Bolan Nezswish

ao3tagoftheday: The AO3 Tag of the Day is: At least you have...

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 07:13:00 -0400

The AO3 Tag of the Day is: At least you have the gay porn

writing-prompt-s: Your parents were very open about the fact that you were adopted from a young...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 20:18:07 -0400

Your parents were very open about the fact that you were adopted from a young age. However, they would never tell you who your birth parents are. One day, however, they do finally tell you that your birth parents are from another planet, and they’re coming to take you home with them.

gauntletspirit:There was an attempt.

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:45:49 -0400

gauntletspirit:

There was an attempt.

luciffersam:The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:45:04 -0400

luciffersam:

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

studentlifeproblems: If you are a student Follow...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:44:55 -0400

studentlifeproblems:

If you are a student Follow @studentlifeproblems

1967mccartney: An unseen picture of Paul McCartney, photographed...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:43:49 -0400

1967mccartney:

An unseen picture of Paul McCartney, photographed by his future wife, Linda Eastman in June, 1968, during “the dirty weekend” from a promotional trip to the USA for Apple Corps.

writing-prompt-s: You’re allergic to evil. Lately, whenever you see your newest bus driver, you...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:43:25 -0400

writing-prompt-s:

You’re allergic to evil. Lately, whenever you see your newest bus driver, you can’t stop sneezing.

studentlifeproblems: If you are a student Follow...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:43:19 -0400

studentlifeproblems:

If you are a student Follow @studentlifeproblems

Photo

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:43:13 -0400

Photo

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:43:07 -0400

Brevity: How to Write Less and Say More

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:42:13 -0400

thedancingwriter:

Brevity is difficult to accomplish. For me, it takes several rounds of edits. For authors more experienced than I, it might take less.

Stick to your point. Don’t keep all your dumped thoughts on paper. Find the point of all those thoughts and edit them down to a singular point.

Don’t waste words. So I found these edits from that one action chapter I spoke of in my Writing Effective Action Scenes post. Here is both the unedited and published versions.

Theosodore is right. My anger is my strength. If there was anything that could ever persuade me to fight in a situation that seems beyond hopeless, it is seething rage. The rage takes me back to the barn where Colette was trying to teach me how to control my fire. I almost had a grasp on the tempting flames then, almost felt like I would have had full control had Colette not invaded the blackness of my thoughts. Now that feeling is back, and this time, I have the fear just underneath the skin of my palm. All I have to do is snap my fingers and–

Published version:

Theosodore is right. My anger is my strength. The feeling takes me back to the barn where Colette tried to teach me how to control my fire. I almost had a grasp on the tempting flames then. Now the feeling is back. I focus on it, drawing the anger down into the skin of my palm, letting it heat my skin until it’s almost unbearable. All I have to do is snap my fingers and–

Notice that the published version is two lines shorter than the unedited version. There was no reason for me to repeat that “seething rage” could help her fight, when “My anger is my strength” is enough to signal that all it takes is anger. I also didn’t need to repeat that the RAGE helped her remember. That’s treating my readers like they’re dumb. Then “I ALMOST had a grasp on the tempting flames then” is all that needs to be said. Readers can already infer why she couldn’t grasp her flames from a previous chapter. As for the next sentence, it was edited to emphasize her anger. So the published paragraph says more than the unpublished paragraph, yes?

Don’t think about word count, but value. Having a 100,000 word novel (this is often only accepted for sequels) doesn’t mean you’re being wordy. Oftentimes it means you’re developing your world and characters more from the previous book in the series. So think about the value of each word you’re using.

Passive voice. This can add unnecessary words. Sometimes you can’t avoid passive voice, but oftentimes you can.

Passive voice: Canes and wheelchairs are used by people who have some form of physical disability.

Active voice: People with physical disabilities often use canes or wheelchairs.

Not only did I change it to the active voice, but I also cut out some words.

Use strong verbs instead of adverbs.

I ran quickly to the door.

Use I dashed to the door instead. ‘Dashed’ has more urgency than ‘I ran quickly.’

Avoid redundancy. Refer to the ‘don’t waste words’ point with the unedited version. The third sentence is redundant.

Use punchy sentences. Long sentences aren’t a sin, but if you can convey your point in fewer words, do it.

