Thank you, Dill, for finally seeing the point.
Ahh, as eyes and minds open, if you continue to converse you may ultimately see that he saw the point from the beginning; you just might have been blind to that fact initially. Take care. Vern
You should not have to pay points to activate previous work from the old site. All my work transferred and as far as I can tell is active or inactive as it was on the old site. I have activated and deactivated all the chapters of my novel more than once on this site (except for the first three chapters which have always been active) and it has not cost any points to activate those once inactive chapters. I would check with Sol about a possible glitch and get those points back if you used any for that purpose. Good luck. Take care. Vern
PS: Edited only to add "more than once" to text.
Corra quoted: "As sure as time, history is repeating itself, and as sure as man is man, history is the last place he’ll look for his lessons."
― Harper Lee, Go Set a Watchman
Hi, Corra, so, I read Go Set a Watchman as soon as it came out, but although I did like it, I didn't find it as, well, I'll just say entertaining as To Kill a Mockingbird. I found myself agreeing with the editor who asked that she rewrite the original manuscript using the pov of Scout which resulted in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird. Just curious as to your opinion in contrasting the two works.
Glad to see you and Dill back in the fray btw; makes for a livelier place. Take care. Vern
I'm going to have to agree with Dill since the original question was merely asking for an opinion and as we all should know, we all have one, and they don't always, actually seldom agree. As a matter of fact, my original response to this thread is more or less a case in point for Dill's position. As he stated, "I should think it differs dependant upon the circumstance. If it were memoir or non-fiction then I'd think it could be natural. If it is over a fictional scene they'd just invented then I'd say that the writer is emotionally dysfunctional." My original response stated that I had indeed shed a few tears on several occasions over my novel which happens to be a somewhat fictionalized memoir (aren't they all). But I don't recall having shed any tears over any other writing - I may well have, but if so it hasn't stuck with me as my own writing induced tears have.
So, I have to question how anyone could attack (I will use that for lack of a better word at the moment) Dill's response to the question. You might disagree with his opinion as well as mine or anyone else's, but you can't logically argue with it or refute it; it is only an opinion, no more or less valid than yours or mine. The whole review process on this site is based upon others' opinions. You choose which to go with and ignore those you don't agree with, but you don't argue with them unless you are "emotionally dysfunctional" as Dill stated. That's my opinion. You can take it or leave it, but you can't argue against it in any meaningful manner. Take care. Vern
vern wrote:You can go to the latest post already by clicking on that instead of the topic.
Vern, how do you do that. I typically click on the link that shows up under Visit Your Groups on the home page. That takes me to the first page of the thread. I then have to click to get to the last page and then scroll down to get to the end. Is there a better way?
The email notifications/links telling me that there is something new to read on the site always go directly to the most recent unread post. I'm not sure why the links from the home page don't work that way. That might address Mike's needs.
Thanks
Dirk
If you open the forums say to the premium group, you have a list of the threads started. On the left you have the topic of a particular thread and if you click on that it will take you to the beginning of the thread. But if you go across to the right column under "Last Post" and click on that, then it will take you to that last post made within that thread. Take care. Vern
Does anybody else think it would be a good idea to have the newest forum posts on top instead of on bottom? Most of the forums I have viewed have most recent first in line.
Mike
Not really - for me anyway. You can go to the latest post already by clicking on that instead of the topic. For me at least I'm going to want to know what has preceded the last post if I'm not familiar with it. If it is a short list of posts on the subject then I can click on the subject and go to the first one to see what it's all about or at least what it started out being all about as they sometimes change midstream. But if it's a subject which has already received many pages of posts, then I don't really want to read through all of them if I haven't been keeping up; then I'll just click on the last post and go backward until I get the gist of what is happening at the present and not days, weeks, or months ago.
