Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 10:55:07 PM ---Yes. In addition to googling my horse question, I also typed something and hit backspace several times. Sometimes it takes a day for me to notice something is off, sometimes it happens in the moment. This time it was many in the moment times.
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Yes, same. I can't not fix typos. I changed a few words too, then thought, "Stop it! You can edit later!" When we did the real one on the site, I was able to go faster by focusing on the dialogue and not worrying as much about the action and description in between unless it popped into my head right away. That's what I spend the most time thinking about when I write, but dialogue usually comes to me quickly. So when in doubt, write the dialogue first and then go back and fill in the stuff in between. I also did not stop look anything up the second time around!
I liked the WordSprints site; I think the competition aspect made me a little faster and more focused. It also helped that I was in the middle of a scene; if I'd had to start a brand new chapter, I may have just sat there and stared at the screen for 15 minutes like I do normally LOL.
On a funny note, I've been listening to the Titanic soundtrack all night as my writing music. I own the two original Titanic soundtracks, but there's a collector's anniversary edition on Amazon Prime Music that's four hours and ten minutes long and has all the music from the two original soundtracks, plus all this music from 1912 that is featured or referenced in the movie. I was listening to "Orpheus" for most of the writing sprint, which may have made me faster. It's the music that plays at one point when Jack, Rose, Fabrizio, and Tommy are running around on the deck as the ship is sinking, and Tommy goes, "Music to drown by. Now I know I'm in first class." So it has that frenetic, hurry up feel to it, at least in parts: https://youtu.be/JEEjYA_ydrY?t=415
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 10:55:07 PM ---Here it is: It's also possible his timeline is right and he rented at first while looking for the right place to buy? But that seems like a planner decision for hot mess Nick's pantser lifestyle.
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I had that thought too, but the house he describes in the book is definitely the house he bought there in 2007. I've seen pictures of it from when he had it up for sale, and it's pretty distinct. I think he was just a confused hot mess pantser LOL.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 10:45:47 PM ---Yeah, it looks like you can schedule a group sprint at a specific time and share the link. I'm not sure what it looks like after that, but it would be fun to try sometime.
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That was fun! Let's do it again some time! :) Maybe I'll beat you and not get distracted by the group word count, lol.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 10:45:47 PM ---LOL I'm glad you did not get sucked in to learning more about camel anatomy. I google image searched for a picture of a George Foreman grill box LOL.
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I looked into it more and horse feet evolved from multiple "toes" into the one middle "toe" specifically to suit the open grassland terrain they typically live in to help them get away from predators faster. But it's harder for them to walk in the desert because of this decreased surface area. Meanwhile, camels have soft, large webbed feet that provide them the surface area to avoid sinking in the sand (as much, a little sink is unavoidable due to it being sand). I found a picture of horse hooves in sand compared to people feet and dog feet as well; the horse's feet sank the most and people the least.
This tells me that everyone who wears shoes would be relatively fine walking in a desert, but Nick who walks barefoot, and typically on the balls of his feet, would have a heck of a time doing so with any amount of speed, lol. This is not what I intended to learn from this research!
It's been a long time since I've seen one of those! Was he on the box or just the grill? Yours is less educational than mine, but it makes me laugh more as far as random google searches go.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 11:33:53 PM ---Yes, same. I can't not fix typos. I changed a few words too, then thought, "Stop it! You can edit later!" When we did the real one on the site, I was able to go faster by focusing on the dialogue and not worrying as much about the action and description in between unless it popped into my head right away. That's what I spend the most time thinking about when I write, but dialogue usually comes to me quickly. So when in doubt, write the dialogue first and then go back and fill in the stuff in between. I also did not stop look anything up the second time around!
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I'd say that I can't either, but a few inevitably seep in every now and again. I just caught a "he" instead of "the" from what I copied, for instance. I definitely changed words and tried to write the scene as is, but it was still going well from our first independent one, so it wasn't too bad. It probably helped that the beginning of the scene was more dialogue focused anyway.
I also looked up nothing! Good for us!
