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Poll #4112 Movie Title

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 10

If you had to choose between two film titles to see and could only go to one of the films, but only had the titles to go by, which would you see?

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She Spied For Stalin
4 (40.0%)

Daughter Of The Revolution
6 (60.0%)

adalger

I need help.

I'm a middle-aged white guy, mostly passing for any privelege I don't outright possess, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage understanding some discrimination and outright fail; this I admit. I want it clear that I'm asking for help in understanding, and am honestly confused and not trolling or stirring up trouble / controversy.

That said, I'm sort of missing the point of the racebending revenge fic-a-thon. How does altering the appearance of someone in another universe that doesn't have the racial issues ours have and then pretending it should make a difference to how those characters interact in that universe, really relate to anything at all?

Some of them, I completely understand. Sherlock Holmes being of dark-skinned descent (or, even better, from India!) would make a huge difference to his characterization. But ... well, Tolkien? What difference would it make to anyone there how many different skin colors humans came in? There are racial tensions between the races that actually exist in Middle Earth, but rewriting Aragon as Hispanic makes no sense, because there is no Spain. I understand that replacing everybody except the bad guy with white people is horribly wrong because it caters to the nastiness of people who divide the world into "white guys" and "bad guys". I ... kind of understand that a story so obviously based on Asian culture, in a good and respectful way, should give Asian audiences faces that look like them, too. But I'm lost on how changes races of people in random stories to races that don't even exist in the story setting is relevant.

This comes out a lot more defensive than it's meant. Please understand, I want to learn so I can do the right thing. Help?

ars_zoetica

I chose the first prompt from McSweeney's Internet Tendency.

( Short and definitelyl not sweet )

princess

Hi everyone:

Your friendly mod here, with a quick reminder about the January challenge (I really need a modly icon!).

Also, starting this week, we're going to go back to weekly exercises from the prompt books... I'll do a separate post on that.

Remember, nothing's mandatory, and if there's something you'd like to see us doing, please ask!

<3,
Your Mod

--

Challenge:

There's some great writing prompts in this article at McSweeny's Internet Tendency. Pick one, and do it as if it were a serious prompt. Please post your response to this community tagged "challenge #1".

(Completely arbitrary quality for "winning" is that you complete the challenge. Each person who finishes the challenge before Jan 31 will receive from me a 13 track mixtape, either via MP3 on the internet or CD in a custom designed case, your choice.)

Current Mood: cheerful

princess

And we need something to shake us up. So, after much thought, I've decided to throw out a fun challenge for anytime between now and Jan 31st!

Challenge:

There's some great writing prompts in this article at McSweeny's Internet Tendency. Pick one, and do it as if it were a serious prompt. Please post your response to this community tagged "challenge #1".

(Completely arbitrary quality for "winning" is that you complete the challenge. Each person who finishes the challenge before Jan 31 will receive from me a 13 track mixtape, either via MP3 on the internet or CD in a custom designed case, your choice.)

princess

From The 4 a.m. Breakthrough by Brian Kiteley.

Exercise number: 1, pages 29-30

Write a fragment of narrative in paratactic style. The best known example of parataxis is Julius Caesar's line to the Senate after a battle in what is now Turkey, recorded by Pluatrch as, "I came, I saw, I conquered." This fragment of fiction should concern a grown woman begging her mother not to remarry her father or a series of phone messages a ninteen-year-old man leaves for the woman who has just broken his heart. As you write this piece, keep in mind the image of the sentences as isolated islands of themselves, distant from the other sentence islands but within sight of each other. 500 words.

(I didn't post the whole text as that wouldn't really be fair use, plus there's got to be a reason for you to buy the book right? Also, emphasis mine in this case, and if you don't like either of the story prompts terribly much, simply use them as an example to go somewhere else.)

If you choose to take on this mission, you can respond in the comments (as they have a much higher character limit than at LJ) or in your own post (if you do it in your DW, please post a link in the comments). This is in no way meant to be a fascist thing, so if you don't like it, feel free not to do it. If you love it, do it twice. Whatever makes you happy. Please tag your new post weekly exercise:response if you decide to make a post to the comm.

Thanks,
Your mod!

ars_zoetica

( Windows )

princess

My response below the fold.

( the fold. )

princess

From The 3 a.m. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley.

Exercise number: 95, pages 128-130

Write a third-person story that takes place over an arbitraily long period of time, not a lifetime but several years, so you have to pick and choose important details or summarize lyrically or choose a consistent set of events that adheres to a theme or a structure. 500 words.

(I didn't post the whole text as that wouldn't really be fair use, plus there's got to be a reason for you to buy the book right?)

If you choose to take on this mission, you can respond in the comments (as they have a much higher character limit than at LJ) or in your own post (if you do it in your DW, please post a link in the comments). This is in no way meant to be a fascist thing, so if you don't like it, feel free not to do it. If you love it, do it twice. Whatever makes you happy. Please tag your new post weekly exercise:response if you decide to make a post to the comm.

Thanks,
Your mod!

[Edited: I originally typed LJ, and meant DW.]

Current Mood: amused

princess

That I needed a writer's group and place to bounce my work off people. Both for support and constructive critique, since if I ever want to make money doing this I have to realize that my darlings occasionally need some pruning and help.

I bought 3 AM Epiphany, and 4 AM Breakthrough (his other book, also available on Amazon) to start working out the basis of a workshop from. One of the things I'd like to do in this community is pick an exercise or two a week (maybe on a rotating basis of who selects) and post them to the community with our responses.

In less regimented fashion, I'd like to post excerpts of works in progress, questions for things I need help with, struggles I'm having, the occasional rant about writer's block, success stories of getting published, commiserative stories of being rejected for publication, and just about everything I'd use a real life writer's circle for.

How's that sound?

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3 am epiphany - Exercise 95

3 am Epiphany: Ex. 95

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