Junk Shop Gossip (Ruin Babble)

[thelunarfox]

You know in RPGs how you always go to the bar to get gossip? I had two characters discussing that in my head the other day.

"Don't you go to the bar for information?

The other looks astounded. "Uh, no. No one in a bar will talk. They're there for drinks. And the barkeep has to be the best at keeping secrets or they wouldn't have much business. But a junk shop-- they have to know where to get good supplies, and who's selling what and who has what. Their trade is all about information."



Welcome to my junk shop. I don't expect to do too much rambling, but sometimes it just has to come out and usually begs to be posted and shared.



So one story down. Finished-- technically in a way. It still is going on in my head. My head's starting to get a little crowded.


On with the next part to be posted tomorrow. This story came faster than Gina's story. There's something Gina's story was lacking (as in there's something I don't know yet) and rather than continue to beat my head continually against my notebook, I decided to run off with this story.

In a way, this story has frightened me because so much came out I wasn't sure when it would stop. A large 8x11 notebook will have been sacrificed for it by tomorrow. I know kinda how the story ends, but there are so many pieces to fit together.

And finally, today, something snapped into place, and I had that tingly feeling where something feels right and I almost laughed to myself at my desk.

[raquelaroden]

Wonderful! I like the picture of a junk shop as the information station.

The bar is overdone--though it is a great place to meet people in stories.

According to Steel Magnolias, a beauty shop is also a place for information--though I don't know how many of those there would be in your world, and whether experiments would set foot in such a place.

I'm excited to read whatever you post!

[laura]

LOL, I'm glad I'm not the only one who does that upon tingly epiphanies!

Glad to see you having a Babble thread - and Yay! Even more glad you're working on something new!

[thelunarfox]

I loved Steel Magnolias. Beauty shops are a place for information in our world. Because girls are such gossips. It's sort of why I hate going to get my hair cut. The hair dresser always wants to talk with me, but I can't exactly talk about Sims, stories, or comic books. The day I find a hair dresser who talks about that stuff is the day I go in for regular hair cuts!

Haha, Laura. Love those tingly epiphanies. That almost sounds dirty.

[girlyesterday]

I'm glad you started one of these threads. I am always so curious about your process when you write Ruin. It's such an amazing and immersive world that I always forget that it's made with TS3. Stellar world building.

I love that feeling. It rarely happens to me but when it does, it makes everything worth it.

[thelunarfox]

I always feel like a broken record myself, but really -- thank you. I've finally distanced myself enough from the story to feel comfortable sharing it. Still it's like sharing a piece of myself, and it feels really good to have other people actually interested in reading it.


Hmmm, I'm thinking about ages. This time around, I did not put any ages up like I did last time. I figure that a character list is coming, but later.

The main character can easily state her own age (and probably should have from the get go), but after that she's pretty much floundering around trying to not sink.

[lhasa]

Of course we're interested. It's a great story.

Like carnaxa said, the world you have built is incredibly immersive. I feel like I've gone off to a distant land every time I read your chapters.

[thelunarfox]

Thank you Nicole. Still can't get over it. Maybe after a year's worth of updates...

So, I really hope you all like this whole Southlands thing. It is still messing around with me. I'll just be innocently writing and some new element will walk in and go, "Hi! *wave*" Which would be fine if it didn't make other ideas pop up.

I suppose it's better that way. The story requires a delicate hand in some ways, and a really strong amount of courage in some other ways.

The original stick story I had moved too quickly and left me asking too many questions. And then I realized that I had to take my time with it. Sometimes I need to give myself obvious permission for things that should already be clear. "Why're you rushing? Slow down!"

Then I remind myself about Gina and her story. But whatever I don't know about that I still don't know. So I'll have to trust that when I get back to it, I'll know exactly how to get everyone back into it.


And then! World Builder-- I've been working on that drafting a village. I'm not too sure, but I think I'll be able to add stuff to it later on, so eventually from this one village I'll add the rest of the Southlands someday. But once again, I have to remind myself to take my time and focus.

I've been playing with that way too much, so I think I require some time away from the computer. I still have a few weeks before this village makes an appearance- like nine more weeks according to my chapter index. But OMG, I wanna be done now!

[girlyesterday]

You have infinitely more patience than I. World builder and I don't get along. We've even come to blows recently!

I'm sure the village will be fantastic when it's done. What I've seen so far of your foray into CAW has some very nice results.

[thelunarfox]

Holy crap!! I totally know WHAT is missing from Gina's story! Which also happens to link to Michael's story. And to Paula's story. I'm mean it's an element that's always been there, but I wasn't using it right.

