The Things We See...

Sometimes, the people we pass are so strange, you'd have to see them to believe it...

Ever looked at the people of Wal-Mart pictures? :P

Those collection of pictures certainly capture what I am thinking about, although my recent ventures with the stranger side of the public (yes, I am speaking about people outside my work area) have not involved Wal-Mart at all. Riding the public transit, driving around town, and hitting up a grocery store provided more than enough fodder to talk about the things I've seen. From the man known by the locals as, 'That special kid who runs around in a cape' (a man probably in his 30's mind you) to the gentleman at the bus stop having a rather animated conversation with himself (complete with intermittent sound effects to boot), you really do get an eyeful when you look around. 

When I look around Valucre, I don't generally see people I expect to spend their off-time running around neighborhoods wearing a cape, or look like you belong in a documentary about trailer parks, or that you you have been riding out the remnants of a methamphetamine high that is only just now allowing you to crash. I do expect to run into a varied group of people who come from many walks of life, and all converge for similar things: Good role-play, good conversation, and plenty of opportunities for writing. The Valucre crowd is a varied lot, and we sure do have our own eccentric members. But at least none of them look like this individual...

What's Happening Valucre?

The Chosen Goes to Round Two - You see, there was once this horse, and it really pissed me off. So I proceeded to beat it with a bat, until it lie very still, save for occasional twitching. That twitching started to get on my nerves, so I beat it some more, because that's how I roll. While you mull over that imagery (and perhaps wonder about the state of my mental health) you can go check out The Chosen Tournament, which is bound to go somewhere... eventually. You can chat in the lounge.

Dirty Deeds- The basis of this role-play is that you get to participate in the civil unrest occurring inside of the Shrine City. Things are changing, and the people of the Cold South do not fare well with change- it should come as no surprise that acts of terror begin to arise, such as your opportunity to destroy a canonical greenhouse. Essentially, this entire thread is going to be about destroying things (explosions?), so if you're into that sort of thing, we've got the RP for you. ;)

Spades- This too still has room for more people to join in, and I think it could produce some real fun. If you like survival based role-plays involving desperate situations and hard to pull through scenarios, come take a shot at this. Just remember, Survivor scenarios often involve a lack of food- better eat more than this diet tray before you head out on that one. A new member has already submitted a good amount of lore pertaining to a new race of his creation, and he is seeking others who might be interested in giving his race a run. He describes them as a basic race that start out with low powers/capabilities, but have the potential to gain a wide array of abilities as time goes on, should the player choose to have them do so- this makes them playable by anyone, whether you are the sort who enjoys high powered fights or simple characters in subtle settings. I've taken a glance at the material, and he has definitely put some work into it. Check out the Spades here and ask questions over here.

Small RP Group Recruitment [Non-Canon RP]- The member putting this request out is looking for folks who might be interested in doing an alternative section RP involving a combination of mystery, True Blood, and Supernatural. In this RP, there have been vampires around for sometime, and up until recently, they were relatively peaceful. Now, all that has changed, and the vampires are mauling people. A sheriff works to get to the bottom of these changes, and hopes to put an end to these savage killings. Roles open for playing include both good guys and the bad, so don't hold back because you think you are going to be a good/bad guy. The thread is over here.

Evil Deeds- First we had some dirty deeds, and now that they got washed, we are left with evil deeds! All kidding aside, this RP recruitment is looking for a player who might be interested in playing a character who eventually ends up subverted and under the control of an evil being, forced to act against their will. If not as a victim, playing a character who get's backstabbed in the end, or does the backstabbing before his character can make his move. If any of this sounds like something you want to do, go let this guy know.


Full Sail Deck- An interesting RP, this calls for a couple of thieves to run around the Full Sail Deck and steal from those who are making big bucks in the casino. Other roles are for those who wish to play those chasing down thieves, having to balance out the restrictions of the casino and managing to catch the cutpurses. You can also play regular passengers, who might help those investigating, or be in league with the thieves. Your call!

Mercenary Rolodex- First we had some dirty deeds, and now that they got washed, we are left with evil deeds! All kidding aside, this RP recruitment is looking for a player who might be interested in playing a character who eventually ends up subverted and under the control of an evil being, forced to act against their will. If not as a victim, playing a character who get's backstabbed in the end, or does the backstabbing before his character can make his move. If any of this sounds like something you want to do, go let this guy know. Do you play a mercenary who is searching for work? Or perhaps you are part of an organization that contracts out mercenaries for hire? If so, you will definitely want get in on this- a rolodex that keeps track of those willing to go out on a bounty. Next time, you can not only post up a bounty, but then go and find someone to carry it out! Sound good?

Hell, maybe you can find a guy like this, and get him to play the songs of his people at your next battle.

Featured Read of the Week- For a bit of change in pace, this week I selected one out of the alternative section because hey- not all the good reading is inside the canon lands. As a means of recognizing the good work put into a thread, all major writers in a closed thread (those that are clearly participating) will be post repped in their thread, on the post by them that I enjoyed most. So, if you get featured here, you can look forward to getting some rep off me. Other than that, all I can add before going into the summary is that this is the biggest closed Rp (in terms of unique posters) I have selected so far, and the diversity incorporated is quite good. The members are: Saturnalia, Star Sentinel, Joel, Deviant, & Mixed Elements.

Trouble on the Horizon- I love the differing perspectives presented in this thread, and how all these different people with all of their unique agendas are brought together in this bar, nothing connecting them in a clear way at this point, yet I still get the feeling that there will be some unifying factor. Saturnalia brings in a stranger, who while not quite brooding, does give off that ebb of extreme indifference that draws your interest. Star Sentinel plays the server who is forced into working at a demeaning job, and the way she writes this character, you can feel her desire to be rid of that place. Joel plays a fantastic creep, with his inner monologues and implied mannerisms really making one's brow raise- I am eagerly waiting to see what develops here. Deviant provides the opposite of the present characters, one who values the refined looks and has no appreciation for the seedy location of their workings- the anger of this character is quite clear. Mixed Elements plays the runaway, the young girl whose bandit group did not hold up so well. A lot of conflict is swirling around this one, and you have to wonder what else went on in her past. All in all, the thread is still developing and young, but there is an interesting dynamic already taking shape. Keep track of this one. ;) 
  

Lore of the Week!

