tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post6038669841289290025..comments2024-03-28T04:41:30.440-04:00Comments on DISCOURSE AND DRAGONS: Thoughts on the Craft of WritingKiltedyaksmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03462341093016199620noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-23752748631083192502012-05-19T02:43:11.431-04:002012-05-19T02:43:11.431-04:00I think some of the copywriters at my work need to...I think some of the copywriters at my work need to read this, particularly the part about being concise. I can't tell you how many times I've laid out a page and said, "you have around 75 words you can write in this area," only to have it come back as 250 words.Dirk Swordmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08837344135304307437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-4530690904226547882012-05-18T11:34:35.946-04:002012-05-18T11:34:35.946-04:00Haha! I love it! Bonus marks!
It depends on your ...Haha! I love it! Bonus marks!<br /><br />It depends on your degree of relativism :)Kiltedyaksmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03462341093016199620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-42544536599188910962012-05-18T10:07:07.357-04:002012-05-18T10:07:07.357-04:00Don't you mean: I believe the objectivity myth...Don't you mean: I believe the objectivity myth is core...<br /><br />;-)Melhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06551480034601737297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-2855903204766531362012-05-17T22:44:39.380-04:002012-05-17T22:44:39.380-04:00Owww. I don't think I like passive or active ...Owww. I don't think I like passive or active in any of those examples.Gothridge Manorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11371740532802642972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-66519528146311231522012-05-17T19:55:35.863-04:002012-05-17T19:55:35.863-04:00A very helpful post thanks O Kilted One. :-)A very helpful post thanks O Kilted One. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-58627139572218793502012-05-17T19:13:14.943-04:002012-05-17T19:13:14.943-04:00Why have the publisher mark "empty" on t...Why have the publisher mark "empty" on the map rooms, when it would take up space? Why not just leave the room blank?<br /><br />(I have a feeling I'm failing to understand a subtlety of your point.)Guy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-14161266087791792532012-05-17T19:02:21.968-04:002012-05-17T19:02:21.968-04:00@Sean, yes but I'd suggest there are epistemol...@Sean, yes but I'd suggest there are epistemological reasons for doing so in science.<br /><br />The objectivity myth is core to the disourse of science - sentence structure serves to reaffirm it.Kiltedyaksmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03462341093016199620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-19171929700687861142012-05-17T18:57:27.871-04:002012-05-17T18:57:27.871-04:00Oh, ok. Actually the margins of my copy of BM are ...Oh, ok. Actually the margins of my copy of BM are absolutely filled with notes for very similar things. Are you suggesting dedicated space for these items in the narrative or at the back?Kiltedyaksmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03462341093016199620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-13523659549883788942012-05-17T18:52:31.723-04:002012-05-17T18:52:31.723-04:00@Guy: Ah, I see. For things like this I prefer to...@Guy: Ah, I see. For things like this I prefer to make my notes on the map itself, but this is difficult to do in Barrowmaze because the map is too small and crowded for notation. I suppose that if a publisher were to write 'empty' in the empty rooms on the map I would be okay with that, too.Sean Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16429301144221551751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-31948832168220393232012-05-17T18:48:08.121-04:002012-05-17T18:48:08.121-04:00There are some excellent reasons for using passive...There are some excellent reasons for using passive voice, particularly when describing an experiment. Consider which of the following sentences is better in this example:<br />1. "I attached electrodes to the subject's scrotum."<br />2. "My assistant, Igor, attached electrodes to the subject's scrotum."<br />3. "A lab assistant, whose name I cannot remember, Sean Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16429301144221551751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-28024233684752567622012-05-17T18:45:16.959-04:002012-05-17T18:45:16.959-04:00@Sean: While DMing last night's AD&D game,...@Sean: While DMing last night's AD&D game, I added a number of notes to hallways & pits (in Barrowmaze, actually), about changes in those environments. I regularly make notes about where creatures hammer spikes, leave gear, make marks, position sentries, and so on. Probably half of those notes relate to non-room areas, where basically no publisher has ever put a "key" numberGuy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-64309893186569569292012-05-17T18:35:01.646-04:002012-05-17T18:35:01.646-04:00I have a case in BMII where things happen differen...I have a case in BMII where things happen differently for a section of rooms depending on what the PCs do. I inserted a note before that run of rooms explaining the situation. If the PCs do this then Y happens, if the PCs do That then Z happens. Is that what you mean?Kiltedyaksmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03462341093016199620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-15780122266135367002012-05-17T18:28:27.297-04:002012-05-17T18:28:27.297-04:00I think that guy meant that it is difficult to exp...I think that guy meant that it is difficult to express an argument completely in the comments?<br /><br />@Guy: I would have to add the numbers myself. I'm not sure what you mean about non-room areas. I don't think that has ever come up.Sean Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16429301144221551751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-55822340055466709742012-05-17T18:22:08.091-04:002012-05-17T18:22:08.091-04:00Guy do you have an example? I'm not quite foll...Guy do you have an example? I'm not quite following...Kiltedyaksmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03462341093016199620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-66823479691880036112012-05-17T18:17:30.095-04:002012-05-17T18:17:30.095-04:00Good discussion! (Tangent: Blogs suck as a discuss...Good discussion! (Tangent: Blogs suck as a discussion venue. Sigh.)<br /><br />@Sean: In practice, what do you do when a module doesn't number all rooms? What if the module does number all rooms, but you want to make notes about a non-room area?Guy Fullertonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12034114718540912559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-36296928233640694312012-05-17T17:39:59.233-04:002012-05-17T17:39:59.233-04:00Anoth reason why passive voice gets used commonly ...Anoth reason why passive voice gets used commonly in science disciplines is to provide the appearence of objectivity - as if the author was disassociating themselves from their own text. Social scientists really bug me for that reason. All research is biased. Objectivity is a social construct.Greg Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08934958487613782595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-43159717662457825792012-05-17T17:36:28.881-04:002012-05-17T17:36:28.881-04:00avoid double-negatives that give people ice-cream ...<i>avoid double-negatives that give people ice-cream headaches</i> love that. <br /><br />Great post. The only thing I would have added is the evil of adverbs. I hope you have more of these posts in your cue.Gothridge Manorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11371740532802642972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4737025559858978163.post-54533128171552438572012-05-17T17:33:03.926-04:002012-05-17T17:33:03.926-04:00I read the Chaotic Henchmen post too and had some ...I read the Chaotic Henchmen post too and had some thoughts about it as well. With respect to active/passive voice: the admonition against using passive voice is ubiquitous. We are told to avoid it, and then we chant it like a mantra, perpetuating the myth that it should never be used. Sometimes active voice is a better stylistic choice, particularly if doing so makes your writing more taut andSean Robsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16429301144221551751noreply@blogger.com