robotosaur
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Rank:New York Jet
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From: USA 
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/26/2011 9:43 AM)
Cabrael works for me. Generally speaking I do care about character names, but I find that if the character's good enough to support a bad name, then the name stops mattering at all.
As for what makes a good character name--keep it simple, keep it familiar enough to avoid jarring your reader out of the story, stay away from unusual punctuation.
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graff
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Rank:New York Jet
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/27/2011 9:03 PM)
Just a personal peeve of mine, but I generally hate seeing "ae" in names. The big reason being no two people ever seem to agree on what sound "ae" makes. Is two syllables? A flat A like in "cat?" A long A like in "day?" A long E like the modern American pronunciation of "caesar?" A long I like the original Latin pronunciation of the same word (like "kaiser")? On the one hand, this can work to your advantage. It promotes discussion and gets people involved in the fan community. On the other hand, you might not want your readers' first question on your fan forum to be "So, how do you pronounce Cabrael?" Obviously an uncertain/ambiguous pronunciation does not prevent characters from becoming well-loved nor books being successful, otherwise Martin would be shit out of luck (see Daenerys), Salvatore with Drizzt as well. One thing to do might be to include something that clues the reader in to the pronunciation (Martin does this both with the nickname he gives her and with Drogo speaking her name). As to names in general, a good name tells me something about the character all by itself. I don't mean something like a character named One-Arm having one arm or a character with "ulf" or "und" somewhere in his name being the setting's equivalent of a viking. I mean how the collection of syllables sounds to the ear. Anomander Rake says "cold," "deadly," "badass." I felt like I knew the character even before he put in an appearance. Caladan Brood conjures up images of a broad-shouldered guy pacing around a war tent and says "don't fuck with me." In ASoIaF, Stark tells you numerous things about the people past and present who make up that house. Tolkien's hobbits have names that sound cheery, whimsical, or "homely," befitting the nature of their race. And on and on.
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Slynt 
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/28/2011 12:52 AM)
Thanks for two different but both useful replies. I asked about the characters' name partially because of the 'ae' and also to see if the name gave you any associations (if any)
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_moose_
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/28/2011 7:10 AM)
It's a fine name if you ask me.
I'm not too bothered by names, but having said that, a really bad one sticks out like a sore thumb and you totally lose immersion. Basically what robotosaur said.
Of course I can't think of examples off the top of my head, but that's generally cause it's a sign of bad things to come and I lose interest in the book.
Edit: Also, I like this thread. I hope to be more involved in this one. Planning a series of doorstoppers myself, and generally have a lot of questions floating around in my head, so I'll have to put them down.
(Message edited by _moose_ On 01/28/2011 7:13 AM)
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thx4allthefish 
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Reply To Slynt
(Date Posted:01/28/2011 7:29 AM)
Reply to Slynt (01/26/2011 12:03 PM) ... Thank you for your time. Now feel free to abuse the thread for other questions related to writing!
Cabrael is alright - but hey, didn't graff convice me with his pronounciation issues. Personally I would never doubt that it is two syllables ... but that's only me. So yes, he has more than one point there.
What I do not like in character's names is, when they are overly longish like and have a lot of accents (???) about them -or worse: both- like in Anasûrimbor Kellhus. Yes, I know - I have read all the beautiful threads of all the people holding gazillions of doctoral degrees as linguists - and I should be convinced its all for the good.
Am not. Am intellectually challenged savage and prefer names that do not keep interrupting the reading flow with the reader wondering for the umptienst time, how the hell that thing is pronounced.
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graff
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/28/2011 11:30 AM)
Re: Cabrael In my mental ear, the way I would say it, the name sounds similar to Gabriel (or Gabrielle), like the angel. So my inclination would be to think of the character as divinely blessed, divinely guarded, or serving some divine purpose. I almost see the sunbeam shining down through the clouds. It could even be that the character or the parents presume a divine purpose, in which case the name could be a bit snooty depending on the family's socio-economic situation. To me, like the angel, Cabrael speaks of swift and terrible -- but just -- violence should it come to that, but also somebody who prefers to avoid conflict or who would much prefer using words, superior intelligence, and a smile to defuse potentially volatile situations.
