I'm in the middle of revising/writing a Query Letter for my book, so I'm not in the best place to create a new story. Instead, I'll share one of my tricks for when I need inspiration for a story: The StoryMaker! Or, more specifically, the Setting and Theme maker! This is the simpler version. The more complex version includes the intended/hypothetical medium for the story. You can also make it more complex by rolling multiple times in Setting or Theme, then merging them. I will post the complex version if I get enough interest. Also, let me know if any description is too vague. The StoryMaker uses a random number generator that goes from 1-20. So a 20-sided dice, or any of the billion or so random number generators online or in any spreadsheet program.
The Story Generator (Simple Version)
Step 1: Setting
Roll A Base Setting
Roll Result
1-16 Standard Setting; Go to Roll B
17-20 Nonstandard Setting; Go to Roll C
Roll B Standard Setting
Roll Result
1-6 Fantasy/Medeival; Go to Roll D
7-12 Modern; Go to Roll D
13-18 Future; Go to Roll D
19-20 Switch to Nonstandard Setting; Go to Roll C
Roll C Nonstandard Setting
Roll Result
1-2 Primitive/Savage; Go to Roll D
3-5 Steampunk; Go to Roll D
6-8 Cyberpunk; Go to Roll D
9-10 Paradise (Heaven); Go to Roll D
11-12 Punishment (Hell); Go to Roll D
13-15 Frontier/Western; Go to Roll D
16-18 Post-Apocalyptic/Wasteland; Go to Roll D
19-20 Blended Tech (Mix of primitive and futuristic); Go to Roll D
Roll D Chance of Modifier
Roll Result
1-12 No Modifier; Go to Step 2
13-20 Modifier; Go to Roll E
Roll E Chance of Modifier
Roll Result
1 Aquatic; Go to Step 2
2 Aerial; Go to Step 2
3-5 Cartoon; Go to Step 2
6 Voidwrapped (setting surrounded by nothing); Go to Step 2
7-8 Vessel; Go to Step 2
9-10 Gothic; Go to Step 2
11-12 Blending Reality/Historical Eras; Go to Step 2
13 Artificial; Go to Step 2
14 Organic; Go to Step 2
15 Crystal; Go to Step 2
16 Near Human; Go to Step 2
17 Incomprehensible; Go to Step 2
18-20 Alt-Cultural; Go to Step 2
Step 2: Theme
Roll F Base Theme
Roll Result
1-5 Comedy; Go to Roll G
6-10 Horror; Go to Roll H
11-15 Drama; Go to Roll I
16-20 Action; Go to Roll J
Roll G Comedy Theme
Roll Result
1-3 Slapstick
4-6 Surreal World/Puns
7-9 Dialogue and Wordplay
10-12 Relationship Humor
13-15 Satirical
16-17 Body/Scatological Humor
18-20 Random/Meta-Humor
Roll H Drama Theme
Roll Result
1-2 Personal
3-4 Noir
5-7 Professional/Office
8-9 Mystery
10-12 Competitive
13-14 Psychological
15-16 Politics/Intrigue
17-18 Social
19-20 Romance
Roll I Horror Theme
Roll Result
1-2 Gore/Slasher
3-5 The Unknown/Eldritch Horror
6-8 Hunted
9-11 The Conspiracy
12-13 Against the Horde
14-16 Us as Monster
17-18 Archetypical Evil (Satan, etc.)
19-20 Ghost Story
Roll J Action Theme
Roll Result
1-4 Adventure/Hero's Journey
5-6 War Story
7-8 Martial Arts/Brawl
9-10 Shooting/Gunplay
11-12 Stylistic Violence
13-14 Crime/Heist
15-16 Thriller/Suspense
17-20 Exploration/Travel the World
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Twitter Tools for Writers :: updated
Below I have listed some Twitter tools I have used in the past. Because these tools are all pulling from the same data source, the Twitter API, many of their features are the same. Where differences come into play is how the information is presented and inferred.
Better Understand Your Profile
@twibitz.com
www.twibitz.com
Tapping into the Twitter API, this tool provides metrics on your account. In my case I can see that my percentage of mentions is low, and I need to engage more. Sign up as version 2 is coming out later this year which will track new followers and pre-run reports for you.
Brand Sentiments
http://www.sentiment140.com
Would you like to see how different brands are perceived online?
The one I found most useful for me is @twibitz.com due to it's simple and straightforward UI. That doesn't mean I don't use the others. The trick with all of this is to find the tools that work with you best, and use them.
What Twitter tools do you use?
