9960 réponses à ce sujet

[Seracen]

IIRC, Drussius was dealing with a bunch of drama which conspired to keep him from an internet connection for a while.  Hopefully he'll find his way here, as well as sort out his shenanigans, not to mention continuing to update his stories!

 

 

In other news, how badly do grammatical errors take you out of the story?

 

I ask because I am on the fence with some of my current edits.  My words and syntax are fine, but I imagine punctuation or tenses might be off here and there.  Moreover, I am sure there are more than a few sentence fragments, however understandable they may be (I tend to write conversationally, go figure  ).

 

My main problem here is that I am reading the story as it is meant to be read, not as it appears (the ever-present problem for an author), and 400 pages is a bit much to have a beta-reader edit for something as "boring" as "minor grammatical errors," however plentiful those errors may/may not be.

[hot_heart]

I'm not too bothered by slight grammatical errors, but weird sentence structure or glaring oddities can be harmful. Essentially, whenever you have to reread the sentence to grasp what it means, it takes you out of the story. Though I've probably got a few of those in mine just from trying to be too cute...

 

As for procrastinating, I've found myself doing that a bit simply because I'm still a little unsure about this current chapter (I like the idea of it more than the execution) and need to get in the right mindset...while I find myself wanting to write other things, or with plenty of other distractions at my disposal. Of course, there's also the usual lack of free time, while weekends are spent on necessary chores and socialising.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

IIRC, Drussius was dealing with a bunch of drama which conspired to keep him from an internet connection for a while.  Hopefully he'll find his way here, as well as sort out his shenanigans, not to mention continuing to update his stories!

 

 

In other news, how badly do grammatical errors take you out of the story?

 

I ask because I am on the fence with some of my current edits.  My words and syntax are fine, but I imagine punctuation or tenses might be off here and there.  Moreover, I am sure there are more than a few sentence fragments, however understandable they may be (I tend to write conversationally, go figure  ).

 

My main problem here is that I am reading the story as it is meant to be read, not as it appears (the ever-present problem for an author), and 400 pages is a bit much to have a beta-reader edit for something as "boring" as "minor grammatical errors," however plentiful those errors may/may not be.

 

Punctuation? We all make those errors, and even pro-editors miss them, but do your best to catch all of them. Verb tenses are more likely to throw me when I'm reading, however. When you're going at light speed and the muse is speaking it is easy to do. The rough draft is going to be ugly, but be sure to go over it and correct them. Sentence fragments can work in narrative if used sparingly. I'd really keep my eye out for stuff like adverb usage like "he slammed the door angrily." While it is correct, you should kill the adverb with fire. It isn't needed at all. How else would one slam the door? Happily? The emotion would have already been implied by what you'd written earlier. In dialogue, the dialogue itself would have suggested the tone.

 

Regarding sentence fragments: I use them in dialogue a lot. It's the way people speak, unless they're sophisticated as hell, in which case they will use correct syntax and a higher form of the language. 

 

I actually found a beta-reader with OCD who is a punctuation gnatsi, and whom I've given the green light to make deeper edits if needed. I consider myself very lucky. You might also consider a program called SmartEdit. It has a 10-day trial, and it is only $55. You can make the edits within the program if you choose. I do not because I do my writing in MS Word 2010. I use it simply to identify the problems.

[Fatiguesdualism]

In other news, how badly do grammatical errors take you out of the story?

 

My main problem here is that I am reading the story as it is meant to be read, not as it appears (the ever-present problem for an author), and 400 pages is a bit much to have a beta-reader edit for something as "boring" as "minor grammatical errors," however plentiful those errors may/may not be.

 

Grammatical errors?  If I notice them they can be a little jarring - luckily (or not depending on your position) I have really low standards so most of them sail over my head. 

[BronzTrooper]

Grammar errors?  They're not bad for me.  Usually, I can ignore them because I get so into the flow of a story that I understand what is going on in the scene.  If I can't figure out what is going on, that's because either a) the scene itself is confusing to me, or b ) there are a ton of grammar errors, or they are huge ones...  If I'm really unlucky with my story choice, it's both.