When I realized this, I sat there smiling to myself as I tried to write down and link all the thoughts.

Sometimes I feel like I am tapping an alternate reality where all these guys are real and I'm just wading around trying to figure things out. I'll see them somewhere, see a situation and then I wonder, "How did they get THERE?" or "How do those two characters even meet if he's over here and she's over there?"

The only solution is to write the scene down as it appears and then work on something else. Sometimes answers come from something that doesn't even seem connected.




As for my patience, I seem to have an incredible amount of patience with some things. This is one of them. I'll put up with a lot for this story. And damn it, I am going to make a village!

[thelunarfox]

Sometimes there are good weeks and sometimes there are bad weeks. This week was pretty good. I'm STILL working on Paula's story. Still exploring branches that I didn't explore fully enough. I've got the first 15 chapters down though like I just stuck a nail through it to pin it down.

I kind of feel like my cats when we're playing with them using the kitty fisher (you know, the feather on the pole thing). They sit there and watch it swing back and forth waiting for the moment to catch it unawares. That's kind of what I'm doing with this story. Writing and writing is how I'll catch it eventually. But I have to be content to write about whatever comes to mind and worry about it later.

Some of the most unexpected parts have come out before the more expected parts.


And sometimes I become so weary I have to take a break. Like it's just too much for little me. So I've spent some time sprucing up the blogs! Thank you Carnaxa for being that bit of inspiration. I'm much more satisfied with both Ruin and Tierra de Legado.

[girlyesterday]

On your bad weeks, kick back, chill out and have a nice cup of tea (or whatever beverage you like to drink). I find it helps to clear the mind and dust out all the little spaces that have acquired cobwebs.

Sometimes, you really just need a break and it's perfectly okay to take one!

Both your blogs look great. I have a habit of fiddling with mine like ... constantly.

[thelunarfox]

I like the idea of drinking tea on those weeks. Sounds so refined, lol.

Mmm, makes me think of bubble tea. That stuff is so good!

[laura]

Jan 8, 2010 1:12:50 GMT -5 @thelunarfox said:

Some of the most unexpected parts have come out before the more expected parts.

That sounds very familiar to me, which is kind of tied into my habit of writing out of order, lol! I know writers aren't supposed to wait for inspiration to write, but sometimes I feel like part of stories just don't want to give themselves up, you know? Like they're playing hard to get or something, lol! And no matter how long you sit at your keyboard and wait, they'll come out only when they're ready.

I agree with Carnaxa about breaks. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and let things brew, you know?

Anyway, your blogs look great! I'm tempted to refresh things myself, but I don't want to break what I have working so well, lol!

[thelunarfox]

I think it works best out of order. If I forced it out in order, I would miss some really interesting bits. Things that come out of nowhere and point me in a direction and that have to be woven into the story.

I get the feeling that sometimes a story has to be ready to come out too. I guess that also goes along with the breaks and letting things brew a bit.

Thank you. I doubt you'd need help with it, but I do have some handy links for how to add a link bar at the top and how to keep your widgets if you change templates. Just let me know.

[laura]

Jan 8, 2010 13:39:24 GMT -5 @thelunarfox said:

Thank you. I doubt you'd need help with it, but I do have some handy links for how to add a link bar at the top and how to keep your widgets if you change templates. Just let me know.

Oh yes, please share! I'm not sure yet if I'll do anything to mine, but it'd be good to know just in case

[thelunarfox]

I'm happy to!

Carnaxa gave me this link (Our Blogger Templates) which is where she gets her awesome layouts that are very customizable.

That lead me to this link about keeping the widgets.

And eventually I found this link which tells you very easily how to add a linkbar to an existing template.

[thelunarfox]

I mentioned to my boyfriend that characters do talk to me (when they want) and sometimes they do things without my conscious decision. I suppose I'd never told him about this before. He wasn't so surprised at the first part, but he was surprised at the second part.

Like this most recent character-- well he's not recent. He's an old character. He sort of popped into my head one day and I totally dismissed him. "I don't need another character, thank you." I've got enough problems right now trying to reach the ending.

Does he listen? Noooo... he starts messing with my main character. Me: I said NO! *whacks with a newspaper on the nose*

Unfortunately, the imaginary people in my head are not that easy to train.

[raquelaroden]

LOL! I love that visual of you whacking one of your characters on the nose. Most of your characters are um....scary. And wouldn't take too kindly to being hit (especially by newspaper).

[thelunarfox]

I know! There are certainly some characters whose noses I would not whack. They can continue being grumpy old cranks if they want.

"I gave you life, and I think I can take it away."