This Week's Feature: Casper, Terrenus

At a Glance: 

• Leader: He simply goes by Paul.
• Population: A melting pot consisting of Humans, Gnomes, Halflings and Dwarves. Seeing as they are a port town, some aquatic races such as Merfolk, Crab-kin, and Qruagars call Casper their home as well. Occasionally, a Siren is spotted. No population numbers given.
• Defenses: 
• 20,000 Terrenus Military
• 20,000 local police force including Port and Waterfront Protection forces, specialized officers who can work both on land and inside the sea. 
• The peacekeeper for Casper is Zeph Vidal.
• Attractions: 
• Paul's Aviary, a haven for the breeding of endangered bird species, and a designated sanctuary for others (no violence is allowed). 
• Paul's Hospital: As a gifted healer, their leader spends much of his time assisting the sick and wounded at the hospital named after himself. 
• Sword and Board Tavern & Inn: A player controlled tavern with more of an established history to it, and the meeting place of the group, "The Dead".
• Bitter Sea-trade Organization, a privately owned trading organization, currently under investigation for possible dealings with pirates. They are owned by OIC.
• Full Deck Docks: The traveling Casino, the Full Deck, docks in Casper, in addition to Last Chance and Tia.
• Neighboring Landmarks: 
• 70mi south of the Blue Hills, and 870mi south of Doughton
• About 700mi southwest of Ignatz
• 870mi northwest of Patia (involves some sea crossing)
• 1100mi north of Ursa Madea
• 1700mi southeast of Weland

Canonical Occurrences by Members:

• A petrified paladin came back to life during the events of the 'Eternal Night'. After the sun's return, the Paladin has not been seen.
• Bitter Sea Trade Organization is under investigation for possibly colluding with pirates. 
• Corpse Train: A vile machine was created in Casper, and as it left the city, it abducted and murdered hundreds. It roams outside the city, scarring the lands...
• The stockholders for the Bitter Sea Trade organization went missing, and their stocks were made publicly available. OIC bought all of them.
• A number of Shanty towns appear around Casper, acting as a refuge for those who are temporarily stranded in Casper, or need a place to stay between ships. They are occasionally used as quarantine zones and are not known for their class- the people live in squalorous conditions. 

Available Quests:

• The door into an abandoned house in the middle of town is in fact a magic portal. Find out what is on the other side, map it, and get the information back to the mayor. (Level 2 Quest)

Brief Summary of Lore:
Once under attack from invading Sirens who sought to take over Casper, the city has risen in greatness and now become one of Terrenus' two major capital cities. While known for its port, where trade and fishing occur in great abundance, the rest of the city is partitioned off the docks zone, thus allowing for the citizens to live an environment free of the smells and crime often associated with such an area. Indeed, with Paul's focus on social and medical reforms, the people of Casper tend to be much healthier than other parts of Terrenus, with a lowered mortality rate due to illnesses and a greater life expectancy. A focus on social programs to aid those who are struggling has led to remarkably low homelessness rates, nearly eliminated at risk youth, and sharply dropped the rate of crime inside the city- due to the nature of their existence, the docks continue to be a source of criminality. 

As diverse as their population is, you won't find any of these sorts hanging around Casper. Overweight men and foliage just does not work.

New Members and Returns!

Welcome:

Vlad Drakul:
An obsessee of Vampires who hails back to the days of clans in Yahoo chat, for those of you old enough to remember them. States he's no newbie when it comes to Role-play, and that he's ready to jump in and knock off the rust.

Siezetku:
Watch out for this one, for though he claims to be here out of a need to get out of his RP slump, he also spilled the secrets of his intentions to harvest your organs and sell them on the black market. Other than that, he hopes for good times and to avoid litigation.

Diremast:
An Italian hanging out in the frozen lands of Sweeden, this gentleman is a passionate role-player and musician. It's been a little while since he role-played, so he asks that you bear with him for a little while, while he gets back on his feet, so to speak. 

Thefinnicle:
From overseas in Southeast Asia, this member joins Valucre in pursuit of RP, but nearly missed coming aboard when they struggled to write an introductory post! Hope that doesn't set the tone of their RP writing tenure while on Valucre, hehe.

Siriuslewis:
She's a newgirl on Valucre, a crazy 'Merican teenager at that, whose passion for Role-play has brought her to Valucre while her other stomping grounds are down due to maintenance. Sounds like we might not be a long term stop for her, but our Role-play kicks ass, so perhaps she'll stay.

Winslet:
Wislet says they were once much busier, but now it's been a while. Recently, that RP itch came roaring back and now they are ready to do some RPing. 

Ferrin:
They make admissions of lurking, but now they have finally taken a dive and joined us on Valucre. Apparently the Gaia crowd is dying out (gee, I wonder why, given we now have a plethora of them here ;) ) and they came by to see what the fuss was about. Might not RP much to begin with, but give them a bit of time. ;)

Kudoku:
Kudoku came from a site that was less than friendly, and is hoping they found some greener pastures- well, I certainly think they did. It's a shame that the previous site did not foster a sense of welcome in the new member, but we welcome them, and hope we can get them squared away in their RP pursuits.

Man in Black:
He joins the site and trolls us right away, claiming to be back when he's actually new, the nerve! Well, I recognize and ACDC reference when I see one (and if it isn't intentional, it still works, so there :P ) and so they're cool with me. They're looking for some feedback on a profile, so check out their thread and perhaps give them some thoughts?

Nyx:
Nyx came stumbling in while looking for RP- we're going to assume Nyx is sober, and just a little clumsy. Either way, we're happy to have them here, especially since they say that RP is what they like to do- hey, so do the rest of us! :)

Asmorian:
Asmorian describtes himself as, 'The New Guy' and admits to being a little new at the RP thing. He feels a little lost, but didn't the majority of us when we first joined Val? Help a guy out and see if you can guide him into some good stuff. :)

Returns:

Clockwork:
She's been dealing with some bad internet connections, but she's back to write. Welcome back!

Invie:
Invie got a bit held up due to school, life, and the great time eater- Skyrim. He's back now though, so welcome back!

Kettle Logic:
Kettle Logic is quite the interesting guy, and he disappeared on us nearly as fast as he joined. Turns out that he was busy with a new job, but now that things are settling in, he's back to hang around. Welcome back!

Whooo! Eleven people this week instead of that weird run of 8, and this is a better number to boot. Eleven people in a single week is doing pretty good, and we also got three members back. Good week to me! :)

See, occasionally we get members who said they had a bad experience elsewhere, and this just makes me think they ran into some doofuses like these two. Thug life, yo.

Other Highlights?

