Hey, another apology post, haha. School is fighting to take over my life again. I know, crazy, right? Well, I kind of want to graduate eventually and get a job, so I guess I should put homework first. I'll get back to this as soon as I can.
But I gotta say thanks to all you guys who read my stuffs! It makes me feel pretty cool. :)
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Making a Timeline
So I was wondering if this story really needs to take place nine hundred years in the future. I don't even remember why I picked that long anyway. To remedy this conundrum, I figured I should just make a timeline and see what I come up with. I thought it'd be easy, but I kept asking more and more questions.
My first question was how long would it take for humans to invent near light speed travel? Or want to begin terraforming and colonizing new planets? Then I wanted to know how far they'd have to travel to find around forty ish (totally random) habitable planets, but I could easily do research for that one. A few wikipedia articles later and I got a rough estimate of seventy five to a hundred light years. Traveling around ninety five percent the speed of light, the travelers would experience somewhere between thirty to thirty five years on the ship to get to the furthest planets. At least it's less than one lifetime.
Then I wondered how long my world war would set the human race back? What would their level of space technology be before it happened? When would they send terraforming crews? How would they terraform planets? How long would it take to make them habitable? How long would it take to establish colonies? How long before space trade would become common enough for space pirates? I guess that's the final question, but it conjures all these other questions.
So I think humans have maybe tried to colonize Mars before the war so they at least have a little bit of experience before they have to start sending people off planet to repopulate. Let's say I give the world one hundred years to start terraforming Mars, then the war hits and wipes out people, land, and probably puts a damper on up coming technology. During the rebuilding, Mars would slowly become habitable and would be the first place to start really rebuilding humanity. We could probably have near light speed travel become available some time in this period. And perhaps terraforming takes one hundred ish years? So now I'm two hundred years in.
Now scientists are trying to broaden our territory by sending terraforming crews, scientists, engineers, other speciality crews, and normal people to settle these other earth-like planets, the furthest being about one hundred light years away. Seem to really like the number one hundred. Anyway, that means it would take two hundred years (from Earth's perspective) to simply get a colony to touch ground on the furthest planet. Now I'm at four hundred years from now.
So how long until these colonies set up interplanetary trade? Because that's where Scarlett comes in. There would probably be some trading among the closest planets because they got terraformed first and could begin establishing themselves while the furthest planet are still being terraformed. So shall we say, ehh, another two hundred years to get into the swing of things? That would mean Scarlett is only six hundred years in the future. Seems a little more manageable, I think.
Thoughts? Contradictions? Better ideas? Other points of interest along the time line? Please let me know.
Next I want to think about the technology people in this time would have at their disposal, including weapons. :D
My first question was how long would it take for humans to invent near light speed travel? Or want to begin terraforming and colonizing new planets? Then I wanted to know how far they'd have to travel to find around forty ish (totally random) habitable planets, but I could easily do research for that one. A few wikipedia articles later and I got a rough estimate of seventy five to a hundred light years. Traveling around ninety five percent the speed of light, the travelers would experience somewhere between thirty to thirty five years on the ship to get to the furthest planets. At least it's less than one lifetime.
Then I wondered how long my world war would set the human race back? What would their level of space technology be before it happened? When would they send terraforming crews? How would they terraform planets? How long would it take to make them habitable? How long would it take to establish colonies? How long before space trade would become common enough for space pirates? I guess that's the final question, but it conjures all these other questions.
So I think humans have maybe tried to colonize Mars before the war so they at least have a little bit of experience before they have to start sending people off planet to repopulate. Let's say I give the world one hundred years to start terraforming Mars, then the war hits and wipes out people, land, and probably puts a damper on up coming technology. During the rebuilding, Mars would slowly become habitable and would be the first place to start really rebuilding humanity. We could probably have near light speed travel become available some time in this period. And perhaps terraforming takes one hundred ish years? So now I'm two hundred years in.
Now scientists are trying to broaden our territory by sending terraforming crews, scientists, engineers, other speciality crews, and normal people to settle these other earth-like planets, the furthest being about one hundred light years away. Seem to really like the number one hundred. Anyway, that means it would take two hundred years (from Earth's perspective) to simply get a colony to touch ground on the furthest planet. Now I'm at four hundred years from now.
So how long until these colonies set up interplanetary trade? Because that's where Scarlett comes in. There would probably be some trading among the closest planets because they got terraformed first and could begin establishing themselves while the furthest planet are still being terraformed. So shall we say, ehh, another two hundred years to get into the swing of things? That would mean Scarlett is only six hundred years in the future. Seems a little more manageable, I think.
Thoughts? Contradictions? Better ideas? Other points of interest along the time line? Please let me know.
Next I want to think about the technology people in this time would have at their disposal, including weapons. :D
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Finding Dmitri
Yes! I finally finished another snippet! The only thing about it is that it would only show up in my book as a flash back, if it did at all.
It's a little story from when Jayden and Scarlett were only a duo and hadn't met anyone else on the crew, but it is significant because it is how Scarlett came by her special wormhole drive. She also meets Dmitri, as you can see by the title of this post and the snippet. He's a pretty cool dude, even if I can't write his lines very well. They're supposed to sound like broken English since Scarlett chose a weird filter for her translation program and it sounds like a stereotypical Russian accent. That's right, I worked in accents, haha.
I liked writing this story because it helped me come up with questions to make the universe a little more real, like what would movement on the ships be like, how are the ships laid out, how do their PCs interact with the world around them, and most importantly, how my characters think, speak, and act.
