tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-101570902011-12-14T19:02:55.435-08:00My writing blog, experiments, and lessons in writing.Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.comBlogger481100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1158431664480814972006-09-16T11:33:00.000-07:002006-09-16T11:34:24.496-07:00

Returning to my story a day project, I'm studying Albert E Cowdrey's Revelation in the October/November issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction. I can't say that I've read anything by Cowdrey before, which isn't surprising because I haven't read a lot of F&SF, which is the only magazine in which he has been published.On first read, this story seems to break all the "rules" of writing that I've

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1148325469209311042006-05-22T11:58:00.000-07:002006-05-22T12:17:49.223-07:00

Do you ever read a story and wonder what, if anything, you got from the experience? "Perfect Freak" is one of those stories. It has no start, no middle, and no end. A story like this could go on forever. The story presents two people reacting to a world which is a logical extension of one of humanities current fads: pointless cosmentic surgery. They react in different ways, but there is no

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1141680551257130532006-03-06T13:10:00.000-08:002006-03-06T13:29:11.273-08:00

I love Baseball. I like Robert Reed. This was one of his more approachable stories. The idea behind the conflict is really cool. The best part about the idea that drives the story is that pitchers don't have to wait for robotic umpires and instantaneous steroid testing to implement it. There is no character arc. The protagonist is a pitcher deep in the ninth with no outs and the winning run

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1137966520843934372006-01-22T13:46:00.000-08:002006-01-22T13:48:40.866-08:00

Thank God I decided to update this once a week. It's much easier to keep track of this way.Antieau, Kim, Storm Poet (Asimov's January 2006)Odd coming of age story set in 1932. A boy hangs out with his 'crazy' uncle and revives a bit of fantasy in a life with too little dreams. Even though I had little to identify with this family, I was touched.Comear, Joey, The Machine (Strange Horizons, 16

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1137375045295071112006-01-15T17:29:00.000-08:002006-01-15T17:49:48.833-08:00

Another week of a Story A Day, I've had some ups and downs. So, here's my week in review. I could have sworn there was another story this week, but there wasn't. I did read a 20,000 word story for my workshop, which may be why my count is off.Bobet, Leah, The Girl With the Heart of Stone (Strange Horizons, Jan 9, 2006)Odd fantasy story about a girl who grows up heartless, wins her heart, and

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1136784053611057862006-01-08T20:58:00.000-08:002006-01-08T21:20:53.626-08:00

After a week of a Story A Day, I've had some ups and downs. So, here's my week in reviewBarnes, John, The Little White Nerves Went Last (Analog, Mar 2006)What I liked about this was the realistic flashback to a characters childhood. The context before the flashback was kind of confusing, but the flashback cleared up a few things, and the flashback really needed the surrounding story. It's hard

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1136758377345563682006-01-08T14:12:00.000-08:002006-01-08T14:12:57.360-08:00

I was thinking about a story I'm working on, and it reminded me of a previous story I wrote and one of the comments I got back several times. I had a character with an odd telepathic or empathic power (I was never sure) and I added a two or three paragraph hint as to how this happened. Why? Because I could just hear the voices of my workshop saying "How did he get these powers? Where did it come

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1136491034096216562006-01-05T11:50:00.000-08:002006-01-05T11:57:14.113-08:00

I lost yesterday's post. Oh well. I was discussing my new years resolution to read and critique a story per day. Daily devotions don't work well with me. I'll probably read a story a day, but I probably won't make public comments on them. If I do it will be here or at my new blog (http://www.livejournal.com/users/joshenglish/">http://www.livejournal.com/users/joshenglish/) which will

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1135806041172429072005-12-28T13:15:00.000-08:002005-12-28T13:43:36.116-08:00

I know that I'm a no-name writer. I haven't sold anything, so my stories go straight into the slush pile. My best bet for a first sale is to an anthology or contest where every entry starts in the same slush pile. When you send a submission to a well established magazine, submissions are separated into the "we know this person" pile and the "we don't know this person" pile. I'm sure some

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1135027509329058832005-12-19T13:06:00.000-08:002005-12-19T13:25:09.343-08:00

