The Ins And Outs Of Outlining

If I had to specify, I would say that this post falls under the technical term of 'whenever' for the next blog update. But here it is and not a moment too soon. You see, soon I will have a guest post up on my friends blog, and it would be a shame for me not to give advance warning here. The exact timing of that one depends on when exactly he puts it up and how long after this post goes live I get that one written, but I would imagine that neither will take more than a day or two. Stay tuned for that post over on his blog, and I will make a note here when that goes up.

As for the subject of today's post, I wanted to talk about something that I'm still trying very hard to figure out. Outlining is, and always has been, one of the weaker parts of the writing process as far as my skill is concerned. I think this comes, in part, from a personality trait that I am well aware of. I've never been one to plan out much, and have a slight (read: not so slight) aversion to doing so. It's something I'm trying to overcome in more aspects of my life than just writing, but making life decisions about characters is much easier and lets me avoid doing the same for myself. At least for now. So without further ado, we'll get started.

Bad Me, Bad!

So I've been really, really bad about updating this. It's only been a few months, right? ... Right? I plan on updating this blog again, maybe only once a week or even just whenever, but I will be doing so. The reminder came from a friend of mine who is just starting his own blog over at All the Good Names Were Taken. He's clever, eloquent, a good writer and a better friend. You should check his stuff out.

That's about all I have to say today, but if there are no objections, I'll continue where I left off with the Choose The Action story line. The vote was for 2, the Tree. I lost the rest of it, which is a pain. So it's kinda pointless actually.

Hmm... Vote 1 for starting something new or vote 2 for abandoning the choice tree! (I threw loaded die for that one.)

Regardless, expect something more from me soon. And pester me if I don't!

Choose the Action

As I said in the last post, I've been playing a fair amount of Dragon Age 2 over the past week or so. It gives you a fair amount of choice, even if some events have to happen in certain ways. That made me wonder and let my mind walk down the path of choosing how the event actually turned out. I thought that would be fun to do for my small readership here.

So here's how this is going to work. Right now I'm going to write out the introduction and give you guys your first choice. This will all be off the top of my head. After I finish writing tonight, I'm going to plan out a choice tree that will give an overview of all possible choices given and their outcomes. I'm going to keep this as an either or situation, so as to not spread the votes too thin and so I don't have to plot out all those possibilities.

Once we've reached the end of a particular choice line, I'll post all of them out so you can see I didn't just have one ending in mind from the start. You'll have until the weekend to vote in the comments for this one. I'm going to turn comment moderation on for the time being so that there's not a swarm of votes. If you've got an actual comment, make sure it's separate from your vote comment. Before I get too long winded, here's the actual story.

Conspiring by Candlelight

Would you look at that, I've been slacking again. You think I'd know I do this and try to stop it... or something. But here we are, so this is just the first one of this early morning hour. We can blame Dragon Age 2 for consuming my time. Yes, let's. However, I did I finish my first play through and it was pretty good. It felt unpolished, but was enjoyable.

Now onto the actual post. This one was inspired by current politics and global events as well as the new album by Rise Against, Endgame. At least partially inspired by those. It started out as pseudo poetry, but as you'll see has lost that and gone to prose form. Keep that in mind while reading. As always, after the break.

The Architect

This one is part of an idea I'm tossing around. The name comes from a new song by Rise Against called Architects. I hope to continue this one soon, but I want to get this part out there for corrections and any ideas any of you may have. Can't wait for the feedback.

Love Story

Well truth is I don't know where this one came from, and part of me doesn't want to read it again. Make of it what you will and Freud can eat his heart out.

Scrambled Thoughts

Yes, I've been slacking again. If it is of any consolation to you good folks out there, I have a reason. My creative ideas of late have been staggering... staggeringly insignificant. But without further ado, train of consciousness, GO!

Post Script: It's short and much garbled like my own thoughts of late. Make of it what you will.

Changing of the Guard

I hope you all had a good weekend and Monday. I know I'm still a post or two behind, but I'm trying to make sure I meet the minimum requirements I set for myself now, rather than worry about before. I just finished reading an article on Anonymous' DDoS attack on the group Americans for Prosperity. Settle in folks. This one's likely to be long, political, and a bit rambling while I get my thoughts squared away.

Catch Up

In hopes of playing some catch up and building some internal momentum in writing, I believe I shall take tonight (which is really this morning) to write a short bit on nihilism, what it means, and how I view its usefulness in this modern era. This post will (hopefully) be one of two this weekend as I am still a post or two behind schedule. Nihilism after the jump.

