Wow! that has major impact.
I miss Oz. He'd get it. He wouldn't say anything, but he'd get it.
Xander ,'Get It Done'
The Great Write Way, Act Three: Where's the gun?
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
Typo Boy - May 07, 2008 4:14:10 pm PDT #118 of 6681
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Wolfram - May 07, 2008 5:01:45 pm PDT #119 of 6681
Visilurking
Thanks, I'm trying to work on condensing as much as possible. Also I'm really bad at descriptive prose.
Beverly - May 07, 2008 8:37:31 pm PDT #120 of 6681
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
I think that's better than the opposite, Wolfram. Sometimes the story gets lost in the descriptive detail.
Paraphrasing Amadeus, "Too many words!"
I do like writers who go for more senses than sight and sound, however. In my opinion, nothing grounds fiction more than the temperature, density, moisture content of air moving on skin, texture, and the scents your characters identify and what those evoke.
"The hot, dry air scorched as his lungs sucked it in, and leached moisture from him as it was pushed out again. His throat felt scraped and raw. The dumpster behind him was due for collection: a fine old stew of human leavings percolated in the heat, but underneath that aroma was oil, grease, engine lube and solvent.
"His thin t-shirt was soaked and sucked at his skin, chafing, especially beneath the shoulder rig."
Tell me what's going on there. No action, no visual or auditory description. You know nothing about the POV character except gender and he's wearing a gun. But are you in the scene? Can you feel the heat, the sweat, the dry mouth? These are the things I look for. Don't tell me, put me there.
But that's just me.
hippocampus - May 08, 2008 4:13:05 am PDT #121 of 6681
not your mom's socks.
But that's just me.
us.
Wolfram - May 08, 2008 5:31:08 am PDT #122 of 6681
Visilurking
Damn that's good writing. Will have to practice some of that.
Beverly - May 08, 2008 7:12:52 am PDT #123 of 6681
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
Pfft. That, and world building, character defining, are what I can do fairly well. But I can't find a story to tell, or sustain one.
Heh. DH, reading over my shoulder, "You always were a method actor."
Miracleman - May 08, 2008 7:24:40 am PDT #124 of 6681
No, I don't think I will - me, quoting Captain Steve Rogers, to all of 2020
That, and world building, character defining, are what I can do fairly well. But I can't find a story to tell, or sustain one.
I suffer from this syndrome as well. We should start a support group.
Wolfram - May 08, 2008 7:57:05 am PDT #125 of 6681
Visilurking
We should start a support group.
looks at thread slug
Isn't this?
Beverly - May 08, 2008 8:46:43 am PDT #126 of 6681
Days shrink and grow cold, sunlight through leaves is my song. Winter is long.
Heh, and now I'm looking for that corner. The one where the guy in the Sesame Street trenchcoat hangs out, "Psst. Hey kid! Wanna buy a story?"
JZ - May 08, 2008 11:38:52 am PDT #127 of 6681
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
Didn't The Believer (another one of the McSweeney's magazines) have a section for a while of orphan stories? Plot bunnies that various authors had running around in the hutches in the backs of their brains that they knew they'd never have the time or energy to attend to, so they were putting them up for adoption? I've been seriously thinking about rooting back through the archives, because some of those orphaned bunnies were kind of appealing.