Writers' Workshop General Chat Thread

[Flaze]

I spent th elast week or so working on a web programming project and I finally finished it with some extra help from other people. But not only I but pretty much everyone in the class pretty much failed th etest.

 

[chaos_Leader]

I've never really given much credence to the notion of "sues" and "cliche" and the like. To me, the snobbery that's accumulated around the distaste of such items can oftentimes be even more aversive than the very "Mary Sues" and "cliches" they deride. At its core it's not without reason, I've seen my fair share of terrible fanfiction to know, but sometimes it just gets taken too far. In a bit of amusing irony, the very notion of cliche has become something of a cliche in and of itself.

I think I said something similar on the designated cliche thread, but eh.

I spent th elast week or so working on a web programming project and I finally finished it with some extra help from other people. But not only I but pretty much everyone in the class pretty much failed th etest.

Ow. I feel, and understand the frustration of a situation like that. Perhaps the test was not meant to be passed. What did your instructor have to say about the situation?

 

[Flaze]

He kept saying that the test was really easy if we had studied enough xD I admit I didn't really get completely into PHP (which is what bulba was made for) but that's cause his style of teaching isn't my tste....basically his style i the fight or flight thing where he just explains how something works and then throws you out to see if you can do it for yourselves, I'm a more old schooled kind of guy where the teacher actually explains and does things while you do them (which is what I liked about my C++ and java teacher)

 

[Beth Pavell]

He kept saying that the test was really easy if we had studied enough xD I admit I didn't really get completely into PHP (which is what bulba was made for) but that's cause his style of teaching isn't my tste....basically his style i the fight or flight thing where he just explains how something works and then throws you out to see if you can do it for yourselves, I'm a more old schooled kind of guy where the teacher actually explains and does things while you do them (which is what I liked about my C++ and java teacher)

See, to me that's not teaching. That's just being a talking textbook, which I really hate.

 

[Tophat Dragoneye]

Well that sucks, Flaze. I hope you guys can do something about it. I personally had the same experience with my android programming teacher. The only thing I and several others got out of his lessons were if he said to just copy from the textbook, don't do it, you'll learn nothing.

 

[VeniaSilente]

My condolences to those of you having to face bad teachers, or at least teachers not good enough at getting their point across no matter their teaching style. And, for what it's worth, Flaze: PHP did get harder and or more annoying in the last three years. Plus as a language it *is* kind of weird, it's like C with some of the foundational stuff, like types, made as ambiguous as possible so that anything you can write up compiles, even if it doesn't make any sense.

The only thing I and several others got out of his lessons were if he said to just copy from the textbook, don't do it, you'll learn nothing.

As someone who has been a former student, lab assistant, teacher and private instructor, I can't support this enough. Regardless of the language.

 

[AceTrainer14]

For those interested, which should be everyone, the third Workshop Quiz is now live! You have a week to get entries in, so get reading!

And for a subject that could perhaps tie into the discussion of cliches, Mary Sues and taking on advice above, I have written a blog post asking people whether or not I should reboot Galactic in a new thread. Perhaps not the most pressing of topics, but I would appreciate some feedback/advice on this, and you have free permission to critically annihilate one of my stories so everyone wins!

 

[Lord Kyuubi]

Gods, I haven't written anything remotely decent in far too long. And I was really looking forward to getting to this bit of the story as well, but now I'm here, I just can't write anything. It's annoying.

So, uh, how is everyone?

 

[Kelleo]

I haven't been able to write much either, aside from a little writing contest entry. xP It's just that finishing off this Super Luigi chapter has been tough because I had trouble putting the final part in words. I think I can finish today though!

Been good though, overall. I got my Toad Amiibo in the mail yesterday (Amiibo stock just sucks here, so I've had to order them online lately. Sigh...). ^^ I still need to go play some more Captain Toad and use it in the game!

 

[BinkVallen]

Once again, I'm struggling between making an absurdly long chapter where something kind of interesting actually happens or a chapter of a reasonable length where nothing is particularly exciting. :/ At least I'm actually writing now.

