Interesting!
I was always a lousy proofreader, because it once it looks like the book page, I don't see the errors as easily.
Tracy: 'When you can't run, you crawl... and when you can't crawl, when you can't do that--' Zoe: 'You find someone to carry you.'
'The Message'
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.
Amy - Jan 14, 2013 5:54:55 am PST #5526 of 6690
Because books.
hippocampus - Jan 14, 2013 10:18:50 am PST #5527 of 6690
not your mom's socks.
Awesome, Gud!
Tom Scola - Jan 23, 2013 9:30:37 am PST #5528 of 6690
Mr. Scola’s wardrobe by Botany 500
Amy - Jan 23, 2013 11:18:17 am PST #5529 of 6690
Because books.
Writers could learn a lot from that. That said, having done that hundreds of times, it's not a lot of fun. Especially when something is close, but just not close enough.
Polter-Cow - Jan 23, 2013 11:28:43 am PST #5530 of 6690
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
That's interesting. Looks like you've got to really hook her in the first few pages. Which makes sense, but all great books aren't like that. Well, maybe they are.
Amy - Jan 23, 2013 11:31:21 am PST #5531 of 6690
Because books.
But they're all supposed to be, for the most part. If you have a really slow-moving and boring first chapter, most people aren't going to stick around to figure out how awesome the rest of the book might be. Ideally, your first scene hooks the reader, and failing that, a really strong narrative voice.
erikaj - Jan 23, 2013 11:54:41 am PST #5532 of 6690
Always Anti-fascist!
Well, "hook" means different things with different writers, right? I mean, with Elmore Leonard, it could be a planned prison break, but with Anne Tyler, it could be "These people are weird and wacky..I want to see what they do next." Amy, in my tiny editorial role at the disability-arts mag, I ran into the "so close!" story all the time, although not as often as people trying to publish their therapy "homework". That is a rejection that will make you feel like a total asshole.But we got so much of that, given our "special-interest" status that it became easier to harden my heart.
Amy - Jan 23, 2013 12:06:02 pm PST #5533 of 6690
Because books.
I mean, with Elmore Leonard, it could be a planned prison break, but with Anne Tyler, it could be "These people are weird and wacky..I want to see what they do next."
That's what I meant by a strong narrative voice. Even if a book/story doesn't open with a really dramatic, action-packed scene, a unique and persuasive voice will do the trick in convincing readers to stick around.
SailAweigh - Jan 25, 2013 5:05:01 am PST #5534 of 6690
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
My criteria as a personal reader used to be that if you can't hook me in the first 30 pages, you're outta there. (Goodbye, Dune.) And these days it's getting even more stringent. With fanfic, it's like the first three paragraphs just based on SPAG or formatting. After that (since some fanfic can be really short), I give it a couple more pages to see if they have any real world knowledge about what they're writing or at least made a decent attempt at research. I hate poor research. I'm harsh.
Gudanov - Jan 25, 2013 6:29:16 am PST #5535 of 6690
Coding and Sleeping
Big revision was sent off to my agent this week. Hoping it goes well and the next revisions aren't quite so big.