@janeshuff
Active 3 years, 1 month ago-
RichardB posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 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. -
KazG replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 4 months ago
Hooray Stevie! Congratulations!
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Libby started the topic Winchester Writers' Festival in the forum Competitions, Open calls and Writing Opportunities 7 years, 4 months ago
I’m on the mailing list for Winchester festival news. The programme for Winchester 14-16 June 2019 will be out, as usual, in February. http://www.writersfestival.co.uk
They have two new scholarships – info on website. However they’re not running any competitions in 2019:
“Our writing competitions have been a popular addition to the Festival for many…[Read more]
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Raine posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 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, 4 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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Libby posted an update in the group
December SloMo 7 years, 4 months agoI’ve changed my profile pic to something less bot-like. These are the leaves of a whitebeam, one of my favourite trees. I was thinking of growth, hope, aspiration. You know, general upwardsness. Fingers crossed.
The past few days have been very slowmo/slowgo. Max of 1,000 words a day editing by hand when really I should accomplish 2,000 or at…[Read more]
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Thanks Libby, really glad you enjoyed it! I’m pleased Menzies’ personal characteristics come through.
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They certainly do. He looks pleasant in the photos. Incidentally I did wonder whether he’d broken his nose at some point!
I’m interested in the Ringway story too as I grew up near there but don’t know much about Ringway’s early history.
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Don’t be too hard on yourself about the word count. For me, getting the words right is far more important, and the added stress of targets is a distraction from that. Anyway, this is SloMo, right?
Yes, Daeds has a real talent for explaining tech stuff lucidly to the lay reader.-
Thanks @richardb. I agree with you. I’m not normally a word-count watcher. I was just feeling a bit bogged down so counted up to see if I’d achieved anything at all!
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Well done on moving forward with the editing, @libby. Each word edited, is a word closer to the end! (My midwife told me that about contractions, and I decided it made a good life mantra!!!)
Also – my neighbours have a big whitebeam over hanging out garden. When the leaves are first coming out in spring, that silvery white is just so lovely!…[Read more]
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Yes, and the leaves drop early so you’re stuck with them quite a long time @raine 🙁
Agree that contractions are good mantra for a lot of things!-
I think we should all cheer on ANY forward motion, painful and incremental included, especially at this time of year! And 1000 a day is high energy by my current standards, so well done @libby. And I too love your leaf pic.
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PS I also agree that the @daedalus signature style is a particular talent for making the (what I would find by default) boring, fascinating.
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Nice pic 🙂
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Sandra replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 4 months ago
Excellent news Stevie; your writing deserves to be read more widely.
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John S Alty replied to the topic Writing Advice in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 7 years, 4 months ago
I came across this piece of writing advice by Sol Stein which appeals to me:
“….be sure you don’t stop the story while describing. You are a storyteller, not an interior decorator.”
Probably a shot across the bows of so-called literary prose. King likes to emphasize this point too, but doesn’t do it quite as succinctly.
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Philippa East replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 4 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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Hilary replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 4 months ago
Congratulations, Stevie!
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Daedalus replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 4 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, 4 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, 4 months ago
Den get together would be fab. I am in Lincolnshire, but I can travel to London easily
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Hilary replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
(not sure I want to meet the bots though)
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Hilary replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
The launch was great, thanks! I enjoyed the reading – luckily I went first, so could then relax. It was great to meet some of the other writers too.
I love meeting other writers…
We need to have a Den get together… In RL, I mean. -
Daedalus posted an update 7 years, 5 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, 5 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, 5 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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Janette replied to the topic Short Story Publication/Competition in the forum Podium 7 years, 5 months ago
Many congratulations, Elle and Hilary. Enjoy the read, Hilary x
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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…