Pause on the 30-day writing challenge

 I am doing a speed run on the Coursera / Microsoft Cyber Analyst Professional Certificate at the moment. There are 9 modules, and I've completed 2 on the first day, will start on a third today. So writing is going on a hiatus... To be resumed in a week (hopefully less). 

30-Day Writing Challenge Day 6: Found Poem

 Take text from something you don't usually read, turn it into a poem, by taking the words, but rearrange them, use their alternate meaning, and so on. 

I typed in "random article to read" into Google, and the first link was "For a More Creative Brain Follow These 5 Steps" from James Clear, the guy who wrote "Atomic Habits". 

Well, here's my attempt

Problems don't solve themselves

Solutions are often from combining stuff

There is nothing new under the sun

Just new combinations and mixes

Solutions are never correct

But require iterative changes

Don't despair when nothing's right

Sleep on it and be challenged    

----

Yes, I fully realized I skipped 2 days, I'm making up for it... soon. 

30-Day Writing Challenge Day 5: Photographs

 Get a random picture, look at it, take 5 minutes to think about it, then write something based on that.  

I found a random picture, this one, which probably came from Pexels or Pixabay. 

A swing on a beach, a young girl with red hair. What you don't see is her parent, who was probably there as the POV, pushing the girl. How proud is s/he feeling now, with the daughter relaxing in the seabreeze, looking at the waves rolling in and out? Or is s/he pondering about other subjects? 

She seems to be a quiet child, not going "wheeee!" with legs splayed out, trying to swing higher and higher. 

The weather seems calm, though the sea seems to be a bit rougher than the weather suggests... Storm soon? 

30-Day Writing Challenge Day 4: Leave it to Chance

The challenge on Day 4 is basically deal with random prompts. Basically, will randomly draw 1 out of 10 characters, 1 out of 10 locations, and 1 out of 10 conflicts, and come up with a reasonable plot. 

Instead of actually writing them on small pieces of paper and draw them from a cup, I will just use dice throwing via Google. I need 3 random numbers from 1-10, or roll 3 D10's. https://rolladie.net/roll-3-d10-dice gave me a good start. The numbers are: 5, 4, and 10. They correspond to the prompts:

* A depressed meteorologist

* A large European city

* Two people who hate each other have to cook a meal

I am a bit short on time today, but I can think of a quick plot: a depressed meteorologist meets his rival at a city charity event, where they must cook meals to be auctioned to celebrities to feed the homeless. The two must cooperate to create an edible meal or both of their stations will look bad. It'll be a pretty short story, but I need to plot this out a bit further...  It's better than, IMHO, have them on vacation and run into each other? 

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about meteorologists in Europe. I'll have to make the American meteorologists visiting Europe on a conference, perhaps. However, research of conferences for meteorologists are not really for your average TV guy, but for climatologists and such. We may have to do coincidental meeting as tourists after all. And it's probably easiest to pick London, where they speak English. 

MC = Danny  FMC = Elena

Danny Rollins strolled through the London Heathrow airport after claiming his baggage, and looking for the transportation to head into London for his hotel. The typically dour weather in London did not bother him, as he's a meteorologist by trade. He knew he needs to find the Piccadilly line on the Tube. He was looking for the signs when someone startled him...

"Danny? Wow! It is you! What are you doing in London?"

He turned and found himself looking at Elena Sanchez... his rival meteorologist at Channel 7.  For a few moments, his mind ran in multiple directions. She is beautiful. What is she doing here? What are the chances she'd be here? He finally replied:

"Oh, hi, Elena. I'm just taking some time off. Robbie's taking over for two weeks." 

Elena nodded, "You taking the Tube?" 

"Trying to find it." 

"Hey, Mark! Over here!" Elena waved behind Danny. Danny turned around, and spotted someone who could be playing rugby here in London, a big burly blond guy walking toward them, easily handling Elena's luggage. 

After the introductions are out of the way (Mark's Elena's cousin), they made their way to the Tube, and as it turns out, they actually booked the same executive aparthotel, because they used the same travel agent. 

