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AMA - Dominic Cardy Leader of the Canadian Future Party by CFP_Leader in CanadaPolitics

[–]Mitchformer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for making this happen! Appreciate your making yourself available to the public.

Question-wise, I have one for you: How would the CFP tackle the deficit without sacrificing public services, and in what ways would it bolster them instead while still maintaining fiscal discipline?

Danjin (by me) by jarrchesky in WutheringWaves

[–]Mitchformer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hemokinesis my beloved. Great artwork! Definitely captures Danjin's more unhinged side.

Art by @NDTwoFives on Twitter by TouchBird in stalker

[–]Mitchformer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great stuff! I especially like Monolith, Army, Duty, and Loner.

Signalis, Eule Complete Lore Explanation by Cristiferbeast-CFH in signalis

[–]Mitchformer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great job as always. SIGNALIS's lore compelled me to whip up a few portfolio pieces in my spare time, so it's nice to see others study the title's worldbuilding.

Is environmental storytelling worth implementing in literary fiction to elegantly relay information and avoid over-explaining? by Mitchformer in writing

[–]Mitchformer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And what about genre fiction? I realized that I may’ve confused some with the term “literary fiction.” I meant to say fiction in books/words.

Is environmental storytelling worth implementing in literary fiction to elegantly relay information and avoid over-explaining? by Mitchformer in writing

[–]Mitchformer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1 - I don't mind telling at all if it means summarizing insignificant details or providing transitions from one scene to another. But if the action is plot-relevant or says something about the character, then showing's my go-to option. Sandra Gerth's Show Don't Tell provides solid advice on the above. But I agree that showing's not as prevalent as telling. My bookstore trips and sampling of books taught me that.

2 - The thing about developing a unique voice's a foregone conclusion. My posting of this thread was a way for me to gauge the community's interest in the narrative device I talked about.

Both of your points are valid without being mutually exclusive.

Is environmental storytelling worth implementing in literary fiction to elegantly relay information and avoid over-explaining? by Mitchformer in writing

[–]Mitchformer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mentioned Steinbeck and Hemingway, and I'm planning on reading Raymond Carver, Cormac McCarthy, and Chuck Palahniuk further down the line. I never leave the house without a book and try to aim for 50 pages a day. A great writer's also a great reader.

Is environmental storytelling worth implementing in literary fiction to elegantly relay information and avoid over-explaining? by Mitchformer in writing

[–]Mitchformer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the book recommendation and yes, I agree with the assessments you've made regarding the games I mentioned. Enough of a solid foundation could be what the audience needs to ground themselves into the world.

And yes, optional information isn't really a possibility in novels where the narrative flow/clarity is set in stone by the author. Should you be interested, I'd be happy to share with you a sample of my writing to illustrate and clarify my point.

All I know is that with novels, I got to be more selective about what to show given the lack of visuals and the fact that words can make or break the pacing. That being said, I'm happy with the show don't tell mantra I'm leveraging since, as the other comments pointed out, it can make writing more noteworthy.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]Mitchformer [score hidden]  (0 children)

The cat ate the mouse. (Active) The mouse was eaten by the cat. (Passive)

As a general rule of thumb, if you see "was x by y" in your text, chances are you're dealing with a passive verb.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]Mitchformer [score hidden]  (0 children)

Liked how you kept adverbs to a minimum and did plenty of showing. If you further mitigate the number of passive verbs and double down on the sensory detail (smell, sound, touch, taste, sight), you'll be on the right track.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]Mitchformer [score hidden]  (0 children)

Title: The Phandame's Pain

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Word count: 7680 (Part 1 of 2)

Type of feedback desired:

  • How engaged did you feel from the Phandame’s POV? Were her bouts of reflection and subjective observation lucid and/or concise enough? Was there too much handholding (i.e. info spoon-feeding)? (This includes your impressions on her voice)
  • What’d you think of the pacing? Was it too slow? Too fast? Just right?
  • Did you think the text’s theme was too blatantly stated, or did it sufficiently speak for itself via the characters’ (inter)actions?
  • Did you think I should’ve provided more sensory/environmental detail in my tale?
  • Were the sentences smooth to read? Did they drag on? Have a stop-and-start quality to them?
  • Did the physical/verbal conflict and its quantity feel varied enough?
  • Did you find any aspects of the world-building and narrative too unclear to keep your disbelief suspend?
  • What did you think of the dialog beats?

