A Reader's Rants and Thoughts on Writing

[Rem]

That doesn't fit but I could change it up. I also used the word intel (short for intelligence/knowledge etc). Actually the entire sentence is bad lol. This is what i have.

So David questions whether Johnny is right about something. This is the following line:

"Of course dillweed," Johnny shot back. "What, you don't trust my intel?"

I need to change all that to 1958

How about...

"You're such a square." Johnny fired back. "What, you don't trust my info?"

 

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[CarrieW]

I would suggest watching the first back to the future movie

most of it is set in 1955

 

[stranger]

All right and never alright.

 

[COSenior]

I don't actually remember throwing friendly insults around, but I wasn't a teenager yet at that time. Hope some of the other suggestions are helpful.

 

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[ctcrompton]

This is a really informative thread. As I continue to write, I'm learning more about what makes a story well-written, as opposed to simply readable. Having never read the Game of Thrones series, I recently dug into the introduction of one of the books, and it took practically a whole page just for the author to describe a conversation between two people while one tossed an apple in the air and the other shot it with an arrow. The level of detail and description was so great that I realized I'd love to be able to write like that. So that's what I'm aiming for now.

Regarding realism, @COSenior, it also bugs me to when a story is aiming for reality, but misses it with small details. I can't stand watching movies that fail on realistic details when they're meant to be realistic movies.

 

[COSenior]

Are we done here, or can we talk about the wrong word again? I became aware of certain regional expressions that I use in daily speech when beta readers started questioning my meaning. It made me hyper-aware of some words that writers use incorrectly because a) other people do or b) they don't know the definition of the word they're using and it sounds like the word that is correct. My husband corrected me once when I said 'jive' to mean 'jibe', and now it pokes at me every time I see someone else do it. I see similar errors in this very sub-forum. It makes me wonder, would the person want to be informed that they meant a different word, or am I being too pedantic? I think I'd want to be informed. I now look up any word I'm not sure of, whether it's the spelling that worries me (I'm a pretty good speller, but no one is perfect) or the definition.

Referencing back to an earlier post about big words, it has occurred to me that I acquired my vocabulary from reading. I usually infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word from context, or apply knowledge of Latin and Greek prefixes and suffixes along with a smattering of foreign language vocabulary. I can see how that might give me the wrong understanding of a word that I might then use incorrectly later. It's happened before.

Bottom line, if you ever see me using a word incorrectly, I'd appreciate a PM to correct it. Otherwise, who knows how many readers will read it and then start using it that way themselves. Or, even worse, think I'm an idiot. Yeah, that would be the worst outcome.

 

[Lauryn]

Don't worry; some day this thread will be considered gold.
Keep going.

*Googles jibe*

 

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[COSenior]

All right and never alright.

I finally got that. Yes, absolutely!

 

[Rem]

Alright then.

 

[COSenior]

Alright then.

Haha

 

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[Cruor Vult]

This thread is literally on fire! It literally rules.
(Yeah, that old chestnut)

*Googles jive and jibe*

 

[COSenior]

This thread is literally on fire! It literally rules.
(Yeah, that old chestnut)

*Googles jive and jibe*

LOL, my work is done.

 

[Rem]

How about this:

It was ironic, how after thirty years, Kathy accidentally ran into her high school sweetheart Jimmy who had evidently moved from New York to Paris, just as she did three years ago.

Umm... it's not irony. Maybe coincidence... but definitely not ironic. I think ironic gets used way too much in speech too.

 

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[COSenior]

Okay, here's another one. Pronouns used incorrectly. I have a friend, a sweet young woman who is actually doing pretty well with her writing, but her grammar is deteriorating with each book. Today I read in her latest "Her and my daughter had been communicating with him behind my back." Really? Does that sound right? I've given up on British writers with 'me and him went to the movies' or the like. Apparently it's common regional usage although it grates on me. But for heaven's sake, her had been communicating? All you have to do is get rid of the 'and my daughter' to see and hear how awful that error is. For that matter, 'me went to the movies' is no better, regional usage or no.