I hope it makes sense and sounds good, but it's a first draft. I already had to go back through it when I was almost done because I realized I was writing like the ship would have gravity on it. Just had to rewrite a few sentences so it made more sense and stayed consistent. It was actually more fun to write like that because I really had to think about how that would change everything in the scene. Space is really cool.
Finding Dmitri
It's a little story from when Jayden and Scarlett were only a duo and hadn't met anyone else on the crew, but it is significant because it is how Scarlett came by her special wormhole drive. She also meets Dmitri, as you can see by the title of this post and the snippet. He's a pretty cool dude, even if I can't write his lines very well. They're supposed to sound like broken English since Scarlett chose a weird filter for her translation program and it sounds like a stereotypical Russian accent. That's right, I worked in accents, haha.
I liked writing this story because it helped me come up with questions to make the universe a little more real, like what would movement on the ships be like, how are the ships laid out, how do their PCs interact with the world around them, and most importantly, how my characters think, speak, and act.
I hope it makes sense and sounds good, but it's a first draft. I already had to go back through it when I was almost done because I realized I was writing like the ship would have gravity on it. Just had to rewrite a few sentences so it made more sense and stayed consistent. It was actually more fun to write like that because I really had to think about how that would change everything in the scene. Space is really cool.
Finding Dmitri
Saturday, March 23, 2013
I. Love. Science.
Seriously. Science is like the coolest thing ever.
Today, I had some awesome conversations about how my spaceships would be able to transport people literally trillions of miles away to colonize other planets as well as do trade and what not. Scientists (real scientists today) have discovered planets with earth-like conditions as close as thirteen lightyears away. That doesn't seem too bad, I guess, if you could get a ship that could travel at, or close to, light speed. I wondered how I could get a ship that could travel as close to the speed of light as possible, as well as sustain that energy for years of travel time. This is where the fun really starts.
I got a few ideas from friends that included constant acceleration and nuclear pulse propulsion, both of which sound pretty cool. Basically, if the ship accelerates at ten meters per second squared for fifty percent of its journey and decelerates at the same rate for the other half of the journey, so it can stop at it's place of arrival, the ship reaches near light speed on it's way across space. With this method, it would take about fourteen years to reach the closest hospitable planets. But here's a cool feature! The people on board the ship would experience the journey as only about five years or so instead of fourteen. Thank you, relativity. ALSO. Because of the acceleration speed, the ship would have artificial gravity on it that is similar to Earth's. Boom. This is awesome.
Now think about using nuclear pulse propulsion to do this accelerating and decelerating. One way to do this is to detonate atomic bombs behind the ship, on the other side of some kind of wall/shock absorber combo of course, that provide specific impulses of six thousand to one hundred thousand seconds. For comparison, the engines in NASA's space shuttles can produce specific impulses of 453 seconds in a vacuum. Just think of specific impulses as measurements of thrust. I personally like the idea of having thrusters that are powered by lasers shooting at specifically designed fuel that compresses so forcefully that it creates nuclear fusion (what powers the sun) explosions. The energy from these explosions can be funneled in certain directions so that the ship can have control over its movement, as well as use some of the energy to run the ship and whatnot. Science.
Now on to Scarlett's wormhole magic. The current idea is that she finds a wormhole drive (actually the snippet I'm working on now) that is able to open wormholes to another point in space. This drive shall work because in this universe, the the third dimension is actually folded over on itself in the fourth dimension. This creates mappable "close points" where the drive can open a wormhole to specific coordinates. Scarlett can get to these close points and activate the drive, put in the coordinates, and open a wormhole with little energy required, at least compared to opening wormholes willy-nilly. This means she can jump on ships from out of nowhere to raid them, but it puts in a little bit of excitement because she has to reach a close point through straight space before she can disappear. How's that sound?
See? Science is fun. I got so distracted by these conversations that I didn't have much time to actually write, though. But hey, these ideas are pretty cool! At least I'm having fun.
Today, I had some awesome conversations about how my spaceships would be able to transport people literally trillions of miles away to colonize other planets as well as do trade and what not. Scientists (real scientists today) have discovered planets with earth-like conditions as close as thirteen lightyears away. That doesn't seem too bad, I guess, if you could get a ship that could travel at, or close to, light speed. I wondered how I could get a ship that could travel as close to the speed of light as possible, as well as sustain that energy for years of travel time. This is where the fun really starts.
I got a few ideas from friends that included constant acceleration and nuclear pulse propulsion, both of which sound pretty cool. Basically, if the ship accelerates at ten meters per second squared for fifty percent of its journey and decelerates at the same rate for the other half of the journey, so it can stop at it's place of arrival, the ship reaches near light speed on it's way across space. With this method, it would take about fourteen years to reach the closest hospitable planets. But here's a cool feature! The people on board the ship would experience the journey as only about five years or so instead of fourteen. Thank you, relativity. ALSO. Because of the acceleration speed, the ship would have artificial gravity on it that is similar to Earth's. Boom. This is awesome.
Now think about using nuclear pulse propulsion to do this accelerating and decelerating. One way to do this is to detonate atomic bombs behind the ship, on the other side of some kind of wall/shock absorber combo of course, that provide specific impulses of six thousand to one hundred thousand seconds. For comparison, the engines in NASA's space shuttles can produce specific impulses of 453 seconds in a vacuum. Just think of specific impulses as measurements of thrust. I personally like the idea of having thrusters that are powered by lasers shooting at specifically designed fuel that compresses so forcefully that it creates nuclear fusion (what powers the sun) explosions. The energy from these explosions can be funneled in certain directions so that the ship can have control over its movement, as well as use some of the energy to run the ship and whatnot. Science.
