Robinski Posted May 1, 2021 Report Share Posted May 1, 2021 Maybe you need to be a hard rock/metal fan, but Lemmy's autobiography is hilarious. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/319464.White_Line_Fever?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=5lDQijJMwr&rank=1 Also, I am presently reading Stephen King's On Writing, and I find it completely excellent. The first half (roughly) is pretty heavily autobiographical--and that is very interesting too--but he does get deep into writing advice in the second half, and all of it is valuable and insightful, I think. I mean, consider where you get your advice on developing your writing at the moment. I guarantee you that none of your sources represents the volume of success in writing that Stephen King has had to date. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10569.On_Writing?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=NQ3q6qKeZc&rank=1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk Posted May 2, 2021 Report Share Posted May 2, 2021 On 4/29/2021 at 8:18 PM, ginger_reckoning said: Hey, does anyone have any nonfiction reccomendations? Specifically biographies and historical stuff Hmm. A while ago I read The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone - about Elizabeth Friedman, who was a codebreaker during the WWII era, if you think that might be up your alley? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakenaps Posted May 2, 2021 Report Share Posted May 2, 2021 On 4/29/2021 at 8:18 PM, ginger_reckoning said: Hey, does anyone have any nonfiction reccomendations? Specifically biographies and historical stuff Kitchen Confidential and other books by Anthony Bourdain - Raw, humorous, and incredible. A journey about food, the world, and humanity with no-holds-barred. Hard warning on language and content, though. The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin - A sweet, fascinating autobiography by a chef who has seen it and done it all. Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson - A peek into the history, psychology, and science into how we cook and why. James Herriot's books - Stories from a British veterinarian from the 1930-1950's, just as technology was replacing the draft horse. As You Wish by Cary Elwes and Joe Layden - How The Princess Bride was filmed. Absolutely hilarious. Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman - Part autobiography, part philosophy on wood and steak. Marley and Me, as well as The Longest Trip Home by John Grogan - Marley and Me is about Grogan's experience with a ADHD Labrador, the other his biography growing up. I second Robinski's recommendation for Stephen King's On Writing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted May 2, 2021 Report Share Posted May 2, 2021 2 hours ago, Snakenaps said: James Herriot's books - Stories from a British veterinarian from the 1930-1950's, just as technology was replacing the draft horse. As popularised by the movie and TV series All Creatures Great and Small, where Doctor Who Peter Davidson got his 'start'. Great show, and great books, by all accounts. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakenaps Posted May 2, 2021 Report Share Posted May 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Robinski said: As popularised by the movie and TV series All Creatures Great and Small, where Doctor Who Peter Davidson got his 'start'. Great show, and great books, by all accounts. I haven't actually watched the show. My grandmother introduced them to me and now I own every single book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginger_reckoning Posted May 2, 2021 Report Share Posted May 2, 2021 thanks for the recommendations all! I'll have to check those out 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamon Posted May 20, 2021 Report Share Posted May 20, 2021 Folks, if you haven't noticed yet, I'm stepping back a bit from critiques, as they're starting to get in the way of other activities. Looked back at my notes and I've provided feedback on almost all critiques since 2012! However, I think we've got a good crop of writers here currently, so I don't feel bad about doing so. I'm going to try to get to 2 or maybe 3 critiques a week from now on. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted May 20, 2021 Report Share Posted May 20, 2021 7 hours ago, Mandamon said: Folks, if you haven't noticed yet, I'm stepping back a bit from critiques, as they're starting to get in the way of other activities. Looked back at my notes and I've provided feedback on almost all critiques since 2012! However, I think we've got a good crop of writers here currently, so I don't feel bad about doing so. I'm going to try to get to 2 or maybe 3 critiques a week from now on. You've earned it! Critting everything is very time-consuming, especially when not subbing to the group due to other writing priorities. A well-deserved 'break' is due, without a doubt 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_Vallion Posted May 30, 2021 Report Share Posted May 30, 2021 Random thought for anyone who might be interested in a sort of group project. My husband does some sound design and audio drama writing/direction/production as a hobby. He just finished doing some sound design work on an audiodrama that someone had done the writing/directing on, and is currently in the process of trying to find a short project to keep developing skills while he's working on the writing for a longer project. Is there any chance anyone here has a short story that they'd be interested working on recreating in that medium? I don't entirely know what it would look like to combine efforts on something like that, but I figured it couldn't hurt to see if anyone here has ever thought of it or might be interested in figuring something out. