spirituous

Yikes, I need a lot of research. So let me make a nice, pretty list:

1) Types of martial arts and what they teach.

2) Police ranks i.e. Sergent, Lieutenant, etc. I need to know what outranks what.

3) Greek mythology

4) Good cities for a novel; I was thinking Phoenix, AZ, NY, NY, Chicago, IL, New Orleans, LA, blah blah blah. But I don't know much about the cities. So any info on them would be super.

Okay, umm, maybe not that much research. But I think I may be forgetting some things. Consider yourselves lucky I forgot. Thanks a lot!

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Ralizah

You're not being clear enough.

1. What kind of martial arts? There're too many different forms to count.

3. What about Greek mythology. You have to specify what part of it you're interested in. It's such a wide spectrum of mythology that just saying 'greek mythology' gives someone no idea what you're looking for.

4. A good city is whatever city fits into the contect of your story.

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spirituous

I don't know how to be clearer on the first. Um, if you have any knowledge on any form of marital arts, share share.

For the greek stuff, just share any stories you know pretty well about any god, goddess, etc. Meh.

That's the problem, a lot of cities can fit my story. I just want some input on what cities other people seem to like and know about.

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rashadow

Google, in this case, is definitely your friend.

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Spudley

Your topics are far to broad for me to even begin covering it (I mean, there are entire library shelves that cover Greek mythology!), but I'll try to help:

• 1) Martial arts
• Martial arts info, categories and types

• 2) Police ranks....
• Police Ranks (UK)
• Police officer titles & job descriptions (LAPD)
• Military ranks (several nations)

...those are the best I could find.

• 3) Greek myths...
• Yahoo's reference entry on the topic
• www.classicalmythology.org
• www.mythweb.com

...could go on forever with this one...

• 4) Good cities for novels....
  Ummm.... any city. But it helps if you have some local knowledge, otherwise you run the risk of it sounding fake.

Hope that helps

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Queasy Dillo

Why not invent a new city? I seldom (if ever) use an actual location unless I'm real familiar with it, so I just build an entirely new locale. The chief benefit of doing so is that it frees you from any errors you might make regarding an existing city.

Just my opinion, though.

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kerpoe

too broad....I might help I'll get back to you on the matter of it though

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mammamaia

part of a writer's 'job' is doing the requisite research... asking for some specific bit of whatever that can't be easily found in a google search is fine, but to ask others to provide ALL the background info you need for a story/book/screenplay is just plain lazy... sorry, but i can't sugar-coat that one!

as others have noted above, google is the fastest, your local public library another good source...

if you really want to be a 'real' writer, you'll buckle down and do the work yourself...

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LensmanZ313

For mythologies, try:

www.godchecker.com.

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spirituous

I wasn't asking for ALL the background information on all of this stuff. I was just asking if anyone knew any tidbits of info on any of those subjects. I know my basic greek mythology with Narcicuss, Cassandra, Zeus, etc., I know about Judo, Kenpo, etc, I know basic ranks for the police, and I know different cities. I was just asking for a little help, sorry if that makes me "lazy". So yeah, I've done my research, I just wanted anyone else's input. So sorry.

playstation60

The way that you worded your request for help is way too broad. You need to confine things down to something a little easier to grasp. For those that are looking to help you, and for yourself. It will make your job writing that much easier.
As for a city to base your story out of....I would say ask your characters. They can often provide a location just by who they are. If you're doing your job, and creating believable characters, you shouldn't have too much trouble with it.
Going with creating your own city is an excellent idea. Saves on a lot of research you would need to do in order to sound real. It also allows you a large number of ways to keep the story fresh. You get bogged down in one of the mundane details of the plot line, just start working on the make up of your city. Can help spark things for you.



Ben

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teflon

Google got it. You name it you find it there. It's just a matter of spending time.

NoWorries

Phoenix isn't much of city for a novel. Phoenix is the central part of the valley of the sun, where the skyscrapers and baseball ballpark are. That's about it. Run-down, kinda dirty, but a nice place to see the D-Backs win the world series.

The suburbs of Phoenix, each their own city, would be better places for a story.

1. Scottsdale, rich part of town, beautiful houses, sprawling strip malls, indian casinos, nice buildings and streets.

2. Tempe, College town, Mill Ave. is the cruising street, with a huge book store, giant movie theatre, and weird, weird restaurants, that really aren't very good. Everyone is under 25, and the most beautiful women in the world reside here. Not that Arizona has the most beautiful women(although it does) but if you're beautiful in high-school, you'll probably immigrate to Arizona State University.

3. Mesa, Second Largest Mormon population in the world. There are nice parts of town, although parts of it are rundown, and downtown Mesa is gorgeous, it looks like something you'd see in a western, although the streets are paved.

4. Chandler/Glendale, Average family places to live, 2.5 children per household, each "community" is designed around a school/park, although they don't really work as a community, it's a nice idea. All of the houses are new, but are cookie-cutter design. The best Mexican food in the world is here, even better than Mexico. Any restaurant you go into guarantees good food.

5. Cave Creek - Up in the mountains, some people have too much money, others don't have nearly enough. I've never seen a place with such a definitive poverty line. The location is beautiful, but I also think it's the hottest part of the Valley.

The custom car/motorcycle thing is nuts in the Phoenix area. Before West Coast Choppers and OCC took over TV, Titan motorcycles based in Chandler were churning out the expensive custom bikes. There are HUGE car/motorcycle gathering all over the city on almost any night of the week.