@katemachon
Active 16 hours, 42 minutes ago-
Athelstone posted an update 6 years, 10 months ago
Wow! Came across some notes I scribbled down about 5 years ago: events in the life of a character in a book I’ve put aside. Not prepared for how guilty it would make me feel. It really seemed as though I abandoned somebody important – almost like a real person. What are my life lessons here? Stop scribbling stuff down? If I do, don’t read it…[Read more]
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Hilary replied to the topic replying to agent rejections in the forum Coffee Shop 6 years, 10 months ago
Thanks, all. I think from now on I won’t reply to form rejections. Certainly I shouldn’t have done it so long after I received them. It was just that tweet making me think I’d been rude! Perhaps she wasn’t talking about form rejections.
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Squidge posted an update 6 years, 10 months ago
I know we’ve had an issue with bots at the mo – I’m getting the ‘I’m not a robot’ thing every time I log in, but I thought once we’d done it once, it meant you should be OK to log in without after that?
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I’m getting that too Squidge. Can never sign in on the main page. Always get diverted and have to do the bot thing.
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And me!
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Although it’s not too much of a problem now I know.
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Do you guys use whatever your browser equivalent of ‘keychain’ is? Usually if you have your password stored in that, it will only periodically check that you’re not a robot. Apologies for needing to add recaptcha but the bot situation was getting a bit dire!
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Um…keychain? I’ve tried clicking the ‘remember me’ but it doesn’t.
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Athelstone replied to the topic replying to agent rejections in the forum Coffee Shop 6 years, 10 months ago
Do you mean that you sent a ‘thank you’ to the agents after they declined? I haven’t done that in the past. Not that I’ve made many submissions lately.
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Hilary started the topic replying to agent rejections in the forum Coffee Shop 6 years, 10 months ago
What’s your experience? What are your thoughts?
I’ve been submitting to agents this summer and had a few full requests (all subsequently declined) and several other declines. Initially I replied (just thank you) to the ones who’d requested the full, and one or two others I’d met, and not to the others since I’d read somewhere that agents don’t…[Read more] -
Hilary replied to the topic Syllabus and course materials. in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months agoFantastic @woolleybeans. Thank you so much for this.
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Squidge posted an update in the group
Andrew Wille’s DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months agoWow, WB – that’s really comprehensive! Thank you. Also makes me realise I need to print out Andrew’s course outline and read it through properly…
I’d be glad of an October start, cos I’m trying to set new routines around an empty nest, and it’ll be good to focus on something other than the lack of guitar playing and a deserted bedroom… ;)…[Read more]
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Athelstone replied to the topic September 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years, 10 months ago
Oh yes, 373(ish)
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Athelstone replied to the topic September 2019 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years, 10 months ago
Tortoiseshell Specs
I wear tortoiseshell specs. My dear old mum did too. And Dad. A family tradition that I hadn’t really thought about. I mean, we had so many things that I hardly even noticed. Family traditions, that is. There were words we used that I thought were just normal. Mum called me dinny if I did something daft and lairy when I was n…[Read more]
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Hilary replied to the topic Syllabus and course materials. in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months agoI think I like Squidge’s idea, because I’d be better with some discipline.
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Squidge replied to the topic Syllabus and course materials. in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months agoThe only issue with doing multiple units is that we could end up with people later on having no buddies to do that unit with? I’d rather it was ‘organised’ in that there’s a definite time for each unit to be completed over, simply because that means I can be more disciplined about an approach, rather than wondering what’s on and whether I want to…[Read more]
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Squidge posted an update 6 years, 10 months ago
Just a reminder that there’s a week to go for September’s monthly competition…and for you to prove to me that ‘beige ain’t boring!’
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I’m sorry I’m having to pass on this one Squidge. Combination of holiday and having work done at home. I did like your paint chart idea for prompts.
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No worries – I know September’s busy for most folk, especially after York. Mean I won’t have such a difficult decision judging 😉
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Athelstone posted an update 6 years, 10 months ago
Well, here I am looking out at the Haymarket tram stop in Edinburgh from a cosy AirBnB. It would have been nice to catch up with local Denizens but I have my family with me and it’s been a packed weekend around a family wedding so not much opportunity. Flying back to Sussex by the Sea later this PM so won’t be feeling much like doing responsible…[Read more]
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Hilary replied to the topic Syllabus and course materials. in the forum
Andrew Wille's DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months agoIf I do commit to this, I would definitely prefer group interaction, including giving and receiving feedback. It’s true, though, that co-ordinating timing for a group, over two years, will be tricky.
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Hilary joined the group
Andrew Wille’s DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months ago -
Libby posted an update 6 years, 10 months ago
I’d recommend How Not to Write a Novel to anyone. It’s helpful and very funny. However the lack of index is annoying, unless newer editions have one.
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PS the author’s new novel has had rave reviews too.
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That was the first book about writing I ever read – bought it for my daughter – and one of the very, very few whose advice I remember well enough to follow.
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Me too. Is that because it also pointed out how writing could go horribly wrong? I remember, ‘Wearing only his underpants, she watched her boyfriend swim across the lake.’ :-))
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It’s all the substitute for ‘he said that so resonated with me.
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Oh, yes.
‘Funny?’ she interrogated.
‘Hilarious!’ he expostulated.
‘Surely not!’ she declared.
‘But how to you know?’ he exclaimed.
‘Says you!’ she objected.
‘That’s the last thing I’m willing to say,’ he concluded.And that’s just some of them.
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I love the book. It was reassuring to see mistakes I knew I was avoiding – and be gently reminded of some that I WAS making, without realising!
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Squidge posted an update in the group
Andrew Wille’s DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months agoBeen checking out the required texts… I’m getting a bit bogged down in Sin and Syntax, (for saying the author’s currently talking about brevity, she’s going the long way round to say a lot of it!) but Writing Fiction looks easier to read. Bird by Bird’s one of my most accessible reads (was given it as a gift some years ago), and I’d add How Not…[Read more]
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Daedalus joined the group
Andrew Wille’s DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months ago -
Jules joined the group
Andrew Wille’s DIY MA course 6 years, 10 months ago - Load More
Perhaps the last question is the right one. Or return to the character if not the same story. It sounds as though the character has life or you wouldn’t feel bothered about them. Someone to come back to when the time is right?
I’ve got two notebooks full of random notes on characters or ideas. Most of it will never turn into something, but they’re great for when I’m feeling a bit blank – looking through and seeing what wants to be written. If you’re feeling that guilt, then perhaps that idea wants to be written enough for you to spend a little bit of time expanding on it?
I’ve written a fair amount of this character, but killed her before her history unfolded later in the story. It was during that unfolding that I began to like her. I was feeling bad enough about having done her in, but then I came across a load of notes about a chance encounter she has with an old friend after a separation of several years. I have…[Read more]