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Sandra posted an update 5 years, 9 months ago
Lesley Glaister speaks about her writing process – both fascinating and encouraging in its familiarity: https://www.facebook.com/events/607610230131239/621568822068713/?notif_t=admin_plan_mall_activity¬if_id=1597861845278044
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Raine replied to the topic Positive thoughts in the forum
CoronaMo 5 years, 9 months ago@dougk sorry for being so useless at checking in here. Hi & well done on the short story acceptance. Is it available online?
I repeat the ‘this too shall pass’ thing to myself fairly regularly! It’s the perfect balance of hope and recognition. -
Raine posted an update 5 years, 9 months ago
After five looooooong months, I had five whole hours without the mini yesterday when she had her soft transition day back in school (full, ‘normal’ start on Monday). I sat at my desk (which she’d been using) AND WROTE WORDS. Not many, but some. (And then watched Umbrella Academy to recover). It was all rather lovely. 🙂
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Oh, joy, Raine. I’ve said before I don’t know how anyone can write (or otherwise create) with offspring demanding attention. Long may the writing of words continue.
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Raine replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Totally agree re Boyne, @jillybean. He’s lazy and complacent, and doesn’t care who he hurts as a result.
Having recently discovered the horrors of researching hist fic, I must admit to struggling with knowing where the line is between really getting stuck on details that don’t matter, and making sure the whole worldbuilding feels authentic.…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Ah, yes. I take your point Athers. My ignorance obscured it earlier.
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Sandra replied to the topic A gasp escaped me! in the forum Blogs 5 years, 9 months ago
Athers, I’ve not read Boyne, so took the passage you quote as from a fantasy novel which, in my understanding, means anything goes in the way of made-up words and facts.
On the subject of ‘proper’ research; at Newcastle Noir a couple of years ago, one crime writer told of being asked how many specialists he had on call to help him with research,…[Read more]-
There’s an article in today’s Telegraph referring to this, and mentioning it seems to apply less to film-makers, e.g. Braveheart where kilts were worn 500 years before in use “because they looked better”. Artistic licence, innit?
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Janette replied to the topic Monthly comp: July 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 10 months ago
Looking For Paradise
The mossy church bench had no kids fighting around it. No grumpy, obstinate husbands, or house-din. Just bliss. I breathed deeply as I listened to the trees above, its branches whispering and swaying in a gentle breeze, stirring birds into song. A squirrel wriggled up rough bark and disappeared into the foliage, minding its…[Read more]
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Raine posted an update 5 years, 10 months ago
Our lovely Fiona (Bric) is on this tmrw – register here to watch….
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p0_gtnBjRMyAoswPP36ZbQ -
Raine posted an update 5 years, 10 months ago
For those of us in the North – Harper have opened their ‘northern’ (Manchester, still quite south from where I’m standing 😀 ) office & are doing an open submissions to northerly writers. I don’t know how long they’ll be doing that & imagine they’ll switch to agented only fairly quickly so if you’ve got something ready, might be worth a punt?
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sorry – forgot to add: Harpernorth.co.uk
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Coming from the Manchester area myself I’m pleased one of the big publishing companies thinks this very populous, diverse and influential area is worth direct support. (If I knew how to add an emoji signalling a combination of weariness, irony, relief and some kind of optimism, I’d put it here.) I have to agree, Raine, that Manchester is hardly…[Read more]
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Sandra replied to the topic The ultimate story/narrative arc in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoThanks Sea – not heard of the ‘7 Cs’ but it makes perfect sense. Perhaps it is that it can’t be immediately applied from the start, i.e. you (meaning one, and definitely I) have to write quite a lot of scenes involving character and events before the story line appears, after which tweaking into shape can take place.
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Seagreen replied to the topic The ultimate story/narrative arc in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoWhat about ‘Save the Cat’ by Blake Snyder, Sandra? It was one of the recommended reading books when I started Golden Egg.
Regarding plotting, I use the 7 Cs as a framework:
Connection to character – introduction to the character as he is now. Forging a connection i.e. why the reader should care about this person.
Catalyst – Inciting incident.…[Read more]-
Thank you, Seagreen. The 7 Cs is the most useful and memorable framework I’ve seen – and one comes across a lot of them. Definitely the 7 Cs is a mnemonic to save for next time I need to think about plots.
Many plotting techniques remind me of ‘My Way’. Techniques, I’ve seen a few/many/umpteen, but then again too few to mention.
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Sandra replied to the topic The ultimate story/narrative arc in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoI’m relieved to hear I’m not the only one to have been unable to find a theoretical how-to-plot scheme that works for them, and I really have tried because plotting is certainly what I find hardest, not being a natura story-teller.
Screenwriter Jeremy Sheldon did a brilliant presentation at a Festival of Writing weekend, (2014?) and I’ve been…[Read more] -
Seagreen replied to the topic Planning vs Winging it. in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoI start with a name – a character who rattles a stick along the boundaries of my subconscious. Someone who, when I am not looking, will sneak through a gap in the railings and broadcast snippets of conversation to pique my interest. If this character stalks me when I am waling the dog, or when I’m driving, then I might allow him/her free-write…[Read more]
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Seagreen joined the group
A place for Stupid Questions 5 years, 10 months ago -
Sandra replied to the topic Planning vs Winging it. in the forum
A place for Stupid Questoins 5 years, 10 months agoI used to begin with a conversation between two characters and spread from there. One book I was ~20K in before I knew who would die, and a further 20K before I knew who did it. Even so it turned out to be someone else.
Now that those characters have become so familiar and the twists and turns of their lives compelling enough to become a…[Read more]
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Checking something else, I came across this 2015 blogpost about a book now awaiting a final beta reader : http://sandra-linesofcommunication.blogspot.com/2015/08/back-to-front-strange-and-alien-progress.html
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Sandra replied to the topic Monthly Competition: June 2020 in the forum Monthly Competition 5 years, 11 months ago
Well done Squidge and thanks to all participants for the chance to read so many varied interpretations of Jill’s challenge – and to Jill for the comments.
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Sandra posted an update 5 years, 11 months ago
“pleonasm”. As discussed by Allan Guthrie. I mentioned it on another site and a lot of people found it interesting/useful when it came to tightening writing/reducing word count. Google it – there’s a choice of places to go.
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Sometimes an unusual word like pleonasm is a necessary reminder not to go on adding words endlessly without stopping simply to make the meaning clearer for the sake of epexegesis.
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Indeed. Something those who adhere over-strictly to the rules are inclined to overlook.
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Anthony Trollope comes to mind.
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Thomas Wolfe. Oh, yes, Thomas Wolfe.
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