I really, really need to catch up on the sshg_exchange--of which I've read nothing yet. It's been that kind of week. But recently I had a convo where someone mentioned that they just hadn't read SSHG fics posted post-HBP that matched the old classics. That made me go hunting to make a list of all the epics in whatever archive that exist in the ship between the ( Read more... )

I've posted on the use of saidisms before, but for those who missed it, my post on it can be found here. Why am I bringing this up again? Because keket_amunet posted tangentally on the subject here and it caused a lively discussion I thought might be of interest if you want to hear both sides of this debate. (Though I remain on Keket's side on this one-as do ( Read more... )

I was reading a very interesting anthology edited by Gerald Gross entitled Editors on Editing and what struck me was how many of the precepts and wisdom contained within applied to betaing as well. So I thought I’d list what makes a good editor/beta according to the principles found there. Unless otherwise stated, all quotes are from that book.

( 1. Never paste over the author’s original )

argosy told me, “Hey, you know what it's about time for? A Harmony ‘On Writing’ post…” Like I’m a expert ::rolls eyes:: Nevertheless, for you ArgosySo, looking through that “SNW Manual” I gleaned of writing tips, I looked to see if there was anything not covered so far in my posts on craft, and these snippets are about an issue I’ve seen more than one ( Read more... )

I’ve read/been told two very succinct definitions of plot that have stayed with me, though I can’t remember the source:

1) Get your character up a tree-then throw rocks.
2) …And then it got worse.

I think I'm going to need more than that. I had my arm twisted was encouraged by elidyce and bambu345 to participate in this year's NaNoWrMo. That commits you to ( Read more... )

Dialogue, along with narration and description, is one of those basic building blocks of stories according to Stephen King. For the most annoying and common mistakes newbies make with this, see my post on On Saidisms. To see how breaking some rules can help in making dialogue sound natural, see my post on On Grammar Beyond that...

( Editors, Bestselling Writers, and Agents on Dialogue )

Stephen King says the three elements of story are: description, dialogue, but first and foremost, narration that--"moves the story from point A to point B and finally to point Z"--he distinguishes this from plot. The problem I see most often with fanficcers in handling this is "walking to the problem" (see below) and ways of handling flashback.

( Editors, Bestselling Writers, and Agents on Flashbacks and Time Jumps )

Back when I discovered fanfic in Trek, the only depository of stories was on a text-only unmoderated archive, Trekiverse. At first, I devoured stories indiscriminately, but most were crap. I soon realized that if the beginning bored me, it wouldn't get any better. So I'd skip to the next story after glancing at one paragraph, sometimes one line if ( Read more... )

Stephen King says the basic elements of a story are dialogue, narrative--and description.

This one's a case of either far too much or far too little I think. Sensory detail locks us into a story, makes it real. Otoh, I really could do with far less description of Hermione's gowns, dresses, and robes...

( Editors, Bestselling Writers, and Agents on Description and Setting )

I don't mean grammar in the sense that mods correct for on archives ( Read more... )