And that means I have about ten days to finish editing my WOTF entry for this quarter. I have also gone through a year in review of my work, since I'm pulling out a story that I wrote back in February and dusting it off. Since starting the "serious" side of my publishing life, I have written 43 stories, six of which I am actively trying to sell, and seven of which are in my "half breed" lists,

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1133301193928706172005-11-29T13:49:00.000-08:002005-11-29T13:53:13.930-08:00

Life got the better of me. I got about 11,000 words of a novel written, and a 5,000 word short story that could easily be put in the novel, but with a new working schedule, I just didn't find the time to write.In fact, I wrote another 5,000 word short last monday, and yesterday I added another 400 words to complete the thing, but I'm still editing it, and I have six or seven stories that I'm

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1130912238064221602005-11-01T22:12:00.000-08:002005-11-01T22:17:18.076-08:00

It's November, which means it's time to write a novel. I got started on my next novel with 2,861 words. I need to average 1,667 words a day to meet the goal, but I ended up skipping my writing workshop, which takes up several hours of my time on Tuesdays. With a new job and new schedule, my writing has taken a hit on hours, but yesterday I managed to get a couple thousand words ona story that

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1128625740339138082005-10-06T12:01:00.000-07:002005-10-06T12:09:00.346-07:00

I had "THE DREAM" a few nights ago. I hope it's a normal dream for new writers. Besides my writing, I program, and to keep track of my stories and submissions I've written a few tools to help me organize and report on things. Testing this system over several days I see one number creep up past 60: The number of days since I sent a story toa certain magazine. I know that the Writers of the

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1127197915289387052005-09-19T23:24:00.000-07:002005-09-19T23:31:55.296-07:00

I was reviewing a story to review when I realized that, like any good reader, I was asking questions about the text. What I realized during this story is that there is a difference between questions that engage the reader, and questions that throw the reader out of the story, reminding them that they are, in fact, reading a story. In SpecFic, what I write, it is important to remember that the

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1126110065285239382005-09-07T09:14:00.000-07:002005-09-07T09:21:05.290-07:00

I go to a weekly writing workshop that is 120 miles from home. Sadly, my family is functionally broke. My wife is working a temp job, but we won't see a paycheck capable of paying rent until three weeks after the rent is due. I can no longer justify the cost of going to this workshop. It takes me $50 a week in gas to drive my car, thanks to the price gouging of the oil companies. I have had

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1123745680051248492005-08-11T00:23:00.000-07:002005-08-11T00:34:40.056-07:00

(I haven't done a word of the day in months, might as well try it again)Universal Translators don't help much if you don't understand the culture. When the Thrxya arrived, hovering in their gleaming gold colored ships over the White House, they seemed very patient with us while we learned their language and they learned ours.Unfortunately, because the translators relied on their computers to get

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1123744389285447202005-08-10T23:57:00.000-07:002005-08-11T00:13:09.290-07:00

Just for a lark I picked up Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird. I do not find her an inspirational writer, especially when I start reading her experience of every first draft being absolutely wretched. I've had a hot and cold week. After getting back home after a family emergency I wrote two first drafts. These weren't really brainstorms, they were full drafts, beginning, middle, and end. The whole

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1122260210556298612005-07-24T19:52:00.000-07:002005-07-24T19:56:50.563-07:00

I haven't written anything in weeks. I haven't been able to deal with all of the comments I got on my last story which I really liked. I feel it is a strong story and the fact that no one mentioned the symbolism meant I did it right. Nobody noticed. The protagonist is a priest, and the comments I got from people I think are secular wanted him to be more priest like, even though he is a burned

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1118353937309073402005-06-09T14:48:00.000-07:002005-06-09T14:52:17.313-07:00

Well, I finished the brainstorm draft. I saw one ending to the story, but I didn't write it down in any detail because at this point I'm pretty sure I don't want to use it. If this was going to get to novella length, then I would probably use it, but I feel the ending, as I envision it, lacks punch.So today is the first wave of sculpting. I'll have to do a good job and take my time because I

