oooh i missed the arrival of the great and mighty Tad?

(pouts)

(grumbles to himself, "life just isnt fair", but then goes back to "War of the Flowers"

math and manners. that phrase should re-define something.

Tad wrote:

To which he said, "I'm not going to be evil, Dad.  I figure if I keep on being really good at math, and I have really good manners, THEN I'll REALLY get the chicks."

Reminds me of one of my friends' kids...six years old, a week after he saw LOTR part one ( the film)....
Me: So what do you want to become when you're older?
Him: I want to be a dwarf or an elf, i haven't decided yet...
Me:....... ( first time ever i didn't know what to reply to a child)

*giggles*

Well, it depends on how tall you wind up.

It's no good wanting to be a dwarf if you're six-foot-two or something.  Well, I suppose you could say you were a pituitary-giant dwarf.  But it kind of spoils the effect.

Busy as all hell today.  Much to do -- household chores, book work, being wrestled and pounded by children.  Oh, and licked by foul-breathed beagles and poodles while trying to do the aforementioned household chores.

Hi, Simcha.  I'm in and out all the time.  You'll see -- it's not that exciting.

Just remember -- God is his own copilot.  Which means they only have to have one in-flight meal in the cockpit.

*hopes god doesn't get tired*

Don't worry Simcha, he's got himself a board full of groupies, but somehow he's not quite caught onto it yet. ;)

Although people coming from all over the place to see him and hear him talk should have been a good clue. ;)

Yalahii.

I disagree with the second extreme. That's not quite the extreme. It is also possible to write without researching. It's probably not possible to do that and still write good stories, but it is possible. ;)

[edit]Oh, and I'd also guess that over time you would evolve from the first to the second (your second, not my own suggestion). As you write more and have researched more, it becomes less necessary to research everything and anything up front (as there already is a lot you know by that point).[/edit]

Yalahii.

[ March 06, 2006: Message edited by: Sahi ]

I think it deprnds on your writign methods...some people are good with super-detailed worlds and background etc...some are better at writing as they go along...

I like ahveing a framework to work within, but my problem comes from getting too involved with the details and lose the story somewhere...8P But I'm lazy also and prefer to write then research as need though it tends to interrupt the flow of my writing....8P

A little bit of all those, sv.  As Sahi says, the more you research in the course of projects, the more you know.  That doesn't mean you don't have to do any more research eventually, but it means you get better and better about knowing WHAT to research, and you also have a larger field of knowledge and familiarity to choose from when you're creating.

Let me make a suggestion.  Make your imaginary cultures as much like real-world cultures as you can, and then read at least one book on each of those cultures.  Also, try to keep the technological levels close, or have a good reason why.

Let me come back to this when I'm not going out the door (as I am in the next five minutes now) and recommend a few books that I've found useful in providing a historical/anthropological overview for world-creation.

To all,

Thanks for all your input. It's truly appreciated.

To Tad,

Yeah, that would be great! I asked one of my anthropology professors for just that, but he hasn't gotten back to me yet, and it's been over a year. Besides, I'm sure your recomendations will be more applicable to the subject matter. If they worked for you, well, that's just about as good a qualifier as can be hoped for.

I know the file you're talking about, Ren; I have a printout somewhere that I made like ten years ago when I was on AOL.  It's been very handy in the past.  Too bad I can't remember her name either.  (Want to say Holly Lisle?)

Ahh... good manners and math... that's where I was going wrong all this time ;).

But seriously, its nice to see he's got his priorities right!

I've got the math part down pat. ;)