174 replies to this topic

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 18 June 2016 - 06:59 AM, said:

lol I just finished catching up on that show myself and now am on Vikings. It is the only show I have shouted at for killing a character... like I shouted my *** off at that. Except when Joffery died. There was much rejoicing in my apartment. I don't know why but I hated Joffery's **** of a face even more on screen than I did in the books.

And nah I have a lot of characters because, I actually planned my book by first estimating how many characters I would need for it --but I actually found that I have really over estimated by a bit, so I have thinned out my characters down to the 60's now. The rest of those will have to wait for something else. But lot's (and I mean around 80 to 90%) are going to die, some in increasing horrible ways. One character is getting bleach injected into his blood stream. Another is eviscerated. Another is crucified before an oncoming military and then his body is dropped above them armys' heads (along with many other corpses and such) as a form of psychological warfare.

I almost quit watching the show entirely when Stannis burned his daughter... I did scream at the television over that one, and when Jon was killed... ugh. I was pissed. But... at the same time, knew he had to be brought back and knew just how as his story arc was far too important to waste like that.

Same for the hound. Somewhere deep inside I knew he wasn't gone. He's just too damn good a character and his chemistry with Arya was brilliant.

I applauded when Joffery was killed. You'd have to be messed up in the head to not.

Oh and those are some gruesome ways to go.

Edited by Mister Blastman, 18 June 2016 - 08:06 AM.

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 22 June 2016 - 11:35 AM, said:

Well y'all I will be absent for a while.

I am right now on my way to the hospital. There is something wrong with my leg currently, and I can no longer walk. So Marack Drock will be taking a hiatus. I hope to see a lot of novel and book updates in this thread when I get back though.

Damn dude hope you're okay.

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 23 June 2016 - 01:50 PM, said:

Looks like I have tendinitis that was not treated properly when I had my therapy on my leg.

Glad you made it back! It sounds like it could be a lot worse.

So I set a daily goal for myself--about 1600 - 1700 words a day of new content, minimum. If I go over, that's okay, but if I hit the goal and feel like I know where I'm going but not sure and finished a scene, I stop so the well inside of me can bubble up (to borrow an expression from Hemingway) overnight and fill with new things to say.

But something started bothering me the other day. The impression I'm getting is fantasy books outsell science fiction ones by a fairly noticeable margin. The sci-fi/fantasy genre is pretty big, itself, and sells more than say horror but less than a third of what romance sells. I refuse to lower myself to romance pulp. But, it got me thinking--why does sci-fi sell less than fantasy... and to a greater degree, less than the mystery/thriller genre and, as a caveat, are there not any true "Stephen Kings" of science fiction (not fantasy--must separate the two) who sell hundreds of millions of copies?

I guess the closest we've had is Michael Crichton and he didn't necessarily write sci-fi in the strictest sense...

It is just something I've been pondering as I'm about to begin the second third of my latest book. I'm trying to figure out the little bits I can sprinkle in to give it that spark because frankly we'd all be lying if we said we're doing this for fun--I mean, we are! And we're also doing it for the readers--that comes first, obviously. But... as any author should be proud to proclaim, we're also doing it for money.

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 23 June 2016 - 04:18 PM, said:

Stephen King, in my personal opinion, is not really a great novelist. What he has done is found a formula that everyone likes, and so he follows it constantly. All of his books (to me) read very formulaically.

Now frankly I wouldn't even consider Stephen King nearly a height to be imagined. In total Stephen King has sold about 300 million books, and he has written 50+ books in his time.

Now compare that to Tolkien. Lord of the Rings has sold 150 million copies (making it the best selling novel of all time, with reliable sales marks). The Hobbit is the second best selling book of all time, with 142 million copies sold. The Silmarillion sold around 20 million copies estimated (this is based off estimates from the sales of the other books by several groups, as the publisher hasn't released sales figures to the public yet). The Children of Hurin sold 900 thousand copies in the first two weeks alone, and there have been 4 more mass printings since then worldwide.

