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Could someone help me with my book?; I'm writing a dinosaur book and i need some advice.
Topic Started: Feb 17 2015, 07:49 PM (1,992 Views)
J3st3r56
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I am writing a dinosaur book and i want to make it fairly realistic in terms of the dinosaurs. I do know a fair amount about them, but I just wanted to make sure a couple of scenes are realistic. If any paleontologists would help (or people who are dino nerds like me) that would be fantastic!

The first scene i need advice on is a very short part. Basically a Carnotaurus sasteri (is that how you spell it?) has just swung his head into a woman and she gets flung into a shop/store and then the carnotaurus puts his foot on her legs and bites down on her torso (it gets a little gory here) and pulls her in half. I know the carno wont have a very strong bite or large jaws but i feel like it could do that.

The other scene is not as action packed, but it is set from the perspective of a Utahraptor. He's a juvenile and i was wondering if I should use simple language or not.

Another one is a bunch of humans trap a female t-rex and it is possible to escape after alot of exertion. Instead she decides to alternate between mating and distress calls to attract predators. Would a T-rex be intelligent enough to do that?

If anyone decides to look at this, I appreciate any advice and critiscism.
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spinosaurus rex
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a very likely canadate on how tyrannosaurus could of sounded like when bellowing.
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Mesopredator
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J3st3r56
Feb 18 2015, 10:33 PM
That sounds like a really interesting book idea! I'm quite fascinated with mythology so, I'd really like that idea to come to fruition.
Actually, I could gove you a hand with it as well! You're supporting me, I feel like I should return the favour.
We can discuss how everything goes. Might give us new ideas or insights. I'm using Catch-22, the Big Lebowski (a movie), Fight Club, Greek myths and the Lord of the Rings for inspiration. But I'm unsure how to put it together. Ryming like Shakespeare or Reynard the fox is something nice too. Or short Native American tales or, in general, fables. There's so much to pick from!

I think it might be better for me to start with short stories. There's writing communities on the internet were I could start with the short stories. Could always turn it into a bundle. I do prefer to write it in Dutch though.

So. Let's talk about your story. What is your theme? Is it a horror story or more like Jurassic Park? Does it center around one character? I read a book once that was about a hunter and part of the story was in the perspective of the hunted bear. It was long ago but I thought it worked well.

I also make up stories in my mind about Dimitri and Boris(h). Boris is a not so smart drunkard. One time he went to Dimitri's house to complain about his missing vodka. He thought Dimitri took it from him. "Dimitri, I can't find the vodka. Did you take it from me? Why did you take it from me I don't understand... I thought we were friends." Of course Boris was drunk and holding the vodka in his hand.

And yeah I see this as a hobby. I do not have high expectations.
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J3st3r56
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Feb 19 2015, 12:06 AM
J3st3r56
Feb 18 2015, 10:33 PM
That sounds like a really interesting book idea! I'm quite fascinated with mythology so, I'd really like that idea to come to fruition.
Actually, I could gove you a hand with it as well! You're supporting me, I feel like I should return the favour.
We can discuss how everything goes. Might give us new ideas or insights. I'm using Catch-22, the Big Lebowski (a movie), Fight Club, Greek myths and the Lord of the Rings for inspiration. But I'm unsure how to put it together. Ryming like Shakespeare or Reynard the fox is something nice too. Or short Native American tales or, in general, fables. There's so much to pick from!

I think it might be better for me to start with short stories. There's writing communities on the internet were I could start with the short stories. Could always turn it into a bundle. I do prefer to write it in Dutch though.

So. Let's talk about your story. What is your theme? Is it a horror story or more like Jurassic Park? Does it center around one character? I read a book once that was about a hunter and part of the story was in the perspective of the hunted bear. It was long ago but I thought it worked well.

I also make up stories in my mind about Dimitri and Boris(h). Boris is a not so smart drunkard. One time he went to Dimitri's house to complain about his missing vodka. He thought Dimitri took it from him. "Dimitri, I can't find the vodka. Did you take it from me? Why did you take it from me I don't understand... I thought we were friends." Of course Boris was drunk and holding the vodka in his hand.

