Tomas’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Tomas’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

Haru wrote: "I can now definitely say this lovely reader had it against me.
She added Twilight to the "Best Books Ever" Listopia list.
Imagine that.
A Twilight fan criticizing an author for childish and sloppy writing."

You're treading upon the red carpet of their fandom! How dare you?!
Remember this moment as something funny on your journey, to improve your mood when writing gets tough.

Haru wrote: "I think the person who made this thread never came back"

While that's certainly a pity (for them, mostly), we had a great discussion on that matter - which is what counts, right?

Yeah, it's all done so they are unnoticeable unless you know what to look for. 4 chapter names out of 60 is not much. It's definitely something that's not necessary to know, just as my own tribute to things I like.

I've been thinking about this topic a few times already and decided to try asking for the opinion here.

Have you ever made a reference to something outside of your writing, such as favorite movie/book/band/game? Do you think it a good or bad idea (when used in moderation, of course)?

Personally, I have three or four chapters named after a song and one after a quest from a game.

Phillip wrote: "There are more than eight colors?! My parents were cheap when they bought my crayon pack."
I remember buying a 30-color marker pack as a kid, though for crayons I never saw that. Pencils, 16 or 24 maybe. Still, it was more like the base colors in three to four shades each + some mid-steps like bluish-green, the dark camo green (whatever it's actually called) and so on.

Anyway, it still comes to the point that different people have a different perception of details. Mine is awfully bad. I'd struggle to describe someone I haven't seen for two weeks. The characters I remember the most from books are because of their personalities, choices, or catchphrases more than anything else.

Also, timing matters. I looked at reviews of one book I've read recently and even someone who liked descriptions had enough of them in that case as they distracted from the plot, even in the moments when some action was about to unfold. I've heard tips that it might be good to describe the basics initially and drop some other hints over time when there's a good opportunity to show it organically (random example - a character with long hair running against the wind and the hair gets into his face, or something like that).

It's definitely a tricky thing. Some people revel in detailed descriptions, some like it simple. It might even depend on the situation - if a long description takes the attention away from the scene, I'd say it's harmful. Also, I am the stereotypical man that will look for a dictionary when the mentioned color is not one of the base 32 colors.

As for simple (or not) sentences, I can't be a good judge as I am not a native English speaker and some finer points of the language still elude me. My issue, especially in the beginning, were awfully long sentences.

There will likely be more aspects and I won't be able to tell you much more - not now when I am about to head for the bed. I'll try to think about it and find something that could help you. On the other hand, I am not someone with high demands when it comes to the complexity of the language - again, likely because reading in a second language is different and I am used to a wide array of vocabulary from simple to technical.

Pamela wrote: "I've always been curious as to how or when a writer knows that a manuscript is going to be a trilogy or series."

The simplest answer would be: if it's too long for a single book. While I can't offer a general guideline, I can offer my experience. Yours (or that of other people) may differ - and if people want to discuss that, we can make a separate topic for that.

I knew the plot of my WIP fantasy would play over the course of several years. It's not like discovering your newfound powers, mastering them, getting up to speed with your enemies and eventually defeating them can be done in a short time - at least not with the kind of story I am trying to tell.

When I finally knew it'll be a trilogy? When I was nearing the end of book two and felt quite sure that one more book will be enough to wrap it all up without being way longer than the previous two.

There are other factors as well, such as the presence (or absence) of climactic moments that can close off a book. Usually, that means that at least one side of the conflict takes a nasty hit.
There might be more but it'd be for a longer discussion so I'll wrap it up here, for now.

I more like the term "phone zombies". Good thing that self-published authors can choose how to communicate with the world because I won't ever go to the book of stolen faces (and their personal data).
In the meantime, a curse at the over-prudent bots.

I apologize if this is not something to share in this topic, but today, I have a reason to raise a glass (though it'll be tea as I despise alcohol).
I've finished the first draft of book three of my to-be trilogy. Yay! After more than 15 years since the first ideas, I finally know how the story ends.
Now to spend some time making the story reading-ready with countless edits...

Zoltán wrote: "Or the spellchecker plugin failer on it utterly and crashed in the background, but all you can see is a hidden system log noting an error report and sending a copy of your book for analysis...
Congratulation, you just acquired a beta reader!.."

Unfortunately, I doubt they'll give any decent feedback.

To Ron:
You need to already have a book published. If you do, just look it up (by ISBN or ASIN) and there should be something like "I am the author" or "this is my book" or something like that somewhere. Click that and... well, follow the instructions. If you do everything correctly, your user page should get converted to author page in a few days.

Note: You need to have your Goodreads username spelled precisely the same way as it is on your book's cover.

Also, I believe for those who have an external blog, it should be possible to connect it with GR and have the posts appear on your GR page - no idea yet how that works.

Elisa wrote: "Where does one post one's blog???"

I am not sure what exactly you mean by the question. Do you mean to ask which platform/hosting to choose? Or something else?

Nilendra wrote: "Funnily enough, when I speak to the voice over artists doing the characters we always refer to it as "Wolf Story", so I'd be tempted to just call it that, but feel like that's a bit too simple."

Maybe some middle ground would be the best? "Wolf Story" hints more on what it's all about, based on your reply. Maybe build on that with something that'd tie better into the plot/genre?

Now that the 'beast thing' is cleared up, I wonder how it ties into the first sentence of the blurb? You mention last bits of humanity but not how they come into the plot of what seems to be the conflict of two sentient beast species.
I know I might not be the most helpful because I am likely still missing some point of the premise and pretty much guessing what kind of story it might be.

As for the look, I'd probably put the second and third line into one paragraph.

What I wonder about after reading it a few times over is: wolves and bears - is it actually about beasts, or is it name of some unit/community? I am genuinely confused.

And, just maybe, how it ties into the name?

If that was on me - I have a wide taste - earl grey, green tea, mint, herbs, rooibos,...
In this particular case, earl grey it is.

Since you say memes are welcome, one I was "forced" to make recently while reading an e-book.

Anyway, *sips tea*

I sure hope you'll not be shot down. You're trying to help, after all. I hope more people will be inspired by you and share what they see as common mistakes or useful tips.

Google Docs, when I last tried, seemed to be very laggy on longer text (20k+ words). I'd only use it if I wanted to have a well-reached place to share a larger sample for potential beta readers when it comes to that.
Did the lagginess change since my last tries?

Yes, I overlooked the second blurb in your previous post. The newer one is definitely more cohesive. Giving my lack of experience with writing, let alone commenting on blurbs, I am not sure there's much I can say to it now.

C.J., Please mind the rules: no link and no self-promotion. So, if you could edit post #50 to remove either?