The transformation of positive thoughts

[icarus]

All energy can become matter and all matter can become energy.

E=mc2.

Therefore, we can track the energy of positive thoughts (energy of good wishes) as they migrate across the internet conducted through wires and wireless communications, through various satellites, then are scrambled into encoded digital packets of radio waves and pure electrical energy and thereby are converted into an increased heart-rate, vitality and well-being as they are received on the other end of the communication.

This increased well-being (thermal energy) is transformed in neural activity (imaginative energy), and then quickly converted into kinetic energy... through the process of typing stories on the keyboard.

This then results in the production of stories, which is merely energy -- your good wishes -- transformed into matter.

For which I can take no credit as it's merely your good thoughts brought to life.

So that said, if anyone would like to beta a 7,500 word Lucius/Tom Riddle Gen story they helped create through their supportive words and thoughts over the past few days, please let me know.

Comments

[wildebeth.livejournal.com]

And the process has been reversed. I'm thrilled for you (and everyone else). :)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I just want to say how helpful our discussion was.

Icarus

[chinesefirebal.livejournal.com]

But this theory of yours only works IF thoughts are energy :p

Sorry - just had to point that out, been doing FAR to much physics in recent times

*brought to you by my Astronomy class, TM*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

It also assumes that there's such a thing as "imaginative energy" which, hmm, can only be imaginary. Or perhaps positive thoughts have very little in the way of mass. ;)

Actually, the story was 1/3 written already (mostly in chat) and had a very detailed outline. It was just a matter (heh) of finishing what I'd already started.

Icarus

Re: *brought to you by my Astronomy class, TM*

[chinesefirebal.livejournal.com]

To imagine takes energy (or lack of)

But by the Principe of Conservation of Mass/Energy, energy cannot be made or destroyed

So that energy needed to day dream has to go somewhere, and the logical explanation is into the day dream

Therefore there is such thing as imaginative energy, as demonstrated by this post

[impetuousoddity.livejournal.com]

I have a question I've been burning to ask for say... 4 1/2, 5 years. What does this whole "beta-ing" process consist of, aside from the standard proof-reading? Grammar checks are assumed, but what about sentence structure, sentence flow, the whole editor thing?

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Aha! I'm glad you asked. I have a little essay about it here (http://www.icarus.slashcity.net/essays/beta.html).

Different betas check different things. All betas review for tpyos, messpellings, where there be bad grammar, and punctuation errors;

Most of the betas I find on lists do only this sort of copyediting.

Other betas also check for consistency (watch for scenes where Ron has blue eyes in one and amber eyes in the next) and continuity (you don't want someone to walk through a door and then open it). I know it sounds silly that we might have these errors, but it's surprising what happens when you edit, edit, and re-edit your own work.

Then last, a beta might check for characterisation (would Snape really burst into tears?), pacing (okay, we've had nine pages of mind-numbing description of a Quidditch match...), plot-holes (whoa, wait-a-minute, Harry has a spell on that can make him see in the dark, so why can't he see Voldemort in the cave?), and phrasing (okay, you got your meaning across, but it's awkward and hard to read).

Different people are good at different types of betas.

wildernessguru, though not a writer, can spot a plot-hole a mile away. He's also great at pacing, consistency, and continuity. He keeps all the details in his head.

I had one beta who was an absolute stickler for SPAG errors and consistency of where I used italics. I didn't even see the italics-thing, I just obeyed, and then later realised what she meant.

For myself, if you want a beta for SPAG errors, well... I'm okay, but not great as a copyeditor (I get bored). But when it comes to characterisation, pacing, and a top-down look at a story, I can help by pointing out story's structural strengths and weaknesses. In the past I've been good at taking a story that is utterly unreadable and teaching the new writer the skill she (or he) needs to take their writing to the next level.

I don't fix too much because I'm not focused on the story, but on developing the writer. Even with experienced writers I notice larger patterns, are their main characters fleshed out but the OCs flat, what it is about their world-building that doesn't quite convince, that sort of thing. So I'm not a good beta, but I am a good encouraging person to develop your writing.

I hope that's helpful.

Icarus