UPDATING OCCASIONALLY (FOR NOW)

4 thoughts on “537 – Kooky And Spooky”

  1. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    Obligatory William Gibson reference for the excellent novel “Spook Country”. I’ve read it fourteen times and still find something new each time – the man does not waste a word. No, not crazy at all.

  2. Clint

    Hurray, people in the comments can have names again (if they choose to)!

  3. Evervigilant

    Yay for names! I love the pun as he takes the offered drink.

  4. Dr. Norman (not a real doctor)

    …Just for a moment, like a mirage … ” And when I turned the headlights on,
    Just for a minute I thought I saw the both of us
    On some kinda tropical island someplace
    Walkin’ down a white sandy beach eatin’ something…”

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537 – Kooky And Spooky
Posted on November 20, 2024 by Dawn
How 'bout them spook stories now, Chuck?   Comments update: We seem to have fixed the issue of being able to add your name when leaving a comment. So you should be able to be anonymous or just leave a name when you comment.

Relational databases…

Posted on October 14, 2020 by Clint
There’s this game called Fiasco where you and your friends come up with interrelated characters and proceed to tell a communal story together, guided by some dice rolls and other mechanics. While the story itself is important (and, as you might guess, is designed to end in disaster for most if not all involved), the lion’s share of the game is arguably coming up with characters in the first place and making sure they have things in common, such as a location, item, etc. Ties that bind. Things to live, laugh, and love over — and also bicker and even kill over. This web woven before a Fiasco game even begins is similar to how some writers will tackle keeping track of the characters in their stories, whether that’s on post-its or a whiteboard or a computer spreadsheet. Who knows whom? Which characters are friends? How good of friends are they? Or the same question but applied to antagonistic tendencies? How did they meet? How long has it been since they last saw each other? Is there something else that connects them, and if so is it simple as a convenient MacGuffin? Or something deeper? Not every writer does this much prep and not every character needs it: the horde of ninjas wants to kill the hero because Their Master Wills It. ‘Nuff said there, especially if that’s the kind of story you’re telling. But you certainly want to have some kind of handle on how your major characters will interact, even if their meeting remains hypothetical. With rare exceptions, people don’t show the same “face” to their boss at work that they do to their kid at home. We put on all sorts of masks just to get through the day, and though we may have been taught by G.I. Joe after-episode PSAs that lying was bad, we grow up understanding that sometimes being entirely truthful and open just starts fights. So remember that your characters have their masks, as well, even someone like Brett who might assume subterfuge was some kind of sandwich. And have your “relational database,” but remember that when you tweak even a few parameters the output can change a lot.