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted May 30, 2021 Report Share Posted May 30, 2021 That's a really interesting idea, @C_Vallion. Not something I haver the bandwidth for, personally, but really interesting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeromancer Posted May 30, 2021 Report Share Posted May 30, 2021 1 hour ago, C_Vallion said: My husband does some sound design and audio drama writing/direction/production as a hobby. He just finished doing some sound design work on an audiodrama that someone had done the writing/directing on, and is currently in the process of trying to find a short project to keep developing skills while he's working on the writing for a longer project. Is there any chance anyone here has a short story that they'd be interested working on recreating in that medium? I don't entirely know what it would look like to combine efforts on something like that, but I figured it couldn't hurt to see if anyone here has ever thought of it or might be interested in figuring something out. I happen to listen to audiodramas with a mild frequency, and I wanted to try my hand at one. I had an idea a while back for one which was a more 'supernatural' themed one, where the two main characters are a supernatural hunter and a local detective. The gimmick to it would be that it would be told almost entirely through flashbacks - the opening scene is the hunter being put into an interrogation room and going through a series of cases with the detective. Each 'episode' would be a single case file which would be told mostly through the two discussion the facts and the evidence around each case within the interrogation room. The reason for this was more practical than anything else - this kind of a set-up would let you get away with only two main voice actors, the 'hunter' and the 'detective'. And, full disclosure, the setup is based off the early season of The Magnus Archive. Unfortunately, I never managed to get anything more than a few pages of notes and a half-baked script for the pilot, but I would definitely be interested in dusting off my old files and seeing what I could work with for a collaborative project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_Vallion Posted May 31, 2021 Report Share Posted May 31, 2021 1 hour ago, aeromancer said: The reason for this was more practical than anything else - this kind of a set-up would let you get away with only two main voice actors, the 'hunter' and the 'detective' We do have a handful of voice actors (3-4 male, 2-3 female, depending on who is available when. But a couple of them also have professional actor friend-pools to pull from) who we've worked with on other projects, so we don't need too many limitations on that front except in regard to what size cast is practical to maintain. I've heard of The Magnus Archives but haven't listened to them (horror isn't my favorite thing), so I'm not hugely familiar with the show. 2 hours ago, aeromancer said: Unfortunately, I never managed to get anything more than a few pages of notes and a half-baked script for the pilot, but I would definitely be interested in dusting off my old files and seeing what I could work with for a collaborative project. Let me know if you think it would be worth trying to turn into something. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snakenaps Posted June 8, 2021 Report Share Posted June 8, 2021 First of all...I'm not dead! I've just been super busy with work, my own draft, and overwhelming myself with obligations. Second...I finally finished Draft Four of Name of the King. FINALLY. Hilariously, I don't even know how many people are still around from the dumpster fire that was Draft Three. Third... On 2/1/2021 at 6:58 PM, shatteredsmooth said: Some of the people in are group, including me, put the draft we started with and the draft we ended with in a thing that compares two documents and tells you how similar they are. ( https://desklib.com/writing/compare/ ) It's intended use is to check for plagiarism, but it is also really a cool way to get a general idea of how much you changed on a revision. Mine was only a 22% match. Over the course of two revisions, I changed 78% of my book. When I started this program, I was already on my 4th draft. I bet if I compared my actual 1st draft to the current one, there would be even less of a match. Now, this is just based on words and sentences. The program isn't detecting anything complicated like plot structure. But still. I made a lot of changes to that book, and that is exactly what it needed. Everything good I have ever written has drastically changed from my first draft to my final. The works that end up getting shelved are the ones where I don't really change much from draft to draft. After many months of waiting, I used @shatteredsmooth's plagiarism checker from February to compare my first and fourth drafts. 33% of the book is the same, and according to my Cut Text folder, I have "deleted" 106 of scenes, equal to 103,053 words, since I began Draft Two. And just like Shatteredsmooth, this isn't keeping track of the massive plot changes that have occurred since Draft One. Thought it might be interesting for some of you. Time to work on other literary ideas for a month or so...then it is time to start Draft Five! