Thread: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

  1. #3641
    Axis Sunsoar's Avatar Domesticus
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Quote Originally Posted by Caligula View Post
    Yep the Wheel of Time was the series I did right before Malazan. Malazan is much better overall, and nearly every book is equally exciting but it is a much bigger slog mentally because you have to draw all the strings together and work out how everything works yourself, and remember minor characters when they pop up a few thousand pages later. I found it pretty rewarding though.

    Edit: Forgot to add to my previous post that having the main author write the main series, and then extraneous stuff being tidied up by a separate author can be incredibly annoying. Characters who were pretty big and influential just disappear and are never heard of again because they'd been relegated to the other author's books (which as I said are apparently sub-par)
    Well you've left me heavily conflicted here: on one hand you've stated that the series is even better than the Wheel of Time, which as I previously is a series which I enjoyed immensely. On the other hand, you've said that it's an even more mentally taxing, which is rather intimidating. I'm currently progressing through the works of Guy Gavriel Kay, who I cannot reccomend highly enough, but once I have exhausted my supply of his novels I will once again be on the lookout for reading material, and I'll probably take this into consideration. Perhaps a month or so from now I'll check back in with you and let you know if I've picked up the series/am enjoying it.

    The secondary author aspect certainly seems like it could be irritating, but it sounds like you haven't read the other six books by the other author, so I take it that they are not really necessary for understanding/enjoying Erikson's story overall?

  2. #3642
    Commissar Caligula_'s Avatar The Ecstasy of Potatoes
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Quote Originally Posted by Axis Sunsoar View Post
    Well you've left me heavily conflicted here: on one hand you've stated that the series is even better than the Wheel of Time, which as I previously is a series which I enjoyed immensely. On the other hand, you've said that it's an even more mentally taxing, which is rather intimidating. I'm currently progressing through the works of Guy Gavriel Kay, who I cannot reccomend highly enough, but once I have exhausted my supply of his novels I will once again be on the lookout for reading material, and I'll probably take this into consideration. Perhaps a month or so from now I'll check back in with you and let you know if I've picked up the series/am enjoying it.

    The secondary author aspect certainly seems like it could be irritating, but it sounds like you haven't read the other six books by the other author, so I take it that they are not really necessary for understanding/enjoying Erikson's story overall?
    Nah it didn't seem like the secondary author's stuff was important, but I googled the basic plot of the books just to see what happened in em. Basically in one of the last books book there's a one sentence reference like "oh now that xyz has happened blah blah blah" and you're like "WHAT??? Why did xyz happen? WHEN?" but it doesn't have any impact on the plot.
    Last edited by Commissar Caligula_; January 20, 2018 at 03:21 AM.



  3. #3643
    Monarchist's Avatar Civitate
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Quote Originally Posted by Caillagh de Bodemloze View Post
    Monarchist, hi. And welcome back.
    Honoured to be addressed by a member of the Bodemloze clan.

    Great point! I really like that. Didn't think of it that way. But yes, we desperately need characters who are actual personalities, and for sure different people have different relations in different circumstances and social situations. The hero cannot just be the hero at all times, to everybody. To some he is or acts brusque, perhaps, if he is arrogant or unsure of himself; to some he is or acts kindly, or ambivalently, or aggressively, or passively.

    I haven't done any creative writing since 2012. I have been too busy with other things. I'm mostly torn between whether to focus on Historical Fiction or a sort of Low Fantasy Fictional World-Creation that's been on my mind since I was a teenager. The one requires quite a bit of research into eating, bathing, daily rituals, etc., of the people of the past, in order to display an accurate account. The latter, however, requires a large, detailed world with lore and endless explanations to the reader, for there are no assumed things in a made-up world. Both take a lot. I need help. Those articles Caligula posted are exactly the sort of thing.

    Quote Originally Posted by Axis Sunsoar View Post
    [snip]
    "Highly advanced tools", LOL.