These other highlights are like some of those people you see out there- you'd rather not have encountered them, but it is already done, and you are never scrubbing that from your memory. All this work into the blog, and people still expect sprinkles on the damn cake that they get to have and eat too. Every time here more demands, I just picture you all looking like this guy.

Blog Settings- Sorry, not the settings to this blog, but the settings to your blog on Valucre- do you know how to set them? If you aren't sure on how to do that, you can go into Settings (click the URL Settings on the upper right side of the forum) and then look to the left of this page, where it has a menu for settings- at the bottom, you will find 'blog'. This will take you to an area where you can set a myriad of different options pertaining to your blog, to help customize it up for you. Of course, if you are too lazy to dig, you can just click this link.

Did You Know- About the guide to successful interest checks? If you feel like your interest checks in the water cooler have failed to gain some traction, you might want to take a look at this guide and see if you aren't doing something right. The rest of the Did You Know Archive is over here.

Closing Thoughts?

All this talk about the weird people seen in our world must leave you wondering what I could possibly come up with for closing thoughts. Am I going to write about the strange encounters we must face while riding public transportation? Perhaps I meant to discuss the importance of making sure that none of your hygiene accessories (in use or formerly in use) sticks out of your pants. Maybe I only want to laugh about the world at large, as some of the most entertaining things we come across are in everyday life while we trek out into public. Yeah, I could comment on all that stuff, but how would that pertain to writing and/or role-play?

Let’s not talk about the specifics, but focus on that theme as a whole.

Our environment is full of interesting things- be it the people, or animals, or just the circumstances of the moment. Interesting can mean funny, or appalling, or just plain intriguing- I have no set limit on what is to be called interesting and what else does not qualify- what qualifies is subjective, and relative to you. Determining what you, or what someone else, deems necessary is beyond the point of this exercise, but instead, it is what we do after our ‘interesting’ event that makes the difference.

Anything can be fodder for writing.

Think about it- have you ever needed to insert another character into your story (or RP), someone who serves some purpose in moving the plot forward, or is just background noise for the main characters, and once their purpose is served, you plan to scrap them. It’s tempting to just give them a vanilla personality and description, as you have better things to invest your time and energy into than developing some nonessential player. While it is true that there are certainly many other aspects of your story to work on, some much more worthy of being hung up on than others, I think excusing the repetitious use of vanilla side characters is doing yourself a disservice.

If you want easy ideas for personalities and appearances of those minor characters, look no further than your environment. Get out and do some people watching, look at the ways that people interact with each other, especially people who don’t know each other. Perhaps pay attention to the mannerisms and communication style of your server at a restaurant, or perhaps someone working a stand in a farmer’s market. Look on at the customers who go through a store- hell, if you work there, think about some of the most colorful experiences you might have had.

It doesn’t always have to be funny- in fact, if every single one of your NPCs and/or side characters turn into mavericks, the novelty of it fades and you overwhelm us with humor. There are a lot of different people out there who might serve as something that stands out beyond just being there- think about the lines in their face, the way the said certain words, what sort of pattern accompanied their speech, the movements of their hands. Not all of these details make it into a story/RP of course, but some of them can, and some of them can influence how you describe the more essential parts of that person and in doing so, you guide yourself into creating a person who sounds more interesting, and more believable.

Our environments can serve as more than just character fodder too, of course. By spending time out in places- perhaps those new to us or those old to us but with taking a new approach to how we observe it- we take in scenery that we might use in a story itself. Even if your setting is medieval in nature, there are still aspects of a city you can take in- the lighting, the way the people move through, the stands, the shops, etc. Perhaps something about the way rain rolls off the rooftops and splatters against the concrete gives you a sense of awe, and refuels your eagerness to write/post.

It might even be that it has nothing to do with what you can pull from those environments that influences what you incorporate into your writing, but rather something about what you are doing and experiencing that replenishes your creativity and gets you back on track. If you feel like you’ve been in a rut, go take a walk. Walk somewhere less than familiar to you (somewhere safe though :P ) and enjoy it. The change is good for you, and the sensory input might just be what you needed to get your creative juices flowing again. Inspiration has the oddest habit of showing up in places unexpected, sometimes related to what is there, sometimes not related at all.

Take it when you can get it. :)

Well, this one is on the shorter side, but there was only so much I could think to write on this subject. Better to make it brief than to ramble on longer to make myself feel like I am not short changing the readers. This takes us into break week. I'll see you all next month! Oh- keep in mind, odd is not always funny or sickening, sometimes, it's attention grabbing for other reasons.

Take care!

-          Acies

"Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any."   ~ Orson Scott Card

How Does the Saying Go? If You Have Nothing Nice to Say...

Then be Vague About It.

A bit of tongue in cheek, but fortunately, I only have nice things to say about Valucre. However, I have certainly seen some times out there where someone didn't have very nice things to say. No exception to that, the writing world seems to be full of harsh critics- often, the worst are writers themselves! So far, it seems like Valucre has been good about fostering a sense of encouraging others to improve rather than just blatantly telling a person that they suck and should go jump off a bridge... or something to that effect. Sounds a bit mean, but I tell you, some writers have had some really nasty things to say about others.

H.G Wells had this to say on Bernard Shaw: “An idiot child screaming in a hospital.”

I think that certainly qualifies as not very nice, but there is worse- far worse.

Apparently, Mark Twain had no love for Jane Austin- "I haven’t any right to criticize books, and I don’t do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticize Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can’t conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Every time I read ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone."

Hopefully, no one on Valucre has made you feel inclined to go extract their shin bone and proceed to beat them over the head with it, but such is the case... well, better to say nothing at all, and best you try to keep clear of them, and especially their legs. It'd be a gruesome scene I imagine. :P

What's Happening Valucre?

The Chosen Goes to Round Two - Hope you haven't forgotten about this. Well, of course you haven't, because I keep reminding all of you every week! Think of it as a way to appease James, the great, because I can't have explosions in here every week. Anyway, Chosen tournament still goes, and you can mingle with the members in the lounge.

Short-Term Survival-Horror RP- Looks like this still has some room for takers, if those horror/survival Role-plays are your thing. Promised to be a blend of multiple mediums from all the classics, this form of RP makes you have to think carefully and tread with caution. You apply with the risk of failure, but it makes hat success so much sweeter. Are you a Survivor??

Escape From Antigone-  A reboot of a quest that never quite got off the ground, this is a challenge to all players to try and escape from Antigone Isles- one of the most secure places in all of Valucre. Magic is banned and magic users are either enslaved, locked away, or worst of all- experimented on. In all their years of their xenophobic approach to magic, not a single soul has managed to escape the clutches of the island. If you want to put your name into canon as the first to successfully pull of such a feat, get over there and find a way out.

