STORY time travel,cmsix style

[BOBW]

write a time travel story cmsix style 1000mb long

[Tom Frost]

I already did, but at the end, I regretted wasting my life on a repetitive 2,000,000 page sex epic and came back in time to stop myself before I even got started.

--Tom

On Sat, Jan 4, 2014 at 10:53 PM, BOBW <pes...@hotmail.com> wrote:

write a time travel story cmsix style 1000mb long

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--Tom Frost

Enjoy my writing? Enjoy my writing about writing at http://authortomfrost.blogspot.com

[Crumbly Writer]

Tom, it's a good thing you did, because I was about to jump back in time and stop you from doing it myself!

There's a reason why CMSIX has so much trouble finishing stories!

[mcguy101]

I have one working that is 18 Chapters and approaching 100,000 words long. Not sure if it will ever see the light of day.

The problem with these types of stories (as I'm sure cmsix will tell you) is that there are too many ways to deadend the story and you can only have so many mates before a guy becomes a withered stump, lol.

If there is enough interest, I'll start posting the chapters I have done and maybe find a way to cobble some type of reasonable ending on in the meantime (If I post a chapter or two a week, it will give me a couple of months to think of something, lol). Before anything, I would need a willing editor or at least a capable proofer to take a a gander at it.

Otherwise, I'm really content to leave it unpublished. I'm not convinced it's very good, lol.

[Jake]

I'm always willing to see what a good author can come up with, I like the genre & so far I've enjoyed your work.

[JR88]

mcguy101,

I have enjoyed your past work and am interested in reading your story.  I hope you will start to post it soon, whether or not you have it fully completed when you start posting.

[ElSol]

I have mine... Incomplete -- killed off the wrong character emotionally.

I rewrote the same story with different players and added tentacle sex... Yes, the aliens give the guy invisible tentacles instead of howitzers and quantum computers. Seriously... Between gun porn air tentacle sex, is there really a choice?

Who knows maybe some day I will complete both.

[mcguy101]

Thanks Jake and JR88. Usually I like to feel that I'll be able to finish a story before I start posting it.Maybe if I can find a willing editor or proofreader I'll make an exception in this case. Who knows? maybe I can crack this code and actually finish one of these stories, lol.

[rbhol...@charter.net]

 Just remember that you can finish the current story.  Then if later you have more inspiration for the story's characters or growth just to write it as a sequel in a series instead of doing like cmsix and resuming from the last posted chapter.  That was one of his mistakes.  He came up with more stuff after supposedly getting to an ending point.  Then just added to the story turning it into an unfinished story.  Of course that could be a risk for any story line when posted online where a writer can just keep adding chapters to an existing work.  Its a risk that will only apply to posting stories online however, since any story intended for other forms of publishing even as an ebook format will not have that particular writer's trap.

Another trap I have noticed is the tendency to think all stories occur in the current dimension.  Nice when there are no conflicting knowledge or events or science or technology, but has built in traps when those things come up.  I always look at any fiction regardless of category as occurring in another dimension allowing for those potential conflicts in a story so I can just enjoy the story instead of finding faults.

[Crumbly Writer]

On an unrelated but similar thread (responding to the 'gun porn vs. tentacle sex' question), I've been debating writing my own take on a 'time travel' story, but with several distinct changes to the mix. First of all, why would 'aliens' be so kind as to ask permission from their subject and then offer them whatever they feel they want for their trip? No human would ever do that with anyone not of equal rank or status. Instead, they'd simply abduct them and dump them into the 'testing grounds' with no explanation or supplies of any kind.

Thus I wanted to write a story where the MC wakes up after taking a walk to find himself on an alien world populated by weird alien plants and animals and isolated Neanderthal/early humans, with no idea how he got there or what he's supposed to do. The idea is the aliens tried to conduct an experiment on how human's evolved, but their experiment ran aground when the 'uneducated' clones weren't particularly creative. Thus the MC knows what he needs, but doesn't have the tools or even the specific knowledge of how to accomplish it. The idea is that he'll pass on what's possible so the others around him will carry on and become more productive.

But the attraction of that story is in the struggle, vs. the usual 'I can rule the world with all the toys and guns I can imagine'. It makes the ending a little less assured.

I'll see if I ever write it, though, as I've always had other items which seems more 'pressing' to write about. While this story is interesting, there's no overriding theme to guide the story beside one of simply surviving and overcoming (i.e. there's no 'broader' meaning to the story).

