Welcome New Folks!

ive got it

Hey B - I liked it, but would agree with emily yaffle about the dialect... if it was part of a longer piece it would probably work, but in this short there is such a contrast between the very articulate, nearlly 19th century style narrator and then Emily. It sort of patronises Emily, if that makes sense. It's very bleak - which I like. And the bit I liked best was when she couldn't let it go.. couldn't believe it wasn't dead. Her thought that surely there must be a sliver of life in there. I liked that. It's what we all think about our own mortality. Is a part of something bigger?

Excellent. Take time to familiarizes your self with its many features megan, it worth the time because it is very good at predicting the word you want and if there is a selection, you can just listen to the word being verbally spoken so you can tell which one is the correct word. It also learns based on your specific problems and so it improves with time. Hope it works for you.

its good

Thank you everyone, there is something I don't understand. One of the pieces in my folder ( an autobiogr. story 'Solomon's seal') has written editor's pick on it, I first thought it was maybe something nice, like being cherry picked, but it obviously isn't, as I am not in there. Does anyone know what it means?

It does mean it's cherry picked Milkstone. But because it's rated 15 you need to be logged in to see it. Liked it a lot by the way.

I just love a bit of de baiting, and the kangaroo jockey takes it everytime!

new head on the block. in the next month i expect to be elected pope,prime minister and kiss a frog.

!

Geek, is that you?

Just looked in for a briefest of moments so while that lasts would like to say. Hi to Tony, Mark, Ely, Missi, John, the men take preference here mainly because I didn't see a womans name I knew on this thread the only thread I have looked at but did like the sound of some of the new comers so good luck to you all. I am coming up for Eighty now and I like to think on here I used to be a force to be reckoned with but now I am just a shadow of my former self but after not looking in for a long time found it lovely to see all the old and new blood as they say and long may it continue. Have fun and not very exciting I know from one so ancient now but these are for all xxxxxxxx

May be?

Hello Mark - we used to have a regular writing exercise set for us by one of the editors, but we haven't done it for a while. Maybe it's time to bring it back, so that the place gets back to the writing. I set one once which turned into a fantastic short story by Ivoryfishbone. You could give that a try - write a short story about meeting a lover's parents. Tips on short story writing - it is hard to know where to start, but here are my best five :- 1. Read short stories. As many as you can. You'd be amazed how many people want to write short stories but never read any. Do you think many film directors don't love films? Do you think many musicians don't have a record collection? Read them. Find one you love and start taking it apart. How did the story make you feel, how do you think the writer achieved that effect? Could you rewrite it as an exercise from another character's point of view. 2. Don't get caught up on the 'twist in the tale' - good though Roald Dahl sometimes was (I'm thinking of Henry Sugar), he did a great deal to harm short story writing. There are very few twist in the tale stories that work, most of them you either see the twist coming, or worse still, the twist in order to be unexpected bears no relation to character, mood or what any real person would actually do in the situation and is purely there to surprise. 3. Character - it is a helpful exercise before writing about a character to get a piece of paper and write loads of things down about them. How do they hold a cigarette, what music do they like, what things make them mad, or cry. You don't put all this into the story, but the more you know about the character, the more real they will seem when you write them. 4. Said - the biggest fault in newcomers writing is to have no 'said's for fear of repetition - instead, every character 'snarls' 'spat' 'grimaces' 'sneers' 'chuckles' 'growls' 'barks'. It is horrible, rarely accurate and artificial. There's nothing wrong with said, and if you write your dialogue well, the reader ought to be able to tell who is talking so that you won't need to tag every single dialogue line with the identity of the speaker. 5. Overwriting - most new writers try too hard. I call this "Thundercats" writing, where Liono would say every week "If...I...could...just...reach...my... sword" - a sentence with more than three long or obscure words in it needs simplifying. You don't make great writing with long or unusual words. Read Hemingway, read Raymond Carver, read John Steinbeck - they bring things to life by combining simple everyday words into neat beautiful patterns. Keep writing!

C'mon back you geek you. Where you been? Licking yourself again.

Ive been unwell Denver. I had a bad virus, took ages to get rid of it and i didn't want to spread it to any one on the forum. Shit! I already did that, didn't I. Well you know what they say? If you're going to make a prick of you're self.. Why go halve way?

Hello Jay lovely to hear from you again. hope all is well with you.

<<(That's a story in itself, losing your accent to conform in the big city, and doing it in a big way!)>> That IS a story! Too right. That's what I meant about the piece.. I would have never known that was once your voice because your narrator has taken on that white/Victorian/man voice that we all seem to write like. It's like we feel that to be an 'authentic' write we must make ourselves as far away from our actual selves as we can. I wonder why that is...? Look forward to reading more of your stuff.

