anneliese: Hi Dave!
System: camidon joined us. Cheers!
anneliese: Hi CM!
davek: HI guys.
camidon: Howdy
anneliese: My, we are a rowdy bunch!
camidon: Dave, I won't be getting to Fort Collins until Wed, the 20th, now
camidon: Had a date change for the children's lit group I was going to go to.
camidon: Anneliese, so you're partaking of Mikes little scheme too?
anneliese: What scheme would that be?
davek: The 20th should be fine.
camidon: Just NanoWrimo
anneliese: I can't decide what I'll be writing though. Either something I've never finished or perhaps something GenE?
camidon: So many options. That's the problem I'm having. What do I buckle down and work on?
anneliese: So many unfinished stories, for me.
anneliese: Of course, I'm pretty good at first drafts...just don't seem to ever go past that.
camidon: Are you considering it Dave? NanoWrimo?
davek: My big problem with nanowrimo is that you have to send in the words for them to verify. I plan on writing longhand and typing them in would double my work.
anneliese: You aren't required to do the verification part.
davek: Then why njot just do it when yo want.
anneliese: It's just an additional incentive to actually get the words on paper.
davek: Maybe this is a way to get me to start typing in my first drafts.
camidon: I agree with Anneliese. It gives me a goal. It'd be fun if you did it too, Dave, just within our group even if you don't officially sign up.
anneliese: I don't know...I was planning to handwrite also.
davek: I'm going to work on an outline this month and if it comes along enough maybe I'll sign up.
camidon: I sketch my ideas in notebooks sometims, but 90% of the time the first readable draft is on the comp.
anneliese: The problem with me and comp. is that I can always find something else to do with it first.
camidon: Ah, yes, there is that problem...
davek: I need a world crises but I'm too much of - why can't we all just get along to come up with a plausable secenario.
anneliese: What sort of crisis?
anneliese: Where does it lead?
camidon: Btw, Dave, just think how much more preparing manuscripts would suck if we still just had typewriters.
davek: It is the vackground for the conflict for my protagonist. I'm thinking of expanding my "Out of the Box" story .
davek: He is that air force guy who is always getting into trouble with computers.
anneliese: Oh, yea. Do you want a war, or just a major conflict?
davek: Not a hot war. More spy like and old cold war like.
anneliese: What would happen if some form of terrorist group began contaminating fossil fuels?
anneliese: Make them radio-active? Or at least threaten to.
anneliese: Greenpeace gone bad.
davek: RIght now I'm thinking that the leader that Jack was trying to drop is more anti-US but elected. The president is very idealistic so he wants him back. The usual suspects want the current non-elected leader in because he is more pro-US.
camidon: Pick a random developing world power and put them at odds with someone else. Say India, or Brazil, or someone else that has the bomb, or perhaps, something worse.
davek: I just finished reading Dan Brown's Angels and Demons. I liked it. VEry much like Indiana Jones - always action.
anneliese: Why does the US care at all about this country?
camidon: Are you leaning that way for your story? Go, go, go. Action-adventure?
davek: Yeah, action. I think it would be easier for me to write.
camidon: It always keeps things interesting at least
davek: I think ANgels and Demons takes place over one maybe two days.
anneliese: So, a Jimmy Carter-like president, but a congress led by 'realists'.
davek: NOt necessarily led, but enough to cause trouble.
davek: Maybe a Manchurian Candidate, 7 days in May met tom Clancy.
anneliese: Naw, make them rabble all the way...the country elected the current prez, but no one can figure out why.
camidon: Would a lot of the story take place in the congress? With the members of congress?
davek: Too realistic, this is fiction.
anneliese: Might be the Pentagon & cabinet who are the 'realists' trying to control this idealist prez.
davek: Or a defense secretary.
anneliese: Even better.
anneliese: And the little country in question then becomes important because of strategic alliances that are crumbling.
davek: I'm trying to think of how to get every group doing something that they would normally be against.
anneliese: Or at least strained.
anneliese: Fear is the easiest motivation.
anneliese: The US is out on a limb because it lets its business leaders set policy...the rest of the world has seen otherwise.
davek: Or power.
davek: Business leaders in power is too done.
anneliese: Yes, taken that way, it is. I'm still associating...kind of slow brain-wise here.
camidon: Then put some one atypical in power. An ex-union leader as president, that's pretty unlikely
davek: Regan?
camidon: Or someone really intelligent--they don't go into politics very often (Woodow Wilson you're the exception)
davek: The only real quality is - idealism. He wants to put the elected leader back even if it seems against US interests.
anneliese: A prez that could see more than 2 steps ahead...be a real long-range planner could be interesting. No one would be able to figure him/her out.
camidon: The intelligent ones (scientists for example) are usully some of the greates idealists. heck they're creating things that don't exist yet, that's idealism to do something or find out something thats never been known or done.
davek: BUt the pre is not the main character. Important but not really in the story.
anneliese: No, but his actions are what cause our mc's situation?
davek: There is lots to work out. ANd most will either not be worked out or change after I start writing.
davek: I wonder how many twists need to be in the book. A&D has a lot.
camidon: And so goes the creative process on forever, always twisting our minds into spaghetti
davek: I got the spaghetti part down.
anneliese:
davek: WHat did we do?
anneliese: Thought you needed a little action.
davek: LOL
anneliese: I guess I'd just start with you mc...who might not know too much of the situation at first, and see what happens...what he discovers.
camidon: So what else is new in SFWWland, Anneliese?
