Discussion: Q1 Volume 39

Posted by: @rschibler

I have a corgi that sleeps under my feet while I write.  

Aaahhh...nothing like a warm pig belly for your aching feet! LOL

Posted by: @craydimensional

LOL. I have 2 kitty writing friends myself. The one likes to sit on computer keyboards, the other likes to steal my chair. However they both cuddle up with me when I start writing each night.

Two kitty writing pals for me too! They take turns to either sit on my lap or melt on the table next to my laptop. I think they like to feel included.

My cat is incredibly antisocial, but I've taken to writing during the twins' morning TV time and one of my boys likes to snuggle up next to me while the TV is on, so it kind of dovetails into a series of sweet moments.

Posted by: @disgruntledpeony

My cat is incredibly antisocial, but I've taken to writing during the twins' morning TV time and one of my boys likes to snuggle up next to me while the TV is on, so it kind of dovetails into a series of sweet moments

I miss those days. Now they teese me with Smurf theme song for being short.

Posted by: @tiinag

Posted by: @craydimensional

LOL. I have 2 kitty writing friends myself. The one likes to sit on computer keyboards, the other likes to steal my chair. However they both cuddle up with me when I start writing each night.

Two kitty writing pals for me too! They take turns to either sit on my lap or melt on the table next to my laptop. I think they like to feel included.

I can add my pair to this too. We had two kitties before, who we unfortunately lost over the last few years, but now have a pair of sweetheart ragdolls. They love to be around us, and can be great company, but haven't so far adopted any anti-writing habits (which cannot be said of my first kitty, Mothra, who had a whole repertoire of 'em).

The elder of the two is the one in my avatar, though she was no more than six months old at that time, I think.

Ugh, I am struggling with some dialogue right now. My characters are talking about The State of the World and it's coming off super boring and preachy. Gotta scrap it and start over. I'm thinking I need to listen to some great dialogue to help myself get in the mood. What's your favorite dialogue in books/movies?

Posted by: @lizbusby

Ugh, I am struggling with some dialogue right now. My characters are talking about The State of the World and it's coming off super boring and preachy. Gotta scrap it and start over. I'm thinking I need to listen to some great dialogue to help myself get in the mood. What's your favorite dialogue in books/movies?

Not sure about resources but I remember a Writing Excuses episode (maybe season 11) where they were talking about how to deal with a Issue(s) story without sounding preachy. I remember their guidance was to ground it in effects on the characters. I'd guess that would work in that type of dialogue too.

@lizbusby 

As far as movies, you can't go past Darth Vader. He doesn't get all screamy and super angry when an Imperial officer slanders the sith. It's just:

(*while force-choking the guy) "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Gotta praise a man of action.

Posted by: @doctorjest

I can add my pair to this too. We had two kitties before, who we unfortunately lost over the last few years, but now have a pair of sweetheart ragdolls. They love to be around us, and can be great company, but haven't so far adopted any anti-writing habits (which cannot be said of my first kitty, Mothra, who had a whole repertoire of 'em).

Aww, I used to have two Ragamuffin cats (they have ragdoll in them). BEST kitties ever, aren't they?
I adored mine ♥♥♥

~A.

Posted by: @lizbusby

Ugh, I am struggling with some dialogue right now. My characters are talking about The State of the World and it's coming off super boring and preachy. Gotta scrap it and start over. I'm thinking I need to listen to some great dialogue to help myself get in the mood. What's your favorite dialogue in books/movies?

From what I've been told, The Gilmore Girls (tv show) does dialogue quite well, snappy, fast-paced, and very real.

~A.

Posted by: @lizbusby

Ugh, I am struggling with some dialogue right now. My characters are talking about The State of the World and it's coming off super boring and preachy. Gotta scrap it and start over. I'm thinking I need to listen to some great dialogue to help myself get in the mood. What's your favorite dialogue in books/movies?