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/28/2011 1:19 PM)
See, the thing is I do intend to have a character with what could be explained as serving a divine purpose (no, it's not Gandalf). Graff you hit the nail on the head as one of the inspirations for said character is Gabriel the archangel , mixed up with some other stuff to make it unique. Which leads to a follow-up question (should I keep Cabrael as the character's name which by no means is certain): is the character name too painfully obvious a riff on Biblical names? I mean, "-el" is "God" or "of God". Would it be better if I changed the character's name to, say, Cabrel, Cabral, Caberon or Cabbage for that matter?
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thx4allthefish
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/28/2011 1:40 PM)
Cabbage, by all means!!
/joking
Please do not lean to close to Christian Religion.
Cabrel is difficult, since there is Francis Cabrel --> google --> The French Bob Dylan ... nuff said.
Cabral on the other hand is too close to Cabal, no?
Cabron means male goat ... so, ergh ...
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/28/2011 2:19 PM)
Don't worry about me leaning too close to "christian" religion (Archangel Gabriel is also a featured character in islam and judaism) - I did not know the meanings of those suggested names, but then one can find characters in literature that in one language or the other means something. Like in Steven Erikson's Midnight Tides there's a character with the last name Pung which in Norwegian is "crotch", and another character named "pule" which is the Norwegian verb for "fuck". I do agree with you, however in that leaning too close isn't good for anything (though Bakker's The Prince of Nothing manages to mix religious mythology with fantasy in a good way methinks), but then again I am not ready to reveal too much about my plans yet, so I can't really go into detail as to why I am building a character with aspects of Gabriel. Thanks for the reply!
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darkway
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/29/2011 9:48 AM)
If you really want your novel to sell, you should make Cabrael be a maester, whatever the fuck that is. But GRRM invented it, so it must be cool, right?
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graff
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/29/2011 2:50 PM)
It's a tough tightrope to walk, and depends, in part, on one's skills as an author IMO.
If whatever angelic allusions you include are too strong and obvious, then a character named "Cabrael" is going to be seen as an obvious ripoff of Gabriel by a portion of the readership IMO.
If the allusions are subtle, then the name draws attention to these subtleties, allowing readers to appreciate your skill.
As a side note not pertaining to the character Cabrael, I actually like Cabbage as a fantasy name (or perhaps as a nickname). /shrug
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/29/2011 2:58 PM)
I'm a fan of your insight, graff. Incidentally after this thread's back and forth I did end up with a new unrelated character which I've called Cabbage. I have literally hundreds of characters (because I will use stuff I already have invented over the years for RPGs), some more detailed than others, but the one I am inventing whose name I am pondering (the Cabrael character) is entirely new and something I have never tried to do before, that's why I want to get the name right :)
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_moose_
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Reply To graff
(Date Posted:01/29/2011 7:03 PM)
Reply to graff (01/30/2011 4:50 AM) If whatever angelic allusions you include are too strong and obvious, then a character named "Cabrael" is going to be seen as an obvious ripoff of Gabriel by a portion of the readership IMO. If the allusions are subtle, then the name draws attention to these subtleties, allowing readers to appreciate your skill. I agree with this from my own point of view, but obviously the general public don't mind. Otherwise no one would have gotten through the first WoT book. :3
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/30/2011 5:50 AM)
I have been fiddling a little more with my planned story today. Not much, really. I find myself making up more new stuff than re-using my existing material for some reason. Anyway, I have a new question which is pretty similar to the first one I asked. I am cooking up a new character, and I was wondering what (if any) thoughts you have when you read the character's name: Shavon
Mvares
What I often do when creating new stuff is deciding on a real-world language to belong to certain regions of my own world, then use translation tools to find "proper" words which I then reconstruct a little bit. Shavon Mvares is such an example. Another example from my previous RPG campaign is that I made up place names like, say, "River Home", then translated it into a slavic language (I based the campaign's culture and language on Eastern european countries), tweaked the result and thus came up with fairly autenthic sounding names but not entirely ripped straight out of a different language. I do not do this exclusively however. Sometimes a name just pops up in the skull, and sometimes I just try and invent a name that suits whatever I am naming. Just mentioning this as a tip. Let's say I have a setting influenced by Russia. I want a village and I decide since I have placed it near a forest on the map, to call the village "Forest Edge". Using google translate I find that 'forest' is 'lesa' and 'edge' is 'kraí'. So I name my village Lesakrai, or Leskray, Krayles, or whatever you know. It's just a great way of naming stuff, I think.