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk Posted June 13, 2021 Report Share Posted June 13, 2021 On 5/30/2021 at 0:58 PM, C_Vallion said: Random thought for anyone who might be interested in a sort of group project. My husband does some sound design and audio drama writing/direction/production as a hobby. He just finished doing some sound design work on an audiodrama that someone had done the writing/directing on, and is currently in the process of trying to find a short project to keep developing skills while he's working on the writing for a longer project. Is there any chance anyone here has a short story that they'd be interested working on recreating in that medium? I don't entirely know what it would look like to combine efforts on something like that, but I figured it couldn't hurt to see if anyone here has ever thought of it or might be interested in figuring something out. I don't have anything at present, but this is a neat idea! If anyone decides to try this out, I hope you all keep us apprised. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonsilver Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 Have y'all ever had a thread for writing prompts and responses? I was just thinking it would be fun to have a daily writing prompt, or weekly writing prompt, with something like a paragraph in length answer that everyone just responds with and comments on in the same thread. I would be willing to organize it if there was interest in doing it. I think it'd be cool for the community to have micro writing excercises like that just to sharpen our talent and come up with ideas, but in a way that only takes maybe 5 or 10 minutes out of our day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinski Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 6 hours ago, Moonsilver said: Have y'all ever had a thread for writing prompts and responses? I was just thinking it would be fun to have a daily writing prompt, or weekly writing prompt, with something like a paragraph in length answer that everyone just responds with and comments on in the same thread. I would be willing to organize it if there was interest in doing it. I think it'd be cool for the community to have micro writing excercises like that just to sharpen our talent and come up with ideas, but in a way that only takes maybe 5 or 10 minutes out of our day. Go for it, if you get any interest. The worst that can happen is no one bites, I guess. I don't have time to critique at the moment (which is disappointing, because I used to critique everything), but I might be able to spend a little time on a prompt. It's always interesting to spitball ideas. So, that's my longwinded way of saying 'Yes, I would try and participate.' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBlue Posted July 1, 2021 Report Share Posted July 1, 2021 14 hours ago, Moonsilver said: Have y'all ever had a thread for writing prompts and responses? I was just thinking it would be fun to have a daily writing prompt, or weekly writing prompt, with something like a paragraph in length answer that everyone just responds with and comments on in the same thread. I would be willing to organize it if there was interest in doing it. I think it'd be cool for the community to have micro writing excercises like that just to sharpen our talent and come up with ideas, but in a way that only takes maybe 5 or 10 minutes out of our day. I can't promise I'd participate, but it sounds like an interesting idea. You could make the thread and see what happens. If it doesn't work out, nothing lost, right? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamon Posted July 7, 2021 Report Share Posted July 7, 2021 Hey folks! Just wanted to brag a bit here and show you what can happen with a dedicated writing critique group: @kais, @Robinski, @shatteredsmooth, @Silk, and I have been working on an anthology since the middle of last year and today is the cover release! The book will be going through my imprint, so I guess I'm officially a publisher now... This book is a labor of love by the five of us, and would never have been possible if we didn't have this group to put us all together and make all our drafts bleed. So without further ado, here is Distant Gardens, an anthology of lesbian-centric, inclusive stories about spaceships, fairies, fungus, tentacles, and strange plants! Available here for preorder. Official release is August 3rd: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097F5FHKK Thanks to everyone on here, past and present. It wouldn't have been possible without you! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kais Posted July 7, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2021 3 hours ago, Mandamon said: So without further ado, here is Distant Gardens, an anthology of lesbian-centric, inclusive stories about spaceships, fairies, fungus, tentacles, and strange plants! YAY I AM SO EXCITED. Also we got the orange Amazon banner for #1! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk Posted July 8, 2021 Report Share Posted July 8, 2021 E X C I T E 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonsilver Posted July 16, 2021 Report Share Posted July 16, 2021 Wow, congratulations y'all! That's so cool. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk Posted July 18, 2021 Report Share Posted July 18, 2021 On 7/16/2021 at 8:43 AM, Moonsilver said: Wow, congratulations y'all! That's so cool. Aw, thanks! I think we've all had a blast working on it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonsilver Posted July 19, 2021 Report Share Posted July 19, 2021 Are y'all doing an audiobook? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamon Posted July 19, 2021 Report Share Posted July 19, 2021 41 minutes ago, Moonsilver said: Are y'all doing an audiobook? Yep! It will come out a little later because recording is just now starting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonsilver Posted July 19, 2021 Report Share Posted July 19, 2021 1 hour ago, Mandamon said: Yep! It will come out a little later because recording is just now starting. Kate Reading and Michael Kramer right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.