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Messages - Winter_Knight

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Author Craft / Re: MS Word
« on: December 29, 2012, 07:32:16 AM »
Also, I have to keep auto-save feature on, because my comp's a POS and suddenly freezes/crashes. I LOVE the way it works. >_> You know, type two words 'Auto-Recovery is saving Word File', type two more, 'Auto-Recovery is...' and so on. It may not be an issue on a faster/newer comp, but it REALLY screws with my writing when it does that crap. >_> Just added that, LOL

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Author Craft / Re: I got a sorta-okay review from Publishers Weekly!
« on: December 29, 2012, 07:28:12 AM »
Hell, the fact you even caught PW's attention is pretty solid, IMO. Good job! :)

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Display Case / Re: Perfect Casting, part 2
« on: December 20, 2012, 05:49:36 PM »
I just can't see him screaming "Polka will never die!"

In that case, I really recommend you see 10 Things I Hate About You. XD

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Author Craft / Re: MS Word
« on: December 20, 2012, 08:09:27 AM »
I think what you are talking about is the "Widow/Orphan" control, which makes sure that there are no single paragraph lines at the top or bottom of a page.  It can be found in the "Line and Page Breaks" tab of the "Line Spacing Options" Window.

GOD! I. Hate. That. Shit!

Most agents/editors will shoot you if you keep that on. Some ask that you do however (why the hell you would is beyond me), so always check preferences.

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Display Case / Re: Perfect Casting, part 2
« on: December 20, 2012, 06:19:34 AM »
Joan Crawford as Mab. XD

And in all seriousness, am I the only one who thinks this guy:



David Krumholtz from Numb3rs, 10 Things I Hate About You etc.; is a perfect fit for Butters? :O

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Author Craft / Re: MS Word
« on: December 10, 2012, 10:09:58 PM »
The only thing about it that bothers me is that it creates uneven bottom margins at the end of a page. I'm sure there's a very easy fix for this, but I haven't discovered it.

As for your settings randomly changing, I have no idea. Virus, maybe?

I have to admit; this would not terribly surprise me. XD I'm quite cavalier about protection in cyberspace, unfortunately. :/

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Author Craft / MS Word
« on: December 08, 2012, 09:27:54 PM »
Does it ever really piss you off? LOL Right now I have a quad gap in my MS (Manuscript) I can't fix and it randomly changes settings on me, including having set my freaking spell checker to UK English. Which I've changed TWICE!! (First time it was French!! LMAO)

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Author Craft / Re: Tools for Writers
« on: July 14, 2012, 10:23:05 PM »
Scribophile looks interesting, but I would actually suggest Book Country.  It's a critique/discussion community for genre writers, set up by Penguin, but completely separate from them.  The process there is that to post your work, you review/critique 3 pieces, and then your work will be public.  You can post as much or as little as you want, and different people can view different amounts--nonmembers can see about 3000 words, members can see about 10,000, I think, and I believe contacts can see all of it.  Plus, when they were setting up the site, they spoke with agents, editors, etc, to make sure posting wouldn't change first publishing rights or chances of getting picked up, or anything. 

They will not allow anyone under 18, though, but on twitter, they've linked to http://writeonteens.com/ for anyone under.

Oh, one of the main people behind it is Colleen Lindsay, who used to be an agent and has worked for several of the publishers.

The big thing I consider a good reason for going there--two authors have been picked up--Kerry Schafer and Michael R Underwood--both with at least 2 books contracted. Underwood's book, Geekomancy, came out from Pocket Star this past Tuesday so it could be hyped at SDCC.

Which reminds me, I should review some stuff so I can start putting up my draft.

:O COOL!!

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Author Craft / Re: Tools for Writers
« on: July 14, 2012, 06:03:39 AM »
Next to Jim Butcher's Livejournal, I have found THE most invaluable writing resource around:

http://www.scribophile.com/

Here's how it works:

You critique other people's works to earn 'Karma'. When you have enough Karma, you post your own work (In segments if your work is over 3k words. Makes it easier to critique.) This necessitates everyone getting critiqued at least once, and usually more than that due to the spotlight system. It's free to join, and you have two slots to upload works, but if you pay the $9.00 a month for Premium, you can have unlimited slots. Either way works fine. (There are a few extra perks with Premium, but nothing you absolutely have to have. It just gives you more options for streamlining critiquer responses to get the most information out of them.)

