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[RokofAges75]

2.  Post a line from your work-in-progress with no context.

Aww, I could picture Brian doing this.  So cute LOL.

Outside of their bodies, demon hearts became gemstones and Nick’s popped out as a necklace. So I guess you could call the story “Nick’s Heart,” but that seems silly in comparison.

How did you come up with the idea to have demon hearts become gemstones?  Is Pandora's Necklace like the [Nick's] Heart of the Ocean? LOL

You know, in a “sword and sorcery” world, the word “knife” doesn’t appear at all. “Sword” (or “swords” or “sword-something”) is in it 61 times and “dagger” four times. Since “dagger” is more spiritually akin to knife, I’ll go with that one. And the question doesn’t specify that the first instance needs to be used, so I’ll go with the second, because I like it better:

As always, a key tenet of our heroes’ MO is that someones should not be sacrificed for somethings, even when those somethings are the goal. I hesitate to use “people” and “things” because, well… are demons people? A question to ponder… perhaps in our themes and motifs…

Good point - plus, "dagger" sounds a lot cooler than "knife."  I love that line you posted.  It does seem very thematic, especially with the way you described it after the quote.  It seems like you do put effort into planning motifs and whatnot in advance with all your lists, but did you know the theme(s) of PBox before you started writing it?  And would you say PNecklace has its own theme separate from PBox, or do they share a common theme?

I mostly think it’s pretty, but it does tie into a theme. Is it fate, Nick, or is it choices? Hmmm...

This reminds me of our conversation about stubborn characters who control the plot.  Do our characters have free will to make choices, or is it "fate" (a.k.a. the author's choices) that guide them?  "The immovable power of fate" = the words the author writes on the screen LOL.  Those words are pretty!

Being able to still write it after letting the idea sit for a decade! Once I “retired,” I honestly wasn’t ever sure that I would get back into writing again, let alone finishing an idea that wasn’t even partially on paper. So, I guess thanks to the whole of the PBox series for being pushy?

You should definitely be proud of that!  Ten years is a long time to let something sit and still come back to it.  That's an accomplishment!

Not immediately feeling frustrated if it suddenly doesn’t go well. I think in the back of my head, I’m having nightmare flashbacks to my six-month PBox hiatus and how writing went after I finished it. I think if I had more going on besides writing in my free time, I would worry about it a lot less. But, since I don’t really have anywhere to go or anything else to do, I do worry.

I totally get this.  I did not have a good writing weekend; I only wrote a few paragraphs of my story today.  But I just keep telling myself that happens; the streak couldn't last forever (although technically my streak is still alive since I did write something today, even if it wasn't a lot).  My pattern is usually that if I have a really good, productive writing day, the next day will not be great.  It's like I need more than one night to recharge.  I guess that may apply to weeks, too.
 I know you'll push through this rough patch and get back on track.  It does help if you have something else to focus on instead of worrying about writing, but that's what TV and basketball are for!

11.  Which character do you have the most in common with?
12.  Which character do you have the least in common with?

None of them? Howie might be the most? Howie is all of us, after all.. There’s bits of me in all of them, but no one where it’s abundantly most or least. Kevin might be the least?

LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't have an answer to these questions.  I put bits of myself in all of my characters too, but yeah, there wasn't an obvious most or least.

I also took it twice for Nick, I think because I’m so all over the place in the grand scheme of the story, but the only thing that changed was the introverted/extroverted part when I retook it. I guess the difference in growing over the course of the story? I don’t know, I’m not entirely happy with either of these choices either... I guess PBox Nick is either:

The Adventurer (ISFP): Introverted, Observant, Feeling, and Prospecting (plus turbulent)

Adventurer personalities are true artists, but not necessarily in the typical sense where they’re out painting happy little trees. Often enough though, they are perfectly capable of this. Rather, it’s that they use aesthetics, design and even their choices and actions to push the limits of social convention. Adventurers enjoy upsetting traditional expectations with experiments in beauty and behavior – chances are, they’ve expressed more than once the phrase “Don’t box me in!”

The Entertainer (ESFP): Extraverted, Observant, Feeling, and Prospecting (plus turbulent)

If anyone is to be found spontaneously breaking into song and dance, it is the Entertainer personality type. Entertainers get caught up in the excitement of the moment, and want everyone else to feel that way, too. No other personality type is as generous with their time and energy as Entertainers when it comes to encouraging others, and no other personality type does it with such irresistible style.

I feel like Nick is a combination of these two.  The Entertainer sounds more like his real life personality, but he definitely has that artistic side of The Adventurer too.

