Sorry man that sucks, but at least you got it back

Wow. Glad all your electronics survived intact.

I am genuinely shocked there wasn't more damage. The lightning was effing AMAZING. The power outage was no surprise.

As natural phenomena go, lightning is pretty spectacular.

This was like a strobe light almost. And at times, brighter than daylight!

Wow. That's certainly a lot more dramatic than anything I've ever seen.

I couldn't see many of the actual bolts from where I was, but the light was amazing.

Not the coolest storm I ever saw, but certainly the BRIGHTEST one.

So what was the coolest storm you ever saw?

I was at my grandmother's, the whole family was there. The power might have been out, I'm not sure. I had a big, wide open view of the sky. The clouds were an ever-changing spiderweb of lightning, constantly flashing in the distance.

Wow, sounds absolutely amazing. Perhaps something to do with you rather deft turn of phrase. Ever considered short story writing?

It's something I'd love to do, but I can never come up with enough actual story to put to paper. It tapers to nothingness all too quickly. As a consequence, I've written very little.


As an aside, I remembered something that might attest to the power of the storm last night.

I had walked into a room to observe the lightning, and noticed something lit near the window, apart from the show outside. As I got closer, I realized the glow was coming from a TV remote sitting just beside it. The lightning had been so bright and constant that it had actually charged the glow-in-the dark buttons on the device enough to be seen easily between flashes!

Maybe you just need a good strong character or an interesting object or organization. It worked pretty well for me, when I (re)invented Deo. Also Laszlo Hadron, who I'm hoping is good enough to carry an entire novel.

I have a character. I have a setting. I have an object. I'm just a little fuzzy on how to make them all go together. :(

It helps to plot things out first. Assemble your universe in your mind, or on paper. Try to clear up the nature of all its comings and goings, especially how they relate to the major players and items.

It may also help to come up with names for minor things. For instance, in the universe I've created (which I call the Ovoverse) I've taken to naming planets after the gods and goddesses of various ancient cultures. Things like that can help you outline the general nature of your ficiotnal world.

Also, write for yourself. Your readers should be entertained as they read, but if you're not enjoying the writing process, then it will almost certainly show. On the other hand, if you grow to like your characters and places, and to enjoy writing about them, then your wrok can only prosper as a result.

One fianl piece of advice: read good books. It's one thing to hear nuggets of wisdom from an amateur, but it's quite another to see the written word in action. In some cases, it can be positively rapturous, as much a masterpiece as any painting or symphony. If you're after any recommendations, then I suggest looking into acquiring some of the works of Douglas Adams, Jasper Fforde, Terry Pratchett and Isaac Asimov. These four are pretty big names in sci-fi and fantasy, and their books are extremely entertaining reads, especially Pratchett's prolific Discworld series

Hope all this helps!

I just... don't know how to plot. That's the issue. I'm a better world builder than plotter. I do read plenty of good stuff though, including some of what you mentioned.

Similar problems are why I don't draw more. The ideas just don't come.

Ah, I know how that feels. Still, you have at least got the stage set, and I suspect you know how a book's story generally moves. Keep working at it, though. It'd be a shame to let talent go to waste.

If creating a world doesn't present a problem, then maybe you could try writing a few descriptive passages? If you try fleshing out the bones of your world, then you may find that ideas start to occur to you. If nothing else, then you'll have good practice at getting the balance of adjectives versus exposition down.

I have started a story or two. Mostly they end up a page or three and then I run out of things to write.

A couple of my works have ended up like that. But if you run out of steam, try keeping it short. Quality is more important than quantity, to trot out an old cliche.

Oh, and why not try posting a few of your things up here? It's not like you stand to lose anything, and the critique may be good for your work. I know I'd be interested to read your work.

I can only write when I have a spark of inspiration to do so. It comes and goes quickly, and usually there's not enough there to do even a complete short story.

I'm a little shy to post this stuff. I hate putting the half-formed ideas out for all to see.

Hmm... Well, how does this inspiration come? Is it the story itself, or just the ideas? If it is just the ideas, then it might be an idea to write them down quickly, before the muses get bored with you, and work on them later. I know it's hard mustering the will to write when you just don't want to. That's why my novel is crawling along so damn slowly.

Don't be shy! Like I said, you've got nothing to lose. Go on, give it a try. Pick one of your favourites, clean it up a little and let us have a gander. Let's face it, you can't be any worse at it than I am.

Usually the flash is a scene. I put the scene down, try to build on it, and go. It only works so well.

I dunno, I could be. I haven't read any of your stuff yet! :)

A scene is a good starting point. I've written one or two stories that consisted of only one scene. One interesting question: have the various scenes you've written got much in common? If some of them have a common narrative, you could try threading them together. Get at least two scene-strings and try creating a longer piece.

Oh, I'm fairly sure you couldn't. Still, there's only one way for you to know for sure... In particular, might I recommend Laszlo Hadron and the Wargod's Tomb? Not because it's much better than any of the others, but I'm looking for people's opinions on it.

Not common enough to make a story from it, I fear.

I'll try and give your piece a read soon. :)

Hmm, problematic. Well, just keep trying. You'll get the hang of it.

Please do! Hope you like it!

*points* YOU didn't have anything to do with this, did ya? lol

With... what? o_O

You knocked out the power! Admit it! :P

Ok, ok, you got me...

I go by many names. I am the god of electricity. Worship me!

Heehehe....

Also, you tripped over the main power line o_o;

You HAVE read my name havent you? I do that sort of thing!

Of course I did! THAT'S WHY I ACCUSE THEE!

If you want to keep it from happening again, you'd better work to appease me from now on!

Fack! I'll try harder!

Dance my puppet, DAAANCE!

lol power outages can be cool XD storms all across the US :3 still hasn't been much more then rain here

Oh, I agree. I usually enjoy them! But this one lasted a wee bit too long. ;)

Sorry you didn't get more of a show with your rain!

eh its okies hehe :3 there's always next time

I've been having power outages recently, and it's been rather taxing on my computer, I fear :( So, I'm glad to hear your doing alright in the aftermath of that storm :3

Erf, I feel you there. Any damage?

One upside to a laptop is that it doesn't tend to die when the power goes out. Yay batteries! It's useful, since we do have a lot of brief outages even when there's not a storm.

Eh, I fear my computer was the cause of the outages XD I have no idea. I would up putting my old computer back together for usage until I can get mine fixed =p

Uhoh, some kind of short? I had a problem with mine like once, except it didn't take out the power. It just caused the smell of burning plastic and I had to replace the power supply, heh.