Monday, May 31, 2010

200 Word Challenge

My students are swearing to me that it can't be done. Care to prove them wrong? Post your efforts in the comments below!

The 200-Word Challenge: Write 200 words, without repeating a single one, save for articles, conjunctions, and helping verbs.

Thus, you can have "We have seen that statue before. I have known this woman." but you cannot have "I have a grape. You have an apple."

Topic unlimited, but it must be cohesive. You cannot jump from topic to topic every 20 words.

Below is my own attempt. Written using Dr. Wicked's Write or Die lab as a handy word-counter and cattle-prod, I managed to almost succeed. I believe that the only word outside of the rules that I did not manage to eliminate at the start was 'of.' However, with a little help from my brilliant wife, I found the keys and succeeded! Also, a very cool little legend has spawned from the challenge! (It ended up at 209 words, instead of 215.)

Sure enough, once I showed my effort to my students, they found four more words I had doubled! Proof that editing is a good thing, right? I said I would give them credit for finding those errors, so:
Henry found "that"
Maria found "any"
Chris found "at"
Andrew found "could"

Accolades to my students for being good editors!




The slumbering dragon snorted hot flame and we saw the cavern around us. The towering mounds adorned with glittering gold and roughly cut jewels sparkled amid the flickering light, the beast's sleeping breath. Lord Charles Overcault sheathed his sword and clambered atop the nearest treasure pile for a better view. Sir Calreth O'dell moved around the edge, blade held ready. They were truly best friends; no two warriors could be closer even if born brothers. Suddenly, a sparkle caught their eyes. Above the heaped emeralds and scattered rubies, a single gem sat in the moon's lone ray that entered the cave through a hole at the top. It was the Princess's Heart, stolen from the vaults under Aramathus and thought lost these many past ages. The legend said the artifact would carve jealousy, greed, and doubt upon any man's soul. The curse echoed the stone's origin. Supposedly, an ancient king's daughter, who loved a commoner, denied her father's wish to marry. Instead, she and the unapproved lover eloped. The parents, upon capturing them, killed the boy and encased the girl within a lump of coal. The filthy charcoal instantly became perfectly clear and beautiful as the royal child had been, though now harder than the rock.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Poetry Commentary

It has been brought to my attention that there needs to be a place for commentary or discussion of the works that have now been posted on the site. Until I can arrange something on-site, this thread can be for commentary/discussion of the Poetry that is posted on DavidJace.com.

Short Story Comments

It has been brought to my attention that there needs to be a place for commentary or discussion of the works that have now been posted on the site. Until I can arrange something on-site, this thread can be for commentary/discussion of the Short Stories that are posted on DavidJace.com.

Novel Discussion

It has been brought to my attention that there needs to be a place for commentary or discussion of the works that have now been posted on the site. Until I can arrange something on-site, this thread can be for commentary/discussion of the Novel Excerpts that are posted on DavidJace.com.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Website Relaunch!

DavidJace.com has just undergone some improvements and additions! Of course, it isn't a huge change visually, but there's a lot more content now and I am hoping everyone will like the changes.

To start with, I've added excerpts of most of the novels, whether they are completed or in progress. You can reach the excerpts by clicking on the titles. For the novels, I've also added word-counters, so you can see the progress being made on the novels and in what stage of completion they might be in. (Those nifty word-counters are courtesy of Writertopia. Thanks, Bill!)

You may notice that there are some cute little "Bonus Material" signs in the novel section. Those now take you to the pages that were up for Hero Games and On Common Ground, where you can meet some of the characters. I hope/plan to add more bonus content as time goes on, so keep watching for those signs!

In the Short Stories section, I've now posted the short stories free to read! :) Hope you enjoy them. I've also added another short story that wasn't there previously. On The Nanite Chaser, you'll see a little sign that reads "First in Series!" That one should be pretty clear. That particular story is a series, of which "The Nanite Chaser" is the first installment. Three other installments are currently written, and I plan to be writing more. I intend to post a new installment of this series about once a month or so. You'll have to keep checking back to keep reading the story.

Finally, in the Poetry section, I've added a couple of new (old) poems.

Now that my first year of teaching is nearly done, I expect to be getting back to writing. You'll have to look carefully to figure out which novel is currently 'under construction,' but I did leave you a hint on the site!

I don't yet have a system for comments on the works, but feel free to leave comments here for now if you have them. Comments welcome!