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 11:33:53 PM ---I liked the WordSprints site; I think the competition aspect made me a little faster and more focused. It also helped that I was in the middle of a scene; if I'd had to start a brand new chapter, I may have just sat there and stared at the screen for 15 minutes like I do normally LOL.
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I liked it, every time you wrote a little more than me, I tried to speed type to catch up, but then I would inevitably typo or write something weird and backspace, lol. I did not like the loud beeping at the end, it derailed my focus in the last crucial seconds I needed to speed type and catch up. Alas. ;) I'd started my scene in our last independent sprint, so I don't know how it would have gone if I started from scratch while watching you add words. I did write more this time than the first time, so I say the competition is helpful in a way. But probably only as long as everybody participating is like "yes, I feel motivated enough to sprint." If any of us were in a "stare at the screen for 15 minutes" place, we'd probably feel differently about the whole thing, lol.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 11:33:53 PM ---On a funny note, I've been listening to the Titanic soundtrack all night as my writing music. I own the two original Titanic soundtracks, but there's a collector's anniversary edition on Amazon Prime Music that's four hours and ten minutes long and has all the music from the two original soundtracks, plus all this music from 1912 that is featured or referenced in the movie. I was listening to "Orpheus" for most of the writing sprint, which may have made me faster. It's the music that plays at one point when Jack, Rose, Fabrizio, and Tommy are running around on the deck as the ship is sinking, and Tommy goes, "Music to drown by. Now I know I'm in first class." So it has that frenetic, hurry up feel to it, at least in parts: https://youtu.be/JEEjYA_ydrY?t=415
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I've been listening to nothing, which is unusual. Just sitting in silence click clacking away, lol. But when I want to have "focus days," I do try to see what I can do without anything distracting me. If it goes well in silence, I keep writing in silence.
But how many CDs would that be if it wasn't digital? lol! At least two like the old VHS, right? I think there's some truth to fast music making people do things faster. I once took a suggestion to play a clean up song that changed tempo and went with Spoonful of Sugar. The students really did start cleaning up quicker at the end, so I believe that a frenetic song would encourage you to write quicker. I do know which song you're talking about, because you mentioned that line; I always love Tommy's little quips, they make me laugh every time.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 11:33:53 PM ---I had that thought too, but the house he describes in the book is definitely the house he bought there in 2007. I've seen pictures of it from when he had it up for sale, and it's pretty distinct. I think he was just a confused hot mess pantser LOL.
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At least he remembered he lived there at all? Even though he was trying to get it together then, Hot Mess pantser Nick remembering timelines is probably like the extreme version of getting drunk and having Amazon packages showing up at your house three days later that you have no memory of purchasing, lol.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 11:57:03 PM ---That was fun! Let's do it again some time! :) Maybe I'll beat you and not get distracted by the group word count, lol.
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I would definitely do it again! It was helpful. I did not write any more last night though; I ate dinner at like 11:30 p.m., watched some TV, and went to bed. But I wrote like 1700 words altogether yesterday, which is the first time I've hit four digits all week. So yay! Hoping maybe I can finish my chapter today.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 11:57:03 PM ---I looked into it more and horse feet evolved from multiple "toes" into the one middle "toe" specifically to suit the open grassland terrain they typically live in to help them get away from predators faster. But it's harder for them to walk in the desert because of this decreased surface area. Meanwhile, camels have soft, large webbed feet that provide them the surface area to avoid sinking in the sand (as much, a little sink is unavoidable due to it being sand). I found a picture of horse hooves in sand compared to people feet and dog feet as well; the horse's feet sank the most and people the least.
This tells me that everyone who wears shoes would be relatively fine walking in a desert, but Nick who walks barefoot, and typically on the balls of his feet, would have a heck of a time doing so with any amount of speed, lol. This is not what I intended to learn from this research!
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Interesting! The more you know LOL. That makes sense though. Walking in sand, especially deep sand, is hard! Poor Nick would wear out quickly walking barefoot like that. But you could always play that up for the drama if you want to, by making the journey seem especially arduous.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 11:57:03 PM ---It's been a long time since I've seen one of those! Was he on the box or just the grill? Yours is less educational than mine, but it makes me laugh more as far as random google searches go.
