@libby
Active 23 hours, 50 minutes ago-
Athelstone replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 11 months ago
There are degrees to this and a dependency on the type of book being written. I am not searching for an artificial precision in moral culpability. I am not saying that there are some absolute rules at play. I am saying that if you bend the truth to suit your story, while at the same time maintaining that what you write is authentic, then there are…[Read more]
-
Athelstone started the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 11 months ago
This is a lightweight blog.
I was just settling down after reading about the astonishing performance by George R R Martin at the Hugo awards, when my son approached brandishing his phone.
‘Look at that,’ he said.
I looked. My son has been a fan of the Zelda video games since he was little. I played a few along with him in the last few years,…[Read more]
-
I didn’t gasp – too world weary – but I can see why you’re annoyed, Ath. On a lighter note I was disappointed, having hoped to learn something more about nightshade! Woody nightshade grows in our garden, is pretty and you could imagine the berries being used for dye. It’s also poisonous. But when I got a bit further I’d have switched off if you h…[Read more]
-
Here’s a review of the book https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/06/a-traveller-at-the-gates-of-wisdom-by-john-boyne-review-an-ambitious-era-hopping-epic
-
Thanks, Libby. A really interesting review. I hadn’t realised that the Zelda mistake was one amongst many. Aside from characters deep in history musing about their peers in the language of C20th psychology, we have ‘…kimonos and obis to the Chinese, igloos to the Norse Icelanders, and steel and horses to pre-Columbian South Americans. Potatoes…[Read more]
-
That makes me flippin mad! All the hard work we put into our MSs, and he just… 😫
-
Absolutely agree. I accept that the ‘worlds’ we base our stories in have a lot of the unlikely and improbable in them but there is a big difference between that and not bothering to do proper research.
-
-
-
-
-
JaneShuff replied to the topic The ultimate story/narrative arc in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 11 months agoI think most writers are also great readers and have acquired an instinctive grasp of story structure. That doesn’t mean a bit of conscious knowledge won’t help. But sometimes you have to trust your unconscious.
-
JaneShuff replied to the topic The ultimate story/narrative arc in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 12 months agoOoh what an interesting conversation!
I think it’s quite hard (impossible for me) to tailor a novel according to a detailed framework and I will often start with only the inciting incident, the external problem the MC has to fight/solve and the antagonist forces, whether they’re people or circumstances, then let the story develop a first draft…[Read more]
-
JaneShuff posted an update 6 years ago
i amtrying to write a synopsis for a novel with multiple timelines and viewpoints. I cannot write the synopsis so that each time and POV shift is noted because it will be too long. Do you think it is OK to say something along the lines of….. Meanwhile, told from the POV’s of X, Y and Z, in 1957, this happens, that happens and catstrophe e…[Read more]
-
I think your approach is fine, though in the interest of saving words I would not bother referring to POV in the synopsis. You could mention the book is seen from multiple POVs in the covering letter, perhaps?
-
This might be a candidate for starting with a single sentence stating the basic premise of the story, then adding a second sentence and then a third. etc. mentioning time span only insofar as there are several. Good luck!
-
In a word, yes. You can definitely sum in up in that tell-y sort of way in a synopsis.
-
Or as Bella says, just mention that it’s from several POVs at the start and then just talk about the events without mentioning the POV it’s from as you go.
-
Thanks @kazg. And thank @bellam and @sandradavies. I’ve had a another go just concentrating on telling what happens and ignoring the POV and it is falling into place.
-
-
-
-
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Planning vs Winging it. in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 6 years agoThis is about as not stupid a question as I can think of. In essence it’s ‘how do you write’. The supposed divide (classically) is between pantsers and plotters. Plotters, apparently, plan every detail, before they begin. Every chapter and plot point is set out. if a chapter should end with a challenging hook, then it’s there in the plan. Once the…[Read more]
-
I think most of us are probably ‘Plantsers’ in reality. And yeah, it means you do end up on the wrong path sometimes. Lots of times, actually… I’m trying to sort one out at the mo in Tilda #3, and it’s hard to back-track and find the point where you actually first stepped off the path.
-
I’m convinced that you need to be both a planner and a pantser – yes, a planster. The planning and pantsing parts of your brain need to find a way not to just to give each other space but to support each other.
