Querying The Bone Ransom, my post-colonial fantasy. For a free download of related poems, see prenticepieces.com/Downloads
Joined July 2019
- Tweets 11,923
- Following 700
- Followers 732
- Likes 1,767
224 Photos and videos
I cringe when I hear people talk about "dumbing down" their writing. If you despise your audience, your contempt will show.
1
26
"Good people, things cannot go right in England and never will, until goods are held in common and there are no more villeins and gentlefolk, but we all are one and the same. In what way are those whom we call lords greater masters than ourselves?" -John Ball, 1381
12
I only managed about 200 words tonight, but they were an addition about my secondary pov character's ruling passion. Conjuring up her intensity has left me completely drained.
12
Dialog in fiction that is understated and indirect is almost guaranteed to increase the drama and tension.
1
1
51
Every day of writing my novel is a learning experience.
2
22
I got sidetracked yesterday while writing the chapter I'll be inserting. I got sidetracked, getting too cute with colorful details. Today, I salvaged a couple of details and got back on track by deleting most of them.
15
When I find the right chapter title, I always think: So that's what I'm writing about!
11
New chapter: "The Hunter on the Spoor"
11
My word for the day: Oleophobic.
Means "resists smudges made by fingerprints"
Can't wait to slip it into casual conversation.
7
I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Jane Austen chuckled while writing Wickham.
1
1
30
A stranger told me, "You have an EXTREMELY narrow and misinformed view of history."
The remark told me discussion would be a waste of time, especially because it was followed by a non-sequitur. I wrote that I felt the same about his comment.
It seems to have discouraged him 🤣
26
One of the most enjoyable things about multiple points of view is the ability to show the viewpoint characters from a different perspective. Each can be easily described, proven right or wrong or incomplete in their perspectives, or just plain ignorant or blind.
1
1
23
The Duke of Wellington is supposed to have answered the question of whether he was Irish with, "Just because I was born in a stable wouldn't make me a horse."
1
33
Sob! Reconciling a new chapter with existing ones is a sweaty business.
12
It doesn't matter what anyone thinks that an author owes them. Authors who survive learn to recognize legitimate criticism about their craft and to ignore the rest. Most of the time, they don't bother to respond to the rest and waste their time.
22
I'm finding adding a new chapter can create serious problems with continuity.
1
12
My trouble with the advice to just get anything on the page and revise it later is that until I see some hint of polish I can't go on.
19
I'm learning the art of effective description lies in carefully chosen details that can be mentioned without too much slowing of the pace. I envy 19th century authors' ability to write exhaustive descriptions, but the selective modern approach is effective in its own way.
15
A site's selling decaff pu'erh tea. Isn't that a contradiction?
1
35
Emily Wilson's choices are sometimes unusual, even questionable, but the truth is, she acts no differently from any other translator. The abuse aimed at her is often from right-wingers acting on second-hand reports & virtue-signalling to each other.
1
1
86
Proof of this characterization? They include personal attacks & challenges & lies about her strong academic credentials. They zero in the most questionable aspects of her translation, giving the false impression that they are typical of the whole. These are signs of bad faith.
20