prillalar | Pondering

for the first one -- YES. I get a series of images fixed in my brain, but they're all visual and I can't figure out how to translate them into something verbal.

about the attractive/functional one: how about the fact that babies are happier around conventionally beautiful people? that makes me sad!

I'm usually more verbal than visual, but I've been imagining this one story for months and months and so it's sort of stuck. *g*

I wonder what it is about "conventional beauty" that we're hardwired for it. Evolutionarily, why? Hmm.

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diluvian.livejournal.com - 2004-05-11 11:30 (UTC) - Expand

Yup.

Sort of, yeah, yes.

Guess so, oh dear.

No idea, hope not, he'd better not, the little grey bastard, even if Jack sometimes cheats on him with Daniel!

Never! =)

he'd better not, the little grey bastard, even if Jack sometimes cheats on him with Daniel!

Thor -- intergalactic heartbreaker!

I enjoy your questions, even if I do feel like my head is packed full of cotton fuzz, and thus I am incapable of answering them coherently. *g*

I love your cotton fuzz icon. :)

What do you think would happen if a member of the Royal Family was a wizard?

O_O Harry, I assume?

If Thor was cheating on Jack with Maybourne?

OMG NOOOO u r A evaL homwrecka! ThorNJak4eva!!!!OMHWT!F!!

OMG NOOOO u r A evaL homwrecka! ThorNJak4eva!!!!OMHWT!F!!

~~I quite agree~~ Yeah, dude, eval!!1!! Thar&Jak OTP!!!1!!!!!!!!11! 2gether4eva LOL!!1!!!1!!

(P.S. Love your icon.)

What do you think would happen if a member of the Royal Family was a wizard?

O_O Harry, I assume?

Hee! I was thinking more generally. Would they have to go away to school? Would they have a private tutor? Do the Royal Family already know about wizards or would it be a big surprise? Would it make the MoM freak out? Would wizardy be exposed to the public?

Ah, each question breeds more and more!

OMG NOOOO u r A evaL homwrecka! ThorNJak4eva!!!!OMHWT!F!!

I think the Jack-Thor-Harry [Maybourne -- don't freak, HP fans] triangle would be quite interesting. Esp since Harry is in love with Jack anyhow.

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nostalgia-lj.livejournal.com - 2004-05-11 08:35 (UTC) - Expand

so vivid in your mind that it felt almost impossible to get out in words?

No, never, now that I think about it. I think in words. Sometimes when I dream I have subtitles. I spose I'm not that visual then. Words only fail me when I don't know what I think or feel, not when I have a clear idea.

And that it works the same way with people?

Way of the world, well built means: healthy, fresh, good to eat, good to shag, strong.

Did you ever want to smack me for asking too many questions?

No such thing.

Sometimes when I dream I have subtitles

That is way cool. I'm not all that visual either, but I've been thinking about this one for so long, it's become somewhat non-verbal in my brain.

The longer I think about a story before I start to write, the less likely I am to ever actually write it. I start to "see" it as a movie in my head, and don't think I can ever translate those images back to the written word.

I often think about stories during the two hour drive to my parent's house or on business trips, when I can only think and can't write. By the time I'm in a position to put any of it down, it's so visually complete that I feel overwhelmed and don't know where/how to start.

Explains why I've only ever finished one story *L*.

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prillalar - 2004-05-11 07:08 (UTC) - Expand

Did you ever have a story that had existed in your head for so long, possibly because you had to write six seven challenge stories first, and became so vivid in your mind that it felt almost impossible to get out in words?

No. But I do have stories waiting for me to become a better writer and sometimes I feel sorry for the stories that are sacrificed for them, that I might learn things and improve.

Did you ever think about how language -- spoken, written -- is an interface between our brains?

Yes.

That when I write a story, that's my interface from my brain to yours?

Yes.

If reading about interface design could make you a better writer?

Notice how the argument that supports no beta, no spellcheck, no grammar, no care is often about the me me me of the author with a rejection of any consideration for whether or not the reader understands the story? Yes.

Did you know that when people find something attractive and aesthetically pleasing, they also perceive it as working better and being easier to use than if it were functional but plain?

Yes.

