Monthly Archives: July 2015

Using wattpad’s visual feedback.

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Metrics_AHere is a good visual tip on how your W.I.P is being received. It’s a great way to see where you might have some stalling in your storyline and where the peaks and valleys are. I am going to use this from now on.

I am using WattPad.com as a proving ground. There is great readership here and the feedback is always helpful and constructive. When you post your work, you can view the metrics of that work. I am finding it helpful to know where to place chapter breaks or what sections I might need to inject a bit of excitement or build character. If you see your readership drop significantly after the first part, you know you need to do one of a few things: Start out running, or become a better writer (LOL).Metrics_C

Here is an example of a short story I wrote, called “From Europa with love.” I divided the story into five parts to see how the sections were being received. The feedback was awesome and exactly what I would have predicted. You will notice that readership starts to wane after Part 3 (but by then I already had a good following to this short). This feedback was so informative to me, because part 4 is where the storyline shifts and part 3 sets up for that. The graph was spot on to what I would have expected. I think I need to go back into part 3 and set a few more hooks.  I will definitely use this methodology for my novel.

Metrics_B

I’m a believer.

You have 12 hours

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SolarFlareOne of my favorite topics at the dinner table, these days, is when the subject of disasters comes up.  I immediately refer to the Carrington event of 1859.  Having one of these today would bring almost everything we know, to a standstill, but serve as a great equalizer to 3rd world nations.

A study by Lloyd’s of London has concluded that if an X class storm the size of the Carrington Event hit us today it would take a $2,600,000,000,000 chunk out of the global economy, and would take up to a decade to repair the damage.  It is going to happen at some point; the only question is when?

It is estimated that we would have between 12 and 17 hours before it would hit, which is not much time to get our S**T together.  One of the interesting aspects of thee types of events, that determine speed, is if there were previous and closely related flares before it–sweeping a path and adding to it, the way waves can compound.  Needless to say, it seems like a comic game of Russian Roulette we play as our planet dances around the sun.

The Solar storm of 1859, referred to as the Carrington Event

SPECIAL NOTE to users of Wiki:

Today (7/29/2015) Every Wiki age will have a splash screen for donations to keep this natural resource free of ads.  As a writer, take the time to donate– at least $3 (credit card, PayPal, Amazon) to Wiki, where many of us start our research for our W.I.P.

I have started a short story titled, 12 Hours based on this event, today and it only cost me $5 😉

 

The future is here–I have seen it!

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FutureWIKIIf the game of golf has been said, ‘as being a beautiful walk, interrupted.’ then the isomerism can be said about surfing the internet ‘as being a walk beautifully interrupted.’

I was conducting research for my Work In Progress (Silversides) and found a wiki post that was exactly what I was looking for (artificial gills), but something was off;  I was reading a post taking place in the future and It freaked me out. I looked up at the URL and saw I was on a site called wikia (future).  Wow!  This was so cool and my mind was racing–so weird because my yahoo horoscope for the day(Gemini) predicted this would happen.

GeminiHoroscope

 

I had all these ideas pitching by me, so many it was like trying to grab at dandelion seeds in a breeze, where reaching toward them provided their evasiveness and at the end of it, I was left with nothing in my hands and only ideas.

So here is how I see this spectacular site useful to sci-fi writers: 1) Research for your sci-fi writing; 2) A one-stop-site to park new terms, ideas & concepts for sci-fi writers to create the future by using, in their works, this library–why invent terms if a good one already exists; 3) Like wiki, your posts can be the forward or a snippet of your story (making sure it adheres to the guidelines and does not read like a self-promotional ad), yet promotes your work; 4) That the concept of this site would make for a great sci-fi itself, where a destitute protagonist stumbles across a URL somewhere between the intra and dark net of tomorrow’s news (modern take on the protagonist finding a newspaper of tomorrow’s news, with a twist–this automata is self-aware).

I’m sure you all can add to this–I need to get these ideas spinning through my head down on digital before my muse steps over the threshold of my consciousness.

To enter the future, click here: http://future.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page