Now on to Scarlett's wormhole magic. The current idea is that she finds a wormhole drive (actually the snippet I'm working on now) that is able to open wormholes to another point in space. This drive shall work because in this universe, the the third dimension is actually folded over on itself in the fourth dimension. This creates mappable "close points" where the drive can open a wormhole to specific coordinates. Scarlett can get to these close points and activate the drive, put in the coordinates, and open a wormhole with little energy required, at least compared to opening wormholes willy-nilly. This means she can jump on ships from out of nowhere to raid them, but it puts in a little bit of excitement because she has to reach a close point through straight space before she can disappear. How's that sound?
See? Science is fun. I got so distracted by these conversations that I didn't have much time to actually write, though. But hey, these ideas are pretty cool! At least I'm having fun.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Backtracking Just a Little
I've had a lot of really good conversations about my story since the other day, and I realized that I want to know why I'm writing this story, what I'm trying to say with it so when I don't know how to continue, I'll know why I should. One person said that great sci-fi is about what it means to be human and it made me wonder what mine is about.
My goal is to write a story that has believable, relatable, and interesting characters that make one want to read about them and the portion of the their lives that is shown in the book. I don't have a message that I want to share with the world, nothing like a critique of society or a profound moral. I just want to write a story that is as much fun to read as it is to write and vice versa. This is a venture to have fun and create interest, creativity, and deeper thoughts for all those involved, like future readers and my friends who are helping me now.
Reading has always meant a lot to me and it is something I enjoy immensely; it's part of the reason I want to be an English teacher. By writing my own story, I can add to the world of literature and perhaps have people who will think my writing is pretty darn cool. I'm not saying this story will be something that gets published and becomes popular, but maybe someday I can get something published. I just want to write for fun to create fun, I'm not expecting anything great.
Bu by writing about these characters and their lives as they do their best to follow their own dreams, I feel like I am writing about what it means to be human. I want them to seem real; I'm just telling their stories from a specific time in their lives. All I'm doing is just adding in a bunch of nerdiness, science, and technology with dashes of awesome pirate-ness and witty humor. And maybe some not-so-witty humor. If I haven't made this apparent already, it's all for fun!
So, I think I need to spend more time figuring out the universe that these characters live in so I can understand why they are on the track they're following. Jeez, so much to think about! It kind of hurts my head. Now I just want to play guitar and not think about how much work I have to do, haha. Not to worry, I've got some great ideas to post coming up soon. I'll try to finish my characters, so I can at least have an idea of who they are, and I'm not so sure about writing two more snippets before spring break is over. I'll try, but certainly no promises. Thanks again to everyone that's helped me so far. :D
My goal is to write a story that has believable, relatable, and interesting characters that make one want to read about them and the portion of the their lives that is shown in the book. I don't have a message that I want to share with the world, nothing like a critique of society or a profound moral. I just want to write a story that is as much fun to read as it is to write and vice versa. This is a venture to have fun and create interest, creativity, and deeper thoughts for all those involved, like future readers and my friends who are helping me now.
Reading has always meant a lot to me and it is something I enjoy immensely; it's part of the reason I want to be an English teacher. By writing my own story, I can add to the world of literature and perhaps have people who will think my writing is pretty darn cool. I'm not saying this story will be something that gets published and becomes popular, but maybe someday I can get something published. I just want to write for fun to create fun, I'm not expecting anything great.
Bu by writing about these characters and their lives as they do their best to follow their own dreams, I feel like I am writing about what it means to be human. I want them to seem real; I'm just telling their stories from a specific time in their lives. All I'm doing is just adding in a bunch of nerdiness, science, and technology with dashes of awesome pirate-ness and witty humor. And maybe some not-so-witty humor. If I haven't made this apparent already, it's all for fun!
So, I think I need to spend more time figuring out the universe that these characters live in so I can understand why they are on the track they're following. Jeez, so much to think about! It kind of hurts my head. Now I just want to play guitar and not think about how much work I have to do, haha. Not to worry, I've got some great ideas to post coming up soon. I'll try to finish my characters, so I can at least have an idea of who they are, and I'm not so sure about writing two more snippets before spring break is over. I'll try, but certainly no promises. Thanks again to everyone that's helped me so far. :D
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Wow
I updated Jayden's page, but I feel like it's very shallow, now. After some great conversations (Zach, definitely meaning you here, if you read this), I really need to think about my story and its message and the universe it's contained in and only like a million other things. Opening this blog and the ideas slowly being placed in it have helped me with my story so much! I just wish I had more to show you guys so you can see what I mean.
I'll get on that. Tomorrow. Haha.
I'll get on that. Tomorrow. Haha.
Yup
So I didn't do much of anything done today, at least blog-wise. I cleaned my kitchen and living room, though! But that's not helpful in this case, lol. All I have to say is that I updated Jayden's page with one section and changed a bit of Kai's page so I describe a little of each relationship he has with each crew member. Uhm, other than that, I didn't do anything. I had a great time at a friend's birthday and I thought my sister was going to send me her ideas on Jayden, but whatever. I'll do more tomorrow! Or at least try. Bare with me through my laziness. :p
Monday, March 18, 2013
Progress
I've been really trying to get some progress going on my story since it felt weird that I didn't even have all of my characters or even a name for the ship! Well, I've got at least the basics down for now, but I'm willing to change details if something better comes along or it just doesn't work. Scarlett's ship shall be known as Chasing Dawn and shall have a total of 9 crew members aging from Kai at the youngest, 18, to Mara at 40 (though humans have longer life spans now with 60 being about middle-aged). I need to think of their back stories now so that I can fill out their character sheets, like what I've done with Scarlett and Devon, but not as long or detailed. Part of my update today is that I have mostly completely Kai's page, but his is the only one I've done.
