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Yes, please describe in detail the generic style that straddles mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and any other genres included in genre fiction.
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Aug 30, 2017 18:26
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anime was right posted:its got nouns and verbs if literary fiction has transcended nouns and verbs I gotta read more of it
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Aug 30, 2017 18:44
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Naerasa posted:query letters In the first three Gillen's spent his entire life preparing to kill Eduardo, and in the 4th he decides to do it after finding out the guy reads minds? Which is it?
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Sep 14, 2017 00:13
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I rewrote it the way I would given the content of yours: A young man will discover whether the cure for grief is revenge. In November 1917, after learning of his father's disappearance during a mission over France, Robert, in his anguish, lashes out at his faith, friends, and his heartbroken mother. The mysterious colonel MacAllen offers Robert an enticing proposition: enlist, bypass the barriers designed to prepare soldiers for the horrors of war, and discover the truth of his father's fate behind enemy lines - an offer the impetuous 15 year old cannot refuse. Things go wrong from the start, and Robert finds himself on the front lines of the most hellish conflict in human history with none of the training of a regular soldier and beyond the limits of the colonel's influence, surrounded by soldiers who doubt his motives and abilities. He must rely on his brothers in arms while discovering the courage inside himself to survive without letting the thirst for vengeance lead him to ruin. Fate Accomplice fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Jan 6, 2019 |
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Jan 5, 2019 23:52
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Cool, really glad that was useful to you. My biggest advice given what I’ve read thus far of yours is to condense into fewer words whenever possible. I tried to hit ~every piece of story information you covered in your version just with many fewer words, with the notable exception of stuff about the colonel, because from what I can tell this is a) not his story and b) not nearly as potentially interesting as the story of a young man fueled by vengeance and at the same time totally out of his depth.
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Jan 6, 2019 06:35
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Whalley posted:I hate that advice so much. I'd rather kill them by making them not so special after editing the other stuff which reads kinda lovely than get rid of the bits I think of as high points. Once I've made them not so special, then I can approach them more objectively, but I'd rather have a well written whole before getting rid of my high points than starting out by making the peaks and valleys of quality further apart. The way I’ve always taken that advice is that objectivity about your own work is impossible, so it’s highly likely that the aspects you like the most aren’t as good as you think they are, and might be hurting your overall story.
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Jul 24, 2019 17:52
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I don’t like the fence. The monster doesn’t look scary to me. Something about the scale compared to the man, and how it fills the frame. And its proportions too, the arms vs the rest of it. Go with one font for the author, title, and subtitle. The back blurb doesn’t make me want to read the book. Why’s Paul weary? I don’t get the sense there’s any conflict in this story beyond “this thing wants to kill us” - is there? Phone posting or I’d try my hand at rewriting it.
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Jan 24, 2020 00:56
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General Battuta posted:I am an absolute piece of poo poo who cannot write a sentence. Publishing was a mistake This is me every time I write. Edit: 650K self published words here, so there’s a lot of self loathing built up that’s only occasionally released through sales.
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Jan 29, 2020 19:51
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Azza Bamboo posted:On the subject of it's, what's wrong with it's as a shortening of it has? nothing, I use it like that all the time
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Feb 3, 2020 02:51
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Kaiser Mazoku posted:Is it normal to feel like you "have" to hit a minimum word limit for each chapter? I feel weird if I haven't passed that 2000 mark. I was at the library over the weekend and thumbed through ~5 james patterson novels. Not a single one had a chapter longer than 4 full pages, ~800-1000 words.
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Feb 4, 2020 05:27
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Take each sentence/clause in that paragraph and make it a distinct series of actions that have feeling. Feeling coming from the emotions the characters experience as they perform those actions. Have someone hesitate as they place the key, noting that she always liked to keep it around her neck, something like that.
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Mar 12, 2020 05:53
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I am at least one standard deviation geekier than the average person and I have never heard that term before
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Apr 29, 2020 18:20
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I appreciate the advice about finding time to write before/in between/after more pressing life things, but do y’all ever notice differences in the words you produce in those short moments vs longer dedicated stretches? If I write 300-500 words and stop, the likelihood that those words are good is much lower than if I write 3000-4000 and stop.
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May 26, 2020 01:51
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sebmojo posted:Doesn't sound like a huge problem. Add a scene where the lieutenant meets, talks to or worries about the boss if you're worried Agreed, though I wouldn't add that scene. As long as the relative rank of the Lieutenant is made clear, I think readers will understand that there exist ranks higher than them.
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Sep 16, 2020 04:30
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Djeser posted:Arguably the Southern Reach books are a trilogy that end with a bunch of unresolved questions, but unfortunately those fail the "good" part of the equation. Annihilation is literally the worst book I have ever finished reading. It is unfathomably bad.