Now let us compare that to the best selling Science Fiction book of all time, Dune, by Frank Herbert. Dune is cited (as of 2003) as being the number 1 best selling Sci-Fi book ever written, and reliable sales figures put it at only around 20 million copies (about a third of what A Song of Ice and Fire has sold).

There is a definite gap between fantasy and Sci-Fi. I believe it is probably more to do with the fact that Science Fiction (at its core) has always been about the future, and the scientific possibilities. Whereas Fantasy is all about imagination. This is why Dune probably did so well, as it merged Science Fiction with Fantasy, blending reality with imagination.

I'd say the "Stephen Kings" of Sci-Fi would be:
1. Dean Koontz (man it hurts saying his name) - 325 million copies sold he has sold more than King though
2. Michael Crichton - 150 million
3. Edgar Rice Burroughs - 100 million
4. Frank Herbert - 65 million

Couldn't find reliable data on these two but safe to say around 20 million each
5. Isaac Asimov
6. Robert Heinlein


Edit-

Also lulz, I'd be lying if I said I was doing this for money. I gave up on the notion that I would make a dime off this a long time ago.

I've always thought of Koontz as more of a horror writer than a sci-fi one, although he did write over a dozen sci-fi novels. I think most of his wealth came more from the horror/suspense end of his work.

I'm not wholly convinced pure Sci-Fi has reached its peak. I think it has yet to emerge, and you're right, what Herbert did by blending fantasy into Dune really went a long way towards helping it become popular. I think we write in an untapped genre with lots of potential that has yet to be realized.

And I'm trying to do it for money--however, I absolutely love the genre and the money is not what drives me--just seeing folks get enjoyment out of what I do would be a priceless reward in itself. Spend a couple of decades in the corporate world and you'll get sick of it all and realize the only way to be free to live your life is if you do something on your own.

Edited by Mister Blastman, 23 June 2016 - 05:55 PM.

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 23 June 2016 - 05:50 PM, said:

Also question, are there any Scientific hypotheses that you use in your works.

Everything I write about as far as technology and worldbuilding are concerned are based on real scientific laws or theories, from basic simple things such as what plants might look like to how the atmosphere and bodies of land are structured to cities and aliens and their physical makeup and cultures and customs. Even fantastical alien technologies that seem out of this world or unbelievable are based on scientific underpinnings. I literally spent years reading up on this stuff.

I've read quite a bit on astrobiology and astrogeology and gone so far as looking at models and messing with various pieces of software to reading multiple detailed research papers.

I love theoretical physics and the same goes for this, too. In the novel I finished, the technology is quite advanced compared with what we have now so I delve into quantum mechanics and relativity though it isn't the focus of the story. My current novel is more modern but in this one I spent three days studying equations and built a functioning spreadsheet to help me with calculations so I could play around with numbers.

And I delve into string theory.

But I hide a lot of the science and prefer to show the results, although talk of some is unavoidable, especially in my first novel as some of the stuff that happens later on and into the next books will require at least a vague understanding of some complex concepts to truly understand what is going on.

My stories are very dialogue heavy and character-driven. I'd say my last novel is far more technical than my current one but the protagonist in my last was quite intelligent. The protagonist in my current is an average joe-schmoe with a helping of flaws and some doggone determination.

My favorite technologies deal with gravitics and propellantless drives--but my focus is more on the characters and what they're going through and their inner voices and the surrealistic developments, hardships and challenges they face.

Maybe when I get a little further along in this book I might share a little bit of it and see what you think if you'd be interested. (although it'd have to be kept private of course)

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 24 June 2016 - 07:45 PM, said:

Wow! The one that impressed me the most is String Theory. That is some intense stuff (looked into a little of it myself, but I don't have to mess with it to much, my book is mostly concerned with genetics and evolution).


