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National Chocolate Ice Cream Day 2023
Strangely, I love chocolate and I love ice cream, but I’ve never really been a fan of chocolate ice cream. Nevertheless, it’s National Chocolate Ice Cream Day so, let’s dig in…
Resistance Is Futile
When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile. ~Regina Brett
So, as much as I need to lose a bunch of weight, I also have to want to still be alive when it happens.
I don’t need to be on the full Santa Claus diet, but I do need to have the occasional treat. One has to seed the path with happiness.
Be that as it may, it’s all the more difficult to lose weight when you’re stuck at the keyboard for most of your waking hours.
The weather is still tolerable. I need to go stretch my legs. If only I didn’t have enough work to keep five people busy for a month of sundaes (see what I did there?).
It is what it is. I sit here and bang keys until projects get complete and hope they don’t add three more before I’ve finished one…
I Love Lucy: A Colorized Celebration – “Job Switching” clip
Mock-Chocolate
Sugar Free Healthy Easy Chocolate Ice-Cream | No Whipping Cream, No Condensed Milk | चॉकलेट आइसक्रीम
As I said before, I’m not that wild about chocolate ice cream. Not sure why.
I love chocolate. I love ice cream. For some reason, chocolate ice cream is sort of watered down.
I guess I would like a super dark chocolate ice cream or a fudge gelato, but I’ve always disliked chocolate ice cream to the extent that I can’t be bothered to try any of the newer variations.
Guess that’s me being a stodgy old codger, but there are so many flavors I already do enjoy.
Also, with me trying to lose the weight, the last thing I need is a new dessert to indulge in.
The good news is that it’s that much more available for you to have.
Their Dark Secrets And Vices 🕶️
Nobody on this earth is perfect. Everybody has their flaws; everybody has their dark secrets and vices. ~Juice Wrld
As if my head wasn’t spinning enough from all the work I have to catch up on, I’ve been trying to process some writerTube ramblings.
The advice is kindly intended and it may work for some people. Some of it, I find to be rather foolish.
It’s good to see different perspectives and look for advice in unexpected voices, but it’s not always fruitful.
So, on with my pantsing.
I’m writing things in my typical mode and then listening to the results. I think I’ve mentioned that I have an app for that.
It’s a nice little app that lets me have my phone read pdfs. It doesn’t have the intuition to put emphasis where it should go or make questions sound like questions, but it’s at least 80% good.
The great thing about hearing my story being read aloud is that I can examine the storyline and see which loose ends need developing.
Some of the better advice I’ve heard involves the need for character flaws. Perfect characters are boring unless you’re using their perfection as comic relief.
Chosen ones, paragons of virtue and Mary Sue myrmidons are all too common in contemporary storytelling.
The problem is, that these characters are generally the products of immature storytellers. The writer wants to tell such an epic tale that only the most invincible characters need apply. Yawn.
That’s fine for junior high school creative writing classes and low grade fanfic, but you have to grow past it.
Real people have flaws. Their weak spots can lead to excellent storytelling, intense drama and comedies of error.
What’s more, when the character is aware of their flaws, it helps to pay off a character arc where they learn to work with or overcome those flaws.
The goal is not to have them grow into perfect people. Nobody can achieve that.
What they can do is grow past their basic foibles to become more effective people.
The dark secret is that their surface value flaws are usually symptomatic of deeper issues that they’ll really need to wrestle with in order to grow.
In short-form fiction, laying out a basic issue to resolve is enough.
In an extended series, you need to peel away the layers of the onion to get down to the core of their being over the course of several books or anthology of short stories.
However you write, consider the role of personal weaknesses as a tool to let the storyline roll your characters.
It sounds kind of mean, but it’s a crucial part of hooking the audience into the character’s struggles.
If it’s too easy and they succeed at everything right away, the reader is left wondering why they bothered to start reading.
That’s another weary hump day for you. So, have some more chocolate ice cream. I left you plenty. Have a lovely week.