    The Master Filter. I like that. Narrative tone. Yeah, I haven't a clue about that, except that I have an attention to scenery detail. Perhaps the vastness of a scene can communicate a majestic tone, which then makes the tale more heroic as opposed to "gritty" or anything else? Is that what is meant?

    As to writing here, I'll try my best but not having done it for years and struggling with large-scale form is a roadblock for me. Time to do some reading.
    "Pauci viri sapientiae student."
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  4. #3644
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    I look forward to seeing your writing, Monarchist, whether you go for Historical Fiction, Low Fantasy Fictional World Creation or something else (maybe a combination of the two, to have a story which would be mostly historical but with occasional 'low fantasy' elements?).

    Meanwhile, everyone is invited to vote in the tie-breaker for MAARC LXXIII, make your nominations in the Writers' Study Yearly Awards and vote in Tale of the Week 269. Thank you to everyone who has done those things!

  5. #3645
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    I have a problem akin to the comic who starts to paint a floor and discovers he forgot he needed an exit from the room as he paints himself into a corner.

    My thread Cat Tails does not seem to have a table of contents to the chapters. Oops! I suppose that I could copy and paste the first two posts to the end of the thread and 'create' the space for a table of contents. There are probably other solutions that I have not thought of. If others have faced this problem in the past, I would really like to know how others have found a solution to the problem.
    Last edited by NorseThing; January 22, 2018 at 05:11 PM.

  6. #3646
    Hitai de Bodemloze's Avatar 避世絕俗
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Quote Originally Posted by NorseThing View Post
    I have a problem akin to the comic who starts to paint a floor and discovers he forgot he needed an exit from the room as he paints himself into a corner.

    My thread Cat Tails does not seem to have a table of contents to the chapters. Oops! I suppose that I could copy and paste the first two posts to the end of the thread and 'create' the space for a table of contents. There are probably other solutions that I have not thought of. If others have faced this problem in the past, I would really like to know how others have found a solution to the problem.
    You could edit the table of contents, plus any other introductory elements or images into the top of the first post, then divide it from the first chapter (in the same post) with a line break. That was always my solution.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Table of contents
    x
    x
    x
    x

    Awesome writing

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    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    I think I will go with your suggestion. That does not disturb the original flow of the thread. Thanks.

  8. #3648
    Axis Sunsoar's Avatar Domesticus
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    If you want to leave the first post clean as an introductory post/ table of contents you could always bump the first part of your first story down to share the page with the rest of that particular story

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    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Ursula K Le Guin has recently passed away. I did like her as a writer. I do think a bit from wiki might be of interest here since it took her a decade of rejection before some success was achieved. Granted most of that decade was as a child, but....

    Le Guin became interested in literature quite early. At age 11, she submitted her first story to the magazine Astounding Science Fiction. It was rejected.[18] She continued writing but did not attempt to publish for ten years.[citation needed]
    From 1951 to 1961 she wrote five novels, which publishers rejected because they seemed inaccessible.[11] She also wrote poetry during this time, including Wild Angels (1975).[11]
    Her earliest writings, some of which she adapted in Orsinian Tales and Malafrena, were non-fantastic stories set in the imaginary country of Orsinia. Searching for a way to express her interests, she returned to her early interest in science fiction; in the early 1960s her work began to be published regularly. One Orsinian Tale was published in the Summer 1961 issue of The Western Humanities Review and three of her stories appeared in 1962 and 1963 numbers of Fantastic Stories of Imagination, a monthly edited by Cele Goldsmith. Goldsmith also edited Amazing Stories, which ran two of Le Guin's stories in 1964, including the first "Hainish" story.[5][19
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin
    Last edited by NorseThing; January 23, 2018 at 06:33 PM. Reason: added a link

