Graeme

I find the argument about wanting the boys to look like their fathers completely spurious. That's not a topic that is relevant before puberty, and should be complete taboo after then. If you want to argue that, then you should be arguing for breast implants on baby girls, too. There appear to be medical arguments in favour of circumcision, but what are the numbers behind the argument? For example, if it reduces urinary tract infection from four in ten thousand to two in ten thousand, then I don't see it's really that significant (despite a 50% drop in infection rates). Please note, I have made up those numbers without any research to determine the correct ones. For the record, my two boys were not circumcised. We didn't even discuss the topic except in passing. Neither my wife nor I considered it to be important. Graeme

Of course you were. And every good comedy duo has to have a straight man -- which is what I'm trying to do.... There are groups with heterosexuals as well. The married vs single (with overlaps -- most of my friends have been single, but there have been a couple of marriages in the last year to swing the balance the other way). The ones with kids vs the ones without. This is where I'm at at the moment. A lot of my social life revolves around the family and the kids. So, I naturally tend to socialise more with other people with kids around the same age as my two. With the eldest having started school this year, there's another circle of people that I'm getting to know, again generally married with kids. Cheers! Graeme :)

Long term relationship is a phrase that's used when couples are not married. Work-wise and socially I tend to deal with people who are married, so long term relationship is not something that crops up very often. Long distance relationship is one I think I hear slightly more often.

LTR is not something I hear much, but I'm getting used to the abbreviations used on the internet. I've heard the phrase used before in conversation, but not often. However, that's more a consequence of the circles I move in than anything else.

ldr = long distance relationship

A good point, though digging up an old codger for a piece set back before 1900 would be difficult, as you'd probably have to do that literally (dig up, I mean) with associated problems. On the other hand, you also need to make things readable. If you tried to write as they spoke back in the middle ages, few people would be able to understand it -- the language as drifted that much. Naturally, you don't want to introduce artifacts that didn't exist (middle ages peasant drags out his cellphone to call for help when rampaging wolves attack his flock of sheep), but the language itself can be more lenient ("Bloody hell! Those wolves are as annoying as Barry Manilow!") as long as you don't refer to people/events incorrectly, or use inappropriate terminology for the era. ("I'll just touch base with him" in a pre-baseball era, if such a time ever existed). Graeme

Ummm.... Okay, now I know why every editor keeps changing "alright" to "all right" whenever they see it. I quite like "alright" but I suppose it's time for it to go the way of the Dodo. Semi-illiteracy, here I come... :oops:

There have been some recent discussions in one of the columns of The Sydney Morning Herald regarding hanged vs hung. I thought I'd quote the following and ask for comment:

I was expecting to read a joke about Aussies, not a joke from an Aussie.... A terribly stereotypical opinion of New Zealanders I must say. When did you move to Australia, TR? :D Graeme

With third person, you can pretty well do whatever you want. An online example of a third person story that only covers things from a single person's POV is Drake's The Last Word: http://www.draketales.org It is also an excellent story (which I sincerely wish he'd finish!). Graeme

As a courtesy to those who are on dial-up or slow lines, I have editted the title to include a warning about the large download. Currently this thread is over 1MB in size (with the pictures). Graeme

There are also places on the internet that will host photos for you. http://www.photobucket.com is one such place, and I've seen a few people use it for this purpose (including James). Graeme

It's back up.

I often get annoyed when I'm reading a story that takes place where I live, in Southern California, and they make some dumbf@ck mistake about how a certain place looks, or where it's located. That is my point. If I'm going to use a specific place in a story, I want to be accurate, and that is more difficult if I haven't been there myself. Maps and the internet can only take you so far -- you need local knowledge. For example, there is a town in country Victoria called Wangaratta. It is only because I know someone who used to live in the area that I know that many locals call it "Wang", rather than the full name. Getting that wrong is the equivalent of your Hollywood/Anaheim situation. Graeme

Aaron raises an interesting point regarding different cultures and how they can read the same thing in different ways. In this case we have both teen-USA culture, and Australian culture contrasting with older-USA culture (or maybe just a different USA area culture). Between Aaron and myself, we try to make an educated guess at Australian teen culture, but that's a different story. As an author, I have already made concessions in the story for the predominantly American reader audience (the original draft used metric measurements, but I was advised to use imperial as it would be more understandable for the majority of readers). I also only insist on keeping those Australian phrases where the American equivalent would sound stilted to an Australian. Otherwise, I'm happy for the American version to be used (with the amount of USA-based TV in Australia, most American phrases are recognisable and sometimes used by Australians). This is what I referred to in my previous post as realism vs readability. Some Australian phrasing has been altered to a less common but still acceptable version to make it more readable for a wider audience. Graeme

