And Amem! God bless us with a good boss/client!

Lol, no worries! Yikes, that’s crazy! What’s the new job you’re starting, if I may ask?

I’ve been doing well, thanks! I’ve been keeping busy helping with my friends’ book releases over the past year, etc. I hope things calm down for you over there and you’re able to enjoy the holidays with your family 🙂 If you have any prayer…[Read more]

Hi, I’m new. You commented on a few of my threads. Anyway, welcome back. Sounds rough (that’s partially why I’m avoiding a publisher. I’ve heard a lot more rough stories than Good stories as far as interacting with publishers/editors). Hope you find someone better. What are some of your hobbies (if you have any. Adult life is busy!)?

I’m going to be publishing on KDP Amazon self-publishing. I’ve never been published but I’ve gotten some good advice on how to use it. I’ve been told that you can set it up and have it ready in a week or less with kindle and under a month with paperback. I have written for magazines but was turned down sadly (clubhouse magazine).…[Read more]

Hey Taylor! Good to see you back; I’ve been absent for a long time too lol. I’m sorry to hear about that awful client, but I’m glad you got out of that situation. How’s your week?

I also got masterwriter.

I knew I wasn’t at beginner writer but master? This is totally my face rn: 🤨🤯 lol

I can relate a littlle bit  to this toxic client you’ve been freed.

How about a non fictional text about this?  Or a short story ? Laying such an experience on paper may be a good start.

Do you use direct, italicized thought (where first person pronouns are used)? At first, I used basically none, but the more I looked at popular books, the more I see it used, and am thus tempted to use it (plus, I do like it, as long as…[Read more]

Here they are:

Alfonso and…[Read more]

It’s a joke.

I’m kidding.

Mostly. 😉

Anyways, to the point. Character voice makes everything from dialogue to normal scenery descriptions pop off the page, but, for me at least, it is a very difficult…[Read more]

Alright, that makes sense.

Ah yes, 1984 is on my list. What would you give it on a 1-10 scale?

If you’re trying to find interesting ideas, I suggest you not fixate on a government specifically as your dehumanizing system. You *can* use that, but you might find new ideas by moving away from it.

Absolutely agree, which is why I listed it as one of the things I prefer to not have–or at least to have it not feature in a big w…[Read more]

I consider the defining features of a vast amount of dystopian novels to be what I call the Big Three:

• An oppressive and autocratic government that is usually lying to its people…

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XD No worries!

Weeeeell, it depends on your perspective XDDD. Some might say I’m on draft one billion, others might say I’m on chapter 20 something or other but I’d say…chapter 1. Again.

XD Re-writes just drag on forever sometimes. . .

Lol, I write really really nonlinear so it’s hard to say. Buuut I was planning to start…

[Read more]

ikr!

Yessssssssssssssss!!!

Weeeeell, it depends on your perspective XDDD. Some might say I’m on draft one billion, others might say I’m on chapter 20 something or other…[Read more]

Well, I guess I am more frustrated with trying to draw a good map that seems fitting for my story but can’t seem to find the right layout. My main issue is that I need to draw a world map and then be able to take a regional and enlarge it to give more in-depth detail for each book. It seems to be possible but the first issue is…[Read more]

*ahem*

That’s too bad, but I’m glad it was gone by the next day! <3 <3 <3

Lol, yeah! It definitely did! Or at least editing ideas like not trying to rewrite and ‘clean up’ in the middle of writing a draft…although I really really can’t think/write/anything in a liner way like top to bottom, left to…[Read more]

Yikes! I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m glad you’re feeling better.  🙂

@this-is-not-an-alien

SHE HATH PREVAILED!!! *thunderous applause by the masses* XD

Happy New Year, Taylor. How was your holiday?

Congrats on the new writing job; I look forward to checking your article out.

Hi there. Thank you. I appreciate your concern. But I don’t believe I have full-blown ADHD. About three years ago, I had to talk to this person (I think she was a psychologist or counselor; my memory is a little blurry) before I could work at this job, just for a checkup. According to her written document, I had…[Read more]

@daeus-lamb.…[Read more]

Huh, I never thought of cereal from that angle.

And if hotdogs are a type of open sandwich, does that mean canapes are also open faced sandwiches but just mini sized? (the only reason I know about canapes was from recently watching a baking show and having to look the term up XD)

Oh dude. Hot cocoa wins every time (my younger…[Read more]

How’s it going Taylor? 🙂

Yes, I have read the whole old testament, and some of it twice or thrice.

So when I say R rating explicitness, I mean stuff like sexual intercourse scenes that are either shown on screen or very much described in writing, nakedness in movies (which in a book would be someone…[Read more]

I spelled your name wrong so it didn’t tag you above XD

This, along with the craziness after it, got my attention.

If you build a good outline, I say go for it, but lay the mystery and ominous feeling on thick.

