The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[TarnishedPenny]

(Emerging from den) Is there any coffee? Don’t make me beg!

 

[MrPixel]

Sorry! I was remiss this morning. The visiting "son" has our daily schedule all screwed up. It takes twice as long for the morning toilette and getting dressed because we can't simply meander around the house naked like we normally do.

 

[dmallord]

Yeesh, nothing posted here for seventeen hours? What are you people doing? Writing fiction?

I'm here in the Shop/Room as always, at the card table near the far wall, in another edit pass for my next story. Yet I can still find time to berate the rest of you, for failing to waste time to the extent that I do.

I logged in, and this is the first thing that pops up on my screen! Seventeen hours seems like a Rip Van Winkle moment, doesn't it? Time slips past quickly.

I've been working... Lit stuff, too. I tried to walk the street for some exercise but only got as far and turned around as the mailbox. The tip of my walking cane nearly melted from touching the street. Two buzzards circled overhead.

One said to the other, "Dinner looks overcooked again!"

The other said, "By the time we get down there, it will be chard protein."

I looked up at both of them and cried out, "Scr*w you, two, too!" Then I hobbled back inside, glad for air conditioning and iced lemon tea.

I asked Yowser for a story review a few days back. Got his reply yesterday. He tells me it was a mediocre story at best, filled with too many adverbs and semicolons. [Now, that's not a teachable moment approach.]

Adverbs? I thought they were words, too. Used semicolons–that's a no-no in short story fiction, also he notes. I checked the adverbs out, searching for 'ly' words. Yep, too many. The pages lit up like dandelions when MS Word found them. My word ratio was 1:79. An internet search about adverbs told me a ratio of 1:300 is normal. So, I got called abnormal by some blog in the process. [Think I might be developing a chip on my block.]

So... my writing notes have: cut adverbs down; don't use semicolons; stop being mediocre; don't use tropisms like hot cheerleader, and one more I forgot–don't use math in the story. [Some readers and critics seem to be anal about it if a number is off.] About half of the review was on getting subtraction in two numbers off by two years like it made a difference to readers.

Otherwise, his review was fine. This reinforces my idea that maybe I should just write and ignore the quality of my writing. He said that was above par, at least.

My tea is finished. I'm looking for some coffee now. I hope there is a leftover cup for an eighty-six-year-old fella.

Have a fine day! BTW what are you writing?

 

[dmallord]

Pop Quiz!
What was Thomas Jefferson's middle name?

The president one? MNU

 

[dmallord]

I have a friend who has no middle name, he has a middle letter. R How that seemed like a good idea to those filling out his birth certificate is beyond me. He told his kids that it was a leftover from his pirating days... Arrrrr!

I went to one school with two southern identical twins in some of my classes. One was named JR, and the other RJ. They didn't have names, just initials. It seemed strange at first, but then everyone assumed they had real names. They were called by their initials, like nicknames.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

I logged in, and this is the first thing that pops up on my screen! Seventeen hours seems like a Rip Van Winkle moment, doesn't it? Time slips past quickly.

I've been working... Lit stuff, too. I tried to walk the street for some exercise but only got as far and turned around as the mailbox. The tip of my walking cane nearly melted from touching the street. Two buzzards circled overhead.

One said to the other, "Dinner looks overcooked again!"

The other said, "By the time we get down there, it will be chard protein."

I looked up at both of them and cried out, "Scr*w you, two, too!" Then I hobbled back inside, glad for air conditioning and iced lemon tea.

I asked Yowser for a story review a few days back. Got his reply yesterday. He tells me it was a mediocre story at best, filled with too many adverbs and semicolons. [Now, that's not a teachable moment approach.]

Adverbs? I thought they were words, too. Used semicolons–that's a no-no in short story fiction, also he notes. I checked the adverbs out, searching for 'ly' words. Yep, too many. The pages lit up like dandelions when MS Word found them. My word ratio was 1:79. An internet search about adverbs told me a ratio of 1:300 is normal. So, I got called abnormal by some blog in the process. [Think I might be developing a chip on my block.]

So... my writing notes have: cut adverbs down; don't use semicolons; stop being mediocre; don't use tropisms like hot cheerleader, and one more I forgot–don't use math in the story. [Some readers and critics seem to be anal about it if a number is off.] About half of the review was on getting subtraction in two numbers off by two years like it made a difference to readers.