I also rearranged my pages a bit, making a general one for Characters and then having a link to each of their sheets which are being hosted on Google Docs. Every character gets their own document which can have comments on them in case anyone wants to help make them better and whatnot.
Those two character spotlights from the other day were created through my laziness because I didn't think of much to update this blog with, but now I've at least got a name and a position for each character. I'm so proud, haha. But there is always work to be done, so I'm hoping to finish the crew's pages and start figuring out the entire plot to this book so I can write 2 more snippets during Spring Break. Gotta keep up with my To Do list!
Here is my updated character list:
Scarlett Rayne Harper
I also rearranged my pages a bit, making a general one for Characters and then having a link to each of their sheets which are being hosted on Google Docs. Every character gets their own document which can have comments on them in case anyone wants to help make them better and whatnot.
Those two character spotlights from the other day were created through my laziness because I didn't think of much to update this blog with, but now I've at least got a name and a position for each character. I'm so proud, haha. But there is always work to be done, so I'm hoping to finish the crew's pages and start figuring out the entire plot to this book so I can write 2 more snippets during Spring Break. Gotta keep up with my To Do list!
Here is my updated character list:
Scarlett Rayne Harper
- Captain
- Pilot/Part time engineer
- Trying to find mother
- Loves adventure/challenges/stealing
- Becomes resident scientist/medic
- Trying to hide from agency
- Made in test-tube/has regenerative DNA
- Doesn't have his own memories
- Communications
- Scarlett saved him from run-down space station
- Knows that Scarlett is looking for mother, scans communications all the time for information
- Very young, 18, first crew member saved by Scarlett
- Weapons master in charge of protection of crew
- Loves his guns
- Short, little bit Spanish
- Decided to join Scarlett when his boss' ship was attacked by her
- Ship defense, in charge of mounted guns and other ship weapons/defense mechanisms
- Came with the ship, won in a drinking contest by Scarlett
- Young and possessive of Scarlett
- Smooth and dangerous
- Cook and quartermaster
- In charge of knowing supplies, smuggled goods
- Samoan, loves food, basically a teddy bear
- Fat
- Mercenary
- South African descent, dark as night
- Quiet, silent hunter
- Short, buzzed hair with scars on head and face
- Full time engineer/mechanic, percussive maintenance specialist
- Russian archetype, slight Russian accent
- Older, drinks all the time
- Crazy, shows up randomly
- Full time medic/physician
- Spends most of her time doing her own research
- Blunt, to the point
- Older, perhaps a bit of a mother figure
Accents are Hard
Today, I spent some time trying to learn Russian and Australian accents, to help me get a little better understanding on how my characters speak. Plus it was fun. But I want to know Australian well so I can incorporate it into Scarlett's speech. Which reminds me, I have to add some writing into my first snippet because I forgot to add that Scarlett's intuition ability kicks in when she sees Devon. Kind of most of the reason she decides to step in and save him...
Anyway, I've found that the Russian accent is soooo much fun to mess around with. This video is hilarious and part of the reason I like randomly speaking with that accent. A video that I watched gave me a sentence to practice my Russian on: "Here is my cat, my cat ate my dog, my dog is dead." It's oddly a lot of fun to say. But I actually find Russian much easier than Australian because I mix Australian with British and sometimes I can't figure out how they'd say some things. Just need more practice. :)
I'm still working on my other characters, just not very quickly. I don't know why, they're just secondary characters, but I should just make them up and get it over with, haha. I have four more left and have a few details about them already. Just gotta type 'em out. Perhaps tomorrow. :D
Anyway, I've found that the Russian accent is soooo much fun to mess around with. This video is hilarious and part of the reason I like randomly speaking with that accent. A video that I watched gave me a sentence to practice my Russian on: "Here is my cat, my cat ate my dog, my dog is dead." It's oddly a lot of fun to say. But I actually find Russian much easier than Australian because I mix Australian with British and sometimes I can't figure out how they'd say some things. Just need more practice. :)
I'm still working on my other characters, just not very quickly. I don't know why, they're just secondary characters, but I should just make them up and get it over with, haha. I have four more left and have a few details about them already. Just gotta type 'em out. Perhaps tomorrow. :D
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Character Spotlight: Dmitri
I asked Jesse for an idea for one of my characters and he said that my mechanic needs to be Russian. I loved the idea and came up with Dmitri, no last name, the stereotypical Russian drunk mechanic. Probably uses percussive maintenance more than necessary but somehow makes everything run and he absolutely has to have at least a slight Russian accent. I want him to be hilariously strange and just do whatever he wants because that's just what he does.
And yup, that's all I got for now. Four more characters to go. :)
Friday, March 15, 2013
Character Spotlight: Javier Mendez
Today's update is about the character that I previously had thought up but didn't put down much information on. I think I'd like to name him Javier Mendez because he reminds me of Salvador from Borderlands 2: short, stocky, and loves big guns. His purpose aboard the ship is to have as many guns as he wants to protect the ship and its crew. Pirates get into a lot of trouble and Javier is one of the main soldiers to help kill and maim as many people as necessary to get away with the booty.
