On Thu, 25 Apr 1996, Kevin Eav wrote:

Paradox be damned, (in the words of my favorite mage, who then proceeded 
to turn several vamps to stone,) but do you realize how many CD's we're 
talkin' about here?  Like...oh...10 fer Bert, by the time he's done, and 
we know half (at least) of those are gonna all be BGZ (which, 
incidentally, I actually like *more* than BGC *boggle* even if it does 
take about the same length of time to read BGZ as it does to watch BGC.)
Tack on another 10 for Mr. Biles, and then..oh...another 10 for the rest 
of the world...oooh, 30 CD set, only 49.95, act now while supplies last.

Cool.  Something else to spend my money on.  Let's see...at this rate,
I should pay off my credit card sometime when hell freezes over.
  

On a non-spam note, I have this question for you people out there who 
probably've never heard of me. :)

Do you prefer long fics or short fics, and why?  Also, what are some 
tips on lengthening 'fics?  I'm having an extremely hard time writing my 
one 'long' 'fic... not to mention I've got quite a few more on the back 
burner.   Oh, and another question regarding Mr. Biles' 'technobabble' 
comments: How do you make that stuff sound convincing? Is it real tech 
that someone who isn't avidly into military/combat type stuff wouldn't 
know about? 

My own comment on this is that the 'fic should be whatever length is called
for.  I usually write relatively short 'fics, simply because I write until
the story is sufficiently told.  As for lengthening 'fics, my comment is:  
DON'T.  Fluff is fluff, no matter how it's packaged.  Any artificial 
lengthening will be recognized as such - and detract from the overall 
potency of the 'fic.  If the lengthening is called for and would 
genuinely add to the story, go ahead.  If not, then not.  One other
point:  A good storyteller never tells the whole story, leaving bits up
to the reader's imagination.  I've cut out scenes from 'fics, simply 
because I felt it better to leave that scene, hinted at in other parts, to
the reader's imagination...

With the technical stuff, some writers have a gift for it, some don't.  
My own personal weakness is action scenes: I have serious difficulty
describing such scenes in detail.  Each of us has our strengths and 
weaknesses when it comes to the descriptive aspect of writing.  One other 
thing: the technical stuff can come back to haunt you sometimes, if you
don't watch it.  Cases in point:

Case 1:  Aftermath.  I felt really sorry for Erin after that one.  
Everybady got on his case big time for that 400,000 miles thing.
  
Case 2: The Circe Project, part 2.  Of course, the funny thing is, 
I'm a _chemical_ engineering major...who slipped up on a chemistry bit.
I remembered...vaguely...what hydrogen bonding was, and that it played a 
part in holding strands of DNA to each other.  My post to RAAC took out
the hydrogen bonding bit, but kept the overall process there...with the 
strands in the water, and some...other things, that Sylia will identify
at about the same time I pay off my credit card.  


Take care, all, and have fun.
 
Nightelf
nwl9354@tam2000.tamu.edu
 

Kevin Eav--First Deacon of the Church of Ryouga, Keeper of the Compass, 
                          Member of C.A.S.K.E.T.
email:geist@holly.colostate.edu --  IRC:Ishido at #ranma! -- Ishido@RanmaMUCK
"The world...is a dark and lonely place...beyond hope, beyond care..."-Ryouga
                 Member of Okonomiyaki Addicts Anonymous
"C'mon kiddo.  You've got to *find* Akane.  You really are a pain in the 
                  fanny sometimes, ya know Ryouga?"-Ukyo