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darkway
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Rank:Lurker
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/31/2011 12:11 PM)
Names just add a bit of flare. Honestly, some of the best books I've read have characters with names that don't do anything for me, but it doesn't matter because the story is so well written that soon most of the characters transcend their common or boring names. Don't think too hard about names, think about character detail and plot. A fitting name is more likely to hit you after you've fleshed out a character.
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:01/31/2011 2:40 PM)
The thing is, however, that I am trying to do something fresh in a genre so stale authors can deliver half a book a decade. So my idea was to make a fantasy realm telephone catalogue. So names are more important than plot and character. Ok I kid. Hah. I see your point, and I agree. But I guess I have something of a hangup when it comes to naming things, heehee.
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Kael_Edin
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From: Greece 
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/01/2011 7:39 AM)
I'm pissed off I saw this thread to late...
Well, every name with suffix -el is an angelic name, and 90% of the angel's names end in -el (Rafael, Uziel, Michael, Nathaniel, even Belzebeel). The curious thing about pronunciation is that anything goes in English as in Michael you omit both "a" and "e" while in Rafael you pronounce both.In greek you pronounce both in every case (of such names).
In favour of the "ae" or "ei" or "oa" I have to say that is probably ok to use but is also pretty useful when you are referring to an aggregation. See what Martin did with the Targaryens. It's easier to identify and I'm done that myself in a novel with two opposed countries (frenemies) where any name with a double vowel signify the citizens of one of them (Sairan, Dayla, Reif, Deykon, Telear).
What I dislike most is the use of apostrophes, especially between consonants (a grave mistake of Erikson's) and the reason being: you don't need them, try another of millions of syllables. Here is the point where the reader have no idea how this name is pronounced and why did you use it at all.
I agree that there are strong names and dull names, names that reveal a purpose, villain names, heroic names. Thing is you don't have to comply with that, it's of minor importance. Just try not to mix too many consonants and a "Tom" will do.
What Martin said once (many years ago when I paid attention to what he said) was take a regular name, invert it or shuffle the syllables or add/remove/replace a letter. You'll get surprisingly good results. (Funny thing is that he said that as a quick method to construct names because anything else would distract him from writing. lol). It is a good method though and one should prefer it than constructing names from scratch - while in search for uniqueness ends up with something like Garlbranchwch... (That was a pretty cool name, damn it!)
For places onomatology, I admit you have a marvelous method. I too believe that you have to approach the culture you are referring to before you start to mingle with syllables and that produces a flavor or a colour depicting characteristics of people who live there. (Way too many RPG campaigns for me too).
At the end, like somebody else mentioned, you' ll always have time to change a name that fits better but that's just pointless if you have half the story. :)
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/03/2011 1:50 AM)
Just to be clear I was just curious about naming and I'm not spending all my energy on coming up with names and not thinking about plot or character, hehe. Good post, Kael
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/13/2011 3:24 PM)
I've written some stuff and would like someone to read it and give me feedback.. anyone willing (it's not much, it's like uh 1500 words something like that). Just curious how it reads, what you think about it, and the usual jazz.
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thx4allthefish
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/14/2011 1:54 AM)
I volunteer.
Send me an e-mail :-)
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/14/2011 4:40 AM)
Thanks, I was hoping you would bite (pun intended) as I appreciated your comments on my RPG short story 
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SplitterMan
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Rank:Owner of "It"
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From: USA
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/16/2011 10:31 AM)
My lament(s):
They say everyone has a good book in them. For years, I wanted to write a fantasy book. I mean like more than a decade of rolling ideas around in my mind. I never hit on something "different" enough in the genre that still intrigued me enough to write about it.
