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Cache Cab posted:Because you're not part of the circlejerk that runs Thunderdome. Thunderdome is not about ripping people apart for no reason. There is a tough love element at play, but the vast majority of people involved genuinely want to see people improve as writers. I have literally never seen an instance where not knowing an in-joke has led to unfair criticism or treatment, and I say this as someone that is pretty new to the dome myself. As for "posting right": there are very clear instructions in the OP and in each individual week's prompt. If you want to write, reading comprehension is a pretty important skill to cultivate. There's some gentle ribbing if you gently caress up formatting or don't follow the rules, but nobody is going to hunt you down and kick in your door over it. Worst case scenario, you get disqualified, and even then you will often still get feedback. Yes, people do get upset if you constantly and repeatedly bumble around in the thread like Mr. Magoo, blatantly ignoring advice and instructions, but the structure and organization of the thread is part of why it's been so successful. It's not some old-guard clique looking to kick over the new guy's sandcastle. Yes, it would be cool if more writing got posted outside of the dome in CC, but this has always been a low-traffic subforum and I remember lurking in CC a few years back when Thunderdome didn't exist and it was a goddamn ghost town. Like 1 story on the first page with 0 replies. There are lots of people here that are willing to critique stories and provide opinions, but the sad fact is that there's not enough people producing other work to critique. The existence of Thunderdome doesn't preclude anyone from posting anything else...it just doesn't happen.
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Oct 9, 2014 23:24
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Cache Cab posted:Because you're not part of the circlejerk that runs Thunderdome. I had a slam of you all written up, then you actually apologised and I deleted it. You're not getting lucky a second time. The reason your story lost is because it was the worst. Some pieces were controversial at the top end (I tried to get an HM for Obliterati but the other judges weren't having it), some were controversial at the bottom (Jitzu the Monk was saved from the loser seat by SH, who placed him around the middle) but yours was the only pieces that all three of us hated without reservation. "Oh god Cache Cab's story is awful" "yup" "yeah it really is" "cool, next?" You have terrible spelling, confusing plots and boring rear end in a top hat characters. Nothing will kill a story faster than glaring spell mistakes: it shows you didn't even care enough to read it over a single time. Stop blaming social politics for the fact you suck. I don't care if you like me, but you should like writing, man. You should like your story enough to lavish some drat attention on it. If you take one piece of advice away from this, it should be that one: you don't have to be nice to us, but be nice to your loving story and it'll reward you.
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Oct 10, 2014 01:15
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:Nothing will kill a story faster than glaring spell mistakes I'm not sure how someone would know if I was making a spell mistake, since any magic systems I use in any future stories will be entirely original. But I don't write a lot of fantasy fiction anyway. I appreciate what you're saying, and I probably posted hastily. I just remember when everyone was piling on Sithsaber a while back, and it seemed to largely be the Thunderdome crowd. I felt bad for the guy because not everyone is as savvy at internet communities, or whatever.
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Oct 10, 2014 01:42
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This started because an rear end in a top hat told me not to write. That goes opposite to the point you, SM, tried to just make.
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Oct 10, 2014 01:43
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Sithsaber posted:This started because an rear end in a top hat told me not to write. That goes opposite to the point you, SM, tried to just make. Cache Cab posted:I'm not sure how someone would know if I was making a spell mistake, since any magic systems I use in any future stories will be entirely original. But I don't write a lot of fantasy fiction anyway. 