Unedited version of a scene in When Stars Die: A loud rumbling breaks through the shadows, hurling my entire back back into the present, where I’m dodging fire while being subjected to cruel words.

Published version: A loud rumbling breaks through the shadows, hurling me back into the present as I make a hard turn to dodge another ball of fire.

Don’t say something over and over again. Not only does this assume your readers are dumb, but you only need to state your point once. The sequel to When Stars Die is still going through revisions, but my publisher caught me on this one. He even said I’m treating my readers like they’re dumb, so even I’m not perfect.

Keep your sentence structure varied. Don’t use long sentence after long sentence after long sentence, unless there is a stylistic reason for this.

Experience is your ally. Just keep writing and receiving critique from experienced writers.

Thursday’s post will be about using commas. So many of my editorial clients struggle with how to use these.

the-disney-elite: Walt Disney on His Life-Long Love of Peter...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:41:09 -0400

the-disney-elite:

Walt Disney on His Life-Long Love of Peter Pan
“Next to Snow White, I cared most for Peter Pan. He did not come from [a] well-loved story book, but my introduction to him was even more exciting. [My family was] living on a farm, and one morning as [my brother Roy and I] walked to school, we found entrancing new posters on the barns and fences along the road. A road company was coming to the nearby town of Marceline and the play they were presenting was Peter Pan with Maude Adams.
“It took most of the contents of two toy saving banks to buy our tickets, but my brother Roy and I didn’t care. For two hours, we lived in Never Land with Peter and his friends. I took many memories away from the theater with me, but the most thrilling of all was the vision of Peter flying through the air.
“Shortly afterward, Peter Pan was chosen for our school play and I was allowed to play Peter. No actor ever identified himself with the part he was playing more than I — and I was more realistic than Maude Adams in at least one particular: I actually flew through the air! Roy was using a block and tackle to hoist me. It gave way, and I flew right into the faces of the surprised audience.
"When I began producing cartoons, Peter Pan was high on my list of subjects. In fact, after talking it over, Roy and I bought the rights with the idea of making the second full-length feature for our company.”
– Walt Disney, Brief Magazine (Vol. 1, No. 4) April 1953

themuppetmasterencyclopedia: Jen and Kira Display Photos

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:39:05 -0400

themuppetmasterencyclopedia:

Jen and Kira Display Photos

studentlifeproblems: If you are a student Follow...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:38:49 -0400

studentlifeproblems:

If you are a student Follow @studentlifeproblems

jimhenson-themuppetmaster: Don’t you wish you had this in your...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:21:19 -0400

jimhenson-themuppetmaster:

Don’t you wish you had this in your yard….

gemstonechronologist: monkeysaysficus: knightofleo: American Shorthair Knight Abyssinian...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:20:12 -0400

gemstonechronologist:

monkeysaysficus:

knightofleo:

American Shorthair Knight

Abyssinian Bard

Norwegian Forest Cat Shaman

Persian Scholar

Bombay Assassin

Sphynx Fighter

Scottish Fold Warrior

Bengal Archer

Turkish Angora Healer

Maine Coon Berserker

Siamese Magician

Russian Blue Thief

Kyoung Hwan Kim - Army of Wool

more by Kyoung Hwan Kim

Literally the greatest post ever.

Excuse me, why the fuck isn’t this an MMORPG I’d play the shit outta this.

Photo

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 19:19:21 -0400

ao3tagoftheday: ao3tagoftheday: The AO3 Tag of the Day is:...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 15:22:26 -0400

ao3tagoftheday:

ao3tagoftheday:

The AO3 Tag of the Day is: Reading this made me wonder if I was having a stroke

Apparently, I was not having a stroke, because here is Jesus Christ on a popsicle stick and it makes me want to die.
(@nekkia thank you for sending me this image. I hate you.)

ao3tagoftheday: The AO3 Tag of the Day is: Assuming the cow...

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 11:19:53 -0400

ao3tagoftheday:

The AO3 Tag of the Day is: Assuming the cow would cooperate?

studentlifeproblems: If you are a student Follow...

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 20:19:56 -0400

studentlifeproblems:

If you are a student Follow @studentlifeproblems