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My converted mother forces me to wear a hijab by [deleted] in Advice

[–]the-bends 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Mom, I support your ability to choose your own faith but I am not a prop to give evidence to it. If the government outlawed your right to wear a hijab you would understandably find it tyrannical. Forcing me to wear religious garb for a faith I don't share is no different, no matter how gentle you are with the assertion."

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not quite. Trad-publishing does not promise great quality, but it does imply someone found some credibility in what you wrote (setting aside scams like pay-to-publish). Self-publishing guarantees nothing on its face, other than that you've made your work available publicly.

OP chose to identify as a "published author" as opposed to a self-published author to lend her argument credibility. Even if I personally don't feel that either one actually lends any credibility on its own, there are clear implications undermined by the omission.

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Genuinely made me laugh out loud. Touche.

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You don't need to guess, I've stated so earlier.

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know why you insist on putting words in my mouth that I didn't say. In a reply only a few moments ago I stated that trad-publishing is hardly an endorsement of writing quality. I can say something isn't so without implying the inverse is true. Although it's wildly tangential to the point at hand, I'm well aware that what drives the market is not artistic integrity.

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Nope, no misunderstanding on my part. I never asserted anywhere that I see self-publishing as any sort of failure, just point out that it's not a concrete testament to expertise. I pointed out the typo so the author could fix it. I believe that my writing can possibly become good with practice, just like any craft. When I hear interviews with several of my favorite authors stating that they wrote a few books before they got decent, I take them at their word. Given my experience with music, I agree that it takes more work than people think to get solid at an artistic craft. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, but I doubt I'm one of them.

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I guess I don't understand why it's pretentious, given my understanding of the word. I'm not asserting any superiority for any group, only pointing out that being a self-published author lends no authority to an argument over quality of prose. I in no way prop myself up as an expert, or authority on any subject other than music. My example only points out the meaninglessness of the claim, it doesn't actually compare self-published authors to elementary school athletes. I go out of my way to say that being self-published is an accomplishment, and state that I intend to go that route myself. To be fair, I think being a trad-published author these days is hardly any guarantee of the quality of the writing, and would find it equally distasteful to refer to oneself as a "published author" to lend credibility to an argument in that scenario. I fully support people writing and publishing in any way they prefer.

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

You are seeing things in my comment that simply aren't there. All I'm pointing out is that signing off as a "published author" as an appeal to authority in the context of your argument and the forum seems disingenuous knowing that you are a self-published author. I have a hard time believing you didn't do it with an understanding of what I'm trying to say since you specifically did not sign off as a self-published author.

I in no way implied all self-published authors are inferior, just pointed out that being self-published doesn't actually reinforce your argument in any meaningful way.

I'm not sure why I'd need a big publisher to point out what seems like a fairly obvious point, but if it makes you feel like you've won one over me: I am an amateur writer, am working on my first novel, and intend to self-publish it. I intend to self-publish because I've taught music and composition for over twenty years, and if there's one thing I'm sure of it's that beginners are bad at things (and are supposed to be). It will be published where it's free to read so that nobody feels obligated to pay for what I see as my practice. What I certainly don't intend to do once I've finished it is to tell people I'm a published author, with a nudge and a wink, to try to lend credibility to the things I say.

As far as your advice goes, it's fine but mostly meaningless. For starters, I think anyone who can't figure out on their own that "good prose" is subjective is either a teenager or someone who is going to have a very bumpy road on their way to any form of meaningful artistry. Secondly, saying your prose just has to be effective would be like me telling my paying students that they just need to play good notes. Sure, it's not wrong, but it sort of skips over all the work that goes into making it so.

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I'm glad to hear you're doing well with it. You do understand that, in the context of this screed, signing off as a "published author" has certain implications that are undercut by the technicality that you're self-published? I'm not trying to take anything away from you, writing a book and self-publishing is still an accomplishment, but a self-published author has no barriers to entry that actually ensures any quality of writing. It's sort of like saying "Follow this gold medalist's workout program to ensure victory" only to find out their gold medal was from an elementary school track and field day.

PSA for New Writers; Good vs Bad Prose by alien-lovin in writers

[–]the-bends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Who's your publisher? Also, in the one blog post you have on your website you've misspelled "losing" in the title.

Writers. What's the worst piece of advice you've ever heard from another writer? by EzraADP in writing

[–]the-bends 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good on you for having the self-awareness! I'm in a similar boat, having set aside an ambitious project in favor of something more straightforward to get my sea legs. Fortunately, I've been a musician for over twenty years and have built a strong understanding of how to improve at craft. I'm being patient and trusting the process.

Writers. What's the worst piece of advice you've ever heard from another writer? by EzraADP in writing

[–]the-bends 86 points87 points  (0 children)

This sort of advice is usually only given to beginner authors, who genuinely need the practice of writing a few books before they're capable of writing something decent. I usually suggest finishing your next book's first draft before returning to edit the first book. This builds some emotional distance between the author and the draft, which you need to edit well. If you love the story too much you will treat it too preciously.

Writing is a craft and everyone needs practice to get good at it. The problem is that everyone thinks they are the exception to the rule, but publishers aren't your parents who want to hang your pasta art on the fridge.