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Oct 10, 2014 01:53
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Does sithsaber still need my credentials? I mean, I've been building my LinkedIn profile and everything.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:02
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sithsaber i hope u improve but i think google is a better place of advice over this thread at this point in ur life
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Oct 10, 2014 02:08
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Cache Cab posted:I'm not sure how someone would know if I was making a spell mistake, since any magic systems I use in any future stories will be entirely original. But I don't write a lot of fantasy fiction anyway. Is this the greatest counter-joke in history.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:23
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The Saddest Rhino posted:Does sithsaber still need my credentials? I mean, I've been building my LinkedIn profile and everything. What? As for me needing to focus on fundamentals, that's what I've been doing for the past 3 months. I came toto this thread to bitch about losing everything i've written since I left and more.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:30
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Sithsaber posted:This started because an rear end in a top hat told me not to write. That goes opposite to the point you, SM, tried to just make. It was quite obviously a snide remark, nobody is telling you not to write. You came in and asked whether you should give up after losing the only existing copy of your edited works (at the very least I hope you learned your lesson there) or start over, which is a supremely stupid question to ask a bunch of strangers on an internet forum. Either you care enough about your writing to push through the setback, or you don't. If you feel the need to defer to a forum consensus on the issue, you might need to ask yourself if this is really something you actually care about. People are hostile toward you because everyone remembers the last time you came here and tons of really helpful people heaped literal mountains of advice onto your head, and you ignored every single bit of it, often insulting those people or belittling their efforts to help you in the same breath. It's not some Thunderdome goon squad lighting the signal fires every time you wander into town. People had an incredible amount of patience considering how abrasive you were. Yes, it is a fact that there's not a whole lot of good will aimed in your direction around these parts, but it's literally 100% your own fault. Bad writing can be overcome. We've had people come in here and grow in leaps and bounds, because they internalize feedback, don't get defensive, and keep coming back even after someone tells them a story is poo poo (Which, by the way, has happened to goddamn near every single person that posts regularly in the dome, myself included). If you put in the work and take criticism in stride, and if you take what people are saying and actually apply it instead of putting on blinders, anybody can improve. If you roll up and tell us we are all wrong and don't get your special snowflake story and we are all assholes because we didn't heap praise at your feet, then don't be surprised when people tell you to gently caress off. And Cache Cab: I really wish you'd chill and just put your nose to the grindstone. Yeah, you lost a round. It sucks. Nobody ever turns in a story and expects to lose. But keep writing. There are actually a decent number of scary Thunderdome bogeymen that saw some potential in your Space Cowboy story, and you have enough self-awareness to improve your writing if you can get out of "woe is me" mode. Grizzled Patriarch fucked around with this message at 02:36 on Oct 10, 2014 |
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Oct 10, 2014 02:30
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Yeah see at this point I honestly can't tell with Cache Cab. Is he 1) an idiot? 2) a troll? 3) an idiot who has decided to 'troll' us because we made fun of him? 4) pretty harmless but frustrating sometimes because he's bad at following advice, but I guess he's improving slowly which is good hang in there buddy I dunno. I'm pretty sure 'spell mistake' is a joke though, because it's too perfect otherwise. Whichever it is, Cache Cab is sometimes annoying but mostly doesn't bother me that much. We alright, homie. 
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Oct 10, 2014 02:31
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The holier than thou crap is really unnecessary, especially considering how I've just finished reading the books and improving the stuff people said I should. Honestly I didn't think or care about past history here; I just wanted to bitch. Bitching beats banging my head on the stove.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:35
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Sithsaber posted:The holier than thou crap is really unnecessary, especially considering how I've just finished reading the books and improving the stuff people said I should. Honestly I didn't think or care about past history here; I just wanted to bitch. Bitching beats banging my head on the stove. So prove it. If you've been focusing on the fundamentals and actively trying to improve for 3 months, then anything you write now should show it. If you post a new story in CC (doesn't have to be the dome) I will do a full line-by-line crit of it. I'll even promise not to be an rear end in a top hat. I will go through it with a fine-toothed comb and pick out issues with grammar, syntax, word choice, characterization, plot, pacing. etc., etc. without an ounce of malice.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:36
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Oh, and everybody sucks to start with? I think I've mentioned it before, but you know what I started writing, and wrote all throughout high-school? Self-insert Warhammer fanfiction. Tragically lost after my laptop died and then Portent (the forum I posted on) went down for good, but for at least four years during high-school I wrote daily self-insert warhammer fanfiction, where I was a tragic guardsman who was really good at everything but kept getting passed up for promotion by GIRLS. We all start somewhere terrible, and work our way up. You won't get good at this quickly. Nobody does
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Oct 10, 2014 02:37
