Angel: Yeah, I never told anyone about this, but I-I liked your poems. Spike: You like Barry Manilow.

'Hell Bound'


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.


SailAweigh - May 27, 2006 8:45:18 am PDT #6798 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb

Erin, backflung.

My own take - and habit, and tastes - run to "tell them to shut the fuck up and do something". If there's going to be a lot of dialogue, please to do something to break up the gab and bring them to life by having them move their arms and legs and bodies. Bit of a soap-box issue for me, but honestly, I've found too many books these days are pure talky-meat. Very few people in the real world do nothing but talk; people live. It's writing them living that makes a book interesting to me.

I don't think Erin's going to have a problem there at all. I found what I'd read so far to be a good mix of action and dialogue, with lots of description. All three chapters were a breeze to read and kept my attention throughout. In fact, I am Oliver Twist: more, please.


deborah grabien - May 27, 2006 8:47:53 am PDT #6799 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.

I don't think Erin's going to have a problem there at all. I found what I'd read so far to be a good mix of action and dialogue, with lots of description.

I didn't say I thought Erin was going to have a problem with it. I don't think so either. I was answering a specific question about a general issue.


Ginger - May 27, 2006 8:50:13 am PDT #6800 of 10001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

There is a story that Ernest Hemingway was once addressing a group of students. One student pointed out that, in the short story "A Clean Well-lighted Place," there's a long sequence of alternating dialogue between the Old Waiter and the Young Waiter, without any attribution. There's a point where it's really hard to tell who is talking, and it makes a difference in the story. Hemingway read through the exchange and replied, "It's perfectly clear to me."

The moral of the story: Don't be Hemingway.


Amy - May 27, 2006 8:50:59 am PDT #6801 of 10001
Because books.

Snerk.


deborah grabien - May 27, 2006 8:51:04 am PDT #6802 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.

The moral of the story: Don't be Hemingway.

hits the floor laughing


SailAweigh - May 27, 2006 8:51:21 am PDT #6803 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb

I'll be more specific, Deb. Erin was worried, I should have directed that straight to her. I never thought you thought she would have a problem.

Erin, don't worry! You're dialogue is great! I loved the banter with Mr. Inscrutable and her adding emphasis to it with the pointy shoes of retribution.


Strix - May 27, 2006 8:53:08 am PDT #6804 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger

and, insent, Sail. Excellent feedback, sugar.

Good info on the dialogue. Having read 8 gazillion books in my life, I too detest he said/gasped/declaimed villianously BWAHAHAHA, but sometime you need someonee else to kick your ass and say SHOW ME, moron!

But, yo, sometimes I just like to be slapped around.

And I am double-spaced and page numbered and editing out italica and vague word choices as we speak.


deborah grabien - May 27, 2006 8:54:42 am PDT #6805 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.

Heh. I am evil, in that I submit with italics. So far, no problem, but then, I've been with my publisher for years and they're used to it.

I hate underlining with a stone raging passion. Visually for me, it turns the manuscript into a homework assignment from the 1960s.


Strix - May 27, 2006 8:56:32 am PDT #6806 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger

I'm not cutting ALL italics, but Sail made some good calls re: overitalicsing.


SailAweigh - May 27, 2006 8:58:27 am PDT #6807 of 10001
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb

Excellent feedback, sugar.

Thanks! ::wipes brow:: I was afraid you might think I was being too much of a hardass and wouldn't send me anymore to read. And that would have been a bad thing.