Otherwise, his review was fine. This reinforces my idea that maybe I should just write and ignore the quality of my writing. He said that was above par, at least.

My tea is finished. I'm looking for some coffee now. I hope there is a leftover cup for an eighty-six-year-old fella.

Have a fine day! BTW what are you writing?

Thanks. Apart from the story I expect to submit tomorrow (so I'm not writing it anymore, actually, really. truly. indubitably, unavoidably, definitely), what I'm writing meanders up to signs that read 'Dead End.' As you can see, I'm not an adverb-hater, although I try to use some things (not all) in moderation.
Semi-colons, now, may have no business in fiction. I search-and-destroy them while editing.

 

[dmallord]

Thanks. Apart from the story I expect to submit tomorrow (so I'm not writing it anymore, actually, really. truly. indubitably, unavoidably, definitely), what I'm writing meanders up to signs that read 'Dead End.' As you can see, I'm not an adverb-hater, although I try to use some things (not all) in moderation.
Semi-colons, now, may have no business in fiction. I search-and-destroy them while editing.

I have no writing background, and Lit was my first encounter with story writing. Call me... a newbie at writing, although I'm well beyond new in age. Learning about what is good or what is bad in writing is an ongoing experience. My encounter with the review was the discovery of adverbs and semicolons. Small things, I suppose that are easy to fix.

The more difficult things are plot and character development. Can those really be taught or is an innate talent? I'm sure some mechanics can be pointed to but I'm wondering about the other elements of good writing. Is is just time on task that makes one better. Write, write, and write and that makes one improve? I'm inclined to say no.

"First, it's important to have team review because if you continue to write without it, you may overlook things. For example, consider the adverb. It was right there in the story, but I didn't realize I needed to look for it." [BTW, I don't have a team so that flies away as a non-starter.]

'You don't know what you don't know.' And that is a fact.

Now, as for the pesky semicolon, it is mind-blowing that some Lit reader would get bent out of shape and steam up over a little ';' in the middle of two sentences. It's not like they are run-on sentences joined by 'and' and 'and'! Why beat up on that little squiggle? No one jumps all over the lowly ',' when it gets abused do they?

 

[MrPixel]

...it is mind-blowing that some Lit reader would get bent out of shape and steam up over a little ';' in the middle of two sentences. ...

That's certainly some sort of personal quirk, so I wouldn't let it get to you. I use semis, but infrequently, and for their intended purpose, a "soft" break in a thought that would be too abrupt for a full '.' and new sentence.

Anyway, I need to toddle off here for a shower and some shuteye. Talk to y'all in the morning.

 

[Duleigh]

Good morning all
Hopefully tradesmen from several disciplines descend on Casa Del Duleigh today - the Air Conditioner is leaking water from all seams (and yes, the drain line is clear) and so is the refrigerator. I never had an air conditioner before in my life so I'm stumped, but the refrigerator I was able to diagnose quickly - it's broke.

Coffee is on!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I use rather a lot of semi-colons, but haven't had complaints here. Even with yowser doing some great beta-reading for me in the past.

I finally posted a story chapter today, which has been nearly done for about a month. I anticipate complaints about the foreign language at the end despite it all being glossed into English after each sentence.

No one jumps all over the lowly ',' when it gets abused do they?

God, I hate run-on commas and how they're widely used even in professional text nowadays! I will reject them to my dying day.

 

[Duleigh]

I anticipate complaints about the foreign language at the end despite it all being glossed into English after each sentence.

I use a lot of foreign language in my stories (mostly Vietnamese and French) and the only complaint I've ever had was when I didn't add an English translation, or at least a hint to the meaning in English. I posted a 27k word chapter (It make a good standalone story also) where the characters spoke only French, that was a challenge. My readers like it, they say it adds a sense of authenticity.

 

[MrPixel]

Thanks for the coffee, D. I wasn't up to fixing it this morning; still sort of groggy getting only 4-1/2 hours of sleep due to the thunderstorm that's been shaking the house for the past two hours. There are multiple flash flood warnings in the area, and heavy rain is pelting the roof again as I type this.