[Ignis Mors]

Grammar errors are the worst! If something is misspelled it fills me with an uncontrollable urge to fix it. Even if it isn't something I personally wrote.

[MrStoob]

Depends on the type and frequency of grammatical/spelling errors.  We all make them now and again, particularly when re-jigging a passage; mixed tenses, missed articles, etc.  If it's consistently bad and obvious they are not typos/errors but poor usage, I do find it off-putting.  For eg, if the writer continually uses the incorrect your/you're or where/were/we're, I will find that annoying.

 

Grammar: the difference between knowing your ****, and knowing you're ****.  ^^

[YurigirlzCrush]

the internet is a menace! *pout*

 

I had a bunch of big papers and reading assignments this week to finish, and yet I found myself goofing around on facebook/youtube/random other sites when I should have been working. it got so distracting and I was falling so far behind that I actually had to go downstairs and unplug my computer from the router on the other end (so that I couldn't easily plug it back in) and lock my phone in my mom's safe... *sheepish* and that's not a joke. does anyone else have this kind of difficulty with distraction? my little sisters are bad enough, but add in the internet and my schoolwork is really suffering. but only since spring break. prior to that I was doing okay. *sigh*

 

on topic, as a reader:

 

if I spot a little grammatical error or tense shift or whatever here and there, I generally include them in my review as my patented chapterly error pointy out time! *grins* on the other hand, if I'm spotting 1-2 per paragraph or worse, then it actually tends to interfere with my ability to immerse myself in the story and I usually give up on reading it. except for the one story where there was literally at least one error in every sentence (although I got the feeling the writer wasn't a native English speaker) but in that case, I read the whole thing just to count the errors. *hangs head in shame* I don't remember the number anymore, but I remember it was north of 300 (in a 3,500 word one-shot). of course I was nice in the review. *smiles* I'm always nice about reviews!

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

My protag, as you've heard me talk about, well can be kind of a hard sell at times to the reader, but that stuff doesn't happen until the reader has completely bought in to how great a character this person is. She can be quite ruthless. She has three conflicts: the war, her past, and an internal conflict. I added a fourth since no one really knows about the internal conflict until way late in the story. The fourth one makes her a bit more sympathetic. The character is very flawed, but I will admit that I love her.

 

My proofreader/editor made a comment that I completely mis-read, and I asked a question to a real writer. How many of you know KM Weiland? I went to her website and subscribed to her blog. Then I sent her a question. The character in question's name was Sgt. Nasyra Soniri. Her squad calls her "Sarge;" one of her squad, the one soon to be her bondmate calls her Nasyra, while others call her Sgt. Soniri. Then there are other things dealing with her past which we don't have to get into yet. I found myself, in the narrative switching between "the Sarge," "Nasyra," and "Soniri."

Here is what Ms. Weiland said:

 

The best rule of thumb for naming characters is to keep it simple. The name your character is known by depends first on what POV we're in. She might refer to herself by her real name. Her subordinates might refer to her as Sarge. And he enemies might refer to her by her alias. But consistency is important. Whatever name you choose to call her by in any given POV is the name you should stick with. Don't switch back and forth within a single POV without good reason.

 

Also, when possible, it's preferable to maintain as much consistency in names between POVs. Figure out which name the majority of POV characters would call her and stick to that whenever possible, so readers will never be in doubt whom you're talking about. 

 

 

In other words, keep it simple. She's got some great tips on her website. Here's the link: http://www.helpingwr...omeauthors.com/

[Bugsie]

Hi everyone, can I ask how you go about promoting your fan fiction? I hadn't written anything for about 18 months but got inspiration to try and finish one of my stories. I have a profile on ff.net and on Ao3 but the updated chapter seems to have only caught those who were already following the story. I'm not sure how to promote it and try and get some new readers. Any ideas?

