triakisoctahedron
Random word list:
triakisoctahedron
Trichoglossinae
nonpejoratively
superreformation
avant-garde
Word chosen: triakisoctahedron
Definition: A trigonal trisoctoahedron.
NOTE: A trisoctoahedron is: a solid bounded by 24 identical faces in groups of three, each group corresponding to one face of an octahedron.
Free association word list:
dodecahedron
20 sides
d20
D&D 3.0/3.5
Lots of knock-offs
average gaming system
D&D 1.0/2.0 is better
better
butter
Country Crock
hands
voices
haunting
ghost
scary
frightened
poltergeist
spook
CIA
government agency
secrets
conspiracy theories
secret societies
cryptomnesia
Word chosen: cryptomnesia
Writing:
This is a writing about writing. It’s meta-writing. No. I didn’t make up that word. It’s a word that someone else made up, and I’m stealing it….
Speaking of stealing things, it seems to me as if damn near every idea I come up with for a decent book and/or short story has already been done. The frustrating part is that I’ve read the book where the idea has been done, but the reading was done 5, 10, 20, or even 25 years ago.
Somehow my brain has taken that memory of reading the book and hidden it away from itself. This idea is called cryptomnesia. Hidden memory kind of stuff. The basics are pretty simple. You experience a creative work (words, music, art, acting, whatever) of someone, and then years and years later you come up with the same idea. However, instead of remembering the original work that you experienced so long ago, the idea comes to you out of nowhere as if it were your idea. The memory of the creation bubbles to the surface, and your consciousness snags it as if it were a new thing.
I’ve asked my writing group what I should do about this. They’ve basically told me that every story that can be told has been told. There’s no way to avoid this. No. Way. At. All.
Does this mean that all writers should just give up? Nope. No. Way. At. All.
What makes a particular thing new and interesting to a reader are the characters, the scenarios they are dropped in, and how they act/react. It basically boils down to having well written characters that are performing actions that aren’t boring. It is preferable to have the actions be exciting, of course, but that’s not an absolute requirement. They just can’t be boring. No one wants to read a story about a guy typing at a keyboard, but a story about a guy trying to hack the United States military network to bring it down is a leap ahead better.
PS: None of this knowledge or wisdom is mine, though the words are. These are just things that I’ve learned from other people, and I’m regurgitating the knowledge because I feel that it is important. There are things that I am expert at, but writing is not one of them. I’m getting there though….
