[Sparkimus]

I'm not doing too bad with it I guess. I'm out of my dead end job...but am still searching for that internship. I've been working out some, but most of my workout comes from sex so I don't know how much that counts for. Oh, and the threesome thing is still up in the air, no progress on that front

[Macros]

Threesome is on my bucket list, its quite the lenghty bucket list.

Cutting down on drink is getting thrown out the window tonight it would seem, just got the rumour, university mystery tour is landing in my town, the bar I live in, so I rang the hawt chicks in my course to see if they were on the tour and they are, and demanded my presence, how could I decline?

[Sparkimus]

Oh yeah! I forgot about smoking and drinking less...that's not going so well either.

[Aptorian]

Sombra, on Feb 10 2009, 12:10 PM, said:

Aptorian, on Feb 10 2009, 08:37 AM, said:

My main problem currently, which I've been working around for half a year or so, is that I don't have a "threat/task" the first book can focus on. The protagonists are a group of mercenaries, and each story is about them either being hired or forced to solve increasingly insane missions. Problem is I can't find the reason to why they are first assembled. I simply can not find a valid solution. Frustrating as hell.

Ever tried the old "small job that snowballs" shtick? It could be because the situation spirals out of their control becuase of some terrible misunderstandings and other complications arising from their idiosyncrasies, or because all there other bigger players want in on the gig for some reason and the main guys spend half their time acting like Rohirrim in a crowd of Mumakil? Or maybe the job just wasn't that simple to start with - they were supposed to be the fall guys ...
They've been assembled perhaps in a "usual suspects" way that fits in with one of the ideas above, or maybe they were in a bar one night and there was this crazy old guy who may have been a mage in the corner who wouldn't leave them alone ... (seriously, if you could turn this famous old, OLD gaming cliche into something with a deeper cause or a new spin, it'd be worth it).

After that, they stick together because it's profitable and now they have a profile as a unit, a "job lot' as it were. Or Big Nasties are after them and they HAVE to stick together, like or loathe each other as they may. Or some might even lack the imagination to do something else, each will have their own reasons to stick together, once you get mission #1 out of the way.

Since your problem seems to stem largely from the "Maguffin" (as I believe it's called), maybe you could reverse-engineer it from what you have outlined for later? Ie be it a person, task, object, concept (overthrow/assassinate/liberate), and what would most motivate the characters as you see them collectively - what would appeal to them ALL in such a way as to throw a disparate group together and keep them together through all the shit you're going to put them through? Fear? Greed? Idealism? Love?

Meh, that's all I have on that now sorry.

I have been reverse engineering a great deal of the story, as my original idea is now the basis for the ending (it is not a happy ending) and a ton of ideas lead up to it.

The groups origin is as generic as possible, in them being a selected few, a dirty dozen if you will, that are sprung from the pits of hell, a part of the afterworld reserved for the most horrible of sins. Basically, the protagonists are a bunch of warcriminals, demonologists, kingslayers, childrapists, etc. It's a ongoing thread through the rest of the books that their past hunts them, some try to redeem themselves, some never recover, others betray themselves. Their "employers" lords their fate over them with the power to send them back, they're hunted by the captors of their prison, the people they're forced to work with despise them but grudgingly respect them, etc.

The whole idea of the series is fate spinning out of control, a political powerplay turning into mass murder that turns into a world war, the death of a god that causes the pantheons to come head to head to decide what the fate of their mortal followers will be. The gate of Hell opening on earth, the sky falling, extra terrestrials invading from outer space, Mother Nature consuming her own creation and the dark gods that fell so far waking up to fight the machine titans that imprisoned them, etc, etc. And it all semse to be orchestrated by a hidden hand, but who plays with gods, like gods play with mortals?

And... I... Can't... Find... the... reason for the start! Son of a bitch.

[Satan]

Aptorian, on Feb 11 2009, 06:01 PM, said:

Sombra, on Feb 10 2009, 12:10 PM, said:

Aptorian, on Feb 10 2009, 08:37 AM, said:

My main problem currently, which I've been working around for half a year or so, is that I don't have a "threat/task" the first book can focus on. The protagonists are a group of mercenaries, and each story is about them either being hired or forced to solve increasingly insane missions. Problem is I can't find the reason to why they are first assembled. I simply can not find a valid solution. Frustrating as hell.