[teh DRUMPf!!]

 Chapter 3 written. Chapter 2 published (I write one chapter ahead of publishing them).

 

Kind of embarrassing how long it took me to write a chapter that ended up barely three full pages long in Word, but my original plan didn't "feel" right, so I had to sleep on it for a few days. I finally decided to cut the content way down and move most of it over to the next one.

 

 

Hi everyone, can I ask how you go about promoting your fan fiction? I hadn't written anything for about 18 months but got inspiration to try and finish one of my stories. I have a profile on ff.net and on Ao3 but the updated chapter seems to have only caught those who were already following the story. I'm not sure how to promote it and try and get some new readers. Any ideas?

 

I don't, lol, just in case something comes up and I can't see it through, then I can close up shop and not feel too embarrassed about it.

 

But linking your work in your sig on this forum is probably a good bet, I'd think. And I would avoid rating your work above "T" on FF.net until/unless you've really crossed into M-content territory, otherwise it can get easily missed in the search (which avoids M-rated works by default).

 

Ao3 is just a tough sell if you're not doing smut.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

The question is what classifies as M and what classifies as T? My story has a lot of violence (It's a war), coarse language (f bombs etc), and smoking. Big tobacco would fund the movie if it were to be made.

[Seracen]

If anyone else finds a consistent and effective way to promote fics, lemme know, haha!

 

I've generally just gone for the "M" rating in order to cover my bases.  I must defer to Jack's language, and some of the more grotesque aspects of fighting batarians and husks.  Between all the action and occasional boning, I just had to bump the rating up.  However, I don't HAVE to write in that manner, and generally keep the rating around "T" until it crosses that threshold, in my mind.

 

 

Depends on the type and frequency of grammatical/spelling errors.  We all make them now and again, particularly when re-jigging a passage; mixed tenses, missed articles, etc.  If it's consistently bad and obvious they are not typos/errors but poor usage, I do find it off-putting.  For eg, if the writer continually uses the incorrect your/you're or where/were/we're, I will find that annoying.

 

Grammar: the difference between knowing your ****, and knowing you're ****.  ^^

 

Hah, well said!  Funny thing is, my beta and I disagree on a few components of my writing, as my teachers taught me a few different systems (which may not be the common method).  Ah well, I'll just do brush it up as best I can, as I post (once I get my lazy butt around to doing it, haha!).

[BronzTrooper]

Can you let me see the summary?

 

A good summary can attract a lot of attention.  Also, the concept of a story can attract a lot of attention.  If a story is fairly unique, more readers will be inclined to read it.  If the summary is intriguing, more readers will want to check it out.

 

And yeah, the rating can affect how many people see it.  When searching for stories on FF.net, the search defaults to K-T so only stories rated in that range will show up.  Also, the number of reviews, follows, and favorites can really help attract attention.  If a story has a lot of followers and favorites, more people will want to check it out.

 

Hope this helps.

[MrStoob]

Funny thing is, my beta and I disagree on a few components of my writing, as my teachers taught me a few different systems (which may not be the common method).  Ah well, I'll just do brush it up as best I can, as I post (once I get my lazy butt around to doing it, haha!).

 

Yea, I've had a few disagreements (not via fics thankfully) about some usages, particularly listing.  In myyy day... *grandpa Simpson voice* we were taught:

I had apples, oranges and bananas.

however, there's also what we used to call the 'American system', of:

I had apples, oranges, and bananas.

Someone said that the former would be informing 'oranges and bananas' that you had apples.

 

To be fair, in my view, it depends on context, particularly with 'noun phrases':

I had fish and chips, curry and rice, and ham and eggs.

Without the extra comma, it gets a bit 'and' heavy:

I had fish and chips, curry and rice and ham and eggs.

 

And on the subject of 'and'...

 

Poser of the day.

 

Pig - and - Whistle.

 

There is a hyphen between pig and and, and and and whistle.