And yeah I see this as a hobby. I do not have high expectations.
Its a horror-survival themed book for 16+. Lots of inspiration from the walking dead and Jurassic park. Its like jp 2 with the t-rex in san diego but inthe uk and with more dinosaurs. It has more focus on the fact that dinosaurs, while cool to imagine are incredibly dangerous. The fact of the matter is that they have no concern for human life and want to survive. Obviously chaos ensues with 90% of the human population decimated by the sudden onslaught of dinosaurs. This calamity is world wide and its killed pretty much all of the ecosystems in the world. Famine and disease is rampant with alot of the dinosaurs destroying the fauna and flora. So that's the gist of it.
It sort of spawned when i was musing what would life be like if we had dinosaurs in the modern age. I was also watching the walking dead at the time which was really quite intense. Then there was also a youtuber called BestInSlot who wanted to write a book about zombie dinosaurs and then i pretty much decided to start writing it. So now i want a violent, emotional book about two teenagers fighting to suvive in a dinosaur infested world.
Edited by J3st3r56, Feb 19 2015, 12:33 AM.
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J3st3r56
Feb 19 2015, 12:26 AM
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Feb 19 2015, 12:06 AM
J3st3r56
Feb 18 2015, 10:33 PM
That sounds like a really interesting book idea! I'm quite fascinated with mythology so, I'd really like that idea to come to fruition.
Actually, I could gove you a hand with it as well! You're supporting me, I feel like I should return the favour.
We can discuss how everything goes. Might give us new ideas or insights. I'm using Catch-22, the Big Lebowski (a movie), Fight Club, Greek myths and the Lord of the Rings for inspiration. But I'm unsure how to put it together. Ryming like Shakespeare or Reynard the fox is something nice too. Or short Native American tales or, in general, fables. There's so much to pick from!

I think it might be better for me to start with short stories. There's writing communities on the internet were I could start with the short stories. Could always turn it into a bundle. I do prefer to write it in Dutch though.

So. Let's talk about your story. What is your theme? Is it a horror story or more like Jurassic Park? Does it center around one character? I read a book once that was about a hunter and part of the story was in the perspective of the hunted bear. It was long ago but I thought it worked well.

I also make up stories in my mind about Dimitri and Boris(h). Boris is a not so smart drunkard. One time he went to Dimitri's house to complain about his missing vodka. He thought Dimitri took it from him. "Dimitri, I can't find the vodka. Did you take it from me? Why did you take it from me I don't understand... I thought we were friends." Of course Boris was drunk and holding the vodka in his hand.

And yeah I see this as a hobby. I do not have high expectations.
Its a horror-survival themed book for 16+. Lots of inspiration from the walking dead and Jurassic park. Its like jp 2 with the t-rex in san diego but inthe uk and with more dinosaurs. It has more focus on the fact that dinosaurs, while cool to imagine are incredibly dangerous. The fact of the matter is that they have no concern for human life and want to survive. Obviously chaos ensues with 90% of the human population decimated by the sudden onslaught of dinosaurs. This calamity is world wide and its killed pretty much all of the ecosystems in the world. Famine and disease is rampant with alot of the dinosaurs destroying the fauna and flora. So that's the gist of it.
It sort of spawned when i was musing what would life be like if we had dinosaurs in the modern age. I was also watching the walking dead at the time which was really quite intense. Then there was also a youtuber called BestInSlot who wanted to write a book about zombie dinosaurs and then i pretty much decided to start writing it. So now i want a violent, emotional book about two teenagers fighting to suvive in a dinosaur infested world.
What about the tempature in the UK? Wouldn't that make the UK unfit for some dinosaurs? How did they spread? Why can't they control the dinosaurs?

Just some questions that popped up. Obviously, it doesn't have to be realistic.

Your story reminds me a bit of the new planet of the apes movies.
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J3st3r56
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Feb 19 2015, 12:59 AM
J3st3r56
Feb 19 2015, 12:26 AM
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Feb 19 2015, 12:06 AM

Quoting limited to 3 levels deep
Its a horror-survival themed book for 16+. Lots of inspiration from the walking dead and Jurassic park. Its like jp 2 with the t-rex in san diego but inthe uk and with more dinosaurs. It has more focus on the fact that dinosaurs, while cool to imagine are incredibly dangerous. The fact of the matter is that they have no concern for human life and want to survive. Obviously chaos ensues with 90% of the human population decimated by the sudden onslaught of dinosaurs. This calamity is world wide and its killed pretty much all of the ecosystems in the world. Famine and disease is rampant with alot of the dinosaurs destroying the fauna and flora. So that's the gist of it.
It sort of spawned when i was musing what would life be like if we had dinosaurs in the modern age. I was also watching the walking dead at the time which was really quite intense. Then there was also a youtuber called BestInSlot who wanted to write a book about zombie dinosaurs and then i pretty much decided to start writing it. So now i want a violent, emotional book about two teenagers fighting to suvive in a dinosaur infested world.
What about the tempature in the UK? Wouldn't that make the UK unfit for some dinosaurs? How did they spread? Why can't they control the dinosaurs?

Just some questions that popped up. Obviously, it doesn't have to be realistic.

Your story reminds me a bit of the new planet of the apes movies.
Ah, yes! I have thought about this and I've decided on making the dinosaurs incredibly adaptable. Basically the dinosaurs have the right genes to grow and lose feathers with the temperature. When it gets cold, the dinosaurs grow a thick coat of downy feathers and when it warms up, they shed the feathers! Obviously they cant withstand temperatures beyond that of scotland, but it makes them automatically acclimatised to british weather.

They escaped from research facilities when there was a blackout so no-one knew what was happening. They had a few weeks to get around.