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1118353723223587452005-06-09T14:45:00.000-07:002005-06-09T14:48:43.226-07:00

I got my rejection from Writers of the Future. I made the quarterfinals, which is what I expected. Ok, what I really expected was a letter mid-April (I sent this on March 31st) telling me to never send them a story ever again, but that's just me. I'm close to sending my third quarter submission, probably next week, but I will probably wait until the very end. The story I'm working on this

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1118259006584583262005-06-08T12:25:00.000-07:002005-06-08T12:30:06.593-07:00

This just isn't working out this week. I still haven't finished that brainstorm draft. Fortunately the more I work on it, the better the language gets, the closer it is to becoming sculpted. That means that I'll have to do less sculpting on the last part ofthe story. That's a good thing.The original plan was to work on the first draft on Day 3, second draft of Day 4, then give it to my wife,

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1118169254883668102005-06-07T11:20:00.000-07:002005-07-24T20:07:54.553-07:00

Well, I only got about two hours worth of writing done yesterday, and I may only have an hour today to finish to brainstorm draft. I went to bed last night not knowing how I'd finish the story. Fortunately it came to me today. I had intended to read the brainstorm this morning and start cherry picking the good ideas. That will have to wait until tomorrow. Sometimes brainstorms can take a

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1118085903602685442005-06-06T12:17:00.000-07:002005-06-06T12:25:03.606-07:00

This is the last week of an eight week course I'm taking on the short story. The goal is to produce a short story every week. This is good advice for new writers, but can be an intimidating goal. This week I hope to get at least three hours a day on my eighth story. I also have to read and critique close to twenty stories by the end of the week, so I'll do my best. Here's the plan for Day

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1117666203232052812005-06-01T15:34:00.000-07:002005-06-01T15:50:03.236-07:00

I tried to avoid it, but this is eating me up all day as I try to re-design one of my stories for WotF. I know a lot of people refer to the 'vomit draft' in their own writing process. It's a disgusting phrase, and it's even worse in a workshop. Imagine being asked "is this a vomit draft?" by someone critiquing your work. That's just one step above "I'm sorry I don't have the copy you gave me.

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1117641049590835382005-06-01T08:21:00.000-07:002005-06-01T08:50:49.593-07:00

A lot of writers have rules. Most of these rules apply to the stories, but there are a few that pertain to the art and craft of writing. One of these "rules" is that all first drafts suck. Anne Lamott makes this claim. I think it's bullshit. Why do writers tell new writers this? To make them revise and revisit their work. The very least a writer can do is check for spelling errors and

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1117046615356547032005-05-25T11:38:00.000-07:002005-05-25T11:43:35.360-07:00

You've got to hand it old Carl. He managed to spread all of those rumours about John around the office without being the obvious source. All that stuff about John being a pedophile? Rubbish, but I heard Carl talk about it last year after John got the better review, then Carl didn't mention it at all. Two months ago it all came back into the open. All he did was leave a memo on the copier and

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1116345344827095322005-05-17T08:46:00.000-07:002005-05-17T08:55:44.833-07:00

All Black Bart said was that he was headed to Boomtown. That's it. He never said why he was going, who he was going to see, but we all knew about Black Bart. Boomtown cleared out, the barman of the saloon was brave enough to stay behind. He didn't want Black Bart to get thirsty, because everyone knew what happened when Bart got thisty. The sherriff ordered his youngest deputy to stay behind

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1116263570117822672005-05-16T10:12:00.000-07:002005-05-16T10:12:50.130-07:00

He sat up all night burning the midnight oil to finish his story. It was going to knock the socks off of his audience. He'd blow them away with his characterizations, blow their minds with the plot twist. When they got to the end of his two thousand word epic they'd greet him with 'heil, writer' and give up writing themselves because they could never match his skill. The first review: I'd

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1116005580309064182005-05-13T10:16:00.000-07:002005-05-13T10:33:00.313-07:00

The glistening trail running across the pavement told me a slug was nearby. I knelt down and examined it closely. It was moving to the left. I followed the trail until I found the slug working its way through the grass. Ever since I was five I've carried my special slug treasure hunting kit. My uncle showed me how ot make one. The kit only needed two things, a pair of tongs from the kitchen,

