Julie Cordiner

  • Squidge replied to the topic Unediting in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago

    Laughing @jonathan! Comes out publisher-ready… in our dreams!!

    I understand what you mean about the ‘something bigger’s going on’ scenario. I had places where I could definitely see that happening and rewrote whole sections. And I also know what Jonathan means about being in a particular mood.

    I think my rule of thumb is going to have to be…[Read more]

  • Raine replied to the topic Unediting in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago

    Iโ€™m with @philippaeast on this one. Often if I find myself fiddling back and forward with one thing, itโ€™s because the issue with that bit is actually because of a different bit being wrong. If that makes sense.

    But also, yes to @jd73, it can just be about mood & what aspects of the book are at the forefront of my mind during that edit on tha…[Read more]

  • Sandra replied to the topic Unediting in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago

    In general,Squidge, although I know exactly what you mean, I don’t. Partly because a lot of the time I am writing ‘badly’ to start with, so much needs to be improved (and the correct word substituted for the one I couldn’t remember – I’m grateful for Emma D’s suggestion of putting then in [ ] so as to later find.

    At the moment, writing a…[Read more]

  • Squidge started the topic Unediting in the forum Blogs 7 years, 2 months ago

    I’m editing Book 1 of Tilda’s story series at the mo for Bink (good news – looking like it’ll be published earlier than I thought, in Sept. Yay!)

    I was told that there weren’t many things to look at – all nit picky stuff. Woo-hoo!

    Thing is, I had worked my way through half of the MS on paper, because I needed to get more into Tilda’s head (if…[Read more]

  • I certainly blog less when I’m writing – or busy, generally. The Scribbles are sadly neglected at the moment…

    I try to keep some level of engagement with the Den going, but when writing it can be either extreme; popping in to read but not comment, so I appear absent, or lots of posts asking for opinions or having a rant or despairing about the…[Read more]

  • Is it available anywhere to read?

  • Hereโ€™s how it might go. You attend a Festival of Writing and โ€“ clever you โ€“ wangle three One-to-Ones, from which the comments are: (a) not so good, (b) a bit better, and (c) not bad at all. So, semi-encouraged, you decide to blast through the redrafting process to completion. Focus-focus-focus. You disappear from social media until finally, hey h…[Read more]

  • Excellent … your fame is spreading, and rightfully so.

  • This story has just been accepted into the Mechanics Institute Review. Randomly named journal, but I’m pleased it’s found a good home. 😊

  • Hello everyone, I’ve been more absent than present here so don’t feel I have the right to say much as yet – except, gosh, look how many people I (digitally) know, great to see the faces and aliases again.

    I was wondering what people think to the new Jericho Townhouse. Iโ€™d hoped it would be like the old Word Cloud, but it lacks the same sort o…[Read more]

    • I’m inclined to agree with you, Gerry. The Jericho layout doesn’t help, but also, to a large extent, we have necessarily become more wary of committing time and energy to sites which may disappear without warning.
      Also, I suspect quite a lot of us are getting on with writing.

      • I’m finding it very difficult to use. Have joined a group and posted something but now can’t locate it or the original comment it was a response to. This isn’t a plea for help, just a statement. I’ll battle on for a while. Am keeping a word.docx copy of any critiques I give in case I have to post them again.

    • Definitely clunky, and the front page timeline doesn’t have the same feel. I received a notification that someone had written something on my timeline, but can I figure out where that timeline is!

      • It wasn’t me, Kate. I hadn’t even thought about timelines ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ Yesterday I thought I’d ‘liked’ myself by mistake, but heaven only knows …
        Some of this is my own lack of skill.

    • Lovely to see you Gerry. I’ve not joined Jericho, like @athelstone says, I’m leery of investing time in a platform that may or may not remain open to me. This Den has its own clunky foibles, but I think I’ll stick to mooching around in here as and when I am efficient enough to get online with time to spare!

    • Gerry, if being absent was a disqualification I’d be booted out by now. To my mind, the new Townhouse has the problem of overcoming the old Townhouse. There’s an attempt to push a “wow this is awsome” mood and this, combined with the staff being very evident, is a bit unwelcoming. Awsomeness(?) comes with the people who contribute and there are…[Read more]

    • This place exists because a bunch of us saw the Cloud thinning out and dispersing and decided we’d better have somewhere to drift off to.

  • Just back from Mallorca with lots of new writing ideas. Well, one.
    I see we have a few more spammists – they’re getting smarter, using names and not anagrams!

  • Raine posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago

    Went to Stephanie Hutton’s ‘Psychology of Character’ workshop on Saturday. If she does one in your area, I’d recommend it. Really thought provoking and insightful for character development.
    I have some work to do…

  • Yeah, I’d agree, i think the comp works best as a pressure-free place for people to dip their toes in the water or play around a bit. Nice, encouraging comments are a great way of supporting that, but more critiquey comments, although a wonderful thing would perhaps be more useful in the critiquey Forum, or direct posting/messaging, and of course…[Read more]

  • ‘Specific questions’? – yes indeed, particularly in the light of the current one – Raine’s saying “Itโ€™ll be judged purely on โ€˜how much do I want to read onโ€™” (which strikes me as a genius note to strike when setting a competition.) Of those posted so far I would say there are those which I am unlikely to pursue, simply because they are not the g…[Read more]

  • Entirely agree with Knicks and Jane. If critique is wanted it should be specifically asked for; where someone believes it would be helpful, a pm is the best place to start. For myself, comp entries are often little more than the flexing of writing muscles.

  • THanks for the interesting post @richardb. ๐Ÿ™‚ I did laugh at Harry critisising the very services that JW offer! I guess their taught courses are less in depth than an MA, but it’s the same principal. As someone said (@janeshuff?) I love that the SE course attracts a wide range of writing genres/styles so there seemed no gravitation towards some…[Read more]

  • Sorry for absence … Yes, I like the idea of (positive) commenting within the comp thread, and if sub-threading isn’t an option then tagging people is a fair second best, I guess. So yes please do jump into the current comp if you wish to comment. It will be a nice way for people to get a bit of feedback regardless of the comp results. As @daedalu…[Read more]

  • I think you have to activate reply threading, but I don’t know for sure.

  • Squidge posted an update 7 years, 2 months ago

    Tilda Book 2 got formatted and sent off to the publisher yesterday… Not sure it was the best way to spend a Bank Holiday Monday, but hey ho.

  • I think it feels sometimes as though it’s trying too hard… The kinds of words used, particularly. I know there’s a place for fabulous language – certain Denizens often take my breath away when I read what they’ve written, for eg! – but sometimes it feels laboured. As if the author thought ‘I must describe this thing beautifully to get across how…[Read more]

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