MCave

  • Oh, Hil – your I remember struck a chord, as we’ve done this recently about people we’ve loved and lost to prepare an artwork for a community project exhibition (I blogged about it just today). Sending hugs – it’s never easy to do.

    Hope your time with your grandson helped ease the pain – you certainly got some interesting snippets! Love the belly…[Read more]

  • So I plumped for an ‘overheard dialogue’, and a ‘write gorgeous’ option.

    Overheard dialogue: found this really hard! I was too interested in the conversations to get them written down or couldn’t keep up. And I was in a pub, so lots going on around me. However, here’s what I did catch:

    (in passing)
    I’m like, Shit! And I’m thinking…

    Talk to…[Read more]

  • Noice. I like how the I remember sequence in this case tells the story – I’ve only ever used it as disjointed memories previously, all loosely connected to a theme. This puts a totally different spin on the exercise. I had a similar experience, but in my case it was tapioca… 😉

  • Blimey – you did well to get all that dialogue down, Raine! Loving the accent in it. And I remember is so poignant – some of what you’ve written seems so matter-of-fact, yet it is still so full of emotion. Like it.

  • Squidge posted an update 6 years, 8 months ago

    OK – sorry to ask again, but…
    You know the captcha thing at login, where we say we’re not robots? I’ve logged in on 3 separate occasions today and when that page comes up, it’s counting down the number of attempts I can have, even though I’ve logged on successfully. Does this mean that we either have to stay logged in permanently to avoid the…[Read more]

    • I don’t know the answer, Squidge, but I had the same thing yesterday.

    • I’ve had this, Squidge, including being locked out for 20 minutes. Chrome and other Google-based browsers will try to keep you logged in and synced across sessions and devices, but it doesn’t always work well – or in some cases at all.
      The Captcha plugin isn’t playing nicely with our setup and Jules is looking at it. Unfortunately, the alternative…[Read more]

  • Good idea to beautify something already written…it might be easier than trying to do it from scratch if it’s not the way you naturally write.

  • Started on an impromptu dialogue capture while Billy-no-mates in the pub prior to NIBS on Weds. Worst bit is trying to capture the dialogue (background noise, speed of dialogue) and not getting annoyed at people who like the sound of their own voice. 😉 But I now know a lot about CBD oil… and eating peas.

    Oh, and does anyone understand what…[Read more]

  • Feel like I’m going to fall at the first hurdle, as my diary over the next few weeks is chokka, and I’ve never been a very disciplined writer.

    But – am going to try to get one definite session of at least a couple of hours under my belt every week, day to be flexible.

  • Ath – really?!

  • Apologies for the delay in posting – life got in the way!

    Well these shades of beige definitely weren’t boring. Thanks to everyone who entered – thin on the ground perhaps (well it is York month) but not thin on quality.

    Some really poignant pieces in this mix (Dreamweaver, Je m’appelle Missy, and Hil’s Tortoiseshell Specs) secrets in Battle…[Read more]

  • Squidge posted an update 6 years, 8 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?

  • Wow, 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]

  • The 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]

  • Squidge posted an update 6 years, 8 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!’

    • 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.

      • No worries – I know September’s busy for most folk, especially after York. Mean I won’t have such a difficult decision judging 😉

  • Been 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]

  • Willing to have a go at this… Not sure how it’ll be structured in terms of posting – presumably a new forum for each unit, with each person posting within the forum? Hope it’s pretty clear, as I ‘lose’ threads so often!

  • Squidge posted an update 6 years, 9 months ago

    So it turns out that Amazon can reformat your ebook when you upload it for Kindle. Who knew?

    And I’d been blaming the publisher for all the extra line breaks, large text and blank pages…

    • Amazon is a menace, but we seem to be stuck with them if we want to sell books

    • I’m currently attempting to re-format my novels for publishing as ebooks – fiendishly tricky at times and not sure I’ve cracked it yet – sudden and random centering of paragraphs or indents, to say nothing of the change in fonts. A good reason to stick with print IMHO!

    • There’s definitely a knack to formatting ebooks but it’s easy when you’ve got the hang of it. I recommend the Smashwords Style Guide to get yoy started (perma free in ebook). And I might be able to help point people in the right direction if anyone is really stuck?

      • Some extra spaces end up turning into extra lines…apparently. SO glad it’s not up to me to do the formatting.

  • Squidge replied to the topic Flash fiction success in the forum Podium 6 years, 9 months ago

    Brilliant news, Kate – well done!!!!

  • Squidge posted an update 6 years, 9 months ago

    Anyone from York dropping in to the Den over this weekend? How did Friday Night Live go? How’s Janette’s wheels? And have you all spent a fortune at the bar yet?

    Say hi to all the Denizens and cloudies from me.

    • Good fun. John’s was easily the best but he didn’t win 🙁 Drank my way through a week’s pocket money on Friday. Bit green on Saturday morning. Enjoyable so far. Series of new 2 hour workshops called ‘labs’ this year. Went to Jail Duncan’s “World Building” and he still overran by 25 minutes. He used the f-adjective so many times that after the…[Read more]

      • A blog will be nice. I’ve missed catching up.

        • Looking forward to the blog. Missed the real thing. (Would never like to go to another of H Duncan’s workshops, if that’s who you mean, though I know some think they’re great.)
          Specially sorry to miss John’s reading, which I can quite believe was the best, and seeing ‘Cloudies’/Denizens. Maybe next year. There’s been lots of ‘family stuff’ this…[Read more]

      • Oh, what a shame for John. Hope he got some interest though from the agents? I don’t remember Hal Duncan using the f-bomb when I sat in his workshops a few years ago.
        Fingers crossed that next year, I might be able to go again; currently in the throes of getting T ready for uni a week on Monday (a week earlier than we thought, thanks to Freshers…[Read more]

      • A blog will be very interesting. Thanks, Ath.

      • Yes, HAL not Jail – never was great at typing onto a phone. Blog when my mind’s all connected back up and the M1 is out of my bloodstream.

        • Hal is the weegie, right? He cracks me up slightly & yeah, I remember some pretty fluent swearing going on.
          Hurray for @johnt3 doing so well. I’m not surprised his reading was fantastic. 🙂

          • The scooter went very well, thanks, @squidge. I couldn’t have done York without it (and the help of our friend group, who were awesome). Debi created a messenger group to help us communicate (and so that I could call out for help when needed), which was a brilliant idea and worked so well, I think it should be repeated, injuries or not, next year.…[Read more]

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