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Sep 17, 2020 03:30
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BigRed0427 posted:Novel writing month idea. A book about a non verbal boy and their GF/BF, presented as a notebook the two of them write in to talk to one another. you're describing a form of epistolary novel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel) I haven't read any, but that link has a list of some notable works from this century that might help you out
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Oct 7, 2020 03:33
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Junpei posted:Thanks. I'll definitely keep that name in mind. This is exactly me but applied to whole books and minus the rough draft step.
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Nov 17, 2021 00:46
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Antivehicular posted:writing is not a visual medium...You don't have to spell out every time your character picks up or puts down an object, keep track of where everyone is in the room, and such unless it's actually important to the character somehow I struggle with this and facial expressions - documenting each and every glance, hint of surprise, etc. it's bad!
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Dec 31, 2021 17:02
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It’s me, the goon who has no idea what a maternity cover is.
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Jan 2, 2022 02:29
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I rewrote your latest attempt the way I'd do it.FA paraphrasing FM posted:Tom Bailey is atypical even for paranormal combat squad Unit 13. As a maternity cover, Tom desperately wants to stay alive long enough to return to his desk job - if only to avoid being eaten.
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Jan 2, 2022 17:22
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General Battuta posted:That's definitely a lot more streamlined but also costs a lot of the voice that an agent will be looking for. Is this a cozy paranormal detective book? An Infernal Affairs intrigue thriller? The tone of the query letter helps sell which one it is. I 100% agree - I write and read mostly terse hard boiled crime stuff. FightingMongoose posted:Thanks I'll just nick that then You’re welcome to but definitely adapt it to your story’s tone
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Jan 2, 2022 19:31
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SurreptitiousMuffin posted:It's a very arch line what does the word arch mean in this context? I couldn't find a relevant definition on dictionary.com I've seen it used like this before and I've never been able to pin down what it conveys.
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Jan 10, 2022 01:48
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Megazver posted:a: MISCHIEVOUS, SAUCY thank you - my best guess before this was a shortening of archetypal.
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Jan 10, 2022 02:23
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since they came out I don't like reading text not in Amazon's Bookerly (e-ink) or Apple's San Francisco (everything else).
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Jan 20, 2022 05:44
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Junpei posted:
I disagree with this, and I think you can have it both ways. I think you can tell a story with meaningful character growth and overcoming obstacles and also have the reader wondering if every time the characters get into a car it'll blow up.
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Jan 23, 2022 06:09
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the word "quite" should never Pththya-lyi posted:The main issue with saying characters "saw" or "felt" something is that it's redundant and creates a sense of narrative distance, often to no good purpose. Consider "She saw Miguel was trembling" vs. "Miguel was trembling." We still understand that the viewpoint character is noticing what Miguel is doing in the second example, but we feel it more immediately. It's almost like we are there with her, experiencing what she's experiencing at the exact moment she does. even better: "Miguel trembled."
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Apr 9, 2022 05:54
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General Battuta posted:My first sold at 110 and crept up to around 140 in edits. if you could/would, I'd appreciate some elaboration on this - your book got significantly longer in edit - did the publisher give feedback that certain characters/plot needed more fleshing out?
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Jun 24, 2022 17:20
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if 2000 words daily guaranteed implies I can finish my WIP, I'll take 2000 words, banish impostor syndrome, and marketable ideas.
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Jun 24, 2022 22:31
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I very much appreciated this post; it made me think about storytelling in ways I hadn't considered before.
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Apr 4, 2023 16:23
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DropTheAnvil posted:Picking up one the every line has to be a mind blower discussion, what is a cozy mystery? to my understanding: "old school" cozy mysteries are Agatha Christie style stuff - murder is off screen, there's very little violence or sexuality described, typically few locations, and frequently results in the "gather everyone in the parlor to ferret out the killer" scene. modern cozy mysteries are book versions of murder she wrote or monk episodes - typically older protagonist, small town settings, again little violence and sex. they also often are tied together with hobbies (baking, quilting, etc)
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Jun 2, 2023 18:10
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DropTheAnvil posted:Are you Hannu Rajaniemi, author of the Quantum Thief? God drat do I love that novel, and how it introduces concepts that I did not fully understand, but kept the plot moving. I think I read that entire trilogy without understanding anything past the first chapter
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Jan 16, 2024 23:17
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cumpantry posted:what do i need [editing] for? just [publish my first draft and] move onto the next book time's a wasting my writing philosophy in a nutshell
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Jan 17, 2024 19:59
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another recommendation: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Great-Sentences-Write-Courses-ebook/dp/B00AEDDRF8
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Feb 5, 2024 19:18
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cumpantry posted:still cant believe some of you fools actually skip prologues. just wtf some people skip episodes of TV, it's unfathomable to me too.
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Feb 6, 2024 01:25
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cumpantry posted:hello everyone i'm going to attempt to frankenstein some romance fantasy litrpg to life in hopes of crumbing together KU sales. here is a very brief prologue, this thread reminding me some significant and scary population of readers skip them, from being too weighty i assume. anyway be rough with me it's ok one wears pauldrons, not mounts them. the way your text reads the warrior is standing on top of shoulder armor.
