The Skellingcorner

[writingwithcolor]

treacherousgodswrites asked:

My story is set in a world inspired by 300 BC, more specifically the hellenistic empire. It's set in a city loosely inspired (as in geography and the library) by Alexandria, where people mainly speak Arabic mixed with Greek (there are far more resources on Arabic than Egyptian, which is why I chose Arabic, and I didn't want to invent a language). Now I'm wondering if using Arabic outside its historical context, in "Egypt" and without Islam would be wrong?

Accurate Demographics of Fantasy - Alexandria

(If you’re wondering why the Native and the Indian mods are answering this, we’re doing so only for the historical and linguistic aspects, with Yasmin’s okay).

In 300 BCE there wasn’t any such thing as a single “Arabic,” but rather a collection of central Semitic dialects with various levels of mutual intelligibility.  These are usually grouped under “Old Arabic” but since that designation stretches from 900 BCE until Classical Arabic was codified with the Quran in the early 7th century CE there was a whole lot of room for geographical and historical variation.  

There is some fragmentary evidence of these dialects written in Greek scripts, showing the interaction between Greek and Arabic culture of the day but this is really sparse and may in fact consist of just one inscription.  So while we can see that clear overlap between Greek and Arabic speaking areas, it’s also pretty clear that the Arabic of the time was very different from Classical or Modern Arabic varieties.

If it’s accuracy you’re after, you may want to look into Demotic Egyptian.  That was the Greek-influenced descendant of the ancient Egyptian language that would have been spoken in Alexandria in 300 BCE and there is actually a fairly good amount of information on it out there if you just want to get a feel for the sound and look of the language.  

For instance, this dictionary: [http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/demotic-dictionary-oriental-institute-university-chicago]

The one peril I see with this may be infringing on the sensibilities of Coptic Christians, as Demotic is an ancestor of Coptic, the liturgical language of Coptic Christianity.  As Coptic Christians are a small and marginalized group, I don’t know how they’d feel about this.  I also don’t know what precisely you plan to do with the language in your story, or if it’s just words thrown in occasionally for a bit of flavor.  Be warned, learning a foreign language enough to do accurate translations is every bit as much work as inventing a language wholesale, just of a different kind.

~Mod Nikhil

Islam was only a religion starting in 610 AD, so you’re about a millennia early for having Islam (or 300-400 years shy for Christianity, which Islam needs to exist) even be a consideration for Hellenistic Egypt. Take a closer look at what religions existed at the time to get an idea what the religious tapestry would look like, but you’ll be looking at primarily ancient Greek and Egyptian paganism, with a mix of whatever other religions were around at the time (if you include abrahamic religions as a whole, Judaism will likely be a consideration, as well).

Arab peoples predate Islam, and it would actually be odd not to have them in Egypt. The Hellenistic empire stretched out across the Arab world, around the Mediterranean and even to the Himalayas. Cleopatra very likely spoke at least one dialect of Arabic, because she made it a point to be able to discuss trading agreements in the traders’ language.

The City of Alexandria was a trade port. This means everybody from all over the empire and some people who weren’t part of the empire would go there to trade. Any books they brought would be taken, copied to the Library, and (sometimes) returned to their owners. The primary reason the Library of Alexandria was so good is because it contained a copy of nearly all knowledge in the Ancient World, which would have included Arab peoples for certain. It would’ve also included knowledge from deeper in the African continent, Greece, and many parts of Asia (India and China aren’t out of the question, especially since there is evidence Han Purple— painted on the Terracotta Warriors— came from Egyptian Blue, and was used from 1045 BC to 300 AD, meaning there was trade between the two countries somewhere before that time, and it was unlikely to have discontinued).

So in fact, your worry is reversed: if you don’t have a wide variety of peoples from all over Africa, Asia, and Europe, then Alexandria will ring untrue. It was the NYC of the ancient world, a trade hub and a knowledge hub. Everyone who wanted to learn and sell would go there to do so, which means you’re looking at a very diverse city. Since you’re going with geography, you have to have it play the same route— a city on an ocean and a river would not be anything but a mosaic (or melting pot, but from my limited research into Alexandria, it seems to have been more of a mosaic; individual peoples’ traditions were more likely to be preserved then assimilated).