When I have more time, maybe I'll go back and take this for some of my original characters from other stories.

When I write interesting bits ahead of where I am currently working, I usually end up writing dialogue. So I will say dialogue. I often don’t even add “so and so said” tags unless I have a clear body language thing to convey. Who speaks what is all very clear to me.

I do this, too.  When I think through upcoming scenes, I think of them in terms of the dialogue, so if I'm short on time and trying to get the words on the page before I have to go to bed or go to work, I just write the dialogue.  Then I go back and add in description, dialogue tags, body language, etc. later.

This one should work! https://images.app.goo.gl/NtCi9LSyRSTVj321A

Still my favorite of their album photo shoots!  I love the concept of them each representing a different element.

20.  Post a brief excerpt.

Aww, I love the brotherly Nick and Kevin exchange.  Leave it to Kevin to be worried about Nick.

[RokofAges75]

Which Boy is most likely to do flowery, descriptive third person prose in their head as they narrate their life? (In general, not necessarily Nick or Kevin specifically.)

Your Nick excerpt sounded pretty Nick. I'd say "give me a Kevin excerpt" but I understand, spoilers.

Thanks!

I have actually never written first person from Brian or AJ's POV, so I don't know how they compare, but I make Kevin and Howie slightly more flowery/eloquent than Nick.  I guess that is how I differentiate, but I don't think it's a huge difference.  I try not to make any of them sound like Bella from Twilight LOL.  But I know my Howie can't be that accurate because I searched Sick as My Secrets and didn't find a single "and stuff like that." LOL

Though who knows, maybe Nick is actually the one who narrates his life in purple prose.  He is certainly the most dramatic one.  And he's also written a book and a screenplay, so maybe I don't give him enough credit for his literary prowess.

I've secretly always wanted to write a CYOA story, but I've never really thought I could make it strong enough to carry a narrative, let alone multiple narratives.

I think Mare wrote one a long time ago.  From what I remember, she said it was harder than she thought it would be.  Mare, please weigh in with your perspective.  It sounds fun, but challenging.

I'm guilty of it, or qualifiers would be more accurate: "I only drink heavily on the weekends" is something I said a lot in my twenties.

Having known other addicts, I always assumed he actually fell off the wagon a lot, but that he didn't want to disappoint anyone by saying so. But I did like believing that he had gotten everything together and was sticking to it. I think it's fine if you stick with what he said, especially if he was hiding the "falling off" from the POV characters. Unless they caught him, they wouldn't know. I suspect AJ would worry about disappointing the other Boys a lot.

Eh, the drinking heavily on the weekends thing is true of a lot of people.  It only becomes a problem when it's every night or starts interfering with other aspects of your life.  I'm definitely a social drinker; how much I drink has a lot to do with who I'm with and how much they like to drink.

Yeah, I knew AJ had fallen off the wagon before, but I guess I was naive and thought he had it together more than he did since starting a family.  I respect his honesty in admitting he slipped up so recently, but now I'm not sure we can ever really trust him when he claims to be sober.  Not judging him though - it's really none of our business, as long as it doesn't affect the group.  I hope he can stay clean and sober for Rochelle and the girls' sake though, as well as for himself and the group.

That's a good point; he could be drinking behind the scenes and hiding it from the other guys, and Nick or Kevin would never know.  Thanks!

Unless she likes green. You can only love someone if you have the same favorite colors!

I guess that means I'm stuck with Howie LOL.

[nicksgal]

Aww, I could picture Brian doing this.  So cute LOL.

Making fun of Nick? Yes. Yes, I could also picture him doing that, lol. ^{"Hi my name is Nick."} Thanks for enjoying my Brian quips.

How did you come up with the idea to have demon hearts become gemstones?  Is Pandora's Necklace like the [Nick's] Heart of the Ocean? LOL

You know... It was mostly leaning into the gemstone aesthetic with the countries in the story. That and they needed to be something tangible for the end of PBox/beginning of PNecklace. I never intended it to be anything deep and poetic necessarily. Please tell the children that I “just liked green,” lmao

lol Nick's heart of the ocean, he'll never let go.

I think it just ended up being a necklace because Nick would probably subconsciously think, "Well if I'm literally giving this to you, it better be easy for you to have and hold on to." It's easier to wear jewelry than hold a loose gemstone.

Good point - plus, "dagger" sounds a lot cooler than "knife."  I love that line you posted.  It does seem very thematic, especially with the way you described it after the quote.  It seems like you do put effort into planning motifs and whatnot in advance with all your lists, but did you know the theme(s) of PBox before you started writing it?  And would you say PNecklace has its own theme separate from PBox, or do they share a common theme?

