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I know this is kinda stupid, but I wanted to share it with someone and well---I thought it was kinda nifty. I don’t put much stock into horoscopes, but every now and then there pretty “on.” I guess it’s like my old pastor used to say when people would comment on the personal pertinence of one of his sermons. “If you throw a stone into a pack of dogs, you’re bound to hit one of ‘em.
If you have always felt the desire to do something as a writer, dear Cancer, now is the time to take the plunge. You certainly don't lack the imagination! The problem you have may be that you have more difficulties taking your prose seriously. Don't think so seriously about being a "Writer." Just write! And above all, don't hesitate to let people read what you write. A writer's group would be a great way for you to come out of hiding.
Edited to say: I just noticed the bolded part!! Now, I don't feel so silly for posting it. WHERE else would I... Once again...
[This message has been edited by JOHN (edited May 20, 2003).]
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I stopped believing in (or even just being interested in) horoscopes a long time ago, but I found it kind of funny that even in Harry Potter, a world where magic runs rampant...sort of, horoscopes and divination and such...the fortune telling arts in general, I guess, are looked at as being a quack.
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Horoscopes can be good for characterization, though.
You can give your character a "sign" (actually known as the sun sign) and have both negative and positive personality traits that go together.
You can even get complicated and give your character a sun sign (for how the character thinks), a moon sign (for the character's emotional responses), and an ascendant (for the outward appearance--the shell--that the character presents to the world).
Of course, if you want to get really complicated, you can cast a whole horoscope for your character, but I think that may be more work than it's worth. (Law of diminishing returns and all that.)
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cvgurau, it's not surprising that fortune telling in fiction is always vague or unreliable, if not downright fraudulent. Just try writing a story in which fortune telling is easy, prevelant, and 100% reliable. If everyone knows the future, there's no suspense!
If someone in the real world invented reliable technology that could gather unlimited information about the future, it would be the death of fiction.
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Don't be silly. The invention of a general technique for investigating and predicting all types of physical phenomena didn't lead to the death of fiction, but only multiplied it. I see no reason that a technology that extended the precision and reliability of prediction of physical events would present any problem...it never has yet.
Posts: 8322 | Registered: Aug 1999
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posted
Doc Brown--I always find in a story that if one is reliably psychic, then one is also mysterious, as well. A psychic is wise beyond his/her years, and yet always frustratingly vague when speaking to the protagonists, knowing the future but unwilling to share it. In the stories I read where psychics are accurate (and it's a damned shame no titles spring to mind, I think), the psychic would only aid the hero, giving seemingly useless bits of data that would suddenly become clear when it was most crucial.
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How about Cassandra in THE ILIAD? A lot of tension can be created by a psychic no one believes. it is similar to the discussion in another thread about suspense in mysteries. Sometimes, it is more suspenseful when the reader knows what is happening and the characters don't. Liz
Posts: 22 | Registered: Feb 2003
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