And disconnect the internet, so that you're not tempted to logon to Hatrack and further procrastinate by posting the above writing tip.

Tip #3

I'm sure your work is too good for Mr. Cuba to want to dismember it the way he did mine.

Edit: Sorry for thread stealing. I'm just frustrated. I resolved a while back not to write any more short stories, which I'm not good at--and I fell off the wagon, so to speak. Wouldn't you think I'd learn?

And there's always Assam and Macallans.

If you're writing and you think it's all coming out crap, don't worry about it. First drafts are all pretty much crap. Keep writing, finish the piece, and work out the kinks in a second draft.

You should be writing. Right. Now. (Tip #7 Excluding, of course...)

Tip #12

Edit: Macallans -- now THERE is a thought. It's a pity that I don't write better soused.

Not only did the 2nd draft of my short story make it worse instead of better (hence getting mauled), I just decided that I have to scrap almost my entire novel and start over. On the one hand, I'm pushing myself and aiming at things that are more difficult but that means it hurts. Ouch! Ouch!

quote:

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So does writing "THIS SHORT STORY ISN'T WORKING" 200 times count for 1000 words?

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Probably not, but it could definitely be therapeutic. I would equate it closer to banging your head against a wall, however.

conspiratorial - adjective - of, relating to, or suggestive of a conspiracy

I'm not quite sure why you would say it doesn't exist. I will give you -- you don't like it or think it SHOULD exist. But I'd say if it's in Merriam-Webster it exists.

Edit: Incidentally, Merriam-Webster also gives cannons as an acceptable plural for cannon although cannon is the preferred plural. So I think it's going a bit far to say the cannons form is incorrect.

So I think I'll use them if they happen to fit. And for that matter I'll use ain't if it fits too in spite of it being non-standard.

Maybe a good writing tip is use them only if you want to.

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Tip #5: Workshop at Hatrack, where ripping to shreds should only happen in stories.

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The 1000 word limit forces you to focus on what makes a short story work, its essence or structure.

By critting several flash pieces that others have written, one learns how their short stories work--and because it's flash, you don't need to invest much time in the writing and the critting. Too, you get several crits of your own piece and hopefully some will be encouraging.

(Later, if the story works, you can expand it into a short story.)

Hey--wait a minute--there just happens to be a flash contest running right now at Hatrack! It's open both to Fantasy and SF writers. To participate, cruise over to
http://www.hatrack.com/forums/writers/forum/Forum7/HTML/000046.html

"Ain't" is a contraction in English, but the jury is still out on whether it is a valid one. The difference between "ain't" and other clearly accepted contractions like "isn't" or "doesn't" is that "ain't" is a contraction with no non-contracted counterpart. "Is not" removes the "o" to give us "isn't" and "doesn't" does the same. With "ain't" though, what exactly is it a contraction of? It's used in place of "am not" ("I ain't") and "is not" ("he ain't") and "are not" ("we ain't" or "you ain't"), but the letters in ain't don't come from any of those words. What is "ain't" a contraction of? "ai not?"

Of course, "ain't" is in common usage and everyone knows what it means, so why not use it? Language is fluid, and who is to say every contraction has to have a non-contracted counterpart? Just because that's the way it has always been and it makes logical sense that a shortened word should be a shortened form of SOMETHING, that doesn't mean that's how it has to be. If the English language were going to follow that logic, it would be a much different language than it is today.

quote:

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Ain't" is a contraction in English, but the jury is still out on whether it is a valid one.

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http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ain't

This piece points out that it's associated with the lower classes (I thought lack of class was one thing that differentiated you lot from us Brits) and that "ain't I" is used instead of the equally illogical but grammatically acceptable "aren't I".

I ain't worryin' no more 'bout it.
Pat

[This message has been edited by RobertB (edited May 30, 2008).]

As for the being ripped over at Baen's, yes, I was but in a totally constructive way. I post my short stories there because the ripping ... erm I mean critiques are frequently from Gary Cuba and Edith Maor (both of whom are Baen's Editorial Associates).

Except in cases like that short story which Gary hated the revision on and Edith liked. At that point, I get a headache and am REALLY tempted to go find the Macallen's.

Shakespeare himself invented words. As long as people understand what you're saying, go ahead and use the word.

Tip 34:

The English language as we know it was formed (in large part) at a time when Norman French was the "official" langauge of England (the Nobility) and when no one cared much about grammar. So as long as your readers understand what you write, go ahead and do it.

Tip 35:

If it's a rule of grammar you don't use in everyday speech, it was probably invented by someone who was trying to conform the English Language to Latin

Tip 36:

There are exceptions to Tip 35. Visit Strunk and White's elements of style. It's online somewhere.