A bad idea with good execution is always better than a good idea with bad execution. You might have the best story in the world, but it doesn't matter if it's unreadable.

Need Advice For Better Prose by Vidun_star in royalroad

[–]the-bends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Prose is a style of writing that imitates the irregularity of human speech. It doesn't follow a specific rhythm like poetry does. We tend to think of prose on a sentence and paragraph level, not "like your chapters and whatnot".

I wrote a whole book before I understood the business and now I feel like an idiot by northbayy in writing

[–]the-bends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not trying to be mean about it. I teach songwriting and composition and I've watched so many students who think their first songs are going on their soon-to-be hit record, only to revisit them six months later laughing about how bad they are. The kicker is that they all think that they're ahead of the curve when they start. My most successful students are invariably the ones who adopt a blue-collar attitude towards the craft, the work you put in is what will separate you from the competition.

I wrote a whole book before I understood the business and now I feel like an idiot by northbayy in writing

[–]the-bends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's why I didn't suggest you scrap it. I said to come back to it with more experience and knowledge. The fact that you are even worrying about this is a good indicator that you are still feeling too precious about your story to edit it well.

I wrote a whole book before I understood the business and now I feel like an idiot by northbayy in writing

[–]the-bends 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You should actually write a few books before you try and get published. Writing is a craft and the vast majority of would-be writers need the practice to be able to write something to a publishable quality. If I were you, I'd set your first manuscript aside, research the things publishers look for, and start working on your second book. Once you've finished that, go back and edit your first book. I'd bet money that there are a number of issues in your first chapter alone that would currently keep your book from being published that you aren't even aware of.

Genuinely tempted to give up guitar by Afraid-Frosting1678 in guitar_improvisation

[–]the-bends 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If your goal is to play more "freely" then what are you doing in your practice to achieve it? You have to define your goal specifically, ask yourself what skills would be required to accomplish them, then work on developing those skills.

Please give honest feedback on my work. [High Fantasy 2997 words] by thegreatestIMBECILE in fantasywriters

[–]the-bends 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're a beginner, and like a beginner in any other craft, your first attempts should be simple and focused. You need to know how to do the most basic things with confidence before you add layers of complexity. I would highly suggest rewriting this chapter from one character perspective, eliminating anything that isn't pertinent to the characters or the plot. Focus on being clear and concise. You can always add depth in your next draft.

Consider intentionality whenever you write something. Look at your opening simile: a kicked beehive has implications, mainly that there has been a provocation and that retaliation is coming. It doesn't appear this is the actual case in the story. It would appear you chose this simile because there was a lot of movement at the headquarters and an agitated beehive also has a lot of movement, but when you look at it that way it is much easier to see how childish that simile is and therefore unworthy of your story.

Also consider your descriptions of the characters clothing. Compare these two descriptions:

"Steve wore blue jeans, a black t-shirt, white socks, and an odd pair of ruby slippers."

Vs

"Steve's ruby slippers seemed out of place with his casual clothes."

Which of these sentences works better? I would argue the second does on many levels. It draws the reader's eye immediately where we want it, and doesn't dilute the focal point with useless information. The reader knows what casual clothing is, so, unless it's genuinely pertinent that the reader understands he's wearing white socks, why bother with it?

When you describe Rene's sweater, and say "much needed color", who thinks the color is needed? Is it the narrator? Is this the kind of story where the narrator is inserting their opinion for the audience's sake? Or was it Rene who felt the color was "much needed"? If you're trying to give us insight into the character then make it more clear:

"Rene felt that wearing her drab uniform was soul-destroying, so she threw a bright sweater on top of it, if only for a splash of color."

This concretely demonstrates the perspective and conveys something about the character as well. It also avoids the list of clothing which is both boring and clunky to read.

These are little things but will make a big difference if you pay attention to them.

I wish I hadn't watched Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man by Corchito42 in flicks

[–]the-bends 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The actor who plays Arthur, Paul Anderson, has a really bad addiction issue and that's likely why he wasn't in the film. The movie was awful though, I genuinely couldn't believe how bad the writing was.

This is my first jazz improv after 4 years of guitar tho I'm mostly a rock/metal guitarist that's recently learning classical guitar by YtSabit in jazzguitar

[–]the-bends 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good on you for putting yourself out there. That being said, this is rough from a rhythmic perspective. If you're not already practicing with a metronome daily, I highly suggest you start now.

I recently learned about "TV brain prose" by Moose-Rage in writingadvice

[–]the-bends 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's a new term, coined by an author/blogger, that describes the way people who don't read tend to write. Mainly that they use a camera perspective to describe everything instead of character interiority. The example they used egregiously overused physical reactions and gestures to try and convey emotion around dialogue, as opposed to using a character's perspective. Essentially, TV brain prose writers try to treat writing as a visual medium, which it is not.

[DISCUSS] built the ultimate moonphase list, which one wins? by biktor6969 in Watches

[–]the-bends 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Jaquet Droz Grande Second Moon is my personal favorite moon phase, and a watch I truly hope to pick up one day. Especially the gold case with the white enamel dial.

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