Journey of a Thousand Miles- Just kidding, it's really about 500mi, but that is still one long journey. In Orisia, the Queen went out to dispatch a rebel group, and after freeing those forced into subjugation, they have about 800 men, women, and children displaced and without a home. She has promised them a home at Brightstorm Keep, a newly established location. What they are looking for in this quest are some people to play those tribal members, giving you an opportunity to role-play from a new perspective- that of a person who has lost everything (home, their people, family, friends, culture, etc) and highlight the struggles one might go through. They are also interested in recruiting one to play a tribal leader as well (the character may be male or female). If you're interested in this opportunity, state your interest over here.

Small Group for Isélyr?- Isélyr could definitely use some love, as it and its extensive lore is certainly underused. We have a member looking to put together a small RP group to role-play a scenario out in Isélyr, possibly doing something related to diplomacy, but the subject left open for discussion. In this RP, you might negotiate treaties and deals with neighboring regions, travel around with Mercenaries, and face many of Isélyr's potential dangers. To take it on, come over here.

Bright Storm Keep- Speaking of Bright Storm Keep, there is a role-play surrounding the place. This one plays off some previous threads, and involves a group of folks who ended up shipwrecked on foreign soil. They found an old abandoned keep, and are looking to clear this out and get it prepared for the settlers who will soon be on their way. The focus for this RP is going to be more so on character development than plot, so this one is a bit of a slower RP for those who might not have as much time as they would like. If something like this interests you (or you want to get involved with the character who won Hero of the Year), they have room for two more.

Featured Read of the Week- I'm beginning to notice a bit of a trend, as we have another repeat person for Featured Thread of the Week. Part of it is because they are awesome of course, but also because I am noticing that there is a trend among those who choose to do closed RPs (we have a handful of members who make up the majority of them). So, if you notice repeats, keep in mind that they are awesome, but please don't take it to mean I am using favoritism- just that I have more of a limited pool to pull from, especially following my criteria (I only consider threads that meet a certain threshold for total and current activity levels). With that note aside, I present a thread featuring Aleksei and Vixen.

Ends and Beginnings- There is A LOT I could say about this thread, the commentary a conglomeration of both artistic and inappropriate thoughts- so I must tread lightly, lest I say something incriminating, offensive, or just make myself look like an ass. I enjoyed the reading itself for the characters involved, particularly with Rou's current animosity towards Roen due to his spurning of her advances. Her posts absolutely tingle with a sort of energy that lets you experience her seething anger and frustration, in which she channels in a new way. Suggestions of showing Roen what he is missing by Aleksei's character, one whose innocence clearly shines, leads to Rou taking up... interesting means of doing just that. A thread with an array of well written emotions and sensuality, this certainly captures interest. I'll leave you to read it, or use your imagination, to deduce what I am getting at.   

I bet W. H. Auden would appreciate that above post, certainly more than what he thought of Robert Browning: "I don’t think Robert Browning was very good in bed. His wife probably didn’t care for him very much. He snored and had fantasies about twelve-year-old girls."

Now that is harsh!

Lore of the Week!

This Week's Feature: The World of Valucre

At a Glance: 

• Terrenus: A Fantasy based continent roughly twice the size of North America. It hosts 12 major cities, with hundreds of miles between them, and sometimes as much as thousands of miles between landmarks. The Rp encompassed includes traditional fantasy, Noir, Crime, and an Oriental setting. Their main religion is Gaianism, and they are led by Odin Haze
• Genesaris: A widely diverse land that happens to be the largest in land size, it as big as our world's Eurasian continent. Once hidden away, Genesaris only recently became revealed to the world, bringing in their many different cultures and peoples, generally divided into four major regions, and let by Union City at its center. The people see the highest magnitude of leadership belonging to the Three Lords, but typically run their affairs through Union City's council, and their own independent governments. Genesaris boasts a wide variety of technology and capabilities, all depending on the area in which you travel.  
• Tellus Mater: The land of the Three Kings, Tellus Mater is not one individual region, but actually two land masses. Muhir occupies Western Tellus Mater and is about 1.5x the size of Texas, while Rosinder occupies the much smaller Eastern portion of Tellus Mater, it the size of Texas. Renovatio is the land of the sky, floating above the other land. It itself is about the size of Alaska. Each of the lands vary in their qualities, with Muhir a theocracy, Rosinder built upon Sword and Sorcery principles, and Renovatio the land with the most advanced technology in all of Valucre. 
• Isélyr: The second smallest land (ahead of Tellus Mater), Isélyr is a land built entirely upon Sword and Sorcery principles, it affected by an odd barrier that destroys modern technologies upon entry. Affected by the efforts of their evil deity, there is much going on inside of Isélyr, and plenty of opportunity to have an effect on canon. 

Lots of great lore for the reading. Well above the level of caliber that Virgina Woolf thought of James Royce: "[Ulysses is] the work of a queasy undergraduate scratching his pimples."

New Members and Returns!

Welcome:

Welcome, JaylaMattin
She loves most books and truly enjoys reading, but watch out, she has definitively declared herself as someone who is not a nerd--she just wishes she lived in a world other than this one. 

Welcome, Orion
An experienced role-player who suffers the same plight as many of us- too many ideas, and so little time. He says he's rather versatile and flexible when it comes to RP scenarios, so you should expect to see him in a variety of role-plays. 

Welcome, Ilallora
She hasn't role-played in a while due to some previous time constraints and the degridation of her old hangout, but now that she has more time and has found Valucre, she plans to stay rather busy. She enjoys one on ones, and even cooler- she's an Ausie. :D

Welcome, Fon
An Artist and Martial Artist with a really easy name to remember! He enjoys parkour, anime, and of course- writing. He's been looking for a good place to RP, and found many who were just not right for him, or too strict. Well, Valucre has a lot of awesome stuff, and little restrictions on your RP, so he should enjoy our company. ;)  

Welcome, Siieda
Because one I wasn't good enough, our new member has two Is in her name and professes to have a love of 'Hopeless Romantic RPs'. Despite that, she's willing to venture outside her comfort zone and try on some other genres for size. She can't wait to RP with you. 

Welcome, Die Shize
A friend of our member Xaeroth and one who might be lurking under your bed, this man writes a good and lengthy intro to get us all acquainted. It looks like we've already hooked him in, as he has made his appreciation for Valucre and its never ending drive for Rp opportunities well known. He plans to start small, and let the lore take its effect on his characters. 

