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Okay so there's a part in a thing I'm writing where a guy reads some poetry and is truly, deeply moved by it. He's writing about it in a diary, speaking to the reader, so I just have him saying (paraphrased) "it was really really really good." I'm trying to think of a better way of getting that across to the reader. Right now it's like I'm beating the reader over the head with "no man it was so awesome you gotta believe me." Telling rather than showing or whatever. Should I insert a bit of the poem into the text? Or whaaaat. Chexoid fucked around with this message at 09:45 on Aug 15, 2012 |
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Aug 15, 2012 09:27
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 06:23 |
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Purple Prince posted:A lot of great stuff Thank God. I'm glad sticking the poem in there is a bad idea, since I'm a butcher with verse. The character is fairly academic, so I hope I'll be able to get away with getting a little flowery in describing it. Thanks again! Martello posted:This brings up an interesting thing -- eye-dialect. Who loves it, who hates it, who has advice on when and how to use it? I'm not crazy about it, to be honest. A lot of people go overboard. I was just reading Cloud Atlas, and the last "story" in it is absolutely crammed with this kind of chopped up dialect. (still loved it though) The majority of the book is written in normal English, so running face first into a wall of "A fat joocesome slice, nay, none o your burn wafery off'rins" half way through was disorienting as hell. Really took me a while to adjust to reading it. edit: wait no that's terrible advice. Better advice is to avoid using it too much when it's the narrator's voice, like in Cloud Atlas, and save it for dialogue. Too much of that stuff hurts your brain. Chexoid fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Aug 16, 2012 |
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Aug 16, 2012 01:16
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:Would it be alright to ask a recommended reading list from you guys? I've been trying to write fantasy and I keep tripping up, then I realised it's because I haven't read enough. I've read: Steven Erickson's series Malazan Book of The Fallen are dense, meaty tomes with a ton of stuff to keep track of, but that poo poo is down right inspired. That dude has epic fantasy nailed.
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Sep 13, 2012 01:34
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Molly Bloom posted:
Oh god I`m so glad someone else said this. Nothing motivates me like seeing someone else I know be successful. Especially if it`s someone I know I`m better than. It is not enough for me to succeed, others must fail.
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Dec 24, 2012 05:30
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A creative writing prof I know actually advised against reading and emulating authors with a really strong, distinct style like James Joyce and such, since you will just get overwhelmed by it and never develop your own style. He said one of his writing buddies was basically ruined by reading Hemingway, since everything he wrote afterwards was just Hemingway, and the guy never really got his own voice. To me that sounds kinda dumb, but that prof is wicked smart so I try to keep it in mind. Chexoid fucked around with this message at 08:26 on Dec 27, 2012 |
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Dec 27, 2012 08:23
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Erik Shawn-Bohner posted:Hey gang. See I dunno, I've thought a lot about this and I feel like it depends on what you want to get out of your writing. Pandering to what you think people want to read may lead to more success commercially, but writing what you truly want to write might be more fulfilling as an artist. Eff art though,  is where it's at. Write a story about a vampire highschool then retire to your summer house made entirely of cocaine.
Chexoid fucked around with this message at 08:44 on Dec 30, 2012 |
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Dec 30, 2012 08:39
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Okay so I have a problem. I'm writing this paranormal mystery dealie, and the opening takes place in this kind of cosmic, ethereal plane that exists inbetween the living world and the afterlife. This is a place that I think needs a very thoroughly detailed description, so that the reader knows where the hell they are. My problem is that I feel like if I go heavy on the details, it slows the introduction way too much for the kind of thriller/mystery story I'm trying to tell. This place is where the inciting incident happens, so it's not as easy as just swapping settings to something that's easier to describe. Should I stick to a detailed opening? Or trim it down a bit and try to sprinkle in details throughout the rest of the introduction? Also: magnificent7 posted:Oh I checked your Thunderdome. Your people scare me. Embrace your fear! gently caress that, strangle your fear and wear its skin like a coat. The only real way to fail at Thunderdome is if you half-rear end it. No one really cares how good your story is, they're being written in a week and are all going to suck. Chexoid fucked around with this message at 23:24 on Apr 6, 2013 |
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Apr 6, 2013 23:21
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Yea, now that you say that it seems like my way doesn't really work. I was just too bunked up in the brain to see it. Thanks!
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Apr 7, 2013 01:00
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Manoueverable posted:God help me, I'm thinking of entering a Thunderdome story thanks to all this advice. Knowing me, though, I'll probably get one of those avatars of shame, even with such a good prompt. I do really need practice outside of my pet project, though, so I suppose this will help for whatever else I plan to do with it (even though I know the advice will probably end up being "Read more scrub" or "kill yourself you are terrible"). Think of it this way, the ONLY result is you getting better. There is no way to get WORSE by writing.
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May 30, 2013 04:09
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I would deffo buy a book that came with DnD character sheets for all the principle characters. Especially if it wasn't fantasy at all and was just like, a political drama set in 1987.
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Jul 20, 2013 07:43
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E-books rule. I just heard about that writing tools book ten minutes ago and now I own it. It rules too.
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Aug 7, 2013 06:54
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 06:23 |
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It`s also impossible for me to have a physical copy of "Mills College Anime Club." +1 for ebooks.
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Aug 7, 2013 22:05
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