Fic help.

[mathpiglet]

If you enjoy Sarum, you'll love London!

[Skydiver]

Guys

If you want to keep on about novel lengths then maybe it needs its own thread. This one is supposed to be for folks that want help with their fic.

[BruTak]

Can someone with a better grasp of Scottish geography than me point me in the right direction for something?

I need a semi-derelict country estate with the usual assorted outbuildings. The nearest town being roughly 15-20miles away via rough cross country roads. Access to a loch. Pleanty of wild open space. An hour or so's flight by helicopter from Glasgow.

Can anyone suggest anywhere that might fit the bill with a wee bit of artistic license? Or do I just bite the bullet and make something up?

[Sealurk]

Can someone with a better grasp of Scottish geography than me point me in the right direction for something?

I need a semi-derelict country estate with the usual assorted outbuildings. The nearest town being roughly 15-20miles away via rough cross country roads. Access to a loch. Pleanty of wild open space. An hour or so's flight by helicopter from Glasgow.

Can anyone suggest anywhere that might fit the bill with a wee bit of artistic license? Or do I just bite the bullet and make something up?

An hour by helicopter is tricky to define - it depends on the type of chopper, the urgency of the flight, conditions etc, but for the sake of argument, 100 mph sounds acceptable for cruising speed. So, one hundred miles from Glasgow is... the Lake District? Hmm, I'm assuming you want to keep it in Scotland though, so basically you would probably be better off looking around Inverness, which a highly scientific method (using a USB stick held up against Google maps as a crude 100 mi measure) has told me is pretty much exactly one hundred miles from Glasgow, and there are lots of lochs and wild open space to the west.

Looking on Google maps, I've found Loch Monar. It's deep in the Highlands by the looks of it, which is possibly the sort of terrain you're after. Not sure how close the closest town is though, and as for derelict country estate... yeah, I think you may as well just invent that. It'll be in the right sort of area if nothing else.

[BruTak]

An hour by helicopter is tricky to define - it depends on the type of chopper, the urgency of the flight, conditions etc, but for the sake of argument, 100 mph sounds acceptable for cruising speed. So, one hundred miles from Glasgow is... the Lake District? Hmm, I'm assuming you want to keep it in Scotland though, so basically you would probably be better off looking around Inverness, which a highly scientific method (using a USB stick held up against Google maps as a crude 100 mi measure) has told me is pretty much exactly one hundred miles from Glasgow, and there are lots of lochs and wild open space to the west.

Looking on Google maps, I've found Loch Monar. It's deep in the Highlands by the looks of it, which is possibly the sort of terrain you're after. Not sure how close the closest town is though, and as for derelict country estate... yeah, I think you may as well just invent that. It'll be in the right sort of area if nothing else.

Sorry, I should've specified the type of helo. A nice inconspicous Eurocopter EC-135.

But around the Loch Monar area sounds pretty much ideal.

[LT. COL. John Sheppard]

how well will a POV and script style fic go?

[Whytewytch]

IMHO, script style pushes us away and any POV (except 2nd--**shudder**) pulls us closer to the story. Think of it this way: your grandfather, a carpenter, is going to teach you to build a house. Either he writes you directions and turns you loose (script) or he takes your hand and shows you how to hold the hammer and the nail (POV).

There may be a way for them to play well together (as Gabaldon did with two different types of POV in her Outlander series), but it will take a lot more skill than many seasoned writers have. If you're just starting out, I would use either omniscient or deep 3rd POV, so that we can see what your characters are thinking/feeling. Remember if you're in 3rd, though, your POV character can see those around him but cannot read their thoughts or know their feelings (unless he awakens with psychic abilities). In deep 3rd (some call it limited 3rd), you are basically a body-snatcher, inhabiting the body and mind of your chosen character.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Script style doesn't involve POV at all. Scripts are also both difficult to write and to read, and I really don't recommend them for anyone who isn't actually writing a work that they intend to produce with actors for the stage or screen. Honestly, if you're writing for readers, write a story, not a script.

[BruTak]

Sometimes though, script style can be quite effective.

Using it to illustrate a cop questioning a suspect for example.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Sometimes though, script style can be quite effective.

Using it to illustrate a cop questioning a suspect for example.

Nowhere near as effective as just doing it with a normal dialogue passage in a normal story, though. See, you don't need to write a script to do dialogue effectively. In fact, unless you're writing for the stage or screen, doing it in the context of a regular story is more effective, because you can include reference's to a character's internal thoughts, state of mind, unspoken reactions to things, etc.

Honestly, scripts aren't really designed to be read; they're designed to be performed.

