Ask the All Purpose Fox - Enterprise!

[Darkdragon]

What's a good (reasonable) way to get me to write without getting sidetracked by the myriad of distractions I have access to?

[justacritic]

Kill off your internet, that's usually good for ten minutes, twenty if you're disciplined.

[Gabi]

Here are some ideas which usually work for me:

1. Make a schedule, allowing some time to dedicate only to writing, and sometime for whatever other things you would like to do. The order and duration of each period should be whatever works best for you. If you're not sure, you can try different ways of organizing your day until you find the one that's best for you.

2. When you go to sleep, think about what you're going to write the following day. You may even take some notes if ideas begin to crop up. I keep a notepad next to my bed to that effect.

3. Go out for a walk, take a shower, do whatever helps you focus your mind without getting caught by external input. However, if you're stuck and can't produce anything, or feel an urgent need for an outside source of fiction, then take a book and read a bit (not the whole book at once, just a chapter or two to get your mental juices flowing). Then go back to writing.

4. Write an outline or a preliminary version on paper before you type it on your computer. The computer is an inexhaustible source of distractions, so it really helps if you already know most of what you're going to write by the time you face the screen.

Speaking of being disciplined... Justacritic, you're not a member of the AP-Team, so please wait here. *Locks justacritic in a cage and waits for someone to deliver his punishment.*

[justacritic]

Okay then (sits down)
May I at least have tea and a biscuit while I'm here?

[Lushin]

BREAD AND WATER ONLY! You will stay in that cage and think about what you have done. Also write on this chalkboard "I will not post an answer in the APF thread ever again." one thousand times and then we will decide what will be done with you.

[justacritic]

I hear and obey
http://moxas.deviantart.com/art/I-will-not-post-an-answer-in-the-APF-thread-275155461

[Inumo]

Is it wrong of me to laugh hysterically at that?

[e_voyager]

is this legitimate penance?

[Lushin]

For that you get this piece of cake. It's chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. You're still in the cage though now you will hang in the cage in the village square for everyone to see for a week. And yes yes it is.

[Darkdragon]

Perhaps the next rather important question I should consult the APFs is what is a good balance of accuracy, believability and detail such that my text would provide a good reference for my players when they're supposed to refer to it when they're writing backstories for a campaign? (I haven't done anything like this before, so if you have other advice which I should know, by all means, tell me.)

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Do all the non-trivial zeroes in a Riemann zeta function have a real part of 1/2?

[Gabi]

Darkdragon: it depends on the players, but I'd say: make it believable enough that the players can get in character, accurate enough to fit the rules of your world, and provide detail as needed.

Corg: if they are true zeroes, then their real part is zero. All other zeroes are fake.

[Angel]

Who would you do for a Klondike bar?

How many books were just as good or actually worse than the movies, in your opinion?

[Lushin]

Nothing I hate Klondike bars.

Most of the books I've read where better than the movie.

[Gabi]

Who would you do for a Klondike bar?

How many books were just as good or actually worse than the movies, in your opinion?

No one.

Two: "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" and "The Enchanted April". The movie adaptation of "Como agua para chocolate" came close to being as good as the book, but it didn't have any of the cooking recipes (most of which I couldn't cook anyway because they were either ridiculously complicated or full of Mexican words I couldn't understand).

[e_voyager]

If you were offered a one time Change into a fully function form of you internet persona would you take it?

[Gabi]

If you were offered a one time Change into a fully function form of you internet persona would you take it?

No.

[ShadesFox]

If it was one time and one way then no.

[e_voyager]

If it was one time and one way then no.

one time yes but not necessarily one way. it would be like a trial. spend 1-week persona and discover if you'd rather go back to normal or spend the rest of your life as you portray yourself on the internet. (note i said persona not anything else meany that how ever you portray yourself  human-furry -poke`mon - box or robotic changeling[self] is how you would be for the trail period)  it's one time to prevent abuses in  the thinking that i can always go back

[Gabi]

I might go for it for an hour or so at AnthroCon, but no more than that.

[Darkdragon]

Why do essays exist in a math class? Seriously, profs... it's not even a "history of mathematics" class or something.

[Gabi]

Why do essays exist in a math class? Seriously, profs... it's not even a "history of mathematics" class or something.

Because you have a very original teacher. Essays in a math class? I'd never heard of such a thing before.

[ShadesFox]

Alright class, we are going to write an essay on 8's feelings on being the sum of 5 and 3.

[Zedd]

If Jesus can turn water into wine and if humans are 90% water,am I drunk?

[Gabi]

Yes. But not for the reasons you believe.

[Azlan]

That would be an interesting power... perhaps a transform or maybe just a simple NND.

[Castle Pokemetroid]

What causes dizziness that lasts for more than a week?

Actually, better than that, what would cure such a thing?

[ShadesFox]

Space ninja viruses. That is the only thing.

Fish sticks. Fish sticks are the only things that work.

[littlekreen]

What do you call a bucket of chinchillas?

[Ignuus66]

Is this statement false?