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Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#76
(01-25-2020, 12:07 PM)Disruptor Wrote: Then there is this site:
https://www.writersdigest.com/
I think I might have seen them mentioned once or twice over the decades... Big Grin

Yeah, Writers' Digest should be on the list if they aren't already.
--
Rob Kelk

Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#77
Something that might fit here:
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#78
If I may, I would like to recommend Overly Sarcastic Productions Trope Talks playlist, where Red discusses a trope every week

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...DXGyeZjZ5e
“We can never undo what we have done. We can never go back in time. We write history with our decisions and our actions. But we also write history with our responses to those actions. We can leave the pain and the damage in our wake, unattended, or we can do the work of acknowledging and fixing, to whatever extent possible, the harm that we have caused.”

— On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Danya Ruttenberg
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#79
This one popped up on Hacker News, thought I'd share:

Nine Truths for Roleplayers Who Start Writing
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#80
How not to write a fic, coupled with some good advice on how to...

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13654665/1/...collection
SEZ
BZG
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#81
A bit of SF writing advice from a surprising source:

Quote:How much science fiction terminology do you want?

The less you use, the better. we limit complex terminology as much as possible, use it only where necessary to maintain the flavor of the show and encourage believeability.
IMPORTANT: The writer must know what he means when he uses science of projected science terminology. A scattergun confusion of meaningless phrases only detracts from believability.
The Star Trek Guide (April 17, 1967), page 30

(Yes, the original series actually said in the writers' bible to avoid techno babble.)
--
Rob Kelk

Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#82
A quiz aimed at children: Do you know your punctuation and symbols?

Quote:Sometimes, you want a sentence to just trail off... What do you call those three dots you put at the end of one of these sentences?

Ellipsis
Dotty McDotters
Exclamation points
--
Rob Kelk

Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#83
Urgh. And here I was hoping it'd ask some really hard questions, like the various ways semicolons are used
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#84
Well, it is for children...
--
Rob Kelk

Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Reply
RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#85
(09-27-2020, 06:02 PM)Black Aeronaut Wrote: Urgh.  And here I was hoping it'd ask some really hard questions, like the various ways semicolons are used
The quick rules are, of course, quick.

If you want to use a comma but that would be wrong, then you should probably use a semicolon.
If you want to use a semicolon for readability, you probably want to have two sentences.
If you have two sets of places where you want to commas but can only use a comma in one or the other (nested lists for example), the semicolon is for the outer set.
-Now available with copious trivia!
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#86
Funnily enough, the semi colon question would actually be answered with 'dot comma' in Dutch. It made me double check for a moment. For reasons.
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#87
Don't worry Dotty, we can always use our special names for each other! Even if the world says it's wrong, our love can overcome...
--
‎noli esse culus
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#88
If Rob's going to link to a kid's punctuation guide, I can link to a basic grammar website:
Daily Grammar.

If you sign up for the mailing list, you will get a daily email containing a short grammar lesson. Note: everyone gets the same email and today's lesson introduces adjectives. You can also work through the lessons on the website for free or purchase the lessons in dead tree or ebook form. There is also a workbook available.
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#89
Huh. Maybe we should sign Kuma (a prolific and grammatically problematic contributor at All The Tropes) up for that...
-- Bob

I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber.  I have been 
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#90
If you use Calibre for your ebooks but haven't gotten the 5.2 update from a few days ago, I'll note that while I can't give specific data (not having kept a record of exactly how long it takes) but updating my list of nearly 1500 fanfics hosted on various sites just now took about 20% less time than in v4 - a difference of literal hours in this case. My internet speed hasn't changed and is hardly the deciding factor in retrieving sub-megabyte text files anyway, but the little blips in the status bars as it asks for something and gets a reply were coming much closer together than I remember, so I'd guess there must have been some serious revisions in code efficiency for the processing and turnaround of jobs.
--
‎noli esse culus
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#91
Thanks for the heads up, CD.

On my end, I've been looking at a distraction free writing app called iA Writer.

What's really interesting about it is that it is fully cross-platform, with versions for PC, Mac, iOS, and Android.

What this means is that, using it's agnostic approach to cloud-based file sharing, you can use whatever service you like, be it Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Files, or Apple Cloud, and pick up right where you left off as you jump from one machine to another.

Downside: you have to pay for a separate license with each version you use - buying the PC license won't net you the Android license as well. But at $35 per license, they aren't exactly asking for your first-born here.

Downside for me: They have two-week demos for all versions... except the iOS version. And my tablet and phone are both iOS, so I haven't been able to evaluate just how well everything translates over from the PC to the iOS. Dammit.
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#92
In the run up to Nanowrimo I wrote up my planning process to share with other writers in the local community that are struggling or just looking for advice.

How I Planned A Story
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#93
Yeah...my writing strategy tends to make people scream in rage.
SEZ
BZG
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#94
You have a strategy? I thought you just kind of opened a new chapter page and started typing....
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to rock the sky?
Thats' every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry!
NO QUARTER!

No Quarter by Echo's Children
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#95
Well yeah...I never said it was a good strategy.
SEZ
BZG
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#96
Actually it's a very good strategy as long as your not focused on a particular story line. It allows you to write scenes and descriptions and decide where they fit later. Or if you are like Batzulger, it lets you write in different stories as suits your mood at the time.
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#97
I still do not recommend 'The batzulger Lack of System' to anybody that wants to keep their sanity.
SEZ
BZG
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#98
What about for those who are willing to lose their sanity or have already lost it? Tongue
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
#99
That's a topic to be discussed in another thread. Let's save this one for resources, tools and tips.
-- Bob

I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber.  I have been 
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....
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RE: Advice, tools, and other goodies for writers
Ok, I would suggest disabling your computer Auto-correct for this exercise.

One of the easiest tools for breaking writers block is to get in to the habit of writing stream of conscience for one hour, every day. By that I mean you sit down, and write whatever comes into your head even if you start by writing "I don't want to write today." Save these session in a separate folder, and at the end of the day go review what ever you have written from three days ago.
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