A couple good general dialogue tips to keep in mind, should you feel them applicable in this instance:

• Every character has a goal in a conversation, something they're trying to accomplish (even if that thing is as simple as being friendly or acquiring a cup of coffee). When the characters' conversational goals don't align, that's when the sparks of tension fly. (Example: Jeanne wants to make friends with Billy--but Billy is having a bad day, and wants nothing more than to escape from the conversation as quickly as possible so he can go home and do an hour-long workout so he can justify eating a full pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream.)
• Sometimes what characters don't--or won't--say is more important than what they do. (This happens a lot in well-written books, movies, and TV shows. Pick one of your favorites and pay attention to what the characters do and don't say as they dance around their problems.)

Neil Gaiman and Chuck Wendig write really great dialogue, in my opinion. I'll try to think of other authors with a feel for strong dialogue in the morning, when I'm more coherent.

Posted by: @lizbusby

Ugh, I am struggling with some dialogue right now. My characters are talking about The State of the World and it's coming off super boring and preachy. Gotta scrap it and start over. I'm thinking I need to listen to some great dialogue to help myself get in the mood. What's your favorite dialogue in books/movies?

The best dialogue that comes to mind for me is Joss Whedon's Firefly series, or it's movie counterpart, Serenity. Quippy, funny, smart...with lots of subtext, as Elizabeth points out above.

I am so far behind this quarter. Between finishing my manuscript and battling illness I haven't put any words together yet. I suppose that I could reformat and edit a previous entry but I typically don't enjoy doing that.

We've still got six weeks right? I will just need to buckle down in the next few weeks to make it happen. 

Posted by: @nvhaskell

I am so far behind this quarter. Between finishing my manuscript and battling illness I haven't put any words together yet. I suppose that I could reformat and edit a previous entry but I typically don't enjoy doing that.

We've still got six weeks right? I will just need to buckle down in the next few weeks to make it happen. 

You got this! 

Posted by: @nvhaskell

I am so far behind this quarter. Between finishing my manuscript and battling illness I haven't put any words together yet. I suppose that I could reformat and edit a previous entry but I typically don't enjoy doing that.

We've still got six weeks right? I will just need to buckle down in the next few weeks to make it happen. 

I'll definitely cheer you on, but I'd also ask that you give yourself grace if need be (whatever that may mean for you). You've had a busy quarter--try not to stress yourself out any more than necessary.  

Hey All,

We are at about the halfway point for Q1 V38, and I know everyone will start wrapping things up on their entries here soon. So for all the new people and the well-traveled word warriors on here ...

I have an open standing offer for PROOFREADING contest entry stories. This is absolutely FREE, I never charge for WotF stories. This is a helping hand only as I know lots of folks on here help with critiques and such, but sometimes right before we hit 'submit' it's nice to get some fresh eyes on the story to find those extra words or missing quotation marks, etc. 😉

To help clarify what proofreading is:
Proofreaders give the the story or typeset text a final line-by-line scan to catch major editorial errors, typos and misspellings, and formatting issues.

This is not copyediting or developmental editing. This is NOT a critique. I'm only offering to help you submit as clean a story as possible. Dave may not mark you down over the little things, but what if it comes down to your story and one other one, and a few typos or bugs are what swings it? That would blow monkey chunks, right?

So, who am I you ask? Well...
My name is Alicia, I've entered the contest (a lot!), and I recently took the proofreader test for, passed, and have been brought onto the proofreading team of a mid-sized Indie publisher; I was recently offered an opportunity to work on a book project with another Indie publisher; I volunteer on the editorial team of one of the speculative magazines that I slush for (I read slush for two online magazines, one spec and the other spec/literary); and I proofread technical/training manuals as part of my job duties in said "day job".
(FYI: I use the Chicago Manual of Style 16/17th editions as my reference source.)

Is a single proofreader going to catch every typo or error in a manuscript? Nope. But I'll catch a whole bunch of them and help you submit a shinier short story! ♥

~Alicia

@aliciacay 

Congrats on the new proofreading job! I bet you aced that test. Your proofreading skills are top notch.

