Fanfic Writers' Virtual Water Cooler

[fems]

When I was a kid I usually drank my tea with milk and sugar, mostly because it was too warm and bitter but I slowly grow out of the milk and ditched the sugar a couple of years ago. I hardly know anyone who stills drinks their tea with milk...

The peanut butter and cucumber is a very nice combination because of the freshness of the cucumber. But that's probably also because of the peanut butter's structure here... It's very tasty, just like cucumber with your peanut/satay sauce (although wikipedia makes it sound as if Americans don't eat/have that). I'm not very fond of peanut butter with banana slices, but I've tried it once or twice.

SaraBahama, did you use the quote button or did you type the quote yourself? Because SF_and_Coffee's capitalization is messed up...

Oh and I'm not sure what kinds of (American) peanut butter I've had... although I recently had the Reese chocolate thingies with peanut butter in them and that kind I don't like very much.

[SaraBahama]

When I was a kid I usually drank my tea with milk and sugar, mostly because it was too warm and bitter but I slowly grow out of the milk and ditched the sugar a couple of years ago. I hardly know anyone who stills drinks their tea with milk...

The peanut butter and cucumber is a very nice combination because of the freshness of the cucumber. But that's probably also because of the peanut butter's structure here... It's very tasty, just like cucumber with your peanut/satay sauce (although wikipedia makes it sound as if Americans don't eat/have that). I'm not very fond of peanut butter with banana slices, but I've tried it once or twice.

SaraBahama, did you use the quote button or did you type the quote yourself? Because SF_and_Coffee's capitalization is messed up...

Oh and I'm not sure what kinds of (American) peanut butter I've had... although I recently had the Reese chocolate thingies with peanut butter in them and that kind I don't like very much.

I used the quote button...hmm...that's interesting -I didn't notice the capitalization was off...odd.

The peanut butter in a Reese cup has added confectioner's sugar to make it sweeter since it's a candy bar. I don't eat very many Reese cups because they ARE so sweet. I'm more of a pure chocolate person when going for sweets.

The jars of peanut butter are not nearly THAT sweet in the USA, though as SF&Coffee mentioned, there is wide variety amongst the manufacturers. I'm currently stuck on the JIF brand 'natural' peanut butter, which is not as sweet as Peter Pan brand (my previous favorite).

I've never had satay sauce, but that doesn't mean it's unavailable -SF? Have you ever had it?

[SF_and_Coffee]

I have satay sauce in my kitchen right now. Have to purchase it in the Asian foods aisle at my grocery store, but we can get it easily enough.

I, too, prefer the natural peanut butters rather than the highly-sweetened ones. What you find in a Reese's cup (and I do like them) is very unlike what we buy in a jar to use in sandwiches, both in texture and in flavor.

[USS Thor]

reese's are the best candy out there

[mathpiglet]

I'm not overly fond of stuff in my chocolate, be it coconut or peanut butter.

[SaraBahama]

Hey! MP! So missed you...

*pulls up a chair for MP beside the watercooler*

[mathpiglet]

Thanks.

It's been busy. I haven't done any writing for months, but with a little challenge at the Highlander board, I'm trying to get back into it.

[Princess Awinita]

Well, I seem to have worked myself into a corner, I have two characters in a warehouse, and I want to do a jackie chan style fight, there's all sorts of stuff in the warehouse {its 1300q meters in total size, spread over four floors} Only problem how does one write such a martial battle ?

[WraithRichard]

Well, I seem to have worked myself into a corner, I have two characters in a warehouse, and I want to do a jackie chan style fight, there's all sorts of stuff in the warehouse {its 1300q meters in total size, spread over four floors} Only problem how does one write such a martial battle ?

Battles are about internalization. They are about expression from both sides where every action changes the playing field. Special effects don't really work in a purely text medium and at best you have the fight from the Princess Bride book, which was a parody of a long-winded battle.

Why are they fighting? What jokes are used? What is the purpose of them? What is the result of the fight?