Danny felt a bit drained, and wanted to rest, and maybe make himself some food, but that means he need to go shop for some ingredients first...  His doctor warned him that the more he stay still, the more likely the depression will get to him, so he needs to keep moving, interacting with the world... So he went for a bit of a walk and with help of Google, located the nearest market with some ingredients that he can cook with, and navigated back to the aparthotel. 

He started the food prep, and was half way cooking some garlic pasta, when he heard a knock on his door. 

He opened the door, and was very surprised to find Elena standing there... and no Mark. 

"Hi Danny... wow, that smells good!"

"Please come in, I have something on the stove..." Danny ran back to the hob. He needs to toast the garlic, not burn them. 

Elena followed, and was quite surprised at Danny's kitchen skills, as Danny quickly created the topping for the noodles, the paused the process. Noodles doesn't take long to cook. 

"I'm sorry. What can I do for you, Elena?"

"I... need a date for tonight, and I can definitely use your cooking skills." 

"I thought Mark..."

"Oh, Mark doesn't swing that way." Elena chuckled.  "He really is my cousin, on my mom's side."

Danny realized he was feeling jealousy over... nothing. But... He and Elena are rivals, right? They don't exactly hate each other, but go on a date? 

"What do you have in mind?"

"I got an invitation to a charity event tonight, where some of us will be invited to cook some meals to be auctioned off to celebrity judges of SORTED FOODS team.  It's all for fun, and looks like you're better in the kitchen than I am." 

Danny paused for a few seconds, collecting his thoughts. He has heard of the SORTED FOODS team, who hasn't on Youtube. But he didn't know they were having an event tonight. And his psychiatrist told him to embrace new experiences...

Elena started to look really uncomfortable, "I am sorry to bother you. I'll go stag then..."

"Wait! I'll go with you, but you probably should try my noodles first." 

Elena's relief was instant, but also a bit... awkward. 

Danny finished cooking and plating his noodles, having double the portions and made two plates, then handed one to Elena with a fork in only a few minutes. Then sat across from her with his own plate. 

"Danny, this is great! And it only took you this long to make it?"

"I had a little head start on the garlic." 

Elena just chuckled, "Oh, so humble, Danny. This is so delicious, I'm going to slurp it." 

Danny didn't know what to think about his professional rival now... But he's definitely going to find out more about Elena... 

----to be continued----

30-Day Writing Challenge Day 3: What do you want to write about?

Day 3 Assignment: Write a 1 – 2 page list of things you believe in and things about which you would love to write. Include what kind of messages (if any) you want to convey in your writing, what the purpose of your writing is, what you hope to accomplish with your work. You may want to include a list of influences or other writers you aspire to write like.

I have... two projects I want to write about... One is finish my Star Trek novel, and two is write a romance novel. 

Star Trek Novel

Yes, I really do have one planned. This is a pretty obscure Star Trek reference, and non-canon, so it's basically fan fiction, sorta. There was some debate on class was Enterprise-C. The initial data was "Alaska-class" as given by FASA, then it was canonically revealed to be Ambassador-class in TNG:"Yesterday's Enterprise". 

What if both were right, and there was a classified story behind the change? And Captain Picard (then on the Stargazer) was involved? 

One of these days I'll have to finish the outline. 

Romance Novel

I have some ideas, but before now, I've written only short scenes on writing prompts, esp. the dirty versions, nothing long. I had some ideas about writing longer versions, but never got the full story developed as they sounded a bit lame. But generally I want to write about stuff that makes people go "awwww". 

Influences

Tom Clancy, Dale Brown, for their technothriller stuff

Ruth Cardello for romance novel stuff

30-Day Writing Challenge Day 2: Break the Rules

(Day2: Write as if no rules matter, THEN analyze what's wrong with it)

"Wait! Driver! Please stop the bus!"

The Muni 22 bus pulled over and came to a stop with hazards on. Everybody remain seated, as I strode forward toward the panicking men with his two dogs, one of which is having a very bad reaction... 

Possibly of fentanyl overdose. 

The driver turned around, "What's going on?"

The dog parent was trying to feed water to the stricken dog in his arms. I can already see that the dog's breathing was extremely slow, and is not really responding to his parent.