[rbhol...@charter.net]

CW at least you are one of the storytellers/authors online who shouldn't run into the first trap I mentioned.  You always plan your stories it seems as if they were going to be printed.  Sequels are not considered a trap.

[Gemini1766]

Pretty sure I read that story. Then again, I'm pretty sure I have read a significant portion of your stories. Wish there were another part to your Curandero world. Well, I've read all but your Institute world, couldn't get into that one so well.

[Jake]

There have been a few written that way, with the guy being dropped off naked or with minimal gear such as 'Darwins World'. There were a few more with someone like an isolated hunter being dropped off with just what they were carrying. One had a teenage couple in a car being dropped off in a world of giant bugs with only what little they had in the car.

On Wednesday, January 8, 2014 12:25:31 PM UTC-5, Crumbly Writer wrote:

[massivereader]

There have been more than a couple of different riffs in sci-fi about advanced aliens (and/or magic in fantasy) transplanting persons or small groups of people to other worlds/times/dimensions as:

 

a) the solution to a current problem (be it as heros, warriors, wizards, or slaves)

b) seed populations for colonization,

c) intelligence or morality tests for newly discovered races

d) crucibles for social experiments.

 

Long term it's one of the most broadly drawn and productive tropes of the feild. It's providing answers to the question "What if...?"

 

I can clearly remember one short story that could be considered a rebutal of what had by the time become considered a hoary old cliche to the literati "new wave" sci-fi writers of the sixties and seventies.

 

If you ever get the chance, check out Larry Niven's short story "What Can You Say About Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers" from the 1771 Short Story collection "All the Myriad Ways".

 

It was also later included in his 1990 release "N-Space".

 

As a bonus both collections also include his notorious (and hilarious) speculative essay "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex".

 

John

[Invid Fan]

I tried to be a little different in the current "Saga of Nowy Poland" stories. There's nothing special about the two who make the trip, and they have no real knowledge that will help apart from some basics (wash hands, for example). Not every main character has to be the messiah or part of some prophesy.

[rbhol...@charter.net]

It can be just as good to read about an average person without any special skills trying to survive as an experts methods.  Maybe more in some cases since an average person would be easier to relate to.

[mcguy101]

In the case of my, I've left a number of plot lines that need to unwind so it may be about getting things to a convenient part of the plot and ending the story (leaving the door open to write more at another time).

Still looking for possible proofers or editors. If anybody wants to read "Mike and Malok" and wants a sneak peek in return for a proofread or more, please let me know.

Thanks!

[massivereader]

It's a good approach. I've been enjoying your stories for a while now. They always seem to have that lyrical, fairy tale feeling that only the best fantacists like Robin McKinley and Emma Bull effectively capture.

 

Using a Polish historical background in your latest series is an interesting choice, and one that's not overused. I seem to remember a short story series in Analog back in the eighties that used a alternate history reality with the Poles as the major European power, but I think it was set in a post WWII analog timeframe. And Barb Hendee is doing some work in a medieval setting with pseudo Polish background with her "Dhampir" series. Those are the only ones I've run across. 

 

For dramatic tension purposes it's much better for the transportees to be normals with a few usable skills rather than "Doc" E. E. Smith type super competent engineers that can rebuild our entire technology from scratch, who also happen to be martial arts experts. If there's no struggle, there's no story. We're a society of specialists, so for story purposes we all have deep knowledge of some particular feild of endeavor that night turn out to be useful, as well as more general knowlege of germ theory, medicines,  etc. from our secondary education. Even cubicle critters and retail workers have that kind of general background knowledge, although you see the use of fen who are more widely read and likely have a good deal of quite esoteric interests more often than just plain vanilla 'danes in most fantasy and speculative fiction.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

John

On Thursday, January 9, 2014 10:42:42 AM UTC-5, Invid Fan wrote:

[Crumbly Writer]

 massivereader wrote:

For dramatic tension purposes it's much better for the transportees to be normals with a few usable skills rather than "Doc" E. E. Smith type super competent engineers that can rebuild our entire technology from scratch, who also happen to be martial arts experts. If there's no struggle, there's no story. We're a society of specialists, so for story purposes we all have deep knowledge of some particular feild of endeavor that night turn out to be useful, as well as more general knowlege of germ theory, medicines,  etc. from our secondary education. Even cubicle critters and retail workers have that kind of general background knowledge, although you see the use of fen who are more widely read and likely have a good deal of quite esoteric interests more often than just plain vanilla 'danes in most fantasy and speculative fiction.

