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Sherzahd
6 days ago
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0 miles · Cape Town
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Sherzahd
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I'm sure that if you enrolled in a course to learn how to be a better writer, they will teach you that planning is important. You're supposed to do a complete draft of your story (chapter by chapter, including word count), flesh out all your characters and plan your 'world' in fine detail. All of this is supposed to happen before you even attempt a first chapter. Well, that's what you're supposed to do...

Here's what I do... I write.

I tend to start writing the moment the opening line pops into my head. To me, that's the most important thing, that first line. It's also the hardest thing to come by, a good opening line that catches your reader's attention. Once you have that, just write. Write anything and everything that pops into your head, it can be tidied later. In my opinion - and this is really just my opinion - it is possible to plan a story to death. Too much thinking shows in your writing, whereas spontaneous writing has a much better flow.

Planning works for some, but there is no right or wrong when deciding which works best for you.
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Sherzahd
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Quote by Circle_Something
Use straight quotes, not curly quotes.


I'm just curious as to why we have to use straight quotes. My word processing program, by default, uses curly quotes, as do a lot of others. Is it just to make the word-count more accurate?


From an editor's point of view, curly quotes are the correct form to use, but when you're writing something where word count is important, then you should use the straight quotes. Reason for this - and I speak under correction - is that when you're writing dialogue, your system will count the opening quote as one word.

There should be an option to keep your program from auto-correcting it. Click on the Microsoft button and go to 'Options'. It's fairly easy to figure out, but let me know if you're not finding it.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Quote by Circle_Something
Use straight quotes, not curly quotes.


I'm just curious as to why we have to use straight quotes. My word processing program, by default, uses curly quotes, as do a lot of others. Is it just to make the word-count more accurate?


From an editor's point of view, curly quotes are the correct form to use, but when you're writing something where word count is important, then you should use the straight quotes. Reason for this - and I speak under correction - is that when you're writing dialogue, your system will count the opening quote as one word.

There should be an option to keep your program from auto-correcting it. Click on the Microsoft button and go to 'Options'. It's fairly easy to figure out, but let me know if you're not finding it.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Absolutely. I think it's a brilliant idea, it will only boost sales if your readers know that there's an audio included. Sometimes the true meaning of the written word can be lost, but hearing it somehow brings home what the writer is trying to convey. Fiction can be tricky though, especially if there's dialogue involved.
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Sherzahd
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Quote by authorised1960
Is this scheme still live?

If not, why not?


Unfortunately not. The site has grown a lot since then, so it is hard for us to keep track of who has read what. It was never a simple task selecting a 'Reader of the Month', it required days of wading through stories and checking who has been reading regularly and leaving constructive feedback.

We will be adding a new feature to replace it soon.
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Sherzahd
Administration
"If you wanna build your love up, put your hate down..."
Chris Rene
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Sherzahd
Administration
Quote by Magnetron
What Is A Pome?


For those who incorrectly guessed
A pome is a brief quest
Lasting nowhere near as long as a tome
Unexpectedly ending shortly after it starts
And in the privacy of your own home
May involve K-Y Jelly
A lawn gnome
Perhaps auto parts
Sometimes it feels really good
Mostly it smarts
So, don't be a hero
Like when in Rome
I suggest you do as the Romans do
Except for Nero
Best known for accidentally burning everything down
While lighting his own farts


Love this...
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Sherzahd
Administration
Poem

noun: poem; plural noun: poems

a piece of writing in which the expression of feelings and ideas is given intensity by particular attention to diction (sometimes involving rhyme), rhythm, and imagery.


That's the jist of what all the popular dictionaries say. Nothing wrong with their definition, except that poetry is so much more than that.

A poem isn't something you can describe, not in intellectual terms anyway. It's a form of art, so like any other art-form it's an expression of what resides deep inside the artist. Any poem that's written using only your mind isn't really a poem, is it? A poem is an expression of what lives in your soul, in a place that even you won't understand at times.