I kneeled down and spoke to him directly, "Sir, sir! Listen to me. Your dog is having an overdose, probably opioid. I know it sounds crazy, but you need to get off the bus now, there's an emergency vet hospital that way, about 2.5 blocks." I pointed. 

"You can't miss it. In fact, let's go. Driver, door please?"

The doors hissed open. 

The dog parent leaped off, holding one dog and started jogging. The other dog followed, and I quickly followed as well, waving goodbye to the bus, as many of the passengers had offered water to the man and his dogs. The day was unusually warm in San Francisco. 

As I started to jog after them, I can hear the driver ordered everybody to sit back down so he can get back on the route. I wonder if they will order a cleaning of the bus... but I don't have time, as my shoes aren't really for running, and the dog parent had a good head start, I need to pay attention... 

We arrived at the pet hospital in only minutes, and the staff must have seen the panicked look in his eyes, and they were immediately directed to a room. I stayed only long enough to make sure the vet made the proper diagnosis, then I left. 

Sadly, I had a similar experience, except I lost something... someone... far more important to me... Who knew you can find fentanyl in a children's playground?  

I don't carry Narcan around because you still have to go to hospital afterwards. A lot of people thought Narcan will save you. It just buy you time to reach the hospital and higher level of care. But I guess I can. 

I am not sure what to feel the rest of the day... In a way it brought back some dark memories, but in another way there was a bit of redemption, or is it paying it forward? Or just building up karma? But saving someone else from potential trauma is... good right? 

Is that my purpose here? I'll have to think about that some more... 

Elsewhere. 

Starting 30-day Writing Challenge by Sara Crawford: Day 1 of 30

As in previous years, I probably will NOT be doing Nanowrimo, but I do want to start writing some more, so I decided to do something a little different: I'll do the 30-day Writing Challenge by Sara Crawford instead. 

Day 1: Write stream of consciousness for about 10 minutes

I had been thinking about the situation in Israel / Gaza, and this can only get worse before it gets better. This is 9/11 for Israel, and they will go to the ends of the Earth to find those responsible. No country will stand for this sort of atrocities committed against its citizens. 

You *could* argue that Palestinians are suffering, but is attacking Israeli civilians, a MUSIC FESTIVAL, really the answer? This is a TERRORIST attack, and instead of Hamas leadership, it's the Gaza civilians that are now paying the price, just because some Hamas higher-ups got bloodlust. 

Looks like even Trump had joined the condemnation of Hamas. But nothing I can do for them from here. 

Strangely, I am feeling VERY emotional over this, which is rather strange for me. I am usually stoic, and most events don't affect me, yet somehow, reading the news (I'm not watching the videos) has driven me to tears a couple times already. 

Probably because the area was a mess far longer than I've been alive, and shows no sign of being resolved...  

The solution is quite simple, but nobody wants to do it: both sides needs to stop talking about sole possession, and instead, start talking about sharing. It's the only way to resolve this: be neighbors and not kill each other. 

How can that happen? I don't know. I'd imagine some sort of demilitarized zone, where both sides live intermingled, no more this side vs that side. The question is who will even participate, with so many factions in the area wanting war instead of peace. Already heard that Hezbollah and Iran are kinda itching to go to war, and I don't know if that's just rhetoric (we have to "support" our allies) or are they being serious. 

It is a mess, and it can only get worse from here before it gets better. 

Your character seems one dimensional? Fill out the character diamond and make them conflict

Character diamond is a screenwriting technique that people use to "round out" their characters. It will help you create better characters. 

Give the character a primary trait, and secondary trait, and they sort of conflict. Then give the guy a unshakable truth (aka permanent quality), and a quirk/flaw, and the two are also sort of... conflicting, and they conflict with each other. 

For Sherlock Holmes, possibly one of the most famous fictional characters ever, primary trait is crime solver, and his secondary trait is... addict. The classic one had him on 7 percent solution, while the modern BBC one just gave him nicotine patches.

As for the unshakable truth vs quirk... Sherlock is antisocial. He solves crimes for the challenge, not because he wanted justice. But he's also extremely loyal to people he knows, like Watson. You can see they sort of oppose each other, right?

