General Writing

[Skele Von Mann]

isnt it an aglet

[Maxine MagicFox]

*is so jealous*

[Kinokokao]

[Kimiko]

Yep, an aglet. From Wikipedia btw, not Google.

[Maxine MagicFox]

Sounds like a dutch cookie or something.

This does bring up a pretty good question. I always feel "if I had to look something up - especially a word - should I then use it?" I mean, if you think about it, I didn't know what it was until I looked up it. How many other people are going to know what it is, and does it have the potential to ruin the flow of a good story? Of course, I am writing for children so I might be a little more sensitive on this subject. Still, it's one of the things that pisses me off whenever I try to read Stephen King. Too many $4 words strung together in an incomprehensible primordial soup that I end up rage quitting over before I ever think of bothering with a dictionary because seriously... is it worth my time? Isn't the mark of a good writer to know his audience and to craft his work to be read and understood by them?

[Kimiko]

Couldn't that good writer also make it possible to understand the $4 words from context? That is after all how we humans usually learn the nuances of words, by hearing/seeing them used in actual sentences.

[Trifkin]

I'm one of those people who actively enjoys looking up unfamiliar words...

^ ^;;;

@Jubelon - Concerning Writing Down the Bones

I've seen the mixed reviews as well, and I suppose some of them may be valid. It has been a long time since I read that book, so I don't recall specifically what helped me... I just know that the way in which it was written felt comforting as I read it. It felt like a friend kindly but sternly telling me to stop talking nonsense about being unable to write and just TRY IT. I've been meaning to read it again, so when I do I'll give you a fresh review. : 3

[Kinokokao]

I don't have any qualms against using words/terms I've had to look up. Then again, I write adult fantasy, and I do agree that introducing the words with context is important. I limit this to specific terms, though, not descriptors and adjectives.

[Kinokokao]

So, Nanowrimo next month, yeah?

I was bored the other day and started reading through the same stupid story I'd been working on the last two NaNos (pretty obvious I've never "won" it) and, well, damn.

I caught the bug. So I put aside my fantasy story and picked up my old NaNo one. I added three or four pages yesterday and tightened up the first part of the story as well. I think I'll just add to it now and through November and if that motivates me to finish, awesome. If not, oh well.

[Drathi]

I'm probably going to scrap the one idea I had and start writing up the sequel to HoodShipping, which will star only Bunny (Kitten's creator and I are still fighting, but I have a plot that will easily allow Kitten back in, when the time comes).

It's a bit strange getting back to Bunny's story after everything. Especially now that my favorite boy is now a teenager (14 years old at the beginning of the story).

[NessySchu]

Finally typed up my story notes. I have been meaning to write it since June. Meaning to get back into writing for ages. I still doubt I'll be motivated, but at least now it's in my laptop.

[Maxine MagicFox]

As for NaNoWriMo. I haven't even been on the site this year. I think I'll do the same thing this year that I did last year. I'm just going to use it and try to get TLQ written up. Well, I'm not even sure about doing that, though, since I've got all of my chapters divided up individually so it would make checking word count really difficult. *shrugs* Meh.

^_^; Hehe, I'm really just obsessed with trying to get TLQ completed. There's just nothing else in my life I'd rather be writing at the moment, even if I am not getting enough writing time in.

[Drathi]

I doubt I'll be able to finish what I'm writing, now that I think about it. xD I put a lot more of myself into it, so chapters take longer to write...

[Maxine MagicFox]

SO! I decided that what I'm going to do is attempt to participate in NaNoWriMo, but not for the sake of just because it's NaNoWriMo, but I have a seriously bad habit of not prioritizing my writing. Games and reading come first before I ever get to writing. I haven't written on my story for two weeks - I'M STILL IN THE FUCKING DRAGON SCENE!!

SO! I've decided that I am going to start restricting my activities by placing a weekly word count on myself. If I have not met my weekly word count I am banned from playing games and reading until I have caught up with myself.

Notes do not count. Actual story writing only. Of course no penalties are given if I'm editing the work. As long as at the end of the week I have reached # of words.

My weekly word count: 5,000 words. *nods nods* :[ I've got to do SOMETHING to prompt myself into breaking this weeks-on-end-without-writing habit. It's getting ridiculous. Like I know that there are some days that I just can't write, but WEEKS?!

<_< Do I wanna be a writer or not?! If I'm going to do this then I gotta be prepared to face the consequence of lack of free time. I've gotta force myself to put it into the perspective of it being a job.

Yeah, you will notice that the 5,000 cap is a lot less than the NaNoWriMo cap. NaNo is all about quantity over quality. I'm not going for that. I'm doing something that will force me to sit and write. This is taking into consideration that there are some days that I'm doing notes and some times it's just me staring at the screen without actual writing as I think through the scene. That's why I'm not setting an astronomical number. This is just a prompt for me. I should be more than capable of making at least 700+ words a day.

[fauxsquared]

I am not sure, but I like telling stories. I want to put them down in a format people can enjoy, but writing isn't my specialty. I thought about just drawing but dang I feel there is a story there.
I keep creating worlds, and characters, yet I never make anything with them.

Kinda sad actually, here I am graduated and I don't know what to do (PLZ don't say comics).

UGH I am frustrated.