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Random thought of the....moment.
Apr. 7th, 2006 07:34 amI can't actually say 'day,' after all--haven't been updating enough.
The thought was started by a question on the fantasy novel exam (more later-ish, including, I hope, my answers to it): Is "common" the official language of your world?
And as I was sitting there eating my obscenely early breakfast (sausage and cheese scrambled eggs with cumin yey!), the thought occured to me: I want to see--or write--a fantasy world where there is, in fact, a common tongue that everybody knows, but it's ridiculously simple and primitive and is useful pretty much only for travel guide book type phrases. Y'know, "excuse me, sir, where is the tavern?" and "this beer has no head!" and "discard the beer, I want a wench" and "madam, you are a female dog." That sort of thing. And if you want to say anything particularly detailed or specialized and eloquent, you have to revert to a language you actually know--which may well not be a language anybody else knows. I think this could be used to great comic effect--mortal enemies shouting pregenerated insults at each other because they don't know each other's native tongues, or the daring and torried interspecies romance reduced to blurts of "I love you like sun!" before the lovers give up and start snuggling.
Or, worse yet, the sex scene--
Man: Where is, uhhh, howdoIsayit, um, little happy bump?
Woman: ...little happy bump?
Man: You know, um, small, round... *makes hapless thumb gestures* makes you happy?
Woman: I do not get child with you yet!
Man: No, no, no, not pregnant. Thing...here. Like there. Should be.
Woman: You are a strange race!
It could be fun. And sometimes verge into depressing existential musings on the failings of communication--or at least it would if I wrote it. And the entire plot would probably hinge around some crucial misunderstanding, or a badly worded curse, or somesuch. Though I'd have to do a lot of linguistics research.
Come to think of it, I'm sortof doing that in Teh Novel, except there the common tongue is about as complicated as English, but simple by comparison to some of the specialty languages (though less the old languages of the various species) which are incredibly advanced and intricate and designed to describe things like magic and theoretical physics and philosophy which most languages kinda falter with. And since most of my characters are ridiculously intelligent and know at least two languages, often three or four or five, and are certainly fluid in the common tongue (which in world is probably some sort of long-evolved and codified pidgin, but I do have to make it comprehensible in English), it doesn't often come up.
Blather.
As far as why I'm up and contemplating fantasy languages this obscenely early...road test in an hour and a half. I'm actually not nearly as nervous as I've been in the past, but did I sleep well last night? Noooooo.
The thought was started by a question on the fantasy novel exam (more later-ish, including, I hope, my answers to it): Is "common" the official language of your world?
And as I was sitting there eating my obscenely early breakfast (sausage and cheese scrambled eggs with cumin yey!), the thought occured to me: I want to see--or write--a fantasy world where there is, in fact, a common tongue that everybody knows, but it's ridiculously simple and primitive and is useful pretty much only for travel guide book type phrases. Y'know, "excuse me, sir, where is the tavern?" and "this beer has no head!" and "discard the beer, I want a wench" and "madam, you are a female dog." That sort of thing. And if you want to say anything particularly detailed or specialized and eloquent, you have to revert to a language you actually know--which may well not be a language anybody else knows. I think this could be used to great comic effect--mortal enemies shouting pregenerated insults at each other because they don't know each other's native tongues, or the daring and torried interspecies romance reduced to blurts of "I love you like sun!" before the lovers give up and start snuggling.
Or, worse yet, the sex scene--
Man: Where is, uhhh, howdoIsayit, um, little happy bump?
Woman: ...little happy bump?
Man: You know, um, small, round... *makes hapless thumb gestures* makes you happy?
Woman: I do not get child with you yet!
Man: No, no, no, not pregnant. Thing...here. Like there. Should be.
Woman: You are a strange race!
It could be fun. And sometimes verge into depressing existential musings on the failings of communication--or at least it would if I wrote it. And the entire plot would probably hinge around some crucial misunderstanding, or a badly worded curse, or somesuch. Though I'd have to do a lot of linguistics research.
Come to think of it, I'm sortof doing that in Teh Novel, except there the common tongue is about as complicated as English, but simple by comparison to some of the specialty languages (though less the old languages of the various species) which are incredibly advanced and intricate and designed to describe things like magic and theoretical physics and philosophy which most languages kinda falter with. And since most of my characters are ridiculously intelligent and know at least two languages, often three or four or five, and are certainly fluid in the common tongue (which in world is probably some sort of long-evolved and codified pidgin, but I do have to make it comprehensible in English), it doesn't often come up.