And you can see how his truth and quirk conflict/interfere with his traits. Sherlock needs to talk to people (and detect their lies) to figure out the truth.

So if you can pick the four "traits/quirks" that play into each other, that makes a great characters.

(thanks to https://wizardofads.org/use-a-screenwriters-trick-to-make-memorable-ads/ )

NOTE: Did you notice that House M.D. has basically the same character diamond as Sherlock Holmes? 

This is not the only way to make a character diamond though. 

Another diamond would be "persuasion strategy, true self, upbringing, facade" 

For example: Indiana Jones

Persuasion strategy: hard negotiator, gets what they want

True self: how they present to close family and friends, passionate dreamer

Facade: how they present to the public, cool  professional

Upbringing: scholarly family

Another diamond could be how character relates to Self / Other / Activity / Time. 

* how does character relates to self? 

* how does character relates to others? 

* how does character relates to activity? 

* How does character relates to time? 

Another one would be, if dealing with fantasy: 

* Racial characteristics (what race are you? what are the characteristics of that race)

* Personal/unique characteristics (what makes you unique? how are you different from others?)

* Professional characteristics (what lead you to the job you hold now?)

* Quirk (what makes you memorable? Unusual hobby or likes?)

Thousand Year Old Vampire 4: Game Moves 11-15

Move 11:  I rolled 8 and 6 respectively, so net move is +2. Was on 21, so I'm going to prompt 23. 

You master a strange new science or field of knowledge. How does your vampire nature give you special insight into these studies? Create an appropriate Skill based on a Memory. 

After encountering Jin in the cave (see Memory 13, which is Move 10) I seem to have gained the ability to "Calm child". Agitated children are calm in my presence. It is hard to notice, and most people attribute it to Sunflower, my companion/servant. But Sunflower knew it was me doing it, even as I told her to take credit, as to divert any attention from me. 

My skill list is now as follows: [X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, [X] charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds, [X] I control the Beast, [X] Disguise the Beast, Calm Child

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Move 12: I rolled 1 and 6, so net move is -5. I am going to prompt 18

You have fed too long in one place, destroying a community or social group. Who were they? How did the last community member die? Gain a scavenged resource, lose a resource. 

We had gotten lost on the coast and only came upon a small fishing village upon sunrise. We had barely found shelter. After I have recovered somewhat, I talked to the lone fisherman. The next village is over a day's travel away... by water. He lived alone, and he prefer it that way. We talked, and turns out he used to be a military man, but refused a lawful order to kill civilians, and chose to leave it all behind. 

I convinced him to take us to that village, but halfway there my hunger can no longer be denied. I fed from him, and eased his drained body into the river's depths. During the process my charm from Sifu broke and fell into the river as well. I consider this an omen and did not attempt to recover it. 

We reached the village before sunrise and was accepted without question. We kept the boat, and became an informal passenger ferry around these parts serving several nearby fishing villages. Occasionally, I would feed upon one of the passengers who I judged to be evil, but that is another story.   

My inventory: sifu's sword, sifu's bracers, Peony's handkerchief, sifu's protective charm,  small boat

-----

Move 13: I rolled 8 and 6, so move is +2, prompt 20. 

There is a great shift in the way society moves goods. How does this work to your advantage? Check a skill. Create a skill based on a memory. 

One of the nearby villages became connected to an imperial road, and became a trade hub, and a lot of goods had to be moved across the river. Based on the memory of a similar system I observed in Memory 5, I helped construct a rope-based shuttle ferry to move goods across the river safely, and the village started charging a minor toll to save the merchants days on their journey. The village switched to more of a land-based economy, and they decided to give me a small cut of the tolls. 

To feed, I started picking off the occasional lone traveler. They will not be missed... much. 

I also found that I have developed a SLIGHT tolerance to the sun. As long as I stay in the shade I can stay awake during day-time, but I am much weaker than at night. 

My skill list is now as follows: [X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, [X] charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds, [X] I control the Beast, [X] Disguise the Beast, Calm Child, Construction (Basic)

My inventory: sifu's sword, sifu's bracers, Peony's handkerchief, toll loyalties

-----

 Move 14, I rolled 10 and 5, so +5, prompt 25. 

