I don't know how this is relevant to anyone, or anywhere. I realized today that my characters have been trapped together for three days in a tree and have never once needed to pee (it rhymes!). They've also developed romantic feelings for each other, bringing awkward images to my mind about them squatting in turns and pretending not to hear.
I guess, since the genre is science fiction, they could be wearing high-tech tampons that vaporize their urine or something.
argh....
----------
57,007 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 02 30
Let me say first off that I laughed aloud.
Also, I commend your deep thought, though I wonder, do I smell a hint of procrastination? ;D
50,437 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 02 39
That... was awesome.
I read that. Blinked. Re-read that, then realized that my characters never pee either but BOY do they spend a lot of time drinking.
I don't think it's an issue.
----------Make it about the story, not the word count. (Maybe if I say it enough I'll believe it...)
50,235 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 03 37
Well I would consider it a plot hole if I read it.
Seriously, I do like these details IF they are relevant, and well, having to pee while trying to build a romance is too important an issue (at least at the time :D) to be left out just because it doesn't matter much. And it IS a great relationship tester. You know, to suddenly realize that this angelic being actually not only pees, but shits too, ohmylord. 8)
High-tech tampons (catethers?) would be extremely painful and uncomfortable. High-tech diapers would be more fitting, but a vision of future generations peeing in diapers exclusively is even more disturbing than idea of peeing down the tree.
P.S. my alien characters don't pee, but my human characters certainly do, actually peeing is a grand plot point at some place :P
----------[img]http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/2193/mybanner491ab4be02ac5ky9.jpg[/img]
63,000 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 03 47
Do they know how long they're going to be stuck for? If they don't have supplies they might pee in a bottle and try and purify it for drinking water, then you could make it a plot point, though drinking your friend's pee isn't very romantic >:-)
----------2008: Devon Davies' Destiny
2007: Cold Spell - won!
2006: The Diabolist's Debt - failed
2005: Technomancer - won!
50,705 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 04 04
Jeez, I didn't think of that, and I have a bunch of people stuck on a small fishing boat. Coffee can, ladies?
64,473 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 05 51
Actually, if they are limited on water, they wouldnt be peeing a whole heck of a lot anyway. Not even needing to but maybe one or twice a day, if that.
----------Amanda Panda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2008: Mercury: Sci-Fi/YA: WON! 64,473
50,114 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 07 38
Yeah, a lot with depend on how much liquid your characters are consuming during this time period.
My characters don't pee either . . . but then when you consider my story only spans a few hours, there's really no need for them to worry about it.
----------"Be nice to the imaginary people. Don't kill too many." -- e-mail from my youngest sister, June 23, 2008
50,718 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 08 13
Also, I commend your deep thought, though I wonder, do I smell a hint of procrastination? ;D
I also laughed out loud...at work...while my supervisor was sitting a couple feet away. Good thing she's too busy to pay much attention to my random (somewhat stifled) burst of laughter.
Hmmm....I can see how that would be a problem though. Short of the taking turns thing, or maybe a collective pee session (LOL), or diaper-related thing, you could make someone make a comment like "Gee, isn't it strange none of us have had to pee?" and make it into a little bit of a joke. I probably wouldn't do that but I guess it depends on the kind of story. Or you could ignore it and hope no one notices...
Good luck!
50,295 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 08 21
Maybe they've all got these super-high-tech devices that automatically transport any, err, excretions, to a parallel universe? And just picture this parallel universe, where somewhere, orbiting a sun, is an entire planet composed entirely of....
I would read that story. ;)
100,327 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 08 38
Well, think of it this way. Who wants to hear about bodily functions in a sci-fi book? I never write about them, and my books stand just fine on their own. Matter of fact, LOTR didn't have any peeing either, as far as I know.
----------50,054 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 08 42
I don't normally got into body functions in my stories unless it's io\mportant to the plot. One assumes the characters eat and drink and piss and pass gas and all the rest, but if it isn't relevant to the plot, don't bother.
They could always have a designated limb from which to take care of these things. And everyone just acts like nothing happened. If they were all guys, they would probably make a contest out of it--"See if you can hit that purple leaf over there." Depending on the characters, the guys in the group might do that anyway--make a joke out of it.
----------jezebellydancer
50,693 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 09 03
My characters are all either angels or demons. No eating, no sleeping, and especially no peeing.
;)
----------"A computer terminal is not some clunky old television with a typewriter in front of it. It is an interface where the mind and body can connect with the universe and move bits of it about."
-- Douglas Adams
50,074 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 09 57
None of my characters have yet to pee. But one of them finally took a shower which is good because he was ripe!
