Writer's Workshop General Chat Thread

[Selemena]

Just thought I'd drop in with this wonderful quote I found regarding writing. Some of you may well have seen it before, as it rings a bell in my head, but it just surprised me with its eloquence and simplicity.

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

Thoughts? Obviously, he's referring to the 'show, don't tell' golden rule of writing (he even uses those two verbs), but is there another level? Anything else to contribute?

[Flaze]

Well I can't really figure out very well. I mean I know there must be something there but I just feel like they're two different things.

Also, congrats on the anniversary.

[The Jingster]

Thanks for the info Unre, and misheard, congrats on making it for a year :D

-hands out awards and gift baskets to everyone who helped it happen-

As for the quote, I think it might also say something about the mood since it creates much more implications by being on broken glass instead of just being the generic shiny moon

[unrepentantAuthor]

Seconding the Dragonfree rec. While I haven't read much of Morphic, what I have seen is good, and I rather respect Dragonfree as an author in general. Among other things, she is the final proof that 'English isn't my first language' isn't necessarily a good excuse for bad grammar and spelling.

also guys guys champion game is a year old today eeee

Morphic's worth reading. The scyther character has gorgeous psychological depth and the morbid humour is fantastic, among other things. The anti-religious streak is quite heavy handed, but I support the general gist of it regardless. And yes, the command of English, fom basic syntax to sophisticated lexis, is faultless, despite Dragonfree being an Icelandic speaker before English, which is quite impressive.

Congrats on the anniversary, I'll be sure to pop over to have a look and give it a review.

@unrepetantAuthor;

Firstly, I'd recommend starting a seperate thread about it - you're sure to get more responses that way as people will keep looking at it.

Also, I second what Chaosj2 said. I don't discount stories because of their topic, it's all about how they're pulled off. In fact, I always find it interesting to see something unusual.

I think I have seen a pokemorph fic around here before, but it's certainly been a while. If you were to write one, I think a lot of people would widely view you as the first, which is definitely a good thing! Hope this is helpful =)

Very helpful, thank you. In that case, I'll start a new topic on the subject. I feel I could use it as a platform to discuss transhumanism in general, come to think. Glad to hear to think I'd be a breath of fresh air, that's very encouraging news.

Just thought I'd drop in with this wonderful quote I found regarding writing. Some of you may well have seen it before, as it rings a bell in my head, but it just surprised me with its eloquence and simplicity.

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

Thoughts? Obviously, he's referring to the 'show, don't tell' golden rule of writing (he even uses those two verbs), but is there another level? Anything else to contribute?

Oh gosh, what an excellent quote. I find myself wanting to use it as an essay title. Chekov is eloquently suggesting that the author's purpose is not to relate an event in simple terms, but to give the readers beautiful shards of sight into the scene that they may infer the obvious and therefore enjoy the writing infinitely more. It's very good advice. Any author can tell you that the characters are by the sea, but a good author will tell you about the smell of salt, the cool, wet breeze, and the pristine horizon where sea meets sky. It's the difference between a transcript and art.

Gushing over, haha. Me and my walls of text, eh?

[Gama]

I think Chekhov is also being quite metatextual in that quote. That is, he is foregrounding the fact that what he is writing is, in this case, an essay, rather than some divination as is usually indicated. That wasn't very well explained...

What I mean is, he is not only saying "Show, don't tell", but he is actually doing it himself. He is referring to what you should do in a written piece of work, and then highlighting the fact that what he is writing is a written work by following his own rules.

I hope that made sense...

Great quote, Misheard!

[Tophat Dragoneye]

Congratulations for the one year anniversary with Champion's Game, Misheard Whisper.

As for the quote you've found, it certainly made me think a lot about it as writer. Great find!

Speaking of essays, it reminds me the trouble I had in the past just writing one!