So glad you’re still putting this offer out. A clean manuscript makes a huge difference. 

That's an excellent offer Alicia. I always sub with little room to spare.  

I do have a story to finish that is maybe 50 percent right now. My goal is to not wait until the last day.

I'll pm you when I'm ready to take up your offer.  

Posted by: @aliciacay

Posted by: @doctorjest

I can add my pair to this too. We had two kitties before, who we unfortunately lost over the last few years, but now have a pair of sweetheart ragdolls. They love to be around us, and can be great company, but haven't so far adopted any anti-writing habits (which cannot be said of my first kitty, Mothra, who had a whole repertoire of 'em).

Aww, I used to have two Ragamuffin cats (they have ragdoll in them). BEST kitties ever, aren't they?
I adored mine ♥♥♥

 

~A.

They are! Although I do miss my psycho calico kitty girl, these guys are remarkably sweet and good tempered, and are fantastic company.

Posted by: @storysinger

That's an excellent offer Alicia. I always sub with little room to spare.  

I do have a story to finish that is maybe 50 percent right now. My goal is to not wait until the last day.

I'll pm you when I'm ready to take up your offer.  

This is wonderful! Yes, please do.  

~A.

Posted by: @lost_bard

@aliciacay 

Congrats on the new proofreading job! I bet you aced that test. Your proofreading skills are top notch.

So glad you’re still putting this offer out. A clean manuscript makes a huge difference. 

Eep! Thank you so much! I appreciate the kind words.  

~A.

@aliciacay Congratulations!  I'm sure you'll do wonderfully.  You were a great help with my Q4.

Posted by: @chwalter

@aliciacay Congratulations!  I'm sure you'll do wonderfully.  You were a great help with my Q4.

Thank you 💛 And hope to be a help with Q1 too!

I adore reading all ya'lls fricken amazing stories and hoping for each one!--keep 'em coming lovlies!

~A.

As soon as I catch up on grading, etc. I've got some darlings to kill and fresh stories to write and look into fixing up my Q3 to send somewhere (once we get those results). Not sure, yet what my Q1 story is, but I'm optimistic that I'll have enough time to knock it out of the park so to speak. 

I have the beginnings of an idea for Q1 V39, but that's about it. I did (2) 5 minute sprints today during Fyrecon in Martin Shoemaker's "pantsing" session. So, technically I have begun the first draft but not by much. At the moment, I am orking on the first draft of a new novel during NaNoWriMo.

But dear @axeminister has me quaking again. Thank you Dustin.  

Posted by: @nvhaskell

I am so far behind this quarter. Between finishing my manuscript and battling illness I haven't put any words together yet. I suppose that I could reformat and edit a previous entry but I typically don't enjoy doing that.

We've still got six weeks right? I will just need to buckle down in the next few weeks to make it happen. 

Hope you're feeling better now. 

@jvashley much better now, thank you! 

I may try something totally bonkers and start over. Not a complete from scratch, but a rewrite of a six-year-old HM. I'm reading an author that inspires me and that story keeps popping into my head, but written in 3rd and in a fantastic new voice.

Now I have to see if I can do 6k in under 6 weeks. I can do the word count, but can I edit? I'm an editor, not a writer. Heh.

Will try to get to 1k this weekend, then I'll have hope. Fingers crossed!

Posted by: @axeminister

I may try something totally bonkers and start over. Not a complete from scratch, but a rewrite of a six-year-old HM. I'm reading an author that inspires me and that story keeps popping into my head, but written in 3rd and in a fantastic new voice.

Now I have to see if I can do 6k in under 6 weeks. I can do the word count, but can I edit? I'm an editor, not a writer. Heh.

Will try to get to 1k this weekend, then I'll have hope. Fingers crossed!

Go get em'!

Thanks Spud!

Okay, 1300 this morning. Notes in my book all crossed out, and I must blaze anew.