"Dagger" does sound way cooler than "knife." And thanks!

You know, some of them I did, some of them I didn't. "True Companions/The Power of Friendship" is both a trope and a theme I use often, probably more than anything else, so it obviously went in. The "what measure is non-human?/what measure is a monster?" was planned from the beginning, but is definitely strongest in PBox. So was "what defines individuals/groups/the world?" I also knew that our heroes would definitely be on the "right makes might" side of that scale. A few of those grew with time, like the juxtapositions and the theme I wouldn't say didn't come into play until PNecklace. They share common themes for sure, but I'd say the “fate versus choices” is really just starting to come into play in PNecklace. They were all pretty adamant about their “fate” in life in the first book.

This reminds me of our conversation about stubborn characters who control the plot.  Do our characters have free will to make choices, or is it "fate" (a.k.a. the author's choices) that guide them?  "The immovable power of fate" = the words the author writes on the screen LOL.  Those words are pretty!

Thanks, I try to save my more poetic moments for when they’ll really pack a punch! lol! I mean, I told Nick his fate and he said, “F that, I’m not dying.” So… I’ll let them have free will as long as it’s great for the story. Nick’s never steered the bus wrong yet.

You should definitely be proud of that!  Ten years is a long time to let something sit and still come back to it.  That's an accomplishment!

I accept this kudos and would like to thank the academy and AC and pushy free will Nick for the honor. lol

I totally get this.  I did not have a good writing weekend; I only wrote a few paragraphs of my story today.  But I just keep telling myself that happens; the streak couldn't last forever (although technically my streak is still alive since I did write something today, even if it wasn't a lot).  My pattern is usually that if I have a really good, productive writing day, the next day will not be great.  It's like I need more than one night to recharge.  I guess that may apply to weeks, too.

I know you'll push through this rough patch and get back on track.  It does help if you have something else to focus on instead of worrying about writing, but that's what TV and basketball are for!

I did end up finishing the chapter I was working on today by finally finishing the fight scene I was putting off for no discernible reason. Now I can get back to PNecklace? Probably? I’m vaguely sure of what’s happening next, but not quite sure on how to execute it. We'll all push through together! Having March Madness has helped. My bracket is now destroyed, but I am loving all the madness and getting to back the Pac this year. Glad your streak is still alive! Hopefully today is a productive writing day.

Speaking of knives, I did get to write this today, so that was fun:

Nick tossed the knife on the ground. "You left this in the tree."

I bet y'all could come up with any random word and I've probably written it down somewhere in this epic.

LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't have an answer to these questions.  I put bits of myself in all of my characters too, but yeah, there wasn't an obvious most or least.

I want to see people who have a definitive answer. I don’t think I even had one for my whole body of work.

I feel like Nick is a combination of these two.  The Entertainer sounds more like his real life personality, but he definitely has that artistic side of The Adventurer too.

Well now I feel better about it! Yesterday I just gave up. Haha I got so sick of looking at it that I didn’t even bother trying Brian or Howie like I had planned on to round out more of the Boys we had character MBTIs for.

I do this, too.  When I think through upcoming scenes, I think of them in terms of the dialogue, so if I'm short on time and trying to get the words on the page before I have to go to bed or go to work, I just write the dialogue.  Then I go back and add in description, dialogue tags, body language, etc. later.

I wonder why it’s dialogue scenes that stick out to us more than other types? I think I’ve written maybe two “I have clear pictures of the action here in this section” scenes ever and they were both for the next book.

Still my favorite of their album photo shoots!  I love the concept of them each representing a different element.

Same!! It was a fun addition to the “stark white” that is Millennium. It was the photo shoot I had in mind for this “find an image” because of the mirroring and reflecting of the water, but I don’t think I’d actually seen this specific photo before. Happy accident.

Aww, I love the brotherly Nick and Kevin exchange.  Leave it to Kevin to be worried about Nick.

Thanks! He felt like the right one to do this health and wellness check I was envisioning, haha. I figured that I kept mentioning Nick talking about how he’s crazy, so may as well share it, haha.

[nicksgal]

I have actually never written first person from Brian or AJ's POV, so I don't know how they compare, but I make Kevin and Howie slightly more flowery/eloquent than Nick.  I guess that is how I differentiate, but I don't think it's a huge difference.  I try not to make any of them sound like Bella from Twilight LOL.  But I know my Howie can't be that accurate because I searched Sick as My Secrets and didn't find a single "and stuff like that." LOL

I've written all of them in limited third (close enough?) and Howie's the most eloquent but I also chalk that up to his persona as "the good king" in the story. I have never made him say "and stuff like that." Someone give me an eloquent way to say it and I will, lol!