Hey great! I’m glad blood gets your attention, that’s a good thing for an axe murderer

I am planning on this being a veryyyy mysterious and suspenseful book to keep the readers…[Read more]

@taylorclogston

@this-is-not-an-alien

All I can say is wow! I never saw or expected it to be interpreted like this. I apologize for the possible confusion as I clearly did not explain some vital points further as I was hoping to make a shorter summary of this. Plus, I was kind of a hurry when I wrote it. Hopefully I can clarify…[Read more]

I like this idea but if you introduce captured spirits I’m gonna wanna know more about the individuals who are captured and how and the state of their immortal souls if they have immortal souls? That’s an idea that’s used in a lot of different ways, in Dracula vampires are primarily captive souls of me…[Read more]

@r-m-archer

I love The Space Trilogy! I also read the first two books of the Wingfeather Saga, but not the other two, so thanks for the reminder to finish the series! 🙂

@taylorclogston

I’m actually reading the old Thrawn trilogy now! I’m partway through the final book and have really enjoyed…[Read more]

@obrian-of-the-surface-world Those do sound like some hard experiences to go through as you work on writing your story. I will certainly pray for you when I go out and pray later…[Read more]

Thank you so much, this was super helpful! I hadn’t really ever heard of the genre of ‘spy fiction’. You’re right, I have no point of divergence from real world events because even though this is an obscure part of the real world in my brain, that’s never really presented in the story. I think I’m going to call it a spy fiction…[Read more]

It’s fantastic that you’re almost finished!

—

I’m floundering into the final battle. I genuinely detest writing battles in general and final battles in particular. I vastly prefer the midpoint and third plot point.

My word count for today is just 1360.

Just thought I’d touch base with you all a week later and see how this was going for you all. 🙂 I’m a couple days behind due to some travelling I did over the weekend, but have been appreciating going through this habit over this past week. Thinking through the Day Three prayer prompt in particular helped me to realize just how…[Read more]

A really interesting article! To be honest, I have no idea what to think/feel about Disney and their current “Live-action” spree. Disney has never been part of my life and I just don’t really care about them, so neither the nostalgia works on me, and I’m not outraged that they’ve ruined my childhood movies. But I do find the wider…[Read more]

I’m up to 7681 words, which is really not great considering that puts me at about 12 WPM.

That’s awesome! Rewriting can be quite a chore, there’s so much more research to put into it, but that’s still a great word count!

Today I wrote a conversation translated bilaterally in real time by a translator which has to provide multiple p…

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Word count for the day was 2714 words in 1 hour 40 mins! Considering the amount of time I had, I’m pretty happy for a first day!

(This is way over my usual word count, but I’m in the middle of a Dramatic Moment ™ so the words are coming faster than usual 🙂 )

@taylorclogston

Great job! That’s an awesome word count!…[Read more]

Thanks for “inviting” (i.e. tagging) me Rose! I’ll have to consider it! It sounds a lot more doable if I don’t have to commit to 50K right off the bat.

Awesome! I’m so glad you’re here! Exactly, it’s supposed to be fun, not that stressful 🙂

@joelle-stone

Thanks for tagging me, and I know I said I would be interested, but I think t…

[Read more]

I started a topic a while ago, trying to find a Christian NaNo group, and concluded that enough people wanted to participate that we could have a topic right here on SE!

So… here we are! Two days until NaNo! I, for one, am excited 🙂

I’ll tag some people who said they wanted to join, (And some others off the top of my head) but…[Read more]

This is going to be the point after which I have to bow out. To say God has a problem with the English word “magic,” a word which necessarily does not exist in a book which was not written in English, such that a thing becomes evil even if it is not essentially evil before that label is applied, is not only to put words in God…

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How long have you been writing Denali?

then I would mention that the supernatural isn’t inherently bad

This is your reoccurring argument throughout your comment, so let me drill down on it. As you said, miracles, exist, the spiritual realm is all around us (as I’ve already said, the spiritual realm is realer than the n…[Read more]

That is a good point. I don’t personally think of it like that because I’ve been raised to think of magic as sorcery. I can definitely see how the fireball video game thing could be true.

However, I will point out that from what I’ve seen, the vast majority of the fantasy audience definitely has an impression of magic something…[Read more]

I’ve been watching this thread from afar while busy with midterms and papers, so hopefully my contributions are coherent (I also hope to catch up on the other threads soon). 😛 I feel like this debate has gone beyond how we define magic and is delving more into different presuppositions about what makes fiction C…[Read more]

I don’t think that’s necessarily the case so long as rule #1 is followed and the benefits are temporary and far outweighed by the consequences.

It’s a real dangerous thing to mess with and it can portray you (the author) as someone who is okay with magic to readers who are confused. It’s a very slippery slope.

Riordan’s and Sanders…

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So if I understand your point correctly, you’re saying that you agree that magic and supernatural things are sin, but it is fine to right if portrayed carefully as thing a person does in the book that is wrong, like any other sin such as murder, theft, lust, lying, etc…Is that correct?

If that is what you’re saying, that is a valid…[Read more]

I would also add that there’s a lot of variety to…[Read more]

Hmm, yeah I’ve noticed that sometimes it seem to be a broad and kinda vague term.

Ah, is old school sci-fi and fantasy your favorite genre to write in?