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Messages - Bravesamwise84

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16
Writing Group / Re: My Book is Overwhelming Me
« on: October 17, 2009, 08:34:36 AM »
I'd just like to say that seriously, what I've seen so far is good. I hope you finish the novel, man. God's speed to you in finishing your first rough draft, full-novel version. It will be a major milestone in your writing career!

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Reading Excuses / Re: Oct 12 - Bravesamwise - Four Points of View (Writing Prompt)
« on: October 17, 2009, 08:31:38 AM »
It's useful to me. =)

And November is close enough.

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Writing Group / Re: If you feel your work is bad, here is something to cheer you up.
« on: October 16, 2009, 07:13:38 PM »
Ha Ha... just made my day.  ;D

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Reading Excuses / Re: Oct 12 - Bravesamwise - Four Points of View (Writing Prompt)
« on: October 16, 2009, 07:01:32 PM »
MMm... I'll continue writing prompts because they help me practice. Besides, I still am trying to fix certain bad habits, like not showing things, or repeating myself. Transparent prose seems difficult to me too, I sense a bit of Douglas Adamsness coming out when I write.

Like I already promised though the first few chapters will be on their way soon but I'm still working on outlining the story and I'm just focused on getting the story to write by November, and in the mean time, prompts are keeping me from getting rusty. No such thing as a quota on practice.

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Reading Excuses / Re: Oct 12 - Bravesamwise - Four Points of View (Writing Prompt)
« on: October 16, 2009, 05:59:27 AM »
Funny you should mention - I'm getting my novel ready for Nanowrimo, so while I work on worldbuilding and story structure, I'm keeping myself fresh with writing prompts in the mean time ^^ Look forward to a first chapter submission for that soon.  ;D


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Reading Excuses / Oct 12 - Bravesamwise - Four Points of View (Writing Prompt)
« on: October 13, 2009, 06:50:57 AM »
Woot!

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Reading Excuses / Re: Email List + Submission Dates
« on: October 12, 2009, 01:26:44 AM »
I'd like to sumbit a prompt. If for nothing else but to continue getting used to being workshopped. =)

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Reading Excuses / Re: My introduction
« on: October 11, 2009, 05:17:45 PM »
Huzzah! lol

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Reading Excuses / Re: Oct. 5 - Recoverying Cynic - Oathbound - Ch. 5
« on: October 07, 2009, 07:38:25 AM »
Likewise if you don't like my comments, you may choose to ignore them. I was simply making a point that, in the end, it's better that these chapters be written (if nothing else but for completeness of setting and plot backstory for his own reference) then to get hung up on this. Getting "hung up" in general can distract from getting work done.

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Reading Excuses / Re: Oct. 5 - Bravesamwise - The Cellist (Writing Prompt)
« on: October 07, 2009, 06:28:12 AM »
Thanks!

I think I'll print it up and go over it with a fine-tooth comb. I seem to edit better on paper. The showing and telling is a biggie for me, and I appreciate you guys pointing them out so I can be more aware.

I know personally I'm a big fan of Charles Dickens, who often referred to the reader in second person. Personally I think I like it because I felt like he was there, by a fire, reading me the story out loud - however, today's books are selling invisible prose. That is another weakness of mine and something I can't seem to help doing from time to time... but I'll rewrite those, it's something I need to practice.

The last thing is your comment about consistency. I agree but I feel stuck there... I guess I'm feeling pressure to keep the story a quick and easy read, so I was trying to keep everything short and to the point, yet still saying everything that was important for the story and building up to the ending. Any tips or ideas on how or where would be best to fill in more terms in order to be more consistent?

Last question. One of my friends told me, "I knew what was going to happen to Phoebe before it happened". That got me thinking - is that a bad thing? I wasn't exactly trying to pull a Shyamalan on everyone, I was just trying to tell a story, and build up to the ending properly. It wasn't supposed to be this crazy twist that made your brains spatter the walls, just a bit of conflict. Any thoughts on this?