Welcome, Justoneofthosegirls
She's not fresh to RP, but this is the first time she has ventured out to an RP forum, as she used to hang around in the Yahoo chat rooms. She likes to RP one to one and is willing to take on a variety of RP roles. Alas, she has stated that she doesn't do male roles outside of NPCs. 

Welcome, Miroki
New to Valucre and not from a previous forum or other site, Miroki previously RP'd through a game, but has had to give it up for a time. 

Welcome, Siberiandaimyo
He tried tricking us at first by saying he was Youtube's Peewds, but in reality he is just a big fan. Half Russian and Half English, an interesting cultural mix of a man who plans to spend a lot of time in the Colleseum.

Welcome, DrS1n
He goes by his user, Dave, Doc or Docter Sin, and really doesn't care how you address him- well, that is until someone finds a way to address him in a way he doesn't like (not that anyone would ever try that). He's a total workaholic (like yours truly) but he manages to find some downtime to work on some RP. He likes video games and geeking out on books and Television- looks like he will fit right in. 

Returns:

Welcome back, Liha'Irden
She had to take a bit of a leave, but she's back around and ready to RP. She plans on spending the Summer with us on Val- that's pretty cool. 

Welcome back, GodlyUnderdog
Says he is back for real this time, and plans on working unfolding his tales in the RP realm- welcome back!

About damn time! We broke the streak of eight, and did so by having more than eight new members this week, with our new total coming in at ten. Ten is a respectable number and it gets us pulled out of that odd rut we were in for a while. Welcome to all of our new members, we are glad to have you- which cannot be said of Lord Byron on John Keats: "Here are Johnny Keats’ piss-a-bed poetry, and three novels by God knows whom… No more Keats, I entreat: flay him alive; if some of you don’t I must skin him myself: there is no bearing the drivelling idiotism of the Mankin."

Other Highlights?

I like doing these highlights about as much as Martin Amiss enjoyed reading Catcher in the Rye (Miguel Cervantes): "Reading Don Quixote can be compared to an indefinite visit from your most impossible senior relative, with all his pranks, dirty habits, unstoppable reminiscences, and terrible cronies. When the experience is over, and the old boy checks out at last (on page 846 — the prose wedged tight, with no breaks for dialogue), you will shed tears all right; not tears of relief or regret but tears of pride. You made it, despite all that ‘Don Quixote’ could do."

Yeah, that much. >:(

Activity Stream- Want to see all the activity occuring at the same time? Well, you can, by clicking on the activity stream! This link sits next to the New Posts link, and it shows you all the current activity (posts, blogs, groups you are in). If you want to check it all at once, click on Activity Stream.

Did You Know- About Groups and Organizations? Groups are groupings of people who are bonded for a current goal- you can go to the Group Page to see what groups are around- some might be closed though. Organizations are in-character organizations (some with groups) linked under the organizations sub-board under profiles. The organizations are found here. To get the rest of your Did You Know Archive go here.

Closing Thoughts?

Taking Criticism

Hey, two weeks in a row with a closing thoughts I knew I wanted to cover before working on the blog.


This is more so for the writers out there than it is for those only interested in RP, but I think this is still relevant to you if you are someone who puts work into trying to produce high quality RP posts. Any time we share our personal work, we are putting ourselves out there and taking on the risk (or intentionally trying to solicit) criticism. Now, criticism is not in and of itself a bad thing- constructive criticism is a valuable tool, something that helps you identify weaknesses in your story and weaknesses in your abilities, allowing you to take steps towards improving them. Assuming that you can take the suggestions to heart and without taking it personally, you can go through a great deal of improvement by eliciting constructive criticism.

Only, not all criticism is constructive.

As you can see, the blog today is full of insulting statements from one famous author to another, none of these made in jest or fun. These writers passionately disliked something about the other, and their means of sharing it came out as little more than vitriol- certainly nothing very constructive. Now, chances are, if you put yourself out there, you are going to be subject to this kind of criticism at some point- let’s face it, the odds that you dodge it your entire career is about as good as my odds of waking tomorrow with a lean, trimmed body. As in, it’s not going to happen.

Some people just do not have a nice way of putting things, or something about what you did really put them off- and they were happy to share it. Last week, I taught a class with new employees orienting to work at our hospital. One of these students was a doctor- a much older doctor who had scores of experience (a score is 20, as in 20yrs). This doctor from the very start was presenting problems- his views were far outdated and contrary to hospital policy, state and federal laws, and the rights acts for people with disabilities. He had a mentality better suited for a real prison than that of a hospital, and so some of the things he said were concerning- and had to be corrected.

Especially because six of my students were civil rights lawyers

It was clear to me that this doctor had a remarkably large ego, and that every time I had to correct him on something, I was giving it a good bruising. Believe me, I was doing the best I could to do it gently, but I am required to teach a specific curriculum, and I cannot new hires thinking this doctor was correct in his thinking. At the end of the first two day segment, we have evaluations turned in, which are used to gauge the level of satisfaction people had, how relevant they found it, and what they thought of the instructors. Normally, they are allowed to be anonymous, but this Doctor had handwriting that was uniquely bad, and after correcting his books, we knew which evaluation was his.

To say he hated my guts is putting it lightly.

He filled his box and then some with a summary basically equating to that I had no teaching skills and was ill suited for my position, was monotone and boring, that I paced (I do, but people usually respond positively to it), that I dismissed ideas, failed to answer questions and discouraged them, and that I read the slides with my back to the class (which I barely look at, since I have them more or less memorized) and never make eye contact. He used some strong language in there, and you can believe me, the review was just a scathing thing, and it did make feel hurt at first. I was taken aback by the sheer level of dislike on his part, but as we glanced through the other reviews, not a single other person stated any of his complaints, and several were very complimentary. It would be easy to have let his nasty remarks continue to affect me, but I was leaving for the day, and I follow a principal of leaving work stuff at work- therefore, I had no need to take this home.

We are going to run into people like this. If you ever are published, you might have a critic read your book- and loathe every word of it. You might have someone just unload the nastiest things you thought you ever heard, all in reference to what you wrote, to what you put your time, love, and energy into- and man, does it sting. You have a few options once you come to this point:

1. Take it as a sign that you are a worthless human being, hate yourself, hate your craft, and forever duck out of it.

2. Think of the person as a nasty and cantankerous individual, and assume that everything they wrote is false.

3. Work at finding things in that review that could be turned into constructive criticism. Find out from others whether or not they have seen these issues as well- this should be from people willing to be truthful to you. Think of things that might have merit and work to improve those- essentially, distill this negative piece of poop into something that might still serve a purpose.

