What are you writing about now?

Got half-way thru the rules for Rock, then ran out of steam for the day.

Well, technically, Appendix A: Miscellaneous Tales and Notes is complete. I may write a few more poems but they do not have to exist for the appendix to serve its purpose.

On to Appendix C. Hope to finish it tomorrow!

Added events from 1st and 2nd age to the timeline. Now I have to compare the text and the timeline and correct discrepancies. I've found a few, but they will be easily fixed.

Appendix C, Timeline is now completed. I found 4 places in the text that need to be revised to better align with the corrected timeline. Shouldn't take too long to do that.

Now on to Appendix D, Translation Notes. I wrote this a long time ago, it needs to be revised a bit. Also shouldn't take too long.

I think I'll be able to gift myself a completed draft either by Christmas or New Years!

david_wendelken said:

Appendix C, Timeline is now completed. I found 4 places in the text that need to be revised to better align with the corrected timeline. Shouldn't take too long to do that.

Now on to Appendix D, Translation Notes. I wrote this a long time ago, it needs to be revised a bit. Also shouldn't take too long.

I think I'll be able to gift myself a completed draft either by Christmas or New Years!

Click to expand...

I, for one, am looking very forward to reading your book when its finished! You are doing a tremendous amount of work with it!

Appendices are done.

I have 6 known items remaining:

• At the beginning of every chapter, pov change, or time gap, I have a heading that says what year it is and how many years since the last scene. I need to double-check the math against the scenes. Fairly quick to do.
• I moved the start of one chapter a hundred years earlier. I need to revise the text to reflect that. Quick to do.
• The text in one chapter isn't clear enough about the passage of time within it. Quick to do.
• Because the majority of the characters are elven, I use the elvish names for places. But occasionally, when dealing with mortals, the common tongue name is used. I need to double-check the use of Rivendell/Imladris. Quick to do.
• One of the chapters is supposed to add up to exactly 30 years. Need to double check it after editing it earlier.
• One character spent an intense six months travelling with a bard they revered. She entertained him with poetry, song and tales the entire trip. Make subtle adjustments to his language over the trip, make it a bit more poetic and elevated by the end of the trip. This one will be much harder, I've been putting it off for several months. It will likely take a few days if I can pull it off.
  
  Hope to be done by New Years Day!

david_wendelken said:

Appendices are done.

Click to expand...

Tremendous work, David. You're so dedicated..! Thanks for the example.

Ent continues to limp along as time permits.
Another author's Introduction has been edited.
In addition, Ent's Preface and Introduction are finally in a completed state, ready to present to the Tolkien Foundation for review.
He's now in a 'full court press' setting the structure for the book's presentation arc into the Table of Contents, and working Chapter 1 to completion.
The Introducctory Letter to the Foundation will then be completed.

Much has been learned about editing for density (cognitive load) as he has tiered the load of the Preface and Introduction to be a proper step-ladder, into the content of Chapter 1.
We don't want to deliver a serious 'shock factor' by imposing a sudden, unexpected density increase on our readers..!

Forgot to list one more task:

• I'm modifying the text to serve two goals. I need to make sure that the first time I use a "non-translated" word that I have a definition for it right there. (And remove the later footnotes for commonly used terms.) To minimize the use of footnotes, I'm adding a little translation phrase in line with the text. Example: Instead of writing “Alámene([1])!” with the footnote below, I'm writing “Alámene! Go with our blessing!” Can't always do that, but it will minimize the need for footnotes. (I've learned that most people aren't used to footnotes AT ALL.)
  
  Oh, also, I've already modified the Translation Notes in the Appendix to document that I've altered the translations for this purpose.
  

  ---

  [1] Quenya, “Go with our blessing!”
  
  

david_wendelken said:

Forgot to list one more task:

• I'm modifying the text to serve two goals. I need to make sure that the first time I use a "non-translated" word that I have a definition for it right there. (And remove the later footnotes for commonly used terms.) To minimize the use of footnotes, I'm adding a little translation phrase in line with the text. Example: Instead of writing “Alámene([1])!” with the footnote below, I'm writing “Alámene! Go with our blessing!” Can't always do that, but it will minimize the need for footnotes. (I've learned that most people aren't used to footnotes AT ALL.)
  
  Oh, also, I've already modified the Translation Notes in the Appendix to document that I've altered the translations for this purpose.
  

  ---

  [1] Quenya, “Go with our blessing!”
  

Click to expand...

