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Athelstone posted an update 5 years, 10 months ago
Disaster has struck. Mrs Athelstone has confirmed that she will still buy me a valentine, wish me a Happy Birthday, and give me a bottle of wine. BUT, she bought me a Nintendo Switch with some games and my daughter added even more games. I may never write again!
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Libby replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoThis forum is a great idea, Andrew.
Re show-or-tell, I can’t add much to what’s already been said so well. The only thing I can think of is that sometimes, even with telling, you might want to write quite descriptively. Emma Darwin gives an example in the showing and telling post Jane mentions.
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RichardB replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoGood point, Squidge. It can also help if your think about how you perceive things in real life. When someone becomes angry, for instance, no one tells you ‘this person is angry.’ It’s shown to you as you see their brows come down, as you hear their voice rise.
And for all ‘novices’ reading this, another plug for Emma Darwin’s blog, the finest…[Read more]
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Squidge replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoWot everyone else said! My rule of thumb to determine when I should show is to put myself in the MC’s shoes and write from their experience – if I can portray something through what they are seeing/hearing/feeling, then it’s probably more of a ‘show’ moment than a ‘tell’ one. For me, it’s linked with people and actions rather than descriptions -…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoShowing and telling is a tricky one and there are many situations where telling something is 100% right and others where showing is 100% right. The reverse is also true.
Jake was acting suspiciously when I met him at the cafe. He looked cagey and only told me about Jane when he was sure nobody else could hear him.
Jake sidled through the cafe…[Read more]
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JaneShuff replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoHi Andrew. The only stupid questions are the ones you don’t ask and it doesn’t matter how ‘far’ along the learning the craft of writing journey you are, there are still more things to find out about and old things to be reminded about.
Emma Darwin’s blog The Itch of Writing has a host of useful blogs if you haven’t come across it already. This…[Read more]
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Kate replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoHi Andrew
I’ve got lots of that toilet paper with little black writing on it stashed all over the place too. It wasn’t until I began to interact with other writers and receive feedback that I started to learn. There’s a daunting amount of craft to get to grips with and I don’t think you ever stop learning.
As to your question, the way I look at…[Read more]
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JaneShuff replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 10 months ago
I like character questionnaires but I don’t do them slavishly. If there are questions where I don’t know the answer and I don’t care, I leave them. However other questions may provoke a stream of thoughts that go off on a tangent and I follow them. I find they are a useful tool (and that is all) when I want to work on a particular character and…[Read more]
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Squidge replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 10 months ago
Doug – if your writing strikes you as ‘amateurish’, it’s probably a good thing; it means that, in the time since you originally wrote the novel you have grown and developed as a writer and are already – subconsciously – aware of it.
It’s very hard to do, but have you considered completely rewriting the story from scratch? It’s something I did…[Read more]
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RichardB replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 10 months ago
I once tried out a character questionnaire from Emma Darwin’s blog on a principal character of mine, and my answer to seven out of twenty-one questions was ‘Dunno’ and/or ‘Does it really matter?’ Some of the other answers were pretty vague. But while writing the story I never had any difficulty in imagining what she’d say or do.
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Libby replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 10 months ago
The character questionnaire. I’m with Richard. I don’t doubt they’re great if you find them useful but for me they are disheartening.
The other ‘favourite’ which sends my spirits groundwards is the implication, sometimes a very thinly-veiled instruction, that creative prose should learn from film or TV. If studying that medium helps fire…[Read more]
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RichardB replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 10 months ago
Everybody has their own way of working; mine is very like Tony’s above. The important thing, I believe, is to find out which way suits you best, and not put yourself in a creative strait-jacket by blindly following some ‘rule.’ What works for some people may not work for you.
For example, we keep hearing ‘cut, cut, cut’ when it comes to editing,…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 5 years, 10 months ago
Am I allowed to agree with all of you? When a writer like Stephen King just says something and it works, it’s because he is utterly confident with his voice. I’m not his biggest fan, but I have read a lot of his work and I do appreciate the extraordinary flow of his prose. I’m willing to bet he’s not on the heavy side when he edits.
I’m terrible.…[Read more]
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:O
I had that particular birthday on the day my daughter got married in Scotland. The attending piper was prevailed upon to play a certain tune…
Nothing of such significance happened on my birthday, unless you count the assault on my writing with the gift of a Nintendo Switch and a pile of games. In fact, I’d forgotten it even was my birthday and I was busy making plans to do things around the house until my daughter pointed out that Mrs Ath had invited the in-laws round for afternoon fizz…[Read more]
Not quite as thought-provoking, I contend, as the birthday I had a month ago. I have reached my three-score-and-ten, and am now officially An Old Man.
Well, many happy returns. Definitely a landmark – positively biblical.