I guess he's still a little like Jayne with his love of guns and IQ, but that's pretty much it. He uses a weird version of Spanish sometimes with his Common like when he calls his guns 'mi amor' and 'mi corazon.' He comes from another planet, haven't thought of a name, that was settled by those of hispanic descent. The planet has a little more Gs than earth, so Javier is like 5'6" and 250 pounds; sounding a little like Salvador? I picture him with buzzed black hair and a cleanly trimmed chinstrap for facial hair.
Jesse and I came up with a little side detail that maybe the residents of Javier's home planet still celebrate Cinco de Mayo, but over the years the history behind it got changed and now it's mostly a reason just to drink. We thought it'd be funny if someone asked Javier what Cincodemayo (perhaps it just becomes one word?) is and he responds with a very different story than what really happened, probably a war that was stopped by everyone drinking and partying together. Haha, just an idea.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Wanted: More Characters
A space ship obviously needs to have a crew that has a variety of talents, and I think I want to have eight people in Scarlett's crew. That means I need to think of several more characters and their personalities and what not. Now I'm not going to create character descriptions quite as in depth as Scarlett and Devon's, but I do have a template I'd like to fill out so I can get to know each one a little better. I guess as I come up with them I'll add pages to display their character traits and what not. Or maybe I should put them all on one page? With separate links? I dunno, I'll figure it out.
In the mean time, I need to actually come up with these characters. I had one in my head already, Kai Sasaki, who is someone that Scarlett rescued from a hard life, and will probably be the youngest on the crew. He's just a helpful little mutt that likes to stir things up on the ship, as well as try to help Scarlett find her mother. Kai will be the only person who knows that Scarlett is searching for her mother and can help her look because he is going to be in charge of communications for the ship so he always has a reason to be scanning for any information that could help find out what happened. He's really a sweetie under his annoying exterior.
To help think of characters, I've created a list that shows the positions I'd like them to fill and then I'll work in their personalities and what not. The positions aren't permanent because there are probably better ways to distribute them, so suggestions of possible positions are good. Also, help and comments are ALWAYS appreciated. :D
Scarlett Rayne Harper
In the mean time, I need to actually come up with these characters. I had one in my head already, Kai Sasaki, who is someone that Scarlett rescued from a hard life, and will probably be the youngest on the crew. He's just a helpful little mutt that likes to stir things up on the ship, as well as try to help Scarlett find her mother. Kai will be the only person who knows that Scarlett is searching for her mother and can help her look because he is going to be in charge of communications for the ship so he always has a reason to be scanning for any information that could help find out what happened. He's really a sweetie under his annoying exterior.
To help think of characters, I've created a list that shows the positions I'd like them to fill and then I'll work in their personalities and what not. The positions aren't permanent because there are probably better ways to distribute them, so suggestions of possible positions are good. Also, help and comments are ALWAYS appreciated. :D
Scarlett Rayne Harper
- Captain
- Pilot
- Part time engineer
Devon Marx
- Trying to hide from agency
- Becomes medic
- Also resident scientist
Kai Sasaki
- Communications
- Scarlett saved him somehow
- Young
- Knows that Scarlett is looking for mother, scans communications all the time for information
Jayne Clone
- Weapons master
- Protection of crew
Crew Member 4
- Ship defense
- In charge of mounted guns and other ship weapons/defense mechanisms
Crew Member 5
- Quartermaster
- In charge of knowing supplies, smuggled goods
- Final say on lodgings and the like
Crew Member 6
- Mercenary
Crew Member 7
- Full time engineer/mechanic
Crew Member 8
- Full time medic/physician
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Simple.
Just a quick update for tonight. Feeling rushed with the closing in of Spring Break. I can't wait to have more time to write. But I completed another character section for both Scarlett and Devon. Relationships/Families didn't take too long because Devon only has memories of past relationships and families because none of them were real. How depressing is that?
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Let's Meet the Main Characters
This is actually really exciting to me. I finally wrote a scene for my story that I'm calling "Meeting" and I'm going to share it with all of you! I decided to write about the first time Scarlett and Devon meet, and it happens on some far away, tiny little space station. It was quite fun writing a scene with those two in it because they both have such strong personalities. Maybe that'll help me write even more! We'll see.
I set up a new page called "Snippets" where I'll post whatever parts of the actual story I'm writing. I still need to get the rest of my crew made up and sort out all the plot holes and twists so that I can really get the ball rolling, but that takes time, something I don't have much of. I was actually sitting in Fraiser Hall this morning, typing part of this story to pass the time before class. I'm trying to be more productive with my time, haha. Anyway, on the Snippets page, there will be separate links for each story that open up Google Docs (because I love Google. :D) so that you guys can read them. Let me know what you think, any critiques, whatever. Just talk to me about it!
I set up a new page called "Snippets" where I'll post whatever parts of the actual story I'm writing. I still need to get the rest of my crew made up and sort out all the plot holes and twists so that I can really get the ball rolling, but that takes time, something I don't have much of. I was actually sitting in Fraiser Hall this morning, typing part of this story to pass the time before class. I'm trying to be more productive with my time, haha. Anyway, on the Snippets page, there will be separate links for each story that open up Google Docs (because I love Google. :D) so that you guys can read them. Let me know what you think, any critiques, whatever. Just talk to me about it!
Laziness at its Finest
Here I am, trying to write a bit of my story, and suddenly it's really late. D: I'll have to finish my exercise tomorrow. I'm working on it, I promise! Here's the first paragraph as proof.