Done!

david_wendelken said:

• Because the majority of the characters are elven, I use the elvish names for places. But occasionally, when dealing with mortals, the common tongue name is used. I need to double-check the use of Rivendell/Imladris. Quick to do.
• One of the chapters is supposed to add up to exactly 30 years. Need to double check it after editing it earlier.

Click to expand...

done

You're doing a lot of work! Make sure to take some time to rest your brain when it's all done, or get some refreshment you can handle before diving back in.

david_wendelken said:

Appendices are done.

I have 6 known items remaining:

• At the beginning of every chapter, pov change, or time gap, I have a heading that says what year it is and how many years since the last scene. I need to double-check the math against the scenes. Fairly quick to do.
• I moved the start of one chapter a hundred years earlier. I need to revise the text to reflect that. Quick to do.
• The text in one chapter isn't clear enough about the passage of time within it. Quick to do.
• Because the majority of the characters are elven, I use the elvish names for places. But occasionally, when dealing with mortals, the common tongue name is used. I need to double-check the use of Rivendell/Imladris. Quick to do.
• One of the chapters is supposed to add up to exactly 30 years. Need to double check it after editing it earlier.
• One character spent an intense six months travelling with a bard they revered. She entertained him with poetry, song and tales the entire trip. Make subtle adjustments to his language over the trip, make it a bit more poetic and elevated by the end of the trip. This one will be much harder, I've been putting it off for several months. It will likely take a few days if I can pull it off.
  
  Hope to be done by New Years Day!

Click to expand...

Time to work on the first 2 items still on the list.
Hope you've had a wonderful holiday season and look forward to a wonderful new year.

I hope you have also had a wonderful Christmas, or winter season.

david_wendelken said:

Appendices are done.

I have 6 known items remaining:

• At the beginning of every chapter, pov change, or time gap, I have a heading that says what year it is and how many years since the last scene. I need to double-check the math against the scenes. Fairly quick to do.
• I moved the start of one chapter a hundred years earlier. I need to revise the text to reflect that. Quick to do.
• The text in one chapter isn't clear enough about the passage of time within it. Quick to do.
• Because the majority of the characters are elven, I use the elvish names for places. But occasionally, when dealing with mortals, the common tongue name is used. I need to double-check the use of Rivendell/Imladris. Quick to do.
• One of the chapters is supposed to add up to exactly 30 years. Need to double check it after editing it earlier.
• One character spent an intense six months travelling with a bard they revered. She entertained him with poetry, song and tales the entire trip. Make subtle adjustments to his language over the trip, make it a bit more poetic and elevated by the end of the trip. This one will be much harder, I've been putting it off for several months. It will likely take a few days if I can pull it off.
  
  Hope to be done by New Years Day!

Click to expand...

One more to go on that list.

Maybe one other. I'm not sure how to handle it.

Here's the problem. The story is stretched out over an elven time-scale. A chapter might represent events that happen over a few hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, even two hundred years. But, lots of "life goes on" moments may occur between the events described in the chapters.

So, for example:

A chapter might describe events that took place over a month's span of time.
The next chapter might skip 200 years and describe the events of a few critical hours.
The next chapter might cover events over 10 years
The next chapter might cover events for 60 years, but begin right after the prior chapter, i.e., skipping no time in between.
The next chapter might start 100 years after that, i.e., 160 years after the prior chapter started.

It's disorienting to people, especiallly those who are not intimately familiar with the events in the Silmarillion or the LOTR historical event appendices.

So, how to orient people without any real effort on their part? I don't want to start each chapter with boring prologue text that describes how much time has passed. My initial idea was to have a one-line heading underneath the chapter name. It would be consistently laid out and after the first 3 or so chapters, would be as "invisible" as "he said" is. The reader sees it, orients themselves, but does it so subconsiously they don't realize they are doing it.

I originally just had the year in the time orientation header. That worked for people who knew the Middle-earth timeline, but it didn't help anyone else. Why? Because by the time they finish reading a chapter, they've forgotten the (to them) meaningless year number from the prior chapter. They know this chapter starts in First Age 472, but they don't remember the last chapter started in First Age 455. And why would they?

So, to try to fix that, I added a bit. In the example above, the time orientation header would say: First Age 472, 17 years later.
Simple? Yes. Easy to understand? Yes.

This is what I put into the time orientation headers before I figured out how much time had actually passed in that chapter.

Does it correctly orient the reader to the passing of time?

Maybe. If the chapter took less than a year, yes, it does. But what if the events of the chapter consumed 5 years? The next chapter starts 12 years after the events described.