Spoiler Alert: You should go for number three.

It’s what I did- I asked my co-instructor if she saw anything, carefully sifted through the other evaluations and looked for anything that fit what he said- that I needed to brush up on my skills as a teacher, that my voice needed more variation, that I was unhelpful with questions. I never saw a duplication of those complaints, but I still decided to apply it anyway. The next day, I made sure I consciously worked at voice variation, that I was in fact making eye contact and not leaving my back to the class while glancing at the slides- different aspects of his complaint. I wanted to ensure that if there was any merit to what he said, I was taking steps to prevent, avoid, and improve upon them.

Just as you cannot make all people like you, you cannot make all people like what you wrote. There is going to be someone out there who just despised what you put together, and the best you can do is try to take good advice from negative comments. They chose not to package it in a way that made it easy to discern, much less swallow, but that does not mean you cannot find it.

It does leave one to wonder- is there truly ‘good writing’ or a ‘great book’, or is all subjective? Such a debate would surely fill the space of an entirely different ‘Closing Thoughts’, but I’ll give a simple answer: I think that the ability to write well (and thus, good writing) is a real, measurable thing, but the success of your works are dependent on more than that. Excluding variances for style, I think people can objectively identify whether or not a person knows how to write and write well. But a story might succeed despite that, as often what people care about is not ‘decent writing’ but more so the story. What is the story, who are the characters and what are they like, is it interesting, does it move you? Those things are often independent of the writing quality, and as evidenced by some best sellers, it can make a writer quite successful, even if their talents are mediocre.

50 Shades of Grey started out as a fan-fiction, and to be honest, the writing quality is that of a mediocre fan-fiction. Yet, despite that, these books have flown off the shelves- not because of her renown as a writer, but because of the story, and the contents, and the appeal that it has on others.

Of course, what is a good book can be debated another time. What I hope people pull from this tangent is that your success is not going to be based only on how well you write- one less reason to take it personally, and one more reason to make sure you do more than rely on skill.

Remember- constructive criticism is great, nasty criticism is stinky, but there might be some valuable nuggets of truth in there. Even if you dig through it and find nothing, at least you were willing to entertain those notions, and look for a way to grow as a writer. To continually improve, you have to be open minded and willing to take suggestions- not all of them are right, not all of them are good, but if you don’t at least think about them, you just might miss out on something valuable.

As for that Doc- he gave almost every instructor for every part of his orientation a nasty review, flunked his CPR class, and is already getting reported to the head of psychietry. Today, I had a current employee in my refresher class come up to me and tell me her son was in my new employee orientation class, that he loved the way I taught it, and made him excited to work there- sometimes, the criticsm is on the giver. Don't take it personally. And in those moments that you get praise- feel good about it, but don't let it blind you.

You guys are awesome, I’ll see you next week.

- Acies

"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."   ~ John Wooden

How Many Writers Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb?

Ten...

One to change the light bulb.
Four to say that they'd already had the idea for changing a light bulb, but they didn't want to show anyone what they were doing until they'd polished their light-bulb-changing.
Two to point out that someone else had already changed a light bulb, so changing another one was unoriginal and thus not worthwhile.
Three to call light bulbs a new technology that was going to be catastrophic for traditional candlelight-driven writers.
And one to figure out that writers are lousy at math.


I admit, I borrowed that one from a blogger who apparently borrowed it from another blogger- and I bet it goes so on and so forth, so I am not going to bother linking it around- jokes like that are a dime a dozen, and crediting the original is probably all but impossible- so laugh and share, just don't claim it for your own. :P

The little joke aside, I must point out there is no kidding around when it comes to talking about how awesome the content on Valucre is. With tons of new RP every day, some pretty talented people coming out of the woodwork, and new stuff in development all the time- well, Valucre is definitely the place to be. We may not be the biggest, or even the most popular- but we're striving to deliver the most bang for your buck- that, and I think the majority of us can change lightbulbs without arguments.

Maybe. >_>

What's Happening Valucre?

The Chosen Goes to Round Two - A couple weeks have gone by, and in that time, we have unveiled the fights for round two and they have begun. You might be wondering how those matches are going... well, slow so far, at least in a few. One match seems to have a decent start going, a second is moving so far, and the others need to get started. There is one match with content for reading, so I definitely encourage you to start there, and continue to monitor, because something should happen, soon (I hope). You can prod some of these slower guys over in the lounge. ;)

Bloosh's Labyrinth-  This  is an alternative style RP that still has room for one more, and it looks like it will be quite a bit of fun. You end up in a maze, where you have no idea which way to go, but you must reach the center- and quickly. Completion earns you treasure and freedom, while failure comes from falling to the beasts that lurk its darkened halls. Do you have what it takes to defeat the labyrinth? Test your wits!

Need a Quest?- Ayden has put together what is called the Broken Plank Quest Board, a resource for players looking for things to do. A slew of quests are listed on the wall of this tavern (located in Morgana of Orisia), offering a variety of tasks, artifact hunts, and odd jobs for characters to complete in order to earn VB or other goods. To top that off, remember- quests are canonical: It gets your character's name in the official print! In this same listing, they are advertising openings with the group, "Order of the Black Heart", so if that tickles your fancy, you will want to look into that as well. See what they might have for you ;)

Kokenshi Recruitment Process- This new member of ours has put together a pretty extensive amount of details about a race that he would like to offer up to the writing community. He intends to create a group when enough people share interest, to help others develop a character according to the lore behind these guys. The race sounds pretty tough and it gives you an opportunity to play something from outside Valucre. Could be fun, so maybe you ought to check it out. Just Sayin ;)

In Character: Some Cool Shit- I know, shame on me, I used a swear word. >> Anyway, there are a couple different threads with some content put together by Xaeroth using Alt-Codes and BBCodes to make a couple of really cool things that can be applicable to IC posts- he made a chess board and he made a slot machine. So, if you want to have an illustrated chess match in character, or if you want to set up real slot machines for your casino- you have working codes for it. You can see the chessboard here and take a look at this for the slots.