I remember my high school English teacher once reading a poem in class and one of the students asked why we have to read poetry - it was an incredibly boring poem. She was quiet for a while, then she smiled and replied, "We don't. Poems read us." I'm not sure any of us really understood what she meant, but I never forgot what she said. Over the years my mind has drifted back to a lot of things she taught me, so I've had time to think about it. I think that I finally understand. It explains why a dozen people can read the same poem and each find a different meaning, some even finding hidden messages that the poet wasn't even consciously aware of while writing it.

I think that many of us have been conditioned to believe that a poem should read like the ones we were taught at school - flowery, puzzling and deep. And through all of that it should also make sense. That's the problem right there, we were taught to study poems and to somehow - despite what we take from it - reach the 'right' conclusion. There was a 'correct' -prescribed - interpretation of each poem and then there was the interpretation that would earn you an easy F. It didn't matter what we thought or felt while reading, so most of us grew to hate poetry. Poetry became just one more useless thing to suffer through at school.

And as usual, I digress... in answer to your question, Andrew - yes, most of your poems are rather pointless, but that does not necessarily make them bad poems. On the contrary, I rather enjoy well-written pointless poetry, it's like a breath of fresh air for the brain and the soul. It's not over-thought or too hard to understand. They make me smile, even when I'm not in the mood to smile. I think of your poetry as a walk on the light side, except for when you're having a rant, but even those are well-written. I remember when you first arrived here and started posting your 'Lady Vodka' poems, I thought, "Hmm... how much can one say about Vodka? He'll run dry soon enough." I was wrong, the poems kept coming and strangely, each of them were interesting and unique. The world needs more poets like you.

Now if you truly want to contemplate what pointless poetry is all about, have a look at Aram Saroyan's poem, 'Lighght'. It's been estimated to be the most expensive word in history. Go figure... I wonder how long it took him to write that one.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Please note that Stories Space is a drama-free site and that's exactly why most of our members enjoy being here. May I request you confine the childish bickering to private messages, or better yet, somewhere else.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Send me the names of the missing stories and I will look into it for you.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Sadly there isn't much we can do about it other than removing the scores. Even some of my stories have been targeted. I will check on your stories, Andrew.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Hi Bill. I will discuss it with the other staff and post back here to let you know what's been decided.
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Sherzahd
Administration
It's an issue we're aware of and we are looking into it. The low scores are all anonymous votes and that should not even be possible - it's not possible to score a 3 or less while not logged in. I assure you this will be sorted, but I cannot tell you how long it will take to investigate the matter. The only solution I can offer right now is for you to inbox me the links to the affected stories and I will remove all anonymous votes.
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Sherzahd
Administration
This explains why I always need a vacation to recover from my vacation...

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Sherzahd
Administration
Yes, that's great advice. I need to revive this thread and get back to posting his Daily Kicks
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Sherzahd
Administration
I love it... 'very' is such a very weak word. Thanx Alan, I will be making use of this.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Looks good. Really proud of all you've achieved in such a short time, something everyone on here should aspire to.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Our "A Picture Worth A Thousand Words" Story/Poetry Competition is now officially over, and after careful deliberation, the winners have been selected.

The top three entries are:

First place: The Trees Know All Our Secrets by Ruthie
$50 cash prize & a copy of 'I Often Wonder' by Alan Jankowski

Second place: Katie's Cat by Umbriel
$35 cash prize & a custom-made book cover by cover artist Alex Fenris

Third place: To Fly Like A Hawk by An_Occasional_Writer
$15 cash prize & a story edit up to 8k words by Maggie Rascal

Please join me in congratulating our winners. =d>

Thank you to everyone who took part in the competition, the standard of quality in this contest made it a difficult one to judge. I would also like to thank everyone who supported our entrants by reading, voting and commenting on the entries.

And a big thank you to the judges who took the time to read all the entries and help us select the winners.

