crazyfish

hmm. first you need to diagnose why you stop writing after a few pages. Is a story problem or a writing problem? Story Problem. It helps to know what you want to say before you say it. Practically this means, you should have a handle on the character goal and conflict. Even if you're a pantser, your subconscious guides you to where the story is. If the ink dries so to speak, then in such moments, you need to ask yourself, "what is the worst thing that could happen to the character now?" Writing problem. You might be letting your internal editor get in the way of writing. In that case, allow yourself to write crap. Crap can get fixed later. So just write it out, all the bad scenes, bad dialogues and bad everything and get it out of the way. Then learn to self-edit. there's a saying, write drunk, edit sober. I live by this. my first drafts are utter shite, because I don't care. Shite can get fixed.The art of writing is rewriting. I learned how to edit shite by being involved in only critique groups. Interestingly, as you write more and self-edit more, your ability to write well on the first pass increases. If focus is the problem, then perhaps you should try short stories or flash fiction. If the problem is the lack of ideas, then you should read more and let your imagination flower. Look to your life experiences for inspiration. Hell, write fan-fiction if that what gets your writing again.

***jumping in the air*** Me, me! As for the wine, it's going to get cooked anyway, why does it matter? Better yet do a scientific taste test. I'll be your darling test subject.

I don't like cooking, but I do like eating

hell, you're young. If you want to sing, you should go for it.

Sing in the shower. Sing in the car while driving alone, which I'll admit to doing. It's funny just how in small ways we are restricted in doing the innocuous things we want to do. If you sing aloud and alone, you're crazy. So you need an audience, or join a group, but you can't do deal with that. So you have to go sing in the shower or in a car with your windows rolled up.

I used to sing choir in grad school. Alas now... I have youtube to reminscence. Anything arranged by Moses Hogan(RIP you) gets me. And I like the Russian melody, Polyushko Polye in Japanese. The clip's from Boy's Choir, a japanese movie, which I highly recommend the film if you're in the mood for japanese teenage angst. A very touching film about a boy, on cusp of adolescence, losing his golden soprano voice.

it's a good read, thanks for suggesting.

hah, perhaps a fortuitous thread because I'm attempting to write a story set in the 80's. I'd to love to hear more of your personal experiences. I was born in early 80's but can't a remember a thing about the 80's perhaps McHammer videos towards the tail end of the decade. Oh and the shoulder pads.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Hell no.

Great tips there, Libby. Another great book to get is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. Personally, I worry a lot more about story structure than the nitty-gritty of prose. I'm pantser because I'm too lazy to outline and never can stick to my outlines. However, I find that after the first draft, it helps to step back from the work and write a down an outline. This is mainly to see whether the story flows logically. I write an outline of the story events and an outline for each of the main character's dramatic arcs. It is good too if you can sit still and create a logline for the overall story and for each of the main characters. In process of thinking detailedly about the dramatic arcs, I find myself nailing down the theme of the story. With structure and theme nailed down, I beat that first draft into shape. Cut or add as appropriate.

It's smokin!

The days trudged on despite the repulsive omen of rain. Eating Claude felt ill-conceived before the light of the hearth. Studying he found likewise ill-conceived as the chimeric squeals of rats nibbling and nibbling on the rags of his soul haunted. His mind turned, skipped from panic to panic. Sabrine. Sabrine and her bad teeth. Sabrine and her good virtue saving Amaline. Sabrine and her tender company with Alphonse. He failed his duty once. He would not fail a second time. He broke out of the

Interesting read.

Great tips.

Too bad Formosa hasn't been around in over a year. He would have liked this good review.

The next day Amaline came over with a cloth bag in one hand and a book open in another for questions. Her loose hair exhaled a heady aroma of bread, and her eyes, apple eyes, held to an anticipatory gleam. Neither her male relations nor Aurin mores could prevent her from coming alone to Claude's cottage in order to learn her letters. That she was not Alphonse, Claude thought a crime, a great grievous crime. Alphonse had condescended to learn how to write his name and no more. The stripling had

A year had passed by and Claude was not dead yet. Not yet taken by demons. Had not ravished the lads or virgins. Had not stolen the purse. He was stuffed with French, roasted in Latin, and pickled in tears whenever Paire Dennis declared, Ploremus (let us wail) instead of Oremus (let us pray). Yet he was unblemished, unbled, and unbroken. With severe dispassion, Calm reigned in the hut, but outside in the backyard during fencing lessons, it was no king. Claude fought to skewer it upon the na

A little strange that you're mashing up korean with western and japanese sounding names.

I hope she does go gently into the good night. You have my sympathies and well wishes.

I don't think it's fair to denigrate authors who aren't looking for harsh comments. This is as it were a free reader site primarily (judging by the ratio of readers to writers), not a writer critiquing workshop. Looking for validation or encouragement is just as a worthy need as looking for the hard comments. Personally, I don't care to bandy critical comments because I don't need the aggravation of roughing up the wrong writer. Various writers are at various stages of growth. Some are new at the writing thing. Some just need encouragement. Others have gone beyond needing validation to looking for the hard-hitting comments. The real writer will tire of gushy comments after a certain while and seek after the more critical reviews. I don't care to force my critical views on those who might not want it. That said. An author might get more feedback, if they left leading questions at the end of the story. Don't leave the generic 'please comment' plea. Ask more thoughtful questions about story and characters for example. And if you're the author in need of harsh comments, you should say so at the end. Giving a passive agressive "I won't update if I don't get reviews" is just silly and selfish. You want comments, be proactive about getting reviews (short of spamming of course), better yet, write awesome stories.

Why isn't feedback tied to reputation points? I have come across members who have posted a lot of feedback but have next to nil reputation points. I find that a little ironic.

Claude took a deep breath then opened the door to the Aurin cottage. The room had an earthen glow in the waning afternoon light. In a soiled chemise and joint hose, Guy was merrily alive at the table, humming and dabbing his sword with an oiled muff. Guy still forbade him from touching the sword, and Claude had yet to summon the mischief to disobey. With a width no wider than a man’s thumb, the sword was a strange-looking blade of a long single-edged design. Sabrine had claimed it was bestowed o

Yeah, wait and see what happens next. I think you might just have heart attack when you read it.

Toulouse. The bells called upon bells, toll upon toll, like a rotund of a thousand foundlings crying for succor. Pont St Julien yawned its gates to the tight stench of yesterday’s corpse and yesterday’s excrement. Still, to the trio’s eyes Toulouse was not the cauldron of rot downriver but the shiny city on the hill. This shiny city rocked with royal gossip. The Duke of Anjou was dead, the maid delivering fish said to the coifed crone. France has no proper Catholic heir to the throne, the maid s