Artifact Hunts- Per the rules of engagement, when someone goes after a Terrenus based Artifact, notice has to be put up for others so they have a chance to either help or muddy your efforts. We have two different artifact hunts going right now, one that is a pretty well established group (I'd say probably late to join as a party member, but never too late to try and be a rogue ;) ) and the other that is just getting started. One group is after the Sheobrazi Golem armor (a flexible suit, form fitting black suit that protects against mundane weapons, mind affecting spells, poison, and disease. This group is headed by the storyteller Blue Shoelaces. The other group is after the Instant Fortress, a portable fortress that grows from a tube the size of an index finger to a 30ft tall three story tower with walls going 10ft into the ground. It has only arrow slits for windows and features a battlement for men at the top. Extremely durable and unable to be unlocked by any but the owner- quite a handy tool for someone with a large party or small militia. This group is headed by myself as the storyteller. Good luck to all!

Itching for a Good Survival Horror?- If you enjoy survival based horror with nasty things like zombies, this might be your calling. Described as possibly mixing themes from Silent Hill with some old school Resident Evil, this one aims for creepiness, disorientation and challenge. It is a GM'd game, and members who are decently active are requested. It looks like a dice system, using the board die roller, is in place to help keep fights fair, and to give an element of risk to your character. Think you can survive?

Featured Read of the Week- Hey! This week, I found something that did not have King in it- I know, the guy is awesome, but we do have to feature other folks here. In fact, my thread choice for this week features two writers who have not yet been featured (so all new this time) in a thread taking place in Kings Hill, Orisia, with Hopelessly Hopeful and Fairess.

Ends and Beginnings- What caught my attention straightaway while I was reading this thread was the amount of tension- tension between the characters, and due to the circumstances. You really get the feeling that a lot more is going on with the characters than what either one is letting on to the other, and the members here do a good job of bringing up the mix of emotions generated from both the conflict between themselves and the conflicts outside of this situation. It was an enjoyable read, and I recommend you take a look.
  
Speaking of good writing:

There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer. When asked to define great, he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!"

He now works for Microsoft writing error messages.

Lore of the Week!

This Week's Feature: Le'Chery, Isélyr

At a Glance: 

• Leader: Lord Arimir Falscheim.
• Population: A mixture comprised of Humans with splashes of Elves, Dwarves, and Goblins- no numbers given.
• Defenses: No Lore Available
• Neighboring Landmarks: North: Nyssian Mountains. South: Athirat Desert. West: The forests of E'kraun and further away, the Bay of Chemosh. East: The Port city of Hymir.

Canonical Occurrences by Members:

• None Yet

Available Quests:

• Boil and Bubble; Toil and Trouble
• Off With His Head

Brief Summary of Lore:
Borrowed from the Lore: Once the mighty kingdom of Gorand, Le'Chery is all that remains of the vast empire. Now, she is a trading village located in the central most region of Isélyr. Many adventurers gather here to replenish their supplies and provisions before heading out on their adventures. Various insects and animals indigenous to this area include common ants, grasshoppers, beetles, bumble bees, hawks, butterflies, rabbits, bobcats, donkeys, wolves, owls, goats, horses, bears and other such creatures. While there are giant species of these animals, encounters with them are few and far between. Le'Chery is centered in the grasslands of Isélyr. The semi-arid, windy environment has very hot summers and extremely cold winters. Very few shrubs and trees grow here. Crops of wheat, barley, and corn are harvested as well as legumes and root vegetables. Le'Chery is the only area where the Purple Haze Weed is grown and harvested. Smoked in pipes, the Purple Haze Weed offers its user the feeling of bliss, joy, and general happiness. It is for this reason that the Purple Haze Weed is highly sought after, bringing an increase in wealth to Le'Chery. 

Quick tips for the writers out there:
Avoid the use of vulgarisms that might piss off the reader.
Don't verbify nouns.
Avoid clichés like the plague.
Try to not split infinitives.
AND A sentence containing a parenthetical phrase (must be a complete sentence) without that phrase. ;)

New Members and Returns!

Welcome:


Welcome, Jaden Darkstar Silver
He's nice, kind, caring, protective, strong and loveable, an RPer seeking cool people to get down and dirty with- get your mind out of the gutters folks, he's not posting a personal's ad, he's looking for RP partners! 

Welcome, MysteriousMagnum
A woman of few words! All she offers is that she is pleased to meet us all- shyness, or frugality in this dismal word economy? Find out for yourself!

Welcome, Theclothecologist
A Doctor Who fan who's also a puppeteer and a table top role-player. He's thinking about putting focus on building puppets over performing with them, but in the meantime, he's here to check out Valucre, because he heard good things about us- don't spoil it!

Welcome, Bradapalooza
Brad is the kind of guy who first chases after an engineering degree and then somewhere along the line decides to throw it all to the wind so he can earn an English degree instead- I'm still debating if that's dedication or someone who enjoys inflicting harm upon their self, but either way, I'm sold. He's also working on a sci-fi book too! He's looking for collaborative RPs, so perhaps you will meet him out there somewhere.  

Welcome, Sempercon
This individual has been missing from the RP scene for a number of years, but they have come back, and they have made Valucre their first stop. Let's help this fine person bust off the rust and get back into RP! 

Welcome, Catmint
Another Gabbi to help confuse us when talking about one of the two! She was into other RP sites but school held her back, but now that she is out, she is looking to get back into the RP thing. Let's help her feel at home. :)

Welcome, Loola Lovette
Loola is a bit shy as a newbie, but her home away from home was foreclosed on, and now they are here looking for another place to stay. Loola hopes to find acceptance, and speaking on behalf of Valucre, I think you have come to the right place. 

Welcome, Elementary
Elementary likes to point out of the obvious, such as that he is new. He wants to try his hand at doing some writing here, especially since he has free-time during College's summer vacation. He's dabbled in writing, and because of that, he got interested in Valucre- hey, attracting the aspiring writers, I like it! 


Returns:


Welcome back, Zenophoenix
Zenophoenix had to leave for a while, but now he is back and ready to RP. Glad to have you back!

Welcome back, Olivejuice
Olivejuice is a long-time member going back to the old days of Ayenee, and takes absences here and there as family dynamics arise- she is raising a beautiful family by the way- give her a warm welcome back! 

Welcome back, Nariatheberzerker
They were around before but took off for a spell, but now their back, so let's encourage them to hop in some RP!



Wow. This is just getting scary. Another week, another 8 members listed! Of course, this time around we only had 8 new members in two weeks, which is definitely a little disappointing, but the fact that the new amount totaled 8 again is just getting to be really weird. Alright Valucre, stop this madness! Give us a real flow of members!

And hey, think these sorts of analogies might make it into the next piece of literature?

She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again.
McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

Other Highlights?