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Sherzahd
Administration
I did attempt it last year, but I ran dry at around 10,000 words. Would've loved to try it again, but I have too much going on right now. Will do next year.

Oh and good luck, it's loads of fun.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Hi Sarah and welcome to Stories Space.

Feel free to contact me if you need anything - if I can't help, I will point you in the direction of someone who can. Also, check our forum threads in 'Resources for Writers", there are loads of things in there that you can learn from.
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Sherzahd
Administration
I have spell-check on all the time - believe it or not, I'm a terrible speller. Don't like auto-correct, prefer fixing my own errors.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Well, if you want to sell books, then it's always best to have an ISBN. For those of you who didn't know, it stands for International Standard Book Number. It cannot be duplicated, so once you have an ISBN, no other book will ever be assigned that number, I guess you could call it your book's fingerprint. Basically the ISBN enters your book into a catalog of all registered books. It is what book stores would use to order your books and find all relevant information - publisher, details, where it's available, etc.

Some places, like Smashwords, offer free ISBNs when you publish e-books through them. One of the neat things I like about Smashwords.
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Sherzahd
Administration
Well, that depends on the market you're aiming at. Does the story focus mainly on the action in the story or is there a lot of character and environment background? Will it be a series?

I'm thinking particularly of the Daniel X series by James Patterson - he has a series of novels interlaced with graphic novels and they work well together. So you don't have to stick to only one way of doing your series, do what feels right for each new book.
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Sherzahd
Administration
We've never had any ads on here. Maybe you're talking about the banner for the competition on the home page?
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Sherzahd
Administration
I'm excited to annouce that our newest competition is now officially open.

Click Here

The theme for this competition is quite simple – look at the picture prompts posted here - Picture Prompt 1 or Picture Prompt 2 - choose one that inspires you most and write about whatever it inspires.



Rules for this competition
Only the following categories are eligible for entry into the competition – Poetry, Micro Fiction, Flash Fiction and Songs.
Maximum word count per entry is 1000 words.
Maximum of two entries allowed per entrant.
State very clearly which picture prompt you are using in the “One Liner” section of our submissions page.
Keywords: flutter, brambles, dusky - each entrant needs to use at least two of the keywords in their entry.

The following prizes will be awarded via PayPal or Amazon e-gift certificate:
Winner: $50 cash prize & an additional prize to be announced
Second Place: $35 cash prize & an additional prize to be announced
Third Place: $15 cash prize & an additional prize to be announced

On the story submission page you’ll find a competition section under the standard story categories. Please ensure you check the button relating to the contest otherwise your story will not be entered.

The closing date for this competition is 30 Nov 2013. Winners will be announced on the 10 Dec 2013.

If you have any questions regarding this contest or its rules, please contact us.

Have fun writing and good luck.

Stories Space would like to thank Rona Keller for allowing us to use her picture "Catch Something Beautiful".
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Sherzahd
Administration
5th Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Spirit First is pleased to announce its 5th annual meditation poetry contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or silence.

Deadline: January 31, 2014
First Prize: $175
Second Prize: $125
Third Prize: $75

Complete Guidelines:

Spirit First is pleased to announce its Fifth Annual Meditation Poetry Contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation, Mindfulness, Silence, Stillness, or Solitude (but only peaceful solitude, not loneliness). Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished.

Please do not enter more than three submissions. Sending more than three poems will lead to those poems being disqualified.

Please submit your poems by email unless you do not have access to the Internet. Poems will be accepted by U.S. Postal Service for those who do not have Internet access. All others are requested to be emailed. Poems sent by U.S. Postal Service will not be returned. Poems must be received by January 31, 2014.

Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files). Be sure to include the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than January 31, 2014.

Winners will be announced on or before April 30, 2014, on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website and the Spirit First blog, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems).

How to submit:

By email: send to .

By U.S. Postal Service (for those without Internet access): send to the following address:

Spirit First Poetry Contest
PO Box 8076
Langley Park, MD 20787
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