anneliese: Have you checked out the updated wiki?
davek: Since when?
camidon: How long ago was it updated?
anneliese: Friday? Give or take...maybe sooner.
camidon: I don't think so. What's new?
anneliese: Well, first thing, you should make sure that you access the wiki through sfwritersworkshop.org
anneliese: It has been moved to the new web host. If you follow the link from the home page, it should look quite different, although content is the same.
davek: The experimental wiki?
camidon: Is that different from the current website link?
anneliese: Nope, not the experimental wiki...I'll be trashing that one soon.
anneliese: It depends...if you are still looking at www.acmfox.com/sfww, then yes, it is different.
camidon: OKay, I'll bring up the new site then. I've only been going through the acmfox site, that's where my link was
anneliese: I need to put redirects in for the old host to go to the new host.
anneliese: If you've been adding content in the last week, you'll have to add it again, or let me know and I'll move it.
camidon: I don't think I have
davek: It looks cleaner. Nicer.
camidon: I forget, is this a permanent change, should I change all my links?
anneliese: Yes, this is a permanent change.
camidon: If I recall correctly, I haven't added anything since when I commented on your page, Anneliese. Should everything be good before that?
davek: Is it the same TWiki?
anneliese: I think so, CM. I did move the scope page.
anneliese: Yes, it is the same TWiki. Updated software, updated page layouts and...
anneliese: drumroll please....
anneliese: Search works!
camidon: Cool
davek: Yeah, cool.
camidon: Okay dokey, all posts from Sept are there, so all is well.
camidon: It looks more organized, less cluttered. More easy to move around
anneliese: Yes, I thought I had everything...but if you guys were still using the old one, I might have missed something.
anneliese: It is definately better looking. I'm going to do a little fine-tuning in a couple spots, but overall, I think it is a great improvement.
anneliese: And it should be clear now, that if you see the old layout, that you're in the wrong place?
camidon: Did Greg or Bob contact either or you? They dropped me emails saying they were still definately interested.
anneliese: Nope.
anneliese: If its all right with you, Dave, I'd like to make the GenE page, more like a home page with links and move most of its content to sub-pages...
anneliese: ...or you could do it!
camidon: I got back to them, saying essentially cool, we'd value all your input
anneliese: I'm glad to see that others are still thinking about it.
davek: That's fine. I'm surprised at how it grew.
anneliese: Growth is good
camidon: I'd be good if they did get involved. Bob was wondering if his type of stories, "slipstream" would have a home in this. I said, sure, why not, there's no need to be restrictive. The whole idea is to create this shared universe and see what comes out of it.
davek: Speaking of growth, any new members?
anneliese: Nope,
camidon: I'm still pretty excited about all we've accomplished thus far, just the few of us. It's been a few months, but we've had a lot of good discussions.
anneliese: I agree.
davek: Yeah, but we need new people.
camidon: and there's a lot of good info and posts on the site. I think this whole project will really hit home when someone actually crafts that first story.
camidon: Agreed, both new memeber in the group, and more group members for the project.
anneliese: Anything we should attempt to accomplish before next week?
davek: Write a few thousand words?
camidon: If it's okay with you, Anneliese, I'd like to move the Project Scope link to just about the Discussion Links, therefore just below the story log
anneliese: I think I can do that...or do you want to?
camidon: I cranked out about 10,000 words in 5 days recently. I was pretty happy about that.
anneliese: Actually, do anything you want with the page!
anneliese: Oh that's fantastic! Cheers from the peanut gallery!
camidon: I'll lay that on you, Anneliese. I certain you're the better WiKI tinkerer. I just follow you and Dave's lead, and pick it up little by little.
davek: Good practice for nanowrimo.
anneliese: Exactly on target for nanowrimo.
camidon: That's what I was thinking, Dave. And guess what. 87.8% of it was awful, but not all of it.
davek: How about a wiki web on getting new members?
anneliese: What do you mean?
davek: Brainstorm ideas on how to find/attract/sign up new members.
anneliese: Probably makes sense to start it as a section off the Main web, maybe?
davek: Or does the forum get more traffic?
anneliese: My guess is that the forum gets more traffic.
anneliese: So, if we start a wiki page, then we should announce it in the forum.
camidon: I think it's all about the website. Until that's visible, anyone searching and finding the old one is going to skip us.
davek: LEt's start it there then and move to the wiki if it seems a better place.
anneliese: Have to agree with you there, CM.
camidon: The group never had a membership problem until the website stagnated.
camidon: I agree, Dave.
anneliese: I will try to work on that website issue again...had a rough week and didn't email Mark yet. Sorry.
camidon: No worries. Doing all this WIKI stuff is responsibility enough.
anneliese: You're too kind ::blushing::
camidon: no, just honest. You've put a lot of time into the group, and it's appreciated.
davek: Yes it is.
anneliese: Thanks. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't fun, though.
anneliese: But I do think that I have to wrap it up for tonight.
camidon: Then again, as they say, what you put into something is what you get out of it.. The three of us must be getting a lot out of SFWW. Hmmmm.
anneliese: I know I am
davek: Yeah, and it is time to go. See you all next week. AOL right?
camidon: yes, the hour did disappear as it always does!
anneliese: AOL next week.
camidon: I won't be there, of course. Stir up some fun for the log.
davek: BYe.
camidon: gnight
anneliese: We'll try. And we will miss you.
System: davek left us (snif).
anneliese: Niters