 

 

On the subject of promoting fics, one reviewer, when I'd not really given much attention to the tags suggested that I include the pairing as a tag, as more people search on pairings than other things it would seem.  I hadn't tagged it as a pairing because the pair do not interact in the one-shot, it's how one of them reacts to the other's death so I didn't want to mislead but the reviewer said that regardless of that, it's the crux of the tale so it's fair to tag so.  Dunno if that's any help whatsoever, but it would seem people like romance.  

 

Edit: Oh, and I hate summaries.  Hard to make them not sound cheesy.

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Well it looks like it's going to be "M" because I'm not toning down Jack to the ME3 Jack. I liked the ME2 Jack better. She was more colorful. Then there's my own squad. Artistic integrity and all that. Big explosions. Asari are not a bunch of pole dancers. Then there's some of the other stuff in there that's just nasty having to do with husks and reaper stuff. 

[NotforProfit]

IIRC, Drussius was dealing with a bunch of drama which conspired to keep him from an internet connection for a while.  Hopefully he'll find his way here, as well as sort out his shenanigans, not to mention continuing to update his stories!

 

 

In other news, how badly do grammatical errors take you out of the story?

 

I ask because I am on the fence with some of my current edits.  My words and syntax are fine, but I imagine punctuation or tenses might be off here and there.  Moreover, I am sure there are more than a few sentence fragments, however understandable they may be (I tend to write conversationally, go figure  ).

 

My main problem here is that I am reading the story as it is meant to be read, not as it appears (the ever-present problem for an author), and 400 pages is a bit much to have a beta-reader edit for something as "boring" as "minor grammatical errors," however plentiful those errors may/may not be.

 

I'd say it depends a good deal on how much your reader is liking the story. I just finished reading a pretty long piece on fanfiction that contained a good number of errors  (typos and misspellings mostly). For some reason it didn't bother me at all, mostly because the story was so energetic and entertaining, and the characters so likable, that it didn't take me too far out of the story. Not that such things wouldn't bother me at other times. But I did find it striking how unbothered I was.  

[BronzTrooper]

There is a hyphen between pig and and, and and and whistle.

 

Too many ands.  

[10K]

I have a question for all you guys. I had a great story going on, I had the outline and everything going for it. But ME3 have still left a sour taste in my mouth, I can't get over how angry everything in that game has made me feel. I've lost the will to write, I've haven't touched my story in about a year now, and my subscribers keep messaging me to update, or when will I update. But each time I'm about to try to go on with the next chapter, I find myself unable to, because of what happened in ME3. ME3 has ultimately ruined my will to write and to read other fan-fictions in general. I hate it. I would just like to finish my story, or atleast post another chapter.

 

I guess I'm just asking for advice, instead of asking a question. So do you guys have any? Thanks in advance, I might not log back on for awhile. 

[hot_heart]

While I don't follow the idea personally, it might be best to pretend ME3 doesn't exist? Or take it as a challenge. Look at what you felt was wrong and find a way to do it better.

 

Though I wasn't fond of ME3, I can look back at ME1 and ME2 and find motivation (For Miranda fans, "We'll always have ME2" is our "We'll always have Paris"). Admittedly, I don't stray too far from what is shown, but that's because my approach is more that of a budding scriptwriter working on shadow scripts for shows they really like (like 'professional fanfiction' in that you adhere to the established canon, style, etc. as laid out in the 'Series Bible' but are writing 'unseen episodes' in hope of getting a job)

 

Unfortunately, as you're probably finding, the only one that can truly summon the motivation is you. If you don't feel like writing at all, then there's not much that can be done. The only other approach is to force yourself to sit down, without any distractions, and attempt to write something to see if your 'writing brain' activates. Otherwise, maybe ask Star Wars fans how they cope after the prequels?

 

 

And now, rather than a QOTD, how about...umm, 'Writers' Confession Time'. Maybe a secret embarrassing thing about your writing style/habits, or a story. I'll go first!

