I loved Nick Hornby's paragraph. I was cracking up when he was talking about cutting 10,000-word segments.
1 2015-05-13 01:15:54
Re: Week 8 Additional Reading (Optional) (3 replies, posted in Crafting the Strongest Start - Spring 2015)
2 2015-05-13 00:59:05
Re: LESSON 4 ASSIGNMENT (5 replies, posted in Crafting the Strongest Start - Spring 2015)
(2) Walter closed the door and watched her through the peephole as she got on the elevator. He thought maybe he shouldn’t have told her the truth. What if she felt sorry for him now? He didn’t think he could stand to see pity in her eyes.
The problem(s): The first sentence is overly descriptive - "through the peephole as she got on the elevator" is a really long description that doesn't seem to be related to any of the sentences that follow. You can cut "he thought" from the second sentence, since the reader already knows that this is from Walter's perspective. I cut the "now" from the second sentence because it didn't seem relevant. Then, I eliminated the fourth sentence altogether because it seemed to be going in a different direction than what was stated earlier. I would have to see the rest of the paragraph or the following paragraph to see if it is necessary to what was being said.
My edited sentences: Walter closed the door. Maybe he shouldn't have told her the truth. What if she felt sorry for him?
3 2015-04-27 21:56:43
Re: Names (2 replies, posted in Fantasy World Builders)
Hi, HueytheHuey,
For me, naming characters and cities can be difficult. Characters are difficult because I want the name I give them to have a meaning that relates to a specific aspect of that character. Cities and towns, because I am just really bad at coming up with names (I always think of the names of places that already exist). This is what I do to remedy these issues:
For characters, I bought baby name books. I have about four or five of them. Most of them, I just flip to the first letter I was thinking of using and then I browse until I see a name that catches my eye. One of the books I found more recently tells you not only the meaning of the name, but also what the general population thinks when they hear a specific name. Unfortunately, that book doesn't have nearly as many names, but it is helpful to do a quick search once I have a name to make sure that general society is thinking along the same lines for me.
As for places, I usually just go to a name generator website and do it until I find a name I like.
Some websites with name generators:
http://www.be-a-better-writer.com/chara … rator.html
http://www.wordlab.com/name-generators/
Hope some of those help you out. Best of luck with your writing!
-J L Platt
4 2015-04-23 22:46:18
Re: LESSON 3 ASSIGNMENT (5 replies, posted in Crafting the Strongest Start - Spring 2015)
Movie: The incredibles
Inciting Incident: When Mr. Incredible gets sued, opening the flood gates of other similar lawsuits to all of the other superheroes. The night in question is the one when Oliver Sansweet attempts suicide but is foiled by Mr. Incredible. Shortly after his rescue of Sansweet, Mr. Incredible has to stop a train from running off the tracks, and his stopping the train causes several injuries, and the injured file a lawsuit against Mr. Incredible, too. Mr. Incredible's court losses cause other people to sue other superheroes, and shortly thereafter, the supers are forced into hiding.
Conflict:
Inner Conflict: Bob (Mr. Incredible) has an inner struggle to accept his life as a normal citizen. He misses the glory days of being a super, and that leads him to reach out to Mirage when she gets in touch with him on the day that he gets fired from another job.
External Conflict: Initially, when Mr. Incredible goes to visit Mirage's boss, he thinks that the conflict is with a robot that has gotten smart enough to wonder why it was taking orders from humans. On his second visit to the island, however, Mr. incredible learns that the true conflict is with Syndrome, the man that created the robot in the first place (and also happens to be a kid that he pushed aside in his early days).
Analysis of a Tense Moment:
On Mr. Incredible's second visit to the volcanic island, he goes to a large, empty conference room. He looks around, checks his watch, and then takes a seat. A second later, the wall opens and reveals the robot that he initially defeated. Then, Syndrome flies in. Using zero-point energy, he is able to lift Mr. Incredible up and toss him around like a rag doll. While he is doing this, he begins monologuing, telling Mr. Incredible about how he got rich and was able to develop the weapons. At the climax of his speech, he says, "After all, I am your biggest fan," which was what he told Mr. Incredible 15 years ago, when he was still a kid. Mr. Incredible (and the audience) is shocked. He asks, "Buddy?" in disbelief. By this point, though, Syndrome is full of resentment and that question only angers him more.
5 2015-04-11 14:27:19
Re: LESSON 2 ASSIGNMENT (7 replies, posted in Crafting the Strongest Start - Spring 2015)
Ok, this is my response to the reflection:
From the opening line of the first book in the series (Guilty Pleasures), “Willie McCoy had been a jerk before he died. His being dead didn’t change that,” I was hooked. This one line tells me that the main character, Anita Blake, is a sassy, smart-mouthed female, something I can relate to, since I am a sassy, smart-mouthed female (usually).
