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| Re: New Year's Resolutions [message #47235 is a reply to message #47234 ] |
Sun, 01 January 2012 19:52   |
 Mismatched Socks
Messages: 24
Registered: May 2010
Location: well, that depends. . . |
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How do you convert ideas for stories you have into believable plots?
I start with about 4 cups of good flour, 5 cups of warm water, a tablespoonful of dry yeast and another tablespoonful of honey . . .
And then you stir it all together, cover, place in a warm, draft-free spot, and leave it alone for a while, right?
Also, this made me laugh. Thank you.
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| Re: New Year's Resolutions [message #47241 is a reply to message #47234 ] |
Sun, 01 January 2012 22:20 |
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HorsehairBraider
Messages: 161
Registered: August 2009
Location: New Mexico |
Senior Member |
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Oh, I don't like resolutions either... for a few different reasons. And so very few people actually stick to them, although I really admire those who do! I just try and live every day the best I can, resolution or not, and try to make the next day better. I sure can't worry about a whole year, it's bad enough envisioning the next week.
You mentioned doodles and I got mine! YES! It's totally gorgeous and I love it. I'll probably put it in my will. When I opened the book, for a split second, I thought it had been printed that way but then of course I realized how silly I was being, they would never say "best wishes" to my name for a whole printing! To any who are waiting, it is SO worth the wait. My book is a treasure, and if I ever have the opportunity to have one done again I will leap at the chance, even if I have to sell a goat to afford it. 
They say princes learn no art truly, save that of horsemanship. The reason is, the brave beast is no flatterer. He will throw a prince as soon as his groom. Ben Jonson
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| Re: New Year's Resolutions [message #47244 is a reply to message #47237 ] |
Sun, 01 January 2012 23:27 |
EMoon
Messages: 664
Registered: March 2009 |
Senior Member |
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Quats: I was taught that way too, but evaded it: wrote the paper, then the outline, then the first draft, etc. and handed them in at the right times--in reverse order. But I'd been writing fiction (bad fiction. AWFUL fiction) for years before I got to the "how to write a theme" part. Editors wish I would outline. They want to know what happens before I know. Doesn't work. I find out what the story is by writing it...sometimes writing it wrong, whereupon it feels as if a live tree limb suddenly became plastic.
Robin: When first met people who claimed to know how someone should write fiction, the advice was to write short stories. You had to write short stories before tackling a novel, I was told very firmly. So I tried. And they all grew long, but I lacked the chutzpah to let them turn into novels...I abandoned them, dozens of them. The only "short stories" I could complete were hideous, trite little things that I knew were bad. All Idea, no Story. In college, the fashion for creative writing was existential sludge (I joined a club. Very briefly. I didn't fit in with people who were into Sartre and wrote stories about depressed guys staring at pubic hairs in a dirty toilet and musing on the meaninglessness of existence. Which, admittedly, is enough to depress anyone. I made the mistake of asking "Why doesn't he clean the toilet?" It was explained to me, in very condescending tone, that a) guys don't clean toilets and b) the character was far too sensitive to do so. This may be why I've had several arrogant young characters in certain books clean toilets, come to think of it. Y chromosome and all.) ANYway...I wish I'd let one of the early stories grow to its natural length. I might have learned earlier that my Story Council prefers long stuff.
E
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| Re: New Year's Resolutions [message #47245 is a reply to message #47242 ] |
Mon, 02 January 2012 07:46 |
harpergray
Messages: 87
Registered: March 2011
Location: Sweden |
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| blondviolinist wrote on Mon, 02 January 2012 03:57 |
I am uncharacteristically making a New Year's resolution for this year. I'm usually anti-New-Year's-resolutions, but I think this one is manageable. I used to love sending birthday cards to my family, but I allowed the busyness of grad school to get me out of the habit. So this year I want to send birthday cards to my family members.
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I'm a bit rubbish at remembering when birthdays are, but I do always like sending cards or writing proper letters to family and far-away friends. Similarly university got me out of the habit, but I managed to get Christmas cards out to quite a few people, and I'd like to get back into the habit too. Particularly to people like my grandmother and great-aunt, whom I see in person all too infrequently.
But then I’ve read—or seen—about forty six gajillion Beauty and the Beasts, including a lot that don’t bear that title, like JANE EYRE.
Oh, cool. I actually hadn't thought about JANE EYRE from that perspective before. *rushes off to reread*
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| Re: New Year's Resolutions [message #47417 is a reply to message #47396 ] |
Sun, 08 January 2012 02:08 |
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Diane in MN
Messages: 2732
Registered: October 2008
Location: Twin Cities, MN, USA |
Senior Member |
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I remember your earlier post. The PhD thesis turned into a book called "Georgette Heyer's Regency World," an interesting guide to early nineteenth-century social history (although it could use more pictures). It sounds like it's a better choice than the biography.
"The point of books is to have way too many but to always feel you never have enough . . . " Louise Erdrich
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