I guess for me, I find it harder to relate to characters who live in a world much different than the one we're on. I'm also not big into politics and whatnot but that kind of thing is absolutely important to address when you're creating your own world, so I tend to get bored.

I'll be on vacation the second week of April, but I'm still hoping to get some editing done and hopefully not fall too far behind :)

isn't politics kind of important to address for real world set stories too? I mean.. in a made up world, you can reduce the amount or size of the politics by lowering the population that's relevant (put it on a space colony with only a few thousand people, say; there's still politics, but it's way simpler). But in the real world the politics of the real world inescapably impacts everyone's life... like... in the real world :D

I guess if that's the kind of story you're writing. But I don't write or read stories about politics. I write YA murder mysteries for the most part, so the biggest problem is who's killing people and why, and it never has anything to do with politics. And I never have to address any politics because it's set in the real world and everyone knows how countries and governments work so I don't have to waste time explaining high school or police.

Whereas in my fantasy story I absolutely had to address the "guard" because if I didn't, no one would have a clue as what they were or their jurisdiction or why my characters responded to these police/military personnel the way they do. You also have to define borders and everything because the reader has no idea since it's a made up place. There's just a lot you have to address when you make up a whole world so everything makes sense to the reader. I've read fantasy stories where they didn't address these things and it was terrible and nothing made sense and the rules seemed to keep changing. I couldn't enjoy the story because I was too busy being confused by the location and the rules of the characters abilities and the world. That being said, it also bores me to have to read about how this one country doesn't get along with this other country because of reasons and the rulers are doing blah blah blah. Hence, why I don't read much fantasy.

ahh I see what you mean. You can use the assumptions people have and their knowledge as long as they're from wherever it is, it'll all seem normal to them.

I like the diplomacy stuff though so it never bothers me :D I also kind of like the fantasy stories where stuff isn't all explained and I have to figure out from little clues why stuff is how it is there... I'm into that kind of thing.

But I like murder mysteries too! I'm good with all of it, pretty much!

Yeah, everyone has their things, that's why it's great that there's always something for everyone. I already know I'm kind of a picky reader. Strangely enough, I don't like most fantasy or scifi, but I don't mind superheroes or paranormal :P

so if you like paranormal, do you like stories with vampires in them? Or is that fantasy?

I'm kind of indifferent towards vampires I guess. Like I wouldn't not read a story just because it had vampires in it, but I also don't seek out stories that have them. But generally I like vampires to be ruthless killers like in Supernatural or Lost Boys not sexy heartthrobs with a heart of gold but a hint of danger and cool powers.

I consider fantasy to be anything with elves, wizards, magic, that kind of thing, usually set in their own made-up world. Paranormal generally has ghosts, vampires, witches, demons, and stuff of that nature, usually set in the real world or one close to it. Not sure if I'm anywhere near the official definitions with that.

my nanonovel with vampires has both kinds. :D Not really, those are two extremes, it's got callous murderous but also weirdly sentimental vampires and also decent but not really able to manage the stress of being a monster vampires, and a ruthless but good hearted avenging angel type vampire who plays the deus ex machina role at the end. Mostly my vampires have the same range of personality as non-vampire people, just with superpowers that come with a serious sunlight problem and a major dietary challenge.

Well that sounds fun! I hope it all goes well come . . . Monday. Man, how can camp be starting so soon! Where did March go?

in the nano camp I'm writing short stories. I have two outlined - one is a totally real world setting present day story, the other is a sci fi spy story. I want to write 4 in the month of April ideally!

The novel I was describing was the one I wrote in last November :)

Oh so you've already written it; is it finished? Good luck on the short stories, I wish I could write short stories but they always end up more as novellas lol

novellas are really in vogue right now! so good on you :)

my nanonovel is complete, but I haven't edited it thoroughly so I don't think it's finished entirely.

Ah yes, the fun of editing lol.

How's your camp going so far?

hmm... got off to a good start (April 1, 1k words plus) but wrote nothing yesterday. Hoping to do some today!

editing? pshaw.

Are you doing any writing or editing yourself lately? :D

Hey that's a great number, keep it up!

I'm editing for camp and I'm making progress despite being sick. Got the bare minimum to stay on track the first day. Doubled my daily goal yesterday. But I'm starting to feel worse again so we'll see what I manage today