I have quite a bit of dialogue myself but avoiding the heavily detailed science aspect can be hard for me, because I literally have a civilization that bases its entire culture around evolutionary advance. In order to understand the culture and how it works, the details of evolution, gene splicing, eugenics, even down to cell duplication and such is essential to the plot because in that society, it dictates your abilities once you become the age of 4 (when they fully mature as they can control when the growth hormone begins to slow down in adolescents and such, as well as the Thyroid Hormone and others which contribute to brain development, leading to conscious thought and intelligence much earlier in their life). Basically through genetics, and biological engineering they are fully matured by age 4, where their abilities (cognitive, physical etc) are tested and depending on how high they test, depends on what genetic caste they will be put into, where they must then submit to the Teltali law, which directs them to have all non essential body parts replaced with mechanical ones (which prolongs their life span indefinitely). Only the highest genetic caste retains their reproductive organs, merely to donate ovum and sperm cells to be used for more creation. If you test into the lowest genetic caste, your genes are removed from the pool and you are sterilized.

So basically over the course of Part 3 of my book I have to explain all those mechanics haha.

Also I would totally be interested in reading what you write (your stuff sounds absolutely awesome and like my cup of tea).

Edit- What would your suggestion be for trying to avoid some of the more complicated science here?

Edit- I shouldn't say your genes are removed, the correct statement is that your genetic structure is removed (so all the genes used in your set are never used all together again, otherwise it would theoretically replicate you over again).

Hmm. Well the good news is the science is developmental--it occurs in stages. So maybe you can have characters entering various life stages and show what happens during them through events in their lives and since there are castes, multiple points of view.

I bet you can avoid complicated descriptions for a lot of it if you show the human side of things--both the good and the consequences and by building lore or say happenings such as parties/celebrations/rites of passage. You could also have characters encounter problems.

Sometimes the science can't be avoided. I'm dealing with antimatter due to one of the technologies used in my current novel--there's no way around it. The technology is essential due to the ridiculous amount of power needed and it is among a few things I'll probably detail, whereas a couple others I had an instructor in the academy say something short and complicated in only a few sentences and left it at that because the main character was overwhelmed and didn't quite catch what he was saying.

The genetic stuff you're doing is pretty cool.

[Karl Streiger]

seems to be perfect to ask for some advice again.

It seems to become my personal La Mancha scenario, but even when Tech alone doesn't drive a story it dictates the setting. I was just drawing the first fleet encounter when i realized .... oh uh eh.... when one side knows what it can deliver and also know everything about the others combat shouldn't happen. Why should you engage a target when the odds are against you?

To understand it the fastest warships are of course the fighters (if you want to call them this way) - 6,000ton mass some 230t anti-ship missiles and some defense plus the ability to overdrive their engines for some minutes that will grant them the acceleration of 2gs. The capital ships are only able to emergency accelerations of 0.1-0.3g.

So there is indeed the option to pull back and the enemy will not catch up.

And this is not the only issue... when i say LaserRifles are standard for the infantry of one side it dictates how combat is done - don't get into the LOS. And it also dictates the weapons and equipment of the other side. Or when i say there will be full automatic rail guns for one side that can rip a MBT in pieces - there will either be no MBT or there will be a huge armored monster that can take the hits.

And so on and on. How hard could sicfi becomes before its stale and boring and how soft until it is like a gum bubble without substance.

How do you design conflicts? Do you test write the "engagement" and see if your "concept" is sound?

Edited by Karl Streiger, 28 June 2016 - 06:24 AM.

[XxXAbsolutZeroXxX]

Karl Streiger, on 28 June 2016 - 06:24 AM, said:

I was just drawing the first fleet encounter when i realized .... oh uh eh.... when one side knows what it can deliver and also know everything about the others combat shouldn't happen. Why should you engage a target when the odds are against you?

Everything has strengths and weaknesses in the way that fire pokemon are vulnerable to water and water pokemon are vulnerable to electricity. The same can be said of spaceship design and technology. The outcome of a battle can depend more on decisions made by those involved than statistics. There are many variables that affect the outcome of events that will always be impossible to predict beforehand.

I don't know what to say. Try watching sports. Boxing. An MMA fight. Try to predict what the outcome will be before it happens. Sure you can quantify to a certain degree what people's capabilities are. But any such knowledge is far from being an exact science.

Edited by I Zeratul I, 28 June 2016 - 06:58 AM.

[Karl Streiger]

I know it is my duty to create as "designer" to create a space ship that has an inherited flaw.

