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newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
Read Hemingway! His style is incredibly straightforward, but his stories are much more than the sum of the words.

There's a bunch of different anthologies out there, but In Our Time has a lot of his best stories in it.

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newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Al Cu Ad Solte posted:

Just finished the 1st draft of a fantasy novel. I'm itching to get back to working on it (edit, revision, rewrite, etc), but I've heard it's best to set it aside for a time and go work on something else. What's the best time frame for this? I would guess it varies from person to person. Any experienced goons with tips?

The benefits of your current enthusiasm would have to outweigh anything that sitting on it can do. I've never written a novel, but I think common sense says start it while you're keen.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
He shrugged, then she sighed.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

LaughMyselfTo posted:

This post only makes sense to me if I assume you're only considering the existence of first-person narration. People who only consider the existence of first-person narration make me much less likely to use it.

This isn't correct. Regardless of the perspective past tense implies that the narrator has knowledge of what is happening next, even if the narration is limited.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
If my friends or family read my stories, I try to lead them into giving me specific feedback, particularly specific negative feedback.

If they aren't used to critiquing stuff then finding out things like where they stopped reading or wanted to stop are the best.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Baby Babbeh posted:

Pale Fire, motherfuckers.

Yeah this is a great book.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
I think that brutally honest criticism, even to the point of being mean, is generally good. However is should be given in the right spirit. There's no point in telling someone at a story writing meetup they should 'give up their profession'. Presumably they're there to be a writer so the critic needs to accept that. More appropriate might have been 'I felt like this story was beating me around the head with the moral and this made me hAte it and you'

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Screaming Idiot posted:

Say, is it preferable to post the actual text here on the forum, or in Google Docs?

just post it however. It's nice to have line breaks between paragraphs if posting on the forums.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Crass Casualty posted:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18axrK1i4Evd2WjAC4G7Y0vqjaS_ioSIpRb-0j30u2yk/edit?usp=sharing

So here is the story. If the link does work, let me know. I haven't made changes based on previous feedback yet, so this is the draft I presented on Monday.

Hey this is not too bad. I don't think it's preachy at all. It's actually morally complicated, because he chickens out on his plan of saving her. If you want more feedback on it you should make a thread for it.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
The apostrophe is obnoxious and having androids and droids be different things is ridiculously confusing. If you're using common use words you pretty much need to use them as they are normally used. When writing about unfamiliar technical things you need to be especially clear.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

docbeard posted:

The only counterpoint I'd add is, don't be so afraid of sucking that you're afraid of trying things.

Writing, like life, is a game of trial and error where you fail a lot and learn from those failures.

Thunderdome is so good for this. Because it's weekly I'm not afraid of forcing something I'm unfamiliar with.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
Just toxx yourself in here. Set the parameters yourself. Do it!

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Benny the Snake posted:

Um, is it cool if I ask what everybody thought of my TD story for this week? :ohdear:

EDIT:excluding the judges, of course.

It's not kosher to give TD feedback before judgement is in. After that it's fine.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

chthonic bell posted:

Can I toxx myself even though I'm working on a comic and not prose? Or should I take that to the comic making thread. :v:

As Captain Planet would say "the power is yours!"

I come to this thread for writey chitchat, not drawy chitchat, though.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
Yeah thanks for that, battuta. It's cool to see how conscious you ate of what you're words are doing.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
I don't see a problem with caffeine assuming you're getting enough sleep. That you decided to cut back implies you werent

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Grats!

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Ancient Blades posted:

frig frig frig i tried to ninja edit because somehow there was an extra space between one of the lines after i copy pasted it

unreal

should have hit post preview. i looked over that thing for typos so many times

how does it work do i get disqualified or just judged extra harshly?

Interesting....

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Ancient Blades posted:

ill happily accept any fallout

I'd prefer you accept it by cringing miserably

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

LOU BEGAS MUSTACHE posted:

thunderdome has taught me that no one will like gimmicks or get subtle twists.

And hopefully that this isn't the reader's fault?

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

HIJK posted:

So you would in fact not be retelling Beowulf at all since you're now excising the most valuable elements of Beowulf that separates the poem from other literature. You would in fact be rehashing The Legend of Zelda. Complete with wise men.

I don't think this is necessarily fair. It is possible to have a retelling of a story that remains stylistically faithful to the source while significantly differing in plot. I don't think you should listen to people telling you that this is a bad idea, especially if it's a thunderdome entry.

Some of my worst entries have been stories where I stepped outside my comfort zone, and while they were abysmal things I learned a huge amount from them. I have also stepped outside my comfort zone and written things I was happy with and learned from that, too.