-
-
-
JaneShuff replied to the topic Planning vs Winging it. in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 6 years agoThe starting point for every book has been different for me and my process has changed as well. I used to plan very little but now I do try and start with the main thrust of the plot clear in my head otherwise I risk wandering too far down interesting paths that lead nowhere. But I need the actual process of writing words and sentences to…[Read more]
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Richard's Literary Byways: The Beginning Place, by Ursula K Le Guin in the forum Blogs 6 years ago
Aha, this was the first Ursula K Le Guin book that I read and it made quite an impression on me.
I think you’ve put your finger on why a mixture of normality and fantasy is so effective. The magic becomes a metaphor for the way that changes happen in our lives. As well as providing entertainment for those of us who like a bit of magic in our…[Read more]
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly comp: July 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years ago
Month of the Cat
To be clear, although Gus didn’t get on with the cat, he was never cruel to it. When his wife, Mildred, died he didn’t want to go on taking care of it.
‘It’s vindictive,’ he said, ‘it kills half a dozen birds every day. It craps on the decking, wrecks my flower borders, and last week it scratched up the wallpaper.’…[Read more]
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Competition: June 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years ago
Congratulations, Squidge. Great story.
-
Thanks, Ath. Dare I say it was something I rushed off? Not sure why, but they seem to be the better of my short pieces. Perhaps because I didn’t examine it too much?
-
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Monthly Competition: June 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 6 years ago
Midsummer Magic
Frankie wiggles his shoulders in a figure of eight and exhales. He flicks his hat back and mops his brow with a handkerchief. Then he loosens his tie another quarter inch and Matzo slaps his hand down on the table, making all three of us jump.
“For Christ’s sake, Frankie. Yeah – it’s hot. I’m hot. Eddie’s hot. It’s the longest…[Read more]
-
Athelstone posted an update 6 years ago
Disaster has struck. Mrs Athelstone has confirmed that she will still buy me a valentine, wish me a Happy Birthday, and give me a bottle of wine. BUT, she bought me a Nintendo Switch with some games and my daughter added even more games. I may never write again!
-
:O
-
I had that particular birthday on the day my daughter got married in Scotland. The attending piper was prevailed upon to play a certain tune…
-
Nothing of such significance happened on my birthday, unless you count the assault on my writing with the gift of a Nintendo Switch and a pile of games. In fact, I’d forgotten it even was my birthday and I was busy making plans to do things around the house until my daughter pointed out that Mrs Ath had invited the in-laws round for afternoon fizz…[Read more]
-
Not quite as thought-provoking, I contend, as the birthday I had a month ago. I have reached my three-score-and-ten, and am now officially An Old Man.
-
Well, many happy returns. Definitely a landmark – positively biblical.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Athelstone replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 6 years agoShowing and telling is a tricky one and there are many situations where telling something is 100% right and others where showing is 100% right. The reverse is also true.
Jake was acting suspiciously when I met him at the cafe. He looked cagey and only told me about Jane when he was sure nobody else could hear him.
Jake sidled through the cafe…[Read more]
-
JaneShuff replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 6 years agoHi Andrew. The only stupid questions are the ones you don’t ask and it doesn’t matter how ‘far’ along the learning the craft of writing journey you are, there are still more things to find out about and old things to be reminded about.
Emma Darwin’s blog The Itch of Writing has a host of useful blogs if you haven’t come across it already. This…[Read more]
-
-
Kate replied to the topic Where to start? in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 6 years agoHi Andrew
I’ve got lots of that toilet paper with little black writing on it stashed all over the place too. It wasn’t until I began to interact with other writers and receive feedback that I started to learn. There’s a daunting amount of craft to get to grips with and I don’t think you ever stop learning.
As to your question, the way I look at…[Read more]
-
-
-
JaneShuff replied to the topic That old enemy, Perfectionism in the forum The Writers' Lifeboat 6 years ago
I like character questionnaires but I don’t do them slavishly. If there are questions where I don’t know the answer and I don’t care, I leave them. However other questions may provoke a stream of thoughts that go off on a tangent and I follow them. I find they are a useful tool (and that is all) when I want to work on a particular character and…[Read more]
- Load More