(I started off as an English Major in college, but I quit because I couldn't stand literary analysis. But The English Linguistics course was my favorite class. That and History of the English Language.)

Another tip that I've incorporated where appropriate is to include weather, environmental scents, ongoing change, food, a brand name, and a maxim or truism.

For that matter, include all five principal senses: aural, visual, gustatory, olfactory, and tactile. I use them in that order of priority and frequency. I use tactile sensations for establishing the feel of a setting. The way salt spray desiccates the skin is a tactile sensation that shows what the weather is like at the seaside. Olfactory is one of the more potent senses for creating reader identification with settings and characters. It's impact is probably due to the association with memory of place that aromas have.

One thing about the William Byrd Diaries that stands out years after I read them is an account of a dance where a guest smelled as though he hadn't bathed in his entire life. The other account I recall is William and Martha Byrd's marital discord playing out on the backs of their personal servants.

The less commonly perceived human sensory experiences can be powerful in small doses: proprioception, thermoception, nociception, equilbrioception, epigastric, vascular, gagging, swallowing, excretory. Proprioception is awareness of stimuli within an organism, like where an extremity is placed or how an organ feels. Projecting sensory awareness, too, like imagining one's relaxing on a warm sandy beach and the feeling of warmth bathes the feet. Thermoception is, of course, perception of temperature. Nociception is awareness of or responding to pain. Equilbrioception is awareness of equilbrium. Vertigo is one example of an equilbrioception perception.

I haven't used the excretory sense in a story yet, nor do any instances immediately come to mind in stories I've read--oh, in genuine disaster survivor stories--however, I can see that it might have a high impact and not be too disgusting if applied effectively. I've attempted the others to varying effects.

Just to complete known sensory experiences, non-human sensory experiences include electroception, echolocation, magnetoception, and pressure detection. I've considered those as imaginative premises for characterizing alien or fantasy species. I've also pondered other imaginative sensory capabalities for aliens. Color as a perception of temperature is one sense that blacksmiths and photographers use in their trades. What about abnormal or paranormal abilities to sense the presence of magic, life, death, water, treasure, or otherwise undetectable harmful circumstances?

On they other hand, they tell me my own name is misspelled when I type that it, too. Who am I going to believe? Me, or them?

What is wrong with Latin?

Tip 37

Writing helps with PTSD (most of the time) the rest of the time it makes it worse.

Genuine case of PTSD here.

There's just no reason why English should be forced to behave like Latin.

There were a bunch of "experts" who thought that English SHOULD be more like Latin that came up with a bunch of rules, like not "splitting infinitives" and not ending a sentence with a preposition.

In Latin, doing either of those things is impossible.

In English, they are gloriously possible.

Example:
Which would you rather hear

"To boldly go where no one has gone before"

or

"To go boldly where no one has gone before"

I think the first sounds better when spoken aloud, the second sounds like an order to ram a ship or something.

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Ummm..I haven't heard of this service by Baen. Could you elucidate, please?

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Ok well, let me ask the essential question. Are you acquainted with Jim Baen's Universe ? It is one of the highest paying and is becoming one of the most prestigeous of speculative periodicals for anyone who isn't.

Baen's also runs a forum known as Baen's Bar. There are several "slush" forums there. The one I was referring to is the Baen's Universe Slush which is a methof of submitting to JBU--so putting a story up there is in fact a submission to JBU. It is the ONLY way to submit for the two "Introducing" slots they reserve in every publication for new (that is non-SFWA eligible) writers. It is password protected to protect First Publication Rights.

How it works, you post something on the Slush and then ask for comments in the Slush Comments forum. You'll get the usual range of comments from other writers mostly--some productive some not. But three of Baen's editorial staff -- Sam Hidaka, Gary Cuba and Edith Maor -- regularly comment on the stories on how to improve them.

In the case I was referring to, I honestly think Gary's comments were longer than the story. Edith tends to be a bit terser and Sam is the one who comments the least often.

The BIG advantage to sumitted through this is that once you have comments, you can submit a REVISED version that repaces your original version so you can improve it and still be considered for publication. If they think the story is good they will try to prod you into making it good enough to buy. Mind you, they are keeping in mind the preferences of JBU which don't match every publication in existance, but they're good at spotting weaknesses in a story or in your writing. If you decide you want it to go somewhere else for submission or you're not getting comments which happens occasionally, you just post saying you're withdrawing it and they're fine with that.

If they think your story is good enough they will ask you to send an rtf file which is forward to Mick Resnick and Eric Flint for a final decision about publicaiton in JBU.

So that's what I was talking about.