aj
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Posts posted by aj
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Jamie just posted chapter 44 of TSOI to the site...I have to admit, it was a hard chapter to edit. I found that I couldn't edit the first part when I first starting working on it...I'd already read it through, but the impact was still pretty raw. I had to move on to about the halfway point before i could start really working on it, and only after reading the opening section several times was I able to start really getting 'editor-esque' about it.
Don't get me wrong--this is a fine chapter. It slots into the storyframe beautifully, and makes good internal logic, but it's not an easy read (and no, I'm not going to offer any spoilers here--go read the chapter for yourself, you lazy thing!).
This is the first time I've encountered this difficulty...anyone care to comment?
cheers!
aj
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What makes a character great is the ability to change and grow, to learn from mistakes--just like real people. The reader has to be able to see what motivates the character to do what he/she does, and the character has to have energy. While surprising behavior is sometimes good, there has to be an internal logic to their actions and decisions. The struggle to overcome weaknesses and flaws is important, as this makes the character likable to the readers, who identify with the struggle.
To read some of the most amazing characterization around, I suggest reading anything by David Buffet, but in particular Alpha Male or Control and Kaos. The guy is a master.
cheers!
aj
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Hey bud--good to see you posting over here. I haven't been over to gayauthors to check for any feedback on the last chapter of GEJ...anything noteworthy?
Sorry to hijack the thread, even in a small way.
cheers!
aj
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Death threats over the presentation of a character in a story? What the hell is up with that?
cheers!
aj
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Amen, brother! especially to 10:1.
cheers!
aj
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Graeme, if you need a hand, let me know.
cheers!
aj
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One day you'll learn to keep your eyes on the meat.
But seriously, this sort of thing happens to me all the time. My mother's favorite saying for me was "It's a good thing your head is firmly attached--otherwise, you'd leave it somewhere." I've been considering the possibility of a Gingko Biloba continuous IV.
cheers!
aj
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You finally did it! I couldn't be happier for you...yes, it does get easier with time and experience. I predict that a year from now, you'll be asking yourself "What was the big deal and why did I wait so long?"
Come up to Seattle soon and I'll give you a tour of The Hill, with all its myriad 'gay outlets.' That would be a kick in the pants for both of us!
cheers!
aj
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Sounds like a good challenge and a worthwhile cause.
cheers!
aj
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Why is a cookie better than a penis?
2 reasons:
a.) you get to take the wrapper off a cookie before you eat it, and
b.) cookies are even better when they're soft and gooey.
What do the reindeer does do while their husbands are out pulling Santa's sleigh?
They go out for a night on the town and blow a few bucks.
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Hey Jan--I don't think it was ever really clarified (at least to me) where your role would enter the process. I was assuming that Jamie would be sending you chapters just before they were posted for a going over...am I supposed to be sending you the final edits before I send them to Jamie? It is absolutely not my intention to cut you out of the process...as I said before, if it helps to improve the work, let's do it.
Yo Trab--I'm always interested in seeing things that have slipped by me, so if you want to send me a note with the problems that you find, I would be grateful. A lot of times, there is a pattern of typos or bad spelling that, if I can identify, makes correction a lot easier. I love that you're reading the work intensively enough to catch these problems, and don't mind taking the time to point them out.
cheers!
aj
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But I have to admit that I'm puzzled by the reference to temperatures as swindelers...I guess I'd better get with it and read...
cheers!
aj
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I LOVE Hosanna. It's definitely one of my favorite holiday stories.
I'm right there with you, Trab--makes me choke up every time I read it.
cheers!
aj
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It's always good to hear some kind words. Just as "Criticism from a fool is no criticism at all", so also praise from a fool is no praise at all, and so it felt particularly nice to hear such nice things from you.
And if you think the plot is thickening now, you better hold onto your hat!
cheers!
aj
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Yes, even a very neutral word like 'said' can be overused...though he's wildly successful commercially, one of the things that drives me barking mad about Michael Crichton's work is that he attributes nearly every line of dialogue. Very cumbersome, not reader friendly (in that it makes me believe that he believes that his readers are idiots) and quite distracting.
cheers!
aj
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You know, if anyone other than TR had made that last comment, I'd be offended...as it is, I know he took valuable time from his "Bitches That Brunch" membership drive activities to bring us that comment, so I actually feel rather complimented. :cheers: :cheers:
Many kisses, TR.
cheers,
aj
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to finally have a chance to agree whole-heartedly and unreservedly with Pecman on anything!
But what he has to say about David Buffet, I will second and support without reservation. When I grow up, I wanna be Mr. Buffet.cheers!
aj
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It's been awhile since anyone said anything in here...I have no excuse myself, other than the usual time issues that seem to plague most editor's lives. At the present time, I'm struggling to keep up with the weekly schedule for The Scrolls, working on a re-edit of Perry and Jesse (and being shamelessly slow, I admit) and starting to work with a new author named Dio, who is writing a piece called "Grey-eyed Justice" which you can find over on Gay Authors(you know--the other guys). I heartily reccomend GEJ, btw...it's a wonderful piece of writing. Dio is a new author, but has quite a way with words. He's been doing a creditable job of his own editing, but has decided to give an external editor a try.