Though who knows, maybe Nick is actually the one who narrates his life in purple prose.  He is certainly the most dramatic one.  And he's also written a book and a screenplay, so maybe I don't give him enough credit for his literary prowess.

I figure he would be the most likely to narrate his life at all, dramatically or not! However he wants to do it is fine, unless he thinks things like "I'm drowning in the ocean of disappointment in Kevin's Persian green orbs." Then we'll have to have a serious talk with him!

I think Mare wrote one a long time ago.  From what I remember, she said it was harder than she thought it would be.  Mare, please weigh in with your perspective.  It sounds fun, but challenging.

Geez, as always, Mare is so wise. Please inspire us with your wisdom, Mare!

It wouldn't be the worst type of thing to collaborate on; different people could write different paths.

Eh, the drinking heavily on the weekends thing is true of a lot of people.  It only becomes a problem when it's every night or starts interfering with other aspects of your life.  I'm definitely a social drinker; how much I drink has a lot to do with who I'm with and how much they like to drink.

Yes, the crowd for sure changes it. Don't tell my primary care physician! lol

Yeah, I knew AJ had fallen off the wagon before, but I guess I was naive and thought he had it together more than he did since starting a family.  I respect his honesty in admitting he slipped up so recently, but now I'm not sure we can ever really trust him when he claims to be sober.  Not judging him though - it's really none of our business, as long as it doesn't affect the group.  I hope he can stay clean and sober for Rochelle and the girls' sake though, as well as for himself and the group.

That's a good point; he could be drinking behind the scenes and hiding it from the other guys, and Nick or Kevin would never know.  Thanks!

I also respect his honesty, that's a tough thing to share with the world when they're your own demons and whatnot. I figure, everyone's got their own, so the best thing we can do is to give them support and grace. Me too! Getting told you smell off by your kid and that they don't want to hang out with you must be heartbreaking for everyone involved.

Any time! Happy to help make your story as dramatic as possible in the background.

I guess that means I'm stuck with Howie LOL.

Stuck with Howie or dancing the night away on the Lido Deck with Howie or having the time of your life committing murder and getting away with it with Howie? Hardly stuck.

Meanwhile, guess I'll go back to liking green. I'm not super committed to pink or yellow anyway. I just look great in them, but I can pull off a good green too, lol.

[RokofAges75]

I've all written them in limited third (close enough?) and Howie's the most eloquent but I also chalk that up to his persona as "the good king" in the story. I have never made him say "and stuff like that." Someone give me an eloquent way to say it and I will, lol!

He could be like the king in The King and I:  "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"  That's "and stuff like that" in Latin LOL.

I figure he would be the most likely to narrate his life at all, dramatically or not! However he wants to do it is fine, unless he thinks things like "I'm drowning in the ocean of disappointment in Kevin's Persian green orbs." Then we'll have to have a serious talk with him!

LMAO!!

It wouldn't be the worst type of thing to collaborate on; different people could write different paths.

Yes, it would be less overwhelming as a collaboration.  *wonders if the word COLLABORATION will summon Rose to the forum*

Stuck with Howie or dancing the night away on the Lido Deck with Howie or having the time of your committing murder and getting away with it with Howie? Hardly stuck.

Good points!

[nicksgal]

That last one literally took me half an hour to write during the commercial breaks of this basketball game!

I also just came up with the stupidest idea while thinking of this discussion:

I have read stories that alternated first person POV between all five Boys, but I haven't attempted one of those yet.  I think it could get confusing and hard to capture five different narrative voices, so I stick with third person for group stories.

for a short novella with this premise:

8. "Nick gets a 'Summer of Happiness' where all the other Boys are main characters and he gets a nice paid vacation to pull from some of their old fanfic habits like 'only sleeps,' 'wears several hats throughout,' 'gets to pop in to make silly jokes,' or 'shakes his head at *someone's* antics.' haha"

but set in the '90s and the other four plots are all old fanfic cliches. All because this gem of an exchange popped into my head:

"Nick, are you trying to look at me sternly?"

"Yes. Is it working? It's hard without you know... your eyebrows." If anything, he looked constipated.

I tried so hard to hide my smile, but ended up chuckling. "No, it definitely isn't."

[RokofAges75]

That last one literally took me half an hour to write during the commercial breaks of this basketball game!

