Send me as much as you want, Allyson! Maybe I can read it and then we can grab a bite together to discuss? That way I get the fun of reading AND I get to see you too!
Every planet has its own weird customs. About a year before we met, I spent six weeks on a moon where the principal form of recreation was juggling geese. My hand to God. Baby geese. Goslings. They were juggled.
Wash ,'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
The Great Write Way, Chapter Two: Twice upon a time...
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
Scrappy - May 03, 2005 7:54:53 am PDT #1678 of 10001
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Susan W. - May 03, 2005 7:56:36 am PDT #1679 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Susan, it's not backwards--it's just a different process. That's what makes writing an art, IMO.
See my edit--I'm not planning to change my process for my own writing. I just had no idea that it was unhelpful and perhaps even offensive to others, because I didn't know it was unusual.
Allyson - May 03, 2005 7:58:13 am PDT #1680 of 10001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
Send me as much as you want, Allyson! Maybe I can read it and then we can grab a bite together to discuss? That way I get the fun of reading AND I get to see you too!
Whoooot!!! That would be grrrreat!
I just had no idea that it was unhelpful and perhaps even offensive to others, because I didn't know it was unusual.
I wasn't offended, Susan. I just thought you didn't like my stuff and did what you could to help.
deborah grabien - May 03, 2005 7:59:49 am PDT #1681 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
Susan, it isn't witing backward; you just need a specific thing from the work you give out for beta reading, and it looks to be different from what I need, or maybe Allyson or Teppy needs. And by the by, I don't consider the long, convoluted sentence thing to be a grammar issue; it's a crafting issue to me. As for typos, that doesn't arise in a real life setting; I'm reading aloud, they're listening.
erikaj - May 03, 2005 8:00:41 am PDT #1682 of 10001
I'm a fucking amazing catch!--Fiona Gallagher, Shameless(US)
When I first write things, I suspect they come out as if spoken, much of the time, hence the fragments. Now I hate it because I have to clean it up.
Allyson - May 03, 2005 8:01:33 am PDT #1683 of 10001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
I don't consider the long, convoluted sentence thing to be a grammar issue; it's a crafting issue to me.
Yes. This. It's one of my bigger weaknesses as a writer. Many commas, and not a period to be found for inches.
Betsy HP - May 03, 2005 8:04:09 am PDT #1684 of 10001
If I only had a brain...
Furthermore, "I have no idea what this sentence means" (which I have been known to write on close friends' betas) is absolutely a craft issue.
Susan W. - May 03, 2005 8:05:58 am PDT #1685 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
I just thought you didn't like my stuff and did what you could to help.
Not at all! I loved your stuff, which is why all I did to the piece you sent me was suggest rewordings, because I thought it was already wonderful and all I could do was offer ways to polish and tighten it a bit to make it sing even more.
deborah grabien - May 03, 2005 8:06:29 am PDT #1686 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
It's one of my bigger weaknesses as a writer. Many commas, and not a period to be found for inches.
If so, you're in very good company. I get just as twitchy with hyper-short sentences as I do with the convoluted ones.
Also, personal peeve: the "cut every possible thing out, it's all fat anyway" school. Dudes, get over it, you are not Sir Thomas Malory and you aren't writing "Le Morte d'Arthur", and three-word sentences that dangle like limp genitalia make me want to forcefeed your frontal lobes with words. Half the time, the writer is cutting muscle and bone.
erikaj - May 03, 2005 8:06:41 am PDT #1687 of 10001
I'm a fucking amazing catch!--Fiona Gallagher, Shameless(US)
Yeah. I have a few of those...hopefully I fixed them.ETA: What does this mean? type sentences. As I write crime, maybe I want my sentences to be too short, too.