I'd rather be eating bacon, but whatever.

Quick Links- You might have missed this, but any time you are on the forum main page, you have a little option called 'Quick Links' right under 'What's New'. Quick links shows you Today's Posts, Your Subscriptions, Opens your contacts, the list of Site Leaders, and Who's Online. All handy stuff. :)

Did You Know- About Thread Randomizers? If you ever want to insert a random element into your thread, you can either roll a die and see what comes up, or you can submit your RP to a list to have someone else come in and add a random element- a great way to spark life back into an RP, or to allow you to have a new challenge. To learn more, go to this here and get the rest of your Did You Know Archive from over here.


If you were lost in the woods, who would you trust for directions: the publisher who prints everything you write, an agent, or Santa Claus?

A. The agent. The other two indicate you are hallucinating.

Closing Thoughts?

I actually thought of this one ahead of time, so this one should have a little more thought to it (I hope).

After a couple videos, a conversation or two online, and then more conversations in person, I feel like I have just been pushed into this topic- at least, shoved into it with no time for me to withdraw my interest. The subject has to do with English, communication, and the precision of language- the usage of words and the unique ways that we use them, and what that means. By that, I mean- how we communicate, and just what we communicate as we talk- and further, thinking about whether or not there is more than one meaning to a word.

Some words have more than one definition- in such a way that no one could argue it. Others, the definitions might be hazier, in that some people think it means one thing, and others think it is appropriate to use it in another fashion. We have words that are in and of themselves ambiguous to a degree, leaving a lot of room for personal interpretation of the word in defining its meaning. Of course, then there are words that are commonly misrepresented, and others that might be less offended, but will be offended at some point.

By now, I am sure you are asking- what’s this guy’s point? Well, let me put it out there before I lose you :P.

There are imprecisions in our language that lead to a lot of miscommunication. Sometimes, the blame entirely rests with the person who simply misunderstood the message- for whatever reason, they took it in a way far different then intended, and any other outside observer did not take it in that way at all. Sometimes, the fault lies on both sides to a degree- one person being less than clear, the other having a lacking understanding of a word’s flexibility to include that definition. Then of course, we have times where the fault is on the speaker/writer and not on the listener/reader at all.

For today’s thoughts, I wanted to set aside a bit of time to think about words, and all of their amazing uses and flexibility that comes with them. When it comes to face to face communication, we often can see beyond poor wording, if we are good with reading body language, facial expressions, and voices- these make up much more of our communication anyway. But if you are dealing with someone who does not do very well, or if that face to face component is removed, communication becomes harder, because we must rely on the what is the stated words- and if those words are imprecise, or misunderstood, I might come across the wrong way.

Let’s hash this out on a couple different fronts:

1. Thinking about the words we use

2. Thinking about what words actually mean (relative to their definition, our culture, and us personally).

Many of us want to write- we either write purely for hobby or because we have a genuine interest in putting ourselves out there some day. We dabble with words, experiment, and try to add more to our vocabulary- and if we are not careful, we might begin using a word or three in the wrong way- this often relates to an overreliance on the thesaurus and not giving weight to the dictionary itself. Someone might see a word come up in the thesaurus and they like it, so they immediately plug it into their story in lieu of the ordinary word. Now, there are a couple things wrong with this:

First, sometimes, the ordinary word is what fits the story the best. It is nice to expand your vocabulary and add more tools to your tool belt for constructing stories, but that does not mean you always need the skill tool to do the job that a basic tool will accomplish as easily- or even better. Too many big words in your writing begins to sound superfluous and fake- the writing becomes less genuine, less enjoyable, and less readable- don’t do that to yourself.

Second, the word you chose might not be the true fit. Look, I can look up a word for eyes, and stumble across the word ‘Ocular’, and thus decide to call eyes oculars. Well, hate to break it to anyone who uses that, but I can show you what an ocular is when we refer to its noun form, and it is not an eye-  it is these things- an ocular is the eyepiece of an optical tool- it is not an eye. The adjective ocular has the meaning, ‘pertaining to the eye’ so any time I say something ocular, I need a noun following it that ocular can apply to: An ocular movement (n), an ocular organ (n)- which, by the way, would be only way to correctly state this. Your character does not have iridescent cerulean oculars- the only way to make this work is to say that they have iridescent cerulean ocular organs.

Doesn’t sounds so classy, now does it?

I don’t mean to pick on anyone here, I just want to point out that in that second scenario, an imprecision of language could lead to confusion there easily- especially if someone does not follow RP trends and know that the word oculars gets treated synonymous with eyes. Any other reader, aware of that word’s meaning, will have to stop and think about what you were meaning when you said that- which anything that pulls them completely away from your story is not a good thing.

Another thing I see come up is not always about using the wrong word yourself, but perhaps it is using a word that is not always so easily defined. I was having an interesting conversation the other day, and we go to talking about friendship- what the hell is friendship exactly? Is there a universally acceptable definition of friendship that clearly outlines what that is, beyond a sense of something generic? Or is that something that can vary from one individual to the next, based on what they define as a friendship. If I call you my friend, and you call me your friend, are we really talking about the same thing?

Or two different ideas entirely?

To one person, a friend may be what I call an acquaintance, but to the next person over, my friendship is what qualifies only as an acquaintanceship, and not a friendship. So which of us are wrong? Are any of use wrong in this case, or are we just operating from different principles? To answer something like this, we would need an entirely different day for closing thoughts, and probably more than one at that. For the sake of just talking about communication, I think we need to just go back to that very point: Communication.

Make sure both of you are aware of what you define as a friendship, and then decide from there what you truly have.

When communicating with another individual, particularly one you do not know very well or someone who has just mistaken a message you gave, think about the words you are choosing carefully, and ask yourself:

Am I using it correctly?
Is this a word that has more than one meaning?
Is this a word that could be perceived differently than how I intend to convey it?

It might surprise you what can be taken the wrong way. Sometimes misunderstandings are inevitable, but communication is going to be the easiest way to clear them up.

Let’s wrap this up, so I can kinda publish on time today:

Whether you are writing or speaking, apply the above principles to ensure that your message is clear. Be especially mindful of this when you write, because the other components of communication shall offer no context for which the reader to gauge where you are coming from. With writing, all they have are the words you put together. Further, when you are writing, using the wrong words does not make you sound like a more elegant writer, it makes you seem pretentious and silly!

Choose your words carefully, convey the message you want, and make it count ;)

Until next week folks!

- Acies

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.."   ~ Tom Clancy