Blather.
As far as why I'm up and contemplating fantasy languages this obscenely early...road test in an hour and a half. I'm actually not nearly as nervous as I've been in the past, but did I sleep well last night? Noooooo.
IT LIIIIIIIIVES!
Feb. 4th, 2006 12:15 amTHE NOVEL! IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!
*has finished second scene in second chapter, and making good headway on third--this probably of five*
BUT MY WORD PROCESSOR IS REFUSING TO SAVE, OMGWTF.
This isn't as disastrous as it sounds. I'd been copying everything over into another file, a txt file to format it to post on LJ. So I've got everything I wrote, though I'll have to reformat it. And I use a different word processor for the novel that I do for all my fic, so it doesn't/shouldn't affect my fic. BUT STILL. GAH.
Off to reboot. :( And hope my computer isn't falling apart, because this is the second third-party app to repeatedly fuck up today.
*has finished second scene in second chapter, and making good headway on third--this probably of five*
BUT MY WORD PROCESSOR IS REFUSING TO SAVE, OMGWTF.
This isn't as disastrous as it sounds. I'd been copying everything over into another file, a txt file to format it to post on LJ. So I've got everything I wrote, though I'll have to reformat it. And I use a different word processor for the novel that I do for all my fic, so it doesn't/shouldn't affect my fic. BUT STILL. GAH.
Off to reboot. :( And hope my computer isn't falling apart, because this is the second third-party app to repeatedly fuck up today.
Also, I have too much time on my hands.
Dec. 3rd, 2005 12:58 pmFortunately the whole job thing should solve that. But in the meantime...I just spent way, WAY too long making THIS, courtesy of the New and Improved South Park Character Generator.
Why, I hear you cry? Well, I've got NO FUCKING CLUE.
*off to try to do something, um, vaguely useful?* o,O
(I actually did this last night. Took all night, explains why I didn't, y'know, exist. Posting delayed due to file transfer problems, aka Dan changed isomerica to a new server and I forgot to connect to the right one and spent hours wondering why my file wasn't showing. *bong!*)
Why, I hear you cry? Well, I've got NO FUCKING CLUE.
*off to try to do something, um, vaguely useful?* o,O
(I actually did this last night. Took all night, explains why I didn't, y'know, exist. Posting delayed due to file transfer problems, aka Dan changed isomerica to a new server and I forgot to connect to the right one and spent hours wondering why my file wasn't showing. *bong!*)
Well, for half an hour, at any rate. Finally finished the second half of the last scene of the first chapter of my novel, meaning I can post it! w00t!
[Post filtered, as is the case with Teh Novel. If curious, ask. :)]
So did not NaNo this thing. And so feel kinda shitty for not reading other people's NaNos. Stupid brain being like taffy all the time.
Now have sudden strong urge to go tag my entries.
All of them.
See you in a month or two. o.O
[Post filtered, as is the case with Teh Novel. If curious, ask. :)]
So did not NaNo this thing. And so feel kinda shitty for not reading other people's NaNos. Stupid brain being like taffy all the time.
Now have sudden strong urge to go tag my entries.
All of them.
See you in a month or two. o.O
Bwaha, I am productive. Or something.
Nov. 6th, 2005 11:44 pmWell, after solving one of my pressing problems, I finished the prologue to the Novel'O'Doom™, and am now probably about halfway through the first chapter. (Still open to filter requests, of course, though obviously if I don't know you I'll be all WTF, mate?)
OMG...it's...like...pulling...teeth...X.X...
I wish I could say first chapter'll be posted tonight, but I don't know how many more teeth I'll manage to pull tonight--although I keep thinking if I finish the current scene it'll be easy from there to the end of the chapter, but I thought that about the last scene too.
Gad. This first-chapter teeth-pulling is like the only thing I've done all day. Although given that I woke up queasy-sick the first time, went back to sleep (while blowing off my only local friend, wah!) so as to not be sick and didn't wake up again until two, that doesn't say much.
3,500 words. NaNo this ain't.
I think it's time for a crucial writerly aid in this whole teeth-pulling venture. HEATH BAR CRUNCH ICE CREAM, YO.
