I should give props to Allyson(the poster) for that. Thanks, Allyson. It gets a big laugh. Actually stuff like that is why I named my detective after you.
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.
Me? Really?
Yeah! I thought you knew that.
I thought you were giving me props for Lance Steelcock.
That too...that was you, right?
I don't think so. I mean, I could have come up with the name Lance Steelcock somewhere, but I have no recollection of it and don't want to take credit for anyone else's phallus.
Allyson, there's a quote by you in the BRQG about how you refer to all romance novel heroes as Lance Steelcock.
Hi, my name is Helen. I am fairly new to Buffistas and I find myself nervously de-lurking to ask a (vaguely) writing related question (I apologise if my doing so is in any way an imposition)
A close friend of mine recently asked me to read a piece of her writing (written for a second year philosophy class). She had already handed it in and was nervous about it so my assumpion is that she gave it to me seeking some sort of ego pat.
My problem is this: the essay/ story is, to put it bluntly, quite bad. It's awkwardly written and I really dont think it will be well recieved by the prof. (it is creative and incredibly amusing but I doubt these attributes will do much to redeem it in an academic setting).
If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can be a good friend and reassure her without also being a bad friend and shortchanging her (in the sense of giving a useless and/ or dishonest opinion) I will be forever grateful (and, again, please just ignore this if I am imposing).
(I will be off-line for the next couple of hours -- commuting home from work -- so I wont be able to read/ respond to any advice until later tonight)
Helen, I'd start off by praising what you like--the creativity, the funny--and praising it highly. Then I'd pick one or two areas for improvement, preferably ones that are concrete and easy to explain, and say something along the lines of, "If you want to make your writing stronger for future works..." and give specific ideas of how to fix the problems.
Helena Handbasket
Oh, yay! Love the name. (We used to joke, "I been looking all over hell 'n' creation!" "And I bet Helen smacked you, didn't she?")
What to do about a bad essay? It being completed, suggesting edits is out the window. It's still possible to say, "I wonder if your prof will take it in the way you intend it," and other long-view advice, though.
Also, you've already said something nice about it:
it is creative and incredibly amusing
Tell her that, first.