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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:at least don't repeat the same joke seriously.
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Sep 19, 2017 21:52
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| # ¿ May 11, 2024 13:11 |
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hit up any of the regulars for a crit, people will normally be very happy to look at your stuff for you.
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Sep 20, 2017 15:59
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Xelkelvos posted:If I'm just getting into writing (like within the last few weeks), would it be wise to sign up for the Thunderdome even though my writing skills probably have as much polish as week old cow pie? yeah, I'd do it. it's not a panacea, but it's fun, gives you an incentive to write and see yourself improve, and let's you know whether your self assessment is right. the worst that might happen is you get a loser av.
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Sep 21, 2017 21:34
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HIJK posted:Sooner or later your thread will be archived and you won't be able to delete. Choose carefully. it won't be archived until it's been dormant for a while. alternatively use gdoc links. if you are finding the thread useful, keep with it imo.
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Sep 22, 2017 03:33
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One trick is to think of something really dumb and obvious then nudge it until its not obvious and it interests you. That way you're never in the paralysing position of needing to come up with a Really Good Idea.
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Oct 3, 2017 20:19
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yes what crab and doc said. if you are in a hurry then looking inside yourself at what is grinding your gears right now then messily slapping it on the page layered with some weirdass genre pot pourri is where it's at because even if it's terrible it will still be interesting.
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Oct 3, 2017 20:38
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tdome favours stripped down language because that avoids a lot of beginners mistakes, but if you want to get fancy just do it. there's a vast array of great literature that reads nothing like that. the only caution is to be sure you're doing it intentionally not just out of habit.
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Oct 23, 2017 20:18
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also bone-dry bird bath is an amazing phrase.
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Oct 23, 2017 20:19
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Scialen posted:Just a quick question: Can anyone tell me what the progymnasmata section of "Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, 4th Edition" is like, perhaps with a small excerpt? I've only been able to find previews/excerpts from the third edition online which doesn't have it, and I can't afford the book at the moment. iirc Corbett is strongly in favour of gymnasmata, though it's been a long time since I've read it lol
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Nov 8, 2017 07:24
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:TL; DR: No. that's what I meant to say
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Nov 8, 2017 09:04
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noblesse oblige, niceties, obligations
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Dec 3, 2017 19:47
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Thunderdome is great for 'I just want to write some stories', people may yell you but it is well-intentioned and weirdly addictive.
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Dec 6, 2017 20:38
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Always double and triple check whether a twist is worth the story elements you're omitting or obfuscating to make it land. I quite liked your night/morning one, because you didnt need to hide other information to make it work, it just needed to be a little clearer.
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Dec 12, 2017 19:23
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post it a sentence at a time as tweets
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Dec 20, 2017 22:37
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Getsuya posted:Is there a current Long Walk thread? The last one I can find is a few months old. I want to Toxx myself to finish the rough draft of my novel by the end of the year. nope, but feel free to set one up, making it a new years resolution thread works.
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Dec 21, 2017 00:50
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Glancing over the piece as a whole, I really like what you're trying to do, art's great and the oppressive vibe works well but the language is very clunky in an ESL way and needs a significant rework.
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Dec 31, 2017 08:50
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Covok posted:I decided to try my hand at writing a story in a sword and sorcery style after I couldn't find a book the story collection of Conan the Barbarian at the book store nearby me. It's awesome to post and seek feedback, but don't do this. If you're asking for help, make sure you've either done as much as you can to make it good first, or at least pretend you have. Did you even proofread it? quote:But, Sebastian’s heart did not fill with fill. His breathe filled the air around him and would have left any travelers blind in a fog of human steam. hm
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Jan 16, 2018 02:48
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Yeah i wouldn't write a thing if i didn't do thunderdome.
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Jan 17, 2018 04:14
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flerp posted:now youre making td look bad good point, that's your job: sorry.
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Jan 17, 2018 07:25
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Ask them how blunt they want you to be?
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Jan 18, 2018 21:20
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Stuporstar posted:They've directly asked me to be gentle this time around. I just... I don't know how. My crits somehow end up being brutal even when I think I'm being nice. Whenever I try to use the compliment sandwich the compliments are two thin slices of tasteless white bread--the kind that form ugly little pills when you roll a pinch between your fingers. In that case just say nice things. If that is a short list, that's not your fault. It's an unfair position you've been put in, imo.
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Jan 19, 2018 00:36
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On a quick skim that's def better, though still extremely purple. I'll have a read later today and see how the whole thing holds up.
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Jan 19, 2018 20:42
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:I'm literally crying right now 
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Jan 20, 2018 11:31
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Every 'rule' is really just a flag to look at what you've done that breaks the rule and think if it's worth it.
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Jan 21, 2018 01:36
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Chill out, fellows, we are all good word friends here.
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Jan 29, 2018 00:10
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crabrock posted:gently caress, who called the fuzz? I know/see all, from within my Omniscitron.
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Jan 29, 2018 00:41
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MockingQuantum posted:I'm also prone to wordiness, and a good rule of thumb I picked up somewhere is to cut adjectives just about everywhere, unless they modify something in a way that isn't obvious. So like above, "panicked screaming" doesn't add much, because you'd expect through context that the screaming wouldn't be calm. But it's totally valid to say "melodic screaming" as that has a whole different feel and runs counter to most reader's expectations. Adverbs ditto, but more so.
