Posts Tagged ‘Editing’

• @KimKnox SpaceFluffin aX da univers, On d Starship Enterprise under Capt Knox. SFin aX da univers, 1ly goin fwd cauz we cnt fnd reverse. in reply to KimKnox #
• @KimKnox lol It was in my head messing up my editing so I thought I’d share it in reply to KimKnox #
• Doubt they ment this for working out comparative value of money stolen at different famous robberies http://bit.ly/c8VC6 #
• A good days editing almost got a complete piece to send off. Now a little light relaxation before bed… #
• listening to “Johnny Clegg & Savuka – One (Hu)’ Man One Vote” ♫ http://blip.fm/~b1stj #
• listening to “Tasmin Archer – Lords of the New Church” ♫ http://blip.fm/~b1t4h #
• listening to “nik kershaw one world” ♫ http://blip.fm/~b1tkw #
• @guardiantech G-Force http://bit.ly/HyvGW but Bruckheimer’s got a short memory Cats&Dogs did spy pets 8 yrs ago in reply to guardiantech #
• listening to “Billy Bragg – Moving The Goalposts” ♫ http://blip.fm/~b2qox #
• listening to “Ofra Haza Im Nin Alu” ♫ http://blip.fm/~b2r4a #
• Haggis invented in England? http://bit.ly/1olEv5 Doesn’t really matter its Scottish now.
  Just glad I’m not in a meeting with the SAA today. #
• listening to “Sisters of Mercy – Temple of Love ’92″ ♫ http://blip.fm/~b2uo7 #
• @jearle Looks like there might be something fishy going on http://bit.ly/4hyQyv in reply to jearle #
• listening to “Nickel Creek- Hanging by a thread” ♫ http://blip.fm/~b2wmr #
• RT @criticalhits criticalhitsTop 10 Comic Book Cities from Architects Journal http://is.gd/20FDx #
• 2 Sites updated without a hitch RT wordpressWordPress 2.8.3: http://bit.ly/Qf1Cx #
• Akismet 227 : Spammers 0 #
• @very_true_thing I’ve no fish knife hang up but I did buy ice cream spoons on Sat so I can get the last of the jam out of jars – go with age in reply to very_true_thing #
• @very_true_thing It gets worse they do long handled melon spoons too. Is there a market for CDGs (Collectable Dinnerservice Games)? in reply to very_true_thing #
• RT @DanDiplo Is this the best programming related song ever? http://bit.ly/InfF0 #
• @very_true_thing I’ve seen grapefruit knives but never tomato knives – does that mean those are an Ultra rare or just a Promo? in reply to very_true_thing #
• Will you click unfollow, Oh ethereal twit spammers, By autumn? #poem #
• Back from round trip to London to see client. Liverpool a lot warmer. #
• What fuels US sitcom writers? Sort of a RT of @KenLevine http://bit.ly/aqBxN #
• What (if anything) should we read into it if Clarkson is hit by a meteorite now? #
• RT @richeym: @DanDiplo @impworks He does have a way with lyrics. Probably has the best zombie-related song too: http://bit.ly/9j3Ih #
• Is this cartoon the best comment on Bingoo deal? http://bit.ly/H8CGY #
• Quantum physics announcement on the Tube yesterday “Please use all entrances to enter the station” Are passengers wavicles? #
• Is it me or does aquiavic’s comment on my blog make no sense or is it some new sort of weird spam? http://bit.ly/3Shlg #
• Just saw a picture listed on a stock photo site described as “London Sky line 1970s”. Just one thing – when was the Gerkin built? lol #
• For the spec that just went in the recycling bin ♫ http://blip.fm/~b8xmf #
• RT: mediaguardian Twitter’s Evan Williams grilled on Demi Moore in Newsnight interview: http://bit.ly/3NNDTz [The claws come out at the end] #
• RIP John Hughes http://bit.ly/tTBGs ♫ http://blip.fm/~ba1cq #
• @KimKnox You did but don’t worry – I just saw a twitterer who posted the same tweet every 5 minutes for a day… in reply to KimKnox #
• RT @jearle Dear Tony Carter, You don’t get it, you’re an idiot. KTHXBYE. #
• RT @guardianweekly American word introduced into the office – neatnik: a person overly obsessed with tidiness, particularly IN the office #
• @KimKnox Or you didn’t and I saw it on your RSS feed lol.Too many ways to keep up these days.Should just turn everything off once a week. #
• RT @guardiantech: Twist in the tale of questioning spam http://bit.ly/sR5mq #
• RT @guardiantech: Charlie’s Angles: Why can’t local government and open source be friends? http://bit.ly/KPOVY #

