[littlemanpoet]

Six phreeeekin pages! You guys are amazing.

Thankyew Saxony Tarn for the compliment on the other thread. I just hope somebody picks up on it. Nobody has since the last time I checked. That's Boromir versus Faramir, friends. hint hint...

A fellow Wight translating Sindarin double-entendres! That is tooommutch! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Hmm now hoo now hoom hum hoom - gender role smashing? Hoom hum now, I don't recall that in any of the lists. Let's see now, hoom, hum, hoomty toom toomty tum - well now, it seems I have a knack for well defined, strong women. One is as androgynous as can be, sexy, a dark anima figure, one of the smartest characters, and dominant. Make that domineering. With her mind and her will, and sometimes with her body. Not that I get graphic, but power is power if ya know wut I meen. (Party's messin' with my hed still).

Joy, you don't need any help. I'm surprised you don't have other homeschooled parents' kids beating a path to your door. I think once you've put the finishing touches on the whole project you ought to write it up and get published in the homeschooling lesson series market. I hear it's growing like maples in may.

Thanks, Maril. One must be careful about how much one puts in one's story about what you know. Just last October I had one scene where I had seven against seven characters, the object of the fight being a stolen power-sword, and I spent days random generating every six seconds of absolutely everybody's movements, something like three minutes' worth. I wrote up the battle scene, throwing out about 95 percent of what I'd generated, showed it to my writers' group, and their comments, to a reader, were, way too much detail. I'm getting lost in it.

They were right. The most important thing in any scene, be it battle or whatever, is make the reader feel it. Show the reader, don't tell the reader. I read that Stephen R. Donaldson never did any research for his monster Covenant series, but imagined everything for himself. I'm not saying that that's the right way, but it seems to have worked for him. Also, we all know a heck of a lot about a whole lot of stuff just by virtue of seeing all the action movies, reading all the comics, all the television shows, where they really give you the detail. I have, however, done research into flora and fauna for the latitude and climate in which my story takes place. And animals. And there's a whole lot I've learned over the years that makes its way into my story too, about castles, feudalism, how streams flow, what's in burial mounds, customs of the Anglo-Saxons, early Celts, you name it. It's all making its way in - as appropriate.
Just like Tolkien. Now that's one thing anybody should want to imitate, I'd say.

And welcome, Naaramare. Hope to see more posts from you. I suggest that you spend some time with this thread and read all the pages. Lots of good stuff.

As far as character driven, I'm convinced that the best stories ARE character driven, AS WELL as plot driven. Don't we all love Frodo and Sam? and Faramir? and (in that sniveling way we all secretly have) Gollum?

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