Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Drakon]

I'm writing a Poke Wars technical manual and doing physics homework.

 

[AceTrainer14]

I keep forgetting to sort this out (gone straight from spending all my holidays on the Awards right back into four uni assignments :/) but we need an Academy lesson for this month. Does anyone have something they want to write about, or an idea someone else could use? Generally we are looking for things that could appeal to a lot of people - for example, we still have not done the lesson on writing sex scenes.

 

[AetherX]

Funnily enough, I actually read a couple sex scenes recently (I'm not going to say don't ask, because you should, the Dresden Files are awesome). I certainly didn't pick up on enough to write an article on it, though.

Speaking of the Dresden Files, Jim Butcher (the author) has this sweet blog that he unfortunately hasn't updated in ages, but is full of amazing writing stuff. You all should give it a skim. With clever paraphrasing I'm sure we could pull several academy articles out of it.

 

[Persephone]

I could maybe do one on researching for setting/character inspiration and accuracy. I've been doing it for most of the summer now.

 

[Sweet Veil]

My one-shot has turned up 2,600 words so far, I have to say, when it comes writing eloquence is my thing it seems. Weighing in on the reviewing thing, I think there's a fine line between being a jerk, being a good critique and being a circlejerk. Ideally when reviewing you don't want to ego stroke nor be an ass wipe.

 

[Vivillon]

I think that what Rediamond's idea is great. I'd love to see just how the researching process works; I've never really gone into that field and just written purely from imagination or personal experience.

 

[LightningTopaz]

We all know it's best to "write what you know"--but a lesson on "researching what you don't" sounds great.

 

[AceTrainer14]

I could maybe do one on researching for setting/character inspiration and accuracy. I've been doing it for most of the summer now.

This does sound intriguing. If you are willing to write it up this month, drop me a line so we can work out the finer details

 

[Misfit Angel]

My simple method seems to work quite well.

1. Find something you're interested in.
2. Look it up on Wikipedia.
3. Find information that's relevant to your story/interests and click the little [number].
4. Verify factual accuracy based on the source.

Worked in high school. My teachers were absolutely vicious in their grading if they suspected we used Wikipedia as a source, but they never knew for me.

 

[LightningTopaz]

I usually scroll down to External Links and start there, but I never thought to click the numbers--I'll have to remember that.

 

[kintsugi]

That sounds like a brilliant idea.

Ely's method to researching:
1. Make things up that are undoubtedly incorrect
2. A Pokemon Did It
3. ???
4. Profit

 

[Beth Pavell]

I still think you can't beat reference books. Between Wikipedia and the Google search there's a lot you can find out on the internet, but a dedicated book is still more useful in my opinion. I have a few staple books - my Tree and Wild Flower field guides, a pocket world atlas (Just useful as a big old expensive one, believe it or not), and most recently, a really beautiful book on wild foods. The Tree and wild food books cost quite a lot because I thought they were pretty, but the others were under £5 as I recall

 

[Elric von Bek]

Funnily enough, I actually read a couple sex scenes recently (I'm not going to say don't ask, because you should, the Dresden Files are awesome). I certainly didn't pick up on enough to write an article on it, though.

Speaking of the Dresden Files, Jim Butcher (the author) has this sweet blog that he unfortunately hasn't updated in ages, but is full of amazing writing stuff. You all should give it a skim. With clever paraphrasing I'm sure we could pull several academy articles out of it.

The best-written sex scene I've read made excellent use of especially violent descriptors to emphasize the dehumanization of the protagonist in question (a rugged veteran, what you expect to see in a pulpy fantasy novel).

Speaking of pulpy fantasy, has dragonblood as a source of magic been use frequently? Like maybe falling stars are pieces of some cosmic dragons' blood cells, with the antigen receptors being especially potent sources of raw magic. Or does this take away the fantasy aspect?

 

[AetherX]

That sounds like a brilliant idea.

Ely's method to researching:
1. Make things up that are undoubtedly incorrect
2. A Pokemon Did It
3. Aether nitpicks
4. Retcon
5. Profit

Fixed that for you.

 

[kintsugi]

That sounds like a brilliant idea.

Ely's method to researching:
1. Make things up that are undoubtedly incorrect
2. A Pokemon Did It
3. Aether nitpicks
4. Retcon
5. Profit

Fixed that for you.

In my defense, what you see as retcon is actually part of what I've got planned in my long and nefarious SRBS endgame mwahaha.

I wouldn't, however, call "pointing out that the other appears to be completely forgetting that Faraday cages exist with regard to EM radiation" a nitpick. XD

 

[AetherX]

It's a nitpick when literally no one else is bothered by it

 

[Drakon]

It's a nitpick when literally no one else is bothered by it

Or when you need to use specialized materials (textbooks, technical manuals, etc.) to find a mistake.

 

[Legacy]

Anyone played the game, The Last of Us? I bought the remastered version for PS4 today and it's awesome!

 

[kintsugi]

Anyone played the game, The Last of Us? I bought the remastered version for PS4 today and it's awesome!

YES OH MY GOD YESSSSSSSSSSSS

This is kind of the game that inspired me to write Some Of Its Hearts, lol. No spoilers or anything, but it's an excellent game by concept, soundtrack, and art-direction alone. On top of that, the plot and character development are fantastic, even for a lot of the side characters, and the puzzles/AI are some of the most intriguing that I've played not that I play that many

 

[Legacy]

Anyone played the game, The Last of Us? I bought the remastered version for PS4 today and it's awesome!

YES OH MY GOD YESSSSSSSSSSSS

This is kind of the game that inspired me to write Some Of Its Hearts, lol. No spoilers or anything, but it's an excellent game by concept, soundtrack, and art-direction alone. On top of that, the plot and character development are fantastic, even for a lot of the side characters, and the puzzles/AI are some of the most intriguing that I've played not that I play that many

Agreed. One of the best games I've ever played. Storyline is amazing.