Death and Other Downers

Today's post will likely be short in hopes of turning out another tonight. As of right now, I've got two projects running simultaneously in my head and I'm trying desperately to figure out how to make some money on my writing sooner rather than later.  But more on that later. For now, an idea I had about the nature of living after someone you care about isn't around any more.

General Degenerate

I'm sure you'll tire of hearing of my procrastination, so my only solution is to stop procrastinating. That means there will need to be two more posts today (other than this one). To get started, I'm going to try an idea for a zombie story that I've been bouncing around for a while now. It will be graphic and likely unsuitable for some.

Story after the jump.

P.S. It's turned out longer than expected, so I apologize for that.

Deadlines

The mysterious genius that was Douglas Adams once said "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." I really don't have much to add other than the fact that I don't have the luxury he had. Which is to say I'm not near as smart or prolific as Mr. Adams came to be. There's nothing else to add to this post except to say that the following was likely inspired by an event this past week. And that I want to look at the formatting and flow of it at a later date.

Pirate's Life For Me

Today's post is brought to you by a single sentence. A friend of mine called two hours ago, say. He was trying to get some writing done, but couldn't, for the life of him, settle on a topic he liked. I've come to him for the same advice, and have gotten results from it. The previous entry, actually, was inspired with his help. So when he asked for my help, I agreed, but decided we'd make a ... I hesitate to say competition, but no better word springs to mind. So for this game (aha!), we'd both start with the same sentence and write from there. My writing is after the break. As always, critique and enjoy.

Forgot Way Too Quickly

Well it does appear that I've found my topic for this (admittedly late) post. And just as quickly (which is to say not very quickly at all) I've decided to change it. The previous title was "Violence in Video Games." While I think it's something I'd love to touch on some other time, a line has come to me and I cannot sit idle as it slips from my mind. So without further ado, we're off.

Actually, it appears not, as I managed to forget it in a very short span. But here's something else for you to enjoy and critique.

A Day Late (Already)

Clearly, I am off to a great start. I've kept to my schedule with the strict rigor and discipline of a monk. I met every deadline I laid out for myself, and ahead of schedule. Right? Well if you don't count this weekend (who would really, it was Super Bowl Sunday) then I have, and one might even call this a bit early for the Tuesday update. I could do that, give myself a free day for the big game, and no one would blame me. Hell, it would even be easy. I don't have anyone to apologize to, anyway. But I'm not going to do that. This is Sunday's update and as I write this it is at least 20 hours late. Which tells me I need to make this a stellar little story to make up for it.

Off the top of my head and starting after the break, here we go.

Straight to Religion

Find me a Christian who believes in Santa Claus; one who legitimately has faith in a man in a red suit slinking down their chimney and leaving presents every year on a day that, for all intents and purposes, was made to replace a pagan ritual. Simpler, I’m sure, to find one who believes in the almighty being, the creator, God, et al. But just as ridiculous. The same applies to those of every belief, be it Judaism, Islam, Hindu, Wicca, or any of the other multitude of religions that I’ve not even heard of. When viewed from an objective view point the beliefs seem utterly ridiculous. So why, then, do so many hold them so strongly? Because religion makes them feel safe.

The security blanket of religion is a powerful shield from the horrors of the world. Like Linus, people are scared, clutching at anything that makes them feel safer. I believe it comes from a time when the world was darker, when we couldn't explain the shadows or the stars. It was used to explain the things that couldn't be explained any other way. When death was common by the age of forty, thirty, and even younger. It gave hope that there was some reason to the terrible things that were common, that there was a greater purpose to working and to life than to die.

But we can explain those things now. I'm not saying all the explanations we have now are correct, but to me they're better than a 'because God made it so.' One just has to work to find them, to understand them. And therein lies the problem, I think. Religion is easy. If you make a mistake, you ask forgiveness, and, more times than not, you are granted that redemption. In the real world, it's not that easy. Bonds that are broken do not repair themselves because you say thirty Hail Mary's, disease is not cured by prayer and heaven doesn't justify the death of an innocent child. But I think it's time that we, as a culture and as a people of the world, stopped needing religion.

The cures to disease will come in time, as the science becomes more and more advanced. I think it's time that we do right simply because it is right, not because a burning bush told an old Jew to. I think it's time that we come together, not as Americans, British, Russian, German, or Iraqi; not as Christians, Jews, Muslims or Atheists, but as homo sapiens.

Inaugural

This is something I've been meaning to do for a long time. Some days I'll post a little bit of writing that I manage to eke out. Others I might find it in me to drive for a larger goal. Or maybe a simple commentary on something I've noticed. But I will post three times a week. If I falter, chastise me. If I succeed, critique the work. Hang me out to dry and beat me like a dirty rug. Thank you all.

First bit after the jump.