That was my feeling. After the first couple of time travel stories I was disappointed because there was never any doubt the MC would take over the entire civilization, get all the girls and create a great and glorious civilization that would venture into space in only a couple hundred years. Such stories lack any real tension, as there's no real surprise. While you can guess where most stories are going, as least it's not assured. That was my interest in writing about someone with NO specific skills or tools and whole only purpose was to trigger the imagination of the local population. That way, he could either live or die and no one there would really care one way or another, and just by being there he'd have served his purpose. What's more, with few tools, there's little tool he'd solve ALL the worlds problems in a very short time.

However, I was informed by my editor that it's already been done in "Darwin's World", so it'll save me from writing my own and give me something else to read.

[rbhol...@charter.net]

Well I would be more than willing to help.  Just understand my formal education ended at the age of 15 for reasons out of my control.  

[Jake]

MCG,

I'm far from an expert grammarian but a fair proofreader. As a reader for 50+ years in most genres I can get a good feel for how smoothly a story runs & a misspelled/misused word usually stands out fairly well to me. If you wouldn't mind a old Pole/American as a proofreader I'd be pleased to be of assistance<grin>.

On Thursday, January 9, 2014 4:50:39 PM UTC-5, mcguy101 wrote:

[ElSol]

Well... my point to the aliens talking to the person is that there's a 99.999999% chance a modern 'man' ends up dead in this type of scenario. Seriously, I had to look up how to make fire when I wrote the story -- sets up a wonderful question of how many geniuses humanity burned through to get to certai developments.

How exactly does some get to 'If I rub these two sticks together long enough, it will make fire!'... I am guessing in seriously bored dude!

I went halfway -- aliens that allowed negotiation but no tactical nukes and then mind-zapped the protagonist to forget the why's.

[massivereader]

I'm guessing it was serendipity as much a genius. Most primitive cultures at some point need to bore a hole in wood to joint two peices together, or to thread a leather strip or strap though the hole. If they use a hard wood drill on a softer wood it even makes it's own tinder. Someone just eventually noticed the friction from boring the hole produced smoke and heat, probably when they went from hand drilling to bow drilling.  

 

It's using fire in the first place that took some genius, and major balls.

 

John

[Jake]

ElSol,

It would all depend on what the person had done in life. If they had ever been a member of the Boy/Girl Scouts(or an equivalent) they get taught how to start fires from scratch. For the scouting Wilderness Survival Merit badge three different methods (other than matches), have to be used to build and light three fires. Military service often includes survival training schools, in my 10 years toting a rifle for Uncle I went through jungle, desert & mountain survival schools. Most big city-bred folks would indeed last maybe a week at the most, mainly due to a lack of any clues. Especially those from the North-East states where 'survival' has become a dirty word, California has joined thar list of 'twit' states over the last couple decades. Those from the smaller towns in the southern & western states(except for the aforementioned CA) would be far more likely to survive as they are far more likely to have spent time tent-style camping and hunting while growing up.

On Saturday, January 11, 2014 2:15:32 AM UTC-5, ElSol wrote:

[Zine]

ElSol,

This year, my idea of winter survival is a ski lodge with heated pool, a case each of Theraflu, chicken noodle soup and Hennessy XO, but I've been seriously thinking of cutting to the chase and moving to Florida.  Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near old enough yet and I'm not Jewish! :))  And the way I feel, I'm not likely to get any older nor more religious unless I maybe dig a foxhole and crawl into it for the duration of Holy Week.

Zine.

[Duna]

[Duna]

[Duna]

2014. január 5., vasárnap 4:53:59 UTC+1 időpontban BOBW a következőt írta:

write a time travel story cmsix style 1000mb long

 

I have SAS Survival Handbook from John "Lofty" Wiseman in my biblioteca in Hungarian translation. The original is John "Lofty" Wiseman: SAS Survival Handbook HarperCollins London 1986,2003, which was translated into Hungarian in 2005. I think a story Author could find very good ideas to write similar Time travel story as cmsix. My only problem with the stories of cmsix is I could not imagine more bigger women/man rate than 20/1 and that time, when he exceeded this rate significantly I stopped to read his all stories. I have also a special plan to write a Time travel story, when I will be ready my revenge story ideas, but I do not like the 40000 years ago principle rule (to kill sombody and to get his mate). I plan violance in my story plan, but it will be a little other.

