a case for Zvon to start so there might be a few extra moments. I hope that he'll be as able to handle the realities of it." Marin's gaze slipped over to Zvon who widened his eyes.

Arria knew too well what he meant. There was the cold analyzing of facts and she knew Zvon could do that easily enough just like she and Siaq handled the book work their magic entailed. Using it in battle, hurting or killing someone was different as was standing over the body of a dead person to figure out who had done it. Of course, Zvon was a boy who had been forced into the graves of so many people. He would be prepared.

"No one exactly likes looking at things like that but I am prepared for it," Zvon said.

"I hope so."

41620 / 50000 words. 83% done!

Comments

[notasupervillain]

Lovely. Those forums were on my list of places to check out. Well, guess not anymore.

[cornerofmadness]

Most can be good. But man the few I dropped in on weren't. I've never seen them be like this (I think years of social media has not made things better)

[notasupervillain]

I just want to find people who want to chat ideas and character building and maybe even trade off reading without being subjected to a cesspool of the worst of humanity without accountability is that too much to ask?

Yes. Apparently it is.

I'm guessing the forums aren't moderated? I feel like I'm very, very done with unmoderated social media.

(I've found a couple moderated forums I intend to try at some point. I'm not writing now anyway so it doesn't particularly matter.)

[cornerofmadness]

Yeah sometimes I think it is too much to ask for.

The forums are moderated but no one is being really awful, just blatantly unhelpful.

I don't know a lot of online forums mostly because I've been in a critique group online (was by mail) for 22 years and my local group for a decade and that's mostly all I need and I'm lucky to have it.

[notasupervillain]

I found a forum that does that a while back, but I don't want critiques, I want a support. If I wanted people to constructively trash my work, I'd write for my actual job.

So I was told to try this one forum by a moderator there who said it had options to do exactly that. I spent a week posting comments to other people's work as per forum rules (they asked for a 10:1 commenting: posting ratio), posted, got told off by a user for not wanting criticism. Went to the moderator of that thread, got told off again because they hadn't personally agreed to it.

I was told Nano forums could be what I wanted, but apparently not.

I don't seem to have any problem finding people who appreciate when I do this for them, which suggests I'm not the only person in the world who would like this. But it inevitably turns into a one-way thing, no matter how it starts. Apparently I'm a better Reader than a Writer.

I think I've found a good forum online to post for world building questions, though. And posting here gets me useful answers for character sometimes. So it's not like everything is hopeless.

[cornerofmadness]

I think part of it is finding beta readers for critiques can be helluva hard and that's what many people are after because if you want to sell things it has to be done.

But you're right not everyone wants that (I do, it's what I look for but on the other hand I'm also very open to world building, character building discussions to)

But even when it's SUPPOSED to be a two way street it often isn't (and I've been guilty of that, looks at the pile of edits I've yet to type in for someone because I AM a jerk sometimes and I forget).

To be honest the nano forums ARE an excellent place to ask world building, character building questions. That's what it's designed for. No critiquing really happens there but that doesn't mean some jackass won't come in and rain on your worldbuilding idea (oen would hope if they did they'd at least explain why it's not feasible rather than 'i think that's dumb but you know how it goes). The problem with nano is it's only for one month then nothing until camp nano in April and July.

[notasupervillain]

I'm good at critiques. I got complimented for it on the forum along with "why don't you want this for yourself?" I find it much easier to find someone who wants to tear my work apart than to find someone who wants to read it and not do that.

I mean, I get that it's more fun to talk about your own work than someone else's. But like, it sucks. I mean, I'm currently behind on my reading for the two people who do this with me, but that's because one of them recently sprung a secret novel on me, and even supportive commenting take a lot of effort if done well.

[cornerofmadness]

Yeah I try not to spring secret novels on my long-suffering beta reader any more but sometimes I suck at that. Right now she can't really read for me because she has a chrome book and doing things in Google docs doesn't seem easy for either of us.

I'm content to do reading wise whatever the person wants of me. I'll critique if you want, I'll just read if you don't (and tell you if things are weird or confusing if that's all you want). I have to admit, my critiquing abilities are going down hill and I don't know why. I suspect it's in part my ADHD gets worse as I age and in part because I'm time crunched badly.