I haven't really heard much from the other folk that hang here...Aaron, Talonrider, the chubby scarab, and the others, and I'd be interested in knowing what alla y'all are up to...anything new or interesting going on with you guys? Any particularly challenging pieces you been working on?
cheers!
aj
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so we're trading coming out stories...very solid gay tradition. right up there with 'first time' stories.
I grew up in a rather strange environment--my father was an alcoholic, an evangelical christian, and a closet sex addict. There were lots of bibles around, and lots of porn and alcohol. Despite the trappings of religion, it was a very sexualized environment.
I took to religion very early. The church we attended was an evangelical Presbyterian church...another odd combination. I participated in all the youth programs, even delivered a few messages from the pulpit on the Sundays when the services were delivered by the youth program. I wanted to be a pastor myself, for years.
But there was a problem. I knew that underneath and side-by-side with the good little christian boy that I was, there existed this very perverse, evil thing that was attracted to men...primarily older men, at that time. I can remember being about 8 years old and having a crush on some of my sister's high school friends. I prayed every day that this thing would go away, but it never did--it just got stronger, the harder I suppressed it.
So I hid this thing behind a curtain of religion for a lot of years. Finally, after my freshman year of college, it became impossible to hide anymore. This is what happened:
I was participating in a student exchange program immediately after my first year of college. I was slated to go to Finland for a year, and I was wildly excited. I'd never been much of anywhere before, so I was just over the top. I spent the summer before the trip at my Grandparent's home in Colorado, working on a landscape crew and making money for the trip.
When the time came, the plan was that those of us who were in the program and living in CO would all get together and carpool to Chicago, and fly from there to Europe. It happened that one of the other participants was a really nice young man-- very cute, and a bit flirty. So, when we stopped for the evening at the home of a friend of the driver's to spend the night, I waited till lights were out and then I seduced this young man. Which was ok, until just about the time the afterglow faded, and then he screamed the house down and accused me of raping him.
So then I was summarily dismissed from the program. I had enough money in my pocket to pay for an airline ticket to Seattle, where I stayed with my sister for a couple of weeks, and then I had to go home and face the music.
When I told my parents, my mother put on her wise woman's face and told me she'd known all along, and my father said it was ok, he'd had several bisexual encounters as a kid (!), but that it would be a good thing if I went to the pastor for counselling. He turned out to have even less idea what to do than I did, but he did suggest some 'reparative therapy' ala Exodus Ministry. Then he suggested that there was a faith healer coming to the church soon, and maybe that would be helpful.
To make a long story short (or is it too late for that?), I went to the faith healer, got excorcised for a demon of lust, and ended up perving on a cute guy on the street the next day, so I realized at that point that it was a crock, and that was the end of my association with the church. I skipped a semester of school, and went back to school to wrestle with my identity.
cheers!
aj
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But you're wrong. I can't even begin to imagine the strength it takes to battle on two fronts, as you do every day. I have a hard enough time just dealing with my own, relatively light, load of issues every day. I'm a talking fool--I can't imagine what it would be like to be impaired in my communications every day.
Too weak to come out? You just did, to a couple hundred people on this forum. The fact that it's at a remove, and to a group of supportive people, makes it no less a courageous move.
cheers!
aj
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in an open forum is not perversion. Getting off about talking about masturbation on an open forum might be perverse, but quite frankly--I haven't any idea why everyone talks about perversion like it's a bad thing anyway. I mean, we've all got our own little kinks, and as long as we don't coerce other people into participating, where's the harm? The only evil perversion is coercion.
cheers!
aj
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After looking at the site that TR posted that goes into great detail about the various types of circumcisions, I was very pleased to find that my circumcision type is congruent with my moral character: low and loose.
cheers!
aj
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I met an absolutely amazing man named Ben once...truly beautiful, and quiet and gentle. Over time (ok, it was a week), I fell in love with him (or was deeply infatuated or something), and then one night in bed, he tells me he loves me but he's going to UC Davis in a month. In my usual fashion, I decided to use my heart as a landing pad, and continued to hang with him until he left, even letting him live with me for the last two weeks, since he'd given up his apartment.
The night that he drove away in his little gray car was incredibly difficult. I still think about him from time to time, and I always wish him well.
cheers!
aj
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Just found this lovely little story over on the archive, under "Beginnings": www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/beginnings/luke-and-jj/
It's a simple tale of two young men who find each other in California, set in the 1860's. It's told with a gentle warmth and simplicity that is terribly appealing, at least to me. I hope you all have a chance to read and comment.
cheers!
aj
But what he has to say about David Buffet, I will second and support without reservation. When I grow up, I wanna be Mr. Buffet.Scan to donate
A tough chapter to edit
in Editor's Desk
Posted
Damned split infinitives! :oops: Still, if that's the worst that I missed, I guess I'm doing all right. Wordiness is a plague upon our house, but i generally manage to pare things down a bit.
Actually though, what I was finding to be difficult was editing writing that has such emotional impact. I started to edit this chapter a couple of times and found myself just sitting there reading instead. It was a strange experience, because I'm usually pretty directed when i edit.
cheers!
aj