So, if I correct for that, it gives me time orientation headers like this:

First Age 455.
First Age 472, 12 years later.

If I was just looking at this list of events, I would be pretty darn confused. Thankfully, these headers are separated by many pages of riveting story so unless someone happens to remember the last chapter started in 455, it won't be unclear. But if they do...

Not quite sure how to handle it.

Ideas, anyone?

david_wendelken said:

So, if I correct for that, it gives me time orientation headers like this:

First Age 455.
First Age 472, 12 years later.

If I was just looking at this list of events, I would be pretty darn confused. Thankfully, these headers are separated by many pages of riveting story so unless someone happens to remember the last chapter started in 455, it won't be unclear. But if they do...

Not quite sure how to handle it.

Ideas, anyone?

Click to expand...

Maybe put a date range at the beginning of each chapter? One sees them a lot in books with historical timelines.
E.g.
First Age 455-460

And then for the date in the next chapter, perhaps you could start with the 'x years later', in case this chapter also has a date range of multiple years:
- First Age 455-460
- 12 years later, First Age 472-xxx

Server Room Gremlin said:

Maybe put a date range at the beginning of each chapter? One sees them a lot in books with historical timelines.
E.g.
First Age 455-460

And then for the date in the next chapter, perhaps you could start with the 'x years later', in case this chapter also has a date range of multiple years:
- First Age 455-460
- 12 years later, First Age 472-xxx

Click to expand...

Brilliant!!!

@Server Room Gremlin , your idea worked like a champ! Thanks ever so much!

I used the custom table of contents (TOC) feature to create a TOC that just included the time headers. (Technically, they are time and place headers.)

I think the time progression is now pretty clear.

Attached is an extract of that TOC before I tossed it.

PS - for those of you using MS Word and the Styles feature in it, making a custom TOC with just specific styles in it can be very useful!

Busy doing the prep work to lay out my book with Adobe InDesign. I want to have a hand-bound copy to start the year with.

In the course of Ent's work on "density" (cognitive load) in some of its various forms, it seems he's overlooked advising something here.

His To Grow or Not To Grow work has expanded yet again. (If this has been shared already, forgiveness is requested.)

There is great risk in helping us all into a world where we 'think better.' Where we actually leave off the shakles of conformity and are set free once again. That risk lies in man's moral nature.

There are some in the world who 'think' a little better than others - or are at least more learned in several aspects of 'knowledge.' Yet these people are very, very dangerous. Why? Skewed morality.

Thus, as study into 'cognitive load' has lead from 'thinking' into 'learning' into 'application' - it inevitably grows into the question "what kind of application?"

The world has more than enough badly skewed 'thinkers/learners/appliers.' The question becomes, do we dare just deal with ONE of the four key aspects of improvement of the self for the benefit of the whole? And how do we define 'benefit" ?

Well... thus these things have happened.

1. Ent realizes he CANNOT just present the "thinking" portion of his work, and deal with the others in separate works, deepening them - The WHOLE must be presented in the first work... though in a little bit scaled-down form - so the whole is seen and considered as we learn to think, learn, and apply more appropriately.
2. Given this, his first book is now 4 parts. (possibly 5, the 5th is under consideration.)
3. Also given this, the Title of his work, and the Contents arc, must change.
4. In addition, as we all realize, a "moral compass" beneficial to the human beyond 'self' CANNOT be embedded, instilled, or even taught. it must be CHOSEN..
5. And finally, it cannot be done 'overtly' just as Tolkien's moral and religious elements could not - and for the same reasons.

Therefore, the Tolkien's Secret Fire work, and the Grow work, are far more integrally connected than at first imagined, as Tolkien's works themselves are efforts to 'show the way and invite a choice' - 'but not overtly.'

Their example will be interwoven in many ways throughout the works.

On we go. MUCH work to do. (P.S. - for a good study on the Hows and Whys of Density/Cognitive Load in the narratige writing realms, examine A.C. Doyle - his Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Challenger vs. Brigadier Girard works, along with his novels - the works he himself considered more important than them all. He was a masterful writer, matching load and density to need situationally, very well. Sadly, as with so many writers, he was stereotyped - thus much of his deserving work doesn't receive its audience. The conrormed masses won't accept him outside their preferred rails on which they prefer him to run.)

Many authors are stereotyped - as are so many everywhere. Interestingly, it is not they who stereotype themselves usually - it is a life choice for survival in the midst of the need to conform to herd mentality with regard to their work.

I've got my text loaded into Adobe InDesign, now I have to make it pretty.