 

My story was never meant to be in present tense. It was a balls-up because of my Prologue/Chapter 1 thing, and I believe you can still see some mix-ups in some of the earlier chapters (not bits where I'm establishing past events).

[sH0tgUn jUliA]

Confession: Since the ME3 ending, I cannot write a single story that isn't somehow an AU. The ending left a very bad taste in my mouth. I must somehow hurt that Starchild very badly if not outright destroy it. In my first FF, I used the cut quest of Admiral Xen as a base and modified it -- we found the Intelligence and did a follow up mission and set a 5 KT nuke, and blew it up. Large explosions solve most all problems in fiction. It felt good. I was then able to write, but play the game again because I knew I blew it up. 

 

Shepard: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=oNOqQmGqllo

[MrStoob]

I have a question for all you guys. I had a great story going on, I had the outline and everything going for it. But ME3 have still left a sour taste in my mouth, I can't get over how angry everything in that game has made me feel. I've lost the will to write, I've haven't touched my story in about a year now, and my subscribers keep messaging me to update, or when will I update. But each time I'm about to try to go on with the next chapter, I find myself unable to, because of what happened in ME3. ME3 has ultimately ruined my will to write and to read other fan-fictions in general. I hate it. I would just like to finish my story, or atleast post another chapter.

 

I guess I'm just asking for advice, instead of asking a question. So do you guys have any? Thanks in advance, I might not log back on for awhile. 

I cheated.  Muahahaa.

 

I've managed to leave everything that happened in ME1>ME3 intact (I'd personally rather stick to canon), but in my sequel there was more going in ME3 than met the eye.  Shep chose refuse but survived (see previous statement), the combined fleet escaped into the darkness, and the Normandy is still out there under Williams' command but oblivious to these events due to galactic communications being down.  I don't personally (technically?) see this as AU.

 

Basically I'm saying that you don't have to stick with what was presented in ME3 verbatim, play with it to tell the tale you want to.

[Ignis Mors]

I have a question for all you guys. I had a great story going on, I had the outline and everything going for it. But ME3 have still left a sour taste in my mouth, I can't get over how angry everything in that game has made me feel. I've lost the will to write, I've haven't touched my story in about a year now, and my subscribers keep messaging me to update, or when will I update. But each time I'm about to try to go on with the next chapter, I find myself unable to, because of what happened in ME3. ME3 has ultimately ruined my will to write and to read other fan-fictions in general. I hate it. I would just like to finish my story, or atleast post another chapter.

 

I guess I'm just asking for advice, instead of asking a question. So do you guys have any? Thanks in advance, I might not log back on for awhile. 

How I did it was I got so pissed off at ME3 that I knew I could do better, and decided to do better. So, what I would do is channel that rage into creating something awesome, as an alternative to ME3.

[Ignis Mors]

I cheated.  Muahahaa.

 

I've managed to leave everything that happened in ME1>ME3 intact (I'd personally rather stick to canon), but in my sequel there was more going in ME3 than met the eye.  Shep chose refuse but survived (see previous statement), the combined fleet escaped into the darkness, and the Normandy is still out there under Williams' command but oblivious to these events due to galactic communications being down.  I don't personally (technically?) see this as AU.

 

Basically I'm saying that you don't have to stick with what was presented in ME3 verbatim, play with it to tell the tale you want to.

What is this 'canon' you speak of? Do you use it to shoot people?

[Fatiguesdualism]

And on the subject of 'and'...

 

Poser of the day.

 

Pig - and - Whistle.

 

There is a hyphen between pig and and, and and and whistle.

 

Maybe those hyphens are supposed to be dashes - that would make more sense!  The internet is not always dash friendly 

 

Confession:  Where/were (I have tried to improve since then  ) 

 

@mosesarose:  I'd say if you dislike ME3 that much - best to ignore it and write your story.  Try playing through the games you did enjoy, listen again to the music you liked, pootle around inside your head outline.  Good Luck!