~Mod Lesya

[linestorm]

Characteristics of the “Bad Guy” Antagonist

A few footnotes:

1. This list is meant to characterize an “evil” antagonist - some antagonists are perfectly decent people, and some are not even people.

2. Can also be used as a general flaws list that pertains to any character.

3. I wrote the list with masculine pronouns because English is hard, but all of these can apply to characters of any gender.

4. The four categories are just conceptual, for thought organization. Characterize freely.

[its-a-writer-thing]

Showing Emotion: Anger

[writingbox]

When your characters are expressing emotions, it is important to show how they feel, rather than to simply tell your readers how they feel. It is more active, more immediate, and allows the reader to empathise and understand the character in their own way, rather than being told how to understand it.

So, how can your character express anger?

On a very simple level, anger can be split into two categories: passive and agressive, and there are many common reactions to both. Remember that everyone expresses anger in different ways at different times, based on a variety of factors. Here are some good examples and suggestions:

Passive anger:

• Dispassion, such as giving someone the cold shoulder or a fake smile, looking unconcerned or “sitting on the fence” while others sort things out, dampening feelings with substance abuse, overreacting, oversleeping, not responding to another’s anger, frigidity, indulging in sexual practices that depress spontaneity and make objects of participants, giving inordinate amounts of time to machines, objects or intellectual pursuits, talking of frustrations but showing no feeling.
• Evasiveness, such as turning one’s back in a crisis, avoiding conflict, not arguing back, becoming phobic.
• Defeatism, such as setting yourself and others up for failure, choosing unreliable people to depend on, being accident prone, underachieving, sexual impotence, expressing frustration at insignificant things but ignoring serious ones.
• Obsessive behavior, such as needing to be inordinately clean and tidy, making a habit of constantly checking things, over-dieting or overeating, demanding that all jobs be done perfectly.
• Psychological manipulation, such as provoking people to aggression and then patronizing them, provoking aggression but staying on the sidelines, emotional blackmail, false tearfulness, feigning illness, sabotaging relationships, using sexual provocation, using a third party to convey negative feelings, withholding money or resources.
• Secretive behavior, such as stockpiling resentments that are expressed behind people’s backs, giving the silent treatment or under the breath mutterings, avoiding eye contact, putting people down, gossiping, anonymous complaints, poison pen letters, stealing, and conning.
• Self-blame, such as apologizing too often, being overly critical, inviting criticism.

Aggressive anger:

• Bullying, such as threatening people directly, persecuting, pushing or shoving, using power to oppress, shouting, driving someone off the road, playing on people’s weaknesses.
• Destructiveness, such as destroying objects as in vandalism, harming animals, destroying a relationship, reckless driving, substance abuse.
• Grandiosity, such as showing off, expressing mistrust, not delegating, being a sore loser, wanting center stage all the time, not listening, talking over people’s heads, expecting kiss and make-up sessions to solve problems.
• Hurtfulness, such as physical violence, including sexual abuse and rape, verbal abuse, biased or vulgar jokes, breaking confidence, using foul language, ignoring people’s feelings, willfully discriminating, blaming, punishing people for unwarranted deeds, labeling others.
• Manic behavior, such as speaking too fast, walking too fast, working too much and expecting others to fit in, driving too fast, reckless spending.
• Selfishness, such as ignoring others’ needs, not responding to requests for help, queue jumping.
• Threats, such as frightening people by saying how one could harm them, their property or their prospects, finger pointing, fist shaking, wearing clothes or symbols associated with violent behaviour, tailgating, excessively blowing a car horn, slamming doors.
• Unjust blaming, such as accusing other people for one’s own mistakes, blaming people for your own feelings, making general accusations.
• Unpredictability, such as explosive rages over minor frustrations, attacking indiscriminately, dispensing unjust punishment, inflicting harm on others for the sake of it, using alcohol and drugs,[19] illogical arguments.
• Vengeance, such as being over-punitive, refusing to forgive and forget, bringing up hurtful memories from the past.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anger#Six_dimensions_of_anger_expression

[sweetlittlevampire]

That screenplay writing session this morning went extremely well. If we´re as pumped every week, this movie will be written in no time. :D

