AlanP

Well, congratulations and I hope the book does wonderfully well.

I guess not. Google “troubleshooting font problems in word”, you should find this:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/918791/overview-of-fonts-and-how-to-troubleshoot-font-problems-in-microsoft-w

You might find this useful, scroll down to the troubleshooting section:

Assuming this link works!

OK – finished it. Did not put it down…

Bloody brilliant.

I have to ask – how much of the premise dd you get beforehand? The stories all link so well together, I can’t work out whether it’s down to extreme luck in terms of the arrangement of the stories or whether the links written between each story are simply very well done to link what might…[Read more]

I am about half way through and loving this. Especially how there’s an link between each story which binds them all together.

Must get this…I’m a bit Pratchetted out at the mo, and this is going to be good!

Laughing @jonathan! Comes out publisher-ready… in our dreams!!

I understand what you mean about the ‘something bigger’s going on’ scenario. I had places where I could definitely see that happening and rewrote whole sections. And I also know what Jonathan means about being in a particular mood.

I think my rule of thumb is going to have to be…[Read more]

Such an interesting post, Squidge. In general, if I find myself changing something then changing it back again, it’s usually because that isn’t really the problem, and there’s something slightly different which I actually need to fix.

For example, I might fiddle around with a sentence structure or a word choice and then realise the real problem…[Read more]

I certainly blog less when I’m writing – or busy, generally. The Scribbles are sadly neglected at the moment…

I try to keep some level of engagement with the Den going, but when writing it can be either extreme; popping in to read but not comment, so I appear absent, or lots of posts asking for opinions or having a rant or despairing about the…[Read more]

Thanks Squidge and Woolleybeans – really interesting.

I think you have to activate reply threading, but I don’t know for sure.

I think you’ve explained that really well, Squidge. That ‘trying too hard’ can detract from what the writer actually wants to say, and often kills ‘voice’ too. Speaking from experience, many of the sentences I’ve laboured most over are the ones that end up being cut when I go back and edit!

I think it feels sometimes as though it’s trying too hard… The kinds of words used, particularly. I know there’s a place for fabulous language – certain Denizens often take my breath away when I read what they’ve written, for eg! – but sometimes it feels laboured. As if the author thought ‘I must describe this thing beautifully to get across how…[Read more]

“Some of the stuff I see posted is very…not pretentious, exactly, but it is fairly obvious that for some on the courses, they are still at the experimental and learning stage which means they are sticking to tried and tested formulae in order to ‘make their way’ in the world.”

This is really interesting, @squidge. Can you describe more what you m…[Read more]