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- Nov 19, 2011
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I have the nasty feeling being a cool kid might require a special sort of hat Mac hands out....
THIS. It's so annoying when stories are full of violence and trauma but act like it has no consequences beyond the physical. I bet your story is going to be wonderful, and I don't think you'll be a total oddball either. Abercrombie uses his background in psychology a lot in his writing and his books are very popular.Reading reports of black-outs and battle rage from modern military psychiatrists are fascinating. It helps me a lot, because I refuse to believe soldiers haven't been suffering from PTSD since the first neanderthal rock battle, and as the majority of my characters are soldiers/were at one point, they all have their own issues with 'battle fatigue.' Makes an oddball out in fantasy, but it pisses me off to read about people slashing and hacking and being fine with it afterwards. They aren't. And they never have been.
I want a special hat! Then I could banninate my enemies and give people special creepy avatars against their will.I have the nasty feeling being a cool kid might require a special sort of hat Mac hands out....
Reading reports of black-outs and battle rage from modern military psychiatrists are fascinating. It helps me a lot, because I refuse to believe soldiers haven't been suffering from PTSD since the first neanderthal rock battle, and as the majority of my characters are soldiers/were at one point, they all have their own issues with 'battle fatigue.' Makes an oddball out in fantasy, but it pisses me off to read about people slashing and hacking and being fine with it afterwards. They aren't. And they never have been.
THIS. It's so annoying when stories are full of violence and trauma but act like it has no consequences beyond the physical. I bet your story is going to be wonderful, and I don't think you'll be a total oddball either. Abercrombie uses his background in psychology a lot in his writing and his books are very popular.
At least, I sincerely hope solid psychology for characters isn't a strike against a book. Because if it is, I'm screwed. Childhood trauma and the psychological effects of prolonged isolation are big parts of my WIP.
THIS. It's so annoying when stories are full of violence and trauma but act like it has no consequences beyond the physical. I bet your story is going to be wonderful, and I don't think you'll be a total oddball either. Abercrombie uses his background in psychology a lot in his writing and his books are very popular.
At least, I sincerely hope solid psychology for characters isn't a strike against a book. Because if it is, I'm screwed. Childhood trauma and the psychological effects of prolonged isolation are big parts of my WIP.
See, if you'd just get over your aversion to many-legged monstrosities, we'd have a lot in common.
I want a special hat! Then I could banninate my enemies and give people special creepy avatars against their will.
Ooooh. These are exactly the kinds of things I'm currently writing about, though with other stuff going on too. The topic I've researched most is probably the politics and history of medicine, particularly the non-physical varieties.
If you're interested in some of the turning points I suggest Combat Stress in the 20th Century: A Commonwealth Perspective. I have mixed views one the latter half of the book, but the first 1/4th taught me a lot of cool shit on how society and doctors viewed various neurological, psychological and psychosomatic illnesses in the decades before WWI.
I heart you both.
I have an odd fascination with extreme dissociative states, possibly due to the horribly trippy flavour of my own PTSD-ness. The berserker states observed in warriors throughout history (for a clear-cut example--- Cuchulainn) definitely fall under this heading. Changes to the body and to the perception thereof related to trauma are also a big one, but I'm currently trying to expand my knowledge of the subtler shit, trauma-induced irritability a la Donald Duck and whatnot.
*Flops into Cantina*
Three hours and I haven't finished a first draft of this query. I don't get how people can write short! *Passes out in dark chocolate and thin mint haze*
I have an anorexic princess, and it honestly makes me a little nervous because I've never seen that in a fantasy novel. (She has an obsessive need for control based on life events, and it manifested itself in food restriction.)
My favorite thing is reading about battle black out, when the entire forebrain shuts down and blood flow moves away from the extremities to limit bleeding. It's amazing what the lizard brain can do when it wants to live.
*Flops into Cantina*
Three hours and I haven't finished a first draft of this query. I don't get how people can write short! *Passes out in dark chocolate and thin mint haze*
Win, WIN, so much win! This is the kind of thing that I would like to see more of in all genres, and that I feel is missing from fantasy right now.
I have a bit of a conundrum with my current MC in that I'm not sure what modern-day diagnosis to have in mind while I select his behaviour. I know what they call it in the year 2462, but without a 2013 equivalent to work from I'm always worried to death about realism and shizz.
I've been on Queryshark, and QLH (even the stickies) but I just can't seem to get it under 250 words. My darlings scream. They scream! *Shivers**pat pat pat* It's hard. I'm on my 8th draft in QLH, which makes it something like my 13th+ overall. Have you been going on QueryShark? I don't always like the queries she does, but it gives you a great range of stuff to look at.
ETA'd ION: I got the topic of my paper changed! Now it's 1000 words on ebooks and epublishing. Hells yeah!
I'll drink to that! *Tosses back a shot of mint chocolate milkshake*
Writing short is evil and was injected into the world of querying by alien entities who harvest our frustration and bemusement.
I've been on Queryshark, and QLH (even the stickies) but I just can't seem to get it under 250 words. My darlings scream. They scream! *Shivers*
Also, yay, that sounds like a pretty fun paper
Well, maybe some time on the backburner will help bring that previous story into a tighter focus? Then you can get back to it with fresh eyes!All the effort I put into my big urban fantasy/romance/whatever-the-hell-else idea... and it's just been taken over in my writing priorities list by something else. Though that's probably good in the long run on account of this new one being more centrally focused and not as vague, sprawling and unmanageable (yet, give it time and it will be), but it's still mildly irritating when an idea you devote so much effort to just gets left in the dust.
True, true.Well, maybe some time on the backburner will help bring that previous story into a tighter focus? Then you can get back to it with fresh eyes!
Why is the rum always gone?Ugh. Query finished, but not enough rum in the house to convince me to try posting it. >.>
and good morning Cantina. I'm off to the AW meet-up in London in just over an hour.
I know that several of you are Princess Bride fans, so please raise a glass for Margery Mason, who played The Ancient Booer in the film, who celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday.
So, having just signed the contract, I can now tell you that I'm gonna be... a QC Co-ordinator.
Good morning Cantina. I got some writing done! Not nearly as much as I'd hoped, but I always run out of steam after about two hours. Still, we're almost to the end of act 1` and the turn into the stuff I'm really looking forward to!
Whenever I apply for a job I always end up feeling like
So...
Ugh. Query finished, but not enough rum in the house to convince me to try posting it. >.>
I'm nurturing my body with chocolate chip cookies.
I'm lying in bed, drinking wine and watching Let's Plays. Relaxation!