Your methods for acquiring victims are no longer effective. What has changed? Lose a resource, and create a skill that describes your new feeding techniques. 

As the trade hub grew, the village became a town due to the toll, a new military outpost was established to prevent bandit raids. Unfortunately, this also prevented me from taking out lone travelers.  

I decided it is time to move on, so I asked for one of the larger vessels that remained in town, and decided to sail downriver and see what else is out there. By now, I've become a pretty decent river sailor. Usually, I play the servant while Sunflower plays the rich noblewoman. Sunflower found the situation hilarious, and I agree. We sometimes pick up a few scammers who believe us to be rich woman and his servant that can be robbed or scammed. I fed upon them easily, but I know soon we'll run out of river.

My skill list is now as follows: [X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, [X] charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds, [X] I control the Beast, [X] Disguise the Beast, Calm Child, Construction (Basic), Ship Piloting (river)

My inventory: sifu's sword, sifu's bracers, Peony's handkerchief, toll loyalties

-----

Move 15, I rolled 9 and 2, +7, prompt 32

You keep a prisoner. Why this particular person? Why don't you feed upon them? Create a Character and a skill related to keeping them captive. 

We picked up a man and 2 women the other day, and one of the women looked so much like Peony I almost called out. But this is only a coincidence. My Peony was long dead, killed by Baron Wong, many many years ago. But I remained distracted. 

It wasn't until Sunflower yelled out that I recovered. Turns out they are robbing us, once we got to the middle of the river. Unfortunately for them, I had taught Sunflower much of what I know, and even unarmed, she was more than a match for the armed woman, while not-Peony wasn't sure who to help, as I fought the man, looking for his weakness. And I found it a second later as he swung wide and missed. I batted his knife hand aside, pushed in, and bit his throat.  Sunflower used that moment of distraction to knock out her opponent, Not-Peony froze in fear, unable to believe what she saw, But when I dropped the now dead man, she snapped out of her paralysis and try to dive over the side. Unfortunately for her, I was faster. I snatched her out of mid-air and slammed her onto the boat deck, then pinned her to the floor. I ordered Sunflower to tie her up. Sunflower hesitated for a moment, as this was new to me, but obeyed. I fed upon the other female in view of Not-Peony, then ordered Sunflower to knock her out. 

Sunflower asked me what was going on, and I told her Peony's story. She asked me what am I going to do with Not-Peony here, and I told her I don't know, but I can't kill her. She jokingly offered to do it for me, and I got angry and mentally ordered her to forget about it. Sunflower stagged and almost fainted. I caught her and eased her into a seat. She asked what happened? I asked what did you remember? She seems to have forgotten a little bit of the recent past. This appears to be a new skill I discovered, which I will call "mesmerize". 

We took care of the two bodies. 

Later, with a bit of tuning on Sunflower, I was able to order non-Peony to forget about what she saw onboard, and convince her that her two companions had left her behind in my care. She is my prisoner, even if she does not know it. But I don't want to kill her. 

Thousand Year Old Vampire 3: Playing the Game Moves 6-10

 I rolled a 2 and a 6, so -4, which means I am going back to prompt 11, and as this is the 2nd time I landed on 11, I'm using Prompt 11-2.

You discover an internal focus that lets you maintain control of your vampire self. Lose a violent memory and take the skill "I Control The Beast" and rewrite any unchecked skill as something new. What new name do you take to distance yourself from what you once were? How is that name symbolic? 

My skill list is as follows: [X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds

Revised M7, where I killed bandits (violently, probably feeding on them as well) to save Sunflower to merely rescuing Sunflower. 

I chose the new name Weimin, as it could be construed as "Protect the People". My previous name could be construed as "Protect the Emperor/Ruler". I decided to keep my unchecked charm/negotiation skill. 

My skill list is now as follows: [X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds, I control the Beast

--------

I rolled a 9 and a 1, so +8, which means prompt 19. 

Two friendly characters become embroiled in conflict. Become involved and check a skill. (Create two new characters if necessary) How do you profit? Gain a resource. 