Even sadder is the fact that all of the decent pictures I draw of my characters end up being spoilerific. I need to quit doodling and get writing. (Or more accurately I need to quit doodling/writing and get to my homework, but we all know that's not going to happen.)

 

[Misfit Angel]

I think all of us are guilty of writing moderately long chapters where nothing interesting happens. Me especially. Like, six interesting things have happened through 32 chapters of Storm Island, I wouldn't worry about posting your first uninteresting chapter.

 

[Barfing Ogres]

Ermahgherd exams... My Columbian math TA can hardly speak english, or at least anything in an accent that can be interpreted to be english. That and I'm now on my 3rd instructor for my chemistry course this term. The only thing that has kept me sane has been the World of Warships testing I've been part of. Nothing is more satisfying than basically nuking a Des Moines class Cruiser with the Yamato Battleship's 18 inch guns.

At least I have some time to actually write now which is more than I can say for these last 3 months. Started a new fic in a vastly different style, and I look forward to getting it all squared away to show to you fine people!

 

[Beth Pavell]

Once again, I'm struggling between making an absurdly long chapter where something kind of interesting actually happens or a chapter of a reasonable length where nothing is particularly exciting. :/ At least I'm actually writing now.

Even sadder is the fact that all of the decent pictures I draw of my characters end up being spoilerific. I need to quit doodling and get writing. (Or more accurately I need to quit doodling/writing and get to my homework, but we all know that's not going to happen.)

Or doodle another story! I'm following your art thread, I always like to see other people's interpretations of written characters. Oh, and I'd err on the side of keeping the length down. Or at least making sure there are a few god natural pauses at the scene changes

 

[LightningTopaz]

I'm stuck on writer's block myself

 

[Persephone]

Heh. All of you folk not sitting on two more chapters.

With that said, I'm not sure I haven't actually wrote anything in a month or so. It's just been lots and lots of reading for Crossover Battles on my end. And soon writing for Crossover Battles. And then I can move... to a one-shot. And then Vaira. So not a lot of writing on my main fic going on here, either.

 

[Misfit Angel]

One thing I like to do when going through writer's block is to try writing something else, even if it's never going to get anywhere. It keeps the momentum of writing going so you're still 'in the zone' when you finally get back to your main project. At the moment, I'm going over the old notes and chapters of a story I wrote when I was ten years old, because I feel like I can finally do it justice.

This is how I feel reading it.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I beat writer's block by bullying it into submission. Keep tinkering, fiddling and otherwise messing with it until eventually the block gives in

 

[BinkVallen]

Once again, I'm struggling between making an absurdly long chapter where something kind of interesting actually happens or a chapter of a reasonable length where nothing is particularly exciting. :/ At least I'm actually writing now.

Even sadder is the fact that all of the decent pictures I draw of my characters end up being spoilerific. I need to quit doodling and get writing. (Or more accurately I need to quit doodling/writing and get to my homework, but we all know that's not going to happen.)

Or doodle another story! I'm following your art thread, I always like to see other people's interpretations of written characters. Oh, and I'd err on the side of keeping the length down. Or at least making sure there are a few god natural pauses at the scene changes

Now look at what you've made me do. Keep me away from Survival Project for the love of god

Spoiler

 

[diamondpearl876]

Once again, I'm struggling between making an absurdly long chapter where something kind of interesting actually happens or a chapter of a reasonable length where nothing is particularly exciting. :/ At least I'm actually writing now.

Even sadder is the fact that all of the decent pictures I draw of my characters end up being spoilerific. I need to quit doodling and get writing. (Or more accurately I need to quit doodling/writing and get to my homework, but we all know that's not going to happen.)

Or doodle another story! I'm following your art thread, I always like to see other people's interpretations of written characters. Oh, and I'd err on the side of keeping the length down. Or at least making sure there are a few god natural pauses at the scene changes

Now look at what you've made me do. Keep me away from Survival Project for the love of god

Spoiler

I SWEAR TO GOD I JUST ALMOST SPIT OUT MY SODA AND DIED INSIDE

 

[AetherX]

@BinkVallen; You are amazing.