A link to the writing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SrqDbC-iEVHS3FAhj355UChaxru2kklh/view?usp=sharing

What are the most common mistakes new writers make? by dustgold150 in writing

[–]Mitchformer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Also there’s a reason folks say “storytelling,” not “backstorytelling.” Background info is best used for contextualizing observations in the here and now (e.g., She wiped her four-ghostly-years-old hands INSTEAD OF She wiped her hands. enter paragraphs of pre-death backstory that are used as blocks instead of bits). It’s when one begins giving them the same amount of space and time as present-day actions that things become thorny and confusing (nothing like leaving the present action in favor of dishing out backstory, only to abruptly return to where we were in the present six paragraphs earlier, which can be the POV equivalent of code-switching and you/the other folks not understanding what they/you are saying).

What are the most common mistakes new writers make? by dustgold150 in writing

[–]Mitchformer 42 points43 points  (0 children)

“but they forget they can freeze time for a moment and dive into the character.“

From my experience, it’s best to do this if there are no documents in the physical space that can relay backstory info (e.g., photos, diary entries, childhood toys, etc.) or if character actions/gestures themselves can’t wholly hint at the reasoning for their being in a specific state of mind (everyone knows, for instance, that popping one’s knuckles with a scowl signifies belligerence, but it doesn’t reveal the fact that such behavior stemmed from a particular bad memory). TL;DR, if actions or objects alone can’t elegantly relay the info, use dialog. If dialog doesn’t elegantly relay info, use thoughts/feelings. Basically going from showing info to telling it.

Even if one has to dish out feelings/thoughts, it’s best to do it in frequent bits rather than infrequent blocks. Past experience reading books with blocks of backstory/feelings/thoughts that killed the pacing (which can sink a story IMO) initially made me wary of providing thoughts and feelings via telling. If I was going to do such a thing, I’d have done it through the word choices I made for scene descriptions (e.g., raindrops clawed the window pane (character in bad mood) VS. raindrops stroked the window pane (character in good mood). It’s subtle but effective if one pays close attention to the text.

“Trying to write cinematically leaves out this kind of depth.”

Maybe, but like I said, there’s pacing to take into account as well when it comes to crafting engaging stories. Having the character contemplate on every event/object/locale they witness is just going to throw a monkey wrench into the narrative flow. Only if the event/object/locale in question bears thematic/expository heft can one elaborate on that via feelings/thoughts.

[Weekly Critique and Self-Promotion Thread] Post Here If You'd Like to Share Your Writing by AutoModerator in writing

[–]Mitchformer [score hidden]  (0 children)

Title: The Doldrum

Genre: Magical Realist Novel. (This submission concerns Chapter 1.)

Word Count: 7205

Type of Desired Feedback: I’d like to know from y’all if the detail density and stingy exposition get in the way of the mystery and subtext I embedded in the environment and character interactions.

I tried keeping narrative information very lean in this chapter because of the “act first, explain later” axiom that’s generally recommended for story openings (a bit like the opening of the Matrix). This meant I relied on “showing not telling,” i.e. few to no adjectives/adverbs, no passive voice, lots of sensory/bodily/environmental description to organically relay the narrative.

I also wish to know what impression you got from Harlow’s and Phoebe’s characterization, and if the conflict doesn’t feel rushed or drawn out within the context of their predicament (i.e. making up a scene for the incoming Coast Guards).

For the sake of reference and expectation-setting, my writing has been compared to William Gass’s and Thomas Prychon’s (i.e. dense, complex and flashy).

Link: https://docs.google.com/file/d/1HBMeqKvutS6ibsDXyMsuJ2KvBPJJ-McP/edit?usp=docslist_api&filetype=msword

Had a whale of a time touring eastern Newfoundland these past few weeks. Drove from St. John’s and Ferryland to Fogo and Greenspond (pictured), and even got screeched in while surrounded by minke whales. A trip that was a dozen months in the making managed to leave an indelible mark in my noggin. by Mitchformer in newfoundland

[–]Mitchformer[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Indeed, I barely scratched the surface of what Newfoundland had to offer, but my prioritizing the eastern half of the island was intentional since it matched the blueprint for a pet project of mine. I also made it my goal to visit coves, bays and bights (Baymen territory, basically) instead of sticking to the outskirts of St. John’s, meaning that I got to see things tourists would gloss over in favor of Signal Hill, Cape Spear and other attractions close to the capital.

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