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[pmcd9]

SHUT UP AL GREEN!

Oh we got the feelin' now.

[littlefallsmets]

Twas definitely a reference to "a paddlin".

You definitely have a point, ss, but there is an extent to which... man, if I wrote second and third drafts of message board postings, I'd probably have to choose between the internet and... everything else in my life.

That would take an enormous amount of time for a pleasant diversion.

But I will definitely think about what you had to say... there's ways to apply some of it without going to that extreme, certainly.

[Nabubrush]

Drops science.

*Swoon*

Thank you. I sometimes skip past or lightly skim some of the longer posts, but that one is worth reading - and re-reading. I am also guilty at times of not taking enough time generating a quality post, and I think that this forum is valuable enough to me that it's worth the extra time. However, I think my frequent breaks help.

[wombat]

Somewhat belatedly: What Smells said.  But a vote against Nabu's frequent breaks.

[side_show]

Twas definitely a reference to "a paddlin".

You definitely have a point, ss, but there is an extent to which... man, if I wrote second and third drafts of message board postings, I'd probably have to choose between the internet and... everything else in my life.

That would take an enormous amount of time for a pleasant diversion.

But I will definitely think about what you had to say... there's ways to apply some of it without going to that extreme, certainly.

Thank you LFM.  It is not about writing up draft after draft.  It is about developing the skill to self edit as you write.  It is not about spending more time on this, it is about spending the exact same time, distilling what you post down to maybe even 50% less content wise, and making that 50% less you put out here the straight truth as you see it.  It is also about not feeding into these regular cycles that you are getting into, cause that shit is not healthy for you and it is very bad to watch from the outside.  You are worried that I am asking you to agonize over things, while I am asking you to agonize a lot less.  You need to trust youself to say it straight, without padding or without holding back.  You need to trust yourself to the point where if someone disagrees, that you can keep it clean and walk away.  If you put the effort in, this will become second nature really fast and it will strengthen who you are as a poster and teach you new things about being a writer, and maybe about life.  It's an invitation to step up handed to you on a sliver platter.  Don't be lazy or make excuses, don't shrug at a beautiful opportunity.

[Nabubrush]

More sense.

Oh you better believe that's a (tiny) cannin'.

[littlefallsmets]

Yeah.

I think the thing is... when I write a script, I am writing with the idea that I will edit it fifteen times before I show it to anyone... when I write in my journal, I'm of course not editing because it is my journal and...

As I've been writing 10-15 pages of first draft of a novel a week, I am writing in the one format where brevity is... it's still important but it is of the least import of any format because it is THE long form of the English language and...

Yeah.

Bad habits I've fallen into. I'm sure that sitting around waiting for a new job to start hasn't helped.

I'm also ridiculously passionate about empathy and human dignity needing to be the first and foremost rules of the public sphere and so this subject...

Yeah.

Things to think about, ss. Thank you sincerely.

[Nabubrush]

Yeah.

I think the thing is... when I write a script, I am writing with the idea that I will edit it fifteen times before I show it to anyone... when I write in my journal, I'm of course not editing because it is my journal and...

As I've been writing 10-15 pages of first draft of a novel a week, I am writing in the one format where brevity is... it's still important but it is of the least import of any format because it is THE long form of the English language and...

Yeah.

Bad habits I've fallen into. I'm sure that sitting around waiting for a new job to start hasn't helped.

I'm also ridiculously passionate about empathy and human dignity needing to be the first and foremost rules of the public sphere and so this subject...
Yeah.
Things to think about, ss. Thank you sincerely.

Nah, I'm just busting your balls, smets.

[littlefallsmets]

haha.

I swear to the Great Spirit, the colloquial tone works much better as script dialogue and in prose when the narrative perspective is that of a character. Double-swears. For better and for worse, I spent years trying to teach myself to "write like people talk" and though I am hardly perfect at it, I am better than most.

Writing science-fiction where the narrator talks in "early Rick Linklater dialogue meets Bukowski poetry meets Breakfast-of-Champions" ranty-ramble is a goddamned hoot, lemme tell ya.

[theinevitable]

man. i need to have you people read my stories for my fiction class. I have a feeling that my professor is too nice to tell me my writing style is bullshit.
I mean, maybe I am better than the guy who always wants to read the stories he writes to the class, and they are such as

I woke up to the scream of my neighbor-- a beautiful blonde in her mid-20s

...

I broke down her door just as a man rose his fist to strike her. I quickly pulled out my colt 45 and shot him in the center of his chest

...

as she fell into my arms, passionately kissing me, I thought "mmm, this was a good day."

whereas mine always end up turning into, you know, this guy who is kind of having a normal day, and at the end there is some kind of fake-smart twist, and ohhh isn't life beautiful and complicated. I need my professor to say "have you been watching too many movies for the past few years. write something that doesn't make me want to buy a poster of your story and put it up in my dorm room to pick up artsy chicks."
At the same time, of course, I think that the stuff I write is Awesome, because it is exactly the kind of stuff I like to read.

[AugustWest]

Dude, you have a class with Nice Pete?

[littlefallsmets]

Gotta write what you would like to read and then roll the dice and hope.

Took me years to figure this out and I still ain't made a buck of it.

But I'm working toward it and that realization has helped.

[lprkn]

Inev, from your description, your classmate's stories sound more like old pulp stories, but not as cool.

[AlohaDawg]

I just got to t his thread and I hate it.
...
I hate that people want to censor other people.
I hate that it appears that our posts are now going to be checked for quality.

Whatever this thread was about before it got split, it certainly has become something dreadful.

I hope that my spelling, syntax, punctuation and construction meet the demands of the mods here from now on....

[Nabubrush]

I thought about getting into this, but just the offchance that it might get grumpy with you Dawg, I just don't want to chance it.