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Jan 30, 2018 18:37
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Sociopastry posted:How in the gently caress do I do character descriptions Have them look in a mirror but it's cracked so they can't see anything
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Feb 2, 2018 00:55
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Also remember that by describing a person's surroundings you are also describing them.
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Feb 2, 2018 02:17
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Ironic Twist posted:was it written in a clipped tone of voice The Sean posted:It's fair to say. The style first appears to be a dyed in the wool approach--and it's true to its roots, to be honest--but when you really start to split hairs the approach is a tangled mess. If the author just trimmed it down, or cut it entirely, the final volume's twist ending would have paid off. My opinion might be coarse, but I might not be the mane audience for this genre. goood puns Unfortunately I hate puns, because I'm a horrible fusing of flesh and metal that breaks every law of both god and man. Also I just realised that handing out whimsical six hour probations for pun chains is a thing I can do, haha. Do with this information what you will, people of CC sebmojo fucked around with this message at 09:06 on Feb 3, 2018 |
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Feb 3, 2018 09:03
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Sitting Here posted:oh no he's power tripping (no pun intended) 
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Feb 3, 2018 19:57
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magnificent7 posted:TLDR: Give up writing nobody reads anyway. Put all your effort into narrating audiobooks. Which isn't writing. You're just telling stories. Totally different you know what just give up and go play Skyrim some more. In a sense video games are the new books but you dont write them: you play them.
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Feb 5, 2018 21:23
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feedmyleg posted:Who are some YA authors that have really great prose? I know there's no universal good style and everyone has their own strengths, but I'm looking to improve mine in various ways for an edit of my book and want some various inspirations. Philip Pullman is pretty good.
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Feb 8, 2018 01:47
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Post the first page, (here, if you like) and see if people ask you to post more.
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Feb 10, 2018 01:01
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Tbh while I agree with my learned colleagues that it's good to have a bit more context for his running, it's looking better. Ultimately the first page of a novel is doing something different from that of a short story, but hopefully it's useful to have an idea of how an unsympathetic eye would see it: don't assume the reader wants to turn the page, make them want to turn the page. Feel free to post a longer section in its own thread if it would be helpful.
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Feb 17, 2018 21:20
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Burkion posted:So fun fact this is good intel, tyvm
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Feb 22, 2018 07:59
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Magnusth posted:Do any of you have any experience repurposing misogynist tropes and ideas, especially from noir and hardboiled detective stories, like femme fatales, in a way that makes them... not misogynist and sexist? Why? What's your goal? You can just gender swap if you like, but are you trying to not make 2018 people go ew, or do comedy, or interrogate the tropes themselves? A peerlessly woke character dropped into classic gumshoe noir would potentially be funny/interesting I guess.
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Mar 3, 2018 23:13
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Make all the women wear full wetsuits and SCUBA gear, completely unexplained. E: the wetsuitsare the patriarchy
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Mar 3, 2018 23:56
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Write good human characters and dgaf about tropes imo Here's a noir bit that I gender swapped, which I regret about half the time but I thought worked ok here Black wedding The sky is a hot and smoke-blackened sheet, hung out on a line for too long because no-one can be bothered taking it in. I have a gun in my purse, high-heeled shoes on my feet, wedding dress all tattered and torn. And, as I totter down the dirty street, my mind is a crawling pit of bugs. I lean on the door, knock, twice, close my eyes and breathe. There’s rain coming in but it won’t get here in time to wash my sins away. The door, wavy glass with writing on it that my blurry eyes can’t read, jerks open and there’s someone standing there, a woman, fat, curly hair. She smells of cheap whiskey and and expensive regrets but she holds out a hand and I grab it like a drowner, pull myself to shore. Time takes a holiday for a time and when my brain gets back to work I’m lying down, cushions on the floor. “Shamus,” I croak. “Danny Shamus; he’ll be here. He was following me, purse, there’s, there’s a gun. In my purse.” The lady looks at me with an expression like a closed up newspaper, but then there’s a rapping at the door, something metal on glass. “Pickard,” says the woman. “My name’s Pickard.” And now it’s Shamus' throaty voice behind the door and Pickard, sliding her hand into my purse and pulling out the little .22 I'd bought for shooting cans all those years ago. Pickard unlatches the door and motions him in. Shamus looks uncomprehending at the gun, then gulps. His tuxedo is a mess, not going to be getting the deposit back on that. "Sally-Ann," he says. "The police are coming. I had to call them. You'll need to go with them." Pickard squinted at me. She had tired, puffy eyes too. "What did you do? There are red and blue lights out there now, a harsh artificial dawn. I slide my legs under me and wobble upright. "Shot the priest. I knew him a long time ago. He... was a bad man. He took my confessions and made them worse." Pickard's face is curdled, now, like milk left out in summer. She clicks the safety off on the gun and slides it across the floor to me. "Back door. We had no choice. You made us. Understand?" This last is pointed at Shamus, who gulps again as I pick up the gun. The gun's heavy in my hand and in my heart, the smell a harsh reminder of the chemistry that rules our lives. With a bare nod, I stumble out the back door, as the rain starts falling; but never enough, never enough. sebmojo fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Mar 4, 2018 |
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Mar 4, 2018 06:38
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I like writing my characters in a circle and drawing arrows with loves/hates/fears between them. If you do it without thinking too much you can come up with some interesting relationships, and an arc can then arise from resolving the tensions.
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Mar 15, 2018 03:36
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