(no subject)

Now, mostly because I was bored, I went and looked at the email of notes that Miss Formulaic sent me for part of my novel I sent her. As it went they weren't bad notes. She didn't realize that that what I had sent wasn't the beginning of the novel, so she had some odd questions about things, but some of her concerns were legitimate. So I guess she's not all that bad. But then there were these two concerns/suggestions that she made that really made my head turn.


#4 – Um, don’t bards roam free? They don’t engage in combat but they are travelers and usually solo. Isn’t this an odd choice if they want to keep him close to the hearth.

Of course the cliche is that bards are free roaming musicians that travel alone and sing to maidens. But that doesn't mean that all bards do that. And that doesn't mean that my bard has to do that. He does travel, yes, but not alone. It's a lot safer to travel with his family than to travel alone and Cricket (the bard in question) likes being with his family and has no real desire to travel alone. The fact that he does stay with the wagons instead of traveling out and about is one of the reasons why Alec was apprenticed to him.

#1 – Everything that Alec says has weight. Use it. Don’t just fill in the blank with “all right.” Find another way to signal his acceptance that is UNIQUE to Alec

I took this to mean that Alec needs a catch phrase. I don't know why Alec needs a catch phrase. I would think that having him have a catch phrase would make him sound different then the people he lives around which would be silly, because he was raised with them, so why would he use something different. And it would be artificial.


#19 – Grandpa admits he screwed up but this undercuts his authority and our trust in him. If he is supposed to play the meta-role of ‘the magician’, then there is a problem. Can you imagine if Morpheus (from Matrix) or Gandalf (from LOTR) made such a crucial error right off the back. We wouldn’t have much hope for their help in the future.

This goes back to her insistence on formula. Who says that Granpa has to be the magician? Why does there have to be a magician in the first place? (Though I do admit that there is a magician character, but it's not grandpa). Why can't he mess up. Parents do mess up sometimes and we still trust them. I don't see how him making a mistake and owning up to it undercuts his authority at all. If he didn't own up to it, maybe, but he does and tries to make amends.

Other than those three points, she had some valid criticism.

Damn.

(no subject)

I can hear the rabbinic students singing and playing on the guitar. It sounds almost like a war dance. The Rabbinic students are getting ready for war. A war of what... I don't know.


Steve Irwin, Jew hunter, is hiding behind a planter, peering through the bush towards a group of rabbinical students. He turns to the camera and beckons to it. "Over here we've got a very rare sight. Something you don't see with your every day Jews. They're doing some sort of ritual over their food. You can see some of them, they're clapping and stopping their hands to keep the beat as they chant. The elder female appears to have relinquished power in this case to one of the younger males who has some sort of stringed instrument which he is using to lead the others. They appear to be quite enthusiastic but they don't appear to be using any form or language. Now, what will happen is that they'll sing like this and then partake in their food that they've brought to this gathering. It's a sort of social ritual, you see."

He stands up, "I'm going to go and see if I can join them. This is very dangerous because if they notice me, they'll stop their singing and the ritual is ruined."

Carefully he goes over the group of Jews. "As you can see, I'm dressed to blend in with the Jews. I am wearing the head covering that indicates that I am a male as well as the fringes. Though, some scholars debate that this head covering and fringes indicate maleness as some females have recently been seen wearing them. This could be a sort of mutation however within the Reform and Conservative species. The more clannish Orthodox species have resisted this mutation. Right now..." he beckons the camera forward again, to follow him.

The Jews do not seem to notice him, as they are caught up in their singing. He stands off to the edges and claps along with them. One or two of the singers smile at him as he does so and the Elder female beckons for him to come closer and join them. Irwin smiles back and does edge closer after flicking the camera a Thumbs Up sign.


>_>
In a slightly more serious vein I have before me a biography of Hitler called Der Fuehrer. It was written in 1944 so Hitler is still alive and well at that point, it being a year before the war ends and he DIES. The book has a very negative look at Hitler and at several points refers to him as the Devil.

It appears to use the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as the kick off event. (The Protocols being a book that is supposedly written by the leaders of the Jews on how they plan to control everything and proof that they the reason that everything bad has happened or something. It was a hoax, of course.)I wish I had time to actually read it, because it looks very fascinating.

(no subject)

Miss Formulaic's Formula.

A couple of people have asked so what is Miss Formulaic's formula.


What she does is reads a book. She checks what page the act turns are. She checks what pages the reveals are. She checks on those sort of things.

Then she writes her book based on those things.

Not on plot. Not on character. But on pages.