Update:
In pushing this post out to the medias, Liz Covart introduced me to Buffer and I found it very cool. It is a multi-account scheduling and analytics social media tool. I have brought in my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts this morning and started playing with the app. Thank you Liz!
Previous Posts
Better Understand Your Profile
@twibitz.com
www.twibitz.com
Tapping into the Twitter API, this tool provides metrics on your account. In my case I can see that my percentage of mentions is low, and I need to engage more. Sign up as version 2 is coming out later this year which will track new followers and pre-run reports for you.
Brand Sentiments
http://www.sentiment140.com
Would you like to see how different brands are perceived online?
Tweet Psychology
TweetPsych attempts to create a profile of any public Twitter account. Here is a part of mine:
SocialBro
15 day free trial lets up run multiple reports against your Twitter account to find various nuggets of good stuff. This is a large application and there is a lot here:
Best time to Tweet graph:
Engagement Analytics:
The one I found most useful for me is @twibitz.com due to it's simple and straightforward UI. That doesn't mean I don't use the others. The trick with all of this is to find the tools that work with you best, and use them.
What Twitter tools do you use?
Update:
In pushing this post out to the medias, Liz Covart introduced me to Buffer and I found it very cool. It is a multi-account scheduling and analytics social media tool. I have brought in my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts this morning and started playing with the app. Thank you Liz!
Previous Posts
- Tools of the Trade part 1 Pen Paper / Sublime Text
- Tools of the Trade part 2 Open Office / Trello
- Tools of the Trade part 3 Ommwriter / Scrivener
- Website Development and SEO Basics for Writers
- Git and the Writer
Friday, March 7, 2014
Dreamleaks 2: Stuck In Transit
Dreamleaks 2: Stuck In Transit
I used to be the hero.
There was that thought again. Captain Marcus Corona shook it out of his head like he always did. Why did he worry about being the hero? He already was A hero, protector of the lives of hundreds of good, decent, caring people. Never mind that none of them are real.
No, he can't think like that. They're as real as he is, after all. Transit worked like any other city; it just happened to exist entirely inside a computer simulation. And also the laws of physics work, at best, about half the time. And people can take off their own heads with only minor consequences. And just the other day, that Jerry kid fell in love with a animate hammer. But BESIDES all that, it was just like normal. And besides, none of them knew any better. The truth was allowed only to those who could be trusted with it, like Marcus. That's why she made him a captain. And now …
I lived in a ship, one of three alone in the ocean. We played and had adventures and imagined the world around us, what could exist beyond the horizon. We never knew any other life, never even guessed that not only was the world beyond the horizon a lie, so was the horizon itself. So was everything more than a hundred feet from the ships.
Marcus shook his head. Stupid dreams. Why did computer programs even need dreams? He asked EMMA about that once, but as always, she dodged the question. No where was he? Right, now he had a job to do. Most Transitians never even imagined a world beyond their city, but he didn't have that luxury. EMMA just warned of motion outside of the city, in the “real” world. It might not be a threat, but he couldn't afford to take that chance. Besides, nothing should be moving out there anymore, threat or otherwise.
On the way to the city's “borders,” Marcus met Alice Falchione. Great, another complication. “What are you doing here?” Marcus demanded.
Alice just shrugged. “What else? Nothing better to do. Like you couldn't use the backup out there.”
Marcus wanted to argue, but he just snarled and moved on. He couldn't do anything to Alice, and he knew it. He didn't even know what she was. She just popped in and out of Transit on a whim. She could be gone for months, only to return with an army, or a cure for some virus running rampant in Transit. Or a Mariachi band. That was an odd day. EMMA must trust her, since she never asked Marcus to stop her. But Marcus didn't, and he didn't see why anyone else would. Reckless people like her just get people hurt, or worse.
I didn't mean to do anything wrong, really! I just wanted to explore, have a little fun, maybe solve a mystery or two. People said that nobody every returned from the hull of the Third Ship, but I never knew anyone who went there in the first place, so what did that mean? And sure, the place was crawling with monsters, but they weren't THAT bad. I fought worse. Well, I didn't, but I fought things almost as bad. So it seemed natural that this would be the next place to go.
“Just don't get in my way,” Marcus warned, but his words had no weight to them, and he knew it. Alice just smirked and followed him to the borders. As he left the simulation, Marcus felt an electric sensation, as he knew his body changed from one of pure data to one of substance, albeit that of pure energy. EMMA described it as a hard-light hologram, but Marcus didn't really understand what that meant or cared. Alice, as far as Marcus knew, didn't change at all, save for a force barrier forming around her.