And that it works the same way with people?

Oh, yes.

What do you think would happen if a member of the Royal Family was a wizard?

They are. It's Prince Harry. Fayed Snr was half right about Diana being killed, not in an accident. Rowling's books are a clever expose of the plot. The woman who masquerades as JK is actually an MI5 plant. The real author is in hiding in Cardiff. Didn't you know?

If Ed and Al met up with Nicolas Flamel and got the Philosopher's Stone off him?

No.

If Thor was cheating on Jack with Maybourne?

Only in my fever dreams.

Did you ever want to smack me for asking too many questions?

Not ever. I want to hug your questions and call them George. And Kenneth.

What do you think would happen if a member of the Royal Family was a wizard?

They are. It's Prince Harry. Fayed Snr was half right about Diana being killed, not in an accident. Rowling's books are a clever expose of the plot. The woman who masquerades as JK is actually an MI5 plant. The real author is in hiding in Cardiff. Didn't you know?

Aiee! Are we going to be "silenced" now, cause we know?

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copracat - 2004-05-11 07:12 (UTC) - Expand

and became so vivid in your mind that it felt almost impossible to get out in words?

I have this problem all the time. If I have a story all planned out in my head before I've written a word (a very rare thing for me- I usually get a tiny idea and then just dive in), I find it almost impossible to write. It's as though my brain considers it already written, since it is so clear in my head, and I can't make the words happen. It's very strange.

We need some sort of brain siphon device, to get those stories out and into the computer. Firewire would be best.

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dorrie6.livejournal.com - 2004-05-11 07:15 (UTC) - Expand

If Ed and Al met up with Nicolas Flamel and got the Philosopher's Stone off him?

I was talking about that with a friend just yesterday. We'd just watched the first few episodes at the university anime society. It could happen.

It's the coolest fucking show ever and now everything is in an uproar because it's been licensed, or probably licensed, or something. Ack! Need my fansubs!

*koff* Sorry about that. I'm a little uptight about it right now. Thank god I didn't get into GW until that was over and done with.

Did you ever have a story that had existed in your head for so long, possibly because you had to write six seven challenge stories first, and became so vivid in your mind that it felt almost impossible to get out in words?

Yes. There have been several stories I've "lost" because I polished them in my head so often that they never made it to paper.

Did you ever think about how language -- spoken, written -- is an interface between our brains? That when I write a story, that's my interface from my brain to yours? If reading about interface design could make you a better writer?

No, I can't say I have. I think about language and how it works a lot, especially now, but I've never thought of it in quite those terms. Although you're right-- it is about interfacing, in some ways. That's another name for communication.

Did you know that when people find something attractive and aesthetically pleasing, they also perceive it as working better and being easier to use than if it were functional but plain? And that it works the same way with people?

No, I hadn't thought of that in those terms, either. I'm going to have to think about it some more now you've mentioned it, though.

What do you think would happen if a member of the Royal Family was a wizard?

Draco/Prince Charles! I have suggested this before, but

loneraven freaked out and I never wrote it.

If Thor was cheating on Jack with Maybourne?

Jack would love it. At last, the perfect reason for killing Maybourne!

Did you ever want to smack me for asking too many questions?

Not yet.

No, I can't say I have. I think about language and how it works a lot, especially now, but I've never thought of it in quite those terms. Although you're right-- it is about interfacing, in some ways. That's another name for communication.

I read a book about interface design a few years ago and since then, I've found that it's often helpful to approach problems, esp problems of communication, from that perspective: the interface needs to be improved. It helps me to take my focus off other people or situations and put it on how to make things better.

Draco/Prince Charles! I have suggested this before, but loneraven freaked out and I never wrote it.

Aieee! Put me on the freakout list too! *g*

Jack would love it. At last, the perfect reason for killing Maybourne!

But Jack sekritly loves Maybourne too! What a tragic triangle...

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not-vacillating.livejournal.com - 2004-05-11 07:45 (UTC) - Expand

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prillalar - 2004-05-12 07:51 (UTC) - Expand

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not-vacillating.livejournal.com - 2004-05-12 08:07 (UTC) - Expand

Did you ever have a story that had existed in your head for so long, possibly because you had to writesix seven challenge stories first, and became so vivid in your mind that it felt almost impossible to get out in words?

