Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
This is happening in Firefox as well. On Linux. My guess would be it happens in all browsers, that it is a function of the site code or CSS. From my time spent fiddling with the odd, hybrid CSS of my Blogger blog, I know these things are not always easy to sort out. But I will add my voice. I can scarcely read what I’m composing at all. It’s like my cataracts came back…
If she’s made recent modifications, that could be the problem. Minor bugs, or whatever. Sorry if I raised the alarm for nothing. The trouble is, you never know. I wish the spammers, crackers, and crooks would all shut up, go home, and leave everybody else alone.
I was reading the news from abroad before anyone admitted it was loose here. Then on the 12th everyone went crazy. Stress at the supermarket. I’ve done some writing off and on since then, mostly longhand. If I’m on the computer, I can’t seem to stop myself from compulsively checking the news. There are so many sudden changes it seems unavoidable, but then I get upset. These are strange and terrible times. I hope everyone on here comes through this safe and sound, but I fear that isn’t realistic.
I should add that where I am living now, it is all but impossible to take a walk except along city streets. That is driving me crazy. If I could only manage time among the trees at regular intervals, I might be able to manage this much better.
For anyone who chooses to keep your work “in the cloud”, it is your work and your decision. But I do not like using online services. First, the pricing model is designed to give them a fat income stream, not save me money. And once you’re locked in to using such a tool, it becoomes another essential expense.
But my real problem with such services is far more basic. If you designed a writing tool ten times better than anything I have ever used (unlikely, but let’s assume it for a moment) and offered to let me lock in a lifetime rate of one cent a year, I’d pass. Why? Because all my work would be trapped “in the cloud”. That would require me to trust that your precautions are enough to preserve my work. If I didn’t have other options on hand, I’d run into a burning building to grab my copies of that work. You, mostly interested in making a profit, are not that invested in keeping it safe.
This is not a vague concern. As a professional genealogist, I saw a white paper which listed what was know about various online services at that time. NONE of them was even half as safe as the precautions I take myself to keep a copy of my work intact under most conditions. (The outbreak of nuclear war or the total collapse of society might be a problem.)
If you feel that strongly about your work, do not trust any online platform. Even if they let you keep local backups, the hassle of recovering data is much greater than you think. They want you to depend on them; that’s what keeps you paying every month. So they have an active financial incentive to go against your best interests.
I agree with everyone else. Nothing should go. You never know what you may find a use for later.
Personally, I typed it all in when I wanted to reduce bulk. It stirred up lots of things in my mind, spurred my writing on. Your mileage may vary, but at least give that a try.
Magic Seeker wrote:Thank you to whomever took the time to get rid of six pages of spam posts! :cheer:You’d think the noodle brain would quit after a couple of posts of such obvious spam. :huh:
I missed them, which is fine with me. But for those who might find a story idea in here, it was probably not a human being who posted them.
Spam bots can post thousands of pages without tiring. (I suspect the mods killed the spam bot’s account before it got that far. So thank you to the moderators as well. If it was only six pages, they were on their guard.)
Zette, my sympathy on the illness. I’ve spent some time struggling with various issues lately, and know how frustrating that can be.
Glad to hear your writing is moving forward. That is always a positive.
Ashe Elton Parker wrote:A little part of me would still like to see some TV network try to adapt my Fantasy mystery series to screen, though.e Just to see how closely they’d stick to the concepts and worldbuilding I’ve created and done.I have a little part that would be curious, too. It isn’t that I don’t understand the urge. If an “indie” outfit came along, and we could agree on terms, I might even see what happened.
But you put your finger on my hesitation. Corporate conglomerate churning out entertainment “product”. There is much more freedom in the written word. Not that there aren’t corporate publishers I don’t think I’d ever consider writing for. But the barrier is lower in writing. Self publishing is a realistic option if necessary.
I think of my favourite books. Then I try to imagine them adapted for the screen, big or small. At best, the result is less interesting – to me, at least – than the book. Many of them could never be adapted at all, or at least not without losing everything which makes them what they are. Perhaps this is in part at least due to the type of books I like. For those who long to see their work adapted, I wish them well. But my taste just doesn’t run in the right direction.
Now, I would love to see what certain artists might make of some of my work, if they turned their hand to illustrating it. Or what musicians might be inspired to compose in response to it. Not that I’m ever likely to have either chance. Still, to imagine Ian Anderson reading one of my stories and thinking of a song… that thrills me. Or Warren Zevon, if he were still alive.