So, in essence you can already start wherever you wish, beginning, end, or somewhere in-between by clicking on one of the page numbers if more than one page. Once I get to the point I want to start reading, then I can read the posts in order from that point without having to scroll backwards which would be the case if the order were reversed. Hope that convoluted explanation makes sense. Take care. Vern
Pretty much everything I have ever written from school papers to whimsical poems to make fun of authority figures as a kid to short stories to my first full novel was done in my head without any type outline. One thing I did do for my novel because it was a fictionalized memoir was this: Somewhere I came upon a tiny address book, one which would fit in my billfold and stayed there for thirty or forty years, and if I thought of anything I might one day want to include in the book I knew would happen eventually, I wrote a single word or phrase as a reminder. The entire book was eventually written in about a month. The story was whole in my head, but to fill in I would go through that list from my little address book and each word or phrase not already included would become a complete chapter or incident. So, if you can write it in your head, then do so. If you think of something while not at your writing station, then jot it down, text yourself, or whatever, a word or phrase which will bring the entire idea back to focus and use it when you are ready. Works for me anyway - not the texting part, I don't do that, lol. Whatever works, you use it and forget about any rules to the contrary. Take care. Vern
One word: tongue-in-cheek. Okay, it's a hyphenated word, but still one word. And possibly there is a definition in there somewhere if you look at it seriously. Take care. Vern
Oh, and thanks for proving my point.
LOL. Take care. Vern
I would suggest writing the story with the characters that belong there regardless of gender. If your story calls for all female, why change it just to throw in a male. However, if you do decide it actually does call for a male character, then write him with whatever characteristics apply. You can always use someone you know to base a new character on or even better use a composite of several people you know. My novel uses many composite characters; I take the details of several people I grew up with and combine them into one even more exciting person, male or female. Hope that helps. Take care. Vern
When pulling up an inline review, the garbage can is right next to the button I have to hit to view. On a phone, any and all reviews could be lost. Can we move the garbage can somewhere else? Pretty please?
I never even noticed that garbage can, but now I'll probably hit it accidentally all the time. Thanks!!!, LOL. Take care. Vern
Just wanted to say hi to everyone and mention that this website is absolutely fantastic.
Also, I use waaay to many smilies.
Just sayin...
-Elisheva
Hi, EF, well, you can use my share of smilies; I never use them; not sure you can use too many or too few. Anyway, welcome to the site. Glad you found us; we are fantastic, lol. Take care. Vern
Simply means you wrote a personally powerful emotional scene. Had many of those moments in my fictionalized memoir. Take care. Vern
I think the aliens took Hamler and ate him for dinner.
Here are a few decent articles re POV:
http://www.writing-world.com/fiction/POV.shtml
Thanks, GP, I'll check the links out, but I'm a slow learner, lol. You're probably right about John; he's in the new edition of "How To Serve Man" from the Twilight Zone. Take care. Vern
I was under the impression that vern's narrative was largely done in Limited Omni--in which case, he doesn't have any pov issues going on at all as written. While I agree switching a lot, particularly in close proximity, can become a bit schizophrenic feeling, but I never once got that impression during my read.
Thanks, Linda, for verifying I'm not crazy, lol. I know I've read works done in this manner, but truthfully, I don't study those kind of things very much from a technical point, basically go on how it sounds to me - and others. Take care. Vern
Hi, GP, thanks for trying to unplug the fog machine, lol. Yeah, first person might be a hoot, but I'm trying to trim down my split personalities to no more than a dozen or so. Anyway, enjoy the beach and if not entering the contest will spur the completion of Genesis, then maybe we both can win. John, no, he's too set in his ways to put out a contender for the contest - note the use of my considerable reverse psychology skills, lol. Take care. Vern
Not Sol, but pretty sure he will tell you to follow the limit stated in the contest itself - that is when you click on the contest from the home page and it gives the limit as well as a preferable range. The general "contest rules" are more generic and they very rarely go in depth enough to change those for the individual contests and thus we most always have this type discrepancy; i.e. they just recycle the rules from the last contest even though they may not be exactly the same in all details such as the word limit case here. And let's face it, most folks aren't going to go into those generic rules looking for word limits if they are already spelled out within the specific contest parameters. But I could be wrong; I was once a long time ago, lol. Take care. Vern
I really like the new inline review format and the new regular review. However, I often don't know whether to do an inline or regular review unit I am well into a chapter. I use Microsoft One-Note to make notes as I read. I also copy lines of text to One-Note which I want to comment on. My problem is with the text I copy from the chapter. If I decide to do a regular review and copy my notes into the review box the text I copied from the chapter looks fine, but when I submit it the copied text disappears. The same seems to be true if I send a private message to another TNBW member. I have attempted to change my habits but once in a while I forget. When I paste into the box everything is there with no hint of a problem. When it is received on the other end the text copied from the chapter is gone. Sincerely, John
Hello, John, we all have our own way of doing things of course, but I try to simplify things with the review process. First off, I read the whole thing first to get a true feeling of the plot, pace, flow, etc. By doing so, I rarely need to make notes, just make comments as I come to them on the second reading.