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LOL I know. Yes, he is on the box, wearing an apron and grinning behind a picture of the grill. I have one, but I've had it so long, I couldn't remember what the box it came in looked like.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 11:57:03 PM ---I'd say that I can't either, but a few inevitably seep in every now and again. I just caught a "he" instead of "the" from what I copied, for instance. I definitely changed words and tried to write the scene as is, but it was still going well from our first independent one, so it wasn't too bad. It probably helped that the beginning of the scene was more dialogue focused anyway.
I also looked up nothing! Good for us!
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I have to fix them when I see them, but I definitely miss some. Most of my typos are from my fingers going too fast and typing letters in the wrong order or hitting the wrong key. Those I notice right away and have to go back and fix. It's the missing words that I don't catch because my brain automatically fills them in. I turned on the grammar check on Google Docs, and that has been helpful in catching those kinds of mistakes. I never liked it on Word because it would always give me suggestions that were totally wrong, but Google's seems to be better. It's right most of the time.
Yay us for winging it without research!
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 11:57:03 PM ---But how many CDs would that be if it wasn't digital? lol! At least two like the old VHS, right? I think there's some truth to fast music making people do things faster. I once took a suggestion to play a clean up song that changed tempo and went with Spoonful of Sugar. The students really did start cleaning up quicker at the end, so I believe that a frenetic song would encourage you to write quicker. I do know which song you're talking about, because you mentioned that line; I always love Tommy's little quips, they make me laugh every time.
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With the added 1912 songs, probably 3!
I think so too. I use transition music in my classroom to encourage the kids to clear off their desks or get supplies out quickly for the next activity, and it really does seem to motivate them to hurry instead of digging around in their desks forever. I use the Jeopardy theme or Yackety Sax for quick, 30 second transitions and Mission Impossible or the original Mario theme (including the part where it speeds up when you're almost out of time in a level) for longer, one-minute transitions. Most of my normal writing music is slower, but I didn't want to waste any precious seconds changing the song, so I just let the old-timey music play.
LOL A true Titanic fan like me - I know that whole movie by heart.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 11:57:03 PM ---At least he remembered he lived there at all? Even though he was trying to get it together then, Hot Mess pantser Nick remembering timelines is probably like the extreme version of getting drunk and having Amazon packages showing up at your house three days later that you have no memory of purchasing, lol.
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LOL Yes! Only instead of Amazon packages, he buys houses. I did a bunch of research on where each of the guys lived or had homes at the beginning of 2008 while I was planning for this story a few years ago, and Nick's real estate history was all over the place. He had a house in California that he sold after only like 9 months (when he moved to Tennessee), and he also had a house in Florida, and then there was the house in Tennessee, and then eventually he got a condo in California... I know he has money and people to do this, but the thought of buying and selling all those places and moving around that much within the same decade stresses me out!
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 10:58:06 AM ---I would definitely do it again! It was helpful. I did not write any more last night though; I ate dinner at like 11:30 p.m., watched some TV, and went to bed. But I wrote like 1700 words altogether yesterday, which is the first time I've hit four digits all week. So yay! Hoping maybe I can finish my chapter today.
--- End quote ---
I went to bed pretty much right after we finished. I guess those two coffees did not help me stay up until the wee hours of the morning with massive inspiration, lol. I wrote almost 3,000 altogether. I was pretty excited to put a dent into my goal and I got at least halfway to reaching it. I would be delighted if I could finish this chapter or the other one in this section today. It would be very exciting to be back up to fifteen chapters ahead of myself. ;D I'm just happy that I've been focused on PNecklace only. And if I get bored, I have four different places to work instead of just one. I think that's deterred me from opening up other things, to be honest. Though I do need to edit this week's chapter at some point.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 10:58:06 AM ---Interesting! The more you know LOL. That makes sense though. Walking in sand, especially deep sand, is hard! Poor Nick would wear out quickly walking barefoot like that. But you could always play that up for the drama if you want to, by making the journey seem especially arduous.