...I love how the 'working' mood-fox is reading the newspaper. So very productive that fox is. o.O
Oh, edit to say that, yeah, I'm behind on my comments again what with all the teeth-pulling. I suck. Woo. -.-;;;;; But I officially <3![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hopechan, yo, go <3 her too.
OMG...it's...like...pulling...teeth...X.X...
I wish I could say first chapter'll be posted tonight, but I don't know how many more teeth I'll manage to pull tonight--although I keep thinking if I finish the current scene it'll be easy from there to the end of the chapter, but I thought that about the last scene too.
Gad. This first-chapter teeth-pulling is like the only thing I've done all day. Although given that I woke up queasy-sick the first time, went back to sleep (while blowing off my only local friend, wah!) so as to not be sick and didn't wake up again until two, that doesn't say much.
3,500 words. NaNo this ain't.
I think it's time for a crucial writerly aid in this whole teeth-pulling venture. HEATH BAR CRUNCH ICE CREAM, YO.
...I love how the 'working' mood-fox is reading the newspaper. So very productive that fox is. o.O
Oh, edit to say that, yeah, I'm behind on my comments again what with all the teeth-pulling. I suck. Woo. -.-;;;;; But I officially <3
hopechan, yo, go <3 her too.WTF, brain?
Nov. 5th, 2005 04:24 pmNot only is the Wintering still running around, albeit hung up on two logistical issues which I'll need to solve before writing more...there's another, totally new, novel chewing on my ass. A nice literary 'realistic' novel involving retired gay policemen and dominatrices and psychological issues which'll require tons of research. I repeat, WTF, brain?
If this keeps up my brain is going to expand out of the confines of my skull.
I think I'm going to go off and do something nice and MIND-NUMBING for the moment. Like watching more lectures on Beethoven. Or maybe even Law & Order. *headdesk*
If this keeps up my brain is going to expand out of the confines of my skull.
I think I'm going to go off and do something nice and MIND-NUMBING for the moment. Like watching more lectures on Beethoven. Or maybe even Law & Order. *headdesk*
Journal Logistics 101.
Oct. 31st, 2005 10:51 pmOkay, so, this novel thing? It's kinda looking more and more like I'm going to be writing it.
A quick Q&A:
Is this for NaNo, or at least following NaNo goals?
Mmmmmmaaaayyyyybe.
Will you still be writing fanfiction/that fic you promised me?
Mmmmmmaaaayyyyybe.
Is this something that will one day be finished and published and shit?
Mmmmmmaaaayyyyybe.
Now that I've resolved those crucial issues, on to the point of this post: as I write (if I write x.x;;;;) I'll probably do the same thing I did last time around (a couple of years ago, most of you won't remember) when I had a novel revival, which is to say post things on a tight filter (I WILL not be posting things publicly due to first-printing issues if and when I ever try to publish this; ditto goes for any origific) for the, er, enjoyment? of anybody who shows interest and whom I sufficiently trust.
So enter the requisite "hey baby, wanna be on my filter? *wink wink, nudge nudge*" poll.
[Poll #602507]
The real answers to those questions, btw, are respectively: Probably no, I'm lazy; probably yes, it eats my brain and I like y'all too much to flake out on you too badly, I hope; mmmmmmaaaayyyyybe.
Given the way that my brain works, now that I've actually set up this poll and shit, I'll get bunnied by fanfic again and it'll never come up again. Go figure. x.x
A quick Q&A:
Is this for NaNo, or at least following NaNo goals?
Mmmmmmaaaayyyyybe.
Will you still be writing fanfiction/that fic you promised me?
Mmmmmmaaaayyyyybe.
Is this something that will one day be finished and published and shit?
Mmmmmmaaaayyyyybe.
Now that I've resolved those crucial issues, on to the point of this post: as I write (if I write x.x;;;;) I'll probably do the same thing I did last time around (a couple of years ago, most of you won't remember) when I had a novel revival, which is to say post things on a tight filter (I WILL not be posting things publicly due to first-printing issues if and when I ever try to publish this; ditto goes for any origific) for the, er, enjoyment? of anybody who shows interest and whom I sufficiently trust.
So enter the requisite "hey baby, wanna be on my filter? *wink wink, nudge nudge*" poll.
