Carrie’s
Comments
(group member since Apr 23, 2011)
Carrie’s
comments
from the The Read&Write Book Club group.
Showing 21-26 of 26
Orson Scott Card wrote in his book Characters and Viewpoint that there are several factors that make up a character. -what he does (actions)
-his motives (reasons)
-his past (decisions)
-his reputation (what others think of him)
-what stereotype he fits in (male, female, race, profession etc…)
-what his relationsships are (people act differently around different people)
-Habits, talents, and tastes
-physical appearance
He mentions that the most important part of a knowing a character are the first three and the least being physical appearance. Physical appearance is not unimportant but it is just a part of the overall picture so don’t depend solely on it for characterization. Don’t obsess over it.
“If readers know a character’s actions, motives, past, reputation, relationships, habits, talents, and taste, they can often get through a whole story without ever knowing a character’s eye color, and they’ll still feel as if they know the person”
So during our character creation we don’t have to worry about the trivialities like hair color, complexion, eye color and other things unless there is something special about it or if is part of the story.
Welcome to the group! I love dark fantasy, The Black Jewels Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness being my favorite. What I understand from my research so far is that it takes practice practice practice, which includes writing and reading. So with this group we'll do both.
Place in this folder any works you'd like to get some feedback on. When submitting work please specify what kind of feedback you are looking for: General Support or Critique.
General Support includes likes and dislikes good idea bad idea type responses. 1st draft type look over, nothing really technical.
Critique includes looking for plot pitfalls, technical errors and overall copy-editing.
When posting feedback please start with what is working well. Keep it positive. We don't want to hear that our writing sucks. We want to know about how we can improve. Try to avoid generalities. Specifics of what is wrong will be more useful.
If your submission does not fit into the "comment" section feel free to post a link to your web-page or blog.
Please start a new Topic for each item.
1. I remember...2. If I got a tattoo...
3. I see...
4. My dream house has...
5. If I was a monster...
6. In this imaginary box I have...
7. I am in a room with no...
So basically the idea is to start with the unfinished sentence above and start writing. If you get stuck then write the sentence again and go in another direction.
You can make it a timed session (how much you can write in a certain amount of time), a word count (can you write a certain amount of words), a poem, or whatever goal you feel like setting yourself.
You don't have to use these topics if you don't want to, they're just suggestions.
If you want to share feel free, if not that's ok too.
Hi!So I have been toying with the idea of starting to write for a while now but have finally decided to get serious about it. I've read a few books to get me started:
On Writing by Stephen King
Elements of Fiction Writing - Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition by Renni Browne, Dave King
and I'm waiting on my copy of The Elements of Style By William Strunk, E. B. White, Charles Osgood
King and Goldberg recommend setting aside time each day with a writing goal. King himself tries to write 10 pages a day and wont let himself stop until he reaches that goal. Goldberg does it by time, 15 minutes or an hour whatever you're comfortable with.
With this is mind I've created this group.
There are four folders created:
General - for general meet and greet, general and miscellaneous topics.
Member Feedback - for getting feedback on any work you'd like reviewed. If it doesn't fit in the "comment" section feel free to post a link to your blog or web-page.
Daily Writing Topics - Since many writers suggest writing a certain amount every day I'll put in some topics for when you are stuck. Feel free to add to the list.
Book of the Month - I'll post a new book each month for reading and discussion throughout that month. If you have any requests let me know.
Writers -
Have you found any books that are helping you understand the writing process?
What kind of writing are you doing?
Readers -
What kind of books do you read?
Who is your favorite author?
Both -
What do you want to get out of this group?
