sometimes you start reading a fic and immediately you’re like OH this was written by a child. okay. please know that i am proud of you but also i cannot keep reading this
“this kid is in eighth grade, and their teacher just told them that using ‘said’ is bad, so they’re plumbing the depths of the dictionary for every single other dialogue tag that exists - and some that don’t - and I’m proud of them for expanding their vocabulary, but I must depart all the same”
This needs to be like on this post for reals
But hey, remember, no matter how many different words you use for “said,” you cannot equal Frances Hodges Burnett in “A Little Princess.”
Namely: “Ejaculated.”
There are these two mean girls ™ - Lavinia and Jesse? I think? Anyway, at one point the text is all, “Goodness me,” Lavinia ejaculated, “how we can calculate!”
sm0l(but having gone through US 5th grade)! Subtilior:
Anyway. There’s a lot of ejaculate flying around those pages, is all I’m saying. Stick with “said.”
Hi all, hope you’re well. Things aren’t the best for family and thus for me, but I’m currently distracted by fic-ness, which helps.
To wit: I’m making some changes, to expunge anti-Semitic elements from 9 11 10. So far, they have been in chs. 9, 26-33, and 38. I’d be curious to know what people think. I’m going to link to an author’s post as soon as I am done, and in the meantime, I’m chainsawing through ch. 40.
The nice thing is that this is getting writing juices flowing again, so keep your fingers crossed for me, please. Best wishes to all.
ETA: it is (mostly) finished! All I have to do is add a scene in chapter 40. That scene is the most important for where I’m taking part of the culture of what is now Eretz Mayim. (It involves a cult of swordsmanship and martial prowess. Erik mysteriously disappeared from that place before said cult really got going, though …)
