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charmbrights
Over 90 days ago
Straight Male, 86
United Kingdom
Forum
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Quote by gypsymoth
... And a proofreading quiz. Take it and see how well you do at proofreading:
Proofreading Quiz
The problem with this is proofreading your own work is close to impossible, because your brain corrects the image the eye offers to what it "knows" is there. That is how errors appear to creep in after a week or so. Try reading something you wrote a year or more ago - somehow the errors seem to have bred; at least they do in my scribbles.
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Quote by DirtyMartiniNow that's a good idea - I'll add "whatever" as a tag to my next story and see how it goes.
... You can add the other stuff in the tags, like "... whatever" ...
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Quote by FtLMale
Thanks all,
I think I will just keep using Word and adding new words to my spell check dictionary.
But is it really "pre-cum" and not "precum"; or is it “precome”?
Technically it is called "premature ejaculation".
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Quote by DirtyMartiniQuote by charmbrights
... The volunteer editor may even advise that there may be a problem with the moderators.
Oh, that'll go over well...just saying...
Well - if the VE says to the author, "Remember this site says is a real no-no, so make it clear she is 18," and the author ignores it, who gains?
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WORLD SURVEY BY PHONE
Last month a world-wide survey was conducted by the UN.
The only question asked was: "Could you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"
The survey was a massive failure because of the following:
1. In Eastern Europe they didn't know what "honest" meant;
2. In Western Europe they didn't know what "shortage" meant;
3. In Africa they didn't know what "food" meant;
4. In China they didn't know what "opinion" meant;
5. In the Middle East they didn't know what "solution" meant;
6. In South America they didn't know what "please" meant;
7. In the USA they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant;
8. In the UK they hung up as soon as they heard the Indian accent.
Last month a world-wide survey was conducted by the UN.
The only question asked was: "Could you please give your honest opinion about solutions to the food shortage in the rest of the world?"
The survey was a massive failure because of the following:
1. In Eastern Europe they didn't know what "honest" meant;
2. In Western Europe they didn't know what "shortage" meant;
3. In Africa they didn't know what "food" meant;
4. In China they didn't know what "opinion" meant;
5. In the Middle East they didn't know what "solution" meant;
6. In South America they didn't know what "please" meant;
7. In the USA they didn't know what "the rest of the world" meant;
8. In the UK they hung up as soon as they heard the Indian accent.
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This is an interesting question. All 18 of my novels are BDSM and none would be acceptable on Lush.
HOWEVER, I have never even spanked anyone (not even one of my kids) let alone whipped, tied up, etc., nor had any desire to do so.
So, marketing policy and personal predilections can easily be separated, for me at least.
HOWEVER, I have never even spanked anyone (not even one of my kids) let alone whipped, tied up, etc., nor had any desire to do so.
So, marketing policy and personal predilections can easily be separated, for me at least.
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I don't show my wife my 'in progress' stories, and she doesn't show me her 'part finished' paintings.
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Quote by nicola
... 1) People were submitting stories containing, what we deem, illegal content ( / cp / beastiality etc). So, unless a story moderator reads the stories prior to them going to an editor (talk about double-handling), this will always be a problem. ...
On other sites it doesn't work that way. The VE has first bite. That way the moderators will meet less poorly written stories and fewer poorly written stories, lightening their load a little. The volunteer editor may even advise that there may be a problem with the moderators.
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Quote by magnificent1rascalOK.
Since you now have more than 20 forum posts, you should be able to include links to the baby names websites.
http://www.gurgle.com/baby-names
http://www.bounty.com/ppc01/names/baby_names_a1.html but here you'll have to join the free club.
http://www.babynames.com/
--
Regards
)? 
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Quote by amberWhere do you think?
... where should the sticker go?
On the dispenser some six inches above the spigot.
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In the 1934 Websters the word "Dord" appeared defined as "density".
It has never again appeared in any English dictionary anywhere.
What had happened was that someone had made a note on an entry slip (all pen and paper in those days) which was intended to aply to "D" as an abbreviation and read:
D =density
Someone else realised that the lower case letter was also used, so the slip was replaced by one which read:
D or d =density
And an overworked compositor correctly set:
D or d =density
but an equally overworked proof reader corrected this to
Dord =density
It has never again appeared in any English dictionary anywhere.
What had happened was that someone had made a note on an entry slip (all pen and paper in those days) which was intended to aply to "D" as an abbreviation and read:
D =density
Someone else realised that the lower case letter was also used, so the slip was replaced by one which read:
D or d =density
And an overworked compositor correctly set:
D or d =density
but an equally overworked proof reader corrected this to
Dord =density
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when i want to really be munched N hunched i......