[Ibn Rushd]

Are scripts equivalent to plays? Some plays do not have directions besides "enter" and "exit", especially ancient ones, where stage directions have been added - mostly - by modern editors.

I find it difficult to read a script also.

[fems]

Sometimes though, script style can be quite effective.

Using it to illustrate a cop questioning a suspect for example.

What? I don't see how this is more effective than actual dialogue and description of body language etc. That gives you a hell of a lot more insight into the interrogation than mere dialogue lines without any inflection etc.

[BruTak]

What I meant was someone else was reading it after the fact.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

A script and a transcript are not the same thing (mostly due to format). Yes, a transcript can be effective for relating interrogations, but that's due in part because of the way it presents itself to the eye.

Seaboe

[SF_and_Coffee]

What I meant was someone else was reading it after the fact.

I think you mean a transcript of an interrogation presented to someone who wasn't actually present, but this is done in the context of a story that's otherwise written normally rather than as a script, right?

If so, that isn't even remotely the same thing as writing a story in script style.

[fems]

I've got a question for you all. Well, maybe not everyone but to those who are familiar with (fic) ratings and romance/sex. Normally I write mature fics so I don't really have to mind my words be that in sexual terms, violence or language. But my current fic is T-rated and this is what it says on FFnet:

T - Contains content not suitable for children. Suitable for teens, 13 years and older, with some violence, minor coarse language, and minor suggestive adult themes.

The next rating is M, which should have content suitable for mature teens and older. Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with possible strong but non-explicit adult themes, references to violence, and strong coarse language.

Another archive I post on has an R-rating instead of T.

Anyway, I'm not sure what is and is not acceptable for T-rated fics when it comes to romance or sex. Obviously I can't have graphic sexual stuff but at the same time is "minor suggestive adult theme" rather vague. Someone said I should probably stick to kissing and heavy petting to be on the safe side (although I'm not entirely sure if there's a difference between heavy petting and groping for example), but also said I was probably already close to pushing it with the make-out session I'd written. In my opinion it was pretty tame, just some kissing, tongue and the mention of a hand on his inner thigh (and her nails digging into the denim of his jeans).

I think the problem is that we all know what 13+ year olds are capable of these days and how familiar they are with fooling around and sex. This is pretty clear with all the reports of sexual active kids (13-15 year olds), mostly in the US and UK and at the same time television and ratings like these are very tame there (especially the US). Not to mention the high rates of teen pregnancy there... But you know, you see one boob or have a "nipplegate" and all hell breaks loose. Considering some of the reactions of foreigners who watch TV in my country ("oh my god, there are naked people in your shaving/shower gel/body lotion commercial!" etc) I think ratings are probably a bit less strict here, hence my confusion.

So in short, how much heavy petting/groping and descriptive language do you think is allowed in a T-rated fic?

Never mind, finished the fic weeks ago.

[CherryBlossom]

Hi guys, I was wondering if I could get some help with my Stargate Atlantis fic. I am trying to plot a scientific solution to a plot line but need some people who understand the in-universe science mumbo-jumbo that I'm coming up with.

I have two plot lines. The story is set just after The Return. In my story one of the Asurans had rid himself of his corporal body and downloaded himself into the Ancient mainframe with the sole purpose of destroying Atlantis from the inside out.

I have decided that the Ancient mainframe is protected from the disruptor field that the team use so they need another way to kill the asuran. I thought Sam Carter could help McKay to convert the disruptor field technology into an anti-virus that could be uploaded into the mainframe. I know that the disruptor technology stops the nanites from communicating with each other so I just need to know if this is feasible.

Also I'm not familar with SG-1 season 10 so does anyone know where Carter would be around the Tao of Rodney episode and what she would be doing? Thanks for any help you could give me.

[Sealurk]

You could say that while the anti-virus/counter-measure is inspired by the disruptor technology, it is nevertheless a wholly new virtual construct that is merely similar in principle to the disruptor tech in that it is intended to permanently break and rewrite the code links between clusters of Asuran programming dispersed over the Atlantis mainframe, rendering much of it inert enough for conventional security software to mop it up. Or, you know, something...

As for Carter and the Tao of Rodney... if you want to go by air dates for rough guesses of when Stargate events happen in their own timeline (hardly an ideal answer, but often useful), the corresponding SG-1 episode for that time frame seems to be The Shroud, i.e. Prior Daniel steals the Odyssey, gives it a cloak and plans to kill the Ori with the Sangraal. Precisely where Carter is during all of this I cannot recall, but I hope that helps.

[Starfist]

Help me Obi Wan Kenobi...! You're my only hope.

Sorry I just couldn't resist...

[Whytewytch]

Help me Obi Wan Kenobi...! You're my only hope.

Sorry I just couldn't resist...

Oy vay!