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:But you didn't write a fantasy story, and you used words like 'Hooolywood'. I guess my joke wasn't very funny. I appreciate that you're earnestly trying to help me. It reminds me of when my kids tried to show me the Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X, I just never got it even though they acted like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It's probably no secret that I'm a dude past my prime, and I don't have a whole lot of options for finding a meaningful life left to me. I'm not saying my self esteem rests on Thunderdome, but trying to find something resembling a community to be a part of is a big part of what's been helping me out these past few months. I know it's hard to believe, but I really do want to get better. I think I will brawl someone next time I feel like Thunderdoming. Or can I not do that? I want to ask before I blunder into the thread and do another faux pas.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:37
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Well, I guess I can't post fast enough to keep up with this thread. Thanks for the input, guys.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:38
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Grizzled Patriarch posted:So prove it. If you've been focusing on the fundamentals and actively trying to improve for 3 months, then anything you write now should show it. If you post a new story in CC (doesn't have to be the dome) I will do a full line-by-line crit of it. I'll even promise not to be an rear end in a top hat. I will go through it with a fine-toothed comb and pick out issues with grammar, syntax, word choice, characterization, plot, pacing. etc., etc. without an ounce of malice. See, that's what I was about to do when I lost everything. (Hence the bitching)
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Oct 10, 2014 02:40
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Cache Cab posted:I guess my joke wasn't very funny. I run weekly brawls for people who haven't won any TD contests. You can join that one. If there's already three people signed up, I'll sneak you in. Mercedes fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Oct 10, 2014 |
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Oct 10, 2014 02:44
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Cache Cab posted:I guess my joke wasn't very funny. quote:Now you can be with Steve foreverI quote:Yeah, he thought. The kids will be better off this wayI. Sithsaber posted:See, that's what I was about to do when I lost everything. (Hence the bitching)
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Oct 10, 2014 02:45
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Cache Cab posted:I guess my joke wasn't very funny. Look man, I get where you are coming from. You just need to realize that it's not like you've burnt all your bridges and have an angry mob chasing you out of the thread. You wrote a bad story that lost, and that's okay. I've done it too. So have a lot of people. If you go look at almost anyone's history in the dome, you are going to find losses and DMs. The thing is, it's only a mark of shame if you make it one. Or you can make it a challenge. Make it light a fire in your belly, keep writing, and show us what's up. I promise it's not too late to improve your writing if you are willing to put in the work. Keep entering and don't get discouraged when you don't do so hot. Read every crit judges post, not just yours. You can learn a hell of a lot by looking at what works and doesn't work for others. You'll find other stories that have the same problems yours do, and you'll find stories that handle it in a way that works. Learn from both. quote:See, that's what I was about to do when I lost everything. (Hence the bitching) On the bright side, if you've already done a full edit on an earlier piece and you legitimately feel that you've improved, it probably won't take you long to do it again. Or write something completely new. Either way, my offer stands. I will line-by-line the next thing you post for critique as if it's the first post of yours that I've ever seen. Grizzled Patriarch fucked around with this message at 02:49 on Oct 10, 2014 |
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Oct 10, 2014 02:46
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:We all start somewhere terrible, and work our way up. You won't get good at this quickly. Nobody does i started by writing the great american grovel
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Oct 10, 2014 02:52
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I started with terrible steampunk and immediately realized that steampunk is the worst.
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Oct 10, 2014 02:53
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PYF Terrible Writer confession. I once wrote a poem called an essay in poetical form about why -being a young angry middle class white man- my opinions are correct and yours are not. It was self-aware but not very self-aware. edit: all of my poems had really long titles because it was subversive man, you just don't get it. That's how I ended up with titles like I'm writing this poem about Calvin and Hobbes but since Bill Waterman doesn't want me to use his copyrighted characters I will have to indirectly talk about a boy and his toy tiger which is in-and-of-itself an act of rebellion. This shows up in some of my earlier TD pieces as well. SurreptitiousMuffin fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Oct 10, 2014 |
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Oct 10, 2014 02:57
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Sithsaber posted:What? Sithsaber posted:I get schaudenfreude(don't care how it's spelled) I'll take your advice and put the phone down to pick up children of the mind. (My last book was "my life in the Bush of ghosts" which was a high concept freeform novella that spit on writing conventions, so maybe I can blame that for forgetting how to use a colon) A rhino never forgets
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Oct 10, 2014 02:59
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I once wrote an unintentionally super-homoerotic story about two space cop friends that did absolutely nothing exciting.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:00
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I have handwritten Xenogears fanfiction that I wrote in high school sitting around in a box somewhere. I used a purple ballpoint pen. The main characters were the members of the male cast I found most attractive, and a mysterious, angsty, and very pretty original character. She wasn't a Mary Sue, guys, she couldn't be, she was just so dark and brooding.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:01
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sithsaber if you post a story in CC ill post the oldest thing ive written in the past 3 years on my hard drive with zero editing and without reading it myself so i cant cringe out. unfortunately this is the oldest written work i have. i know cache cab is the one we're dogpiling here or whatever but i wanna see sithsaber post more so im offering to embarass myself (or not i have not read this in years).