... kick tiger in the teeth.
I believe all women ...
... kick tiger in the teeth.
I believe all women ...
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Hooray - my 21st posting lets me ask:
Who's got the scissors?
Who's got the scissors?
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Quote by LeFabuleuxDestinOf course on the Underground (=Subway [transport, not the food], or Metro) in London there is a market opportunity if the authorities ever decide to enforce the By-law which says "Dogs must be carried on the escalator".
... Oh, and: No dogs please.
Unfair generalisation, many dogs do please. ...
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Purpose
This short offering is intended to make your stories more readable. It is undoubtedly true that a reader who keeps having to track back and reread parts of a story is soon tempted by that button top left on most browsers marked [<-] meaning [BACK].
The names of characters in a story can considerably help or hinder the smooth reading of that story. In this 'How to ...' I intend to give some pointers which I have learned over the years, mostly by trial and terrible error.
Remember, things may happen in real life, but that does not mean they are suitable for use in stories.
Differences
I always try to make the names in my stories as different as possible. In a story with only a handful of characters each of their names will start with a different letter. In larger works, such as my 'Delights' series of twelve novels, that is clearly not possible, but I took care that people with names which are somewhat similar do not appear in the same book if possible, and have widely differing characters.
Using family names which can also be forenames is fine, but if you have a Henry James in your story you should not also have a James Joyce, and don't then compound that by having a Joyce Grenfell!
You may know two sisters called Jan (short for Janet) and Jen (short for Jennifer) but that does not justify using those names in a story. Remember, when you post your story, that you know all these people very well; they have been in your mind for months, or even years. The reader is meeting them for the first (and sometimes only) time.
The one exception to this rule would be in a mystery story where you want to confuse the reader. The erotic example of this would be where two identical twins are playing at being each other and the respective sex partners cannot tell which is which.
Jobs
There are many people in the English speaking world who have family names which are the names of occupations, such Butcher, Carpenter or Driver. In general these should be avoided, though the commoner ones (such as Smith) and the obsolete ones (such as Archer or Wainwright) will probably be acceptable. The thing to avoid is confusing concatenations such as a butcher called Driver.
Ranks
Just as occupation based names should be avoided, so should family names which are formal ranks; a British Prime Minister can be called John Major but it would be unfortunate if such a person were in the military, as Corporal Major just looks silly.
This applies in all fields where there are recognised titles. In a mediaeval story John Lord would look odd, and Bishop Lord even odder. In a police story someone called John Constable would seem odd, especially if he were Constable Constable.
Colours
Again, because you know the story you have written very well, you know that Conrad Black is white, and that Willard White is black (to use two real people). Colours have very particular connotations in people's minds, and not all the same ones, so you lead a reader to pre-judge a character called (for example) Mr. Green subconsciously by the reader's own ideas, which may be very different from yours.
Unpronounceable
This is perhaps the most contentious area, since the names which are, or are not, easy to pronounce depends on the culture and language of the reader. I have used the name Hajji Darwish Dosmukhamedov for one of the protagonist's advisors in the 'Delights' to emphasise that he is a true Kobekistani, as opposed to David Ransome, even under his Kobekistani name of Mahmoud Abdullah.
Above All
Nothing, repeat - nothing, annoys and disturbs a reader more than an author who confuses or mis-spells the names of his/her characters. Just be very careful.
Pronouns
Pronouns avoid the excessive use of names. Consider the sentence:- Mortimer took Mortimer's handkerchief out of Mortimer's pocket and blew Mortimer's nose. Few readers would claim that this is better than writing:- Mortimer took his handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose.
On the other hand consider the sentence:- John hit Harry, who fell backwards into Paul, making his nose bleed and grazing his knuckles. It is far from clear who owns the nose or the knuckles! Here we could say:- John hit Harry, who fell backwards into Paul, making Harry's nose bleed and grazing John's knuckles. However this is again an excessive use of names; a better solution is to reorder the sentence as:- John grazed his knuckles as he hit Harry, making his nose bleed and causing him to fall backwards into Paul.
If there are only two people present, it is usually clear to the reader who is doing what, and to whom, therefore the names are less necessary than if there were a group involved.