Ever tried the old "small job that snowballs" shtick? It could be because the situation spirals out of their control becuase of some terrible misunderstandings and other complications arising from their idiosyncrasies, or because all there other bigger players want in on the gig for some reason and the main guys spend half their time acting like Rohirrim in a crowd of Mumakil? Or maybe the job just wasn't that simple to start with - they were supposed to be the fall guys ...
They've been assembled perhaps in a "usual suspects" way that fits in with one of the ideas above, or maybe they were in a bar one night and there was this crazy old guy who may have been a mage in the corner who wouldn't leave them alone ... (seriously, if you could turn this famous old, OLD gaming cliche into something with a deeper cause or a new spin, it'd be worth it).

After that, they stick together because it's profitable and now they have a profile as a unit, a "job lot' as it were. Or Big Nasties are after them and they HAVE to stick together, like or loathe each other as they may. Or some might even lack the imagination to do something else, each will have their own reasons to stick together, once you get mission #1 out of the way.

Since your problem seems to stem largely from the "Maguffin" (as I believe it's called), maybe you could reverse-engineer it from what you have outlined for later? Ie be it a person, task, object, concept (overthrow/assassinate/liberate), and what would most motivate the characters as you see them collectively - what would appeal to them ALL in such a way as to throw a disparate group together and keep them together through all the shit you're going to put them through? Fear? Greed? Idealism? Love?

Meh, that's all I have on that now sorry.

I have been reverse engineering a great deal of the story, as my original idea is now the basis for the ending (it is not a happy ending) and a ton of ideas lead up to it.

The groups origin is as generic as possible, in them being a selected few, a dirty dozen if you will, that are sprung from the pits of hell, a part of the afterworld reserved for the most horrible of sins. Basically, the protagonists are a bunch of warcriminals, demonologists, kingslayers, childrapists, etc. It's a ongoing thread through the rest of the books that their past hunts them, some try to redeem themselves, some never recover, others betray themselves. Their "employers" lords their fate over them with the power to send them back, they're hunted by the captors of their prison, the people they're forced to work with despise them but grudgingly respect them, etc.

The whole idea of the series is fate spinning out of control, a political powerplay turning into mass murder that turns into a world war, the death of a god that causes the pantheons to come head to head to decide what the fate of their mortal followers will be. The gate of Hell opening on earth, the sky falling, extra terrestrials invading from outer space, Mother Nature consuming her own creation and the dark gods that fell so far waking up to fight the machine titans that imprisoned them, etc, etc. And it all semse to be orchestrated by a hidden hand, but who plays with gods, like gods play with mortals?

And... I... Can't... Find... the... reason for the start! Son of a bitch.

Have you considered not mentioning it. Or even to make a point of not mentioning it. A writing tip (and a damned good one, I thought) from one of the writers at Games Workshop was to leave the unexplained/unexplainable open. That way you don't box yourself in, and any new inspiration later on would be possible to pursue. Basically, just write all the rest and leave the tricky stuff for later.

On topic, I vowed to do the dishes, which I've done. But now they're back, and I'm debating whether it's too long a wait if I save them for next years resolutions...

[Aptorian]

I have indeed thought of that. I have a great idea for what was gonna be the first story, but it has now become the second one.

It's just a very delicious opening for the series, as I know I would read the fuck out of a book about a bunch of bad guys busting out of hell, fighting to survive and becoming heroes in the process. If I some day manage to finish the first book, I want the series to start with a bang!

Anyway, if I start with it or not, I still haven't found a valid reasoning for them to be picked out. The "god-like" employers that use them, run a military sect with a standing veteran army and mercenary knights. The mercenary knights are the "orders" bread and butter as the employers use them for special ops and also lend them out for large sums of gold or favors. As the story starts the order is in very bad standing, and they're wanted for treason in any part of the Free Empires territories for an unspeakable crime that crippled the Empires a generation earlier. One of the protagonists was a key figure in this event and it what got him into hell. Seeing as the order is known and their where abouts are tracked by their rivals and various supernatural factions, the team is assembled under the radar outside the sphere of the mortal world, making it easier to sneak them into the right spot. I am thinking about letting them hunt down and bring the real culprits of the disaster to justice there by restoring the orders favor, but it would ruin a lot of the tension and discovery of the next couple of books where I wanted the mystery of the event to be slowly unravelled as the team gets to know itself and build up its rep. They could also steal a god. It's a theme in the books that gods are vulnerable to betrayal, and the Free Empires have begun taking down gods of states that threaten the Empires interests. The easiest and most fitting beginning would simply be for the Order being sorely pressed, on the verge of annihalation by the hands of another order, and the new team is sent in to strike at the heart of this rival order... This last one is especially good because it lets me pit them against some of their own kind, showing their talents, and it doesn't cost anything for them to wipe out another order in big scheme of things. Rather it would be a good beginning for them to make their name.