• Weather = Yuch so just messin' around with Vue #
• @very_true_thing So did it work? in reply to very_true_thing #
• Comment spammers found my site yesterday and (so far) akismet has caught every single one of em #
• Sustained in my editing efforts by an excellent batch of Pork and Mushroom Curry http://bit.ly/AgZze #recipe #food #
• RT @AllenVarney William Shatner masterfully recites Sarah Palin's farewell speech (Conan O'Brien): via @JamesWallis #
• RT: @jearle Big Cat sighting in Scotland. – it's a Puma, by the look of things, running wild. #
• RT: @KimKnox ooh this looks very cool. Trailer for Waters of Mars – Doctor Who #
• So I need to join Scribd to download a pdf copy of a document but not to print it? Stupid controlfreakery and bad for the environment too #
• And printing from Scribd in Firefox = completely broken too. 20 sheets of paper wasted. /rant #
• RT @jearle If you Google "Scottish Cuisine", my Munchy Box blog post is on the front page. http://bit.ly/e640w #
• @jearle Wish I'd photos of the Scottish Indian I had a business trip. Unlike any English Indian I've had. Clearly related to your Munchy Box in reply to jearle #
• @jearle I wish I could work that into my current project. I'm forcing myself to stick to just London so it wont get out of hand in reply to jearle #
• Can it really take an hour and a half to visit the Pencil Museum? Is it twinned with the Hotel California? #
• @KimKnox So how cheesy is Satin Spar's cover or is it classy like Dark Host? in reply to KimKnox #
• @KimKnox Good news – I'll look forward to seeing it then. Meanwhile contemplating if IsItCheese.com or CheeseOrNot.com is a better URL… in reply to KimKnox #
• @KimKnox Hmm. That ones barely work safe… in reply to KimKnox #
• Aarrgh. Basic maths failure. What was I thinking when I wrote a table for a 3d6 roll with the first entry being for a roll of 2? #
• Some really nice entries for the Vue 3D Environment Competition 2009 http://bit.ly/1b7BE9 glad I don't have to pick the winner #
• listening to "cacharpaya – incantation 1982" ♫ http://blip.fm/~at2mc #
• listening to "Capercaillie – Coisich A Rùin – video clip Gàidhlig Gaidhli" ♫ http://blip.fm/~atgp8 #
• listening to "MANDOLIN RAIN original video" ♫ http://blip.fm/~atp60 #
• RT @criticalhits Why can't we show these ads instead of Evony http://is.gd/1TeiZ #
• I always thought some perfumes should be banned under the Hague Conventions http://bit.ly/t2LBr #
• @jearle lol. We'll keep that off the banned list just for you. in reply to jearle #
• @KimKnox Let Blur distract you. That way the rest of Write Club don't feel so bad about our pitiful comparative word counts in reply to KimKnox #
• for @KimKnox your mission should you choose to accept it is to finish Space Fluff ♫ http://blip.fm/~autqy #
• RT @johnmcc: Probably the best explanation of the xhtml 2 announcement I've yet seen: http://bit.ly/2pSCJN via @jearle #
• Will economics defeat Moore's Law? http://bit.ly/ThLjm #
• @KimKnox Sounds like you need this instead of Mission Impossible ♫ http://blip.fm/~auw9u #
• Looking for the Johnny Clegg original I found this cover ♫ http://blip.fm/~av040 #
• listening to "Tanita Tikaram – Twist In My Sobriety" ♫ http://blip.fm/~av0pd #
• listening to "Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia (HD)" ♫ http://blip.fm/~av1gx #
• Hunting for the early 90s rock cover. This isn't it but hey… ♫ http://blip.fm/~av1x0 #
• And it definitly isn't this one either – I give up ♫ http://blip.fm/~av2gz #
• Thats a tough one RT @mediaguardian: Vote for your favourite TV show of the decade: http://bit.ly/4t5loz. #
• From the Guardian: 'Swine Flu readiness has become a competitive sport'. Will we be hosting the world cup? http://bit.ly/kHmjv #
• @richeym The Wires really caught up. When I voted The West Wing was ahead of it. in reply to richeym #
• RT @DanDiplo Why you shouldn't design birthday cakes using Microsoft Word…. http://bit.ly/m484u #fail #programming #webdevelopment #
• Sausage Brown Barm Red Sauce #famishedfriday #
• @JamesWallis Far too early to call the Ashes because of three little words: England Batting Collapse in reply to JamesWallis #
• RT @guardiantech: Volomedia claims podcast patent http://bit.ly/yNcsq #
• @very_true_thing #VisitLondon (http://ustre.am/4n0W) Tower bridge faster than twitter – Just closed when I got the page loaded #
• listening to "The Peanuts Theme" ♫ http://blip.fm/~az5p3 #