0 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 10 15
I'd be less worried about when and where they would pee (turn around and close your ears works well enough), I'm more worried about how they'd wipe. I mean, a tree is better than most (leaves would be available), but if it's fall unless one of them carries tissue/moist naps (or a book that they don't mind losing a bit of), that'd be my immediate concern.
----------34,241 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 10 46
My characters pee a grand amount of one time each, and that's only the MCs, hahaha.
But really, on the "To pee, or not to pee? That is the question" isssue, I say: make it happen if it has to. For example, being trapped on a tree three days straight (or in my charries' case, being shut in prison with sneaky hidden provisions). So, make it hugely awk. I mean, I may not be the one to talk, because that's exactly what I did, but I think it's kind of comic relief, especially because they have to be trapped in a tree because of something BAD, right? So, they look away and blush, trying not to envision what exactly is going on on that branch ...
But, that may be because I love to torture my characters. (I turned the MMC into a cat just to frustrate them >:)
----------Actual Apples to Apples game:
Adjective: Sappy
Winning card: Tree Houses
...
I love it when I win this game.
56,328 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 11 04
LOL! I laughed too.
I don't really have the same problem -- one of my characters' CATCHPHRASES is "I gotta pee." He has an extremely small bladder, but never cuts down on the amount coffee/water/etc that he drinks. And he's often stuck in the car for long periods of time. Good thing it's a humourous story...
----------You're born, you die, and in the middle is all comedy. -- Trevor Strong, The Arrogant Worms.
If it can't be good, it can be lots! -- Chris Patterson, The Arrogant Worms.
52,908 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 13 55
Unless you want to write like Hemingway and get that earthy realism (I'm farily certain the MC In The Old Man and the Sea urinates over the side of the boat), I think you can leave out bodily functions most of the time: the reader will assume it's being taken care off. After all - how often did we read about Frodo Baggins, or Scralett O'Hara or Madame Bovary peeing?
HOWEVER,
I had the same problem as you have. I had my character being held captive in a cave for several days. So, I'm thinking the readers are going to think, ' jeez, does he just go in the corner of the cave where everyone lives? That would be icky."
Maybe your characters wander (climb) to a secluded branch to do their business.
70,644 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 14 07
One of my MC is shackled and imprisoned in a cage with no potty or privacy.
----------I thought about the issue but I'll leave that to the imagination of my readers.
I'm thinking that she just gets a bowl to use a couple times a day...eat the food out, leave a mess in.
See? No need to burden my readers with that image...
__________________________________
NaNo 2007 - "30 Days" (63679 words) WON
Participate in my Interactive Adventure Blogvel!
http://blog.dawnsrise.com
53,930 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 17 55
Can I just say that this whole thread has me laughing hysterically? And my characters haven't ever peed in my story either...I guess we all just assume that they do. Come to think of it, I've never even mentioned if any of their homes even have bathrooms...
It might not be so awkward in the end. For one thing it IS a good relationship tester, and the fact that they don't have a lot of privacy would probably bring them closer as a group. I mean...nature's gotta do its thing. Embarrassment has to take a back seat. And when embarrassment takes a back seat, people tend to be more honest. And honesty...well, can either be very good or very bad for a budding relationship. xD
----------This above all: to thine own self be true.
NaNo 2008 - "Ritualistic Formalism" - WON!
55,205 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 18 24
My characters have yet to pee, eat or bathe, though they have traveled a good distance, have been in many disgusting places as well as drunk an enourmous amount of various herbal teas. When I first read this post, I giggled but then it made me think about some of the books I've read that have spanned characters lifetimes in a trilogy and I don't think I ever remember pausing and thinking about the lack of peeing time. Maybe it is just me, but I think depending upon the story and how you capture your audience into reading, they get into the story and don't even think "hey, {insert random mc} has yet to pee", well unless the question is brought up on a Nano board. It may be a good little scene to put into your writing just because of the awkwardness it would bring up between characters moving towards romantic feelings but I personally would say, if they pee they pee if they don't well they don't.
50,233 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 20 58
Mine pee and bath and eat! But it's kinda awkward writing it. XD
50,121 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2008 - 21 58
This is hilarious!
----------My characters eat with great gusto but they don't pee and I hadn't even noticed.
Pam
"Three Rings Into The River" NaNoWriMo 2008
50,196 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2008 - 00 13
You could always make it a feature - if there are beasties keeping them trapped up the tree, have the MMC try to pee on one of them, or laugh if he gets one accidentally. You could have your MFC make a kind of funnel from a leaf and join in the MMC's game of trying to hit the beasties :-D
Having been on small boats, the lads just went proudly over the rail and us women peed in a bucket and emptied it overboard.