Then a few weeks ago, I had a daydream our of nowhere. It had nothing to do with fantasy, it was a modern day story about a rather regular guy. Not a hero, not a villain, a bit of both. Mainly just a guy trying to get by in life who gets pulled into "something".
So, I started writing this story. I'm almost 20K words in and just getting to the main plot line. The very beginning of the main plot line. I think I have lead the reader's mind in at least two different direction about where the book would go, but there has been little hint about the true plot.
I have struggled with showing some "technical" details about something that is integral, but not a focus point, for the plot. It's hard to put in such details while keeping the reader's attention and moving the story along. I can't do the rest of the story without these details and, besides, I think the details are something many people are curious about and have little knowledge of.
I am also revealing bits and pieces that will become integral later in the story, they just might seem like "filler" at the beginning. There are characters who show up and even named who won't be around later. Balancing these needed tidbits with keeping the story interesting is probably the most difficult thing I have run into so far.
I had thought that it was going to be difficult to get to a word count worthy of the term "book". Now I find myself worried that the story will be too long which would be a killer to the reader.
Dialogue sucks to write. "He said" over and over again is just a terrible thing. Varying the introductions to quoted dialogue is a major undertaking in its' own right. I am wondering when I am going to run out of ways to lead a character into dialogue or start repeating them too often.
It's not all terrible though. I find myself thinking about the story quite often. As I think, the story writes itself beyond what I had originally intended. Much better. I have made major changes to my outline because what was going on was just "better" than what I had originally envisioned. There is still a major plot point hanging in the air, I know what the main character is going to do, I just haven't figured out "how" and exactly to "whom".
I find myself unable to put down the writing for very long. "I" want to see what happens next, if that makes any sense. I know what will happen next, I am just never sure precisely how it is going to happen. I go in with a thought about it and then end up accomplishing it some other way.
They say never to waste a word, I just don't know if that is possible. Maybe this is what has Marin bogged down? Some passages in a story move the plot along, develop a character, or advance the "mood". I think advancing the mood of a story is just as important as moving the plot along. It's the most ethereal element, however.
Naming:
I don't know if coming up with modern names is much easier than coming up with fantasy names. Yeah, it probably is easier but I am struggling lol. One would think they could just open a phone book to a random page, close their eyes, and point to the name of the next character in the story. It's not that easy though. I actually tried it. I came up with a few names I like because they are either stereotypical or have some "zing". I actually think names are important whatever the genre.
Final lament:
Details. What to leave in, what to take out? Did he last put his glasses on or did he take them off? Is she a redhead or a brunette? Artificially colored or natural? Where would his keys be at that moment? What "should" happen next and what "would" happen next? Is this coincidence too unlikely? What did I miss?
Sorry for the long post. It was sort of therapy for me :).
Splitter
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Be a gentleman. Be kind, courteous and respectful to everyone you meet, but
have a plan to kill them if it comes down to it. (The Men's Room, Rule 10)
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robotosaur
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/16/2011 10:50 AM)
Two things for you, Splitter, that I have learned from reading, writing, and being the daughter of an editor:
1) "He said" is 99% of the time preferable to a string of "he guffawed," "he lamented," "he avowed..." "Said" turns into wallpaper very quickly; the other verbs turn into distractions. Don't worry about over-using it. Hemingway didn't!
2) Don't worry about things like what to leave in and what to take out just yet. Write everything and trim later. You'll regret losing momentum and you'll get stuck in your own head if you try to edit while writing the first draft.
That said, 20K is awesome! Keep going full steam ahead and when it gets sticky or you lose your plot threads, write a different part of the book until it rights itself.
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Slynt
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/16/2011 10:55 AM)
Yeah I read your post via the "Today" function and went here to tell you just what robotosaur said (except I am not the daughter of a publisher. I am however, the son of parents who've had more different jobs between them than what I consider healthy).