All space stations seem to smell the same- human sweat, cooking meat, and metal mixed with stale air. I thought it smelled like home, its familiar scent calling me out of my ship, and decided to leave my crew behind while they bitched about the backwater station we had docked at to resupply. It had been awhile since I had visited SPC-261, but it looked like everything was still the same, down to the large blood stains that decorated this section of the outer layer. The rebellion had been mostly forgotten about, but the residents still didn't enjoy feds lurking around; just my kind of people.
All space stations seem to smell the same- human sweat, cooking meat, and metal mixed with stale air. I thought it smelled like home, its familiar scent calling me out of my ship, and decided to leave my crew behind while they bitched about the backwater station we had docked at to resupply. It had been awhile since I had visited SPC-261, but it looked like everything was still the same, down to the large blood stains that decorated this section of the outer layer. The rebellion had been mostly forgotten about, but the residents still didn't enjoy feds lurking around; just my kind of people.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Some Extra Work
Yeah, I know, it's like 4 in the morning, why am I still awake? Well, Daylight Savings is part of it because watching the clock go from 1:59 to 3:00 is quite strange. But it's also the weekend! So I decided to be productive while I watch Jesse play Sim City.
I updated Devon's page with the information in this new plot line and also went ahead and did his personality section which was fun because the more I think about him, the easier it is to sink into his personality. I can't wait to write some awesome scenes of banter with him. It's just hard for me to write without thinking of something else that would be different in the future. I'll figure it out.
I also changed my Storyline page a little bit, fixing the first two paragraphs to fit the new ideas I had as well as adding a few more paragraphs about the great war and the PCs.
Alright, I won't lie, I updated now because I have lots of homework to do when I wake up, lol.
I updated Devon's page with the information in this new plot line and also went ahead and did his personality section which was fun because the more I think about him, the easier it is to sink into his personality. I can't wait to write some awesome scenes of banter with him. It's just hard for me to write without thinking of something else that would be different in the future. I'll figure it out.
I also changed my Storyline page a little bit, fixing the first two paragraphs to fit the new ideas I had as well as adding a few more paragraphs about the great war and the PCs.
Alright, I won't lie, I updated now because I have lots of homework to do when I wake up, lol.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Writing Down Some Ideas
It started with one question, "What do you think a space station smells like?" and a few minutes later, Jesse and I were talking about having spherical space stations that utilized dark matter as a focal point for the gravity on board. This could make an onion-like construction, but the coolest point that came from this conversation, in my opinion, was the elevator system it could have. Imagine a gyroscopic elevator that could take you to any specific stop on the station, and if this requires changing orientation in relation to the central gravity, then the design of the elevator allows you to flip into the correct orientation without upsetting your ride. I just picture a couple having a discussion that carries into the elevator that then switches upside down from their original orientation but doesn't interrupt the banter at all. Am I weird for thinking that's cool?
Another idea came from some homework that any English Ed majors reading this will understand. M. T Anderson's Feed is a really interesting look at what technology and consumerism could do if they took over America. I thought the idea of incorporating computers directly into our bodies is a very realistic outcome in the future, but I don't want them to be exactly like the feed in that book, of course. I think they'd still be implants, probably in the skull or back of the neck, or wherever is best, but people can't legally obtain them before they receive their Certificate of Basic Education at 16. These PCs (I think this term could still stick around because they really are like computers that utilize our bodies as an interface) will allow people to be continually connected to the net where they can visit sites that are designed for a quick information transfer. The PC also stores documents and programs that can be accessed by closing your eyes and seeing the text in your mind. I picture someone closing their eyes, thinking 'access calendar,' and having their personal calendar pop up in their mind's eye and they can see anything they have going on, or simply what day or time it is, or if it's a holiday, or their favorite sports team has a game. The possibilities sure seem to be endless. I also liked the idea of sending chats to people with your mind, which was prevalent in Feed. So futuristic, just thinking thoughts to each other, sometimes sending memories to experience since they can be turned into files to send. I'm going crazy with ideas, haha.
I sat down with the intent to write a scene but instead got swept up by science. It might take me longer to write anything than I thought. Thinking about the future of technology is just way too much fun, but it will definitely help me have a plausible futuristic world when I do start writing the story.
Another idea came from some homework that any English Ed majors reading this will understand. M. T Anderson's Feed is a really interesting look at what technology and consumerism could do if they took over America. I thought the idea of incorporating computers directly into our bodies is a very realistic outcome in the future, but I don't want them to be exactly like the feed in that book, of course. I think they'd still be implants, probably in the skull or back of the neck, or wherever is best, but people can't legally obtain them before they receive their Certificate of Basic Education at 16. These PCs (I think this term could still stick around because they really are like computers that utilize our bodies as an interface) will allow people to be continually connected to the net where they can visit sites that are designed for a quick information transfer. The PC also stores documents and programs that can be accessed by closing your eyes and seeing the text in your mind. I picture someone closing their eyes, thinking 'access calendar,' and having their personal calendar pop up in their mind's eye and they can see anything they have going on, or simply what day or time it is, or if it's a holiday, or their favorite sports team has a game. The possibilities sure seem to be endless. I also liked the idea of sending chats to people with your mind, which was prevalent in Feed. So futuristic, just thinking thoughts to each other, sometimes sending memories to experience since they can be turned into files to send. I'm going crazy with ideas, haha.
I sat down with the intent to write a scene but instead got swept up by science. It might take me longer to write anything than I thought. Thinking about the future of technology is just way too much fun, but it will definitely help me have a plausible futuristic world when I do start writing the story.