That's a really powerful explanation. Most people see a birth in their lives (excluding their own) but are never present at the moment of a death (excluding their own). What I liked about this piece is that you tackled the subject without it being morbid or mawkish - as you say, it is a vibrant mystery of the world, what is the difference between meat and a living thing, how does it come and go? The accents - I suppose if you were reading it, it wouldn't seem like you were talking down to the accent. That's my problem with dialect, they are usually an educated person writing the thoughts and speech of a less bright person in a way that makes them seem stupid. It is a real plague on the early novels that makes me loathe reading them, the rendering of poor people's dialect or (worse yet) Chinese people. But as I've said, this is a problem that is particular to me, it's my distaste for it that colours my opinion rather than it being an objective one. By the way, B, there's also a conversation about this piece going on in the Discuss Writing from abctales forum.

I read an interview with Elmore Leonard once where he said he never uses any other speech words other than 'said'. He also said he never, ever, uses adverbs to modify 'said'. If you need to put 'angrily', 'gently', 'stupidly', or whatever - your dialogue isn't good enough. Which is an easy rule to stick to when your dialogue is as good as Elmore Leonard's. (I've never checked if he was telling the truth - I bet you could catch him out somewhere).

Always a good thing to have new members... :)

Hey guys! My name's Elaine, and I live in San Francisco. I recently graduated with a degree in English lit, and I'm hoping to get an MFA in creative writing. I've been looking for a site like this for a long time -- I've always found that input from other people both impels and inspires me! I've worked doing design, writing, and various other things for a magazine called Tahoe Quarterly, but I want to move into fiction, or at least creative nonfiction (just not journalism). I'll post some stuff when I get home from work today... I have a particular piece I wrote for a creative nonfiction workshop (environmental writing) that I'd like to fine-tune and submit somewhere, but it needs a lot of work. Anyway, that's me. I like cats, the ocean, orchids, and video games. Forgive my awkwardness as I get used to using this site... :) -Elaine.

you didn't make a prick of yourself, John - you just had extreme paranoid delusions of granduer. It's nothing to get funny about. Welcome back anyway ;)

Hi! I am two and half posts old as I write this.. My other two posts are prejudiced general discussions.. I am habituated only to technical reading and writings(I am a physician and a molecular biologist.).. This kind of forum is new for me.. I intend to write some "popular science" and see if they are readable to people.. Hope this is not the wrong forum for that. ciao, Saptarshi

Hi everybody, I am new to this site and also in the sphere of writing. But I do have confidence and think will be able to give my best to this site.....

hmm...I can see his point, but the site is like marmite.

Emily, I shall copy out your exercise and staple it to my forehead. Yes I love simplicity in writing. But where does that leave Saul Bellow? I've stated that I'm in the middle of moving and I don't have my dog-eared copy of Augie March to refer to. Some of the sentences are breath taking in their complexity; but Christ they're uplifting. When I was at Ruskin College in Oxford (for about 2 weeks) this very subject came up when someone challenged the tutors take on simplicity in literature. She wondered 'what about difficult prose rather than sitting down for a jolly good read.' I paraphrase. I joked in another thread 'Never let a simple story get in the way of a difficult sentence' No one got it. Gahd you're all so thick. Joking! There does seem to be a tendency, no it's a compulsion to tute (have I just made up a new word?) that their is only one way to write, and that is with simplicity. I'm going with complexity. [%sig%]

No, Saptarshi, this is not the wrong forum for introducing yourself. Welcome to abc, hope that you enjoy it. We have three very smart scientists here (four if you add Dan, who knows about engineering and whatnot) John, Debashish and Jude. We also have a bunch of people who are not scientists but are interested in science, a bunch of people who are very technically minded with computers and then some people who simply refuse to accept the Monty Hall problem when it is placed before them. (But let's not start that debate again) Take care, Emily

Hello all I posted a thing some time recently on the threads, but not much else. Looking forward to putting more stuff up for reading. What did I miss?

Just wanted to say hello to all, 'HELLO'. I am new here and I'm looking forward to getting my claws into this site. I would submit something but I have not worked out how to do that so far, please bare with me while I get grasped with you lot.

Mark Brown wrote: > On behalf of ABCtales.com, I'd like to welcome anyone coming > to ABCtales for the first time, or even returning after a long > time away! > > Why not take the opportunity to introduce yourself, get to > know each other and get stuck in! > > Think of it as a grand reception, with tables of food under > glittering lights and the quiet tinkle of soft music in the > background... > > So put on your best clothes, get your best smile in place and > mingle... Tell us a bit about yourself and what brings you > here. > > If you're lucky you might even glimpse some of the more > seasoned regulars. They might seem scary or intimidating at > first, but after you've fed them and passed the time of day > you'll find most of them to have hearts of gold. Ask them > questions and get to know them too. > > So, who is that just got here? > > Mark Brown, Editor, www.ABCtales.com [%sig%]