I'm hoping - probably in vain - that the unfinished and therefore open garage door over at the guesthouse isn't letting too much water in. Parts are spread around on the floor and much of it is still in the boxes, and then there's the 2x6 on the floor waiting to be cut for the header. Just great. Shoulda paid better attention to the weather forecast last night.

...sigh...

G'morning, all.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Well, another dose of the dreaded lurgi. This one just wants to crush my skull and drive railway spikes through it, but on a positive note, has left my lungs alone.

I picked up these tests from the local chemist /pharmacy /drug store. Not sure if I trust them...

 

[NotWise]

Mornin'!

It's cool, dry, calm, and sunny here, headed for hot and partly cloudy this afternoon. Changes are coming.

I'm being haunted by cats, so it's time to feed them and see what's ready to bring in from the garden.

Rusty, maybe if you know it's a Lyher, then you should take a positive result as a negative and carry on.

PS. A tomato, half a pound of jalapenos, and a new cut flower for the vase on the dining table. Culled some of the green peppers. Those things put more on than they can grow. Armenian cucumbers are starting to load up, but so far I've only brought one in. Sweet corn will be coming in soon, as will the first crop of New Mexico chiles. Now I'll settle down with my second cuppa coffee.

 

[MrPixel]

I picked up these tests from the local chemist /pharmacy /drug store. Not sure if I trust them...

Gawd. Yeah. Obvious Chinglish. I'll ask the kid to look at the package when we are back at the house taking a break. He had a couple of bouts with something respiratory when he was in China, plus he started his assignment there at the tail end of COVID, and was tested frequently. He might have firsthand familiarity with the product.

 

[yowser]

I asked Yowser for a story review a few days back. Got his reply yesterday. He tells me it was a mediocre story at best, filled with too many adverbs and semicolons. [Now, that's not a teachable moment approach.]

If you want to complain about me or my review I'd prefer you do so openly on my review thread, instead of off to the side here.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I peek in a few times a day but haven't posted much of late. It isn't that I don't love to waste time here; it's that I don't have time to waste right now. So, here I lift my cup of java to all of you with a firm hope I remain too busy to be here much. I got to feed the boy and cat, which means I got to work.

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

Where I stand may depend on where I sit. When I was first trying to write fiction (about sixty years ago) I read a lot of what I considered pretentious stuff, often including many semi-colons. As a reader, they struck me as intended to produce a very long pause, which took me out of whatever the writer was trying to do.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

A semicolon is the writer’s compliment to the reader.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Today has been a four-coffee day. Much of it was spent editing a document for work, written by two people I work for. They're lovely and have many talents, but A is severely dyslexic, uses the wrong word at least twice a sentence, and how the words join together is not English as we know it. And B is very prone to repetitive jargon-laden management-wank which takes 100 words to say what could have been done in ten. Between them, they've produced 14 pages of epic shit.

Unfortunately, while if it was a Lit draft I could just say "see para 1 for how to use commas and full stops and capital letters; I'm afraid I'm not doing this until you've attempted to fix all the grammar issues which Word will highlight for you.", I rather need to get this looking like something I'm happy to put my name to.

And that the audience will actually read and think about instead of chucking straight back. It's so much easier writing about sex - people want to read that!

 

[MrPixel]

Kid didn't recognize it, Russ, but isn't surprised.

Update on area rain and flooding - surrounding communities are running for the hills... literally. One small private dam was broken through, two municipal reservoirs have overtopped, both resulting in evacuations of hundreds. Nearby Interstate highway is closed due to flooding.

However... garage was dry and we made headway on the new door. At least it's closed-up now and securing my tools.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Usually I'm sitting in the corner typing away on my laptop so I don't make a lot of noise. I'll leave the teapot on the back burner for those who want a cuppa ...

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Right now, a cuppa sounds like precisely what I need. Thank you.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Lunchtime beverages are on!

It's so cold and wet here, even the frogs are looking for a dry spot.

 

[Duleigh]

Good morning all - I finally got my Wonderful Wife series novelized and handed over to my publisher. I've been working on that non-stop for weeks. I stood back then said, "It feels nice with nothing to do."
Then I saw the pile of partially completed stories I need to finish for upcoming contests.
A writers work is never done

I put on a pot of coffee, if you need me I'll be wearing out another keyboard.