@hilary
Active 3 years, 10 months ago-
Kate replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 8 months ago
Thanks @seagreen, this is all great. I’ll have a think about the save the cat moment and ramp up the fear a bit as a few people have mentioned that. I’ll weed out some of the description as well.
Re the being in the character’s head, and the explanations like ‘standing next to me’, I think you’ve cut to the heart of my question re YA vs MG…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic Lost my group! in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 8 months agoYep, it’s vanished again. When I list “My Groups” the caption says 1 to 10 of 10 groups, but it only actually lists 8, i.e. the DIY MA and my Testing Text groups are hidden from me too.
The workaround seems to be to for the group admin to unhide the group – change its setting to a private group.
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Clicking on the link in the ‘replied to’ bit of the above does bring it back.
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And there’s another slightly awkward feature of WordPress/BBPress/BuddyPress whichever. I posted as a reply to a topic but you were able to reply to my post when it was shown as “Activity” rather than in the context of the Topic. So your reply isn’t included in replies to the Topic.
Confused of Worthing.
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But I’m now replying via the Topic. (Remember when they used to be chocolate bars, with nuts and caramel?)
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And your post of 11.22 isn’t here either.
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All good fun, isn’t it?
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Allegedly …
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And yes, you’re right. If you follow the link to the Topic then you’re taken back into the Group Forum. But this relies on having a post handy with a link in it. All it takes is for the group to go quiet for a few days and for the last thread to sink a bit down the Activities and it starts to get trickier.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Lost my group! in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 8 months agoI searched through activity in my limited admin dashboard (top left where there’s a dial thing) and found some test posts on my hidden forum. When I un-hid it (using “manage”) it popped back into existence and is listed under my groups. I’m just going to try hiding it again to see if it disappears for me as well.
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Seagreen replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 8 months ago
Hi Kate,
I don’t see a problem with the language either, to be honest, but (like Squidge) I did wonder about the amount of description at the start. It takes us out of the moment and lessens the impact of the question ‘How did I end up in this mess?’ if you see what I mean?
I have a few observations, obviously ignore anything that doesn’t work…[Read more]
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KazG replied to the topic Lost my group! in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 8 months agoWell, its HIDDEN private groups anyway, it seems.
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KazG replied to the topic Lost my group! in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 8 months agoThe Den is eating its private groups! I wonder why…
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Athelstone replied to the topic Lost my group! in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 8 months agoYep – me too.
Also, I had a private hidden group to mess about with text formatting that seems to have disappeared.
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KazG started the topic Lost my group! in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 8 months agoHi fellow DIY-ers! I seem to have lost my group – it’s not showing up in my groups at all anymore. The only way I can get here is to look at my notifications and activity and get in that way. Is anyone else having this problem?
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Kate replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 8 months ago
Thanks @bella – it was fun to write.
Perfect @squidge, that’s great to know it’s about right. I was worrying it was a bit densely packed but maybe I just have to be careful of too heavy descriptions. I shall tweak as suggested.
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Squidge replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 8 months ago
Hi Kate, it’s pitched about right, I think.
I wondered about the amount of description initially – and where it just touches on backstory/info dump when your MC says she’s never been there before. Can you rework something along the lines of ‘In all my sneaking around, I’d never managed to see inside, and I wasn’t disappointed on this, my first…[Read more]
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Bella replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 8 months ago
I have no experience of writing MG, and it is a loooooong time since I was aged between 8 and 12 (that’s the MG target, right?) but I would say you are slap bang on the money. I’d certainly have gone for this at that age. It’s great fun.
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Bella replied to the topic Class 3 Writing Exercise “I don’t remember” – Hilary in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 8 months agoOh, this packs a punch. The add-on sentences say so much, and the voice is great.
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Kate started the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 8 months ago
I’ve got a draft of what is meant to be an upper mid grade novel, but I have concerns I’ve written it in a too Young Adult style. I’m specifically looking for feedback from experienced MG writers on whether I need to adjust the language/structure, and how I might go about it.
All other comments also welcome.
Many thanks.(As usual the…[Read more]
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KazG replied to the topic Class 3 Writing Exercise “I don’t remember” – Hilary in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 8 months agoWow, this is so rich @hilary. So much there, so many hints and glimpses and twinges of pain and longing and sadness. There’s a sort of yearning behind of these lines that breaks my heart a bit. Such powerful fragments.
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Kate posted an update 6 years, 8 months ago
Are there any mid grade writers on the Den that would be willing to take a look at the first chapter of my MG book? Someone suggested I was using a YA style that might not be appropriate and I can see what they mean. I’d like thoughts on language and structure relating to MG books before embarking on the next edit.
I’ll post it up in crit for…[Read more]-
Hi Kate,
Just noticed this. If you post it, I’m read it but not sure how much help I’ll be.-
*I’ll*
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Thanks @seagreen. I’ll post it up tomorrow.
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Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years, 8 months ago
I spent a day in Seville. I recommend a) don’t drive; it’s considerably more insane than Paris and that’s bad enough b) wear a surgical mask or take oxygen; the air reminded me of London circa 1973 only much, much, worse c) we liked the Plaza de España and the Cathedral, but honestly there’s so much. We were almost persuaded to visit the site of…[Read more]
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Thank Ath. Going to the cathedral and the palaces tomorrow and spent the day wandering around including seeing students doing Flamenco at Plaza Espana. Fabulous. It is all fabulous for folks like us who live in a little breton coastal backwater although you are right about the air. Did you see my post last week about failing to get enouh done in…[Read more]
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JaneShuff replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years, 8 months ago
Ps posting this at the airport. Has anyone been to Seville? Any recommendations as to things to do?
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JaneShuff replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years, 8 months ago
Just noticed that I forgot to take the numbers off my comments. They mean nothing. I got my OH to print the stories off with nothing to identify them and number them so I would judge them blind. Except for Ath who posted so late he missed the process.
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Raine replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years, 8 months ago
Ooh congrats @libby on a very deserving perfectly formed story! 😊 And thank you @janeshuff for a challenge that got me away from editing/fretting! X
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Seagreen replied to the topic Monthly competition – January 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years, 8 months ago
Congratulations, Libby! 🙂
And thanks, Jane, for kick-starting my writing year x - Load More