[Duna]

[Sagacious]

One of my favorite non scifi books of all time was Don quixote (of the caribbean or something like that). It was the tale of an eagle scout who joins the peace corps and is captured by a revolutionary group of the caribbean island he is on. By the end of the book the hero is running the government and has the pretty girl too. The concept is the same, the quality of the writing is what makes it fun. 

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[Gayth Montgomery]

You're thinking of Richard Powell's "Don Quixote, USA."  He also wrote, Pioneer Go Home 

[Sagacious]

Yes, thank you, that is it. The concept is very similar. The main difference is that this hero succeeded unintentionally. All of his accomplishments were mostly because he was smarter and knew more than those around him. Cmsix would have given him all the guns and a big dick too. 

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[mcguy101]

I just wanted to thank a couple of readers in this thread who've encouraged me to start posting my little ode to cmsix, Mike and Malok. So far, their response has been surprisingly very positive. They've been very helpful proofreading the story (but also I'd also love to find someone with more of a background as an editor who might be interested in giving this a look). The story is first person with a cmsix storytelling style, but my narrator is a bit less homespun (though fairly informal in the way he relates the story). If anybody is interested, please let me know.

Otherwise, be ready to see this god-forsaken mess, coming to an SOL download in the near future. :)

[Zine]

El Sol,

Oops, it seems I should have addressed that post to Jake.  Sorry for the confusion.  Well, not really. :))

Zine.

[Gayth Montgomery]

In the same vein are Vern Sneider's Teahouse of the August Moon and The King from Astabula.

[ElSol]

It is one thing to go camping and whole other to have to hunt or gather EVERY meal... Every day because there is no refrigeration...To have to walk everywhere... To have just about any disease or injury be capable of killing you. A broken leg and you are dead or crippled for life which equals dead.

Being a weekend warrior may buy you some time but without the small armory... You have to grow up in this environment and have life train to be in the grinder day after day with no break.

How many people whine about an 8 hour work day and needing time off when they get a freaking month of paid days off? Nevermind having to be 'on' 24/365.

If someone wants to write another endless SOL story that would be it... Someone dropped with nothing who actually had the internal fortitude to survive but didn't know it because he's used to the 24 Hour SuperWalmart.

[mcguy101]

Granted, these stories are somewhat unbelievable, but they are fun. For a modern man to exist in this time, they would need a lot of help from the aliens that transported them. I have no problem believing with all the help that John received in John and Argent that he would not have a decent chance at survival. The notion that he could make friends and take over the leadership of a camp would further increase the likelihood of his survival.

For your protagonist, Achilles, in Achilles and Hephaestus, it would be perhaps harder (as he received less help). Still, I'd love to see you revise the story (and "unkill" the character in question, lol).

As far as my story, Mike will receive more help than Achilles, and probably a bit less than John. I hope this balance will offset all of the amazing (though ocasionally mind-numbing) detail cmsix uses to explain how John does certain things. I will admit that a lot of it is fascinating, but it sometimes seems to cause the story to bog down (I'm tempted to sometimes add "see cmsix at SOL to see how this is done," as I write certain passages, lol). I guess it is somewhat a product of the genre.

At any rate, I hope that other authors will take a stab at this kind of story, just to add a few more human and alien combos. :)

[Deadly Ernest]

Did that in my story Times of Old - and I got it finished as a novel, too.

http://storiesonline.net/s/74132

[rbhol...@charter.net]

One thing I would enjoy seeing is a jump start on farming activities.  The cultivation of crops and animals for food would be a huge jump on hunting and gathering activities.  The MC could basically teach a very basic form of the farming activities while learning the hunting and gathering from the prehistoric cultures.  It could all be done to start with hand tools mainly I believe.

[Tim Merrigan]

The MC arrives on the scene, by a series of pure flukes, manages to live long enough to figure out where s/he is, establishes a household of some sort, and plants some local seeds near hir residence to live on while s/he's figuring out the local culture.  Inadvertently inventing agriculture.