Unfortunately, my friend doesn't take constructive criticism well, so I won't be able to tell her about it. She's still screwing up her antecedents in participial phrases after I tried to teach her. I just hope she gets an editor before she destroys her budding career. The other unfortunate thing is that I won't be able to read her books if it gets any worse. Too distracting to find a grammatical error every other sentence.

For the record, one of my books has dialog in a regional dialect throughout, prompting at least two readers to review it by saying they couldn't read it because of that. This time, I'm taking accountability for that before it's brought up by someone else.

 

[COSenior]

I'd like to call attention to my latest post on my other thread, Jumping on the bandwagon

Briefly, I'm hanging out my shingle as a part-time editor. See the details there, thanks.

 

[joanna]

Okay, here's another one. Pronouns used incorrectly. I have a friend, a sweet young woman who is actually doing pretty well with her writing, but her grammar is deteriorating with each book. Today I read in her latest "Her and my daughter had been communicating with him behind my back." Really? Does that sound right? I've given up on British writers with 'me and him went to the movies' or the like. Apparently it's common regional usage although it grates on me. But for heaven's sake, her had been communicating? All you have to do is get rid of the 'and my daughter' to see and hear how awful that error is. For that matter, 'me went to the movies' is no better, regional usage or no.

:O What region is that supposed to be. I must be living in some sort of 'proper language bubble' since I never heard that.

 

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[Mattie]

American English and British language is slightly different. I'm a good writer, but do need to make improvement on my grammar. I think every writer has to work on these things as they go. There is always room from improvement.

I've been around U.K. and Aussie writers, they do have differences.

 

[COSenior]

:O What region is that supposed to be. I must be living in some sort of 'proper language bubble' since I never heard that.

Maybe it's just what the writers think their characters would use. I don't know the regions of England, but I've seen a lot of English writers using it that way.

 

[COSenior]

I've noticed that the New Adult genre is trending toward present tense and alternating POV using first person for both. It's surprisingly difficult to remember when I'm in one character's head that she doesn't know what's in the other's thoughts and vice versa, but I've had a lot of practice writing in first person. Present tense, though, is fraught with pitfalls.

What person/tense do you write? Is it the same as you like to read, or do you follow trends? How do you feel about present tense as a reader?

 

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[ChickenHawk]

I've given up on British writers with 'me and him went to the movies' or the like.

Honest to goodness, this is how most people speak in my hometown (a couple hours North of Detroit). And it definitely shows up in my fiction-dialogue, although toned down a bit. Isn't that funny?

 

[Mattie]

In my novel I did choose present tense, but that was simply because I'm trying to teach the lessons of letting go of past and future, and living in the now. So of course my characters would have to be thinking, feeling, seeing, tasting, and smelling the experience in the now.

It just didn't make sense for me to write it any other way. But thought about it trying it out differently.

 

[joanna]

Honest to goodness, this is how most people speak in my hometown (a couple hours North of Detroit). And it definitely shows up in my fiction-dialogue, although toned down a bit. Isn't that funny?

Lol, my British fiancé was appalled. But I guess it could be used in dialogue if that's how certain demographic speaks... Not sure I would attribute it to region though. Unless the book was stylized to be from a not-so-well-educated point of view, this sort of thing outside of dialogue would drive me nuts. And even then I don't think I could stomach the book, though I could see why it was done in such a manner. Thank goodness for variety of styles and genres, aye?

 

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[joanna]

I've noticed that the New Adult genre is trending toward present tense and alternating POV using first person for both. It's surprisingly difficult to remember when I'm in one character's head that she doesn't know what's in the other's thoughts and vice versa, but I've had a lot of practice writing in first person. Present tense, though, is fraught with pitfalls.

What person/tense do you write? Is it the same as you like to read, or do you follow trends? How do you feel about present tense as a reader?

Hmm, I'm not sure now to be honest. I used to be like, nothing but past tense, third person, thank you very much. But... since I've been doing a variety of combinations (3rd person past, 1st person past & present) I think it does depend on the story and with practice you can make most combinations work well. They all have upsides and downsides. Like you noticed YA and NA does tend to lean towards first person, present tense. It's easier to hide things from the reader without it feeling like cheating that way and it's easier to add flavour to narration as well as dialogue.

