The Thunderlounge: A Thunderdome Sidebar

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Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

silmarillionaire posted:

Made a new account just for writing to give me a bit of buy-in/be less self-conscious about what I write, and just signed up for my first T-dome

Awesome forums name! :wotwot:

If anyone is scared of Thunderdome, don�t be. I�ve entered on and off since it started and it�s a good way to improve your writing. In fact, one of my stories that won Thunderdome was published in a MAJOR speculative fiction mag!

Thunderdome used to be pretty unrestrained but it was always (or at least usually) for humor�s sake.

Most important: if a story doesn�t get showered with praise as much as you think it should it doesn�t mean it�s a bad story. It�s good to experience how varied feedback is on everything. Nothing is universally acclaimed. But more importantly, good stories are rejected ALL the time for reasons that have nothing to do with the merit of the work. Maybe they bought something similar already, maybe they�ve seen too much of a certain thing, maybe they selected other pieces that work better together, maybe it was down to a coin toss and yours lost to something just as good, maybe they don�t have the space within a reasonable amount of time� etc etc etc.

In summary: :justpost:

# ¿ Jun 16, 2023 23:22

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 18:15

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Obliterati posted:

The only qualification you need to crit is the ability to read

And maybe not even that.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2023 15:31

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Fat Jesus posted:

I've put that away til I come up with a few more things, I'm sorry I posted what i now realise is nothing but a draft, and felt a bit bad people wasted their time giving it crits, I gotta start making an effort here.

Doing my third rewrite of the goblin story rn. Question! How much should I worry the reader doesn't know a singular thing about irish / celt mythology? I can't really fit another 1000 words explaining the Tuatha D� Danann, Fomorians and such but I think it's all kinda obvious. I've already made this mistake, but blah I'll assume people have imaginations.

IMO as long as it�s clear from context why it matters I wouldn�t sweat it. I mean, poo poo look at Dune.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2023 18:02

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

From the main thread:

DigitalRaven posted:

Gimme the spin, kissed and told, this Thunderdome I'm in.

hey now, hey now now...

# ¿ Jul 14, 2023 17:54

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Fuuuuuck. I forgot to change �Plymouth Pharmaceuticals� to �Plymouth Petroleum� in my story so I now I have big pharma drilling for oil.

Uh. Yeah that was an intentional commentary on drug company � uh �. Overreach � or something. :smith:

BIGGER EDIT: my story 1496 words.

Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 04:38 on Jul 17, 2023

# ¿ Jul 17, 2023 04:20

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 18:15

Doctor Zero: Sep 21, 2002; Would you like a jelly baby?
It's been in my pocket through 4 regenerations,
but it's still good.

Fat Jesus posted:

Thanks, you're much better at crits than I. It realised later the Pa thing would throw non- Australians off, but I seriously can't think of anyone who calls their dad 'Pa' down here, not since the great war anyway (actually most siblings are going to refer to their father as 'the old man', but not when he's in earshot, and this would probably add further confusion should there be a conversation between brothers, then dad shows up.). I should have made it more clear we weren't in Kansas anymore from the start. I'm glad you liked the dialect since my main concentration was to try write the way I talk, and I did grow up in a similar world, though it's not a real story. Maybe homespun country yarns will become my thing.
You also picked up a couple of things I should have seen, but sometimes it's hard to see when you wrote it and I appreciate that. I had some difficulties with dialogue last time, something set in Glasgow. One crit said it's too uh, scot, might put people off, another says I should have gone full Irvine Welsh. People like different things, not sure how you find a balance sometimes.

Thanks!

The writer decides. Balance is an illusion, ultimately. Write for yourself as best you can, and people will come along for the ride or not. Even the most beloved books have people who hate them.

Pithy platitudes aside, if 80% of the readers have issue with something, think about it. if 50% of the readers have issue with something, that's the sweet spot IMO, because then it's totally up to you.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2023 16:38

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