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If these threads were busier with tons of people posting, I would we say we need a different to post interesting things we learned from research in, lol. I'm just happy to share fun facts.
You know, except he's a determinant and a bit of a martyr and would be like "Tired? Me? No way! Let's keep going!" lol You read my mind, I for sure added a desert just so it's dramatic for all of them. That, and every good mountain range needs a rain shield on one side.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 10:58:06 AM ---LOL I know. Yes, he is on the box, wearing an apron and grinning behind a picture of the grill. I have one, but I've had it so long, I couldn't remember what the box it came in looked like.
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We had one growing up and my mom saved the box (as is typical), but I haven't lived with her or used it in a long time, so I couldn't remember, but George in a red apron sounds right.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 10:58:06 AM ---I have to fix them when I see them, but I definitely miss some. Most of my typos are from my fingers going too fast and typing letters in the wrong order or hitting the wrong key. Those I notice right away and have to go back and fix. It's the missing words that I don't catch because my brain automatically fills them in. I turned on the grammar check on Google Docs, and that has been helpful in catching those kinds of mistakes. I never liked it on Word because it would always give me suggestions that were totally wrong, but Google's seems to be better. It's right most of the time.
Yay us for winging it without research!
--- End quote ---
Yes! I hate when my fingers do that too! Because clearly I know how to spell and know what I intended to right, but it's our brain not working correctly with our muscles. It's very common. I was reading an article about typing the other day and it was saying how typos would be less common if we just dictated what we wanted to write instead of typing it.
I have a love/hate relationship with grammar check in google docs. Sometimes it's helpful and sometimes the suggestions are wrong. I'm just glad I turned off predictive typing because it was never what I actually wanted to type.
I think I lucked out since the part I was typing didn't really need research except for that small line about horses in the desert, lol. There were a couple of times where I wanted to look back at something I had written before to double check continuity, but I stopped myself and decided to fix it later if I messed up.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 10:58:06 AM ---With the added 1912 songs, probably 3!
I think so too. I use transition music in my classroom to encourage the kids to clear off their desks or get supplies out quickly for the next activity, and it really does seem to motivate them to hurry instead of digging around in their desks forever. I use the Jeopardy theme or Yackety Sax for quick, 30 second transitions and Mission Impossible or the original Mario theme (including the part where it speeds up when you're almost out of time in a level) for longer, one-minute transitions. Most of my normal writing music is slower, but I didn't want to waste any precious seconds changing the song, so I just let the old-timey music play.
LOL A true Titanic fan like me - I know that whole movie by heart.
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That's a lot of CDs for one soundtrack! Glad it's digital and a million songs long instead.
I like that you have different ones for short transitions, and then even shorter transitions. Those precious second could have been a 20 word difference in your word count, so it's a good thing you just let it play.
I know most of it by heart, but could definitely describe it scene-by-scene to anyone who cared to listen.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 10:58:06 AM ---LOL Yes! Only instead of Amazon packages, he buys houses. I did a bunch of research on where each of the guys lived or had homes at the beginning of 2008 while I was planning for this story a few years ago, and Nick's real estate history was all over the place. He had a house in California that he sold after only like 9 months (when he moved to Tennessee), and he also had a house in Florida, and then there was the house in Tennessee, and then eventually he got a condo in California... I know he has money and people to do this, but the thought of buying and selling all those places and moving around that much within the same decade stresses me out!
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Nick glanced at his phone and noticed his realtor's number. "Where did I buy a house this time? Okay, cool, I needed a change of scenery anyway. Thanks for not talking me out of it! I'll move and you can sell this one next week Okay, bye." lol
I hate moving. I moved four times in the 2010s and it was just awful, and none of them were bought and sold, but renting is just as bad. I've lived in the same place with the hubs for almost six years now and I am dreading when we eventually decide to move into something bigger and have to move again. That was a lot of the inspiration for my Konmari organizing last year, less stuff to worry about moving.
