tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post5186685295949151241..comments2024-03-29T03:45:01.236-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: The Learning CurveJuliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-41262382901484576002010-05-12T12:17:35.380-07:002010-05-12T12:17:35.380-07:00Thanks for bringing up something I'd vaguely b...Thanks for bringing up something I'd vaguely been thinking about as a problem in my old draft of my WIP. Things along the lines of "Why does she feel/do this here?" "How can she do this now?" I've been trying to keep those sorts of things in mind while I rewrite the story. Like my jeweler girl getting some combat training. <br /><br />Before I never showed why she has any combat skills or why she's pretty good at it. Now she had been given some knife training from her street friends, so when she meets another knife fighter for more training, she will have a few basic moves already and can make a jump in skill. <br /><br />You really clarified the learning curve. That'll help as I go along.Jaleh Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04942272578488986874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-41328149309358694952010-05-11T21:42:17.168-07:002010-05-11T21:42:17.168-07:00Thanks, Deb! You've brought up a good point -...Thanks, Deb! You've brought up a good point - if your character has to use a complex special skill at a critical moment in the plot, it's always good to seed that with some previous scene demonstrating their ability. If you can pull it off in such a way that the skill is used in a totally unrelated way, then the later use of it will be even more of a surprise.Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-8953265827310792722010-05-11T19:59:52.274-07:002010-05-11T19:59:52.274-07:00Brilliant post! You just pointed out a weak spot i...Brilliant post! You just pointed out a weak spot in my WIP - not that I have a superhero, but that I don't show my MC knows how to do something hard before he does it. Thanks!Deb Salisbury, Magic Seeker and Mantua-Makerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01513482264195697450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-67214836566863741252010-05-11T12:18:35.894-07:002010-05-11T12:18:35.894-07:00JDsg, love your description of the fencing class. ...JDsg, love your description of the fencing class. What a kick!<br /><br />Athena, thanks for your comment and book recommendation.<br /><br />Thank you both for stopping by!Juliette Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-24153738386230765682010-05-11T12:03:33.863-07:002010-05-11T12:03:33.863-07:00A very good book about "talent" is David...A very good book about "talent" is David Shenk's The Genius in All of Us, which thoroughly debunks the concept (especially of genetic talent, which bona fide biologists already know about: genes don't code for complex behaviors).<br /><br />Bottom line: to become great at anything, you need about 10,000 hours of constant practice at it. And it's easier to attain if you are immersed in it from early childhood.Athena Andreadishttp://www.starshipreckless.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-16141804376270159972010-05-11T11:23:12.397-07:002010-05-11T11:23:12.397-07:00...but simply handing a sword to some school kid f...<i>...but simply handing a sword to some school kid from our world and expecting him to know how to lift it, much less fight the bad guy with it, isn't very realistic.</i><br /><br />Which reminds me of the first day of class when I was learning how to fence in college. The teacher had been explaining the various fundamentals (the equipment, how to hold the foil, how to stand and move the body, and so forth). By the end of the class, she knew we were all chomping at the bit to give each other a whack, so she said she'd close her eyes and turn away for a few minutes so she wouldn't have to see us flail away. :) It was fun, but we certainly didn't know how to fence after 45 minutes of instruction. There were no superheros in <i>that</i> class. ;)JDsghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735390644321868222noreply@blogger.com