Originally posted by mr-nikolo

[dangerpro]

[schmergo]

Contrary to popular stereotypes associated with fanfiction, I have never written a sex scene, but I did once write a scene in which Voldemort went on a blind date with someone he met on the internet, but it turned out to be Harry Potter catfishing him, so I’m not sure what’s worse

[shitty-check-please-aus]

I once wrote a story where Willy Wonka was the true villain behind the dementor attacks because he knew that would increase chocolate sales

[smallrevolutionary]

[misselaney]

Natural Black Hair Tutorial!
Usually Black hair is excluded in the hair tutorials which I have seen so I have gone through it in depth because it’s really not enough to tell someone simply, “Black hair is really curly, draw it really curly.” 

The next part of Black Hair In Depth will feature styles and ideas for designing characters and I will release it around February. If you would like to see certain styles, please shoot me a message!

[smallrevolutionary]

YES! BOOSTINGGGG FOR MY FOLKS WHO WANNA/NEED TO KNOW HOW

[its-a-writer-thing]

Victorian Occupations

• The following is taken from Daniel Pool's 'What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, From Fox Hunting to Whist - the Facts of Daily Life in 19th-Century England
• Articled Clerks: These were young men who had been apprenticed or "articled" to practicing lawyers, generally for a period of five years, so that they could learn the profession. Boys were not articled to courtroom lawyers like barristers but rather to solicitors and other non-litigating practitioners.
• Chandler: Originally, a chandler was a dealer in candles. By the nineteenth century, however, a chandler was the man who ran the neighborhood store on the corner. He sold many of the basics needed by the poor such as cheese, bacon, and other groceries.
• Cheap-jack: A familiar figure at fairs, the cheap-jack sold inexpensive metal objects and hardware like watch chains, carving knifes, and the like and was a "patterer"-his spiel was a key to his success.
• Costermonger: In theory, a fruit and vegetable seller ("the costard" of "costermonger" was a kind of big apple), but he also sold fish, sometimes at a stall, sometimes walking street to street crying his wares. In London, costermongers bought their merchandise at Covent Garden or Billingsgate, sometimes traveling ten miles a day on foot to hawk it. Among the elite of street sellers, they probably numbered around 12,000 in mid-century London.
• Crossing sweeper: There was a crossing sweeper like 'Bleak House's' little Jo at every major street intersection in London. Dodging in and out of passing wagons and carriages, they brushed away the mud and dust that collected on the streets-they did their best business in wet weather-so that the genteel could cross the street without getting their feet dirty. It was not very remunerative, seven shillings a week being a decent average wage, but with luck a sweeper who stayed at the same spot might get to know the 'regulars', who might send him on small errands.
• Dustman: Most city houses had dustbins into which the dust-the refuse from the ashes and cinders of coal fires and similar household matter-was regularly dumped. The dustman would periodically come around to collect the dust, whence it would be hauled away to be used ultimately for bricks and manure after being carefully sifted for inadvertently discarded valuables and other salable items. The most famous fictional member of this occupation is, of course, Mr. Boffin, the "Golden Dustman" in 'Our Mutual Friend'.
• Mudlarks: Because the Thames is a tidal river, at low tide it was possible to walk out into the mud and scrounge for coal, rope, bones, and copper nails as the mudlarks did, praying that they would not cut their bare feet on the glass or nails; many of them were six-to-tweleve-year-old children. One observer wrote of a boy who stood in the waste stream of hot water from a steam factory to keep his feet unfrozen in winter while trying to earn the threepence a day he could make doing this if he were lucky.
• Orange girl: Selling oranges or bootlaces and staylaces was among the most viable street occupations if you were very poor because the start-up costs were so low. By comparison, most costermongers needed a barrow or a stall; if you sold hot fish or puddings you needed a warmer, too, for coffee. For oranges you needed the 15d. to 18d. necessary to buy fifty oranges. The next step down economically were match girls, who often went door to door with their infants on their arm, all but begging.
• Packman: A traveling pedder who carried his wares of cotton or linen goods for ladies about in his pack.
• Pieman: A seller of pies whose ingredients could run the gamut from apple, currant and gooseberry to beef, mutton, or eel. There were recurrent suspicions as to the kind of meat that found its way into pies. In 'Dombey and Son' Dickens recounts how Rob the Grinder accepts a half-crown, "Ran sniggering off to get change, and tossed it away with a pieman." This was a common practice that involved flipping a coin with the pieman when you were going to buy from him. If the pieman guessed right, he got your penny and you went hungry; if he guessed wrong, you got the pie for free.
• Ratcatcher: A good occupation for a lower-class boy who liked some excitement, animals, and had no education. Rats were all over, due to inadequate sewage, granaries, and the ubiquitous stables filled with oats for horses. The ratcatcher operated with arsenic, with which he poisoned the rats, or else used a ferret to chase them out of their holes whereupon his terrier would kill them. The going rate for deratting a London house at mid-century ranged from two shillings to a pound.
• Sweep: Before Parliament outlawed the use of climbing boys in 1832 children as young as four or five were sent crawling up the 12-by-14-inch chimneys (some were only 7 inches square) of nice middle-class homes to clean out some of the five bushels of soot that coal fires deposited there on the average each year. Since the chimney surfaces were generally smooth inside, only the pressure of their elbows and knees got-or kept-the small boys up, and older boys often stood below them holding lighted straws to their feet or sticking them with pins to "encourage" them. Or they were simply beaten. Country children were warned that "the sweeps will get you" to keep them from wandering; in fact, small children in rural areas were sometimes kidnapped for the trade.
• Waterman: The name was applied to two different kinds of London workers, First, to the men who rowed people across the Thames or out to vessels on the river they were trying to reach. To be a waterman required a seven years' apprenticeship. "Watermen" was also the name given to the men who watered the horses at cab stands.