The rebuilding and post launch work on impworks is now pretty much done which means I can get back to other projects.  tonight I’ve taken an editing chainsaw to a 120 page text which is the core design for a game and so far I’ve cut it to 60 pages.  Now I’m at the hard part: cutting stuff I want to keep, stuff that took hard thinking or hard research.  I’ve a simple incentive.  I know that if I get this right and this text ends up in print then there is a chance I can see the cut material in print as supplements.

So tomorrow its away with the chainsaw and out with the pruning knife.

Sometimes the biggest problem I find when writing isn’t writing too few words its writing too many. Stop heckling from the back – I know when you’re trying to get past the end of the first chapter of a three volume novel trilogy to propel you into the best seller list so you can spend your days at book signings and your nights at glittering functions with your favourite authors that doesn’t sound like much of a problem. However I like writing articles and short stories. One piece I’ve been working on is just about to pass the 15,000 word mark. There is no specific limit for it but it keeps wanting to go off in other directions to make it complete. Thank goodness for editing.

The punch line to the Star Wars joke that I’ve used as a title tonight is So Luke closed his eyes. If you know the rest of the joke please leave it as a comment.

Wow. How can you take a franchise as good as the resurected Mummy and pretty much destroy it in 112 minutes?

Could it be the completely miss cast replacements? Maria Bello was no Rachel Weisz. Luke Ford just wasn’t interesting. Perhaps thats part of it too. I know Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li and David Calder all have something they can do on screen but they were criminaly wasted on this outing. John Hannah and Brendan Fraser certainly pulled it off in the previous films too so maybe it was the flat dialogue, the forced jokes, the hackey attempts at character development and the poor editing. It took three lines of dialogue to say what Brendan Fraser said in the middle line which amounted to lets go and get on a plane illustrated just how baddly the script needed work. It kept hitting duff notes. Which brings me to my next gripe – possibly the worst score for a film I can remember where someone had spent time and money to add music. It was distracting, it didn’t fit. The score from the Mummy lifted the film. This was the musical equivalent of concrete shoes. The opening just dragged and the attempt at a humerous ending was weak beyond words.

The special effects were competent but special effects rarely turn a film into a classic.

Hopefully the Mummy franchise has been laid to rest like the eponymous monster of the title until it can be resurected by someone with an interesting take on it comes along and raises it from the dead again…

I’ve sent Dirk Dangerous and the Giant Balls of Doom off to Astonishing Adventures Magazine last night. Glad I gave it one last proof read because some little graphics had crept in to the file. I think they were Word 2007 editing markup converted to graphics by switching to old style doc format but I could be completely wrong.

Issue 3 of AAM has been out for a little while now and features another of my stories in this somewhat erratically focused series: Mrs H’s Knitting Circle. There is a small mistake in the issue: Mrs H’s begins with "The sap felt good in my hand." not the sentence before that which is from the end of the previous story so don’t get confused by the opening.

I’ve been putting some more work in on the Dirk Dangerous web site. It won’t be ready for at least a geological era but it is at least moving someway towards launch even if its at the speed of tectonic plate movement.