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[rbhol...@charter.net]

The point is that no matter what the level of training the MC has in survival it would still fall short of the natural levels for the ancients who know nothing else.  Along with the tools or whatever the MC is given to start with at some point they would be dependent on their knowledge and training. By combining the skill and knowledge sets a jump start could be given to the next level in their development.  Of course it would probably fail if the MC is unable to get along with at least one or more of the groups.  There is more to survival than existing or a harem.

[Sagacious]

Check out Aubie56's close call universe, his hero arrives in ancient west and changes everything.

[Crumbly Writer]

I think the more important elements are that:

1. the story needs to have a decent amount of tension, thus the reader has to believe the MC might fail If it looks like there's little chance he won't take over the universe, the story loses much of it's import.
2. the story needs a beginning, middle and end. Generally, a story theme gives you a decent feeling for what the limits of your story are. But simply starting writing about what someone faces on a daily basis tends to produce wandering, never ending stories (not always, but it increases the likelihood of it).
3. Breaking a 'do over' story into specific 'challenges' provides a decent framework for such stories. If someone goes back and has to fight a specific opponent, or has to undo the wrong he's done, it's unlikely it'll wander aimlessly. Once the challenge is overcome, it's time to end the story.

Thus the problem isn't with time travel stories, it's with a lack of story structure.

For a person transported in time to a primitive planet, being taken under the wing of advanced aliens and given anything they like removes most of the challenge of any story. Removing the 'grab whatever you want and I'll support you all the way' reintroduces the challenges the MC faces. Taking away all his tools provide a very definite list of clear challenges (survive, meet people, provide security). The story should achieve those objectives and END, leaving any further challenges for a sequel.

But then, that's just my opinion, based upon my own values in creating my own stories. Not everyone writes like that, and I've enjoyed multiple stories that didn't follow those strictures (including cmsix's). But there's little doubt that readers end up feeling frustrated by them, as does the author (which is probably why so many of cmsix's stories ended up unfinished).

[Phantom]

"Time Travel" and "Doing it all over" storys

 

Do seem to draw a larger number of readers and

keep them reading longer than a lot of the other serials do.

 

And as i've said before a lot of cmsix's stories ended up unfinished because

he was trying to do doing a kinda of write for donations or self publishing before they

actualy were available yet.  

 

a lot were from back when he still had his own web space and blog.

Before and during his family and his medical problems.

 

 

Phantom

----- Original Message -----

From: Crumbly Writer

To: storie...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2014 7:58 PM

Subject: Re: STORY time travel,cmsix style

I think the more important elements are that:

1. the story needs to have a decent amount of tension, thus the reader has to believe the MC might fail If it looks like there's little chance he won't take over the universe, the story loses much of it's import.
2. the story needs a beginning, middle and end. Generally, a story theme gives you a decent feeling for what the limits of your story are. But simply starting writing about what someone faces on a daily basis tends to produce wandering, never ending stories (not always, but it increases the likelihood of it).
3. Breaking a 'do over' story into specific 'challenges' provides a decent framework for such stories. If someone goes back and has to fight a specific opponent, or has to undo the wrong he's done, it's unlikely it'll wander aimlessly. Once the challenge is overcome, it's time to end the story.

Thus the problem isn't with time travel stories, it's with a lack of story structure.

For a person transported in time to a primitive planet, being taken under the wing of advanced aliens and given anything they like removes most of the challenge of any story. Removing the 'grab whatever you want and I'll support you all the way' reintroduces the challenges the MC faces. Taking away all his tools provide a very definite list of clear challenges (survive, meet people, provide security). The story should achieve those objectives and END, leaving any further challenges for a sequel.

But then, that's just my opinion, based upon my own values in creating my own stories. Not everyone writes like that, and I've enjoyed multiple stories that didn't follow those strictures (including cmsix's). But there's little doubt that readers end up feeling frustrated by them, as does the author (which is probably why so many of cmsix's stories ended up unfinished).

 rbhol wrote:

The point is that no matter what the level of training the MC has in survival it would still fall short of the natural levels for the ancients who know nothing else.  Along with the tools or whatever the MC is given to start with at some point they would be dependent on their knowledge and training. By combining the skill and knowledge sets a jump start could be given to the next level in their development.  Of course it would probably fail if the MC is unable to get along with at least one or more of the groups.  There is more to survival than existing or a harem.