[Poll #602507]
The real answers to those questions, btw, are respectively: Probably no, I'm lazy; probably yes, it eats my brain and I like y'all too much to flake out on you too badly, I hope; mmmmmmaaaayyyyybe.
Given the way that my brain works, now that I've actually set up this poll and shit, I'll get bunnied by fanfic again and it'll never come up again. Go figure. x.x
(no subject)
Oct. 31st, 2005 12:14 pmSo I just had a Brilliant Idea.
Well, like last night, not just now, but still.
This Damn Novel that's been hanging off my ass for, what, eight years by now? (o.OOOOO;;;;;;) And that I keep circling back to and wanting to rewrite?
One of the things that keeps giving me trouble every time I come back to it? Exposition. I shit you not. Little niggly exposition--which isn't really so niggly when you have a universe as hugely complicated as this and about eight or nine equally complicated characters--keeps dragging me down and tripping me up every time, with the result that I never get very far.
So I should just try writing it without it.
*sound of loud gongs*
Now that I should've been able to figure out five years ago or so. x.x I can just write what's happening without worrying about exposition, without worrying about trying to Explain Everything. Sure, it won't make much sense to everybody else, but I can edit it in later. If I want to shit out a first draft of this monster, I gotta do it somehow.
Maybe I'll even just not write the first two chapters or something. Or maybe I'll even start at the end and go backwards. Though I really do like the idea of sitting down and plowing through in a straight line, or as straight a line as this twisty plot can be.
*considers doing some form of NaNoWriMo with it*
Well, like last night, not just now, but still.
This Damn Novel that's been hanging off my ass for, what, eight years by now? (o.OOOOO;;;;;;) And that I keep circling back to and wanting to rewrite?
One of the things that keeps giving me trouble every time I come back to it? Exposition. I shit you not. Little niggly exposition--which isn't really so niggly when you have a universe as hugely complicated as this and about eight or nine equally complicated characters--keeps dragging me down and tripping me up every time, with the result that I never get very far.
So I should just try writing it without it.
*sound of loud gongs*
Now that I should've been able to figure out five years ago or so. x.x I can just write what's happening without worrying about exposition, without worrying about trying to Explain Everything. Sure, it won't make much sense to everybody else, but I can edit it in later. If I want to shit out a first draft of this monster, I gotta do it somehow.
Maybe I'll even just not write the first two chapters or something. Or maybe I'll even start at the end and go backwards. Though I really do like the idea of sitting down and plowing through in a straight line, or as straight a line as this twisty plot can be.
*considers doing some form of NaNoWriMo with it*
tech rehearsals suck
Apr. 23rd, 2002 04:57 pmor, more specifically, they suck when you have absolutely nothing to do.
oh, wait, i think i get to iron a shirt tonight.
*sigh*
anyway, i exist, in case you were wondering. i was home for the weekend-time. saw lisa briefly. got a new cthulhu. argued with mum's DSL. (yay for broadband, but only when it works.) drooled over the new G4 iMacs.
ALW's requiem rocks.
dinner soon. then tech. at least i'm coming prepared this time--three copies of Dante, one book of Hobb, notebook, sketchbook. and i do get to iron a shirt. so maybe this time i won't be so bored that i'm ready to kill something. i utterly wasted four hours last night.
the characters of my novel jumped up, bit me on the butt, and demanded a rewrite. i tried rewriting the prologue, and it went really slowly. don't know whether this is going to work or not. it's a story i really want to tell, but i don't know if i can, at least not now.
oh, wait, i think i get to iron a shirt tonight.
*sigh*
anyway, i exist, in case you were wondering. i was home for the weekend-time. saw lisa briefly. got a new cthulhu. argued with mum's DSL. (yay for broadband, but only when it works.) drooled over the new G4 iMacs.
ALW's requiem rocks.
dinner soon. then tech. at least i'm coming prepared this time--three copies of Dante, one book of Hobb, notebook, sketchbook. and i do get to iron a shirt. so maybe this time i won't be so bored that i'm ready to kill something. i utterly wasted four hours last night.
the characters of my novel jumped up, bit me on the butt, and demanded a rewrite. i tried rewriting the prologue, and it went really slowly. don't know whether this is going to work or not. it's a story i really want to tell, but i don't know if i can, at least not now.