So what do people think of including non-English words in a mainly English story? Like having a Hispanic-American referring to his father as papi?
I hope to have at least 100 pages of the book written by the end of January.
The more I write the more characters I add.
If I am going to kill off a character I need to include him in more scenes to make his death more impactful. Hopefully, it’s a gut wrenching surprise when it happens.
I am hoping this book is at minimum 200 pages long but considering I still have a lot of ground to cover it might be longer, which I wouldn’t mind.
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 …)
So last year I wrote this piece for my Minimum Standards Practise Test. I got level 4 (The Highest) and was pretty proud of my result. Anyways here it is. The question asked was “If you could go back in time where would you go”
So, you want to know where I would go if I was given the opportunity to travel back in time? At first glance, I might’ve said something along the lines of; ‘To reconcile with my past self’ or 'To watch a large historical event take place’. Alas, this question requires a larger quantity of thought than that. The question refers to you as going back in time, not stating whether or not you could go back to where you began. If the offer was to go back and not return to the exact point of which you left I would not go anywhere. Let’s assume for the following that it also included the ability to go forward, how many times would I be able to move fluidly through time. If I get one chance, one moment to go back and glimpse at myself the smartest act would be to preserve my chance, so when I lay cold and full on my deathbed I can go back in time and watch my happiest moment play through my head one last time.
But! But, but, but, but! Say I was given more than one chance to fluidly fold through the veil of time, my choice would be very different. Sure I would go back and watch everything play out, I have a rule not to change any events, but after that what would I do? Now we come to another question, am I travelling alone? If Doctor Who is anything to go off then travelling by oneself might become empty and tiresome. Although if I was alone there is one thing I would do. I would test time and her laws myself. Travelling through time I would test theories, change minor events and see how much I can do before time snaps. Can two of the exact same beings exist at the same time? What happens if I kill something in the future and bring it to the past, what effect would that have on the future? Alas if I did do this I would be driven to complete my final question. What happens to me if I kill myself in the past?
It’s quite clear to see that sending me back in time alone is a very bad idea but there is one last and final question you must ask about the situation, can I choose where I come out? If I could fluidly travel back and to the point I left in time, if I could travel with a partner and if I could travel more than once then can I have the ability of teleportation ingrained into that? This question is vital as if you went back in time and found yourself, in a hostile place, inside a mountain as the ground level changes over time, your body contorted into a tree as one has existed where you stood or witch no currency and no way to travel the entire aspect of time travel is completely ruined. Unless you could somehow see the exact place that you are going to at that exact point in time so your body would still remain whole I would not travel at all.
Although I did say the previous question was my 'last question’ there are so many more that must be addressed before even attempting to go through time. A main one of which is how will you get there and in what form? On the topic of 'how’ I refer as to whether this is an ability, you can do with your mind or an ability you can do with a vehicle or enclosure. Inside an enclosed area would be the safest way to travel if you could bend around time. Bend around the objects that are there at that time and completely prevent the last problem from even existing. Although the form is very important too. Will I be able to touch things or simply spectate in a ghostly apparition. Not being able to touch things would ruin most of my plans.
Now that my queries have been addressed I would like to give you the answer you’ve been waiting for all this time. if i could go back in time, bend around the objects that are there, influence and touch the world, travel with others, be able to teleport, control where I go from my mind without an enclosure, travel to the moment I started at, do it more than once and see where I would appear directly before I do I would explore the wonders of the world. I would grow old with a friend, I would show artists how great they became, I would see the paths of history truly play out as they happened, I would be the mysterious stranger know throughout time for helping others. I would become a myth, a hero, a legend. I wouldn’t go back in time and change the person that I am, I would go back and help people. Because if my deepest desire is to go and help, I wouldn’t need to change a thing.
Microsoft has a DRM-locked ebook store that isn’t making enough money, so they’re shutting it down and taking away every book that every one of its customers acquired effective July 1.
Customers will receive refunds.
This puts the difference between DRM-locked media and unencumbered media into sharp contrast. I have bought a lot of MP3s over the years, thousands of them, and many of the retailers I purchased from are long gone, but I still have the MP3s. Likewise, I have bought many books from long-defunct booksellers and even defunct publishers, but I still own those books.
When I was a bookseller, nothing I could do would result in your losing the book that I sold you. If I regretted selling you a book, I didn’t get to break into your house and steal it, even if I left you a cash refund for the price you paid.
People sometimes treat me like my decision not to sell my books through Amazon’s Audible is irrational (Audible will not let writers or publisher opt to sell their books without DRM), but if you think Amazon is immune to this kind of shenanigans, you are sadly mistaken. My books matter a lot to me. I just paid $8,000 to have a container full of books shipped from a storage locker in the UK to our home in LA so I can be closer to them. The idea that the books I buy can be relegated to some kind of fucking software license is the most grotesque and awful thing I can imagine: if the publishing industry deliberately set out to destroy any sense of intrinsic, civilization-supporting value in literary works, they could not have done a better job.
If you’ve got an ereader and want to actually own your books, I heartily recommend using cailbre to scrape the DRM off and so you can backup the files.
I know this is old news but the point is still valid. As an e-book author, please, remove the DRM after you buy my shit. Once you pay for a copy, that copy is yours and Amazon shouldn’t have the power to snatch it away.
(After is the operative word here, since if you pirate a book without buying, that hurts the author a lot more than the megacorporation.)
Get physical copies of books if you can. With large chunks of the world getting trigger-happy with their censorship, this is especially important if you want to keep your LGBTQ stories.
[image of a Samsung Chromebook]SO after much trial and error, I was able to get this little beauty with the help of friends for my birthday (it was 03/16) and I love her. This is last years model and she was under 150$. At 11″ and just over 3lbs, this is the perfect machine for me. The full size laptop I bought last year is a fine machine but just not for…
Heyo! Guys check out coffee_queen on ao3 they’ve got a lot of fics for SEAL Team, as well as some for Chicago Fire, Avengers, Iron Fist, and the Defenders :D
So this project that will be dominating my blog for a bit…. what is it?
Until about mid-may, I’m going to be working on writing a short book for new and soon-to-be new writers to give them the starting place and orientation I wished I’d had when I was starting to write more seriously. It’s going to cover topics such as how to get into a project and keep going with it, how to become part of a writing community, and what to look for in writing advice at the earliest stages of the journey.
Once it’s completed, the final PDF will be available online for free.
Tag:
Currently the tag I am using is #new writer guide. You’ll see this on all sign-up opportunities to help, status updates on where I’m at, and on projects that I’m boosting as a thank you to participants.
How to help:
When they are open, I will have links next to the sign up for both the peer edit phase and the beta read phase below. Additionally, even if you’re not interested in being a part of the edit phases, please do not underestimate the value in sharing those sign ups - either by reblogging or crossposting.
Peer edit [NOT YET OPEN] (where fellow writers get to read the book or parts of it and let me know what I may be missing, spending too much time on, or maybe didn’t get quite right - as well as letting me know what’s working and doesn’t need to be changed)
Beta read [NOT YET OPEN] (where new or soon-to-be-new writers get to read the book or parts of it and let me know what’s confusing or needs to be expanded upon - as well as letting me know which parts are all set)
Boosting WIPs:
As a thank you to everyone who participates in either of the editing passes (as well as the now-closed “what advice would you give your past self” survey), there is an option to drop links to WIPs they’d like to have boosted.
