Morbane's coal

[coalcube]

In quantum wankchanics, Morbane's coal is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, of quantum wankerposition. In the thought experiment, a hypothetical gift may be considered simultaneously both the fic of your dreams (TFOYD) and coal, while it is unread state, as a result of its fate being linked to a random subatomic event that may or may not occur.

The Coaltide interpretation implies that, after a while, the gift is simultaneously TFOYD and coal. Yet, when a coalie clicks on their gift, the coalie sees the gift either TFOYD or coal, not both TFOYD and coal. This poses the question of when exactly quantum wankerposition ends and reality resolves into one possibility or the other.

Madness Opens: Tuesday 26 December
Author Reveals: Monday 1 January


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Comments

Re: Fic discussion

[(Anonymous)]

NC

As someone who usually writes on an iPad and reads mostly on my phone, I've wondered how mobile devices are affecting pacing and sentence/paragraph/chapter length. I have a rule to almost always make a paragraph at least 3 sentences, but since I no longer read on a laptop or desktop I do sometimes wonder how my stories look there.

The thing I tell myself, though, is desktop view isn't the "real" one and it's all subjective, especially considering how common it is to read on mobile devices. People can also set text size and other formatting elements for themselves, both in the browser and when downloading for e-readers, so there isn't really a reason to try to adhere to some kind of standard. I will stick to trying to make paragraphs at least 3 sentences but beyond that I can't really control how readers experience it.

Re: Fic discussion

[(Anonymous)]

CYRT

I think it's mostly more an issue with novice writers who don't have a good feel for the correct point for a paragraph break or what makes a strong chapter ending to begin with. Then you end up with a very choppy and disjointed narrative with bad, unvaried pacing because they're pretty much guessing where to break the text anyway and do it far too often without completing a thought or reaching a natural end point. Like, it's definitely not "necessary" to break a 10k fic into five chapters, but you can absolutely do it in a way that works fine if you know what you're doing in terms of narrative structure; if you're just cramming in four breaks without any natural place for them because you perceive 10k as far too long to go on without them, that's where it gets clunky and feels weirder than bad chaptering in a 50k fic where people will at least more readily agree chapters were a necessary move in the first place.

Re: Fic discussion

[(Anonymous)]

And when it comes to paragraphs, the general rule is to start a new one when you change the subject. (The rule to start a new paragraph when there's a new speaker in dialogue is a specific application of this - a new speaker is inherently a change of subject.) It's fuzzy round the edges - it's not always obvious when there's a subject change in a complex narrative - and that's when considerations like "this paragraph feels too long, time for a break" come in.

Re: Fic discussion

[(Anonymous)]

Eh, I think rules like this tend to be more of a hindrance than a help, especially to vibes-led writers. I love a good single-line oomph paragraph, but they only work if you use them sparingly. My advice would be more to work out what effect you’re going for, understand why that effect works and why it doesn’t, and then try to implement that in a way that works for your story.

Silly example:
“The wire tripped him up. And then he fell. And then he died.”
^ Each of those lines in their own paragraph is going to feel goofy, which maybe could work in a humourous piece. The first two together and the last alone would give some oomph to the death, for a more dramatic piece. But all in the one paragraph, as they’re all the same subject, feels flat and lifeless imo (actually that would probably work in a humourous piece too lol) But my point is you’ll make different choices based on the effect you want to create!

Re: Fic discussion

[(Anonymous)]

CYRT: True, which is why I said general.