If someone is not attacking you, why are you attacking him?

skribs

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One more good reason.

- You attack your opponent so he can do his self-defense.

If there is no bad guy, there won't be any good guy.

I have an idea for a story where a low-crime civilization hires people to commit crimes so the police stay in shape.
 

JR 137

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He poured a pitcher of beer on your buddy’s girlfriend’s head.

Yeah, I kicked his a$$ for that one. He was wrong on two levels. The obvious - abusing alcohol like that. And pouring on her. I’d love to say I’m so much more mature at 42 than I was at 23, but I’d do it all over again today.
 

Buka

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They spoiled the book you're reading.

On our way to the movies, my wife and I stopped in to see her mom. As we were leaving a friend of her mom's asked "What are you going to see?" When we told her she said "Don't bother, he gets killed at the end."

To this day I hate that woman with the passion that knows no bounds.
 

Monkey Turned Wolf

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A: He's offering to pay you a lot of money to attack him.
B: He's refusing to give you money unless you attack him. With this one, the threat of attacking him might be enough.
 

Buka

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I have an idea for a story where a low-crime civilization hires people to commit crimes so the police stay in shape.

That sounds like it could be an interesting story. I'd read it.
 

skribs

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That sounds like it could be an interesting story. I'd read it.

Unfortunately I have a lot of ideas like that ("that sounds interesting, I'd read it"), but beyond the idea I got nothing.
 

Buka

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Unfortunately I have a lot of ideas like that ("that sounds interesting, I'd read it"), but beyond the idea I got nothing.

I used to write low budget screenplays. Once I made cash at it people used to propose this to me more times than I can remember, "I have a great idea, how about if I tell it to you, you write it, sell it and we'll split the money."

Even though ideas are a dime a dozen, have you actually tried to write? You never know, Skribs, you might be good at it.
 

skribs

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I used to write low budget screenplays. Once I made cash at it people used to propose this to me more times than I can remember, "I have a great idea, how about if I tell it to you, you write it, sell it and we'll split the money."

Even though ideas are a dime a dozen, have you actually tried to write? You never know, Skribs, you might be good at it.

Yes, I have. I've written a couple books. But for the new ideas I have, I've got nothing.
 

Monkey Turned Wolf

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Unfortunately I have a lot of ideas like that ("that sounds interesting, I'd read it"), but beyond the idea I got nothing.
Choose a random scene that you can come up with, and try to write around it. I've found that it helps
 

JR 137

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Unfortunately I have a lot of ideas like that ("that sounds interesting, I'd read it"), but beyond the idea I got nothing.
Most people I know who’ve got an idea for a story have some great ideas. That’s the easy part. The hard part is their ideas typically work out to a half a dozen pages at very best, and then what?
 

dvcochran

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What do you define as the safer option here? I deliberately used the term "convinced" here, because we all need different cues to convince us. I'm going to guess @jobo has a different trigger for this than I do. He's also probably less likely to get sucker-punched.
As I said before, I am going to beg forgiveness before asking permission if I think the situation warrants it. Not trying to sound cocky, much the opposite. Fear is a great motivator.
 

Buka

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Most people I know who’ve got an idea for a story have some great ideas. That’s the easy part. The hard part is their ideas typically work out to a half a dozen pages at very best, and then what?

They need what all writers need and must have. Bum glue. It's the one key to writing.
 

Buka

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Bryce Courtenay was one of Australia's best selling authors. He was also a marathon runner, having run over fifty of them. I knew Bryce, he used to tell a great story. And he never made any bones about who he was. He said if you ran a lot of marathons, you had to run the mother of them all at some point in your life, the Boston Marathon. So he did.

Says he was somewhere in the middle after 15 miles or so and was pretty much separated from the pack. Up ahead he sees a lone runner really struggling. Bryce decides to mess with him a little, because that was what Bryce sometimes did. He catches up, his knees high, a big fake smile on his face, and runs beside the guy. Bryce says "HI! How are you!" The guy just moans.

Bryce says "beautiful day!" The guy moans again. Bryce says, "So, mister runner, what is it you do?" After several seconds the guy croaks out "writer".

Bryce usually looks at his audience at this point, makes quotation marks with his fingers and says "He's a WRITER". "Now I'm really going to mess with him." He says, "So, Mister writer, what is the secret to writing?"

The guy doesn't say anything for a bit, then quietly says "Bum glue". The whole time Bryce tells this, he's mimicking running. He thinks to himself, "Holy crap, I've been a writer for decades and this guy just told me the best thing I ever heard about writing. Bum glue. Just glue your butt to the chair and write. Don't get up to look out the window, don't answer the phone, don't walk to the fridge, don't go pat the dog, just glue your butt to the damn chair and write. Because every single writer that has ever lived looks for an excuse to not write.

Bryce and the struggling guy say no more to each other, but continue on side by side. Bryce can't get the bum glue thought out of his head. Said it was the best advice he had ever heard and didn't know why he had never heard it before.

They finish together, out of breadth and marathon tired and head to the hospitably tent for liquids and one of those wraps for body heat. Bryce extends his hand and says "My name is Bryce Courtenay." The guys shakes his hand and says "I'm Stephen King." They became close friends from that day forward.

And that's the story of Bum Glue. From a couple of guys who wrote a little.
 

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