the ramble dump
Sunday, May 29, 2005
54 Minutes of Starcustard
Starcustard Chapter 4 is nearing the point that's somewhere near completion. I need to write one final bit, which can probably be done sometime this week, and then a quick proofread (because we've done some of that already) before we decide what music we want to feature in this chapter.
Speaking of which, I made an album with all the tracks from Chapters One, Two and Three, which is just over 54 minutes long. I didn't realise how strange our choices had been in places, and how varied some of the music is, but as a compilation, it all fits together strangely well.
Here's the tracklist (in order of appearance in the story):
I haven't really made much more progress with the TA rewrite yet, apart from a little bit on Phil's intro, but I have decided on a few things for Chapter 5.
I've also started writing another story that might end up on Fat Man, which will feature characters based on members of a message board I'm a regular on (or used to be until I had all these exams to deal with). This isn't the first one of these I've done (it's known as 'boardfic' there), but the others were a little too reliant on in-jokes to be put elsewhere, and this time around, a lot of usernames that are the names of characters of someone else's work will be changed to something else.
And this one's going to be a lot more KICK-ARSE than the previous ones I've written. YEAH!
So, priorities for this week (other than exam revision): write that last bit of Starcustard Chapter 4, and get some work done on The Aberration.
Speaking of which, I made an album with all the tracks from Chapters One, Two and Three, which is just over 54 minutes long. I didn't realise how strange our choices had been in places, and how varied some of the music is, but as a compilation, it all fits together strangely well.
Here's the tracklist (in order of appearance in the story):
Fleetwood Mac - Albatross
The Chemical Brothers - My Elastic Eye
The Chemical Brothers - Out of Control
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
Fuel - Falls On Me
Jeff Beck - Where Were You?
Blur - Ambulance
Stereophonics - I'm Alright (You Gotta Go There To Come Back)
Radiohead - Where I End and You Begin
The Flaming Lips - Slow Motion
Beethoven - Für Elise
The Ramones - Cretin Hop
Muse - Ruled By Secrecy
I haven't really made much more progress with the TA rewrite yet, apart from a little bit on Phil's intro, but I have decided on a few things for Chapter 5.
I've also started writing another story that might end up on Fat Man, which will feature characters based on members of a message board I'm a regular on (or used to be until I had all these exams to deal with). This isn't the first one of these I've done (it's known as 'boardfic' there), but the others were a little too reliant on in-jokes to be put elsewhere, and this time around, a lot of usernames that are the names of characters of someone else's work will be changed to something else.
And this one's going to be a lot more KICK-ARSE than the previous ones I've written. YEAH!
So, priorities for this week (other than exam revision): write that last bit of Starcustard Chapter 4, and get some work done on The Aberration.
Labels: boardfic, city of anarchy, starcustard, the aberration
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Workaholic
Today's achievements: completed the rewrite of Winnie's introduction.
I also decided that this blog isn't going to be the one that features on the index page. That one will have mostly just updates. This one has all kinds of things like excerpts and images...extra stuff that people who've read some of the content of the site might be interested in, not stuff for the first page that people see when they visit for the first time.
What? You expected more?
I also decided that this blog isn't going to be the one that features on the index page. That one will have mostly just updates. This one has all kinds of things like excerpts and images...extra stuff that people who've read some of the content of the site might be interested in, not stuff for the first page that people see when they visit for the first time.
What? You expected more?
Labels: the aberration
Friday, May 20, 2005
Links
I actually got some work done on the TA rewrite. Can you believe that?
I've agreed with Olli on the idea of a sort of halfway-point website to link Fat Man In Tweed and his site, and to house Agaffa and the next story we're going to write. It'll have it's own design, too.
This means I'm going to have to rethink my own layout ideas, though. I had considered doing something like this for all the stories:
Each number would be a link to a chapter, while
The thing is, if I did that and just linked to the pages each chapter was on, it would make having a seperate website pretty redundant. I still want to make the story a part of Fat Man In Tweed somehow, though, because it's part of my 'online portfolio'.
I could just keep it having a link to each chapter and have the name of the website by the title of the story, in brackets and as a link. The change in design will probably be enough to show that it's a part of whatever we call this new site.
I've agreed with Olli on the idea of a sort of halfway-point website to link Fat Man In Tweed and his site, and to house Agaffa and the next story we're going to write. It'll have it's own design, too.
This means I'm going to have to rethink my own layout ideas, though. I had considered doing something like this for all the stories:
AGAFFA
Blurb goes here. Agaffa has many biscuits that Miss Darley does not, etc.
[1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Extras]Each number would be a link to a chapter, while
Extras would contain things like the annotations. There'd be an underline and overline when the mouse hovered over them.The thing is, if I did that and just linked to the pages each chapter was on, it would make having a seperate website pretty redundant. I still want to make the story a part of Fat Man In Tweed somehow, though, because it's part of my 'online portfolio'.
I could just keep it having a link to each chapter and have the name of the website by the title of the story, in brackets and as a link. The change in design will probably be enough to show that it's a part of whatever we call this new site.
Labels: agaffa, the aberration, webtechnical
Sunday, May 15, 2005
So I've Decided...
Thing to do: complete revision of The Aberration Chapters 1, 2 and 3.
Why? Well, I've been planning a to do some work on 3 for some time, but it's been one of those things I've just, er...not had time for. Yes, that's it. Lots of far-more-importanter things to do.
