Find your next favourite story now
Login
Rumple_deWriter
Over 90 days ago
Moderator
United States

Forum

This is slightly off topic...so sue me, already.

Just finished "Matchstick Men" by Eric Garcia. The protag is a middle-aged con artist bedeviled with OCD. BTW,, this is the first novel I've come across where the chapters a numbered in reverse order, going from 10 to 0.

You may now return to your regular posting. ;)

Welcome to this scene of culture, erudition and bad jokes. (that last category is my specialty)

Welcome to this oasis of culture and charm on the info highway, Rick. Looking forward to having yet another newbie around, befouling the...I mean, around this beautiful place.

By the way, has anyone memtioned, Room 101, or the Killer Zombie Penguins? If not, don't worry. You're okay unless someone pokes you.

Later, probably. ;)

As has been so wisely said, the ever expanding boundaries of Maggi's brilliance have been perceived by few and then only at a great distance...or something like that. ;)

Oh, you said 'issue' not 'tissue.'

(longish pause)

In that case, never mind.DB7SQT1PZVYrGrMg
Mega-congrats, Maggie!

Tell you what, in case you do decide to try for a three-peat, what about using, Rumple deWriter as your pen name. Just a suggestion, you understand. ;)

Got another 'word of the day' dedicated to the US Congress:

maladroit

Cutting to the chase, it's a fancy sounding synonym for, inept.

Fine by me. Personally, I have no questions about forum tissues. They do a fine job of wiping away tears after another rejection but, sad to say, those nice soft forum tissues don't always hold up when one needs to end the crying time with a good nose-blowing session.

In recognition of the performance, or lack of the same, being put on by the U.S. Congress:

malodorous

As a card-carrying, life member of, Possums Unlimited, I applaud, and have voted for, your praiseworthy prose. ;)

Oh, yeah, almost forgot:

"I'm now a, Forum Guru," he blurts, randomly, on his 101st SS post.

Okay, Fuzzy, you want something different? How's about:

"This is my 100th SS post," he blurts. Also, and in addition, I have changed the quote on my sig line. So there.

So Gypsy asks how I know a wet bird never flies at night. Well, on account as how a soaked to the skin 'wet' bird never flies at all. And now she's probably wondering if that's true, to which I blurt out: Don't ask me. If ignorance is bliss, then I must be one of the happiest suckers on record. smile

Don't need no stinkin' text analyzer to know I write like an unpublished novelist. (sigh)

Fran, welcome to Stories Space. Feel free to wander about. Word has it most of the members have had their shots and are housebroken, probably.

Submitted for your consideration:

-- meretricious --adj. Seemingly attractive but having no real value or worth.

Use with care. It can easily be confused with the similar sounding, 'meritorious' which has, of course, an almost opposite meaning.

Pedanticly yours,

"What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill. You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell. Me, I was part of the nastiness now."

Raymond Chandler
"The Big Sleep"
(Chapter 32)

"The Guns of August" by Barbara Tuchman

Tells of the events surrounding the beginning of WW I in an enjoyable, easy to read style that made it a Pulitzer award winning bestseller.

Congrats, Alan. I agree with you about the cake. Of course, if you substituted a bottle of booze for that cake, old Dirty Martini might churn out a novel. smile

Diana, thanks for the links.

To answer my own question about how "Girl With the Pearl Earring" became a bestseller:
The author's timing was excellent. The book came out three years after a huge Vermeer exhibition opened in the States.
Chevalier does an incredible job of putting life into descriptions of what might otherwise be very prosaic scenes. Would-be bestselling authors could do a lot worse than study how she handles setting and description.

Just started, "Girl With the Pearl Earring" by Tracy Chevalier. More than anything else, I'm curious how she turned a historical fiction novel about Vermeer and the model for his 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' portrait into a bestseller.

being among the more 'mature' denizens of SS (chronologically speaking) I submitted a 1400 word story. Couldn't find anything about content restrictions so I left in the 'N' word, nipple. I'll let y'all know what happens.

The following is from, The Self-Appointed Grammar Police site. I'ts a LOL funny take on writing and related subjects. Sorry I can't link, but Google it and enjoy.

This is excerpted from their "How To" section. Imagine you've been called upon to crit, Pride and Prejudice. If following the SAGP "How To" guidelines, your crit might read something like this:

==


suppose you were asked to provide a constructive critique for the opening of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

``My dear Mr. Bennet,'' said his lady to him one day, ``have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?''

Mr. Bennet replied that he had not.

``But it is,'' returned she; ``for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it.''

Mr. Bennet made no answer.

``Do you not want to know who has taken it?'' cried his wife impatiently.

``You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it.''

This was invitation enough.

``Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week.''

``What is his name?''

``Bingley.''

``Is he married or single?''

``Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!''

You might critique it as follows:

What a crock!
I tried to critique your Pride and Prejudice but I couldn't get past the first chapter. Talk about density! Ridiculously long sentences, antiquated subject-matter and endless waffle.

If this is ever going to be any good, you're going to need to trim ruthlessly, and move the plot along much more quickly. Look at the opening: an abstract, philosophical statement. How does that advance the plot? And it's not even true - it's not a truth ``universally acknowledged'', is it? Perhaps you should try thinking before you write.

The characterisation is hopelessly unconvincing. No wife would address her husband by his surname. The Mrs. Bennet character is completely over the top, and your story would work much better if you cut her out completely. Her lines could be given to the cipher that is Mary.

You really don't have a clue how to write dialogue, do you? You have six consecutive speeches here without so much as a single tag to tell us who's saying what. You should intersperse the spoken words with ``action tags'', like this:

``What is his name?'' Mr. Bennet tapped his pipe thoughtfully on sideboard.
``Bingley.'' His wife's face had turned red with excitement, and she couldn't keep still.

``Is he married or single?'' Mr. Bennet stifled a yawn as he walked across the room to draw the curtains.
See how much more naturally it flows like that?
I could go on, but frankly there's so much wrong with this that there's really no point in picking nits. It needs a complete rewrite before it's worth spending any more time on.

One final point: you absolutely must change that title. Pride and Prejudice? How does that tell us anything about the story? You should use something vivid and evocative like First Impressions instead.

Now just think how much much better P&P could have been if Jane Austen had had the benefit of good, honest critiquing like that.

==

Dirty Martini wrote: check it out my friends

Is that like the 'friend Dylan once wrote about?
"I've got a friend, spends his life,
stabbing my picture with a Bowie knife.
Hearss my name, he pretends to barf.
Dreams of stranggling me with a scarf.
I got lots of friends."

Just wondering. But thanks for the link. ;)

:glasses8
Maggie, I've been asked about min. word count for all categories. Decided to look up the info just to be on the safe side. Perhaps it was my cranky screen reader or the old crank operating it, but I couldn't find the repository of that info.

Just a suggestion: It might not hurt to re-post story submission info such as max and min length, ratings, etc. and post it in a spot where even single-digit IQ members (I name no names) can find the sucker.

Well done, Maggie. I've come across some 'flash fiction' stories recently that read more like chapters or installments than complete stories. If not properly labled, that can be confusing to readers coming into the middle of a series. If 'stand alone' stories, they read more like vignettes than complete stories.

While writing 'flash' is tough, 'micro' is a real challenge but one well worth tackling.

(end of fuss)