Fic help.

[BruTak]

Generally speaking, how much time should I spend "world building"?

[Whytewytch]

Generally speaking, how much time should I spend "world building"?

I'm not much of a plotter, but I would say it would depend on how detailed you want the world. I build as I go, adding details as I go along, until I am satisfied with the result.

[BruTak]

Hmm. I'm up to two pages of notes so far.

No idea how much of it I'll actually end up using, but I suppose it's better to have and not need rather than need and not have.

[Whytewytch]

There's a lot of info that I have but never use in the actual writing--it's just background info for me.

[Gatefan1976]

Generally speaking, how much time should I spend "world building"?

I would say the same amount of time you spend on naming characters. If "PX-1378" is enough, then it's enough. If the world is a "major character" all its own, then more time will be better. In RPG terms, there are two aproaches. Inside out, and outside in. Inside out is starting small and building as needed, outside in is developing the overall world first then details as needed. The first offers flexibility, the second offers continuity.

[SaraBahama]

So...does Walter Davis/Harriman appear in Seasons 9-10 of SG1??

I remember seeing him in 'Continuum'.

[iiradned]

So...does Walter Davis/Harriman appear in Seasons 9-10 of SG1??

I remember seeing him in 'Continuum'.

Gary Jones (Walter) and Amanda Tapping are the only two actors to appear in ALL seasons of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.

Gary and Dan Shea (Siler) are the only non-main cast members to appear in all 10 seasons of SG-1.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

I have a question regarding military jurisdiction vs. civilian jurisdiction which I tried googling but couldn't quite get around the legalese.

If this is important to your story, keep searching until you find an explanation that doesn't swamp you with legalese. Law Firm websites are good places to find articles like that (they're generally trying to explain things to their clients). If you can't find one, or still can't cope with the legalese, IMO you should reevaluate whether this is important to your story.

Seaboe

[BruTak]

How long does a standard medical exam take? An hour? Two?

[Ikorni]

I won't pretend to know about this, but if it's for Stargate purposes I would take a look at what happened in Smoke&Mirrors, as it had Jack (a military officer) supposedly killing a senator and the Trust (rich business men) being hunted down by the NID (and Sam).

Yeah, I've actually looked through the transcript but it's quite a bit vague in there about the actual procedures. Looks like I'll have to work my way around it.

[Skydiver]

How long does a standard medical exam take? An hour? Two?

a full exam? about an hour. longer if there are tests, x-rays, ct's, blood work

for the case of stargate and 'back from off world', I was under the impression that the exam lasted less than half an hour, barring any injuries. Just a cursory exam and blood draw.

[Sparky She-Demon]

I pull character names from the phone book, or TV, for example, when I was writing one fic of mine I was watching West Wing....so there's a sgt seaborne and another one named Sam, a commercial for David Copperfield came on so one character was named lt copperfield, etc.

I've also pulled out the company phone book, pick one person's first name, another's last name.

If i'm going for alien names, i can take 'earth' ones and tweak the spelling or i look at a map, it's amazing how many 'alien looking' names there are for towns. Galena, Rantoul, etc.

A baby book is also good if you're looking for a specific nationality. I once wrote a fic based on the premise that they were the descendants of the 'lost 13th tribe' of Israel, so i pulled out Hebrew names then tweaked the spelling for all the aliens.

I've also found it quite cathartic to name doomed red shirt characters after co-workers that have annoyed me

That last part is funny!

[BruTak]

a full exam? about an hour. longer if there are tests, x-rays, ct's, blood work

for the case of stargate and 'back from off world', I was under the impression that the exam lasted less than half an hour, barring any injuries. Just a cursory exam and blood draw.

I was thinking more of an annual physical.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

I was thinking more of an annual physical.

Mine took about 1/2 hour, plus labs (blood draw and urine). Plus waiting time. Then there was a 15 minute follow up to go over the blood test results a week later.

Can you tell I just did this?

Seaboe

[BruTak]

Hypothetical question. In the following scenario, which would be more of a shock?

Your college age niece shows up on your doorstep one night and tells you that -

A: She's pregnant and her boyfriend/fiancée (who she's known since they were little kids) has basically ditched her and run off and joined the Marines.

B: She's on the run from the authorities because they think she's killed someone, and she has no memory of doing such a thing.

C: Bit of both.