fransico alice

Is that yours in second place, Richard!! Huge congratulations.

Hi Knicks – what sort of editorial review are you looking for. There is the pretty standard book doctor report, a deeper developmental edit that I’ve heard of offered by Jericho, or mentoring.

I’ve recently gone down the mentoring path, because I wanted the opportunity for some personal back and forth with an editor, rather than just a book…[Read more]

I find the idea of present tense feeling static quite odd. Because you are in the moment, I think it’s hard to pause in a way that is possible in past tense. So I’d say the opposite of static.

Like Sandra, sometimes I’ll find a book jars a little initially in present tense, but I’ll quickly cease to notice as I adapt to the books style.

I read a…[Read more]

I think our reading tastes have developed in a similar way, Richard. I read fantasy as a teen (though never a LOTR fan) but as I got older and every book back I read seemed to involve a magic sword or a ring and sorting the good from the bad became impossible, I moved away from the genre.

I do enjoy (and often write) our reality with a…[Read more]

I really enjoy the annual short story challenge, and I try to participate in the odd monthly competition. My SE group has also used the Den as a lifeboat. So I’d hate to see it go and lose contact with some talented people.

I think one of the differences from the more active Word Cloud, is there was a constant flow of fresh blood funnelled via…[Read more]

I can’t offer any grammatical analysis, but it does certainly sound wrong. Almost creepily so. I did have to have a giggle at Libby’s analysis of the hair as ‘a nasty piece of work’.

Teddy was lost.

Teddy’s owner, Joe, was inconsolable. His face red and blotchy, his screams ringing through the house. How could Joe and Teddy survive apart.

Teddy himself was having a nice time. He’d been left on the bus, propped up next to the window where he could see the world go by. Life with Joe was nice, but sometimes a bit boring. Teddy…[Read more]

Well done Raine and thank you Knicks. I’d forgotten how much fun it is writing these short skits.

Warning: Dark humour.

SEIZING THE MOMENT

‘Twenty-five years we were married,’ I tell the young police officer as he hands me a cup of tea with shaking hands.

‘I’m very sorry for your loss,’ he murmurs, gaze resting anywhere but on me.

I suppose I should wash and change, but I’m feeling a bit odd right now.
And it will take more than a wash…[Read more]

I’ll try and give my brain a rattle and join in too. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these comps, but I’ve found them a great learning device in the past.

I’ve found beta reading an excellent way to learn. I think it’s easier to see crafting mistakes in others work, and then I try to carry that knowledge across to my own writing. Easier said than done.

I always jot margin notes as I read to record my initial reactions. It’s harder on a reread to see the parts that jolt me, and you only get one…[Read more]

The Den’s been a lifeboat for my SE group. And I love the inspiration the winter writing challenge brings. It’s also lovely to be able to see the successes of people I met on the cloud.

But I wonder if, for the main page to be active, we need writers at different stages. I think we’ve all got a fair amount of experience on here, have writing…[Read more]

This is fab, Sandra. Congratulations.