Completely accidental, I assure you. The phrase is a very common one that is used when you have no idea of the reason for something that has occured. The unintended link to the prior events in the chapter just didn't click. Sorry. I'll have to take responsibility for that one. I can certainly imagine someone saying it, but as you have pointed out, realism has to be balanced with readability. Having said that, I'm not changing it.... :p (subject to change without notice) Graeme :D

If I was a professional author I could do the research required, but as an amateur if I want to set a story in Queensland, for example, then I run the risk of making mistakes if I make the location too specific. I don't live in Queensland, and I don't visit that often. My opinion only, of course. Graeme

Hi, Rick, I've used two USA based editors for my two main stories (Aaron for New Brother, and Blue for Falls Creek Lessons). Both managed the Australianism's (which are largely the same as the British ideosyncracies) with little problem. I sometimes have to put my foot down on the changes, but that is rare (Aaron had no idea what the phrase "seventy, not out" meant... which I was expecting. For some reason, Cricket has never taken off in the USA). I had the reverse problem when I wrote my chapter of Collision, as Jan pointed out. I thought I'd caught all the Australian phrasing, but he picked up on several that I'd missed. So, don't be afraid to use a USA based editor. There may be a learning curve initially, but a good editor will pick up the differences fairly easily. There are also some good references available on-line to help: American and British English Differences That is a link I've posted before, and it may not be perfect, but it is a very good start. Graeme :grin:

What I did when I started writing was to imagine a scene, and then write it and to see if I was able to portray the emotion/feelings I wanted to. I was happy enough with the result to try writing the full story. I'd suggest doing the same. Find a scene and write it up. If you are happy that it says what you want (and you can post it here for additional comments, if you like), then go ahead. Graeme PS: The scene that I wrote first is now in New Brother at the end of chapter 8 -- the scene where Ian Ashton tells David about his experiences with gays. It's vastly improved from the original I wrote, but the basics were all there.

I have the occasional short story that I don't have edited. Ambush was one of those. Most, however, I'll get edited. I tend to only have one editor per story, but I use different editors because I don't want to overload Wonderboy (aka Mr. Picky, or Aaron) as he enough on his plate already. Graeme

I passed on my comments to Rick some time ago. One of the comments I made was that I'm planning on not making the same mistake that this dad did.... I enjoyed the story, too. Graeme

I will stick up my hand as one of those emailers. The story itself is one that I do not like. To say I liked the story would, in some way, feel like I'm condoning the events that occured in that story. That, I can't do. TR, there is nothing wrong with writing and publishing the story. It is, basically, a tragedy, based on a historical tragedy. If stories like this are not written, people will forget, and be doomed to repeat the same events. It is important that stories like this are written and read. However, to say that we like them is a step that I can't make for you. I'm sorry. If anything, you can take it as a compliment that I don't like the story. The writing itself is strong enough that it makes the reader confront things that they may not want to. It has made me think and reflect on events that I might not otherwise have done so. For that, I thank you. All I can say is please don't confuse a dislike for the story being told for a dislike for the story. I like the story (technically and in how it has made me think) even if I dislike the story being told. I didn't explain this properly in my email and for that I apologise. Graeme

:clap: I remember when you congratulated me for completing FCL. It is now my great pleasure to do the same for you. Well done! :D You brought things to a great close; one I'm extremely happy with. Sometimes I feel disappointed with how a story ends, but that is definitely not the case here. I'm going to have to go back at some stage and read the whole story through in one shot, but for now I'll just step back and give you the standing ovation you deserve.... :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

First person is generally easier to write for a novice author (at least for this one) as all you have to do is put yourself in the shoes of the narrator and tell the story as if you were there yourself. I suspect this is also the reason why readers tend to relate more to a first person story. Third person gives more latitude to the author as to what is going on, which allows them to present the bigger picture. There are a lot of variations on third person, depending on how much the author is willing to reveal (eg. like a camera, where they only report what can be seen, or getting inside characters heads so the reader can see what each is thinking). I'm starting to write in third person and I've written a couple of short stories from that POV. It can be very powerful, but it is definitely harder, at least for me. I suspect there is also some subtle differences in presentation that I'm still to learn (such as changing from subjective opinions on another characters feelings to an absolute statement, or a statement that this is the perception of the main character). I'm still learning, so I'll be interested in hearing what others have to say on this subject. Graeme

:D