@clebs
Active 1 year, 11 months ago-
JaneShuff posted an update 7 years, 10 months ago
Ha! The bots think they can get in by sneakily adding vowels.
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JaneShuff posted an update 7 years, 10 months ago
Has anybody ever had to write a long synopsis – 3 to 10 pages? If so, any tips?
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If it was me? I’d set out to write a one-page synopsis.
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To be less flippant, though… you could probably give a bit more detail to character arcs
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I’ve done a shortish one page version but this press asks specifically for a 3 to 10 page version so I think they want a bit more detail. I’ve started writing a summary of each chapter to see where that gets me but it will still be on the shorter side.
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Sorry just seen your second reply. Yes, I think you’re right. Character arcs. And funnily enough, I don’t have too much of a problem keeping my synopses short these days.
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Maybe put in the subplot(s), assuming you haven’t done this with a shorter synopsis? And anything else which is important to you such as themes, settings, similarities/differences between main characters. Ten pages is a lot so I’m wondering what they want which wouldn’t be in a standard synopsis.
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I was asked for a chapter by chapter breakdown once. With secondary characters plotted too…
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I can’t help feeling it’s so they can unerstand the book without the bother of actually reading any of it.
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“I can’t help feeling it’s so they can unerstand the book without the bother of actually reading any of it” – I’m sure you’re right. But perhaps also to get a feel for how much you understand your own book, in terms of thinking about it structurally and thematically
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The wall is doing that thing again when it says there have been seven replies to this comment but is only showing me one. Anyone have any idea how to view the whole conversation?
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There should be an eye icon with a “show all n comments” link after the initial post, but some kind of bug is stopping it appearing reliably. No ideas I’m afraid.
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Is it a browser thing? I see the ‘show all comments’ thing.
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I’m seeing it now. I suspect it’s intermittent, especially on my browser
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Revenge of the vowel-challenged, perhaps.
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Out of curiousity, which press is that? (only if you don’t mind sharing)
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*curiosity
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I don’t mind sharing at all. In fact I’d be interested in hvaing a separate group/thread on the Forum for people to share their experiences of the Indie Presses and Imprints that you can submit direct to. I bought the Indie Press Guide from Mxlexia which is useful but personal experiences are always better. Anyway the imprint wanting the long,…[Read more]
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Oh, interesting! I hadn’t heard of them. Out of interest, are you also planning to submit to agents? Or going purely down the indie route? I agree a dedicated thread for indie processes might be a good idea, to get lots of info all in one place.
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I’m going purely down the Indie Route @philippaeast. I’m staying with my agent but she’s happy for me to try and sell this to an Indie myself as suggested by Raine and Debi. Speculative fiction is apparently a bit of a hard sell…
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I was wondering what happened in the end with your agent and that book @janeshuff – that sounds like a brilliant plan. You get to keep the agent relationship and also your (wonderful) book has its chance, independent of that. I do love all he options open to writers these days, even if publishing is so much harder in others. Good luck!!
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*in other ways
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Thanks @kazg.
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RichardB posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoVisiting EmmaD’s blog last night for the first time in a while, I found a delightful phrase that could be the motto for this group, though it’s actually from Jenn Ashworth rather than Emma herself. Anyway, I love it.
No word count boot camp, no productivity porn.-
hah hah! Love it. I also love Jenn Ashworth, for the record, so love that it’s her phrase. Good point, I haven’t browsed EmmaD’s blog for a while either…
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KazG replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 10 months ago
Hooray Stevie! Congratulations!
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JaneShuff posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoI’ve had a few days off as we went to London to see children and grandchildren as far as Mr Janeshuff was concerned although I’d organised two surprise birthday celebrations for him as well. We’re back now after a wonderful but exhausting time and I’m hoping to restart tomorrow. I’ve spent the best part of a month planning this WIP and after only…[Read more]
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Great work on making a start, even if it went in a different direction! I think there must be something about trusting your instincts on this though? Sounds like a good plan to take a step back and relax and switch to something else for a while to allow your brain a chance to catch up with your muse!
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I agree with Philippa, @janeshuff.
Sounds like you’ve achieved a lot with the writing, what with family celebrations as well.-
It’s exciting when things veer off plan, especially when there’s energy in the veering, rather than just a ‘I’ve lost momentum and don’t know where to go now’ type of thing. I would listen to it if I were you @janeshuff. Might, just might be something great bubbling up from your subconscious? An early Xmas gift perhaps??
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How right you all are. It is exciting. The new ideas are much better. It’s all part of the process. I have been trying to keep a diary this time so I can remind myself next time how tortuous the process of coming up with and writing a new WIP is. I have let the diary slip because of everything else, but must get back to it.