Did you read "Through Struggle the Stars" it is one of those military hard SicFi novels and it is great - but there are "beam ships" that feature on huge UV-Laser that can deal damage at ranges no other ship can counter.
The engagement only happens because the strategical gain of conquering the planet/defending the station is worth the risk of getting killed before in range.

A similar ship in my setting - would have a solid drive the UV Laser apparatus and otherwise only tons and tons of anti-missile defense because the stand-off kill is the only option to counter the UV Laser range.
Hm, this is also the reason why I "invented" the "Fighters" - they are to small and with a good thrust to shoot an ASM at them. So you need to fire your Laser - when you have enough rainbow laser batteries they will die like flies. But the Beamship would not use its main laser to kill them because otherwise, it can't shoot at the on-charging frigattes.

OK - fleet encounter. Fleet 1 - 2 Beam cruisers and several anti-fighter and anti-missile defense frigates. The question is how many battles were fought? Did one side already rolled out a "Panther for their T34?" or the "85mm for their armor"

For example smaller ASMs that are able to create much more thrust but don't have much payload to intercept fighters. Or bigger laser batteries to intercept them at more range? What would be the answer?
More range for the main missiles?

So the concept is similar to Russian vs US fleets - missiles cruisers (UV Laser) vs aircraft carriers (stand of kills) both sides will stick to their philosophy and just to upgrade it to keep at the top.

Edited by Karl Streiger, 28 June 2016 - 10:20 PM.

[Mister Blastman]

Karl Streiger, on 28 June 2016 - 06:24 AM, said:

How do you design conflicts? Do you test write the "engagement" and see if your "concept" is sound?

You must have a goal for every conflict you write--don't have one for the sake of it. Once you know your goal and outcome, write the engagement and make that outcome happen. However... you must be creative, especially when the odds are stacked against one side or the other.

You can be flexible to a degree but after a point, if something looks truly ridiculous, then it probably is, and you should probably sit back and just think for a while about it. Sometimes I'll sit on the couch for two or three hours with ambient music playing in the background, no television on, no other distractions, and just think.

It is easier to approach something problematic the first time than it is to insert a placeholder and write around it (unless you know with absolute certainty that the constraints are limited and the scene will enter and exit a specific way). And besides, you might surprise yourself when solving the scene that you come up with all new plot directions or subplots to add flavor to your story.

[Karl Streiger]

Mister Blastman, on 30 June 2016 - 01:44 PM, said:

You can be flexible to a degree but after a point, if something looks truly ridiculous, then it probably is, and you should probably sit back and just think for a while about it.

so while i describing my current problem - i realized that there is a solution even with some potential for additional "missions".

So complete different question: Language? Native German or English? Or both? At least I would need to "pay" some professionals in both cases.

[Mister Blastman]

Karl Streiger, on 01 July 2016 - 01:30 AM, said:

so while i describing my current problem - i realized that there is a solution even with some potential for additional "missions".

So complete different question: Language? Native German or English? Or both? At least I would need to "pay" some professionals in both cases.

I'm reading a novella right now called "Heart of Darkness" written in 1899 by a man named Joseph Conrad, who was originally born in Poland and immigrated to the United Kingdom. English was a second language for him and he wrote all his novels in it and did very well. I'd try writing yours in English if you can as it is more widely spoken throughout the world than German.

Oh--and as for translating novels... all novels lose heart and soul when translated. The structures of every language vary and without a complete re-write, the translated copy will never feel the same as the original.

It is absolutely worth your time editing your first novel over and over again by yourself (say three, four or five drafts). It will give your style time to develop and your prose to blossom. Mine changed dramatically in the last year because I toiled through it. But you have to write or edit every single day for it to work.

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 01 July 2016 - 10:18 AM, said:

Update:

I killed a character in my book today.

Actually I lied, I killed 4.

Oh man, that's a tough decision to make. The dynamic changes. Unless they deserve it...

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 01 July 2016 - 07:30 PM, said:

I wrote 10 pages today! I am so happy with myself.

Amazing!