Changes
Beware, be very aware, of the dangers of changing names in mid-story. I read a story in which the sentence 'She bit into the succulent Benato' appeared, and I originally assumed that a 'Benato' was the brand name for some type of confectionary. It took me some time to realise that the leading character 'Ben' had been called 'Tom' in early drafts and the dreaded curse of the Global Edit had struck.
I don't say don't change them, but do it very, very carefully.
Sources
So how do I think up names for my characters safely?
First I have a lot of lists of first names from different backgrounds. To find these just do a browser search for 'baby names' and a whole series of sites which have such lists, often sorted by country of origin, will appear, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. If this site allowed I could let you have the URLs, but the powers-that-be do not permit it.
Family names are similarly obtainable from telephone directories available on the web.
When starting a new story I make a list of all the main characters and allocate their names separately from writing the story; generally this is done at outline stage, before starting on the real story text.
This short offering is intended to make your stories more readable. It is undoubtedly true that a reader who keeps having to track back and reread parts of a story is soon tempted by that button top left on most browsers marked [<-] meaning [BACK].
The names of characters in a story can considerably help or hinder the smooth reading of that story. In this 'How to ...' I intend to give some pointers which I have learned over the years, mostly by trial and terrible error.
Remember, things may happen in real life, but that does not mean they are suitable for use in stories.
Differences
I always try to make the names in my stories as different as possible. In a story with only a handful of characters each of their names will start with a different letter. In larger works, such as my 'Delights' series of twelve novels, that is clearly not possible, but I took care that people with names which are somewhat similar do not appear in the same book if possible, and have widely differing characters.
Using family names which can also be forenames is fine, but if you have a Henry James in your story you should not also have a James Joyce, and don't then compound that by having a Joyce Grenfell!
You may know two sisters called Jan (short for Janet) and Jen (short for Jennifer) but that does not justify using those names in a story. Remember, when you post your story, that you know all these people very well; they have been in your mind for months, or even years. The reader is meeting them for the first (and sometimes only) time.
The one exception to this rule would be in a mystery story where you want to confuse the reader. The erotic example of this would be where two identical twins are playing at being each other and the respective sex partners cannot tell which is which.
Jobs
There are many people in the English speaking world who have family names which are the names of occupations, such Butcher, Carpenter or Driver. In general these should be avoided, though the commoner ones (such as Smith) and the obsolete ones (such as Archer or Wainwright) will probably be acceptable. The thing to avoid is confusing concatenations such as a butcher called Driver.
Ranks
Just as occupation based names should be avoided, so should family names which are formal ranks; a British Prime Minister can be called John Major but it would be unfortunate if such a person were in the military, as Corporal Major just looks silly.
This applies in all fields where there are recognised titles. In a mediaeval story John Lord would look odd, and Bishop Lord even odder. In a police story someone called John Constable would seem odd, especially if he were Constable Constable.
Colours
Again, because you know the story you have written very well, you know that Conrad Black is white, and that Willard White is black (to use two real people). Colours have very particular connotations in people's minds, and not all the same ones, so you lead a reader to pre-judge a character called (for example) Mr. Green subconsciously by the reader's own ideas, which may be very different from yours.
Unpronounceable
This is perhaps the most contentious area, since the names which are, or are not, easy to pronounce depends on the culture and language of the reader. I have used the name Hajji Darwish Dosmukhamedov for one of the protagonist's advisors in the 'Delights' to emphasise that he is a true Kobekistani, as opposed to David Ransome, even under his Kobekistani name of Mahmoud Abdullah.
Above All
Nothing, repeat - nothing, annoys and disturbs a reader more than an author who confuses or mis-spells the names of his/her characters. Just be very careful.
Pronouns
Pronouns avoid the excessive use of names. Consider the sentence:- Mortimer took Mortimer's handkerchief out of Mortimer's pocket and blew Mortimer's nose. Few readers would claim that this is better than writing:- Mortimer took his handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose.
On the other hand consider the sentence:- John hit Harry, who fell backwards into Paul, making his nose bleed and grazing his knuckles. It is far from clear who owns the nose or the knuckles! Here we could say:- John hit Harry, who fell backwards into Paul, making Harry's nose bleed and grazing John's knuckles. However this is again an excessive use of names; a better solution is to reorder the sentence as:- John grazed his knuckles as he hit Harry, making his nose bleed and causing him to fall backwards into Paul.
If there are only two people present, it is usually clear to the reader who is doing what, and to whom, therefore the names are less necessary than if there were a group involved.