The reality outside of Transit was supposed to be the real world, but to Marcus' eyes, this one looked like a poor simulation. Everyone looked so … blocky out here, the vibrant colors of his home replaced with simple shapes. Maybe that was a limit to Marcus' digital eyes; he had no way of knowing. Either way, the shapes that caught their attention moved with a purpose, and they were shaped like humans. As Marcus and Alice floated towards them, they scattered with incredible speed, jumping from one place to another in an instant. And while they seemed to be just observing the machinery that made up Transit and the city around it, Marcus and Alice's unwelcome intrusion made them aggressive. Bursts of color bounced off his virtual skin and Alice's barrier. They retaliated with energy blasts of their own, but nothing came close to hitting the invaders. “I expected better than this,” one of their attackers enigmatically taunted as they vanished.
“EMMA, update!” Marcus begged his creator.
“No further activity detected,” EMMA replied. “At least within the city. But I am still sensing their presence nearby. If I may take an estimate, they are biding their time.”
Marcus frowned. As fast as they are, the attackers must not be that powerful if they fled so quickly. But his holographic body couldn't travel outside of the boundaries of the city, and no point in asking Alice to seek them out. “Then what can we do?” he asked.
“I have a potential solution,” EMMA offered. “They seem interested in exploiting our resources, but are unwilling to engage us in a direct conflict. I propose creating a simple crisis within Transit; nothing serious, but enough to make it appear that our defenses are compromised. When the scavengers investigate, we can ambush them, taking them unaware. If they are simply curious, we can get answers. If hostile, we can eliminate them.”
“I don't like it,” Marcus admitted. “What if things go wrong?”
“I assure you, the crisis I envision is nothing that the citizens of Transit can't handle,” EMMA said. “Provided, of course, that the usual residents are up to the task.”
“You mean, if HE's up to it.” Marcus scowled. For all his powers, all his loyalty, Marcus never seemed to be the one to save the day. No, that fell on Jerry's shoulders. A mere child, an irresponsible one at that. For some reason, he always seemed to be around when trouble started (often because he caused it,) and yet for all of Marcus' efforts, Jerry and his friends would be the ones to bumble into the solution, and he got all accolades. He got to be their champion, their hero...
Marcus stopped himself. He didn't like where this train of thought was going. Alice, however, just chuckled. “You know, EMMA, you're exactly the sort of computer we used to be warned about. Glad you're on our side.” Seeing Marcus' sour mood, she floated over to him and whispered. “He's not even one of you, you know. Seriously, Jerry's a gerbil that EMMA threw into the simulation before he could starve. Let him enjoy his moment as hero. You already had your chance.”
“Enough of your contemptible words,” Marcus demanded as he shooed her away, and for once, Alice listened, her body vanishing into nothing. But the damage had been done. She just babbled nonsense, Marcus thought to himself. A gerbil? What was she even talking about? And yet, when she mentioned that Marcus had his chance, he couldn't help but feel his thoughts drift once more …
I didn't expect to find anyone down there. But instead, I found everyone. A crowd cheered me on as I slipped into the darkness of the hull. I was on the top of the world, but it didn't last. I suddenly saw my friends before me, and a voice asked me who would continue on living in this world, and who would … not. I wanted to refuse this demand, but I couldn't. I didn't even know how not to answer.
But I knew a trick when I heard one. I made my choice, picking only casual acquaintances to live on in this world, folks I wouldn't miss. My friends and I would move on, then. If we couldn't live in this world anymore, I bet there would be another, a better one maybe. And if not, who cares? Hell, we ran out of things to explore in the last one anyway.
I used to be the hero.
There was that thought again. Captain Marcus Corona shook it out of his head like he always did. Why did he worry about being the hero? He already was A hero, protector of the lives of hundreds of good, decent, caring people. Never mind that none of them are real.
No, he can't think like that. They're as real as he is, after all. Transit worked like any other city; it just happened to exist entirely inside a computer simulation. And also the laws of physics work, at best, about half the time. And people can take off their own heads with only minor consequences. And just the other day, that Jerry kid fell in love with a animate hammer. But BESIDES all that, it was just like normal. And besides, none of them knew any better. The truth was allowed only to those who could be trusted with it, like Marcus. That's why she made him a captain. And now …
I lived in a ship, one of three alone in the ocean. We played and had adventures and imagined the world around us, what could exist beyond the horizon. We never knew any other life, never even guessed that not only was the world beyond the horizon a lie, so was the horizon itself. So was everything more than a hundred feet from the ships.