I think you should try it out, cast a harshly critical eye over it, get feedback, and consider whether it was a worthy endeavour. If anything I would be more worried about making sure your portrayal of cultures/classes you're not part of is sensitive.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Why would you laugh at this without having read the story? Seems a bit mean spirited.

Good luck, Fausty! Let us know how it goes.

newtestleper fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Mar 29, 2015

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
This is supposed to be a comic right?

Forgetting about the quality of the dialogue, which others have touched on, what about the sheer quantity? Is a good comic comprised of dozens of pages of two characters sitting in a tent talking?

I feel like conversations in comics normally consist of a few pithy sentences that serve to move the action forward. The medium just isn't suited to extended dialogue.

newtestleper fucked around with this message at 05:43 on Apr 9, 2015

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
This is a pretty good thing about how we should feel good about quitting stuff.

http://freakonomics.com/2011/09/30/new-freakonomics-radio-podcast-the-upside-of-quitting/

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Martello posted:

lol no

Some stories are so terrible there's nothing positive to say.

I think that while it is possible to at least acknowledge the effort that goes into writing a story, it is neither compulsory nor particularly useful.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

thehomemaster posted:

being a jerk

People spend the time and energy to read your crappy story and write stuff about it and you have the nerve to criticize them for it? You're a loving rear end in a top hat.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

ravenkult posted:

Everyone post your writing desks.

Kitchen tables :(

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Overwined posted:

To contribute, I have tried more than a few writer applications for Chromebooks and have settled on this: http://calmlywriter.com/

This looks nice, I just bought it. Is there a way to import google docs?

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

SkaAndScreenplays posted:

I think the point is to not dismiss something as bad because of deviations from the norm.

The thing about this is that we use these conventions when reading in the same way we use road signs when driving. So yes it is fine to break them, but you need a good enough reason to do so that you're willing to sacrifice the ease of reading that those conventions give you.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

spectres of autism posted:

patriarch im sorry for ending all your plot threads in the most generic way imaginable :(


Hopefully this week of people pissing on things other people worked hard on starts some brawls.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

Chairchucker posted:

Some of Terry Pratchett's stuff is YA (Diggers, Truckers, Wings, The Carpet People, Nation, Dodger, the Tiffany Aching books, probably a bunch of others) and he's a good author that people should read IMO.

The second two Johnny trilogy books are GREAT.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

ravenkult posted:

a couple of Hemingway novels,

Read his short stories, they're his best work. "The brief happy life of Francis Macomber" would be a good one to start with.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
I liked this article. It's good to hear short and snappy, yet practical and relevant, advice from some of my favourite authors.

http://www.clickhole.com/article/we..._source=twitter

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

spectres of autism posted:

sometimes i feel my stories are such bullshit that i dont even feel like reading the crits on them.

If you feel this way please do not post your story. Just fail, save the judge some time and psychological scarring, and move on to next week. No one will care.

edit: because posting stories and getting eye watering crits is the whole point.

newtestleper fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Jun 11, 2015

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

blue squares posted:

If you read something that says "some writers will never be great," and that makes you want to stop writing, then you should stop writing. Seriously.

I agree with this. I will never be a great writer. But if I can work hard and become a decent writer who writes stories that some people find worth their time, I will take a lot of satisfaction in that.

I take that into account when I'm setting my goals.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003

blue squares posted:

Getting paid $600 to help run a creative writing summer camp, booyah

That's awesome! Sounds like a lot of fun, actually.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
That's awesome. You are working quickly on that thing.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
I have a success to share.

Last night I went to my second meeting as a member to the South Island Writer's Association.

I had entered a story in last month's competition and I won! There are a very big range of abilities in the group, but some of the people I beat are very well established writers, including one who is a fiction editor for one of New Zealand's few literary journals.

The best thing about winning was that I got to read my story in a room including some fairly respected local literary figures, including the aforementioned editor and a very well known poet who has held poetry fellowships around the world and who started the writing school I want to attend next year.

Even though I am still very much developing, this felt like a pretty big moment for me.

newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
I found this cool thing: http://www.smokelong.com/2016-kathy-fish-fellowship/

It's a sort of flash fiction residency for new writers. Pays $500 across the year, along with being published in every issue and some kind of mentoring (it looks like).

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newtestleper
Oct 30, 2003
My irl writing group sent out a link to this online writing course: https://novoed.com/how-writers-write-fiction-2015

It looks pretty good- the instructors look great, although I guess there's little to no contact with them directly because it's a MOOC.

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