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1115910269667580812005-05-12T07:51:00.000-07:002005-05-12T08:04:29.700-07:00

I woke up this morning with a pair of wings attached to my back. They're not fake. I flew to school this morning and got all the crazy looks from the other students. They all avoided me today. Some of them teased me. Someone threw a box of chocolate milk on my new white wings during lunch. I went outside to shake them off, but I didn't see the principal behind me so he got showered in

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1115829437979366702005-05-11T09:26:00.000-07:002005-05-11T09:37:17.996-07:00

He slams his fists on his desk. She props her fists on her hips.He sneers out of the side of his mouth. Her eyebrows vault.His hands relax. Her brow wrinkles.He sits down. She steps back.He rubs his temples with his fingertips. She leans onto his desk.His hands drop on his desk, palm up, fingers curled. She rests her elbows on the desk and puts her hands in his.His eyes shut tightly; a tear

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1115739742683427542005-05-10T08:36:00.000-07:002005-05-10T08:42:22.696-07:00

Jenny's heart stammered when she saw the stuffing on the floor. Not a single stuffed animal, her friends and playmates, were in their normal place in her room. The dog had never attacked one of her stuffed animals before. Who did this to her life? She scampered around the room, putting everyone back in their homes. "Vanilla, Mary, Magnus, Willifred, Ling-Ling, ..." Soon every one of them

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1115651596363320712005-05-09T08:03:00.000-07:002005-05-09T08:13:16.380-07:00

"I don't believe you have the nerve to ask for a raise," my manager shouted at the top of his lungs. He wanted to make sure that everyone on the floor could hear him in their open cubicles. "You work 50 hours a week with no overtime, maintain a 100% call pick up rate, get every customer off the phone in 6 1/2 minutes, and you think you deserve a raise?" His face is beet red."That email was

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1114617770762487152005-04-27T08:57:00.000-07:002005-04-27T09:02:50.763-07:00

I don't know how it happened, but I seem to have a large number of stories almost ready to be reviewed in a workshop. I'm taking an eight-week class which expects a story a week, and I seem to have a few extra. Now all I need is the guts to send a story out.I have notices my writing is getting shorter. After talking about it with a friend, I realize that I'm experimenting, especially for this

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1113172000880754412005-04-10T15:07:00.000-07:002005-04-10T15:26:40.883-07:00

People who know me know that I have a sub-personality who goes by the name of 'Fritz the Wonder Fuck'. 'Fritz' is not a separate personality, nor do I black out and come to later on after giving Fritz rule of my head. Fritz is more like a pooka with an attitude, and guardian angel with a mean sense of humor. If there is any way for something to go horrible wrong with my life, Fritz will find

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1111090573031773042005-03-17T12:08:00.000-08:002005-03-17T12:16:13.033-08:00

Several of my stories get complaints about info dumps. I have to go back and look for the specific spots, but it seems like an 'info dump' is filling in with back story, and I can't figure out why this is a bad thing. For example, in one story I find it's easier to explain how one character came to be a father in one paragraph, rather than force that information into dialogue or just plain "

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1109787060846478102005-03-02T10:02:00.000-08:002005-03-02T10:11:00.846-08:00

I wrote a story with two characters. The main character was rather stupid (not low-I.Q. stupid, just too lazy to think stupid) and didn't understand the distinction between reality and his made up world. The second character (who isn't an antagonist) watches the transformation of the main character. Since the second character is more connected with reality, it made sense to tell the story

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1109611044144030782005-02-28T09:13:00.000-08:002005-02-28T09:17:24.146-08:00

I started a new story by writing out three pages of characterization and plot, then I wrote the first seven pages or so, and gave them to my wife. I plan on finishing the second section of about eight or nine pages today, and get the last part finished by the end of the week. The joy of not having the whole story for her to read is immense. It helps that I've made a bit of a cliff hanger. I

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1109114009785968412005-02-22T14:46:00.000-08:002005-02-22T15:13:29.786-08:00