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Mar 21, 2024 17:35
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the more closely I read it the more confused I get. have you read much litrpg? I have not but the stuff I've glanced at is not written nearly such flowery style.
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Mar 21, 2024 17:44
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 14:23 |
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“Three dragons, dead--a result of the pauldron mounted, sword wielding warrior erect before them. I'd add a hyphen to sword-wielding. also, erect? From left to right: the spice of the country, the mountain’s crest, and the seadevil--all laid still, their essence pooling down and besides each corpse. I don't know what to make of describing a dragon as "the spice of the country". also beside, not besides Dark above yielded to the blades of light powered by yellow twins in the sky, an infestation of gray gone soon after exposing the stolen blue of the ocean, below a great flat topped mountain jutting out from the sea. stolen blue? also I'd add a hyphen for flat-topped Trees lined its sides out of pattern--the fight had seen to some. some what? Surrounding, a great variety of plane, forest, and mesa blocked one half the horizon, the other stretching across waves yet traveled. seems a strange place for Boeing to appear, but they're going through it these days It had been one task to arrive and another to survive--a subsequent generation would burden exploration. burden seems out of place here. you burden something with something else. The woman sheathed her stained blade and returned to the village with dragon blood on their hands. the village killed the dragons? I thought she did. cool if it's a preferred pronoun usage thing, but even so confusing Following a brutal winter in a blur of months after, the warrior--recovered and emboldened--led a variety of families and caravans through swaths of hostile lands dominated by monsters and uncooperative clans. this should start a new paragraph. also, we've left the village, mountain and gone through the hostile lands? can we still see the mountain? the mountain and the sea are our only geographical reference points. Her word became weighted in all hearts to see through the journey, great bleached bones resting atop the future of Tometown. the two clauses of this sentence don't appear to be connected. or are her words bleached bones? Bridge complete, the construction effort after became welcome to a variety of merchants, traders, all varieties of visitors all distinctly different. what bridge? was the bridge the journey through the hostile lands? With its population booming, more trees fell to shacks and shanties of modest effort. the "of modest effort" got a "huh?" from me, seems out of place in the rest. Their vast, naturally protected farmlands granted an enormous boost to the local economy, its hosts ensuring all who entered Tometown left with lighter pockets. again, these seem separate ideas. Floyd Tome, a natural leader, took the reins of the city from the warrior following a popular, if unofficial, tenure. his name was on the town but he wasn't the first leader? He cared little for fight unlike his somewhat distracted predecessor. this is the first we're hearing of distraction following the dragon thing He paid more attention to the powder of his scalp than the people of the town--but this did not necessarily result in a quiet campaign. necessarily? campaign? also he seems more distracted than the heroine. Speechcraft abilities unparalleled, many merchants found their ears chatted off and themselves involved in trade agreements they could not recall the circumstances leading to after, a summary of his strange charisma. extremely confusing to parse, especially given all the other confusion surrounding Another population boom brought a reconstruction of what had fast become dilapidated--the buildings erected in their place made heavy use of clay imports resulting in architecture present even today. real fast shift to something else after we've spent a few sentences on Floyd. is he coming back? Little is clear from what history survives, but a simple compare-and-contrast cements Tometown as an unrelenting force in farming, its agricultural exports unending, its accumulated wealth secured and reinvested. OK no more Floyd. seems like plenty of history survives? not sure what the beginning of this sentence is trying to achieve. It is little wonder the expansion grew to the sides of the great pillar, wood and rock reinforcing many a foundation of homes along stone. stone vs rock? also is the pillar the mountain from earlier? we've got a mountain coming out of the ocean and a town taking up all the space available. what happened to the hostile lands? An interesting dock culture grew from these neighborhoods, further traders arriving often by boat and accommodated for--infrastructure; a place for their boats, a bar. what was interesting about it? In recent years the booming births have brought Tometown to what modern day politicians argue a crisis. how so? As of the time of writing, an official body governs the city state and its affairs to varying degrees of success--who the question is aimed towards matters greatly concerning. "government sometimes works, and how much depends on who you ask" - is there ever a situation this is incorrect? Regardless, the communities wrapped around and atop the natural tower in the sea produce an exciting culture driving tourism in no ignorable amount--immigration as well, another frequent topic of debate. OK, are you gonna say more about this frequent topic of debate? In any case, many lands fill this as of yet mastered world, and of the places to be, to see, to spend, to live and breathe, one can easily melt into the hot pot of Tometown--only unstiffening its unspoken requirement.” regardless, in any case, lotta this kind stuff. many lands? I thought the city had grown to reach the pillar itself and it was a mountain jutting out of the sea? if you're talking about the hostile lands, you say the world is as of yet mastered - are they no longer hostile? also, what requirement? -- Mars Blender III, (248--), cartographer, journeywoman, daughter Fate Accomplice fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Mar 21, 2024 |
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Mar 21, 2024 18:30
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