--

[rbhol...@charter.net]

I could be wrong but its probably due to the fact that they are all viewed as pure fantasy where anything and everything is possible.  But like every other theme it has its built--in problems and traps.  Not all of the traps or problems for any theme are obvious although one trap of the extra dimensional or time transference is the temptation to keep giving more things to the MC than initially agreed on when something looks useful.  Some how a storyteller has to stick to those limits while telling or writing the story.   One method might be to not give too many details as to what the initial supplies were outside of the minimums needed.

[parthenogenesis]

On Thursday, January 9, 2014 3:57:34 PM UTC-8, massivereader wrote:

 

For dramatic tension purposes it's much better for the transportees to be normals with a few usable skills rather than "Doc" E. E. Smith type super competent engineers that can rebuild our entire technology from scratch, who also happen to be martial arts experts.

Occasionally I let my mind wander into what I'd do if I were transported back like this.  I'm a ten of several trades and a writer by profession.  I'm fucking useless for anything practical, and without even pencil and paper, I'd be completely useless--and I suppose dead and eaten in the first chapter.
 

[rbhol...@charter.net]

I think what needs to be considered is the fact a story is like a game.  The writer has to decide on a set of rules for the story the same as a game planner has to decide on the rules for the game.  Those rules can't be changed in the middle of the story or in the middle of a game.  It will not work with the major difference being that in a game if you tried it.  You would be called a cheater.

[Deadly Ernest]

Ayep, done that.

[mcguy101]

I agree, but within cmsix's NanoVirus/Faux Time Travel mini-trope there are so many different ideas that have not been explored. I think I've managed to latch on to one fairly compelling one in my story (just how compelling remains to be seen, lol). I agree with CW to s certain point that where these stories fail is on a structural basis. Still, if a story is aimed to be a novel vs. a series of short stories/novellas, you need to be able to write for a significant length and can aim to stitch together interrelated vignettes to accomplish this goal. I think the author still needs to visualize an ending point, even if he.she understands that there is more story to tell.

I do think that these kind of stories can easily turn into creative resources "money pits" forming a maze of women, survival techniques, villainous tribesmen (etc.), that sometimes cause authors to lose their way.

[ElSol]

Actually -- it is not that the reader must believe the MC might fail... It is that that the MC MUST fail at something.

If you are going to write a non-Superman version of these stories... Kick your MC's ass!

He can get away... He can 'just' barely win... but make sure that he unequivocally got his ass handed to him.

1. People die.
2. Real men get their asses kicked too.
3. Women say no -- even if you are a handsome, smooth-talking, big cocked gentleman.
4. Regardless of cable tv news, people do NOT everything about everything.
5. Mistakes are made.
6. Bad shit sometimes happens for no reason other than random chance.

-----

And I don't include most of that shit in my stories -- so do as I preach and not as I do.

[rbhol...@charter.net]

It can be as simple as when I need to have repairs done to my truck.  I can do like some people think "Its a simple repair.  Anyone can do that."  Then wind up making one hell of a mess of the repair.  Or I can do like I normally do in this situation and yell "HELP" to someone who knows what he or she is doing.  The yelling for help winds up being much cheaper and sometimes I can even learn a little something.   The other way tends to cost me at least twice as much.  Just having a MC letting someone else take the lead can give the understanding about the skill not being there.

[Deadly Ernest]

G'day rbhol,

May I suggest you take time to read my story Times of Old as I did all of what you mention. There's a couple of scenes where the MC makes it clear to the locals he recruits that he relies on their knowledge and skills as being superior to his, as that's what any real thinking person would recognise and do. His main aim is to have whatever tech he introduces as being capable of being maintained and reproduced in that era within what is capable then - a bootstrap type set up.

Ernest

[rbhol...@charter.net]

Read it a long time ago Ernest along with most of your other stories as well.  All were good to great reading in my opinion.  Its why I have your blog on sol bookmarked as well as the one on finestories.   I tend to bookmark the authors instead of individual stories for some reason. There are many here on my list of favorite writers.  I go back through on a fairly regular basis to re-read the stories and to make sure I haven't missed anything.

[mcguy101]

Just submitted the prologue to my story to SOL. I'll be posting Chapter 1 later today and will be serializing it at about a chapter a week pace after that. Though it's not going to be anywhere near 1000 MB, I hope you'll enjoy it BOBW! :)

Thanks to everyone who nudged me to post Mike and Malok!