Frustrations abound in my latest story for the workshop that I'm distributing tonight. The main character who goes through the transformation of the story isn't the POV character. The main character doesn't seem to offer enough for the story to be told from his point of view. He also experiences a trauma that changes him completely. Maybe I'm just wimping out by telling the story from the

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1108752144859301122005-02-18T10:39:00.000-08:002005-02-18T10:42:24.863-08:00

For such a loquacious guy I've developed a dangerous writing habit. I don't know if it's a fear of outrageous copying costs or the constant critique I keep hearing that a lot of the workshop stories could be cut shorter (or at least less wordy), but I'm choking my stories trying to keep them under 3,000 words long. I haven't been putting as much time into my writing as I'd like to, and one

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1108051873883602222005-02-10T07:58:00.000-08:002005-02-10T08:11:13.883-08:00

Tuesday night I got a longish lecture on the advantages of the Dvorak keyboard layout. So Wednesday morning I started learning Dvorak. It's much more comfortable but I remembered why computer programs that teach typing skills are so frustrating. Usually they beep if you hit the wrong key, which usually means that the next two or three keys you hit will be wrong as well. The idea behind these

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1107368312263602662005-02-02T10:12:00.000-08:002005-02-02T10:18:32.263-08:00

Last night I got one of the best crits I've ever had. The story was called 'almost perfect' by a writer I really respect. I'm stoked. I feel great. I actually can't wait to read the reviews on the copies I handed out so I can polish the story. Another writer made an interesting observation: The first crits around the table can set the tone for the rest of the crits. Had I chosen to go to my

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1107189747162823182005-01-31T08:29:00.000-08:002005-01-31T08:42:27.163-08:00

Last week in the workshop there was talk about what it takes for a new writer to become published. One measurement was that it takes a new writer on average one million words to get to a point where their stuff is good enough for the market. I took a look at the 'official' stuff I've written since deciding to work on publishing. I've got about 80,000 words, or 8% of that million word mark. I

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1106944116513833892005-01-28T13:21:00.000-08:002005-01-28T12:28:36.513-08:00

Last Tuesday at the workshop one of the established writers was giving away a pile of books (a trick I've never learned) because he was moving and wanted to reduce the amount of stuff he had to haul across town. I picked up a copy of a book that does more for character generator than my program ever did. I've also discovered story treatments, something I really hadn't done before. Yes, I'd

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1106166839200973752005-01-19T13:25:00.000-08:002005-01-19T12:33:59.200-08:00

One of the things I struggle with in my writing is creating a good title. The stories I've written in the past few months have had simple titles that don't always work with the story: No Place Like Home, Body Double, The Last Wizard, The Mechamancer. I asked my carpool mates about titles and they gave me a few good suggestions: First, be willing to abandon a working title (and make sure you

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1105987615471315682005-01-17T10:45:00.000-08:002005-01-17T10:59:09.616-08:00

I finished programming several attributes for random characters and came up this output: Attractiveness: Good Looking Wealth: Average Wealth Advantages: High Pain Threshold, Clerical, Empathy, Ambidexterity Disadvantages: Berserk, Bully, Bad Tempered Skills: Stealth, Jeweler, Animal Handling, Writing, Bard Skin Color: White with Freckles Hair Color: Brown Eye Color: Gray Strengths: Adaptability,

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1105913449241444472005-01-16T14:06:00.000-08:002005-01-16T14:10:49.240-08:00

I've written a Character Generator using an old GURPS manual. I had to write a few supportive programs to make the randomization normalized instead of random, as in the case of physical appearance. I don't want one hundred characters, 20 Ugly, 20 Unattractive, 20 Average, 20 Attractive, and 20 Beutiful. I wanted to fit these to a bell curve. The advantage of GURPS is that it is not aimed

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10157090.post-1105727256541103842005-01-14T10:25:00.000-08:002005-01-14T10:27:36.540-08:00

This blog will focus on my writing career. My other blogs focus on theology, working, and my general reaction to the world. The first thing I am going to experiment with is writing generic biographies of characters that can become characters in future stories. My other blogs are listed on the side bar.

Josh Englishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13691825921866017675noreply@blogger.com0