I feel lucky though that at least in my group we don't have anyone who loves to rip up other people's stuff but pitches a major fit if we point out problems in their story(because it IS a critique group and that's why we're here, it would be different if they were looking for what you are, someone to read and not critique). We've had a few and that's never fun.

[notasupervillain]

Yeah, before I start commenting I try to get a very clear idea what the Writer wants from me. No one has gotten upset at me when they get it so far. But I'm sure it'll happen. The risks of interacting with humans.

[cornerofmadness]

Yeah it will. I've had it happen. One went on a screaming fit at me for saying something about her story (it had something major wrong though I can't remember what) What made it laughable is three others (who were her friends) had said exactly what I did but only I was the bad guy. So I skipped her stuff from there on out and that made her mad too and she left. No one was sorry to see her go because she was just that disruptive.

Like you said, it happens. It think that's why I work with a limited number of people now. Both of my careers had been very peopley. When I'm not at work, I tend to limit the amount of people I deal with because I'm probably already over my limit.

And people do have thinner skins than we like to pretend, myself included. I do whine about edits some times (usually when I can't figure them out or they're SO different from what everyone else is saying but then again, you cannot please everyone) But I know sometimes it's what I need, at least when I've asked for it.

[notasupervillain]

Sigh. People need to know what they want. I don't pretend to have a thick skin. So I ask for positive feedback only, with specific suggestions at worst. Then again, I don't yell at the critic.

But if you want to get published, you're going to be torn apart. Might as well start early.

[cornerofmadness]

That's just it. If you're looking to get published I'm going harder on you (if again that's what they're asking for) but if it's fanfic, I'm probably less likely to get worked up about some things (others will always be wrong, I won't let you medicine or science wrong but I'll also tell you how to do it right and not just rip it up)

[notasupervillain]

My problem is I'm neither. I got sick of writing fan fic since it meant canon could change under my feet. So I started writing original fiction. But it's designed to read like fan fic. This is the backstory and side story of our Heroes and Villains. I try to give enough of the main story that the Reader understands what's going on, but I'm deliberately not telling the main story.

But like, there's no world for original fic that I'm not trying to get published, the way there's a clear world for fan fic.

[cornerofmadness]

Yeah I can see why that's a problem. Though there are a lot of people writing just for their own enjoyment with no intention of sharing it so you'd think people would get that. Oddly enough Stieg Larrson THe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was doing just that. It was only after his death that his S.O. decided to share his work

[notasupervillain]

Oh poor Zvon. Someone needs to give him a hug.

[cornerofmadness]

He does. Don't worry Zvon will manage to make things even worse before they get better

[notasupervillain]

Lol.

Only marginally related, but I'm very curious about meeting your villain. All your characters so far strike me, most principally, as kind. Even the doctor. The father went hard, but he didn't start that way.

Very curious about how you write a proper villain. Either I'll see your take on unkindness, or they'll be kind in a Villainous way. Either sounds fun.

[cornerofmadness]

Okay, I can do that. I was going to skip the birthday party anyhow.

I'm not sure he's a proper villain mind you. He IS the hero of his own story though. He believes he's doing god's work.

And yes I suppose these characters are rather kind. I'm so burnt on dystopias that I'm leaning the utopian way (well not entirely but you know what I mean)

[notasupervillain]

I dunno, my kindest character is among my most Villainous.

[cornerofmadness]

Now that's very interesting. Actually mine is quite polite if nothing else. Why is everyone so damn polite in this thing? Arria is starting to break out a little of that mold and getting a bit vulgar.

[notasupervillain]

Eliza just wants to make people happy. And she can.

Religion is a time honoured way to make people villains, but it's not my story to tell. My story is about loneliness.

It's good if people are getting vulgar at murder!

[cornerofmadness]

Very interesting


And yes religion can and apparently that IS my story to tell this time.

True though she's mostly getting vulgar about Zvon's new partner who she thinks is cute (Arria as it turns out is a stress relief via sex sort of woman)

[notasupervillain]

Are you American? Religion as villainy is something I find more common in American authors. Also, more common in America.

Lol good job Arria

[cornerofmadness]

I am and I believe that because of how the religious right tries to stranglehold the rest of us.

Arria thinks so. Zvon is a bit appalled she might be out to seduce his partner but on the other hand is also thinking well they might be good for each other

[notasupervillain]

Yep. It's definitely your story to tell.