[william rice]

congrats, whats it about? i missed it if you mentioned it

 

monbade

Author of the Destroyer Series and the Travelling Science Project series at
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/monbade or at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/william-v.-rice

----- Original Message -----

From: mcguy101

To: storie...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2014 1:24 PM

Subject: Re: STORY time travel,cmsix style

--

[mcguy101]

Hi-

It's called "Mike and Malok", It is in a similar style to "John and Argent". Check it out if you get a chance.

Thanks!

On Sunday, January 19, 2014 1:41:12 PM UTC-5, monbade wrote:



[william rice]

very good so far, how often are you going to update?

[mcguy101]

Thanks! Probably weekly. We'll see how it goes.

On Sunday, January 19, 2014 3:40:09 PM UTC-5, monbade wrote:



[william rice]

will watch for it, wish sol had a notfication system like fanfiction when a new chapter went up.

 

Mon

[mcguy101]

I'll try to be consistent (like maybe Sunday afternoons). Again, we'll have to see how it goes. At any rate, I'm really pleased that you are enjoying it thus far.

Thanks!

On Sunday, January 19, 2014 4:09:32 PM UTC-5, monbade wrote:



[Crumbly Writer]

Scheduling posts is always interesting. Clearly, you get the most views by posting on a Saturday, but then the stories get overwhelmed quickly. If you also post to multiple sites, it gets even more complicated, as if you post on Saturday, you'll get bumped off the 'recent additions' list quickly, or if you post too late, it'll take all day to get listed.

The biggest secret is consistency, as people will know to look for you. I figured my fans could find me, so when I first started posting twice-a-week I went with Tuesday/Thursday.

 mcguy101 wrote:

I'll try to be consistent (like maybe Sunday afternoons). Again, we'll have to see how it goes. At any rate, I'm really pleased that you are enjoying it thus far.

On the other topics, I'd been avoiding this thread for a few days and have missed a lot of interesting discussions. I agree, rbhol, that you need to be consistent. I think one problem that Cmsix had was his 'info dump' approach. He started out with a wish fulfilment fantasy (What would I bring with me if I went back in time). The problem is, as 'Chekhov's Gun' always reminds us, if you point out something in the story, it implies you're going to use it eventually.

We all know that info dumps in writing is bad, but when your initial wish-fulfillment fantasy ends up dictating what happens in your story, then you're clearly in trouble. What's more, Cmsix often found himself with an unworkable story midway through, but instead of simplifying to reducing the crap his MC brought along, he always increased it and changed the source of the story's conflict. Thus he changed the story elements, but didn't resolve the prime story dilemma which made his stories unworkable in the first place.

When something doesn't work, it's generally best to simplify it and try to get back to basics, rather than to add in more detail and see if more complexity makes it more 'interesting'.

But, that's just my opinion. I'm sure there are plenty who'll disagree with me about that.

[mcguy101]

Thanks CW. I could probably post more for a little while longer, but I want to be sure that I have time to finish the story. As I'm writing a lot slower than I did when I started this, it is better that I can meet reader expectations, than create an expectation that I'll eventually be unable to meet.

cmsix could choke you with detail sometimes, but I have to admit that some of the stuff he came up with was pretty fascinating. I by no means have used that model with Mike and Malok. My stories tend to be pretty character driven. Still, I hope to try to capture the general feel of this kind of story, but still trying to make it about how Mike deals with his new environment and how he makes friends (and enemies!).

As far as adding stuff in John and Argent, I think it came down to the aliens rewarding John for every success It certainly feels a bit like adding more crap to make John simply more powerful. As far the "more stuff"and the wish fulfillment aspects of these kind of stories, it is somewhat of a f"must have" for in terms of reader expectation. Still, I'm going to try to make this more about character relationships than accumulated shit..

[Crumbly Writer]

When I briefly considered my own foray into this genre, I planned to also provide 'rewards' for accomplishments (even though the MC would have had no idea how he got there in the first place), but instead of fantastical weapons for more trips to the guy store back home, I was thinking more along the lines of a single knife, or possibly a magnet so he could create his own compass.

You don't have to go overboard to show what the people in charge approve of.

But my purpose in mentioning the scheduling issues had more to do with deciding when to post, rather than suggesting you post more often. I tossed in why I posted on the slowest days of the week as an alternative to illustrate the different approaches (posting on Tuesdays/Thursdays allows my readers a quieter time to find my stories).