Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[diamondpearl876]

I think I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: I will read anything Sanderson writes. I don’t think anyone does it better. Now if only I could figure out which of his books to read next...

If you’re looking for adult books to check out, one I’ve gotten into is Jay Kristoff’s Nevernight Chronicle. The second book just came out in September. It’s kind of like Harry Potter, only with assassins instead of wizards. Be warned: lots of blood and guts (though that could make it more attractive for some).

If you haven't read "The Way of Kings" or "Words of Radiance," I suggest those. They're much stronger, in my opinion, when it comes to characters, and just as good for the worldbuilding/plot factors.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I tried to get back into fantasy a couple of years ago. It was a real abortive attempt. It probably didn't help that one of the first books I tried (The Falcon Throne) was a blatant attempt at trying to cash in on the George Martin market with obviously no understanding whatsoever as to why A Song of Ice and Fire works.

I read far more travel and nature writing these days. In some ways it's an even bigger double-edged sword than fantasy, though. For every Wildwood there are three Uprooted: On the Trail of the Green Man. The genre seems to attract pretentious academics who write like modern day hippies, and I honestly don't know why publishers allow this stuff to get to printing. And yet you get the likes of Roger Deakin and Robert McFarlane (Well, if you can stop him from describing other people's writing) making up for the chapters of dreck in other books

 

[TRNatalie]

Okay I need to reread the Guardians of Gahoole books again because I have no memory of some of the things mentioned in the negative reviews.

one of my favorites is Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten. It's really good! And you thought the movie was sad and dark? The book is even more so, but in all the best ways possible!

I love that book! I also have the sequel in my bookshelf.

Where The Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin and The Unicorn In The Barn by Jacqueline K. Ogburn. Both are super good! The former is about a Chinese girl who leaves her village to try and find the mysterious Man of the Moon, whose power could help her family free themselves from poverty, and befriends a variety of colorful characters such as a flightless crybaby dragon and a local king who wishes to become more involved with his people. The latter is about a boy who befriends a magical unicorn being taken care of by a vet who specializes in treating magical creatures while dealing with his grandmother's illness and eventual passing.

I need to check these books out.

I really want to write a story which ends on a note like, "the world was almost destroyed thanks to the long-term carelessness of our ancestors, but we can learn from their mistakes and proceed towards a better future." I think I'll get used to the characters in my EverBright story by writing a parody of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon's repetitive dialogue.

That would be a great story.

I read far more travel and nature writing these days. In some ways it's an even bigger double-edged sword than fantasy, though. For every Wildwood there are three Uprooted: On the Trail of the Green Man.

How does one mess up writing about nature? Is it a case of writing about preserving the environment too much or does the writer get his facts all wrong?

 

[Beth Pavell]

How does one mess up writing about nature? Is it a case of preaching about preserving the environment too much or does the writer get his facts all wrong?

More often it's down to what we would call purple prose. Which I don't regard as the same as being eloquent - Roger Deakin is a master of words, and Mcfarlane at his best is a good rival. The difference is they both talk about nature with a kind of precision - they don't just use pretty words, they select words for a real purpose. Their description is firmly rooted in observation, knowledge, experience. It's not a dry, scientific kind of precision, it's alive with the wonder and romance of the natural world.

Compare Nina Lyon's Uprooted. The book's contents have almost nothing to do with the title, a common annoyance in the genre (Much like Sex on Earth, where the author seems to think that anecdotes about his daughter and the details of his friend's sitting rooms are more important than the supposed subject matter, mating in the animal kingdom). Lyon meanders vaguely from walking in the local woods to starting a pseudo-pagan religion among the other middle-class mums, seasoning it all with trite observations and Ice Cream Koan-like claptrap.*

Though the most self-indulgent and pretentious author I've come across so far is Tristan Gooley. The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs seems to be mostly his way showing off how clever and close to nature he is. Almost none of the information is remotely useful; a lot of it is blindingly common knowledge; and he can't resist taking every chance to tell the reader about what a good teacher thinks he is.

*An Amazon reviewer rather tartly comments: "The book cover "blurb" states that the author had experimented with "magic" mushrooms in her youth: I wonder if, sometimes, the effect of these can be long-lasting"

 

[TRNatalie]

Yikes! I didn't think it was possible for someone writing about nature to not write about the subject matter.