  10. #3650

    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    For quiet some time Blood and diamonds had been stopped because i was out of ideas for a white man to infiltrate a black settlement .But today i saw the Google Virginia Wolof sign .I read about her part in the Dreadnought Hoax .
    This means ,that yes ,a white man can look a convincing black especially in the dead of the night .Thanks Mrs.Wolof and thanks Google .
    New update will come soon now .
    100% mobile poster so pls forgive grammer

  11. #3651
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Icon6 Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    I have been trying to come with some ideas on getting more participation in the contests. Both submissions and also voting. I think one possible choice would be to encourage all people who like to read to also vote! It sounds radical, I know. In the Curia, there seems to be a habit of posting a tidbit in the poll thread announcing the member has voted. I think this is good and healthy, kind of like when we go and donate a pint of blood and wear a little pin. I think that this can be a good habit that we should start with all the content competitions. Vote and post that you have voted!!!! Do this for all content competitions and not just your personal favorites. Advertising is good and it lets others to know the thread is active if all the members that look to respond to recent posts get their hints from the forum index. Heck, maybe this could even generate a voting thread as a place to be seen by all of the cool people.

  12. #3652

    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    I tried that many times .The main issue is that ,the competitions themselves .They are not running on time .The MCWC has been on since August .Plus ,advertising will get you voters for one competition ,for the next one they all disappear again .A few months ago there was this MAARC where i had invited many people who regularily dont vote in the WS to vote(not for me ,i had just invited them to vote) .Well they came ,they voted ,they disappeared .
    We are not making the WS attractive enough .We should try more advertising .
    All this means that i almost agree with your proposal NT .
    100% mobile poster so pls forgive grammer

  13. #3653
    Commissar Caligula_'s Avatar The Ecstasy of Potatoes
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Quote Originally Posted by NorseThing View Post
    I have been trying to come with some ideas on getting more participation in the contests. Both submissions and also voting. I think one possible choice would be to encourage all people who like to read to also vote! It sounds radical, I know. In the Curia, there seems to be a habit of posting a tidbit in the poll thread announcing the member has voted. I think this is good and healthy, kind of like when we go and donate a pint of blood and wear a little pin. I think that this can be a good habit that we should start with all the content competitions. Vote and post that you have voted!!!! Do this for all content competitions and not just your personal favorites. Advertising is good and it lets others to know the thread is active if all the members that look to respond to recent posts get their hints from the forum index. Heck, maybe this could even generate a voting thread as a place to be seen by all of the cool people.
    I think people also do this so that people they have added as friends on TWC might see they did it if they ever check the "My Activity" tab on their profile or randoms might see it being bumped to the top of "Today's Posts".



  14. #3654
    Caillagh de Bodemloze's Avatar to rede I me delyte
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Quote Originally Posted by mad orc View Post
    The main issue is that ,the competitions themselves .They are not running on time .The MCWC has been on since August .
    Despite the names of the competitions, mad orc, these days they don't run until they have at least three entries. That often takes more than a month.

    I have to admit that the current MCWC is slightly confusing, because it looks as if it has three entries. However, one of them has been withdrawn from the contest, so there are in fact only two entries at present. I'll go and delete the submission post for the withdrawn entry so we don't confuse anyone else. Thank you for making me think of doing that, mad orc.
    Last edited by Caillagh de Bodemloze; January 26, 2018 at 10:51 AM. Reason: added quote to make it clearer what I was replying to






  15. #3655
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    We now have enough entries to start a poll for the MCWC XVII. If anyone else has creative writing which qualifies and would like to enter, please enter now - the voting thread will be up soon.

    Our friends in the Scriptorium have started the voting phase of their writing competition, everyone is invited to vote.

    At the time of writing, there are a few hours left in which you can still vote in the tie-breaker for the MAARC LXXIII.

  16. #3656
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Speaking of writing competitions, I was rooting through the archives and I spotted several 'Duels' from 2012 -- 2014. What was this competition? It seemed to run for a few years and then stopped. I would guess as the membership moved on to other interests, the competitions here changed. Still, I am curious. If a member has knowledge of this tidbit, I am all ears.

