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ChaotikVisions
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Oklahoma, USA
Apr 2002 time: 23:23
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Really quite a rude post. I don't think anyone here is prepping for writing a novel, or going into a similar career. People are just trying their hand at writing storys, some are good, some aren't, but all of them are at least worthy of some respect for them to have done it at all. I've only read a couple storys I didn't like on here, most i've enjoyed. Typos or grammar mistakes really don't matter that much so long as you can tell what it is.
All your post would serve to do is discourage people who are writing storys currently from posting them. Simply because you didn't agree with their use of a word or the fact that they mispelled something. Noone here is writing a true book, its just short storys. A few typos here and there don't matter, its about the person writing it enjoying it.
Some work could be done on grammar or spelling I agree, but does it matter that much? Not really. No one (besides you, I guess) is judging short storys on simple things like grammar and spelling. Attacking people for it is just rude and serves no purpose. Also, as "impressive" as having three papers is, I must ask where is your story?
To criticize others you must have quite a good one of your own, right? I'd love to hear it so long as it fits the theme. And don't worry, every makes typos and spelling mistakes so i'll ignore the ones its bound to have. Anyway, just my thoughts.
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Tuberski
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ACK!!! PTHBBPPPTTT!!!!
Feb 2002 time: 23:23
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quote: Originally posted by Lucarse
Ok, This may be offensive to some 'authors' who have posted here, hopefully no more offensive than their appalling abuse of the English language.
Although I would not want to discourage anybody from writing stories based on civ games, as for the most part I enjoy them,
however PLEASE take a few of the following points into consideration before undertaking another civ epic.
SPELLING: Write it out in a text editor with a spell checker, there is nothing more frustrating than spelling mistakes, or repeated words.
GRAMMAR: There are rules about this if you don't know what they are, find out. Inappropriate use of punctuation makes a story very difficult to read, the dramatic pause is a much maligned/forgotten tool.
SENTANCE STRUCTURE: if you don't understand this don't try and write anything longer than your name.
Proper sentences and paragraphs break up the story, add pauses, and stop it from turning into a breathless rant (not unlike this thread).
MEANINGLESS DIALOGUE: 'Have a nice day' said the president 'yes you to' said the solider. THIS IS POINTLESS ANOYING FILLER stop it, it has absolutely no use! it turns an interesting piece of writing into a book for 3 year olds, See Spot Run, See Spot etc...
WORD DEFFINITIONS: If you don't know or are unsure about the meaning of a word, look up it or simply don't use it.
There is nothing better at making you look an 'illiterate gimp' as the inappropriate/misuse of words. e.g.
'he was enraptured by the stunning vista ' not technically incorrect but the word Enrapture really means an Ecstasy or to transport with delight it has slightly religious overtones.
It’s a clumsy use; a better example to use would be 'Awed' or 'Taken By'. It would be a good opportunity here for a juxtaposition (look it up) Example:
'On rounding the brow of the hill he was taken by the beauty arrayed before him a stunning vista of mountains, forests and plains. For such life/beauty to exist in such cruel landscape (meaning political, social, ethical) seemed obscene to the solider.'
MEANINGLESS FLOWERY DESCRIPTIONS:
Think about the description you're trying to convey e.g.:
Bullets Rip the air not humm/buzz or any other mundane wanderings.
Explosions Render, Crump, Balloon not fizz or explode the statement 'Explosions exploded around him' is completely redundant!
To illustrate this look at the following,
This is possibly the best use of descriptive language in modern literature.
It is the opening first chapter to 'The Lord Of The Flies' Read on...
The boy with the fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon.
Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his
hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat.
He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow,
flashed upwards with a witchlike cry; and this cry was echoed by another.
This paragraph describes the boy, the surroundings, the mood and the environment in one go. You can almost feel muggy steamy heat of the jungle and the scratchy undergrowth.
Although not everybody can be William Golding, but with a bit of practice your writing will be better for it if you take consideration of the points outlined here.
If anybody has a few ideas that I have missed please fell free to add them here, id like to see your suggestions.
NOTE: I apologise to the authors if they recognise their work in my examples, I have only used these as stand out cases, and it is not a reflection on the quality of the entire 'work'. |
And I don't have an MA in English Lit.
ACK!
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H Tower
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quote: Originally posted by ChrisiusMaximus
Well its been very nice of you all to drop in and stir up this forum a little, but now we would like to get on with the rest of our lives.
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Lucarse got what was coming to him, if you claim to be an expert on a subject like he was, and someone catches you making a slip up, you're going to catch hell for it. Horsie is one of those people who excels at bringing people back down to reality.
maybe next time he'll find a way to present his thoughts in a way that doesn't make him look like a fool, because that is what that piece did. Do you seriously expect people not to point out a spelling mistake when the author was going on about people not bothering to write if they can't check for spelling errors?
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