I have been convinced for years that good writing seldom makes for a good movie or TV show. They are different media, have different requirements, and so on. Even the most well adapted books suffer. So I’d have to say I wouldn’t want to see any of my work on the screen – unless it was a screenplay.
No doubt very few of you will agree with me. And, yes, I do understand the alternate viewpoint, how exciting it could be to see my work “come alive”. My opinion may not be for everyone, but I doubt I’ll change my mind on this. If I ever did, it would only be in circumstances where I retained far more control over the adaptation than Hollywood is ever likely to offer.
There are many writers who have found themselves quite unhappy after Hollywood or the networks got through mangling their work. I do suggest anyone think carefully – and be prepared to swallow your bile and walk away if things go bad – before you sign any contract with a movie or TV studio or producer. I’m sure they’d give you a week or two to think it over, if they actually wanted your work, and excitement is never a good basis for any type of decision. Just my two cents.
Computers, yes, they need help to keep from feeling lonely, too. 😆
When circumstances get in the way of my writing, I find I am very unhappy. I feel that I’m missing something essential. (Well, of course, I am.) There is almost nothing else in life I feel quite that way about. The sole exception is the presence of cats. A cat free environment is a dull and sterile environment to me. Those who disagree are welcome to their opinion, but they will never convince me. Writing and cats. With them, life is good. Without either one, life grows dismal. Without both – that would be my definition of hell.
What you describe sounds familiar enough to me. But is it normal? No one has ever applied the word “normal” to anything in my life. 😆
Before you get too depressed, I’m on the strange end of the writing spectrum. Normal is an insult in my lexicon. If normal is something you wish to be, and normally consider yourself, I think you can rest easy. It is normal enough… for a writer.
Sorry. Better shut up now.Anyway, hello and welcome to FM.
MarFisk wrote:Well, you took a bit to get started, but it sounds like your subconscious knew your destiny early on
.
There’s this thing I have the habit of telling people who think they want to write but find it abhorrent. If you can stop, do. Writing is no picnic. It’s addicting, it’ll flip your mood, and there’s no guarantee of anything good coming of it.
Those who cannot stop have no choice but to keep going. Welcome to the madhouse.
I can stop. Any time I want to. Really. 😆 But all my fountain pens would grow bored with nothing to do. I’m doing it for their sake…
Be sure to include quotes from satisfied readers.
I got a copy, read it, and liked it. A fascinating adventure in the lives of evacuees from London who are fleeing Hitler’s murderous bombs. That sort of thing.
I know it is at least partly a matter of personal taste, but when I look at some of the things which sell well, then consider how few people have downloaded this, I wonder about the future of civilisation.
“Sanity” versus “insanity” have always been subjective concepts. Many Romans thought the Jews insane for their devotion to the idea of monotheism – to a Roman, accepting all gods was seen as sane. Women’s roles have changed dramatically in the past hundred years – look at psychological literature from a hundred years ago and you will discover that, by those definitions, nearly every woman alive today is insane. Homosexuality was defined as a psychological disorder in the DSM into the 1960s or 1970s.
Many times in the DSM, if you read descriptions of this or that disorder, it will list a symptom, then qualify that by specifying it must be extreme enough to interfere with an individual’s functioning in society. That seems reasonable enough… but if you remember the criticisms of Soviet psychiatry because they classed dissidents – or political prisoners – as insane, it is rather ironic. After all, in the Soviet Union, if you disagreed with the official wisdom, you were unable to function in that society. So, by the standards we use, those dissidents were insane for that society.
I am not agreeing or disagreeing with the Soviet system as a whole – that whould be outside the scope of your question and the TOS. I’m just pointing out that sanity is in the eyes of the beholder. So if you are in deep disagreement with those accusing you of insanity, it may be impossible to prove to them you are insane. Or, at least, you’d have to turn their view of the world upside down to do it. Which is something many people have tried, but very few have succeeded at. Sorry, but them’s the rules.
There are a few very narrow senses in which that may not be the case. For example, if you are accused of having hallucinations, you may be able to prove what you’re seeing is actually there. Or, if a particular action is questioned as insane, an explanation of the unusual circumstances which led up to it and justified it may also establish your sanity. But in the broader sense, in a country of madmen, it is the sane who would be sent to psychiatric hospitals.