If it is a long piece such as a several thousand word chapter or short story, then I'm going to go the in-line review route period. For me, it doesn't make sense to have to copy and paste many sections of text (I generally do well into double digit comments) or type them into a regular review since we no longer have to with this new format.
For shorter pieces such as poems or flash fiction, I'll go the regular review route and simply type directly into the comment box. Now you can still use the in-line format and save the typing using the highlight feature, but since there are generally many less comments, I don't usually go that route.
You can also simulate the regular review within the in-line to avoid any retyping of text. Just highlight and make your comment. If you have general remarks not pertaining to a specific text, such as introductory statements, then I just highlight one word at the beginning or where convenient and use the box to make general comments. And of course the final box is also available for adding things not covered specifically in the text. And a great feature is that you can go back at any time and edit comments you have made and other folks can add remarks also.
In short, except for very short works (and maybe even then), the in-line is a much more efficient method of reviewing even if you want to treat it as a regular review - only drawback to that is you would need the minimum comments to get the points and that is pushing on very short works. Overall, it saves many keystrokes. Well, that's what works for me anyway. Take care. Vern
Sheesh, I'm working!
You've gotta understand how the true artiste doesn't punch a time clock. Or in my case, a true slug waits for a blue moon to chug away...
Actually Vern, I've been re-writing, reorganizing and adding stuff to the first 14 chs. I reversed position - this time I'm serious !- and decided to mix Genesis's adult and teen years. After so much ruminating and stalling, right? I've been at it every day, so you need to be proud of me for working my ass off, k?
Can't decide whether to spend points on posting the redo or wait until I'm past what's already here and just post totally new stuff. Whatcha think? I've got like 200 credits to spend either way.
Speaking of revising until nature takes its course, where the hell is Hamler?
Hey Johnnnn! Wake up and smell the pollen!!!
Hey, if you're on a roll, I'd get the thing finished and then start posting all the chapters at least a couple a week. Worry about the points to publish when it arrives; I can fix that when the time comes. Take care. Vern
Times may vary slightly, but it is usually about a month from the end of a contest until winners are announced. Interesting name you chose btw. Take care. Vern
Found another 60 second timeout delay. I clicked on The Next Big Writer label at the top of the screen to go to my home page, then changed my mind and clicked on my menu and selected Portfolio instead without waiting for the first operation to finish. It hung. Repeatable. Win7/Google Chrome.
Thanks.
Dirk
Reminds me: Went to the doctor and said, "Doc, my leg hurts in three places." Doc says, "Stay out of those places." lol. Take care. Vern
Deepest condolence, Max. Wishing you new strength in time. Take care. Vern
Group subscriptions are a limited resource. It wouldn't and shouldn't be -mine-. And many people already have threads in existing groups. (I suppose this argues for multiple-appearance threads.)
Isn't everything a limited resource? Not sure why people having other threads should make any difference; if it would stop them from having one in your group why wouldn't it stop them from having one in any other forum? One person's solution is another's puzzle I suppose. I guess since nothing else works for you, you'll just have to hope Sol has a change of heart. Good luck. Take care. Vern
Connections clutter the writer's home page. Allowing the user to shut this off would help, though connections are still based on the writer rather than on the work. And, as Randall notes, this creates a closed discussion rather than an open one.
Why don't you start your own group (njc's feedback or whatever) and everyone you review can join at your invitation and create their own thread for their work with all the comments back and forth you could wish for. Everyone can subscribe to whatever thread they want and get alerts and if there are any problems, well, at least you know who to call. Good luck. Take care. Vern
I'll be slugging away at it with another post on the site, in a week or so...)
Hukhmmm! (clears his throat). Take care. Vern