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Oct 10, 2014 03:04
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The Saddest Rhino posted:A rhino never forgets I thought I had problems..
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Oct 10, 2014 03:07
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Djeser posted:steampunk is the worst. False. Cyberpunk is the worst.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:12
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General Battuta posted:My book is due Monday and I'm preeeeetty freaked out. I should've had plenty of time but then the narrative encountered complications — a cold, a party, a dead dog, a lot of scenes I realized could be way better. Feeling kinda rough. if it makes you feel any better none of us can relate to you because we dont know what "my book is due Monday" could possibly feel like. cheer up buddy.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:13
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Jagermonster posted:False. Cyberpunk is the worst. n-no!!!!
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Oct 10, 2014 03:13
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General Battuta posted:My book is due Monday and I'm preeeeetty freaked out. I should've had plenty of time but then the narrative encountered complications — a cold, a party, a dead dog, a lot of scenes I realized could be way better. Feeling kinda rough. You have got this. There'll always be something you figure you could have done better, it'll be fine.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:15
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Sithsaber posted:I thought I had problems.. You did create a huge impression when you were melting down, stuff like that sticks in people's mind. Do you still want them or are you just gonna continue bitching like an adorable lil' baby bitch.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:17
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Sithsaber posted:I thought I had problems.. stop writing. at least in this thread.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:20
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crabrock posted:stop writing. at least in this thread. That makes me want to write more. Oh well, time to bench. DYEL?
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Oct 10, 2014 03:24
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Hey it's so fun to watch somebody else lose their panties over what they thought was goddamned amazing writing. I remember when I was new around here. It gets better when you finally learn to take the advice. That was maybe the hardest thing for me - seeing, reading, and heeding the advice instead of explaining why they didn't get it. I hated everybody for ripping my poo poo to shreds, but there's only one instance where I knew for a fact they were wrong. (you CAN put a wire coat hanger over your head bitches.) Every other snarky piece of advice has been dead on. Now, whether I chose to heed all that advice is another story.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:25
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magnificent7 posted:Hey it's so fun to watch somebody else lose their panties over what they thought was goddamned amazing writing. I remember when I was new around here. That was 3 or 4 months ago, people. The long term memories here are ridiculous. Ps. Apparently I wanted your credentials, rhino. Give them to me before I forget about you again.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:28
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neongrey posted:You have got this. There'll always be something you figure you could have done better, it'll be fine. Thanks  I know I'm really lucky to be in this position at all, but I'm wrestling with some pretty hosed-up depression coming off my last job, and it just robs you of any sense of proportionality or confidence. It feels like I miss a couple hours of sleep and suddenly I can't write for a week, couldn't write even if I had a Pulitzer and a lifetime supply of morphine just waiting for me to polish off a paragraph.Comes and goes by days. Probably be okay tomorrow. Just hope I'll manage to put in enough good hours to tie it all up the way I'd like it. And I do appreciate the thread's patience, it's nice to be able to talk about it with people who aren't actually connected to the process.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:31
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Are you going to throw another nuclear bitchfit, sithsaber? Your title is the truest of red titles.
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Oct 10, 2014 03:32
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Battuta, when you finally get the book released be sure to plug it here so we can support your dream
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Oct 10, 2014 03:32
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