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SplitterMan
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Reply To robotosaur
(Date Posted:02/16/2011 12:56 PM)
On dialogue, you are correct I think. There is a balance in there somewhere between being lazy and trying too hard. I am reading an independently published series right now and the author is definitely trying too hard. The characters are good, but not unique to fantasy. Something is always happening other than the dialogue itself, just as you pointed out. I have a bit of Scott Lynch-like hesitancy about showing my work so I might be writing this thing for myself :). Once I do an edit of the first few pages though I might post them for a critique. I'll have to be having a good hair day to open myself up to that though lol. Splitter (Message edited by SplitterMan On 02/16/2011 12:57 PM)
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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do those things to other people and I require the same of them." (John Wayne, the Shootist)
Be a gentleman. Be kind, courteous and respectful to everyone you meet, but
have a plan to kill them if it comes down to it. (The Men's Room, Rule 10)
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thx4allthefish
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/17/2011 3:32 AM)
Two more things (I am not a writer, nor the daughter of anybody having anything to do with editing/publishing - so here you get the opinion of 'just a person'):
On dialogue: you needn't necessarily open a dialogue with announcing it. K.J. Parker is a magician in doing it by body-language (and boy, Parker's more witty than anybody else out there, including GRRM). It goes something like this:
She looked at him. "So, are you going to invite me out tonight or what?"
Ignore the sheer volume of stupidity in that one sentence. The point being: no 'said' 'guffawed' etc.
Second: if it would make you feel better than openly publishing your book in here, send it to me via e-mail (since I don't have MS Office at home, make a .txt conversion, please). I'm gonna read it. Seriously. And comment on it. Currently I am reading a story in the making by kodali and another by Slynt. I don't mind a third.
Just an offer. No worries. :-)
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robotosaur
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/17/2011 11:54 AM)
Reply to thx4allthefish (02/17/2011 3:32 AM)
Two more things (I am not a writer, nor the daughter of anybody having anything to do with editing/publishing - so here you get the opinion of 'just a person'): | Yeah, I guess that was a kind of Speakman-y thing for me to say. :) All our phone conversations seem to wind up with her complaining about someone's overuse of adverbs, though.
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Rex123
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:02/19/2011 6:53 PM)
To comment on the "ae" thing, I think it's generally a problem for people who's languages don't use an umlaut, aka "ä" in this case. And nah, names for myself don't really make a big difference, though when I write myself I always get stuck with names.
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:03/01/2011 9:30 AM)
I'd love to read it, Slynt. I can't say I'm qualified but I do like to read.
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SplitterMan
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Rank:Owner of "It"
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From: USA
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:03/15/2011 2:01 PM)
I just past the 50,000 word mark in my little story. Whew!
I thought I was a decent typer. NOT! When you get rolling on a scene, the fingers struggle to keep up. I keep looking at the screen and seeing words underlined by red squiggles. Ugggh.
Then there are the times when you feel like you are slogging through a complicated part. Fingers just twitch above the keyboard.
I have been plucking away with an hour here, two there, and on rare occasions maybe four or five. Some days, none at all (all that messy work, wife, and life stuff ya know). I look back at my last posts in this thread and see that it's been a month and at that time I was at about 20K words. Something like a thousand words a day on average.
And I suck lol. Part of the motivation in writing this story was to experience what a writer experiences when creating a book. Well, I'm getting that experience but I am SURE that someone like Mr. Martin is infinitely better at this sort of task. He has infinitely more experience and talent. So....why can't he do a thousand words a day writing "full time"? I know I suck at this but he should be a master. Hell, he should write MUCH more quickly, shouldn't he?
"Well, Splitter, his story is better and more complicated than yours so that explains his slowness." Nah, his talent should make up for those things. In short, after doing this, I can safely say that Martin has NOT been writing full time or anything close to it. I now have my own proof. No surprise.
Anyway, it's been fun. Thank you for the tips on dialogue, I have used them.
One surprising thing I am finding difficulty in handling is keeping a consistent "mood" in my writing. Face it, some days you've got it, some you don't. Some days you are happy, some are a struggle. Yet, characters should have consistency. It's hard to maintain their consistency when your own mood is fluctuating.
I have no idea how people can bounce around their story as they write. Writing in a linear fashion seems much more logical. I couldn't imagine writing an opening chapter, then something toward the end, then something in the middle. No wonder knots and krakens abound. Again, though, could just be a talent thing.
Now I am at the point in the story where things are moving fast. I know where I want to go and have a pretty good idea of how to get there. It seems like the ideas are dammed up behind the search for the right words and, of course, the typing lol.