I'm still mired in the middle part of my latest novel and I'm trying to keep it fresh and interesting before the (what I think and hope) awesome second half starts. Trying to keep suspense and tension alive while compressing time forward through training by a few months. I re-wrote one chapter two or three times this week and last night had the protagonist pork the daylights out of a woman to calm her down (will see how it goes when I read it today). The original scene was weepy and crying and well... it just needed some oompf.

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 01 July 2016 - 02:36 PM, said:

Yeah. It is was a little difficult but I have been devoting my story to being realistic. And in real life war situations, people die. They die primarily for introduction to one of my main character's psychological issues (he has major depressive disorder, and is highly suicidal in the story), and so this happens which just worsens his condition.

Are you getting into his head with his thoughts, etc.?

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 02 July 2016 - 07:57 AM, said:

Funnily enough one of the characters who died in my book got shot through the throat while porking a chick.

Yes, very much so. It isn't that hard for me to describe what he goes through... mostly because he is basically a representation of my mental issues on paper.

I like to get into the head's of my characters, even to what they dream about. This particular character actually doesn't dream anymore because he has a implants in his head which suppress his dreams and such (basically they take over all neural function while he sleeps, and basically shut the brain down (while operating all of the needed functions to keep the brain working and such) --I had to talk to a biomechanical engineer on how that would work cause I couldn't figure it out lol.

Anyways my character basically has a ton of events that lead to him have his mental breakdowns, and literally his narrative starts off with him putting a gun in his mouth and then trying to think of reasons he has to live (something I had to do for years every morning and still have to do if my meds don't work).

Oh interesting. So I assume you delve into what made him that way?

[Mister Blastman]

My eyes hurt. I wrote almost 3800 words today after stewing about the next few chapters for days and only accomplished half of what I wanted to get down. I made notes of the rest but my vision started blurring and it hurt to look at the letters and I had to call it a day.

It went from thriller to conspiracy. Ah well, that's just what had to happen.

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 04 July 2016 - 04:49 PM, said:

I have to much going on in the next few chapters so I am literally outlining my chapters, piece by piece.

Also I got to this place where I looked away from the laptop and the walls began to twist and turn around me. And now I can't remember what happened after that. There is like this 2 hour blank spot lol.

LOL

It's probably time to take a break.

[Mister Blastman]

Marack Drock the Unicorn Wizard, on 17 July 2016 - 09:37 AM, said:

Did a little work, and finally finished making the flags and map for the future Earth.

And here it is:

There are a couple of minor factions I didn't list here, as they play little importance in my story, but I do have flags and names ready for them.

This (like most of everything else) will be put into an encyclopedia companion for my book. I will also include a small version of this in the main novel itself.

So what are the dark areas? The minor factions? Nuclear wastelands?

[Mister Blastman]

Past the halfway point now. My second book is shaping up longer than I thought it would be at about 77k words so far. This mission begins and the long ride up the space elevator is next. Talked about space potties, ovens and sleeping on the way up and while in space aboard the ships through some mixed dialogue and narrative laced with bits of potty humor and other things. I figure that stuff might be interesting to know as it isn't going to change much between now and the next fifty or so years when the story takes place. At least I hope so. Not sure if folks will find it boring or not. Once they're up... the real nightma--err, adventure begins!

[Mister Blastman]

Eighty-eight thousand words and tonight I wrote another 2700 or so and got into some really hard-sci fi stuff as launch day happens. Except I'm explaining stuff through narrative and dialogue instead of exposition. I'm lucky in that my story allows for it to be done this way as normally some of this heavy stuff would have to be explained in a wall of text. I think it works, but I'll see.

Sorry for the long delay in posting here--I've just been sooooooo busy and well, as you can see, it is 1 AM in the morning and I'm just now stopping writing. I've got a writer's workshop I'm attending in a few weeks and that should be neat. Some big publishers will be there like Baen so I'm excited.

As for the genetics and chromosomes and stuff? Hmm, well, you've probably already figured it out but the best place I'd look is some encyclopedias at the library as a start, then maybe pickup some textbooks or whatnot and start hammering the pages. Sprinkle in some youtube videos and documentaries after that and you should be golden.

I was reading more NASA reports tonight, and yesterday... and the night before that. I love physics.