Changes
Beware, be very aware, of the dangers of changing names in mid-story. I read a story in which the sentence 'She bit into the succulent Benato' appeared, and I originally assumed that a 'Benato' was the brand name for some type of confectionary. It took me some time to realise that the leading character 'Ben' had been called 'Tom' in early drafts and the dreaded curse of the Global Edit had struck.
I don't say don't change them, but do it very, very carefully.
Sources
So how do I think up names for my characters safely?
First I have a lot of lists of first names from different backgrounds. To find these just do a browser search for 'baby names' and a whole series of sites which have such lists, often sorted by country of origin, will appear, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. If this site allowed I could let you have the URLs, but the powers-that-be do not permit it.
Family names are similarly obtainable from telephone directories available on the web.
When starting a new story I make a list of all the main characters and allocate their names separately from writing the story; generally this is done at outline stage, before starting on the real story text.
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I have a story outline but it involves, necessarily, two lesbian encounters.
If there are any female authors who might help, at any level from simple advice to joint authorship please contact me to see a copy of the outline.
A few relevant oddities:
I am in my seventies, so a young-ish helper would be better.
I always write in MSWord.
I don't do face to face meetings.
I write in UK English and the story is set in England.
If you want to sample my writing about a woman try "Carol's Craving" for an example.
If there are any female authors who might help, at any level from simple advice to joint authorship please contact me to see a copy of the outline.
A few relevant oddities:
I am in my seventies, so a young-ish helper would be better.
I always write in MSWord.
I don't do face to face meetings.
I write in UK English and the story is set in England.
If you want to sample my writing about a woman try "Carol's Craving" for an example.
Active Ink Slinger
Tirphil.
What do you mean, "Where's that?" It's half way between Pontlottyn and Brithdir.
What do you mean, "Where's that?" It's half way between Pontlottyn and Brithdir.
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Quote by chittoderajaThat diagram is just plain wrong. Where is the "Lust for Chocolate" gland?
...
THIS IS HOW A WOMAN'S BRAIN WORKS
...
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Read any of Anne MCaffrey's "Pern" novels; not only are her characters 'real', she even manages to make the dragons live.
On a totally different tack, SF humour by Tom Holt is dangerous - the operation to suture a split side is horrendous.
On a totally different tack, SF humour by Tom Holt is dangerous - the operation to suture a split side is horrendous.
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A silly story.
Many years ago I set up a company in the UK buying the legal bit "off the shelf" and its name was Charmbrights Ltd.
When I wanted to write (after I had retired and the company was closed down) I stuck to that name.
Many years ago I set up a company in the UK buying the legal bit "off the shelf" and its name was Charmbrights Ltd.
When I wanted to write (after I had retired and the company was closed down) I stuck to that name.
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Quote by GuestWhen I was writing novels it was definitely for the money.
... But do you write to get high marks, comments, readers, etc? or for your own unique fantasies? ...
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I have a great cartoon, but I don't have enough posts yet - so you will all have to wait!
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There are three kinds of mathematician; those who can count and those who can't.
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Writers who put:
"Xxxxx," he thought to himself.
(or the female equivalent).
Other than in Sci-Fi, to whom else could (s)he be thinking?
"Xxxxx," he thought to himself.
(or the female equivalent).
Other than in Sci-Fi, to whom else could (s)he be thinking?
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What is really needed is not a crutch but a target.
My father smoked heavily for years, until he decided that he really wanted a pleasure boat, and the money he spent on cigarettes could pay for one, so he stopped dead overnight. He didn't have patches, books, hypnotism, support group, or any other crutch to lean on, but he DID have a very specific reason for stopping.
My father smoked heavily for years, until he decided that he really wanted a pleasure boat, and the money he spent on cigarettes could pay for one, so he stopped dead overnight. He didn't have patches, books, hypnotism, support group, or any other crutch to lean on, but he DID have a very specific reason for stopping.
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Quote by kittendancer4I noticed thatpeople were buying BDSM stories on parts of the internet.
How did you get interested in BDSM?
Quote by kittendancer4The thought that I might make money that way.
What factor of it attracted you to it in the first place?
Quote by kittendancer4Never, just greedy for money.
Where you always submissive?
Quote by kittendancer4Never, just greedy for money.
Where you always dominate?
Quote by kittendancer4Never, just greedy for money.
Where you always switch?
Quote by kittendancer4See above.
If so how did you come about it?
Quote by kittendancer4Please do not confuse my marketing policy with my personal predilections.
Do you think you were always into it now that you are in the lifestyle?
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A haiku:
Creative writing
That's what it's called. I write
But create nothing.
That's what it's called. I write
But create nothing.