I figure if you need a change of pace and have to get away from somewhere, it's probably easier to move and be done with it. Does he still have a place in Florida? I feel like getting out of Florida was his best decision resident-wise, followed by getting out of LA. Vegas can be crazy, but the further away you get from the Strip, it tones down a lot and is still close to entertainment industry stuff. Plus he could be physically present when Odin was very little, which is great.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 04:02:55 PM ---I went to bed pretty much right after we finished. I guess those two coffees did not help me stay up until the wee hours of the morning with massive inspiration, lol. I wrote almost 3,000 altogether. I was pretty excited to put a dent into my goal and I got at least halfway to reaching it. I would be delighted if I could finish this chapter or the other one in this section today. It would be very exciting to be back up to fifteen chapters ahead of myself. ;D I'm just happy that I've been focused on PNecklace only. And if I get bored, I have four different places to work instead of just one. I think that's deterred me from opening up other things, to be honest. Though I do need to edit this week's chapter at some point.
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Yay, I'm glad you've been able to focus just on PNecklace! It's nice to have options for different places to write within that story so you can still jump around if you want to. If you can stay focused and resist the temptation to open up other things, do!
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 04:02:55 PM ---If these threads were busier with tons of people posting, I would we say we need a different to post interesting things we learned from research in, lol. I'm just happy to share fun facts.
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That's a good idea. All I have researched today is cuts of steak LOL. I guess that means I have been pretty focused on actually writing and not just googling.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 04:02:55 PM ---We had one growing up and my mom saved the box (as is typical), but I haven't lived with her or used it in a long time, so I couldn't remember, but George in a red apron sounds right.
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That is totally right, red apron and all!
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 04:02:55 PM ---Yes! I hate when my fingers do that too! Because clearly I know how to spell and know what I intended to right, but it's our brain not working correctly with our muscles. It's very common. I was reading an article about typing the other day and it was saying how typos would be less common if we just dictated what we wanted to write instead of typing it.
I have a love/hate relationship with grammar check in google docs. Sometimes it's helpful and sometimes the suggestions are wrong. I'm just glad I turned off predictive typing because it was never what I actually wanted to type.
--- End quote ---
Google's voice typing feature is actually pretty decent! I use it from time to time when I'm multitasking, trying to write while doing hair or makeup usually. I once tried to use it while I was in the shower; I had my Chromebook sitting on the toilet seat next to the tub with the voice typing feature on, and I was dictating this whole dramatic speech Brian gives in the last chapter of AHTIM, practically shouting so my voice could be heard over the sound of the water. It worked okay at first, but I must have been quiet for too long thinking of what to say next because the thing turned off in the middle. I got out of the shower to find it only captured part of my glorious speech. Then I had to hurriedly type as much as I could remember before I forgot the rest LOL.
I don't use predictive typing either. That would drive me nuts!
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 04:02:55 PM ---Nick glanced at his phone and noticed his realtor's number. "Where did I buy a house this time? Okay, cool, I needed a change of scenery anyway. Thanks for not talking me out of it! I'll move and you can sell this one next week Okay, bye." lol
I hate moving. I moved four times in the 2010s and it was just awful, and none of them were bought and sold, but renting is just as bad. I've lived in the same place with the hubs for almost six years now and I am dreading when we eventually decide to move into something bigger and have to move again. That was a lot of the inspiration for my Konmari organizing last year, less stuff to worry about moving.
I figure if you need a change of pace and have to get away from somewhere, it's probably easier to move and be done with it. Does he still have a place in Florida? I feel like getting out of Florida was his best decision resident-wise, followed by getting out of LA. Vegas can be crazy, but the further away you get from the Strip, it tones down a lot and is still close to entertainment industry stuff. Plus he could be physically present when Odin was very little, which is great.
--- End quote ---
I hate moving too! I bought a house in 2014, and I may just live here until I die so I never have to worry about selling it and moving again LOL.
I don't think Nick has a place in Florida anymore. I think he's down to just the house in Vegas, which he seems to love. I'm glad he's finally settled and happy. It does seem like a better place to raise his family than LA.
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