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Okay I understand you have your own experiences, as have I. Believe me, I've been there. But everyone is different. Everyone deals with grief in unique ways, and some expressions of grief that would be healthy for some people, would be extremely unhealthy for others.

Trip is a unique character and personality. And he is not the type to express himself in public. That is not to say he cannot do so in private, which would be in character.

<insert high pitched scream of frustration>3AM insomnia is raging. I'm transcribing what I've got of chapter 7. I wanna sleep, and I'm terrified that this chapter is nothing like what people might be expecting. Oh well, I'm just going to have to tear it to peices after it's all typed up.

Put it away for a while and get some rest. Things are always better after a good night's sleep.

Well, for our dear heart, the 'good nights sleep' part of the advice seems to be the bigger problem here

But I'm with Dis on that, just put it away for a while and once your muse grabs you by the collar, finish it

3 hrs 58 min of sleep. Ain't life grand folks! Sorry the snark gets me when I'm dead tired. But guess what I can't get back to sleep! Really, out of all the medical issues I have had in my life the insomnia is the most irritating.

Here's my game plan. I'm gonna roll with what I have right now. Then when it's all typed up, I'm gonna send it to some people for a test audience. Then I'm going to take a metaphorical Katana to the thing and slice away the stuff that's bloating this chapter. Anybody here watch Deadliest Warrior? That Katana is pretty nasty business. But I love swords and knives.

WarpGirl wrote:3 hrs 58 min of sleep. Ain't life grand folks! Sorry the snark gets me when I'm dead tired. But guess what I can't get back to sleep! Really, out of all the medical issues I have had in my life the insomnia is the most irritating.

Well, if you don't mind getting fat - 10 Budweiser do the job of putting you to sleep just fine. Not the american crap though - thats the first successful attempt to dilute water. I'm talking about the Czech original. Otherwise if you think that ruining your (remaining) health is a bad idea, there's still sleep laboratries (every major hopspital has one of those) and psychological consultation might help too. 4 hours is definitely too few. Get help dear

Thanks but I've been tested in a sleep lab more than once. My brain is wired wrong. Not a surprise, I don't stay in REM long enough and sleeping pills don't work. The entire UVA sleep clinic can't figure out what to do with me. And I'm not shaving my hair for more tests. My hair is my one real beauty.

You know something amazing has happened in this process of writing this tale. I've discovered writing Captain Jonathan Archer isn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. The key with him, (for me) is to make sure he has a direction. Once you have that it's not hard at all.

I'm going the politician rout. If the man becomes the 1st president of the United Federation of Planets, I'm thinking it's an appropriate ark for the character. Besides I've been waiting for a chance to really sink my teeth into the archatype.

Well to anyone who has ever written a neuropressure scene and attepmted to desribe a posture, without it going into harlequin territory I salute you. I just tried, and FAILED massively! What was supposed to be a moment of affection, safety, and comfort turned into something way too "I'm touching you." ICKY! Worst part it wasn't even TnT. Naturally, I took out all of the description.

And seriously I'm disappointed I thought I'd be able to make it slightly more "clinical" for lack of a better term. God knows I have experience being touched. Theraputic massage, Physical therapy where they do all the stretching and you stay still, the Baclophen pump trial... I mean I should know how to "de-sex" the neuropressure.

Okayyy... So why exactly would you want to "de-sex" neuropressure??

because the moment wasn't about sex. It was about healing.

I'm thinking that although certain postures might be managed between females without an erotic component entering into it, mixed gender neuropressure (or male/male neuropressure, since straight men rarely touch each other) really can't be anything but erotic to modern audiences. And even the female/female scene would be loaded with subtext. It's just the nature of the beast. My advice is unless you want to evoke those images, don't go there.

Yeah, I kind of figured that out for myself. But I admit I find myself very disappointed. I'm not against a certain amount of sensulaity in my writing. There's stuff I won't do like a sex scene. But when you write about couples you have to convey that these people have sensuality in their relationship.

That said, I think it's rather sad that physical comfort gets so blurred with sex these days. It doesn't matter whether it's a mixed gender situation or two people of a single gender situation, sex permiates everything. It's just sad.

I don't find it sad. We're all sensual beings. When being touched feels good, then certain ideas and emotions creep in to the mix. We don't have to act on them, but we all feel them. What you need to decide is what portion of those thoughts you want to emphasize in your writing and what portion is best left unexpressed. Everyone has their own tolerance level. One person's deep tissue massage is another person's erotic experience. You only get arrested if you grab the massage therapist.

IDK I find it sad that if two men hug each other with both arms and for more than 10 seconds it turns into a "gay subtext" thing. I find it sad that if I help a friend with sunscreen on his back I've got to be careful otherwise I'm suddenly trying to get him. Or in a compromising situation.

I agree that we are sensual creatures, and touch is vital. I just find it supremely irritating when comfort is automatically taken into the erotic, and affection is mistaken for a sexual invitation.