M10: On our way to the coast, we passed near the capital, and I heard that father had a falling out with sifu, due to my disappearance and apparent betrayal. My father had vowed to put me into the ground for betraying the emperor and jinyiwei, while sifu believed in me and wanted an explanation. 

I was able to approach sifu and explained what had happened to me. At first my story was too fantastical that even sifu refused to believe it, forcing me to use my charm/negotiation skill.  Sifu agreed that my father will likely never understand. I wrote a "confession" and left it with sifu, to be revealed to my father at a later date, as well as my family sword. Sifu gave me his own sword, plus his special bracers, useful for blocking blows, and hide one of the marks. (Move 5) 

My inventory: sifu's sword, sifu's bracers, Peony's handkerchief, sifu's protective charm. 

My skill list is now as follows: [X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, [X] charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds, I control the Beast

-------

I rolled 1 and 5, so -4. Prompt 15. But this is the second time I've landed on 15, so prompt 15-2

An immortal proves to be much more than they appear. Check a skill, or else lose a resource or memory. Gain a Resource or skill. 

M11: Sunflower and I continued to the coast. We stopped at an inn to spend the night. There was some lascivious gazes from the innkeeper, but I paid it no head, as I did teach Sunflower some defensive moves. Sunflower went downstairs to get some food. It was then that I sensed another immortal nearby. I rushed downstairs, only to see the innkeeper about to feed on Sunflower, but he hesitated when he realized she was unmarked and was not my food source, which allowed me enough time to get him away from her. 

After a bit of negotiation, we agreed to trade skills. I taught him "I Control the Beast" to control his hunger, and he taught me "Disguise the Beast", which camouflaged the hunger as lustful gazes that can attract the right type of prey. 

My skill list is now as follows: [X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, [X] charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds, [X] I control the Beast, Disguise the Beast

-----

I rolled a 2 and a 1, so advance 1, prompt 16

Some mortals have banded together to hunt you, well-armed and wise to your tricks. How do you defeat or evade them? Create a mortal hunter related to one of your checked skills. Check a skill. 

M12: We traveled toward the coast, and my decision to let Sunflower scout ahead paid off. It appears that an immortal hunter Feiwu is in town, and he's looking for a swordsman and an archer vampire like me. After some discussion with Sunflower, we both adopted disguises. I disguised myself as a rich playboy who lustfully gazes upon all beautiful females unabashedly, and she will play the part of my exasperated betrothed. I will also use "Disguise the Beast" skill. 

The disguise worked perfectly, and we were able to enter the city, even walked right past Feiwu himself, who gave no recognition. His daughter did give me a glance or two, which he admonished. I smiled. 

My skill list is now as follows: [X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, [X] charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds, [X] I control the Beast, [X] Disguise the Beast

-----

Rolled 10 and 5, so advance 5, prompt 21. 

You are trapped outside when the sun rises and take shelter someplace you are not supposed to be. A child discovers and befriends you. Create a mortal child and record a humanizing Experience. 

M13: After that we stuck to the smaller trails, and one evening, we were lost and did not reach the next town by the time the sun came up. I was forced to take shelter in a cave. I had sent Sunflower ahead to find shelter and food, and I remained in the cave to meditate when I was discovered by a child. 

At first, he was startled to find a person in the cave, but when I made no reaction to his arrival, he became bolder, and started playing peekaboo. 

I kept my eyes closed, but said aloud, "It is all right, You are not disturbing me."

He walked in front of me, and I opened my eyes to appraise him. He is a small boy, probably five years old, full if innocence, but well-mannered. 

"Hi, mister, I am Jin."

"Hi, Jin, I am Weimin. I am only borrowing this cave today."

The child is curious, but is well-mannered to not show it. He has been taught well by his sifu. I indulged his curiosity, as I showed him my sword. I cannot show him the charm and the bracers without revealing my marks. I answered the questions that I can. 

The child left before noon, and Sunflower was back before then. 

We left the cave after dark, and we never saw Jin again. But I will remember him. 

Thousand Year Old Vampire 2: Playing the Game, Moves 1-5

The rules are simple: roll d10 and d6, and subtract the result of d6 from d10. 

I rolled 9 and 2, so the answer is 7

Then starting from prompt 1, advance or retreat (if negative) that many prompts, and answer the first non-repeated from top to bottom. 