  17. #3657
    Tigellinus's Avatar Citizen
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Quote Originally Posted by NorseThing View Post
    Speaking of writing competitions, I was rooting through the archives and I spotted several 'Duels' from 2012 -- 2014. What was this competition? It seemed to run for a few years and then stopped. I would guess as the membership moved on to other interests, the competitions here changed. Still, I am curious. If a member has knowledge of this tidbit, I am all ears.
    Duels were never a competition. Well, at least not one that ran on a schedule/cycle.

    A duel would be if someone challenges someone to a 'duel'.
    They both write a piece.
    It's voted on.
    Whoever won the duel got REP and WS Points if I remember correctly.

    It was quite interesting!




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  18. #3658
    Commissar Caligula_'s Avatar The Ecstasy of Potatoes
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Quote Originally Posted by Tigellinus View Post
    Duels were never a competition. Well, at least not one that ran on a schedule/cycle.

    A duel would be if someone challenges someone to a 'duel'.
    They both write a piece.
    It's voted on.
    Whoever won the duel got REP and WS Points if I remember correctly.

    It was quite interesting!
    Do you remember if the duels had a word count limit, or anything goes?



  19. #3659
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    When two writers wanted a duel, a Writers' Study staff member would set them a picture, a theme and (sometimes) a word limit. Both entrants would write short stories (or poems) and there would be a poll to determine the winner. Looking at that format (a picture and a theme, a story written for the competition followed by a vote), it reminds me of Tale of the Week. As I see it, Tale of the Week now fulfills the function which duels served - enabling writers to submit short entries for a relatively quick contest. The advantage of Tale of the Week is that any number of people can enter, while a duel was limited to two. The winners of duels were recorded in the Writers' Study Hall of Fame (a sticky thread here in the Lounge).

    Meanwhile, time is running out to make your nominations for the Writers' Study Yearly Awards 2017 - please submit your nominations now, before it's too late!

    While you're there, please don't forget to congratulate the winners of the MAARC LXXIII and to vote in the MCWC XVII. You are also invited to submit an entry in Tale of the Week 270: Three Kingdoms.
    Last edited by Alwyn; January 28, 2018 at 03:03 AM.

  20. #3660
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: Writers' Study Chat and Feedback - Ask all your questions here!

    Alwyn -- you packed quite a bit into your short chat post. I am perplexed (call it writer's block) on the 3K Tale of the Week. I know, it is embarrassing. The problem is more on my AAR though -- I said that I was writing on the fly and without a net. Well it just shows the advice of having a few episodes in the bank ready or nearly ready to print is very good advice. We will leave it at that and leave the gory details to the readers and their vivid imaginations!

    Well this is interesting about the duels. So it was a mano a mano between the Creative Writing Stars! Well I am not a star (yet). More work to do before I can make that claim, but there are many stars here and many past stars that might be interested in some sort of a cage match or perhaps a tag team event. Actually that was what I was thinking -- a tag team event rather than a duel. A CW Star versus another CW Star and each has partner up with another lesser light in the TWC universe by invite to a tag team match. We could invite such prominent not active within CW as the individuals would want to ask. Each member leads off with a 200 word intro based on a picture as was done in the duels and then they tag their invitee to post a bit but no more than 200 words. The event ends with each of the stars in a grand finish of perhaps another 200 words. The votes come after a bit of commentary to the match. It might be just the thing to attack attention from other TWC members that may know about this little cozy niche, but have not had a good reason to drop by. The structure could be set up like or for that matter within the now dead Fight Club, but moderated by CW staff. Well, it I just a vague germ of an idea. I am certain that if the Writing Staff is interested, they are better at lining these sorts of things up with the legal words and forms.

    Now to check to see if I voted in MCWC XVII and if I made my nominations to Writers' Study Yearly Awards 2017.

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