I have a bunch of these. They get so detailed - and are so based in the visual rather than the written - that it would be more work to write them down than it would be worth, it seems like. If I could plug my brain into a video camera and film it, I would.

Many of them are several years old. :-)

I think they can get rooted in the visceral as well, where it's not even really visual or verbal -- it's working on your brain at the lowest level, making you react in certain ways. It seems a near-impossible task to get the story out and make other people react in the same way.

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(Anonymous) - 2004-05-11 08:28 (UTC) - Expand

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prillalar - 2004-05-12 07:53 (UTC) - Expand

Did you ever want to smack me for asking too many questions?

No, I want to smack you because I am emotionally stunted and can only express my deep, heart-felt love in this way. [/marcus flint]

Hee! *dodges the smack and snogs you*

Tough love the Slytherin way

ladyvyola.livejournal.com - 2004-05-11 11:50 (UTC) - Expand

Well, I don't do story challenges very often, and only write what comes to me. However, usually what comes to me is a snapshot of visuals (where I want my boys to be), and the dialogue starts in my head. I do a lot of descriptive work, so if nothing else, I just describe what I "see" in my mind's eye. So the answer to the question is "no". The first one, anyway, as well as the last! :)

That sounds like a fun way to approach it -- so often, I'm trying to capture not a visual, but an emotion that I've imagined for the story and it's hard to work out how to get that down.

Did you ever have a story that had existed in your head for so long, possibly because you had to write six seven challenge stories first, and became so vivid in your mind that it felt almost impossible to get out in words?

Did you ever think about how language -- spoken, written -- is an interface between our brains? That when I write a story, that's my interface from my brain to yours? If reading about interface design could make you a better writer?

Yes and yes. I think about language a lot, because it separates humans from animals. Communication of ideas instead of concrete facts. Mmmm. I have problems with writing sometimes because my imagination is so visually oriented. And aurally-oriented - I hear things, or see them, and translating them adequately into words can feel so frustrating. I wrote my first fanfiction story (Smallville, Whitney, for some reason I never could tell) because I was brushing my teeth and *words* came to me. The stories I like best feel like I'm channelling words from some part of me that I can't otherwise reach. There's an ease to the writing, instead of a labor. This is probably why I'm not very prolific - I feel like I have to wait until the words flow.

There's no such things as too many questions.

Sometimes I get that ease in writing, but sometimes it's like breaking rocks. And, really, the easiest and the hardest stories are probably my best. But I think they come from different places inside of me.

There's no such things as too many questions.

Here's one I heard the other day: There's no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid people who ask questions.

Did you ever have a story that had existed in your head for so long, possibly because you had to write six seven challenge stories first, and became so vivid in your mind that it felt almost impossible to get out in words?

I'm having this particular problem right now, although it's more because I know how everyone feels at a visceral level and am having a hard time detaching enough to write the scene down.

I had a similar problem, where it was a movie in my head, with my story "Someday" and I knew I needed to write it but. I. couldn't. And it's turned out to be one of the single best things I've ever written.

I'm having this particular problem right now, although it's more because I know how everyone feels at a visceral level and am having a hard time detaching enough to write the scene down.

Yes, that's so often it! It's trying to translate that into words that the other person will then translate back into that feeling that's so hard. It's easier with ideas than with feelings.

Did you ever have a story that had existed in your head for so long, possibly because you had to write six seven challenge stories first, and became so vivid in your mind that it felt almost impossible to get out in words?

Never a story, no, although there were times when the DS series had aspects of this that it flaunted at me. But mostly that was about a general knowing what would happen but a *lack* of vividness.

However, this has sometimes happened to me with vids. The most extreme example was "Rook," one of the first vids I ever wanted to make, which I had to wait for years to have the technical skill it required...and even now, I don't think the vid that exists is the one I had in my head. The one in my head is better.

Did you ever think about how language -- spoken, written -- is an interface between our brains?

The last time that occurred to me was when I read Clan of the Cave Bear for the first time. *g* What? Shuuuuut uuuuup!

That when I write a story, that's my interface from my brain to yours?