Marcus shook his head. Stupid dreams. Why did computer programs even need dreams? He asked EMMA about that once, but as always, she dodged the question. No where was he? Right, now he had a job to do. Most Transitians never even imagined a world beyond their city, but he didn't have that luxury. EMMA just warned of motion outside of the city, in the “real” world. It might not be a threat, but he couldn't afford to take that chance. Besides, nothing should be moving out there anymore, threat or otherwise.
On the way to the city's “borders,” Marcus met Alice Falchione. Great, another complication. “What are you doing here?” Marcus demanded.
Alice just shrugged. “What else? Nothing better to do. Like you couldn't use the backup out there.”
Marcus wanted to argue, but he just snarled and moved on. He couldn't do anything to Alice, and he knew it. He didn't even know what she was. She just popped in and out of Transit on a whim. She could be gone for months, only to return with an army, or a cure for some virus running rampant in Transit. Or a Mariachi band. That was an odd day. EMMA must trust her, since she never asked Marcus to stop her. But Marcus didn't, and he didn't see why anyone else would. Reckless people like her just get people hurt, or worse.
I didn't mean to do anything wrong, really! I just wanted to explore, have a little fun, maybe solve a mystery or two. People said that nobody every returned from the hull of the Third Ship, but I never knew anyone who went there in the first place, so what did that mean? And sure, the place was crawling with monsters, but they weren't THAT bad. I fought worse. Well, I didn't, but I fought things almost as bad. So it seemed natural that this would be the next place to go.
“Just don't get in my way,” Marcus warned, but his words had no weight to them, and he knew it. Alice just smirked and followed him to the borders. As he left the simulation, Marcus felt an electric sensation, as he knew his body changed from one of pure data to one of substance, albeit that of pure energy. EMMA described it as a hard-light hologram, but Marcus didn't really understand what that meant or cared. Alice, as far as Marcus knew, didn't change at all, save for a force barrier forming around her.
The reality outside of Transit was supposed to be the real world, but to Marcus' eyes, this one looked like a poor simulation. Everyone looked so … blocky out here, the vibrant colors of his home replaced with simple shapes. Maybe that was a limit to Marcus' digital eyes; he had no way of knowing. Either way, the shapes that caught their attention moved with a purpose, and they were shaped like humans. As Marcus and Alice floated towards them, they scattered with incredible speed, jumping from one place to another in an instant. And while they seemed to be just observing the machinery that made up Transit and the city around it, Marcus and Alice's unwelcome intrusion made them aggressive. Bursts of color bounced off his virtual skin and Alice's barrier. They retaliated with energy blasts of their own, but nothing came close to hitting the invaders. “I expected better than this,” one of their attackers enigmatically taunted as they vanished.
“EMMA, update!” Marcus begged his creator.
“No further activity detected,” EMMA replied. “At least within the city. But I am still sensing their presence nearby. If I may take an estimate, they are biding their time.”
Marcus frowned. As fast as they are, the attackers must not be that powerful if they fled so quickly. But his holographic body couldn't travel outside of the boundaries of the city, and no point in asking Alice to seek them out. “Then what can we do?” he asked.
“I have a potential solution,” EMMA offered. “They seem interested in exploiting our resources, but are unwilling to engage us in a direct conflict. I propose creating a simple crisis within Transit; nothing serious, but enough to make it appear that our defenses are compromised. When the scavengers investigate, we can ambush them, taking them unaware. If they are simply curious, we can get answers. If hostile, we can eliminate them.”
“I don't like it,” Marcus admitted. “What if things go wrong?”
“I assure you, the crisis I envision is nothing that the citizens of Transit can't handle,” EMMA said. “Provided, of course, that the usual residents are up to the task.”
“You mean, if HE's up to it.” Marcus scowled. For all his powers, all his loyalty, Marcus never seemed to be the one to save the day. No, that fell on Jerry's shoulders. A mere child, an irresponsible one at that. For some reason, he always seemed to be around when trouble started (often because he caused it,) and yet for all of Marcus' efforts, Jerry and his friends would be the ones to bumble into the solution, and he got all accolades. He got to be their champion, their hero...
Marcus stopped himself. He didn't like where this train of thought was going. Alice, however, just chuckled. “You know, EMMA, you're exactly the sort of computer we used to be warned about. Glad you're on our side.” Seeing Marcus' sour mood, she floated over to him and whispered. “He's not even one of you, you know. Seriously, Jerry's a gerbil that EMMA threw into the simulation before he could starve. Let him enjoy his moment as hero. You already had your chance.”