The military was taken by surprise essentially. Its also really hard to contain a panicky brachiosaurus. Big dinosaurs break things, little dinosaurs take the opportunity to escape with them.
I wont say how they ended up in the facilities or who the characters are in detail or the scenes and story that takes place because this is a public forum and alot of people will end up seeing it. Its for safekeeping. Dont worry I have it figured out down to a tee!
I had a cool idea for the dilophosaurus. You know how it had the crook in its upper jaw? Well i was looking at the dilo scene in jp and then I thought what if the crook in its jaw was a place for venom sacs? It is though that a dilo would attack large prey by biting with a hatchet motion like allosaurus. That could be how it delivered venom. Its crook serves no purpose, as far as we know so it could be possible.
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Edited by J3st3r56, Feb 19 2015, 08:13 AM.
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MightyKharza
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Here's another idea, inspired by the ecological damage caused by rabbits in Australia: I imagine a scene where you have vast herds of protoceratops or other small ceratopsians overgrazing the Yorkshire moors and outcompeting the local sheep, with fruitless nest-destroying campaigns being waged by local town councils.

I can also imagine coastal towns like Whitby or the Scottish islands being evacuated because of swarms of territorial pterosaurs using those areas as breeding sites.
Edited by MightyKharza, Feb 20 2015, 10:29 PM.
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J3st3r56
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Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. By that point it would of been about 6 months since the "outbreak" that'll cool to write.
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J3st3r56
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Right then, I have got 17 chapters planned out already. Its looking good so far, but if anyone wants to add anything here, i will definitely consider it.
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Choeradodis
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You might want to include some of the slightly more obscure dinosaurs. Also, you'll be doing other mesozoic fauna too, right? Dinosaurs are great, but it's not complete without pterosaurs, aquatic reptiles, and perhaps even some mesozoic mammals like Repenomamus giganticus (grew to around 30 lbs if the weight estimate on wiki is reliable).

Some suggestions I'd love to see: Deinocheirus (it could be hyper-aggressive contrary to its appearance, like hippos), Pannoniasaurus (freshwater mosasaur), Hatzegopteryx, Masiakasaurus, Jehelopterus, Madtsoia (not spelled wrong btw), Kaprosuchus,and go nuts on prey items. ;)

Also, I bet you already have this in mind but still, try not to anthropomorphise the animals and ESPECIALLY don't make the animals predictably "unpredictable".
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J3st3r56
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How could i miss out the pterosaurs? I'm not sure if I could find a spot where the aquatic animals could fit in, but i'm definitely adding lots of pre and post mesozoic creatures. I'm expressly making sure the dinosaurs will behave fairly realistically (but creative license will be applied for some sections).
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MightyKharza
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How are you going to depict the human characters? What part of the UK are they from? What were their occupations? How are they going to differ from a typical Hollywood depiction? What effect will the dinosaurs have on daily life? The military? Commerce? Religion? Is this dinosaur plague only affecting the UK or the rest of the world? What's the news from the rest of the world? Does the UK still have contact with Europe or North America?

I think movies like Threads or novels like Day of the Triffids are a good reference for how people would realistically react in a post-apocalyptic scenario.
Edited by MightyKharza, Aug 12 2015, 11:35 PM.
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J3st3r56
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MightyKharza
Aug 12 2015, 11:32 PM
How are you going to depict the human characters? What part of the UK are they from? What were their occupations? How are they going to differ from a typical Hollywood depiction? What effect will the dinosaurs have on daily life? The military? Commerce? Religion? Is this dinosaur plague only affecting the UK or the rest of the world? What's the news from the rest of the world? Does the UK still have contact with Europe or North America?

I think movies like Threads or novels like Day of the Triffids are a good reference for how people would realistically react in a post-apocalyptic scenario.
The human characters would definitely have a large respect for the dinosaurs. one of them is a tough girl who's outdoorsy and the other one is a smart dinosaur nerd. i know its a cliche that "oh hes knows a lot about dinosaurs so he wont get killed" but its kind of relevant because a lot of people in the book misunderestimate dinosaurs. They live in the East Midlands. The usual day to day life is ruined because dinosaurs don't adhere to the rules of society. the whole operation that brought the dinosaurs to the modern world was a mystery to the entirety of the world pretty much. Commerce is gone because the entirety of the world is covered in dinosaurs, all communications have been lost and religion is an interesting idea to play with. I'm being quite vague with the details because this is a public forum and i dont want people to steal my ideas.
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Jinfengopteryx
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I don't know if I can ask that, but do you already have an explanation for the unexpected amount of dinosaurs?
Cloning a few who reproduce far faster than thought does not appear realistic when talking about large animals.
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J3st3r56
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Jinfengopteryx
Aug 15 2015, 12:52 AM
I don't know if I can ask that, but do you already have an explanation for the unexpected amount of dinosaurs?
Cloning a few who reproduce far faster than thought does not appear realistic when talking about large animals.
this is where suspension of disbelief has to be used, but i cant give exact details
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