[writeworld-blog]

gaslight.mtroyal.ca

"Twenty rules for writing detective stories"

(Originally published in the American Magazine (1928-sep),
and included in the Philo Vance investigates omnibus (1936).

by S.S. Van Dine
(pseud. for Willard Huntington Wright)

THE DETECTIVE story is a kind of intellectual game. It is more — it is a sporting event. And for the writing of detective stories there are very definite laws — unwritten, perhaps, but none the less binding; and every respectable and self-respecting concocter of literary mysteries lives up to them. Herewith, then, is a sort Credo, based partly on the practice of all the great writers of detective stories, and partly on the promptings of the honest author’s inner conscience. To wit:

1. The reader must have equal opportunity with the detective for solving the mystery. All clues must be plainly stated and described.
   
2. No willful tricks or deceptions may be placed on the reader other than those played legitimately by the criminal on the detective himself.
   
3. There must be no love interest. The business in hand is to bring a criminal to the bar of justice, not to bring a lovelorn couple to the hymeneal altar.
   
4. The detective himself, or one of the official investigators, should never turn out to be the culprit. This is bald trickery, on a par with offering some one a bright penny for a five-dollar gold piece. It’s false pretenses.
   
5. The culprit must be determined by logical deductions — not by accident or coincidence or unmotivated confession. To solve a criminal problem in this latter fashion is like sending the reader on a deliberate wild-goose chase, and then telling him, after he has failed, that you had the object of his search up your sleeve all the time. Such an author is no better than a practical joker.
   

Read More →

[legit-writing-tips]

Legit’s Character Development Worksheet

There are lots of character development worksheets out there, but in my opinion nothing that really examines a character’s growth and development, which is what I’m aiming to do with mine. You can use this to better understand your character, spot “holes” in their development, or to build a character from scratch! 

_____________________

Ancestry

1. What is this character’s lineage? 
   
2. Are there any genetic factors that may affect them? (Mental illness/disabilities that run in the family, magical lineage, etc.?)
   
3. What is/was their parents’ social class? 
   
4. What are their parents/caregivers like prior to their being born?
   
5. If not raised by their parents, then by whom? Are their caretakers of a different social class than the character? How are they treated as a result?
   
6. In the case of non-human characters, what is the status of their “kind” prior to their birth/construction/etc.? (E.g., are they the first generation of a new AI? Are they the first generation of vampires to live in the light?) 
   