 

[BackSet]

I have a problem with writing in that I what to be as blunt and to the point as possible but I want to also be descriptive and fully immersive into the characters thoughts but I also want to avoid purple prose.

 

[canisaries]

i'm writing probably the worst scene i've ever written right now. not in that it had OOC characters or awful implications, no no - it's just has really poor flow and i don't know how to write it not like that. i can only hope this badness is just in my head and that it's actually readable and move on to the way more interesting scenes later in the chapter.

 

[TRNatalie]

Maybe it's bad as a first attempt but with some polishing, you can make it better

 

[Beth Pavell]

I know I'm a broken record by this point, but it bears repeating - writing takes work. Sometimes the words practically write themselves. Sometimes it takes a lot of slog and polishing and frankly, being prepared to really listen to criticism, to get the chapter finished.

I can guarantee if I hadn't been prepared to a) Keep writing despite my doubts and b) Listen to AetherX, I would have given up with The Long Walk four chapters ago

 

[AceTrainer14]

I am currently proofreading a chapter I thought was awful and tedious and unnecessarily depressing for something about anthropomorphic locomotives, but going back over it it's not as bad as I thought asides from some tedious sentences. Things are usually better once you've moved beyond awkward scenes and gotten to the good stuff, and then you have the option to go back and read things over and evaluate what the semi-finished product is.

 

[canisaries]

the problem is that the scene itself is just fundamentally built poorly, but it's the only way the story will work and make sense.

 

[UselessBytes]

Speaking of writing coming naturally, I’ve been thinking about writing a short piece about Cyrus immediately after he gets dragged into the distortion world by Giratina, and it’s really itching to be written. (Even if it is just an excuse to write detailed descriptions of the distortion world, which, god above, I love)

 

[canisaries]

actually, any of you ever just take a look at your recent or semi-recent writing you were previously satisfied with and just suddenly think it's all very stupid? like some absolute amateur kid wrote it without any thought put in and that it's all a total joke?

yeah, am insecure about my writing, how'd you guess

 

[UselessBytes]

actually, any of you ever just take a look at your recent or semi-recent writing you were previously satisfied with and just suddenly think it's all very stupid? like some absolute amateur kid wrote it without any thought put in and that it's all a total joke?

yeah, am insecure about my writing, how'd you guess

All the goddamn time, my dude

 

[Nitro Indigo]

Back when I wrote fanfics, I didn't like writing canon characters because I was worried that I would write them wrong.

@TRNatalie I also never liked how Guardians of Ga'Hoole has a lot of scenes that go nowhere, like the first half of The Journey.

 

[TRNatalie]

actually, any of you ever just take a look at your recent or semi-recent writing you were previously satisfied with and just suddenly think it's all very stupid? like some absolute amateur kid wrote it without any thought put in and that it's all a total joke?

Yes. I even have two stories I keep merely as an example of what not to do.

@TRNatalie I also never liked how Guardians of Ga'Hoole has a lot of scenes that go nowhere, like the first half of The Journey.

While I will argue not all of the first half of The Journey is useless as some of the things encountered lead to other plots, I agree there are several scenes that are unnecessary for example in Book 5, the author made a detail that I thought was supposed to imply a character died... and was mysteriously not mentioned again (not even in the character index) until Book 13 when it's confirmed she's still alive. I've begun to realize Kathryn Lasky wasn't the godlike writer I thought she was but I still have fond memories of the characters, the world, the lessons that I've started to experience in my own life now, and the first time I was genuinely invested a book series and was upset when a character died.

 

[BackSet]

Hey guy Sa! I'm currently in an argument about how much information a paragraph can actually convey.

 

[Beth Pavell]

What a bizarre day. One of the girls at work called me "Jiminy Cricket" and thought it was a compliment

 

[TRNatalie]

What? That's... a strange thing to call someone. I'm sorry you had a rough day.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Well, not so much rough as strange (Though I have come home covered in glitter ... again). I suppose I ought to be flattered, she seems to be easily impressed by my scraps of Mandarin Chinese and anime-Japanese