I wish I had known about this back when I was submitting my writings. Awesome, AWESOME site!!

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Author Craft / Re: 1st vs 3rd
« on: July 03, 2012, 05:51:27 PM »
It would be a rare occurrence to be sure, and very situational.  I can think of examples in certain contexts, but for most of them I can think of some other ways to inform the reader after the fact if necessary.  Like if you have an MC that really needs to go unconscious, and thus events must happen in the interim; but in that case it would make sense for another character to catch him up after the fact.  The only really binding situation I can think of is when you are specifically wanting the Reader to see things coming before the MC does.  But clever foreshadowing should be able to pull that off, without the need for a perspective shift.

True. In my case, however, I wanted a supernatural event to take place on the MC's television just after he left the house. It was meant to occur without anyone being present. So I switched to TP for that scene alone, if I recall correctly.

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Author Craft / Re: 1st vs 3rd
« on: July 03, 2012, 02:50:43 AM »
I was with you for the I, M, H, and even the O, but you lost me on the T and G.

LOL In My Honest To God Opinion. XD

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Author Craft / Re: 1st vs 3rd
« on: July 02, 2012, 07:26:05 PM »
I personally dislike this technique.  I'm perfectly fine with multiple perspectives, but if it's done as a one off, or just to provide a bit of dramatic tension (where the audience knows something but the protagonist doesn't), it always lessens my immersion, and frankly strikes me as lazy writing.  It's perfectly possible that someone has used this technique to great effect, or that I'm unjustly discounting it because I'm stubbornly set in my own preferences.  I'm not any kind of literary buff, and have no formal training.  I'm just a guy who reads 5-6 novels a month, and would like to write stories for a living someday.  Still, the stories I find most engaging tend to either stick with one perspective to maximize empathy, or weave together a braid (or in some cases, a tapestry) of perspectives together to allow for more complexity and broader scope.

No, actually, you're right IMHTGO. I used it in that one book because it seemed to fit the work. Doesn't mean it was right or WASN'T lazy, LOL

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Author Craft / Re: Bechdel test observations
« on: July 02, 2012, 05:30:36 AM »
I think that a lot has to do with who the protagonist and the antagonist are in the movie. If the main character and the main villain are both male, the movie probably often fails the test. I wonder how many movies with females in both roles have two male characters discussing something other than females?

LOL, I think it's easier for men to pass the Bechdel test because they are easily distracted by things like beer, pizza and football. XD

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Author Craft / Re: 1st vs 3rd
« on: July 02, 2012, 05:25:50 AM »
The only reason that I can think of to do this is to build tension. If you know something is happening that the main character doesn't, it can heighten the tension as you wait to see how he/she is going to deal with it when it surprises them. Maybe there are other reasons but I can't think what they would be.

*Points up.* Yeah, mainly that, LOL That was the only reason I did the dual POV in one book.

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Author Craft / Re: Tools for Writers
« on: July 02, 2012, 05:24:21 AM »
I would think that an online forum like this one would be a gold mine for finding out about places you've never been. Some time back someone asked a question about a location, I believe it was a high rise in Hong Kong, and got several replies from people that knew the area. That is probably the best option. Contacting the Chamber of Commerce of a town orcity or the Department of Tourism if they are large enough might get you more information. Inevitably you are going to get something wrong if you are writing about somewhere that you don't know. If it's small enough and your story is good enough, most people are going to overlook it or even feel special that they noticed something that no one else did. Occasionally you will get a troll. I remember reading a comment from someone, I believe it was on Twitter although I don't remember for sure, that was outraged because Jim had written about the neighborhood that they lived in and they thought it was falsely negative. I think most people just ignored them as a troll.

M-m-mr. Butcher got something wrong?! QQ My dreams are shattered. LOL JK Yeah, some people just have way too much time on their hands to get ticked off over such small nuances like that. Sometimes it's even good for a laugh. My mom loves the Dick Van Dyke murder mystery, Diagnosis Murder.  We just started giggling when they proudly pronounced the Capital of Wyoming... Casper. XD The replies to this have been very helpful. (Y) Thanks guys!! (Other posters feel free to add more though, as I'm an insatiably curious beast, LOL)

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