That's my girl... That's my good girl.

Kaylee ,'Serenity'


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.


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.


deborah grabien - May 27, 2006 8:58:30 am PDT #6808 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.

Erin, I need mine - I use them a lot in Haunted Ballads, to show where the voice being used is an excerpt from a manuscript or song snippet, or when one of the characters is hearing something supernatural.

If I had to underline all those, I'd run screaming; I'd find it unreadable.

But yep, if you're italicising as emphasis, that's a whole nother ball of wax.


Strix - May 27, 2006 9:04:15 am PDT #6809 of 10001
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger

Oh, no, Sail. I don't want "Ohmigod, it was all great! Perfect! You are a goddess!"

Well, yeah, that's what I'd like, but not what I need, ya know?

Underlining? That what you do to book titles on a works cited page. Pffftt.