 

[Rem]

Okay so here is something else I noticed. I think because of poetic license it's fine and I even see this all the time now with famous authors. You can simply string a sentence together with commas and not even use 'and'. Sometimes it actually reads better or we are all just used to it. Here an example:

Frank reached for the step stool, slipped on the hard wood floor, fell to the ground, without anyone hearing him.

That isn't even a proper sentence. You need a conjunction. For example.

Frank reached for the step stool, slipped on the hard wood floor, and fell to the ground without anyone hearing him.

Or even better:

Frank reached for the step stool, slipped on the hard wood floor, and fell to the ground. But, nobody heard him.

You could even do this these days:

Frank reached for the step stool -- slipped on the hard wood floor -- fell to the ground -- nobody heard the little bastard.

I'm having fun, can't you tell. How about this last one just for kicks:

Frank, that little son-of-a-bitch, reached for the old, four-foot-high ,rickety step stool, slipped on the shabby, yet slick, hard wood floor, and without anyone else knowing, the little son-of-a-bitch Frankie slammed hard to the ground, whimpering and cussing and crying like a pansy that he was.

baaaaahaaahaaaa

 

[COSenior]

Okay, new topic of discussion. This relates to some reviews I've seen on my books and others, and it got me curious. When you dislike a book, do you feel justified in criticizing it because you didn't like how the plot unfolded? Do you apply your own biases to someone else's work of fiction (for example, if you disagree with portraying casual sex as okay, do you feel compelled to scold the author for it?). Or do you give a critical review only for poor writing, bad editing, finding the book categorized in a genre where, in your opinion, it doesn't fit? For those who are writers, what is your experience of critical reviews; that is, into which camp do they fall?

For that matter, do you finish a book that you find unacceptable either because you don't like the way the plot's going or because of bad writing, editing, etc? I used to finish books no matter what, but I find myself setting them aside more and more often because of all of the above or even just because they don't engage me within the first few pages. So many books! So little time!

 

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[Rem]

I tend not to scold authors for much. Although I will put a book down if I get "bored". Sometimes I even consider it could be me: not focused, in a different mood, etc. I rarely pick up a book I don't finish, as long as I make it through the first couple of chapters. If I am not engaged by then, I usually consider it's because I am not in the mood for it, rather than immediately scold the author. Make sense?

 

[COSenior]

My daughter tagged me on Facebook: 'This reminds me of my mom.' The video is hilarious, and fits me to a T

http://www.buzzfeed.com/javiermoreno/weird-als-new-video-retroactively-justifies-the-exisitence-o

 

[COSenior]

You think my pet peeves are snarky? Read http://www.amazon.com/forum/romance...Forum=FxM42D5QN2YZ1D&cdThread=Tx130VHNCM41PDF.

Warning, you'll laugh 'til you can't breathe.

 

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[COSenior]

Belie. It means to put the lie to, that is, to fail to give a correct impression or to disguise or contradict. Very often I see it in a context that suggests its exact opposite. "Her eyes belied her growing attraction as she hungrily eyed his lips." That would tell me that the author intended to use 'betrayed' in the sense of revealed; rather than that she somehow made her eyes indicate she hated the guy whose lips she craved. This is my newest pet peeve, and it makes me scream in frustration when I'm cruising along, reading a book I'm enjoying, only to crash into something so annoying. Get out a dictionary, please! If you don't use the word in common conversation (and who uses belie in conversation?), look it up before you assume you know what it means. I'm warning you!

 

[Mattie]

While you're criticism might help someone, remember every writer is on a journey learning to write. We all have something to improve and work on in our writing. Sure, I see errors, but I don't get upset about it, because I know there's a lot to learn and not enough people do give positive criticism like the good editors. Like on my Novel he only read 1000 words because I went to a writing workshop and spoke with him personally, and offered it free, but most writers need that professional criticism rather than other authors so much. While all of it can be helpful in the end, it's just good to see you're no different than them and there probably is someone saying something about your work. There is no perfect writer.