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Raine posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoI’ve a few NoMo days (xmas, health, rubbish stuff), but managed to edit two chapters yesterday and transcribe them today. I am checking my % cut after each chapter, and making a graph. Yes I know. I’m a scientist, don’t @ me, as they say. It’s actually really encouraging, as well as being pretty…
Hoping for two more chapters edited this pm
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Xmas is not not conducive to writing, Raine, except Christmas cards but it sounds as though you are doing well.
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Nice work, @raine. That really sounds on track, despite the NoMo days (I’m having a NoMo Day today). I hope overall you aren’t finding the trimming too painful
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Ooh, graphs. What sort of graph? Yes I had a NoMo day yesterday too, but that’s ok. It’s that time of year after all. ANY progress is a great achievement, I’d say.
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Raine replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 10 months ago
Well done @stevie! That’s great news, and now get that thing out to magazines – it’s clearly ready to be out in the world!!
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Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 10 months ago
Oh well done, Stevie! That is super news. And good point about still being able to submit elsewhere too! Here’s to a double whammy.
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Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 10 months ago
Well done Stevie, that’s a great accolade. And nice to have the story in your back pocket too.
Be amazed at yourself – the link works!
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Philippa East posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoUg. Today I feel like I’ve gone backwards in my editing process. I’ve put in my three hours, but most of that was spent unearthing problems in my “back-plot” (or lack thereof) that have now thrown the other plot threads out of whack.
I feel like I’ve discovered dry rot and woodworm in a house I’m trying to redecorate.
How much backstory…[Read more]-
I’m actually reducing the number of words in my WIP which had reached around 50,000 (guess why) and has now shrunk to about 30,000 – rapidly. Work on it has stopped while I think about my Room With A View entry (836 words right now), and I have to get a first chapter in some kind of shape for a writers’ w/e in January (If anybody has a moment…[Read more]
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Oh yuck to backstories! Hope you are feeling less yucky about it today @philippaeast. I don’t know. I don’t think we need to know everything about a secondary character’s past, as long as their character and story are ‘real’ to us. Apart from bits of their past that are relevant, obv. I figure I don’t know everything about a friend’s past, but I…[Read more]
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That is definitely an issue with launching into an unplanned story: the pain of squashing continuity errors, conflicts and missing detail. I think you can get away with quite a lot as long as there are no bugs. If your MC was two years old in the year 2000 but somehow was in favour of staying in the EEC in 1975 then you have some explaining. If…[Read more]
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Hah hah @raine, who said anything about secondary characters?! These are my main characters I’m talking about! But hopefully as @athelstone says, it’s about there not being obvious “bugs” in the writing. Yeah the issue I stumbled into was that, psychologically, a particular character arc made sense if certain events happened when her child was…[Read more]
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Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 10 months ago
Den get together would be fab. I am in Lincolnshire, but I can travel to London easily
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Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 10 months ago
A poem, for our new bot friends…
This is just goto PRINT
I have input the plums
That were in the
Folder
And which IF
You were probably THEN
Saving for breakfastForgive me
They were SQR
So EXP and so RND-
I’m changing my name to jhnlty and starting a group – should be very popular.
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🙂
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Hello. I’m rn. Less a bot than a nanobot.
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BLLM here. Sounds like what I say when I really want to swear but we have company.
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Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 10 months ago
“Writing a book is like filling a teapot with an eye dropper. Only every now and then the teapot springs leaks and there’s always a risk your elbow will knock it off the counter and it will shatter on the floor.” ~V.E. Schwab
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I have cats. My teapot spends most of its time getting knocked to the floor…
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Oh God, this analogy is all too apt….
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Ah yes. So true.
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Raine replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 10 months ago
Just spotted this – well done both @elle and @hilary! How was the launch? I’ve only read out to my writing group, so you are very brave!
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RichardB posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoNice post, @kazg, and one that resonates with me. I’ve always worked by chipping away, little by little. I don’t set myself targets, and I try not to think about how far I still have to go, in case I get discouraged, something I’m far too prone to. The night driving analogy puts it in a nutshell. Surprising how those few metres at a time mount up.…[Read more]
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Thanks @richardb 🙂 And yes, there is so much truth in that ‘one step at a time’ adage. Really it’s the only way anything ever happens, regardless of the pace. One little task at a time. Congrats on finishing the rewrite, and enjoy the read! Always an exciting point 🙂
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It is a good analogy. Another one someone gave me during my MA was ‘you’re looking at the whole mountain and you just need to look at the next rock’
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Congratulations Richard. I hope you are taking a moment to pat yourself on the back.