Going to prompt 8. 

You are recognized for what you are by another creature like yourself. Create an immortal Character, lose a Resource, and gain a skill. What did you lose? 

Well, I have a sword, a handkerchief, and a jade charm. 

M6: The fishermen who found me thought I was dead and were about to throw me back in when a healer nearby onshore intervened. She revived me, and helped me heal. I decided to throw away my jinyiwei uniform as I felt I am no longer worthy. I asked the healer why did she heal me, and she said she always save a life when she can, and she thought she recognized the handkerchief. I tried to tell her about Peony but she told me she did not want to know. Instead, she will teach me "heal wounds" in exchange for the handkerchief. I agreed. 

New skill list: swordsmanship, archery, charm/negotiation, heal wounds

--------

I rolled 2 and 4, so the answer is -2

Going to prompt 6

A mortal character begins serving you. Who are they? Why are they drawn to you? Create a new mortal character. 

M7: I spent another month in the fishing village, helping the fisherman, regaining my strength. 

One night I heard a scream in the woods. I took my sword and investigated. Some bandits have killed a traveler and his wife, and were about to kill their maid when I intervened. The bandits died quickly. The maid claimed she was an orphan and had nowhere else to go, and since I saved her life, she will serve me instead. I asked her for her name, and she answered "Sunflower". 

-------

I rolled 10 and 5, so the answer is 5, going to prompt 11

How did you find solace from the raging hunger within you? You may lose one checked or unchecked skill. 

As the prompt says you "may" lose a skill, I chose not to. 

M8: When the hunger was especially bad, I hide and feed on myself, then heal myself from the same wound. I cannot bear the thought of losing more of my humanity, but I understand sometimes I may not have a choice. 

-------

I rolled a 4 and a 1, so the answer is 3, going to prompt 14

An enemy character uses a lost Resource to turn your few friends against you. Check three skills to regain the resource, or check one skill to barely survive. Which former friend did you kill? Where do you flee? 

[X] swordsmanship, [X] archery, charm/negotiation, [X] heal wounds

M9: I had to escape from the village when my old frenemy from jinyiwei showed up, somehow convinced I was a traitor, probably told a tale of lies by my nemesis, Baron Wong. I had no choice but to ambush him in the forest with my bow, and killed him after a brutal fight where I had to heal myself. I was surprised to find the handkerchief from Peony on him. 

It appears that healer went to see Peony, just as Baron Wong arrived to kill Peony in order to get the jinyiwei to go after me. Healer barely escaped, leaving the handkerchief behind, an extra clue used to frame me. I regret killing my frenemy, and with the jinyiwei now after me, I must flee the province. 

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I rolled 4 and 3, so answer is 1, going to prompt 15

While traveling, you come into conflict with another immortal and gain a mark. Who are they? What trick did you play upon them? Create a new immortal character. 

I decided to head to the coast and Sunflower followed me as well. We booked a passage on a boat to take us downriver toward the coast. 

We were about halfway when I felt Sunflower collapse onto the floor. I was about to check her when the boatswain told me he had put her to sleep, as we need to talk privately. I realized I had underestimated the boatswain... He is an immortal as well, and only his shadow betrayed him in the moonlight. 

In the end, he agreed to feed on me, and leave Sunflower alone. And I got a second mark on my wrist. It wasn't later that I realized I also got a weird shadow in the moonlight. 

Thousand Year Old Vampire 1: Creating The Character

This is an attempt to play Thousand Year Old Vampire, a creative storytelling narrative game. 

1) Start by imagining a person in the distant past. This person will be your vampire. Create a short history for him before he became a vampire. 

As a Chinese-American, I wanted to explore a bit of history in the distant past, and the choice is clear: Ancient China. But the question is... How far back? My first thought was around Qin Dynasty, roughly 220 BC, but that felt a bit too far back, so I shifted to Ming Dynasty, probably Early Ming dynasty. 

