Ceramic DM -- Fall '06 ** yangnome wins! **

[Deuce Traveler]

Roger, I aplogize for the point that it ended, but I thought I'd wrap up the loose ends in the next story, if I win. There wasn't enough fat for me to cut in order to end it better, unfortunately.

I noticed I got dinged on picture usage, but I thought my use of two of those pictures (the interviewed man and the creature in the blanket) was smartly used. Can you give more details on your own expectations when it comes to pictures?

 

[tadk]

Thanks to Roger for the sblock layout I'll appropriate I'm not making any guesses as to who'll win a round, though.


thanks for the comments....i have no clue how to do spoiler things....i ended up trying to do too much in too short a time....the pics suggested a story but i was not able to execute it is my personal issue. BUt I did enjoy the writing of it none the less and plan to expand the story..when i have more energy...but as always i liked it

 

[Roger]

I noticed I got dinged on picture usage, but I thought my use of two of those pictures (the interviewed man and the creature in the blanket) was smartly used. Can you give more details on your own expectations when it comes to pictures?

Well, it's not like I'm a judge or anything, but I can expand a bit on what I was talking about.

[sblock]
What I mean, I suppose, is that it didn't really feel like any of the pictures felt like natural illustrations for the story. They're in there, sure; no doubt about it. But the scenes in which they occur are not really climatic or pressingly vital to your story, if you see what I mean.

Having your hero meet his sister by a playground slide is fine, but it's not really integral to the story -- it could have been pretty much anywhere.

If I were talking to a friend about your story, I wouldn't say "It's about this guy who is attacked by this weird thing bouncing on a blanket, then he talks to a guy on a pipe, and then he goes to a playground slide!"

Actually, the homunculus is a pretty good use of the illustration, so I won't complain too much about that.

Another way of thinking about it: If I were an editor, and I wanted to use an illustration on the front cover of my magazine to entice readers into reading your story, would I have used any of those three? Maybe not.

I'm reminded of numerous Iron Chef judge comments where they say something like "This dish is really fabulously good, but swan tongue (or whatever the special ingredient is) is not really the star of the show." That's sorta where I am. I liked your story, and the use of the ingredients didn't detract from your story, but I didn't come away from it feeling like your story was about any of those images in an integral way.

So, in my humble opinion as just another plebe who reads stories sometimes, achieving that level of integration would kick it up to the next level for you. Anyway, hope that helps, or at least clarifies what I'm talking about.
[/sblock]


Cheers,
Roger

 

[Berandor]

Thanks to Roger for the sblock layout I'll appropriate I'm not making any guesses as to who'll win a round, though.


thanks for the comments....i have no clue how to do spoiler things....i ended up trying to do too much in too short a time....the pics suggested a story but i was not able to execute it is my personal issue. BUt I did enjoy the writing of it none the less and plan to expand the story..when i have more energy...but as always i liked it

By the way: Did you make up the lyrics yourself? I wasn't sure about that. If so, A for effort! (If not, A for Google)

 

[tadk]

Lyrics..
yes I did...Pyrhhic Muses is a set of NPCs for my Shadowrun/Cyberpunk 2020 games...have about 3 albums worth of lyrics....Sleeping Dogs is from the first batch....Cat A Strophe is the lead singer of the band...I would be happy to share more lyrics if you want them btw...and no music i cant write it....just lyrics.....

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Roger, it's understood. Thanks!

 

[Roger]

Other writing resources

Here's some other links to things that may help Ceramic writers. None of these are really gospel per se, of course, but folks might find one or two things in them that resonate.

http://www.sfwa.org/writing/turkeycity.html
The Turkey City Lexicon

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tropes
Lists of common TV tropes, plots, characters, etc.

http://www.cthreepo.com/cliche/
A big big list of SF cliches.

http://amethyst-angel.com/cliche.html
A big big list of fantasy cliches.

http://atrocities.primaryerror.net/rpgcliches.html
A big big list of RPG cliches. Not actually too applicable to Ceramic DM, but still pretty amusing.


The only thing I will ask of posters is to please please please please not clutter up the Ceramic DM thread by replying with a post about the merits or lack thereof in any of the above lists. Posting a link to some writerly resources you think are useful is fine. So is posting a link to a new thread that discusses one of these lists.


Cheers,
Roger

 

[Hellefire]

Random question..is round 2 still tentatively planned to start on friday?

Aaron

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I haven't heard back from Herremann yet. I'm ready to go on a moment's notice, though, so I can be as flexible as you all want.

 

[Halivar]

Ick. Do we need to change the schedule?