Your Questions

[Caitlan]

XD

[M]

I second Kat’s XD, whatever that means (“Xtra Devilish”). That’s funny, Edward! “Huh, someone’s at the door . . .”

[Caitlan]

Haha, Xtra Devilish.

[Edward]

Well, I'm more lucid now. Apparantly telling jokes is more natural for me than straight-talk, since whenever I'm either high on adrennaline, slightly inebriated, or just out of sorts because a machine sucked blood out my body for an hour, I rarely talk except to say something funny.

I'm okay with this.

It's raining too, so I'm very contented right now. I'm going to pour some coffee (wish I had bourbon, but you can't have everything) and write now.

Hope everyone else is having as good a day.

[Caitlan]

Have fun writing :D

[M]

I’d post you some bourbon, Edward, but it doesn’t travel well through cyberspace.

[Edward]

Well, I lift my imaginary glass of that imaginary bourbon to you.

[Jenny]

I feel completely stupid but I have to ask. I wrote a story for the last contest (Guitar Strings) and turned it in on Thursday. It was my first time to do so. However, I posted my story (Togo's Guitar) about thirty minutes after you mentioned that on the weekend you would go over the stories for the contest. So I want to know (forgive the question) if I was too late. So was I? If so I might be able to use the story for something else.

[Guy]

Jenny, you are not too late.
We mods are a little behind. And so I thank you for the prompt. It is time to set the polls and advance the WSS to the next topic. I'll proceed with that now.

[M]

Jenny, this group is unpredictable when it comes to posting polls and contests. I have a feeling Guy will put up the polls and a new contest soon. It was the way the coffee grounds settled themselves in the bottom of my mug this morning. I’d put up the polls, but I always get beaten to the draw at the last minute.

[Guy]

Polls: Check
New Topic: Check

Notification : Check.

[Jenny]

Guy and M-- don't worry about being late. I was only heartbroken because I thought my entry was somehow not acceptable!

[Jenny]

I'm a little confused about something. I wrote a blog "Jenny's Voice" and it ended up under the same heading as the short story and poetry contests.

I would like to write another blog--this time about my theory of character--but unfortunately I'm a little unclear as to whether I should post it under "Jenny's Voice" or put it with the other blogs.

[M]

Jenny, the group isn’t set up for blogging. There are blog-like entries in some of the threads, but they’re part of (or are supposed to be part of) an ongoing “conversation” the thread is dedicated to. With the exception of the “Your Writing” folder, the threads in the group are communal. The spirit of the group is one of interaction rather than monolog.

Links to your stories, should you wish to furnish them, should be put in the thread you have in the folder “Your Writing,” and if you have a blog, there’s no reason you shouldn’t post a link to it there, as well. You’re welcome to hold forth, of course, in any of the threads set up for it, about aspects of writing stories or poems. The W.S.S. isn’t a platform, though, for the kind of monologue a blog usually amounts to--which isn’t to say that the group hasn’t been misused in that way.

The short-story contest folder is for contests only. The thread you set up there (“Jenny’s Voice”) will need to be deleted. My suggestion is to transfer what you posted in “Jenny’s Voice” to a thread such as “Story Ideas,” in the “Brainstormin’ Help” folder. I’ll set up a thread in that folder and call it “Story and Structure: Theory and Practice.” You can post the “Jenny’s Voice” material there, if you’d rather. It won’t be the kind of proprietary thread, however, that I think you’re looking for, but will be open for other members to use, as well.

I’m sorry for having taken so long to reply. I’ve been out of town for several days.

[Jenn]

I have a question: Is it okay to use the same characters for more than one short story challenge if the stories themselves are different?

[Garrison]

I’m not sure this is the appropriate place to post this, but I’m only doing it because I don’t see a general chat section anywhere. I feel like I have to get this off my chest so that nobody thinks I’m slacking off when it comes to weekly writing prompts. Earlier today, I was a writing veteran who made a rookie mistake: I wrote my short story without reading the group rules first. The short story I wrote for the bath towels prompt, Feel the Poison, is an R-rated story filled with blood, gore, and Spanish and English language swearing. After writing it out, I read the rules and they clearly state that no R-rated works are allowed. Naturally, I won’t be posting this story in the group. So I guess what I wanted to ask is, are there people here who want a copy of Feel the Poison in a private email? If so, give me your email address and I’ll send you the whole thing in its entirety, blood and all. I don’t expect to win any contests with it, but hopefully I can salvage whatever’s left. If you want to know what it’s about and what exactly it has to do with bath towels, here it is. Daron Campos is a cartel gangster sent out to the forest to retrieve, you guessed it, bath towels that have drug vapors soaked into them. These towels were stolen from the cartel by a backwoods cultist named Levi Lincoln. A cartel slasher vs. a religious maniac: I can see where there would be blood. So in short, is there anybody here who would like a private copy despite its R-rating?

[[deleted user]]

Adrian wrote: "I have a question: Is it okay to use the same characters for more than one short story challenge if the stories themselves are different?"

Hi Adrian, sorry for the very late reply. I have submitted stories before using the same character :)

[Guy]

Garrison wrote: "I’m not sure this is the appropriate place to post this, but I’m only doing it because I don’t see a general chat section anywhere. I feel like I have to get this off my chest so that nobody thinks..."