M1: I am Weijun, son of a navy veteran who fought alongside Zhu Yuan Zhang, aka Hongwu Emperor at the battle of Lake Poyang (1363). My father and fellow veterans were all decorated and became the core of the new Ming Dynasty's military. I was barely a teenager and joined the military, and my martial prowess made me one of the first to join Jinyiwei (embroidered uniform guard) in 1382, basically emperor's special police. 

2) Create three mortals, who have relationships with your vampire, be it friend, family, business, work, love, etc. 

Yonglin: frenemy and fellow jinyiwei, son of a fellow veteran, used to be best friends, now sort of enemy

Peony: love interest, could not quite decide between me and Yonglin, and her father is in no hurry

Sifu: the guy who helped trained me to my potential, second father, knew my father, never called him by name, just "sifu". 

3) Create 3 skills for the vampire, and 3 resources they would have

Swordsmanship

Archery

Charm, ability to negotiate

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Ancestral sword from father

A hankerchief from Peony, as a symbol of her promise. 

A special jade charm from sifu, supposed to ward off evil

4) Create 3 experiences, using 2 of the previously mentioned mortals, skills, resources, etc each. These will be memories 2 through 4. 

M2 / EXP1:  On the day I graduated from the academy, my father passed onto me his sword, the one he carried at the battle of the lake. 

M3 / EXP2:  The day I was genuinely able to land a fist on sifu, he nodded, and gave me this charm, and told me to wear it proudly. He claimed it can ward off evil, and since he had taught me all he could, I need it more than he did. 

M4 / EXP3:  The evening Peony promised herself to me... She said she will tell her father, and I will let my father know so we may bring up the subject of marriage properly per protocol. And she gave me her hankerchief as a symbol of her promise. 

5) Create the immortal who turned you... create a "mark", that permanently marked you as a vampire. And write the experience, as your 5th memory. 

M5: I was investigating Baron Wong for allegedly seditious activities when I was ambushed on his houseboat. Before I can strike the lethal blow, his fangs were on my neck. I somehow survived and landed in the river, and drifted somehow to shore much later. There are toothmarks on my neck that will not heal, and I cover it with collars and scarves. 

Well, that's the character all setup. Next entry, we'll play the game as a journaling game. 

Writing Prompt: Two Opponents at a Table...

Two opponents at a table. They are roughly equivalent. It's not quite an arm-wrestling rig, but similar. There's a double handle. Each has one hand on his or her handle. It's a one-arm tug-of-war. 

What are the stakes? Raise it ridiculously high. If you let go, you lose. And what happens if you lose? 

Would it be more like Arena? Or like SAW? 

Even published authors write lame endings: deus ex machina edition

Every body in writing knew the term deus ex machina, which basically means something comes in at the end and saves everyone (usually God, in the old morality plays).  It makes for a really lame ending, because the protagonist didn't do anything to resolve his or her problems.

It's surprising how often this happens in romances, that writers who wrote themselves into a corner, rely on such trope to get them to end of the book.

EX: intern romancing his boss lady but blackmailed by boss lady's evil brother to sabotage her company from within as a spy suddenly didn't have to do it any more because the evil brother found a guru while traveling and is a totally changed man who abandoned his evil ways.

EX: guy intending to buy out historic bar from female owner (for demolition and redevelopment) fell in love with the bar owner, and didn't have to do it any more when his father had a stroke and a total change of heart about the plans.

EX: guy took his daughter on the run away from evil in-laws after wife passed away at childbirth and fell for the ER nurse after he wrecked his car. Suddenly the evil in-laws found God and decided to leave the poor father alone so the guy married the nurse for the HEA.

EX: guy wanted to romance the popular megastar hiding out in his B&B, but he can't ever leave the B&B. He was freed when his mother sold the B&B to their cousins who runs big corporate hotels, so he's now semi-rich and can afford to follow his love and live anywhere he wanted.

I swear these are actual published full-length novels available on Amazon. As this is not a name-and-shame blog, I shall refrain from mentioning the actual novel names and authors.

And yes, I read all of them.

When you write, please don't use deus ex machina endings.

Introduction

Welcome to my new blog.

KC on writing is just some thoughts I have on writing, could be on ANY subject related to writing. 

It could be writing prompts (on any genre), epiphanies, analysis, structure, and more. 

It's probably bull****, but it's my bull****. :)