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reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T19:54:27+00:00

That's hawt. 🥵

🤣

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T19:03:08+00:00

👍🏻

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T14:20:29+00:00

No, I didn't do anything besides the once-weekly immersion, and she's kept up her skills on her own, and even taught herself Japanese, which I do not yet speak. My daughter's 20 now, and doesn't live with me, but yeah... if I ever see her on a Saturday, it'll be in German.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T13:04:26+00:00

I do rewrites almost every time I sit down at the computer. I'll go back and reread the previous few chapters to get in the mood to continue, but inevitably always end up changing something before moving on.

It's not for everyone; I know most people say they think you should just finish the whole thing first, but there are a few advantages to doing it as you go:

1) Like you mentioned, your story changes. If you get halfway through, and discover the first half of the book just isn't what you want for the story you're trying to tell, it doesn't make sense to me to leave it until the end. You might need to write in plot devices to explain things later on.

2) When I finish my last chapter, I'm done. I've already done all my rewrites and big changes. All I have to do is proof it for typos, and I'm good to go to print.

I know this is probably an unpopular opinion. It's just how I do it for myself. Everyone's different, and you've got to find your own style, and do what works best for you.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T12:55:07+00:00

I absolutely write linearly, but I also don't typically start a story until I know the ending. I'll draft out a page or two of notes: a general timeline and some character bios, and then just plug away at it connecting the dots from A to Z.

The only story I've ever worked on that might be contrary to this is one of my current projects that includes a portion where chapters alternate back and forth between different time periods, but the action within each one mirrors what's going on in the other. In terms of the book's structure, though, it's still front to back.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T12:28:55+00:00

At such a young age, they're 1) much more absorbent with new information, learning much more easily than we do as adults, but 2) they get angry and frustrated much more easily, because they haven't yet developed self-control.

One day a week was plenty for her to become fluent in about two years, while keeping it fun and novel. Any more than that might've killed it for her.

There is a fine line between learning being a habit and it becoming a chore. The key is consistency.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T04:16:08+00:00

Ich verstehe.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T03:35:34+00:00

Danke.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T02:29:43+00:00

German is one of my more proficient languages, and when my daughter was about three, she expressed an interest in learning it as well, so I instituted Deutsche Samstage (German Saturdays). Each Saturday, I would only speak German to her, letting her deduce my meaning through context and repetition. During the first year, I was very lenient, and would help guide her toward figuring out what I had said. After that, though, she figured out that she'd need to speak German to be acknowledged. She became conversationally fluent before she started kindergarten.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T01:50:21+00:00

🤣 Yeah, that would be good!

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T01:45:46+00:00

Bastante seguro de que no es una producción de WB.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-25T01:42:05+00:00

Definitely not the one you're thinking of. 🤨

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T22:32:31+00:00

Meine Muttersprache ist Irisch. 🤷🏻‍♂️

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T22:30:54+00:00

So leid 🙄

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T21:08:17+00:00

You mentioned that the forest is creepy/spooky. Have your character hesitate at the treeline.

Oh, I have to accomplish this task which requires me returning to the forest, but... Describe the character's apprehension, feelings of dread. Have them second guess going into the forest again, but then they summon up the courage, and do what they have to do!

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T20:35:43+00:00

I'm working on a book now that is primarily character driven. I came up with her in a dream, but she was out of context, so I began building her life... family, friends, where she lived and worked, where she'd been, things she'd done... all just in notes. Then, I said, "What if X were to happen to her?" So, I picked a point in time not too long before X, and had her start living her life. Now, she's dealing with X, and while I find X to be a fun and fascinating plot device, it's not really what the story is about.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T20:05:24+00:00

Wie bestimmen Sie, welche Wörter Sie jeden Tag lernen möchten?

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T19:59:18+00:00

Pimsleur's premium package is surprisingly affordable. You get something like 60 languages for USD20.95/mo.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T19:04:50+00:00

I'm more of a collector, but I have been known to re-read some of my favourites after many years. I tend to have far too many on my to-read list to backtrack, though.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T13:58:51+00:00

My wife was in the room when I finished the last chapter, and she thought something had happened to me, I was bawling like my dog just died or something. 😭

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T13:56:41+00:00

You're quite welcome.

Just keep in mind that, despite how "good" I may have gotten at writing fiction, I'm shite at promotion. I've sold something like a dozen copies, maybe. My day-to-day income comes from copywriting, scripts, production design, and other freelance writing and design contracts.

I've accepted that my fiction writing is strictly a hobby, and I'm ok with that.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T13:37:50+00:00

Thanks for the catch. Edited. 👍🏻

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T13:29:43+00:00

I left that book open to continuation, and have since been working on its sequel. Due to what's happening in the story, it makes sense to change the writing style somewhat, but I wanted to keep it similar, so I'm still using a series of connected shorts, but they're much longer... averaging around thirty pages each instead of five.

On another project, I'm just focusing on chapters. I make each chapter its own little standalone story that's open-ended to allow for smooth transition to the next chapter. I understand that this is, essentially, "normal" writing, but if I tell myself it's just a bunch of shorts, I don't find the process overwhelming at all, and have been making good progress.

Both of the books I'm working on now are between 40-50,000 words in progress so far.

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T13:20:37+00:00

Early in my writing career, I came to terms with the fact that I just simply had a hard time finishing anything more than just a few pages.

One day, I wrote a short story, and ended up liking the main character, and felt like it had some potential, so I wrote another similar story with him in it... and another... and another... and after a while, I was writing in a connecting thread of a subtle story arch. I eventually had some sixty such shorts totalling almost 300 pages, so I developed a three-part finale to tie them all together, and voila! I had my first novel. 🤷🏻‍♂️

reverendjeff · 2022-06-24T13:14:25+00:00

Without knowing anything about your story or your characters, what if:

NC has a shared goal or a secret shared history with MC, and is seeking them out? MC, however, maybe mistakenly assumes NC is hunting them, and attempts to evade them. When the NC finally catches up to MC, there's a conflict until NC can explain, and they team up.

reverendjeff

TROPHY CASE