Garrison, please send me your story by PM. Or, easier, post it in your writing section in Goodreads, and them send me a pm.

[Guy]

Adrian, I've used some of my characters in a serial-like way. So go for it.

[[deleted user]]

Can someone please help me understand how to submit a piece or writing? I don't get how to.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Toaster! Each week, you may write a story/poem related to the prompt somehow and post it in the current contest's thread. For this week, here's the story thread. Poetry thread is here.

[Billie Jo]

For the weekly contest things. Do the words that are the them have to be in it? For example this week is a second chance. Do I have to use the words "a second chance" in the piece or can it be a phrase that means the same?

[[deleted user]]

It's okay if you don't use the exact words :)

[Ryan]

Hey, Billie Jo! The rules are very loose. Your poem/story only has to relate to the topic in some way. It could be through using the actual word/phrase or a similar one, it could be a description of the topic word, or it could just be something related to the topic in some other way without even using the word/phrase at all.

Be creative! One of my favorite things each week is seeing how so many imaginative minds have perceived and incorporated the topic into their writing. Sometimes when I'm stuck, I'll search to word in different online dictionaries and Wikipedia - it is amazing some of the obscure links you can find to get your mind firing in new directions.

Basically, if someone asks what the link is between your entry and the topic and you have an answer, then you have satisfied the requirement.

Your poems have been great, by the way. It's good to have you back aboard.

[Mandy]

I don't know if this is the right place to ask, but can anyone recommend a good(somewhat short) fantasy novel that I can download to kindle?

[[deleted user]]

Hmm, you might want to try reading , I'm currently reading it :)

[Ryan]

I loved 'Green Monkey Dreams' by Isobelle Carmody, Mandy. It is a collection of short fantasy stories. I downloaded it for my iPad, it is probably available for Kindle too.

[Ryan]

Otherwise, 'The Eyes of the Dragon' by Stephen King was really good and fairly short. Tell me some fantasy novels you've really enjoyed and I can be more specific :)

[Mandy]

Thanks for the recommendations.

Ryan, I haven't really read a lot in this genre, so I'm just looking for something so I can give it a try.

[Ryan]

Charles De Lint is another of my favorites and a really good place to start. He doesn't write full-blown dragons and wizards fantasy, I think it is classified as urban fantasy, a mixture of our world and faerie. 'Moonheart' or 'Greenmantle' are both great. He is really easy to read and his imagination is breath taking.

[Mandy]

Oh Leslie!!! "The Ocean At The End Of The Lane" was amazing. Thanks for recommending it. Now I'm going to try "The Eyes of the Dragon".

[Ryan]

That does sound good, Leslie. I've just read the synopsis and think I may have to get myself a copy. Thanks!

[[deleted user]]

You're both welcome :)

[Ryan]

I'm really enjoying it, Leslie. Great recommendation ;)

[Mandy]

Ryan, thanks for recommending "The Eyes Of The Dragon", I just finished it. Even though I swear I've heard this story before, I really enjoyed it, it was a great recommendation.

[Ryan]

Good to hear, Mandy. I'm glad you enjoyed it. If you're starting to try fantasy and haven't already read it, I'd definitely give Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' a read. It is fantastic, even if you've seen the movie before.

If you're interested in moving into series at all, David Eddings' 'Belgariad' and Raymond E Feist's 'Magician' are two that I can recommend as totally un-put-down-able.

[Mandy]

I love 'The Hobbit', I've read it several times. I love the world and the characters that Tolkien creates.

I just got the first volume of 'The Walking Dead', I've read plenty of comics before, but don't know how this will stack up compared to those.

But after the holidays I'll have to try one of those series.

[Ryan]

Let me know what you think of 'The Walking Dead', it's on my list of books to read. If only there was more time in the day!

[Mandy]

Ryan, 'The Walking Dead' was very different from what I expected.

It was kind of hard to rate, because I've watched the show and like it a lot, but the two are really quite different from each other.

I would say if you have room on your list give it a read, but I wouldn't pass up something else just to get to it.

[Guy]

Excellent review, Mandy. Well done.

[Ryan]

Thanks, Mandy. I already have enough 'want-to-reads' for two lifetimes, so it is good to know that this can be relegated to the third or fourth lifetime. The series is so good, I'll just leave it at that for now. Welcome back and Merry Christmas to you.

[Billie Jo]

when you're ending the italics does the i or the / come first? it doesn't show me on my tablet...

[Ryan]

Hi, Billie Jo. The / comes first for the close.

[Billie Jo]

Thanks Ryan! That's what I thought it was but I'm very forgetful. Haha.

[Ryan]

If you use a tablet for most of your writing (like I do) it is handy to set up a shortcut for for bold and italics and any other HTML code you use frequently. I can tell you how if you have an iPad and aren't sure. It means you only have to type the shortcut ( I use 'hbol' or 'h ital') and it puts the HTML straight in for you - saves lots of fiddling around ;)

[Billie Jo]

Really? that's awesome! I have an android tablet.

[Ryan]

I'm not too sure with Android. On my iPad, it's under settings->keyboard->shortcuts. Have a hunt around, I think most tablets offer shortcuts.

[Billie Jo]

alrighty! I'll see! thanks :)

[Billie Jo]

figured it out. Thanks, Ryan! :)

[Ryan]

Good job! You'll wonder how you ever got by before ;)