I don't usually think about this when I read a story, unless the author's got her own issues hanging out all over the place. But when you and I used to collaborate, I think I felt that way all the time, in both directions.

If reading about interface design could make you a better writer?

If only! But I've been reading about interface design for almost ten years, and I don't think it's helped my writing at all. It's helped my design, though, and my vidding as well.

Did you know that when people find something attractive and aesthetically pleasing, they also perceive it as working better and being easier to use than if it were functional but plain?

I think I knew this, although perhaps not expressed in these words.

And that it works the same way with people?

That just makes me want to cry.

I can't answer your wizard question. I'll leave that to the experts. (:

Did you ever want to smack me for asking too many questions?

Absolutely not.

I don't usually think about this when I read a story, unless the author's got her own issues hanging out all over the place. But when you and I used to collaborate, I think I felt that way all the time, in both directions.

Interesting! I don't think about it so much while I'm reading, but when I'm pondering life and brains, usually while riding the bus to work. I suppose I think of people as brains with carrying cases. And the carrying cases can't directly share information other than genetic information, so we have to make other ways to swap info.

I wonder why we're so compelled to swap info anyhow. Which forms of life *don't* do this? How many species swap info with members of *other* species? Aaaaah! Too many questions.

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laurashapiro.livejournal.com - 2004-05-16 11:21 (UTC) - Expand

My problem with No. 1 is not that I can't make it language, but once a story lives in my head for too long, I become convinced that it's totally cliche'd and no on else would want to see it, simply because *I* have been staring at it so long.

I don't know if that's happened to me, but the longer I've thought about a story, the more likely I am to subconsciously think I've actually already written it and wonder why people aren't sending me feedback for it. *g*

"If reading about interface design could make you a better writer? "

Oh yes yes yes yes.

After I read Nielsen's DESIGNING WEB USABILITY, I started using lists in my personal correspondence. Lists nicely arrange parallel thoughts into easily-skimmable, vertical text, instead of horizontal, word-wrapped text. I haven't applied it much to fiction writing yet, though. The format of modern dialogue display tends to emulate a list. Kinda.

I also write in very short paragraphs, to avoid the "wall of text" effect that reduces readability for onscreen display, since most fanfic is read online, and rarely printed on paper. 'Cuz dammit, my printer's ink cartridges cost a fortune.

Also, copying good newspaper writing style can help when you need to convey lots of info into fewest words possible in order to maintain a story's pace. The who-what-where-when-why form comes in handy when you're nearing the climax of the story and must introduce new elements such as characters or settings.

Did you ever want to smack me for asking too many questions?

Only in a consensually slashy way. ;-)

After I read Nielsen's DESIGNING WEB USABILITY, I started using lists in my personal correspondence. Lists nicely arrange parallel thoughts into easily-skimmable, vertical text, instead of horizontal, word-wrapped text. I haven't applied it much to fiction writing yet, though. The format of modern dialogue display tends to emulate a list. Kinda.

Yes, I do that too, though I still find that in email, people (well, not you and me!) are prone to read the first item and respond only to that, no matter how carefully I've laid things out. I want to hurt those people.

I haven't really done any concrete thinking about how I could apply interface design to fiction writing, but I'm always trying to revise and refine my theories of communication. Perhaps I should devise some principles and test them. *g*

Did you ever want to smack me for asking too many questions?

Only in a consensually slashy way. ;-)

Hee! Bring it on. :)

I sometimes think language is an interface between me and my brain. Slowing down and putting things into words (or occasionally diagrams, equations, or badly drawn stick figures) helps me work out what I'm really thinking.

Once I've thought a story all the way through, playing it like a movie with action and dialogue and occasional verbal narrative, it's almost hopeless to try to write it. It's done, it's over, it's essentially dead.

I sometimes think language is an interface between me and my brain.

Interesting thought! I guess that's true on some levels. I'm never sure whether I'm thinking in language or not. Well, I am right now, since I'm actually writing words down. But when I'm riding the bus pondering life? Dunno.

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::applauds interesting questions::

Re: ::applauds interesting questions::

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Me too!

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User Interface Writing

Re: User Interface Writing

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