[ectoBiologist]

essays are a bitch to write for me. besides creative writing, i HATE writing essays. personal essays are okay, but persuasive ones... no. just no. i can't really set up a good argument without actually debating it to somebody face to face. i just find it a hard thing for me to do.

essays for things such as research papers are... pretty decent i guess, as long as the topic is something interesting and not a boring subject.

eh, i'm rambling now :P.

[Selemena]

Ooogh, I hate essays. I have to write so many of them at school that you'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I'm just really not. I can kinda handle doing them in my own time (though they fall victim to procrastination even more easily than other forms of homework), but I have to do loads of them under time constraints. Four handwritten pages in 40-60 minutes is really not easy. :<

Yet writing a couple of thousand words on my NaNoWriMo in an hour is doable. If only I could write my essays on the computer, I might have more of a chance.

[Kelleo]

I also hate essays! They're annoying to write, imo. I can write anything else, be it a chapter story, short story, poem, play, whatever, I just can't write essays.

I recently wrote a short story, actually. It's already been bumped to the second page, but it's a Pokemon one-shot about Cilan, if anyone is interested. I wrote that story idea that I had brought up before, in fact.

[ectoBiologist]

i actually have a non-pokemon one-shot in the works right now. it has a slightly "true story" feel to it as i have experienced what's in it. i may post it or i may not, it is pretty short lol.

[Red]

I have a prison fic out with anthromorphic Pokémon, similar to PMD, but very different. Kind of like Pokémon living in our world today. Link's in my sig, if anyone's interested. I'd really appreciate if even if you aren't a prison fic fan, that you at least give it a quick read and tell me what you think.

Thanks :)

[ectoBiologist]

i love your fic, prodigy. ^^

hm. kind of off-topic, but has anyone ever thought of their fan-fictions as movies or shows? i mean it's kind of weird if yours was pokemon based, or based on another fandom. but i guess you could imagine it as a movie/show distributed by the fandom? for me it's easy because most of my stories are original and i can easily think of a movie/show to go along with them :P.

still, if it was ever made into a movie/show, what would it's soundtrack be? i think mine would be all instrumental, as there aren't really a lot of lyrical songs that go with my story. to me, just plain instruments reflect more emotion than lyrics do.

but yeah. i'm coming up with a list of instrumental songs that can be used in a movie for my fic, lol. i just like to think of this kind of stuff.

[Lance]

also guys guys champion game is a year old today eeee

Really? congrats man!

[Kyuuketsuki]

hm. kind of off-topic, but has anyone ever thought of their fan-fictions as movies or shows? i mean it's kind of weird if yours was pokemon based, or based on another fandom. but i guess you could imagine it as a movie/show distributed by the fandom? for me it's easy because most of my stories are original and i can easily think of a movie/show to go along with them :P.

I like to imagine 'The Barefoot, Fighting Genius!' as a comic book, with each chapter being a new, short volume that adds to the story. I also sometimes envision Maylene as a sort of superhero that is searching for her power, and all the other characters in it being other superheroes who have already acquired their powers in different ways, and it's up to Maylene to pick and choose how she gets her power.

[unrepentantAuthor]

@Gastly's Mama: Yes, perfect sense. Metatextual is the right word indeed.

@Essay discussion: I'm actually quite fond of essays provided they actually interest me. Writing an essay on character creation, prejudice, or a favourite novel is easy and satisfying, if not 'fun'. I've been told that when I get excited I sound like a university lecturer, which may or may not be a good thing, ha.

Has anyone ever thought of their fanfictions as movies or shows? If one was ever made into a movie/show, what would its soundtrack be?

Goodness yes, I often do this. I harbour a pretentious hope that eventually I'll get an animated series or something, but that seems unlikely. More seriously, I actually run scenes through my head as if they were part of a movie sometimes. It helps to visualise things because it makes reality-checks easier, but it's also simply enjoyable to imagine the fight scenes. As for the soundtrack... I'd insist on largely lyricless orchestral stuff of varying granduer and tenderness, generally speaking. Possibly with symphonic rock for action sequences, because that would be awesome.