Anyhow...I was rereading Chapters 1 and 2 last night and, especially during the bit where Winnie and her home are introduced, I found myself thinking, 'Yes, that's all very nice, but can we get on with things, please?' It just seemed unnecessary and tedious. Also, there are a few bits where Beef doesn't quite fit his character as I write it now.
There are things from all three chapters that I want to take out or rewrite, but I also want to add things. Some bits I want to rewrite just to improve the quality, although these areas will largely remain the same. There are also aspects that I want to focus on more, and some things I want to feature less prominently than they are doing in the current versions.
But there are going to be more significant changes too. Mostly small things to add in places, mostly to make things like the TV show and the court case chapters more relevant to the rest of the story, but quite possibly one or two new characters as well, although I'm going to have to think about that.
The overall aim is to generally up the quality and make the whole thing much more coherent, introducing themes into these earlier chapters that I'd only decided on using after I'd written them. I've revised the first two chapters before, but they weren't really significant changes. This could be a pretty major rewrite. It'll be good to have them fresh for Fat Man In Tweed.
Why? Well, I've been planning a to do some work on 3 for some time, but it's been one of those things I've just, er...not had time for. Yes, that's it. Lots of far-more-importanter things to do.
Anyhow...I was rereading Chapters 1 and 2 last night and, especially during the bit where Winnie and her home are introduced, I found myself thinking, 'Yes, that's all very nice, but can we get on with things, please?' It just seemed unnecessary and tedious. Also, there are a few bits where Beef doesn't quite fit his character as I write it now.
There are things from all three chapters that I want to take out or rewrite, but I also want to add things. Some bits I want to rewrite just to improve the quality, although these areas will largely remain the same. There are also aspects that I want to focus on more, and some things I want to feature less prominently than they are doing in the current versions.
But there are going to be more significant changes too. Mostly small things to add in places, mostly to make things like the TV show and the court case chapters more relevant to the rest of the story, but quite possibly one or two new characters as well, although I'm going to have to think about that.
The overall aim is to generally up the quality and make the whole thing much more coherent, introducing themes into these earlier chapters that I'd only decided on using after I'd written them. I've revised the first two chapters before, but they weren't really significant changes. This could be a pretty major rewrite. It'll be good to have them fresh for Fat Man In Tweed.
Labels: the aberration
Friday, May 13, 2005
The Crinklestick Chronicles
Oooooooooooooooooohoohoohoohoohooooooo, we have some exciting stuff coming up for Agaffa.
Action, adventure and a few little surprises along the way. Things are going to get quite complicated.
Action, adventure and a few little surprises along the way. Things are going to get quite complicated.
Labels: agaffa
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
After Agaffa
So we know, sort of, how Agaffa is going to end.
And we've been brainstorming for the story that's going to come after that, involving a character who was invented when The Aberration was started, back at the end of 2003. A character who was actually going to be the co-protagonist with Master Beef, only it was decided that their worlds were too different for them to be in the same story.* And also, the character wasn't just my creation, so it didn't feel right.
But enough of this pointless history!
This new story is going to be an accumulation of many of the crazy ideas we've had over the years that we've known each other. It'll be much easier to write than Agaffa, because we'll have much more to work with. Five years of friendship's worth, in fact. Hopefully it'll have a slightly better plot too, but we also want it to be equally as chaotic, if not more so.
I leave you now with one word: magic.
* TA is currently enjoying its fourth title. Originally (when this other character was going to be in it), it was called And Fools Seldom Differ. When it was decided that this other character wasn't going to be in it, it lost this title and assumed a simple working one of Master Beef. (The only Beef bit that actually got written under the AFSD title was the opening microwave-chiselling scene...no more was written until March the next year, by which time it had long been changed.) Although I can't remember why I changed my mind about using the original name then, I'm glad I did, because I now I think it sounds like the title of an old British sitcom...probably from the BBC.
A little over a year ago, once I'd decided a vague plot, I changed it to The Manifesting Surreal, and it became The Aberration at the start of this year because it now had a slightly different vague plot.
And we've been brainstorming for the story that's going to come after that, involving a character who was invented when The Aberration was started, back at the end of 2003. A character who was actually going to be the co-protagonist with Master Beef, only it was decided that their worlds were too different for them to be in the same story.* And also, the character wasn't just my creation, so it didn't feel right.
But enough of this pointless history!
This new story is going to be an accumulation of many of the crazy ideas we've had over the years that we've known each other. It'll be much easier to write than Agaffa, because we'll have much more to work with. Five years of friendship's worth, in fact. Hopefully it'll have a slightly better plot too, but we also want it to be equally as chaotic, if not more so.
I leave you now with one word: magic.
* TA is currently enjoying its fourth title. Originally (when this other character was going to be in it), it was called And Fools Seldom Differ. When it was decided that this other character wasn't going to be in it, it lost this title and assumed a simple working one of Master Beef. (The only Beef bit that actually got written under the AFSD title was the opening microwave-chiselling scene...no more was written until March the next year, by which time it had long been changed.) Although I can't remember why I changed my mind about using the original name then, I'm glad I did, because I now I think it sounds like the title of an old British sitcom...probably from the BBC.
A little over a year ago, once I'd decided a vague plot, I changed it to The Manifesting Surreal, and it became The Aberration at the start of this year because it now had a slightly different vague plot.
Labels: agaffa, the aberration