26
Reading Excuses / Re: Oct. 5 - Recoverying Cynic - Oathbound - Ch. 5
« on: October 07, 2009, 06:17:15 AM »
Quote from: Frog on October 06, 2009, 08:42:24 PM
BSW, I don't disagree with your reasoning, but something you should realize is that when people give critiques, it is usually best to speak in terms of what we would expect if the story was going to be published tomorrow...

I understand that. But also one of the tendencies of Writing Groups is to get hung up on something small, and in this case, I feel that is happening. OK, so we've talked about the hopping back and forth between times/POVs. I think we've sufficiently covered it - let's move on and be more helpful.

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Reading Excuses / Re: Oct. 5 - Recoverying Cynic - Oathbound - Ch. 5
« on: October 06, 2009, 06:44:45 PM »
I'm going to disagree with the last two comments, and yet agree at the same time. Let me explain.

Yes, I feel like the story is involving too many flashbacks at this point. If the book were to be published just like this, it would be hard to get a pace going at the beginning and many might not make it past the first few chapters for that reason.

But I understand why you're writing them, and they NEED to be written, if only for your benefit. This backstory is in your head, and it establishes the setting and many of the characters as well. We hear in Writing Excuses how even Brandon will write the first few chapters with the KNOWLEDGE that they will probably be eventually cut. But he writes them anyway, because he needs to.

And so I'll argue on both sides, that both of these two have good points, but that I wouldn't get too wrapped up in it. I don't think you should spend too much time stopping to revise the first few chapters right now - that's work for when the novel's rough draft is finished. That is the appropriate time, when you have the scope of the entire book, to figure out which chapters will be your first and which would be cut. When you have that perspective, you'll have a much better instinct for how to begin your book - I may be repetetive, but I'm thorough, and I mean it when I say;

DONT let yourself get caught up in constant revisions. Write the rest of the book!

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Reading Excuses / Re: Oct. 5 - Bravesamwise - The Cellist (Writing Prompt)
« on: October 06, 2009, 06:36:38 PM »
More questions. =)

Raven

OK, I'm still confused and I think you may have misunderstood my question; It's not that I don't know what feeling words are, and I know how to use a thesaurus. My question dealt more with application. So I'll start with how I know I'm doing it, and see if you can build on that for me.

"Howell stamped in frustration"

That's just about the extend of my knowledge in conveying emotion - like you said, doing it through actions. I can see that I need work in this area but I'm a bit lost on where to start. Can you build on the example sentence I just gave, in order to show me what you meant by your suggestion?

Recovering Cynic

Oooh good point. I know I repeat myself all the time.  Good point! (hehe couldn't resist.) I know that when I read I definitely prefer show to tell, but I have a horrible habit of doing both in my own writing. Thanks!

OK I know I had some clumsy passages in there so now I know that the car part is one of them. I feel a bit clumsy about the first page too but I can't quite place it - please, let me know if you find any specific passages so I can consider how to re-write them. =) I think normally the small grammar stuff would not be my priority but in this case it's just a small writing prompts and I don't imagine any major revisions.

The Music Thing

I'm getting a bit sensitive on the music thing, mainly because it feels like I braced for impact on my writing creativity and now I feel like I'm getting the impact in two places - my writing, and my music. I don't want my own sensitivity to prevent me from learning all I can from your suggestions however, so for my own benefit, can we consider that subject sufficiently covered?

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Reading Excuses / Re: Oct. 5 - Bravesamwise - The Cellist (Writing Prompt)
« on: October 06, 2009, 05:00:28 AM »
Thanks for your suggestions, they make a lot of sense. Could I get more of an example of how I could begin practicing "Feeling Words"?

Side note; I've been a violinist for 20 years... I probably held back on music terms for the benefit of non-musical readers, and not out of the lack of my own experience.

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Reading Excuses / Re: My introduction
« on: October 06, 2009, 04:58:20 AM »
Don't worry, I won't worry too much, I promise. I just wanted to meet you all and begin getting acquainted. And thanks for the welcome. =)

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