7. Are there changing social values between prior generations and their own that may affect them?
   

_____________________

Circumstances at Birth

1. What is their parental status at birth? (Single mother, both parents, etc.)
2. What social class is your character born into?
   
3. What is expected of your character based on the social class that they are born into? By their parents/caregivers? By the society they live in?
   
4. How are they advantaged/disadvantaged at birth? Disability? Poverty? Etc.
5. Are there any circumstances surrounding their birth that may affect their early childhood? (For example, they were unwanted by their parents/caregivers, they were the long-awaited heir to a kingdom, or they were born (assigned as) a girl when the parents were hoping for a boy?)

_____________________

Childhood 

1. If they lose a parent/are orphaned/adopted/parents divorce, etc., at what age does this happen? a.) How does the age at which this happened affect them? Do they remember this change? Are they affected by the change?
2. Does their social status/class change at any point during childhood? Why?
3. What is their relationship with their parents/caregivers like? How do these interactions affect them in later life? (For example, a perfectionist character may have only received approval from their parents for big achievements.)
4. Do they have siblings or other close relationships with family members of a similar age? (Do bear in mind that early relationships with siblings can play a strong role in the way that people approach friendships in later years.)
5. If they have siblings, what is their birth order, and how does this affect them?
6. What are some of the most impactful moments from their childhood? How do these moments affect them? What do they learn from these experiences? (E.g., “authority figures aren’t to be trusted).
7. Was their childhood a happy one? If not, how do they see their childhood as an adult? Does this make them angry, do they try to ignore it, or have they moved on?
8. What are their typical social interactions like as children? Do they have a lot of friends, are they shy, etc.?
9. Do they exhibit expected behaviors or have difficulty conforming? (Conforming to gender roles or not, for example.)
10. What are their primary interests as a child?

_____________________

Adolescence

1. Is there a turning point that moves your characters from childhood and into a more “mature” perspective? (For example, the death of a loved one.) 
   
2. Does their social status/class change at any point during adolescence? Why?
   
3. How does their relationship with their parents develop from childhood to adolescence?
4. Do any major changes occur in their life during adolescence? How do these changes affect them?
5. In the case of MOGAI characters, at what point does your character realize they are “different” than the expected social norm? What are the circumstances surrounding that?
   
6. What is your character’s attitude toward sex and sexuality? How does their interaction with their parents/caregivers affect them?
7. How much independence is your character granted as an adolescent?
8. Does your character have more/less responsibility than the typical adolescent? In what ways? (For example, having to take care of a younger sibling.
9. How does their social life change (or not change) from childhood to adolescence?
10. How are they prepared for adulthood as an adolescent?
11. When in their society are they expected to become an “adult”?
12. How do their interests evolve from childhood to adolescence?
13. Is there a defining moment that transitions them from adolescence into adulthood? (Joining the military, moving out, etc.) 

_____________________

Adulthood

1. What is their primary attitude towards life based on their experiences in childhood and adolescence?
   
2. What kinds of events would be necessary to change these attitudes? 
3. Does their social status/class change as they reach adulthood, or at any point after? Why?
   
4. Are they generally independent as an adult? Why/why not?
5. Do they retain their relationship with their family on reaching adulthood?
6. Do they retain their social group from adolescence?
7. How/where do they meet new friends/love interests?
8. What is their attitude toward romance/love/family? What are their main goals regarding this as they enter adulthood?
9. What is their main goal as an adult? (A high-paying career, romance, family, to have fun, to survive, etc.) 
10. How do their goals change over time? As they meet old goals and set new ones?
11. How do their interests mature from adolescence to adulthood? (For example, an interest in writing as a teen may lead them to a career in publishing.)

_____________________

Older Age

1. Do they accomplish their goals as set out in earlier adulthood? How do they feel if these goals are not met?
   
2. As they approach older age, what is their social class?
3. Do they build a family in their adulthood? What is this family like?
   
4. If they become a parent, how is their relationship with their children affected by the relationship they had with their own parents?
5. What do they want to “leave behind” in the world?
6. Do they become a mentor/teacher to others?
7. As they grow older, how do they feel about the concepts of aging? Weakening? Death?

Think outside the box as you answer these. Remember that if you bend and stretch them enough, these questions can fit into virtually any world.