Katherine Frances's Blog, page 84
January 31, 2018
Kim Shimmers and the Veil of Death
A Harry Potter fanfic by me (and the 4th instalment in the Kim Shimmers series)
How could we ever hope to flicker on against a
darkness so complete, against an evil so prevailing?
This Harry Potter fan fiction (as long as all goes according to plan) will be posted at the beginning of every week. The pictures above are not mine, though I edited some.
Chapter 4
Borrowed Gloves and Butter-Drunk Confessions
The next two weeks passed uneventfully. Kim waited for Fred to write back to her impatiently. What’s taking him so bloody long anyway? Doesn’t he know that this is the only way for us to keep in contact? Or maybe he doesn’t care about that anymore… Don’t be immature, Kim. Of course he cares… He’s probably just really busy, like he said…
One Saturday afternoon Kim was walking through the corridors headed to the Great Hall for dinner when she heard someone calling out for her from behind, followed by footsteps speeding up laboriously toward her.
“Oh! Ms. Shimmers!”
Kim turned to see Professor Slughorn chugging along toward her. He slowed when he reached her and smiled warmly.
“I was hoping I’d run into you eventually,” he said, as if it was the chiefest of happy happenstances. Hogwarts isn’t that big, Professor. We were bound to see one another eventually… she thought, but she kept her smart mouth shut. “I’ve been wanting to mention to you- well, you’ve probably already heard. I have a little sort of club forming up.”
“The Slug Club?” Kim said flatly. She had heard of it, since both Harry and Hermione were invited to join. Hermione had reported that the club meetings weren’t too bad, with good food and interesting conversation. Kim wondered, however, about the quality of so called interesting conversations. Hermione found Arithmancy interesting, so her judgment was questionable.
“Yes! So you have heard of it,” Professor Slughorn crooned.
Kim just nodded, waiting for the relevance of this conversation to reveal itself.
“I wanted to invite you to join the ranks, if you’re interested.”
“Oh, uh… thanks,” Kim said, surprised. She genuinely hadn’t expected such, since she didn’t exactly count herself among the famously talented. She was only alright at potions, and she wasn’t all that great at most other respectable magic. “Really?”
“Why yes,” he said, delighted at her surprise. “I’ve heard word recently of your skills in divination. I don’t yet have a pupil with the sight, and don’t you just find that diversity keeps life interesting?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“So, what do you say? Will you join?”
Kim didn’t know what to say. The idea of her with a group of goody-goodys partaking in pomp and circumstance was not exactly an appealing one. Then again, Hermione would be there to at least make it bearable, and how exactly was she to say no? Sorry Professor, but I think your head is almost as big as your ass. I have absolutely no interest in joining your collection of real life dolls.
“Uh, yeah,” she said unevenly. “Thank you.”
“Splendid! I look forward to it. See you in potions class.” And with that he trotted off down the hall. Well, maybe this Slug Club will turn out to be a boost for the career search after school, she tried to think hopefully, but were she being honest she didn’t look forward to her first club meeting in the slightest.
Last sentence tag
I was tagged by @scribbledwriting [thanks!] to post the last sentence I wrote in my story.
I’ve actually been working on something totally new that I haven’t even talked about that I will for now call The Gifts They Give.
“If
there was a place where something might happen between the two of them, that
was it.”
Secret insider info; the two characters mentioned above are girls <3
Also, I’m a lame-o and I’m not going to tag anyone right now cause I’m kind of doing this in a rush. But if you want to do this, please do it! Also, if you don’t want to post your own because you’re insecure, post your last line in my ask box on anon and I’ll post it for you!
Last line I wrote:
If you don’t take the time to look up at the sky at night, you’ll never live your life as well as you could.
I have no idea why I think I can write.
‘Cause ya can! :)
How To Give Useful Critique.
Specifically for fiction oriented feedback, but with concepts worthwhile for all areas of critiquing.Originally requested by @ephirae.
The Devil is in the Details.
If you signed up to give feedback on a manuscript, be prepared to do two things:
1. For every opinion you give, explain why.
What lead you to the conclusion you reached? If you don’t know this, you may need to reread a few times until you figure it out.
2. For every specific situation, concept, or relationship the writer asks about, describe your interpretation back to them.
Give a short summary, whether its of what you believe happened, or how you think that piece of world building works, or why you believe those characters came to that conclusion, or why the PoV character is feeling these emotions.
Often problems appearing toward the end of a manuscript are caused by misunderstandings in earlier segments. If you tell the writer your interpretation of the key events as you go, they can identity the root of those problems much easier.
Negative Critique: Courtesy Is Key.Unless you are either (a) a professional editor who’s being paid to whip the manuscript into shape or (b) a long time critique partner with a strong relationship with the author, always be as kind and gentle with negative critique as you can. If a writer trusts you enough to let you look at something they poured their soul into, it’s your responsibility to be honest but also courteous.
Try to avoid:
Sarcasm; “Like that would ever happen.”
Absolutes; “This would NEVER happen.”
Abruptness; “Bad. Change.”
Arrogance; “This wouldn’t happen. [My way] would. Do it instead.”Better ways to approach negative critique:
Make it clear that you understand the problem might not be in the writer’s ideas, but your interpretation of them. Don’t harp on a writer’s creativity– guide them towards explaining their awesome concepts better!
Respect the time and effort that’s already gone into the writing by demonstrating that this work as valuable, even if major changes are still needed. Example: ”You have a lot of great concepts here, like [this and this], but I think they would hit home a lot harder if you rewrote the chapter [like this], while still including [the good aspects of the current chapter].”
Your personal writing style is unique to you. Pick out incidences of passive voice, filter words, and bulky or awkward sentences, but don’t try to rewrite sentences to fit your personal preferences unless you’ve already talked it over with the writer in length.All your critiques are only your opinion, and they aren’t necessarily the same opinions of this writer’s future publisher. Mention when a writer’s use or breakage of a “writing rule” throws you off, but don’t claim your preferred way is the correct way.Good examples of courteous negative critique:
January 30, 2018
Last sentence tag
I was tagged by @scribbledwriting [thanks!] to post the last sentence I wrote in my story.
I’ve actually been working on something totally new that I haven’t even talked about that I will for now call The Gifts They Give.
“If
there was a place where something might happen between the two of them, that
was it.”
Secret insider info; the two characters mentioned above are girls <3
Also, I’m a lame-o and I’m not going to tag anyone right now cause I’m kind of doing this in a rush. But if you want to do this, please do it! Also, if you don’t want to post your own because you’re insecure, post your last line in my ask box on anon and I’ll post it for you!
