Are YOU a pretend-writer? - Page 6 - Writers Forum

lin · 12-07-2007, 12:18 AM

Of course it's a simile. You dum shit. You can't REALLY be that stupid, you just like to have people insult you, huh?

Mike C · 12-07-2007, 02:01 AM

It is a simile, but a bad one. Clouds don't fart.

His fart was like a cloud would be correct.

iceguy303 · 12-07-2007, 07:24 AM

Like your quote, Mr. Sci-FI, and second that point.

lin · 12-07-2007, 10:45 AM

I farted lonely as a cloud

snorrie · 12-07-2007, 04:23 PM

Good for you OX. Write whatever and however you want. That's good advice--if you don't give a damn about being published. I've been here for a while and I've jumped leaps and bounds from my first attempt at writing. And I still know I have a ways to go before I can turn to a publisher. You can say what you want, but I would be so much further from being published if I never came to this site. I've learned plenty from other members on this forum. It's taken some time to weed out the crap advice from the good advice, but it's working. This is just a starting point, this forum.

missmia86 · 01-21-2008, 06:53 AM

Lol Ox!

I'm disappointed in you!

That was definately one of your trademark lashings, but it was also.......

TOTAL CRAP.

Believe me, I would love to go and "write my freaking book", preferably in one night if I could.

But, unlike you, I have a life outside of my computer screen and unfortunately, not able to pull 50,000 words out of my arse.

If you hate that people get together online to share ideas and celebrate the HOBBY of writing then why are you still here?

Getting a buzz off "critiquing", are we?

xoxo

Do reply though, because I love a good fight!

missmia86 · 01-21-2008, 07:05 AM

**** DISCLAIMER ****

USER 'missmia86' is in no way affiliated with USER 'The Backward Ox'. Further, 'The Backward Ox's inclusion of a quote by the aforementioned 'missmia86' as his/her signature does not imply 'missmia86' endorses the views or opinions expressed by 'The Backward Ox' on this forum.

ieuan · 01-21-2008, 08:17 AM

Calling good people pretentious farts is rude, it breaks the rules of the forum, it is bad manners and if you wife finds out Ox old boy you will have your congucals cut back. We all know you write this way so as to have the largest post box and to be noticed. You like to create healthy debate but use over familiar dribble to upset people.

I liked what Loulou wrote, She actually is a writer and gets paid for it rather like anyonme else who attends work evryday and performs a task. She said she enjoyed oming here and learning. We all enjoy coming here, we all enjoy enteration and we all learn. That's the whole point of the forum, it's made up of people from all types of backgrounds, some have problems spelling likes I do. Other have a poor grasp of grammar likes wot I do, but we all live in hope that those edeas and ideals that are cetrnal to our personality an slef will one day lie ona page and will be acknowledged as true.

strangedaze · 01-21-2008, 08:42 AM

I'm just going to address the original post, because its heart pertains to something I've been thinking about. Whether this is what Ox is saying or not, I'm not 100%, but for me, I've always wondered if other writers are always the best readers of your work. I can see how having writers critique your work would be immensely beneficial, but I can't count the number of times someone in my workshop group has submitted something high brow and be praised by the circle, only to get vague expressions from 'regular' people outside of it and rejection letters from literary journals.

Maybe this should be moved to the debate section soon.

mi is happy · 01-21-2008, 04:49 PM

Thank YOU Ox! I hate the bloody "show, don't tell" bull crap. Just look at my sig. Writing five paragraphs on how your charactor feels is stupid. If you think you're showing then you're stuipid. It's still "telling". You're just a person who doesn't know when to shut up.

mi is happy · 01-21-2008, 04:52 PM

Hahaha! the only reason why you all think it's crap is that you all apply to it.

rumpole40k · 01-21-2008, 05:55 PM

All arts and disciplines have their own language from Zen to teaching middle school science to kung fu. We use them to understand each other. The question isn't do we use these terms but whether they are tools to advance our personal art (in this case writing) or just clever catch phrases we toss around. Ultimately that separates writers from posers, but in the end who cares? Like most worthwhile endeavors, evolving as a writer is a largely personal matter. More importantly Ox, why bother getting steamed over someone else's shortcomings?

Just my random thoughts,

Rumpole40k

rumpole40k · 01-21-2008, 06:06 PM

Damn, just read Strangedaze's post and wish I'd read it before I posted.

I have to agree with SD, writers sometimes are one of the worst judges of your work since we rarely evaluate it as just a novel (like so many readers do). I know I inevitably compare any writer's work to my own, analyze where I would go with a particular plot point, and even find myself rewriting a book in my head shortly after reading it.

As I reread my post, I can't help but feel a bit of sympathy for Ox. I've spent over twenty years studying T'ai Chi and Hsing I, and whenever my friends and I would get too cerebral about the arts, my instructor, Sifu Gow would yell, Just shut up and fight!" I think there have been times when we all needed to just get behind the computer and take that advice.
Rumpole40k

Shawn · 01-21-2008, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mi is happy

If you think you're showing then you're stuipid. It's still "telling". You're just a person who doesn't know when to shut up.

You must be confused as to what "showing" actually means.

Showing means to imply something about a character without blatantly saying it. Like, instead of saying this:

Joe asked if she would like to go with him to a movie. Sarah was annoyed.

You could say:

"I was thinking... if... uh... you'd like to go out with me? Like a movie or something?" Joe asked.

Sarah rolled her eyes lazily at him as she lit her cigarette.

Now... what could we get from those two paragraphs? Well... Joe is unsure of himself and is interested in Sarah. Sarah doesn't give a damn, is unimpressed that he's asking her out, and she has had a history of either rebellion or social weakness (hence the nicotine addiction).

That's showing, not telling.

If you think that showing is describing, then the joke's on you.

missmia86 · 01-22-2008, 02:55 AM

There have been so many sweeping generalisations made in this forum.

Just because everyone here chats to each other doesn't mean we all conduct ourselves in the same way ("I think there have been times when we all needed to just get behind the computer and take that advice"- sorry to single you out rumpole).

I personally have spent more time writing than commenting on threads in here. What's more, I'm a "young writer" and I'm not scared to show my work, and I'm no fantasy writer but I still have something to valuable to add.

People spend way too much time on this forum getting defensive, belittling each other, and soaking up the "ego-boosting" capabilities of an anonymous online community.

Maybe we should spend more time reading each other's work, giving advice and having adult discussions rather than feeding the needs of users who come here solely as a distraction from the fact that they have no goals and hobbies of their own.

xoxo