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Yay for finishing the edit, @richardb! That’s fantastic. Hope the read through goes ok. HOw do you do this bit? On paper or screen? My final read is on my kindle as it looks totally different compared to paper or laptop – so I spot things I didn’t before. But earlier not-strictly-editing reads are mostly from laptop.
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I do it on my kindle, for exactly the reasons you state, @raine . But I like to do it sitting by my computer, so I can make the changes as soon as I spot the need to. Speaking of which, I still stick with a desktop for the actual writing because I like to have a ‘proper’ full-size keyboard. My daughter gave me a rather upmarket keyboard…[Read more]
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@richardb, I used to sit on the sofa with my laptop and lots of cushions, but I finally set up a desk, so now have the laptop on one of those stands that lift the screen, and a proper keyboard attached. Best of both worlds, and I’ve been surprised (horrified) by how much it’s improved my concentration. :-O I read my wip-on-kindle in bed! Just…[Read more]
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KazG posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoWell done all SloMoers and it looks like gentle forward motion is happening for everyone, even if it might not feel like it (@daedalus – I’m a firm believer in the power of mental gathering and composting, even if no actual words are landing on the page).
I’m finding SloMo a lifesaver – it’s slow enough to feel like a break from the frenetic…[Read more]
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Oh good for you @kazg. I am glad it’s helping you conquer the fear. Driving with headlights, yes! (Ug). Chipping away, exactly, and I’m so pleased you feel “rested but engaged”. NaNo really is crazy… I have never done it. I fear I’d lose my mind!!
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I love that analogy – I will think of that as I plough through each slow chapter!! I’m driving in pretty dense fog at the moment, but there are cats’ eyes. And actual cats on my desk, obv. Well dones for sticking to your targets – that’s bolstering & will hopefully keep you moving.
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Philippa East posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoWell, I’m sure glad for this SloMo month… until the start of this week, I had too many distractions to focus on writing and the lack of progress was just making me increasingly panicked. But for the last three days, I’ve managed my plan of a few hours a day. I feel less panicked now, because I feel sort of ‘back in the familiar groove’ and I can…[Read more]
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Sounds good, Philippa. And I think you are right to acknowledge that some days are just not meant to be writing days. I can never write when we are away, even if I have the time. It used to annoy me but now I accept it.
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Yes… I’ve found if I try to write in the evenings (i.e. after work), my brain gets too wired and I can’t switch off to sleep. Also, because I’m like a dog with a bone with stuff, and enforced break from writing is probably good for me, to prevent me getting obsessed and overwhelmed. It also means I make better use of the other days, knowing I…[Read more]
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Not surprised you can’t focus after work! But well done for moving through the panic and getting into things again. Hope the weekend lets you keep the momentum up…
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Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 10 months ago
Oh wow @hilary, what an honour!! Congratulations again on your placing. I hope you had a wonderful time at the launch x
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Daedalus posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoMy SloMo has virtually been NoMo so far. Interrupted sleep patterns and disruption from house repairs, not to mention preparations for puppy, have just left me with little mental energy in the evenings. Nice to hear about and vicariously enjoy other people’s progress though!
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Gah, @daedalus, that’s rough. But maybe trust that your writing brain will be whirring away in the background and when you have the time and energy again, the ideas will be there.
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Thanks @philippaeast, I hope so. The other day I really wanted to just drop everything and start reading through my WIsortofP so that’s probably a good sign. I feel I should just read it through without making any notes, let alone editing, to try and read it as much like a reader might, and get a feel for what I might cut without overthinking it.…[Read more]
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Do it Daeds.
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@daedalus I’m pleased the impetus is there. That IS a good sign. And I think an “open-minded reader’s” read would be a great place to start. (Tip: If you’re like me, lock up the pencils / pens before you start. I find it so hard to resist marking stuff up and it always gets in the way of absorbing the story as a whole)
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Squidge posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 10 months agoMy slomo so far has been to draft a Christmas newsletter (rather a Marmite thing, I’ve found, for the recipients), planned a few writing exercises for a group I’m talking to tonight (which I will also be using for NIBS next week), and about 150 words of something I like for Room with a View (although I have no idea where it’s heading or why I’ve…[Read more]
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Well, that’s progress then! Nice work on the Room With a. It’s story. Hope it collaguates soon.
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*Room With A View
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I love it when something insists on being written even if you don’t have a clue where it’s going.
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How did the writing group go @squidge?
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Sorry – been out of sight for a few days. Writing went well – the group of mainly older ladies (70+yrs) seemed to enjoy the exercises I set, and convinced quite a few that they could write after all. Yet to try it on the NIBsers…
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Sneaky devils. When they learn how to space them we’ll be in trouble.
They do make pretty pictures though…