I’ve also got a structure for the next story in the series. Story five, tentativelly titled Meanwhile… will jump around between the various ongoing threads of the plots revealed so far tangling them up and bringing the various elements of the story together.

Just which up would that be?

Hopefully you wern’t looking for the lyrics to a 1988 hit by Yazz and the Plastic Population and thought the title included punctuation. If you were I hope you’ll accept my appologies and leave quiety back to google or whatever search engine sent you here…

I’ve spent part of the long Easter weekend trying to get pyODE to play nicely in Vue. If I don’t bring rotations into the set up everything plays nicely and a simple simulation of bouncy sphere works fine. If I foolishly try to use cubes and apply a little rotation to them: BAM! rotations get skewed, objects vanish mysteriously as rotations take on impossible values.

I was going to do some writing or editing this week end or maybe a render or two. Its not like there was anything worth watching on TV, my regular viewing all got cancelled for Easter. I could even have wasted it on the latest meem to catch DarkDwarf in its insidious tentacles. Instead I’ve been reading up on vector, coordinate systems and other stuff I thought I’d not need to worry about again since I was in my early 20s. The problem, I suspect, lies in up not being right. Vue uses Z for depth and Y for height. pyODE uses Z for height and Y for depth. Somewhere in the conversion errors are creaping in and hence good data in gives garbage out.

Now if I can just figure out which way is up I’ll be fine.

Earlier this week I finished the first draft of the inner story that sits at the heart of Night in the Sidhe. It needs a lot of editing. There are lots of scenes that are too short where I sketched over the action to get to the end. I’ve started working my way through it taking notes on the various characters, places, factions and events. From these I can write the outer detective story set around the inner story as a detective and a diplomat try to make sense from what, on paper, appear to be the ramblings of a victim of a crime driven over the edge of his sanity. I’ve gotten about a fifth of the way through it tonight but now I’ve had enough for the moment.

… But if I had and it had been to get a shift on with Night in the Sidhe I’d be doing well so far. Admittedly tidying up the current draft last night actually cut it down by several thousand words. I’ve move note and fragments of story without a home in the current structure off into a separate file. Other fragments have now been slotted in to what looks to be the final form. The inner story, which take the form of a first person narrative by a character being interviewed by the police, is almost written. The outer story of the investigation surrounding the character being interviewed is a lot less complete. I know its shape but I need to finalise where it breaks up the inner narrative.

With this first draft heading towards completion I’m hitting the point where I need to do supporting research and fact checking. I used to do this when I developed the plot for a story but somehow that always took the life out of the exercise and the story didn’t end up being finished. So I’ve been switching things around and skipping any none essential research or anything that will need more than a quick flick through a book or a bit of a Google. After the first draft I come back, read it all and figure out what I need to research. So the second draft is not only a first polish and a fill in the gaps exercise but also a factually more accurate work.

Last night was positive for NitS in other ways too. I caught the end of a piece on the BBC local news about an exhibition at the Open Eye Gallery. It wasn’t the exhibition that really caught my interest but a new collection they have of pictures of Liverpool’s Chinese community in the 1940s. After looking at their web site I spotted the Bert Hardy credit and a bit more searching on Google and at Getty Images found a variety of pictures from Liverpool during the 40s and 50s that will help me refine the mood and the imagery in the upcoming editing process.

Yeh! another thousand words of Night in the Sidhe bit the dust yesterday as I found a way from the bit of dialogue to the climactic fight sequence. I then immediately found I didn’t have a good idea for the fight but didn’t let that stop me so I just pushed on past it and I’ll fix it in editing.

I also had had an idea for some stuff that I wanted to happen early on in the story so I went back and added two paragraphs in one section and one to another. Now most books on writing I’ve read say not to do that till you’ve finished the first draft. I’ve come to the conclusion that writing a novel is a messier process than writing books suggest so this was a metaphorical gesture of a rude nature to them. It also saved my file of notes on things I need to do during editing from getting any bigger. I was starting to get a bit nervous that it would end up as long as the story…

Tonight I didn’t feel the urge to write but I did start to draw a couple of maps of the setting I want for continuity checking the story during editing. Just because it’s a fantasy city doesn’t mean I don’t want it to have a certain believable quality.