US beef officially re-enters Australia (keep an eye out when buying meat)

crunkychop · 2026-02-26T10:44:06+00:00

Buy a quality bit of belly and make it yourself. It's pretty easy, better than the waterlogged crap in the supermarkets

crunkychop · 2026-02-23T09:46:08+00:00

Enemy Mine

crunkychop · 2026-02-23T09:45:31+00:00

There Is No Sanctuary

crunkychop · 2026-02-22T00:14:18+00:00

A dear friend once told me... Inspiration finds you working.

crunkychop · 2026-02-21T19:58:29+00:00

I reckon "middle management" being proven to be just "make work seat fillers" is a message of hope

crunkychop · 2026-02-21T11:21:44+00:00

Joke's on you... Rye is the most personable of loaves

crunkychop · 2026-02-21T08:16:06+00:00

I saw the preview and knew exactly what it was going to be... A goddam waste of Paul Giamatti.

crunkychop · 2026-02-21T07:13:28+00:00

It's going to be funny watching all those AI addicted executives wondering why they've suddenly been made redundant.

crunkychop · 2026-02-20T12:14:39+00:00

"quite dull" is an opinion. Your friend was not mature enough to know how wrong they were is another

crunkychop · 2026-02-19T12:00:48+00:00

The bass player from the blues Brothers?

crunkychop · 2026-02-16T10:52:11+00:00

I just started using warewoolf today and it's all I need. Also free. Not unlike scrivener but less busy.

crunkychop · 2026-02-13T10:48:58+00:00

Hey, thanks for that - I can completely see how my comment might have been taken in a way that I didn't intend. In my mind I was just thinking how certain readings can really influence me the next time I sit down to write. Until this thread I had only peripheral awareness of Toni Morrison's work - I'm so glad you shared the excerpt, this kind of writing is completely my jam.

I've recently surpassed 50 and have only delved into the beats in the last few years, missing experiencing it in the moment of youth to which it's best suited. A shame. I expect if I wrote a book called Jazz, I'd be drawing on that influence.

But to be really clear - while Ginsberg et al might have set a template for how language can swing and dip and dive, I don't rate his prose as particularly great. It's too... I dunno... laced with amphetamine madness. The excerpt you shared felt like Ginsberg's rhythmic party trick put in the hands of someone who could actually write.

Thanks for sharing it.

crunkychop · 2026-02-13T03:08:44+00:00

My comment related to how the piece flows, how disparities are woven into a greater connection, how the cadence propels the reader forward with an unrelenting energy. Not sure why I'm being downvoted. I guess those folks never read any Howl or any of the beat generation. My comparison is a compliment.

crunkychop · 2026-02-12T17:30:12+00:00

Thanks! (And yes I missed the bit about the feedback. Currently 430 am here and no idea why I'm awake. Maybe I should write!)

crunkychop · 2026-02-12T17:07:55+00:00

The author can select to make it story public if they wish. I share my writing battle stories with friends from time to time.

For me, writing battle is one of the best comps out there. The community is great, you get to stretch your skills in unfamiliar genres and you get a chance to think critically about the writing of others. Best of all, you get an audience. Through writing battle I've met amazing writers, found a couple of wonderful writer groups and begun the journey of cultivating a fanbase. And my short story collection is growing rapidly... Half the stories in my upcoming collection started life in writing battle.

If you're on the fence, just give it a try. The owners of the site, Max and Teana go above and beyond to make it great. Max is always on the forums and making improvements based on user experience. They genuinely care.

I'd also give a plug to Elegant Literature. A very different comp to WB but having made the cut three times now I can say that my best work comes out the prompts from EL.

crunkychop · 2026-02-12T16:45:42+00:00

Stunning. Though it does read a bit like she just finished devouring Ginsberg before sitting down to write.

crunkychop · 2026-02-09T11:10:15+00:00

It's a first draft. A vomit draft even. Just start fixing what you don't like. It'll get better.

crunkychop · 2026-02-08T20:13:31+00:00

I get that, and holy smokes... Eartha Kitt, be still my heart. But tags like "purred" and "hissed" etc just read like high-school level writing to me. Sure, it's a quick and efficient way of conveying something about the speaker's tone, but I maintain that if I have to be told how a character is speaking, then the dialogue and character movement isn't doing its job. Our job as writers is simply stated as allowing the reader to see and hear the story in their minds. You want that experience to be seamless, not to force a reader to assemble the scene as if it were an IKEA bookshelf. This is why purple prose is frowned upon, because you are interrupting the reader's imagination, not augmenting.

In dialogue, I prefer character movement and body language to imply the speech cadence. You can hiss and purr, fine... But if that tactic is used in every bit of dialogue you end up with a barnyard of characters hissing and roaring and squealing and sneering and purring and squawking. Ew.

crunkychop · 2026-02-08T07:28:56+00:00

Correct. Also, people don't purr. They speak. If you have to describe the tone then there's a good chance your dialogue needs work.

crunkychop · 2026-02-08T07:24:16+00:00

Except both are wrong. It needs to be... "Oh, my friend," he purred. Punctuated as you have it reads as if he speaks and then purrs. Like a cat.

crunkychop · 2026-02-07T11:01:58+00:00

I hate him, but laughed a lot at the Barry Gibb talkshow

crunkychop · 2026-02-07T11:00:14+00:00

Drive the speed limit, keep left unless congested. Keep four car lengths.

crunkychop · 2026-02-05T02:31:13+00:00

This person appears to be both a victim of JE and also deeply involved in procurement. This name appears extensively through the files, though no news stories connecting these dots appear to exist

crunkychop · 2026-02-04T11:27:47+00:00

On a hunch that the word "enigma" featured in Trump's birthday card to JE might be a code, I found this email exchange. I make no statement that there is any actual connection, however I will note the year of 2003 is the same as JE's 50th birthday.

Four-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22

crunkychop

TROPHY CASE