“Enough of your contemptible words,” Marcus demanded as he shooed her away, and for once, Alice listened, her body vanishing into nothing. But the damage had been done. She just babbled nonsense, Marcus thought to himself. A gerbil? What was she even talking about? And yet, when she mentioned that Marcus had his chance, he couldn't help but feel his thoughts drift once more …
I didn't expect to find anyone down there. But instead, I found everyone. A crowd cheered me on as I slipped into the darkness of the hull. I was on the top of the world, but it didn't last. I suddenly saw my friends before me, and a voice asked me who would continue on living in this world, and who would … not. I wanted to refuse this demand, but I couldn't. I didn't even know how not to answer.
But I knew a trick when I heard one. I made my choice, picking only casual acquaintances to live on in this world, folks I wouldn't miss. My friends and I would move on, then. If we couldn't live in this world anymore, I bet there would be another, a better one maybe. And if not, who cares? Hell, we ran out of things to explore in the last one anyway.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Free Website Hosting :: Github.io
Building on recent posts, today's post will show you step-by-step how to get and build your own website, for free, with no ads.
Although writing is the fun part, I need to start thinking about marketing. Forget the publishers on this one, I'm going to be marketing directly to the Lego Robotic / Maker Fair kids, and as such I need a website. It needs to be simple so I can promote my book during its pre-release stage and after it is in print. I don't need anything complicated, at least not yet. Just a simple page to let readers know about my book. Github to the rescue!
To start you have to create a free account at Github.
Important!
For those of you that think you can just design an HTML page and FTP it up to the site, you can't. FTP is so 2004. We do things with Git now, which means a whole new methodology to learn. What does this mean for you? Either learn Git or find someone else to do the heavy lifting.
Not scared yet? Let's roll.
The first place you will need to visit is the Pages section
There is also a great interactive walkthrough at http://www.thinkful.com/learn/a-guide-to-using-github-pages/ to help you better undertand how to build your website.
These are the steps I followed to create my page:
What is the end product?
I have been working a short novel about a 14 year old boy who builds a monster using discarded parts scavenged from a throw-away society. He names it Wonkzilla, and you can find the beginning of the website at: http://wonkzilla.com
This site is currently a work in progress, but the basics are there, including a very cool robot designed by a Chicago artist, Jason Hawk
You are probably wondering now how I got the domain name pointing to the site. Here is a useful how-to on getting the domain name to point to your site:
https://help.github.com/articles/setting-up-a-custom-domain-with-pages
If you are interested in trying this out for your site, please let me know. We can go over the steps together in the comments below and we can perhaps setup a "best practices" for those new to this technology.
Previous Blog Posts
Although writing is the fun part, I need to start thinking about marketing. Forget the publishers on this one, I'm going to be marketing directly to the Lego Robotic / Maker Fair kids, and as such I need a website. It needs to be simple so I can promote my book during its pre-release stage and after it is in print. I don't need anything complicated, at least not yet. Just a simple page to let readers know about my book. Github to the rescue!
To start you have to create a free account at Github.
Important!
For those of you that think you can just design an HTML page and FTP it up to the site, you can't. FTP is so 2004. We do things with Git now, which means a whole new methodology to learn. What does this mean for you? Either learn Git or find someone else to do the heavy lifting.
Not scared yet? Let's roll.
The first place you will need to visit is the Pages section
There is also a great interactive walkthrough at http://www.thinkful.com/learn/a-guide-to-using-github-pages/ to help you better undertand how to build your website.
These are the steps I followed to create my page:
- I created a repository with my account michalsen.github.io.
- I cloned down the repository to my local machine.
- Using HTML, CSS and javascript I built a single page.
- For the javascript I just went to unheap.com and found a layout I liked and used that.
- Made text changes in the sample index.html file, a couple small tweaks in the CSS and added a couple images.
- Added those files to the local repository
- Committed those files
- Then pushed those files to the master repository at michalsen.github.io
What is the end product?
I have been working a short novel about a 14 year old boy who builds a monster using discarded parts scavenged from a throw-away society. He names it Wonkzilla, and you can find the beginning of the website at: http://wonkzilla.com
This site is currently a work in progress, but the basics are there, including a very cool robot designed by a Chicago artist, Jason Hawk
You are probably wondering now how I got the domain name pointing to the site. Here is a useful how-to on getting the domain name to point to your site:
https://help.github.com/articles/setting-up-a-custom-domain-with-pages
If you are interested in trying this out for your site, please let me know. We can go over the steps together in the comments below and we can perhaps setup a "best practices" for those new to this technology.
Previous Blog Posts
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