[Princess Awinita]

Battles are about internalization. They are about expression from both sides where every action changes the playing field. Special effects don't really work in a purely text medium and at best you have the fight from the Princess Bride book, which was a parody of a long-winded battle.

Why are they fighting? What jokes are used? What is the purpose of them? What is the result of the fight?

This is a martial arts type battle and two characters are lured into a warehouse and have ot fight their way out, anything and everything is a weapon though at this point, I'm thinknig the warehouse fight in Rumble in the Bronx is a good one to try and replicate, only instead of one man vs dozens it is a man and woman vs dozens.

There is some humor, in the sense of dirty fighting, people getting thrown, and people also complaining as well, which also makes it silly too

[WraithRichard]

This is a martial arts type battle and two characters are lured into a warehouse and have ot fight their way out, anything and everything is a weapon though at this point, I'm thinknig the warehouse fight in Rumble in the Bronx is a good one to try and replicate, only instead of one man vs dozens it is a man and woman vs dozens.

There is some humor, in the sense of dirty fighting, people getting thrown, and people also complaining as well, which also makes it silly too

As long as each move changes the situation and and the jokes have purpose, you should be fine.

[mathpiglet]

Battles are hard to write. You have to not only describe the action, you have to intersperse with dialogue, whether internal or external and WraithRichard said. If there are multiple characters, you have to have a good way to transition from one to another. And yes, you have to make sure you are moving the plot along as well.

Good Luck!

[Womble]

Battles are fairly easy to write, you just need to prepare them a little.

Martial arts scenes in the movies are basically ballet, so choreography is key. Map out the setting of your warehouse, place some triggers around. Think of what kind of improvised weapons could be lying around- mop handles, buckets, fire axes, wood planks, chairs, rope, etc. If you want some extra humor, make these improvised weapons wildly inappropriate. Bondage gear from a crate intended for a sex shop, frozen fish, absurdly expensive alcohol (shattering a bottle of fine twenty years old scotch over someone's skull can be grounds for some amusing comments), etc. Could be rather funny to have someone fight off enemies with a hard-cover edition of a biography of Gandhi, perhaps. Someone could find a sweet death under a half-ton sack of sugar. Place some obstacles, like pallets of stuff, that could split the enemies up, create choke points etc. Perhaps your characters had the time to set some basic traps? (No complex Rambo-style ones, but maybe piano wire at throat level, maybe a rope they could pull to drop an avalanche of heavy boxes onto the enemies' heads). If you need ideas, try rewatching some episodes of Martial Law; it's an old series that was entirely based around a Chinese detective with an amusing knack for using improvised weapons in his kung fu. (Up to and including a saguaro cactus).

As the fight progresses, you could escalate the environmental challenge. If a fire starts, that puts both the protagonists and the enemies on the clock- they need to GET OUT while they still can. If a gas leak was triggered, fighting with metal implements which can set off sparks can become impossible, and then you could have a somewhat awkward scene when both the good guys and the bad guys pause to frantically search for "safe" weapons. Etc.

Think of your characters' tactics. The protagonists, few against many, would want to use the environment to separate their enemies into manageable-size groups, confront them at choke points that nullify superior numbers because only one person can engage the opponent at a time, lure them into traps. The bad guys would attempt to do the exact opposite- they would try to work in groups, methodically herding their prey into open areas where they can be encircled, entangling them in a protracted fight until reinforcements arrive or baiting them with an illusion of opening in their defenses that could allow the good guys to rush for the exit- right into a trap.

[WraithRichard]

Think of the readers too, though. Why would they be interested in each move? Why would it keep their interest? What do they get out of the move-tone, atmosphere, a laugh, sadness?

[SaraBahama]

Muse is a heartless tease.

She grants me decent inspiration for a scene or two (like a paragraph here and there on 5 different, unrelated stories), making me wonder where THAT came from, then abandons me when it comes to the details of producing an entire story...