On Writing threads, collated

[StillStunned]

The various "on writing" threads are listed below, for easy reference:

On writing: sounds and sentences
On writing: point of view
On writing: kill your darlings
On Writing: Voice
On writing: descriptions
On Writing: Dialogue
On writing: reading
On writing: backstory
On writing: show versus tell
On writing: foreshadowing, call-backs and story cohesion

Thanks, @anthrodisiac, for sharing my enthusiasm for discussing craft-related matters. And thanks to @EmilyMiller as well for giving me the idea to collate these threads.

 

[TheLobster]

Kudos for preserving the original, inconsistent capitalization of “writing”

 

[StillStunned]

Kudos for preserving the original, inconsistent capitalization of “writing”

It's a secret code, for those who know.

 

[StillStunned]

Suggestions for other topics are welcome, by the way. And of course everyone's feel free to start their own.

Possible topics in the pipeline: worldbuilding (in so far as it isn't already included in "backstory"), plotting, editing.

 

[EmilyMiller]

How about flashbacks?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

There are some excellent How-To articles here on almost every thread listed. Links to those would be handy for a lot of writers.

 

[StillStunned]

How about flashbacks?

And flashforwards, and foreshadowing.

(Adding this mostly because I realised that a story I was working on yesterday has some subtle and unintended foreshadowing.)

 

[anthrodisiac]

And flashforwards, and foreshadowing.

(Adding this mostly because I realised that a story I was working on yesterday has some subtle and unintended foreshadowing.)

So "On Writing: Flashing" then?

 

[BeechLeaf]

flash fiction

 

[anthrodisiac]

Humor could be an interesting one. Such a subjective thing, though. Then again, so much of writing is, so it might be fun to get some lessons on humor from a bunch of people.

I'd suggest implicit cues, but then I'd be stepping on my own toes as I try to get an essay about it polished and shoved out the door. But once I get that out, I think structure would be a great topic. Implicit cues maybe less so a good topic, because it covers so much, but structure is pretty well-defined (heh) and easy to discuss.

Character building would be good too. I think Character by itself is too large a topic, but I could be wrong.

 

[EmilyMiller]

@StillStunned I applaud you for single-handedly elevating the intellectual tone of this forum and focusing us on our shared craft. Many bitch about forum content, you decided to do something about it.

 

[StillStunned]

@StillStunned I applaud you for single-handedly elevating the intellectual tone of this forum and focusing us on our shared craft. Many bitch about forum content, you decided to do something about it.

Elevating the intellectual tone?! I feel like I've let Young StillStunned down. This isn't the man I aspired to be.

But seriously: thanks. It's nice to be appreciated. Also nice to see so many people contributing to the discussions. It's great to see perspectives on specific writing topics from all over the world, different backgrounds, different age groups, different degrees and forms of writing experience.

Between us all we have so much knowledge and experience - practical experience too, from the more or less instant response we get here at Lit. I think anyone who has any desire at all to write could learn a lot from reading these discussions.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I think anyone who has any desire at all to write could learn a lot from reading these discussions.

And contributing to them. Requires a change in mindset in thinking about writing to articulate some of the things you're doing by instinct.

 

[StillStunned]

Another possible topic: characters and characterisation; stereotypes and archetypes.

 

[StillStunned]

Yet another possibility: genre (as opposed to Lit's categories).

 

[AStrangeDesire]

What about "building tension". I know it's probably related to foreshadowing, but different enough IMO.

 

[caleb35]

It's a secret code, for those who know.

 

[EmilyMiller]

View attachment 2620201

Whenever I see that meme, I’m like, “The volume of a cone? Seriously? That’s what people think of as complicated ?”

 

[StillStunned]

Whenever I see that meme, I’m like, “The volume of a cone? Seriously? That’s what people think of as complicated ?”

Second year of school, age 13-14. I still remember it 40 years later.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Second year of school, age 13-14. I still remember it 40 years later.

I could derive it for you by integration. And I’m not a math major.

 

[StillStunned]

Another possible topic: show v tell, and why it's not "show, don't tell".

 

[OldKenDoll]

One to throw in: keeping the narrator’s voice the same through the sex.

A lot of work that's strong everywhere else loses the protagonist's specific voice the moment the clothes come off and slides into a kind of
generic erotic register. The well-developed character who's been describing and interacting with the world in a particular way for 3k+ words suddenly stops doing it. It’s a hard problem and one I spend a lot of time thinking about (and a LOT of time rewriting).

But is it distinct enough from "Voice" generally to deserve its own thread? Suddenly I’m not sure.

 

[StillStunned]

But is it distinct enough from "Voice" generally to deserve its own thread? Suddenly I’m not sure.

it's definitely an interesting topic, but I think it would be better in the "Voice" thread than as a separate discussion.

 

[onehitwanda]

 

[OldKenDoll]

it's definitely an interesting topic, but I think it would be better in the "Voice" thread than as a separate discussion.