As the story develops, Anita’s world gets introduced to you – she lives in St. Louis (where I live, so an added plus), with one clear distinction – in her story, vampirism is legal. The description of the legality is brief and understandable, since it is in layman’s terms. Throughout the story, you meet a variety of humans, vampires, and other-worldly characters. Each character has a voice, and the descriptions of them are incredible. For instance, when Jean-Claude, master vampire of St. Louis is first introduced, this is her description of him: “The voice belonged to Jean-Claude, club owner and master vampire. He looked like a vampire is supposed to look. Softly curling hair tangled with the high white lace of an antique shirt. Lace spilled over pale, long-fingered hands. The shirt hung open, giving a glimpse of lean bare chest framed by more frothy lace. Most men couldn’t have worn a shirt like that. The vampire made it seem utterly masculine.” (Hamilton, 1993, 11-12) This one description leapt off the page for me, and I saw the vampire she described. This is but one example of Hamilton’s expertise in describing her characters.
As Anita narrates the story, her voice is easy to imagine, because I see so much of myself in Anita. Especially in the series’ earliest books, where she is single and not ashamed of it. Her line of thinking is very straight-forward; she does not play into making things more complicated than they need to be. Anita also uses a lot of sarcasm, which is something that I do, as well. I saw so much of myself in Anita that it was impossible to think of her as a simple work of fiction.
So, I guess, on the micro level, Hamilton created a character that was very easy for me to relate to. I understood Anita's way of thinking and found her sarcasm humorous. On the macro level, Hamilton created a world that was identical to our world with one key difference: the legality of vampirism. Everything else about the world was identical to ours, making it easy to imagine. Especially if you are familiar with the St. Louis area (as I am, since I live there; I could see each part of the city in her book).
6 2015-04-01 21:46:00
Re: WEEK 2 DISCUSSION TOPIC (4 replies, posted in Crafting the Strongest Start - Spring 2015)
A book I really enjoyed reading recently was The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. This novel is narrated in the first person by a sixteen year old girl, Hazel, who is in remission from thyroid and lung cancer. I really liked the voice in this book. I hope it isn't just because I really liked the voice of the person narrating the book (since I read this book as an audio book), but I liked how the main character conveyed her thoughts, if that makes sense. Though I do not have cancer, it was easy to relate to Hazel because I had some serious health issues back in 2008, and that gave me a connection to some of what Hazel was talking about in the story. The way that she narrated was very believable to me. It was easy to put myself in the story and feel the way that Hazel felt.
7 2015-03-23 21:42:54
Re: LESSON 1 ASSIGNMENT (6 replies, posted in Crafting the Strongest Start - Spring 2015)
In my writing, the biggest hurdle I have to jump is getting the story started. Because when I have an idea for a story, it is an idea for the main action. I never get an idea for the event that precedes the main obstacle that the characters face. In Flair, this is exceptionally problematic because most people who read earlier versions of the story said that the story took off too quickly. They felt overwhelmed by the action that was taking place and they refused to read further and see how the mess gets solved. In this latest version that I have, I got a comment from a reader that said that the openings was boring and flat. Since I have never gotten a response like that, I am unsure what to do with it. I know that if a person sticks with my story, they usually end up liking it. However, I know that I need help getting readers to commit to reading my story.
As for my writing strengths, I have been told that my characters are usually very well developed. My editor said that he could "hear" each character. He also said that the two main characters in my story were complete and clearly communicated. The setting was also communicated effectively.
8 2015-03-23 21:28:34
Re: WELCOME / CLASS BIOS (5 replies, posted in Crafting the Strongest Start - Spring 2015)
1. The story that I have worked on for the longest is a fantasy story. All of my other writing (that I do in National Novel Writing Month) is general fiction.
2. I started writing when I was fifteen. I had a vague idea for a story and I sat down to write it. After three months, I had the first draft of the store that has grown into Flair, the story that I aim to have published someday soon.
3. I would love to find a traditional publisher. I have looked several times for one, and without an agent, the only serious publisher that I have found is TOR. I would love to be published by them. However, I do know that there are successful authors today that started as self-published authors (Christopher Paolini, author of the Eragon series immediately jumped to my mind), so I might go that route. And, no, I have not been a published author yet.
4. Last year, I did finally submit Flair to a freelance editor (Kevin Eagan) to get some fresh eyes on the story, as I was having trouble finding people who were willing to read it. Kevin was extremely helpful and gave me some great feedback. I edited the parts of my story that he thought needed the most work, and I am ready for a new set of eyes to have a look at it.
5. Two of my favorite authors are Laurell K Hamilton and George R. R. Martin.
6. Last July, I was fortunate enough to go on an 8-day journey to Ireland, which has always been on my bucket list. It was incredible!
-Jessica
