Castle Paradox

[Gizmog1]

This place has the potential to be the most awesome forum on the site, but everyone's kind of limited by a certain idea of what story time means, (Generally, that this place is for fantasy written fiction). But there's so many more applications that fit within the realm of the acceptable.

Firstly, this is a great place to post anecdotes and stories of interesting things that happen to you in your day-to-day life. SomethingAwful's GBS forum has some really neat stories that people post about them, and people they know, and what kind of mischief they get up to, and CP has some fairly interesting people who I'm sure do something. What's more, writing about your everyday life is great exercise. By writing what you know, without having to make up something, you can really just go wild with the actual writing/story telling aspect of it, and it can make you a better writer, and a more interesting person to converse with.

Secondly, this is a wonderful place to post jokes. Preferably original ones, but you could post popular jokes by comedians, and then dissect and discuss them with us to figure out what makes them funny. We could do the same thing with classic works of literature which have fallen into the public domain. Cut them open, and see what makes them tick.

Thirdly, and this is in contrast to Cubie's "What this forum is for" post, I think this is a DANDY place to post fanfiction. Much like writing about your own exploits, it means you have to take less time in thinking of characters and whatnot, and can spend more time focusing on the telling of the story.

Also, and again in contrast to Cubie, I think that stories should be actually posted on the forum, and not linked. I'd suggest though, that such stories use proper paragraphs and spacing. Not only does it make it easier to read, it looks more professional. Open any book on your shelf, and I guarantee there won't be a wall of text. Notice how they separate each paragraph, and why and where the end a parapgraph. Pay particular interaction to when two characters are interacting, this is where a lot of people make mistakes that make their stories nearly unreadable.

Post your own ideas and suggestions here, but don't just talk about it, go ahead and post your stories, and let's try and make this forum a lot more active.

EDIT: Oh, and even though we don't have an official moderator, I asked IM about most of this stuff, and he was alright with the idea, so don't worry about getting in trouble for following these suggestions (Except for Fanfiction, which I didn't check with him).

[Cube]

The "What this forum is supposed to be about" is very outdated. With CP taking different directions today, I don't see a problem with fanfictions. And the "link to your stories" was made back when CP couldn't handle posts longer than 1000 words or something, and we had odd 30 second timeout errors from long posts being posted, forcing people to make multiple posts in a row which was hard to read (To me, anyways ; ; ).

So yeah, just saying that post no longer has any relevence to this forum now in the first place. If you want, I can unsticky it as such... I honestly don't see any point in having it there anymore.

[LeRoy_Leo]

Should we... ummm... Sticky this? I think we should. Make it sort of a new "about" thread. "This place has the potential to be the most awesome forum on this site" is a good opener, man.

Giz: How dare you forget to mention the sing-a-log thread!!!

Also, Giz mentioned using correct etiquette for such posts to make them more attractive. Some of our members might want a micro lesson in correct grammar, punctuation, and what constitutes as a paragraph. Some of the seasoned members could use a little rushing up two (especially myself. There are certain rules I am not entirely clear on). Or maybe there is one here already?

Incidentally, I thought about posting an interesting article about "voice, grammar, etc.", but things came up and yadda yadda.

Good ideas, Giz. I also have a million ghosts stories, by the way.
[edit] Sorry if this didn't add much to the conversation. I feel like I am missing something. I had this great idea. I'll get back to you guys if it comes to mind.
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---msw188 ---
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[Gizmog1]

I don't think we have a thread for ettiquette and whatnot of stories, and it's been awhile since I went to English class, so some of this may not be entirely correct, but usually a paragraph should be limited to one exact thought, or subject. Let's say for instance, I'm writing a story about a ship captain:

Old Blackbeard prowled the deck, surveying the damage of the British bombardment. They'd knocked down the main mast, and parts of the Foc'sle were scattered about the deck. He ignored the moans of the injured and dying, and reached for his trusty hip flask, but alas; a stray bullet had emptied it of it's contents.

I think I'm okay, just mentioning his hip flask there as an afterthought, but if the subject changed to Blackbeard's injuries, or his thoughts on the attack, I'd want to start a new paragraph.

A problem I had when I first really started, was with conversations, but it seems to me in most of what I've read, they flow the best when you limit your descriptions to the beginning and end of the conversation. For instance:

As Blackbeard mourned the loss of his favorite brandy, the first mate approached from the rear. "Sir," the mate began, adding a slight bow "we're listing 15 degrees port, water's leaking pretty steadily into the cargo hold, and the helmsman says he can't keep her going straight."

"To hell with all that, how's the GOLD?!" Blackbeard interrupted.

"Well sir, some of it's below water, and the prisoner suggested we move half of it starboard, to try and counteract the list. But outside of that, it's all well and protected, just as you ordered."

"The prisoner suggested?! I don't care if she is a princess, that harlot isn't your Captain, and if I hear that you've been following her commands again, I'll tie you to the anchor, and drag you all the way back to Havana! Do you understand me?"

"Aye, aye, sir."

"And Smith?"

"Yes, Blackbeard?"

"Get me some more brandy."

"Aye, skipper." The mate replied, and nodded slightly before returning to the aft.

It does get a little confusing, particularly in heated exchanges, but it works a lot better than having "Blackbeard said" "Smith said" and all the various synonyms thereof. You can use those to try and control the pace, but in my opinion that should be done sparingly, as it kind of butts the author's head in, and if you use it even the slightest bit too much it can make reading unbearable. I've gotta go, but if I can think of anything else, I'll post about it later. And don't worry Leroy, you added plenty to the conversation this time.

Cubie: I don't know how stickying this would be, but if you want to unsticky the older thread, it really makes no difference to me. Some of it's still applicable, and some of it isn't. Maybe you could edit it to make it a bit more up to date?