I've read a book about four guys trapped on an overturned boat (the Rose Noelle) for months - one of the things mentioned was when they needed to have a poo, that no matter how rough the seas were, they'd clamber out onto the hull and as far away from the others as they could. It was the only time they'd be out of sight of each other - a pretty big deal when there were no handrails or safety ropes. Peeing wasn't an issue.
Necessity would make it no big deal in a very short time.
----------2006 Nano - Waiwari - completed
2007 SocNoc - Waiwari Atoll - Editing
2007 Nano - Waiwari Papa - plotting
50,309 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2008 - 03 46
I would suggest making a quick mention of it in a descriptive paragraph. From the mention "tampons", I take it your characters are female. (Also, am I the only one who imagined them sitting in a hollowed-out section of a tree? lol) So, maybe adding it to a list of things they've had to do together in the tree, or perhaps if there's a designated spot, maybe one of the characters can have a dilemma, intimating that she has to do her business while the other is "hanging out too close to the pee-branch", or something. Just one mention, however vague, should cover it.
Or maybe one of them is really uncomfortable, and the other is misinterpreting this as some sort of emotional distress, or hatred, etc, and they try to talk about it, and then the uncomfortable one blurts something out like "...and I really really REALLY have to PEE!" and the other one is like, "Oh thank god I'm not the only one!" and they laugh a bit and then figure out a system. Somethin' like that.
My characters haven't peed yet either, which hasn't been an issue due to the length of the scenes, but they probably will in future. Because they are mostly male (edit: in number, not hermaphrodites. lol), and peeing on things is so delightfully male. Especially as they get towards drinking age.
good luck with the pee problem!
89,831 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2008 - 08 04
Do you actually stay with them in the tree for the entire few days or is more a 'characters got stuck in a tree ... go off and visit other characters ... several hours later, characters are still in tree' progression? If it's the former, then it might be considered an issue, although there are solutions - you can refrain from using a toilet for long stretches of time or, indeed, there might be some solution to it.
However, there's no reason why we simply couldn't assume they were relieving themselves during the times the reader is not with the characters stuck in a tree. In my plot, I think I mention my MC going into the bathroom once; however, there's plenty of time jumps when he could be using the facilities - indeed, there's even a five month gap where we don't see him at all!
----------"Imaginary numbers? Are they just imaginary friends for maths nerds?"
71,027 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2008 - 08 20
I think you should write a bit about that. It should make for a funny scene. You might also have a character that needs to defecate every day. If you have a girl, maybe she's on her period and her tampon is full. What now? Does she stuff leaves in her panties? This could be good...
----------=)
Highest Daily Word Count This Year - 10,003 ~ New Record: 11/1/08
Characters in the Story - 16
Days with No Nanoing - 1
Characters Killed - 3
Characters Revived - 1
2008 ~ The Truth About Our Universes
53,708 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2008 - 09 10
I'm also laughing at this entire thread.
For me, it's a matter of "Is it necessary to the plot?" I don't think my characters have peed on-camera, so to speak, but that's because they're not up a tree or being held captive in a cave or whatever. It's assumed that they pee when we're not looking.
----------"We're all one family. Some of us suck blood and some of us carry sharpened stakes, just in case, but we all get along okay. Well, most of the time."
Boys Need A Mother
NaNoWriMo 2008
50,724 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2008 - 09 38
This thread made me laugh, I read it then thought 'actually nor do mine'.
Mines fantasy but I have mentioned bathrooms a few times so I was guessing that it would be assumed that people knew they were peeing a bit. Plus mine also had steampunk elements so its very Victorian so I doubt it would be mentioned at all, I might just have to add another peeing bit in now for laughs and realism yes that’s it realism. I think that’s what it adds by mentioning things like eating and peeing ect. Unless you have any non-human characters.
51,076 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2008 - 11 48
Well, my characters don't pee on camera and the story runs over about a month. At the same time, they haven't slept either but then it's never night time. B) I think others have mentioned but they don't need to unless it's a plot point (stuck in a tree bodily functions might become a plot point).
-------------
Oh my... I actually think I can do this. Of course I may go crazy in the process...
78,562 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2008 - 15 21
One of my characters is in a dark wet cell in a basement, she's been there for some time, like 3weeks to a month, I'm vague about time passing in November because I can't keep track until the rewrite. Point is, when I introduced her cell I described it including a bucket. I don' think I said what it was for, just assumed the readers would know.
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2005: You'll be Okay (50, 313)
2006: Franklin's Bell (51,181)
2007: The Heart of Shamahley (63,401)
2008: The Nexus (78,562)