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Post by ChrisLAdams on Nov 22, 2017 8:37:03 GMT -5
Then there's the old discussion about which is more important - the ideas, or the execution? IMO both are equally important. I've struggled with this countless times. A great idea poorly written - don't like to think about that. It's an awful situation to find yourself that when you talk it out, it sounds awesome, but your writing just doesn't capture that same impressive level. It says everything you wanted, but it sounds ho hum. I've found that in my own work much of the time I just said too much. Some careful weeding can make the idea pop more effectively.
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Post by Von K on Dec 2, 2017 11:07:15 GMT -5
I've heard and read professional writer's emphasise one over the other, but like you I'd tend to hope for a good mix of both.
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Post by Von K on Dec 2, 2017 11:09:24 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Jan 1, 2018 14:17:25 GMT -5
James Reasoner is a bestselling author who has maintained a writing pace of a million words a year for decades. He has also written 355 novels. Pay heed. "Using a calendar to keep track of your [daily] wordage is a good idea. Since I started out on a typewriter and didn’t have accurate word counts, I kept track of my pages, writing them down on a calendar every day I wrote and keeping a running count of them for the month. This is what I still do. I really need that structure, and it’s a good, quick way to see if I’m maintaining the pace I need to."
-- James Reasoner
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Post by deuce on Jan 8, 2018 3:40:06 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Jan 24, 2018 1:43:49 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Mar 6, 2018 12:59:02 GMT -5
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Post by Char-Vell on Mar 6, 2018 13:14:48 GMT -5
This is quite helpful! Thanks for posting it.
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Post by deuce on Mar 18, 2018 11:51:17 GMT -5
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Post by deuce on Mar 24, 2018 0:47:28 GMT -5
"A couple of lessons I've learned for writing. From Ray Bradbury, 'start closer to the end'. That way you won't ramble around before getting to the plot. From Elmore Leonard, 'Leave out the parts people skip.' Don't waste time getting people in and out of rooms."
-- Author, Charles R. Rutledge
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Post by deuce on Mar 26, 2018 12:00:19 GMT -5
Helpful advice from award-winning author (and REH fan), CJ Cherryh:
Verbal finesse: lie, lay, lain; and lay, laid, laid. Sit, sat, sat. Set, set, set.
Do you know why I give them in threes? Because the full form of any verb takes 3: the present tense, the past, and then the past participle, the one you use with 'have'.
Number one has another lookalike: to tell a falsehood: lie, lied, lied.
But one and two have a confusing similar action, and here it is. People and horses LIE down. He lay for a while. He had lain there for an hour.
HENS lay eggs. Biddy laid an egg yesterday. She has laid an egg every day.
People can LAY something down, but rarely lay eggs. I lay the hammer down. I laid the hammer down. I have laid the hammer down.
PEOPLE also SIT, (rest on rump), but very, very rarely are SET (positioned) somewhere. I sit, I sat, I have sat. I set the kitten down. I set the child down. The child sat on the chair.
OBJECTS get SET. People rarely do. I set the bowl on the table. I set it there yesterday too. I have set it there every day this week.
But remember SET MEANS 'POSITION' a thing. He was set in charge. He was positioned. I set the child on the chair. The child SAT still. TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT VERBS which look and sound alike in some (but not all) of their forms. This is why memorizing those threesomes above as patterns will provide you a quick check on which you need.
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Post by deuce on Mar 28, 2018 1:19:42 GMT -5
In correcting dialogue it is useful to imagine it being acted on the stage or at least read aloud. Is there anything which, before a large audience, you would feel embarrassed at –- anything which an actor would find it difficult to say? It must always sound like real conversation but must be in reality clearer and more economical than that. Literature is an art of illusion.
— C. S. Lewis
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Post by ChrisLAdams on Apr 5, 2018 11:47:23 GMT -5
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Post by Von K on Apr 7, 2018 2:45:19 GMT -5
Indeed, a good problem for a writer to have. Maybe he could borrow some tips from the pulp tradition? I think Larry Correia would probably be on GRRM's side though with regard to this one particular issue. He (Larry) wrote a blog post a while back on his thoughts about fan expectations and how he disagrees with the notion of a social contract between writer and reader. But he disagrees with GRRM on many others points however, esp re the Hugos etc. Larry is a more down to earth writer who humorously disparages the notion of writer's block. But that's a whole 'nother story.
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Post by themirrorthief on Apr 12, 2018 10:17:35 GMT -5
writing is not that hard but finding the time definitely is impossible
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