Friday, March 8, 2013
And Now, A Reading Assignment
My helpful little sister sent me a great email last night that was filled with awesome questions to generate a story from my current ideas. I took my time with the response and came up with a possible idea for the plot of this book. Just thought I'd post my reply to help with the general understanding of what's going on. I'll incorporate it into my info pages so it's easier to look up when I'm writing.
900 years is a very long time and a lot of things can happen, which is what I always end up thinking about when I try to think of plot devices. I did (well, Jesse proposed it) have an idea for a war that would both set technology back and cause humans to want to leave earth and terraform other planets, probably Mars first. Somehow, the war would turn the Atlantic Ocean uninhabitable (possibly some African war full of nuclear weapons that start to destroy the Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Indian so humans are forced to work together to save the Pacific ocean. This would mean a lot of destruction, such as everything east of the Andes mountains in South America (especially the entire Amazon forest basin), the Caribbean, parts of Mexico/Latin America, the entire Eastern Seaboard of America, all of the United Kingdom, and many European countries, not to mention most of Africa, if not all of it) and only a few places would be habitable, such as Australia where Scarlett is from. This disaster would certainly set the technology of the age back and make it so technology is not 900 years advanced. That makes this a little easier to think about, I think. Because this would be a huuuuuge disaster and could easily put the Earth into a rebuilding era that could last hundreds of years simply because of the nuclear fallout. Scarlett could be the one to invent wormhole travel because space travel could also be rather new. I'm not super fond of trying to make up alien races, languages, idiosyncrasies, and stuff so probably no intelligent aliens.
I would like to be as original as possible, but I think I will have to borrow some ideas. I mean, I've already been inspired by several books for my ideas; can't you see Jax [heroine of Ann Aguirre's Sirantha Jax series] in Scarlett? I loved Jayne too much not to have an homage to him. I guess Devon is a little more like Mal than I though, lol. Some of my science-techy thoughts are from other books, like the space-travel age effect is from Ender's universe, but now that I have this war idea, I don't think space travel will be that old and therefore Devon is older for another reason. I think he might be the main plot device. Anyway, I'm okay with borrowing ideas as long as it's okay if I do, haha. I'll give credit where the credit is due!
I haven't thought too much about the planets yet, but I think it would be cool if each one is different. The planets in the Enderverse come to my mind, like each one is dominated by one culture/religion/ethnicity. Kind of like a country on a global scale. So by nature they would all be very different and have varying levels of technology and such.
To be honest, my story hasn't had much of a plot; it's just been character making and through their backgrounds I've been formulating a major story arch. Actually, most of it was created while I've been typing this email, haha. I'm thinking Devon is actually the main plot line, having been created on earth by some country that was able to keep up its technology through the radioactive apocalypse and has created humans that can live forever (their dna doesn't break down over time. Needs other improvements, though) and are probably trained to be sleeper agents or something. Like I said, it's still very new. But Scarlett could find Devon somewhere in the back alleys of space and help him escape from his weird sciencey fate at the hands of this secret agency. Hmm. I guess that sounds like Firefly... Is that bad? The idea is still being formulated, I guess, but maybe it would still work. I'll have to go back and fix the character sheet for Devon if I choose to follow this idea.
So then maybe Scarlett's treasure is saving Devon? She just likes being a pirate to be a pirate and have awesome adventures. I think she's also using it as a cover while she looks for her mother who disappeared when she was still very young. Perhaps the mother was taken by the same agency that made Devon? Oooh, the plot thickens. But for what reason? Maybe Scarlett's intuition is from a mutation in her genes that her mother carries and the agency wants to experiment on her! Ooh, this is fun to think about, haha.
But there is definitely going to be some romance between these characters [Devon and Scarlett]. I think it's going to be a prickly situation between the two of them first. I really want to write some wittily argumentative scenes between them. They're very opposite of each other for this reason, actually. I love romantic comedies, so I guess this relationship will be influenced by that.
And the antagonist of the story would be this agency, I guess? They're the ultimate evil as far as Devon knows, but there could be actual human antagonists for the subplots. I mean, Scarlett is a pirate, she's had to have made some enemies along the way. Plus she likes to out drink people, bar scenes are going to be great.
Now that's some improvement. :D
900 years is a very long time and a lot of things can happen, which is what I always end up thinking about when I try to think of plot devices. I did (well, Jesse proposed it) have an idea for a war that would both set technology back and cause humans to want to leave earth and terraform other planets, probably Mars first. Somehow, the war would turn the Atlantic Ocean uninhabitable (possibly some African war full of nuclear weapons that start to destroy the Atlantic Ocean and parts of the Indian so humans are forced to work together to save the Pacific ocean. This would mean a lot of destruction, such as everything east of the Andes mountains in South America (especially the entire Amazon forest basin), the Caribbean, parts of Mexico/Latin America, the entire Eastern Seaboard of America, all of the United Kingdom, and many European countries, not to mention most of Africa, if not all of it) and only a few places would be habitable, such as Australia where Scarlett is from. This disaster would certainly set the technology of the age back and make it so technology is not 900 years advanced. That makes this a little easier to think about, I think. Because this would be a huuuuuge disaster and could easily put the Earth into a rebuilding era that could last hundreds of years simply because of the nuclear fallout. Scarlett could be the one to invent wormhole travel because space travel could also be rather new. I'm not super fond of trying to make up alien races, languages, idiosyncrasies, and stuff so probably no intelligent aliens.
