An idea

[Trab]

Now that I have your attention

The other morning, I woke up with an idea circulating in my head, and thought that it might be fun to see what you writers here could do with it. Just what could one accomplish with a single sentence, while trying to avoid having it seem too run-on. I've created my own, and while I can accept critiquing, that's not really the main purpose. Rather, I'd just like to see other similar (and hopefully better) one sentence introductions of some sort or another. Please feel free to 'run with it', or if you are going to tell me it is a stupid idea, please be gentle.

With a sinking feeling as I opened the door that Friday evening to my straight and best friend Rick, standing there in all his 6?2? studly glory on the front porch of my parents? house on the outskirts of Medusa OK, next to his girlfriend and the hottest looking girl ever, I realized that I may have needed to add a bit more personal insight to the discussion we?d had last week about my growing sexual frustration and needing to be ?hooked up? soon, or I?d explode.

[DesDownunder]

No Trab, I don't think it is a stupid idea at all.

Probably a good exercise for us budding writers.

Although I have seen some stories on (Nifty) that seem to be one sentence, one paragraph and one book without stopping for even a breath.

I will go away and see if my muse will consent to me trying your idea.

[Trab]

I know what you mean about the Nifty stories you sometimes find. I do believe the reason is the old style keyboard. You know the one; without any comma, period, or shift key.

[DesDownunder]

I do believe the reason is the old style keyboard.

I tend to think many of the styles and grammatical errors we see are due to speech dictation.

Does anyone have any idea how many stories are created by just using a microphone for speech to text to write a story? Does anyone use this method?

I tried using a speech to text some years ago (just for fun).

The thing was ludicrous even after a long "training" session for the software.

It was worse than Microsoft's spell-checker.

A simple "hello" was rendered as 'I see". And NO I don't have a lisp.

I soon discovered that it would take longer to correct than type it.

Also it is a noisy process. I am sure that many young authors would not like their parents to hear the dictating of some sexual fantasy in the middle of the night.

On the other-hand some parents might benefit from it.

[Trab]

Oh, you are wicked! Some parents might benefit from sexual fantasies, but GAY fantasies?

I tried two different dictation to text programs over the last 10 years and each time was severely disappointed with the product, AND waste of my money. I think learning to type and using an ergonomic keyboard are the two single best things to do, besides sex, eating, drinking, sleeping, making money: Oh, I'll just shut up now. Maybe they truly ARE at the bottom of the list.

[DesDownunder]

Making money? I never got the hang of that.

[Trab]

Des, it's the artwork that's the hardest, although getting the right paper isn't all that easy either.

[Graeme]

I started reading this topic, thinking it would show me examples of long sentences, but I was surprised to discover that it had diverged quickly into a discussion of quality voice-to-text software, or lack-thereof, which, while an interesting topic in it's own right, was not what the thread was proposed to be about, so I thought I should respond to see if I could steer the thread back to the original intention -- a task that I'll probably fail at because discussing the vagaries of how computer systems turn an analog signal (voice) into a meaningful digital signal (text) is a lot more interesting, encompassing potentially not only a debate on the impact of accents and speech impediments, but also an understanding of natural language so the computer system could try to make an intelligent decision on such critical questions as "did the person say 'to', 'too' or 'two'?"

How did I do?

[Trab]

Oh BRAVO. That was wonderful.

[dude]

Gasp... gasp

You're giving this broadcast journalist anxiety attacks!

[DesDownunder]

Trab:

I think I failed the money because I kept trying to make the pictures look more arty.

Graeme:

Excellent work, too too much. Or is that tutu much.

[DesDownunder]

Ok guys here is my poor effort.

Apologies to all and anyone I missed.

Mike, the Awesome Dude that he is, gathered up all the members, some of whom had really weird names like Brit8UK, whilst others just used (presumably) their initials, like, TR and E.J., and told them all they were going to visit Codey's World for a party which was being organised by Paul and Jamie who were busy trying to stop Codey feeling blue as it would not be the thing to do in front of the Rustic Monk, also known as Gabe to his friends who were trying to organise a fleet of taxis, planes and trains to get us to the party of the century, when Talon Rider announced he could arrange teleportation if The Pecman and jamessavik bought the food and Graeme got the beer from the Aussie pub that still had really Rad ales, that everyone would like to drink before the orgy started at 8pm because it had to be finished before people's parents found out what was happening to Camy in the back room which was being guarded by Nailo while Trab sat and watched with great glee at Desdownunder trying to work into this stupid story that it was not really correct to say it was writebymyself.

[Camy]

... just what was happening to me in the back room???

yours truly

Concerned.

[DesDownunder]

... just what was happening to me in the back room???

yours truly

Concerned.

Can't really say Camy. I couldn't bring myself to look once the screaming started.

however, I was told they were screams of delight. Do you not remember?

[Camy]

Can't really say Camy. I couldn't bring myself to look once the screaming started.

however, I was told they were screams of delight. Do you not remember?

Nope, must have passed out with the pleasure.

[Trab]

Geez. You must be fun in bed. Passing out from pleasure.

[Paul]

I think that one of the reasons you encounter so many run-on sentences in amateur writing is that the authors are listening to their words in their heads and unconsciously "hearing" the various pauses and full stops that occur in natural speech without realizing that these demarcations do not automatically exist in written text and must therefore be specifically indicated by means of commas, semi-colons and periods, though in all fairness, the inability to realize this principle may be beyond their inherent capabilities and in truth reflects a lack of education in the fundamentals of written prose, though on the other hand I suspect in many cases it's a willful and deliberate attempt to represent oneself as an iconoclast, a free spirit unwilling to have their creativity straight-jacketed by obsolete and arbitrary rules, similar to the practice of other individuals to so posture themselves by gratuitous employment of sentences that, though punctuated, run on nevertheless.

[Trab]

Oh, you guys are GOOD.

[Camy]

I think that one of the reasons you encounter so many run-on sentences in amateur writing is that the authors are listening to their words in their heads and unconsciously "hearing" the various pauses and full stops that occur in natural speech without realizing that these demarcations do not automatically exist in written text and must therefore be specifically indicated by means of commas, semi-colons and periods, though in all fairness, the inability to realize this principle may be beyond their inherent capabilities and in truth reflects a lack of education in the fundamentals of written prose, though on the other hand I suspect in many cases it's a willful and deliberate attempt to represent oneself as an iconoclast, a free spirit unwilling to have their creativity straight-jacketed by obsolete and arbitrary rules, similar to the practice of other individuals to so posture themselves by gratuitous employment of sentences that, though punctuated, run on nevertheless.

Education schmeducation. I appreciate the sentiment that 'those who can do, those who can't teach.' And what are editors for? Amongst other wonderous things to deal with niggly run-on sentences, AND no two editors edit exactly the same way. Furthermore the language is changing over time as are the rules of punctuation. *takes deep breath* So there ... I'd like to add that I really don't know what I'm talking about.

That's a sweet paragraph btw.

[Paul]

I'd like to add that I really don't know what I'm talking about.

Me neither. I was just trying to cram as much blather in as possible.

That's a sweet paragraph btw.

[Trab]

and I left you with a really really really bright red personal part of my own anatomy as a keepsake of the wild party, hmmmmmmmmm!

Okay. I give up. What part of your own anatomy did you remove?

Or is it that you dropped a few words, and meant '...left you with the memory of a really really really bright red...'

[DesDownunder]

Lordy, what have I done?

[Camy]

Lordy, what have I done?

Yep. See what you've started!