Splitter
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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do those things to other people and I require the same of them." (John Wayne, the Shootist)
Be a gentleman. Be kind, courteous and respectful to everyone you meet, but
have a plan to kill them if it comes down to it. (The Men's Room, Rule 10)
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robotosaur
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Rank:New York Jet
Posts:97
From: USA
Registered:01/25/2011
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:03/16/2011 8:19 AM)
50k words--nice! That's extremely impressive; a thousand words a day is a more than respectable pace for someone with a full-time job.
I find it helpful to turn off that red squiggle on the first draft. It's too distracting. As for consistency in characterization--I say worry about that on the revision!
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SplitterMan
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Rank:Owner of "It"
Posts:132
From: USA
Registered:01/25/2011
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:03/31/2011 9:53 PM)
Poll: should it be ITS or ITS' when possessive (note I am not talking about the contraction of IT IS)
Old skool, if I remember correctly, tells me ITS'. The new norm seems to be ITS (no apostrophe). Whaddya think?
And is it OK, Ok, or OKAY?
Anyway, I finished my story. MS Word says it's 80K (see? I have no doubts about the contraction!). Open Office says 82K words. Either way, it ended up right where I wanted it to be...subconscious editing on the fly?
So far, the reviews (volunteer proof readers) coming back are positive. It's like "Hey, this is a good story and you messed up here, here, here, here, here,...." lol
So far the feedback has been about cleaning up a sentence here or there, shortening a chapter by a page, adding a sentence, etc.. Nothing terrible from a continuity standpoint.
It was INCREDIBLY difficult to turn the story over to someone else to read. In a way, I don't give a shit what they say because I enjoyed the writing process overall. Yet in another way...they are criticizing something I spent many, many hours contemplating and writing. So if they all come back and say, "Dude, you suck," I'll feel it a bit.
I don't have Scott Lynch's problems, or talent lol, but I now understand a bit of the reluctance he feels when submitting his work. It reminds me of the first time I was booed as I walked to the pitcher's mound...I never forgave my mom for that... :)
Anyway, when I get the corrections done I'll pass it along to anyone interested.
As for the writing process, if you haven't tried to write a book, DO IT. It gave me a much deeper appreciation for what real authors go through.
Splitter
(Message edited by SplitterMan On 03/31/2011 9:55 PM)
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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do those things to other people and I require the same of them." (John Wayne, the Shootist)
Be a gentleman. Be kind, courteous and respectful to everyone you meet, but
have a plan to kill them if it comes down to it. (The Men's Room, Rule 10)
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Rex123
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Rank:6 Inches of Trol
Status:
Down with Grrmlins!
Posts:240
From: England
Registered:01/25/2011
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:04/01/2011 5:53 AM)
Personally I would use Its'! And I know what you mean about letting someone else read your work (although not to that degree.) I am currently planning a small book that neatly fits into an idea that I had for a while now (which I am not even touching right now because it has Eriksonian proportions) and I am still considering who to give it to to proof read and edit when (and if) it gets done.
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“An offer thou art brings then?” - Shawn Speakman
“My god, the man is indistinguishable now from the most outrageous caricature of himself.” - tonymilk
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_moose_
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Rank:Owner of "It"
Posts:140
From: Australia
Registered:01/25/2011
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Re:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:04/01/2011 6:45 AM)
It's definitely its.
;)
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robotosaur
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Rank:New York Jet
Posts:97
From: USA
Registered:01/25/2011
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RE:Questions about Writing
(Date Posted:04/01/2011 8:01 AM)
Yeah, it's "its," no apostrophe.
Congratulations on finishing your draft, that's awesome! Just remember that even if someone comes back with criticisms, you can always revise and rewrite. Once you're comfortable showing it around I'd love to see it! Can we request pdfs so I can read it on my Nook? :)
My goal this month is to start planning/outlining a long project of my own (I hesitate to say book, just because the idea of writing a book is pretty terrifying). The only times I've tried to write prose longer than 5000 words, the plot collapsed in the middle and I got stuck, so I already know I'll need an outline.
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Close it