I also just came up with the stupidest idea while thinking of this discussion:

for a short novella with this premise:

but set in the '90s and the other four plots are all old fanfic cliches. All because this gem of an exchange popped into my head:

"Nick, are you trying to look at me sternly?"

"Yes. Is it working? It's hard without you know... your eyebrows." If anything, he looked constipated.

I tried so hard to hide my smile, but ended up chuckling. "No, it definitely isn't."

LOL!  I love that idea.

[nicksgal]

He could be like the king in The King and I:  "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"  That's "and stuff like that" in Latin LOL.

"I've all written them!" Yikes! You can tell I was not fully paying attention to writing that.

LMAO "in Latin." I will do my best to sneak it in at some point when it makes sense.  

Yes, it would be less overwhelming as a collaboration.  *wonders if the word COLLABORATION will summon Rose to the forum*

You know, it used to. Maybe we have to say it three times like Beetlejuice. I wonder what the differing plot lines would look like in a collaboration CYOA? Maybe the inciting incident is a bus crash!

Good points!

I'm always here with my #TeamHowie sign.

[nicksgal]

LOL!  I love that idea.

Me too! lmao

Apparently that's what happens when I retire for a decade. I come back and want to write my magnum opus and the weirdest joke fanfics that somehow end up very dramatic and serious.

[RokofAges75]

You know, it used to. Maybe we have to say it three times like Beetlejuice. I wonder what the differing plot lines would look like in a collaboration CYOA? Maybe the inciting incident is a bus crash!

That sounds like a great inciting incident for a CYOA COLLABORATION.

Me too! lmao

Apparently that's what happens when I retire for a decade. I come back and want to write my magnum opus and the weirdest joke fanfics that somehow end up very dramatic and serious.

You know, when you're an active member of Team Dark, you need to write weird joke fanfics from time to time.  Hence my stupid pandaskunk stories.

[nicksgal]

That sounds like a great inciting incident for a CYOA COLLABORATION.

Now we wait. 

You know, when you're an active member of Team Dark, you need to write weird joke fanfics from time to time.  Hence my stupid pandaskunk stories.

Maybe that's it. I'm trying to offset the dark.

Now what to make their very cliche plots... AJ should clearly be the Mary Sue becomes an opening act or backup dancer so that Nick has many opportunities to make perverted jokes while wearing several hats/having several wardrobe changes, lol.

OMG, Nick hits his head and becomes fandom savvy and that's how he avoids being the main character, lmao.

A new girl suddenly joining our tour? Nope! I'm out of here! I pushed AJ toward her as I ran away. "She's all yours, Bone!"

[mare]

I saw my name up there somewhere and you asked me to weigh in on something that I tried but was hard? I have no clue what that was in reference to lol but I do enjoy when Dee calls me wise. So what where you talking about? It looks like a collaboration? Was it a choose your own adventure?

[nicksgal]

I saw my name up there somewhere and you asked me to weigh in on something that I tried but was hard? I have no clue what that was in reference to lol but I do enjoy when Dee calls me wise. So what where you talking about? It looks like a collaboration? Was it a choose your own adventure?

Yes, Julie and I both said that writing a CYOA story intrigues us, but seems difficult. And she said you had possibly written one already.

I'll call you wise as many times as you'd like to hear it. 

[RokofAges75]

I occasionally browse the writing and fanfiction subreddits on Reddit and saw this post that someone had linked, claiming switching to Comic Sans will help with writer's block. https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/dplcz0/comic_sans_is/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3  I feel like I've heard this theory before, but I don't know that I've ever tried it.  Has anyone else?  If not, we should try it next time we feel uninspired and see if it makes a difference.

Personally, I don't understand the hatred of Comic Sans.  Maybe because it's the font I used for my entire website when I first created it as a young teenybopper.  Maybe it's because I teach elementary school, so I appreciate cutesy, kid-friendly fonts.  I get that it's not appropriate for serious/professional documents, but there's nothing wrong with it for fun, lighthearted stuff.

[nicksgal]

Interesting! Maybe I'll do it in my next chapter and let you know how it goes. I'm not personally super offended by it either, but I think it is that cutesy teenybopper stigma. In my mind it's really just an italic type face where the letters are more distinct. Great for anyone with the -lexia/-graphia/-etceterias. (lol That joke was awesome.) And as far as cutesy fonts go, it's not even the worst one out there! Like looking at google docs, "indie flower" is one I would call way cutesier. I figure, life could use a little whimsy.

Also on the topic of writer's block, NaNo has dubbed April's Camp "NaNoFinMo," so they writing resources they're providing throughout the month are all geared toward finishing novels (it's like they read my mind). Let's see what pops up!