I would like to be as original as possible, but I think I will have to borrow some ideas. I mean, I've already been inspired by several books for my ideas; can't you see Jax [heroine of Ann Aguirre's Sirantha Jax series] in Scarlett? I loved Jayne too much not to have an homage to him. I guess Devon is a little more like Mal than I though, lol. Some of my science-techy thoughts are from other books, like the space-travel age effect is from Ender's universe, but now that I have this war idea, I don't think space travel will be that old and therefore Devon is older for another reason. I think he might be the main plot device. Anyway, I'm okay with borrowing ideas as long as it's okay if I do, haha. I'll give credit where the credit is due!
I haven't thought too much about the planets yet, but I think it would be cool if each one is different. The planets in the Enderverse come to my mind, like each one is dominated by one culture/religion/ethnicity. Kind of like a country on a global scale. So by nature they would all be very different and have varying levels of technology and such.
To be honest, my story hasn't had much of a plot; it's just been character making and through their backgrounds I've been formulating a major story arch. Actually, most of it was created while I've been typing this email, haha. I'm thinking Devon is actually the main plot line, having been created on earth by some country that was able to keep up its technology through the radioactive apocalypse and has created humans that can live forever (their dna doesn't break down over time. Needs other improvements, though) and are probably trained to be sleeper agents or something. Like I said, it's still very new. But Scarlett could find Devon somewhere in the back alleys of space and help him escape from his weird sciencey fate at the hands of this secret agency. Hmm. I guess that sounds like Firefly... Is that bad? The idea is still being formulated, I guess, but maybe it would still work. I'll have to go back and fix the character sheet for Devon if I choose to follow this idea.
So then maybe Scarlett's treasure is saving Devon? She just likes being a pirate to be a pirate and have awesome adventures. I think she's also using it as a cover while she looks for her mother who disappeared when she was still very young. Perhaps the mother was taken by the same agency that made Devon? Oooh, the plot thickens. But for what reason? Maybe Scarlett's intuition is from a mutation in her genes that her mother carries and the agency wants to experiment on her! Ooh, this is fun to think about, haha.
But there is definitely going to be some romance between these characters [Devon and Scarlett]. I think it's going to be a prickly situation between the two of them first. I really want to write some wittily argumentative scenes between them. They're very opposite of each other for this reason, actually. I love romantic comedies, so I guess this relationship will be influenced by that.
And the antagonist of the story would be this agency, I guess? They're the ultimate evil as far as Devon knows, but there could be actual human antagonists for the subplots. I mean, Scarlett is a pirate, she's had to have made some enemies along the way. Plus she likes to out drink people, bar scenes are going to be great.
Now that's some improvement. :D
Thursday, March 7, 2013
For Shelby
Because I love you and the fact you read my stuffs and are the only person to have commented on anything on this blog.
Anyway, the snow is almost gone, but it's been over a week since I've updated anything! I know, I know, I'm bad. I've just had so much school work and paperwork that I had to take a break. I did take up guitar in this time, interestingly enough. Haha, but I also did some thinking about this story even though I didn't post anything.
New character idea: Gotta have the opposite of Devon, so the as-of-yet unnamed crew member is a big, burly, buff guy that is in charge of the ship's weapons as well as protection of the crew. He is the epitome of the testosterone-rampant male and he thinks he has a claim on Scarlett, though she certainly does not feel the same. This can lead to some fun scenes between him and Devon because Devon is very suave in his words and this guy is, let's just say not the brightest star in the galaxy. He at least takes his job of protection seriously and loves the fact that he has more weapons than he knows what to do with, thanks to the pirate-y ways of Captain Scarlett. Yarr. I guess his inspiration is none other than Jayne Cobb, because that man, is hilarious and sure loves his guns.
Also some new questions: What is skin tone like in this time? Has it become an amalgamation of all skin tones due to all the interracial relationships or are there still visible differences?
What kind of government would be in place? Would it span the galaxy or would there be small factions?
How many languages would exist? There should be a galactic standard, right?
I've also been thinking about writing a few random scenes, try to get a better feel for my characters and the story. I guess I'll make another page and try to put them up if I ever get around to writing anything. I really want to advance this idea. D: Guess I'll get back to thinking. And thanks to you guys that read this! Your ideas (if you ever talk to me or post any comments!) always help me think of something new for the story!
Anyway, the snow is almost gone, but it's been over a week since I've updated anything! I know, I know, I'm bad. I've just had so much school work and paperwork that I had to take a break. I did take up guitar in this time, interestingly enough. Haha, but I also did some thinking about this story even though I didn't post anything.
New character idea: Gotta have the opposite of Devon, so the as-of-yet unnamed crew member is a big, burly, buff guy that is in charge of the ship's weapons as well as protection of the crew. He is the epitome of the testosterone-rampant male and he thinks he has a claim on Scarlett, though she certainly does not feel the same. This can lead to some fun scenes between him and Devon because Devon is very suave in his words and this guy is, let's just say not the brightest star in the galaxy. He at least takes his job of protection seriously and loves the fact that he has more weapons than he knows what to do with, thanks to the pirate-y ways of Captain Scarlett. Yarr. I guess his inspiration is none other than Jayne Cobb, because that man, is hilarious and sure loves his guns.
Also some new questions: What is skin tone like in this time? Has it become an amalgamation of all skin tones due to all the interracial relationships or are there still visible differences?
What kind of government would be in place? Would it span the galaxy or would there be small factions?
How many languages would exist? There should be a galactic standard, right?
I've also been thinking about writing a few random scenes, try to get a better feel for my characters and the story. I guess I'll make another page and try to put them up if I ever get around to writing anything. I really want to advance this idea. D: Guess I'll get back to thinking. And thanks to you guys that read this! Your ideas (if you ever talk to me or post any comments!) always help me think of something new for the story!
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