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Post by Dabeagle on Aug 3, 2015 10:30:17 GMT -5
And back to the subject of income, Griffin's parents seem pretty well off, also. One's child does not usually get a Prius for a first car.... In my conversations with Ryan, which happen quite frequently as we plot and try to avoid making mistakes with so many different story lines, I can say confidently that Griffin's car is an easy explanation - his parents feel guilty and are going a little overboard. I have no doubt savings were dipped into and/or payments are being made in order to get something both safe and sensible for him.
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Post by Lugnutz on Aug 3, 2015 11:00:56 GMT -5
Must not like my flash.
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Post by ryanbartlett on Aug 3, 2015 14:05:04 GMT -5
I would call Griffin's parents upper middle class. Both of them are highly educated. His father is a city official, director of public works, and now that I think about it he probably makes pretty damn good money. His mother is a part time professor at a state university and as such she probably pulls in about what a high school teacher makes. I would say most of their money is tied up in their home, retirement investments, and providing a comfortable life for their children. They have the kind of income that gives them and their kids a lot of different opportunities. As for Griffin's car, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that it was used. I priced them down to about $6k and adjusting for inflation that's probably about what my first car cost.
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Post by Cynus on Aug 3, 2015 19:19:58 GMT -5
I find this discussion on income level and how it affects writing to be quite fascinating. I don't know that I've ever thought of it in this way before. I was born into upper lower-class, and sometime around my entry into adolescence we made the transition into lower-middle class. I make this distinction because when I was young money was always tight, but we weren't living in poverty, but as I grew older we had enough to cover our needs and a small bit extra that we could use for fun every now and then. I spent almost a year with an excellent high-paying job which allowed me to start moving forward with things, and while it lasted I'd say I had a small taste of wealth, even though it was short-lived. A medical issue arose and I was forced to stop working, and I spent the next year living off of accumulated savings from the good job, though those really began to run out around the third month because I was trying to live beyond my means. those last nine months of unemployment nearly broke me. I definitely lived in poverty then, and it's a hole I never want to climb back into. As I tried to find work that would fit into how I had to live, I was barely scraping by and only managed because of the generosity of my parents and my best friend. Thankfully I learned a lot of lessons after that which will hopefully keep me from ever facing poverty again, or, if I do, I'll manage to pull through much easier. I think that now that I'm back where I started(In the upper lower-class) I have a varied perspective on income level, though I still don't know how much it has affected my writing.
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Post by PaulR5 on Aug 4, 2015 1:02:02 GMT -5
Must not like my flash. I thought I had read all your stories on this website, but I had missed Rolling the Dice. Interesting enough, when I clicked on your story Nonsense, a new listing of your stories came up, from which Mechanics 101 and Nonsense were missing. What gives with that? When I clicked on Serial Stories, Mechanics 101 came up, but Nonsense did not come up. What happened to it? Rolling the dice is an interesting story, and I like a statement closer to the end--- "I'm still rolling the dice everyday. What will life toss in my direction this time?" That statement could apply in different ways to all of us.
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Post by Lugnutz on Aug 4, 2015 1:20:28 GMT -5
My flash should be with Beagles bit. Pure stupidity. Nonsense
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Post by Dabeagle on Aug 4, 2015 7:06:45 GMT -5
I don't maintain a separate flash page anymore, there was only the two. The pages are divided up three ways - Author's Vault is everything, Serials is just that, and the same with Shorts.
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Post by PaulR5 on Aug 4, 2015 7:55:52 GMT -5
My flash should be with Beagles bit. Pure stupidity. NonsenseEven though I suffer from a severe lack of knowledge about vehicles, I thought that story was funny. Even I know there is no such thing as actual blinker fluid.
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Post by Lugnutz on Aug 4, 2015 8:20:46 GMT -5
Beagle got some blinker fluid for his VW because they are unique.
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Post by Dabeagle on Aug 4, 2015 16:55:31 GMT -5
Beagle got some blinker fluid for his VW because they are unique. I picked them up to go with your muffler bearings.
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Post by ryanbartlett on Aug 4, 2015 17:15:55 GMT -5
I once saw a man ask for bubbles for a spirit level at the hardware store. (No, it wasn't me.)
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Post by jamessavik on Aug 6, 2015 13:22:43 GMT -5
How about a Derek and Hamster story?
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Post by ryanbartlett on Aug 6, 2015 15:49:56 GMT -5
How about a Derek and Hamster story? Sunday
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Post by silentreader on Aug 9, 2015 20:11:14 GMT -5
I'm sorry, I posted in this thread some time ago and then forgot to come back and check for later messages.
I'm uncomfortable naming the novels I was thinking of when I was thinking about fabulously wealthy people, probably because I really like those novels, and I suspect their author isn't here to "defend" himself. I think they were written a dozen or more years ago, and the author still does post other writings online a few times a year. The main characters in those novels are well-developed, complicated people whom I grew to care about. But one was the orphaned heir to an enormous fortune and the other the well-off son of "old money". As much as I like those novels and those well-developed characters, every once-in-a-while I'd have to work at suspending my disbelief.
NOBODY in Sanitaria Springs is that wealthy! (None of our boys can call up a chartered aircraft on a whim!)
I guess what I was getting at in my original post is that if you're asking what I'd like to see, it is NOT more fabulously wealthy fellows with private aircraft!
Damn.
Every time I write an opinion, I come up with an exception!
There is another, different series of serial novels elsewhere with unbelievably wealthy characters... a series that has just started up again after a several-year long break... and I love reading about those characters. I don't believe their wealth for a minute - but I enjoy reading about their adventures and about how they grow as people.
So maybe I need to retract my request for writing with less wealthy characters.
Sigh. Maybe I don't know what I want!
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Post by Dabeagle on Aug 9, 2015 21:35:00 GMT -5
I think we all look for things we can both identify with and dream/aspire to. Being fabulously wealthy is a dream of many (mine included, though I'm not greedy - well off is fine) but once we get past the initial ideas of a new car and a new home, the ideas start to run down a little. There needs to be more development if a wealthy character exists because so many things can be solved with money.
My family was, probably, upper lower class when it came to income. My parents were college educated, but at one time for about two years they both worked a second job. I never knew we didn't have much - I figured everyone went to places where they could stay with friends rather than hotels. I grew up in a working class neighborhood where the town across the river was a steel town and my own was famous for making textiles, famously shirt collars for the 'Arrow' company, and thus how it got it's name as the 'Collar City'. So, I write what I know and others write what they know. When it comes to experiences like that, it's hard to be genuine when you don't know.
For instance, some might assume rich kids go home and screw off everyday after school - and some may. Others may be in high pressure schools where they have to work their butts off to compete. Those assumptions, though, can make or break the reader's ability to suspend disbelief. I recently read part of a story where there was a large inheritance and the circumstances were impossible to swallow - in those instances, it hurts a story - in my opinion. Others, I know, aren't that big on those things - or spelling and grammar - as long as the underlying ideas of the story are entertaining. I am not one of those folks, not usually.
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