The real problem lies in that I already have a whole list of great story ideas, but I'm saving them for the developing story and I've already tied them nicely together in chain events fitted into a big scary prophesy that has everyones knickers in a twist. Gah, so much worldbuilding and background layout, and no beginning! Curse you, fantasy muse! Get off Goodkinds lap and help me!

[Tsundoku]

@Apt

There's no shame in taking the path of starting in the middle. Then as the series unfolds you do flashbacks on characters or situations. It's tried and true, as all of us here can attest.
Also lets you decide as you're going how you want to do the background, because as you write, things at "the start" may change.

Back on topic. Mostly I don't do resolutions, as they're waaaaaaaaay too easy to break. The fitness thing this year is going to be easier to keep up as I'm in the perfect situation to do so - medium to hard PT 5 times a week.

Cheers,

La Sombra, plays the shifty, cynical role very well ...

[Satan]

Whatever you do, apt, write it fast. That book sounds fucking awesome, and I want to read it.

[Macros]

Monday night has arrived.
targets have not been hit across the board. My sister arriving home early from aus put a spanner in the works but I coulda squeezed some time in somewhere to practice on my geetar.
Weighed in, no change in weight, but honestly I don't expect weight loss to occur until my running reaches a decent level.
The running, better this week, definitely noticed improved stamina, and whilst I did the same amount of laps, they were at a higher pace and the fast lap at the end was actually a lap and a half and the midway pace was what my flat out pace was on week one. Football should be interesting this week now that I'm starting to get a bit of speed back, I think this is tied to my daily stretching routine, apparently flexibility has an impact on speed.

The drinking was appalling last week, totally sideways on tuesday, thursday and saturday night. I'd like to cry mitagating circumstances but I'm just an asshole.

So, I Stuck to the fitness but not the other 3, only a page of woeful prose was produced, it will likely be scrapped.

For next week, I'm tempted to say a bit of weight down, i'll be trying to actually stay off the booze and shitty food this week.
9 laps - at the same pace as this week
definitely a song on the guitar
definitely some writing.
At most one night on the sauce.

If I can get 2/4 it'll be an improvement I guess, I want all 4 but lets not be unrealistic

[cerveza_fiesta]

#1 the eternal choice of all resolutionists

getting fit. Its working out very well in fact. I pair it with an activity I really enjoy - Rock climbing- as a warmup. I've been finding about 1/2 hour of cardio immediately before the climbing session makes me climb twice as hard and I have a lot more gas when it comes to the longer, more difficult problems. Ideally I'd lose weight along with the excersise, but that's really hard since I drink too much beer and overeat. Maybe nutrition needs to come into this resolution as well. Not that I need to lose a lot, but I think if I could shed 10-15 pounds of slowly expanding gut fat I'd not only look 100% better, but I'd climb like a monster too.

#2

Learn how to better play the harmonica. I can bob-dylan along with most stuff, but I really want to learn how to bend notes and do trills and cool stuff like that. There's like 5000 instrucitonal youtube vids on it so I think I'll start there. My beginner blues harmonica book isn't getting me very far.

[Satan]

I caved in. I did the dishes. What on earth should be my resolution for next new year?

[Aptorian]

Vacuming

[Macros]

Well a poor performance this week.
Weight loss - zero, but dietary adjustments have seen an overall increase in healthy feeling, Plus I think my metabolism is starting to speed up a bit again, bowel movements are more regular and consistent (latter likely due to dietary adjustments)
Drink, hmm, whilst saturday night involved an epic haul of booze being thrown down my shapely gullet friday night was very sensible and none taken on sunday, and the commitment to stay of it for lent (baring the obligatory 24 hour window allowance on paddys day) so I'll tick that box as well
Running - didn't happen tonight because of silly bitch sister leaving her car down in donegal last night. But skipping will replace for tonight once I finish interrnutting.
One box that can be thoroughly ticked, the guitar, Learned to play wonderwall, albiet very poorly. I'm not really an oasis fan but its a simple song, I get all the notes fine, my timing goes a little wonky sometimes though. I also drunkenly sorted myself out with a guitar tutor on saturday nghit, so progress should hopefully be steadier on this front.

Writing - zero, absolutely nada. This is something I've really gotta push myself for this week.


Meh, for next week.
I definately want to see some weight lost, and possibly a bit of muscle tone start to show.
Learn wonderwall properly timing and all, and another tune.
Definately get some writing done
Same running target
And no drink what so ever

[Mezla PigDog]

Thanks for the update on your bowel movements. Is this going to become a weekly report? Maybe you could send a specimen to Gillian McKeith.....I mean, Dr Gillian McKeith.

[Macros]

I thought it interesting enough to mention, I was unaware how much diet affected it.

And for me I thought it was reasonably tastefully imparted information, no?