Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion
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Saira: That sounds like a good idea, using different languages as inspiration and mixing themAngie: thanks for all the helpful info and if I can find the book I will check it out!
Hi there, everyone! I was getting ready to post this status update on Face Book, but I thought it was too weird not to share with everyone here at the WSS. You'll understand why after reading it:Dreams can make for some interesting creative fuel. Two nights ago, I had one where the members of the heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch abducted me, tied me to a chair, and stuck a ball gag in my mouth. They refused to release me until I completed a math problem for them. While they played videogames and mingled with hot girls, I was able to calculate the answer to this novel of a problem. The answer was…Mike Haggar vs. Brock Lesnar. If you don’t know who they are, Google them. Yes, they’re both wrestlers. Yes, one is fictional and the other is real. Yes, that fantasy match would be freaking awesome. But my only question is…why is it the answer to a complicated math problem? The guys from Five Finger Death Punch eventually let me go and that’s when I woke up.
Hey I just found out....
Today is National Hug Day. Free hugs to anyone who needs one (hugs)!
For all interested. http://www.lifeofwriters.com/home/index is having a free writing contest where winners can win 20,30 or 40$ to amazon :-)
Hi everyone. I know I'm not up here as much but happy new year to you all!
Wow, that is embarrassing! I have obviously not read Ecclesiastes 3 in a long time because I completely got an understanding (and even the part of the verse that is the title of my story) wrong! Sorry about that... I will soon revamp this story. I will keep the inaccurate version on this group just to be fair since it's too close to the deadline. (Just to note no one told me of this therefore I cannot edit this section of my story. I don't know sometimes I make rules for myself. I've noticed sometimes people in the group are given criticisms leading the people who posted to change up their entry).
Just to note it's new title is "a time to dance" as in "a time to mourn and a time to dance." I think I mixed up the verse that says "born" since it's followed by "a time to die" but forgive my mess up on this three-part story. :(
CJ wrote: "Wow, that is embarrassing! I have obviously not read Ecclesiastes 3 in a long time because I completely got an understanding (and even the part of the verse that is the title of my story) wrong! ..."
I love Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 15!
A wrote: "Hmm...this seems like a question for Edward. ...Edward?
Happy New Year everyone!"
Whoops. Did you mean me or the other Edward? Haven't visited this thread in months.
So I'm writing an essay for a scholarship application and struggling with some grammatical ambiguities. Hopefully someone here knows the answer?If I'm going to present a list of independent clauses after a colon, should those be separated into individual sentences, be set off by semicolons, and by commas like in a normal list of objects?
Do you mean as in:-"Dave liked sweet things; chocolate, biscuits, candy, ice-cream, he liked them all!"
Don't quote me on that! I think if they're independent clauses then they aren't a list but instead separate sentences, but not necessarily separate paragraphs.
I'm always forgetful. I have to read my own books to remember what they were about!
Thank you both! The link was super helpful :)
22? That's crazy! Publish them already!
Martha wrote: "I love Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 15!"I do too! It always makes me think deeply about things in my life. Have there been things I should let go of? Have I been depending more on myself and should trust and grow? There is a time for everything!
And sorry about the late reply, Martha. I didn't know anyone responded to my comment. This group is great because it's so active; sometimes one update on a thread will lead to it disappearing in a throng of threads because people are keeping the ol' WSS alive!
The seas keep pushing us onward to new endeavors and adventures. :D
Edward wrote: "22? That's crazy! Publish them already!"I agree with Edward! That many novels means you have such a huge chance of getting published. Try and see, I know you can do it!
A wrote: "Oh, and it's 23. ;] Soon to be 24."That is awesome Al!
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Now on a personal note, dieting stinks! I have been trying my best in what to choose daily for my meals and realize for weeks in my so-called diet I still have been consuming too much sodium!
I am going to make a change. First off, I want to make more homemade dishes (does anyone have any ideas for healthy dinners? Would love to know! And if you need certain kinds of foods that are doctor recommended, et cetera I could tell you what I know as far as info I got from an assigned health coach).
I am toying with (meaning has not been made... yet) making a dish sometime soon involving fish, veggies and toasted sunflower seeds. Also using little or preferably no sodium at all. (I just read an article that talked of "salt alternatives" and it was great!).
I do usually have a certain amount of sodium I take in and I won't exclude it but am desperate because I don't want to have health issues any time soon that I can avoid!
CJ, I too am watching what I eat and I've seen results immediately. The biggest things I've cut from my diet are sugars (soda and candy), fast food (except for Subway), and snacks. Do you drink soda? If you do, then that's a huge source of sodium to cut out, and that counts for both regular and diet versions.
Dang. I gotta start watching what I eat, too. I used to eat healthy all the time. But lately, it's been hard because I've been depressed about underemployment. So I've been eating a lot of junk. :(
I would read some of these before limiting your salt too much.http://www.westonaprice.org/?s=salt&a...
It is a necessary nutrient.
Also, everyone is different so don't buy into what doctors try to tell you is the "right" diet. Personally, I need more salt than the "recommended" amount, absolutely cannot go vegan or vegetarian. I need meat and dairy. So figure out what works for you and don't let a doctor or anyone else tell you otherwise.
To Garrison: Yes I actually have been cutting out soda most of the time. I hear stuff like cola is startlingly bad for a person's health though I can't exactly remember why and it's kind of a coincidence that I haven't been drinking much lately.To Martha: Yeah junk food can be bad but it's better sometimes than eating nothing at all. Like to eat a small bag of potato chips is not bad versus eating nothing when in both cases you are genuinely hungry! But like all of us, we need portion control. And we can eat junk it just could if we may like it a lot restrict it to let's say a day of the week and the rest of the week we can eat better. That's something my health coach taught me.
(Also, keep your chin up, I think things will work out!) :)
Saira I will check out your link soon. And I know what you mean, salt is required in our diet. In my case I am consuming too much of it (in some cases about 1200 mg too much in a daily total!) and I don't think either that people should exclude it, just reduce it if they need to.
And Al, I clicked this link while on another post.
So happy to see this!!!
Like I said, it depends on the person. I could do just fine with almost 1200mg, but the rest of my family can't stand it. It probably has to do with some health issues causing me to lose more salt than normal. Just have to find what works for you.I love history. I've considered writing historical fiction, maybe even some alternate histories.
I love history except when I have to study it for an exam. I cannot remember stuff like that. My memory doesn't work well with memorisation.
History wasn't originally a subject I liked until I had US history, but that's because my teacher was 77 and she liked to talk about the presidents like she knew them personally. She also liked to tell stories of what it was like living through Civil Rights, etc.
I know that this is completely off topic, but I have some questions for everyone about writing. Just curious. What inspired you to start writing?
What's the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the word "writing"?
Do you ever experience anxiety when writing or editing something?
Answer whatever questions you like. If you don't feel comfortable answering on here, but you still want to talk about it, feel free to message me.
Thanks.
Martha wrote: "I know that this is completely off topic, but I have some questions for everyone about writing. Just curious. What inspired you to start writing?
What's the first thing that pops into your head ..."
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Interesting questions.
I honestly don't know. I started writing stories as early as around second grade in elementary school. My teachers that year made the encouragement with telling a story exciting because they let any kids if they liked writing write out a story, then ask for a color for their cover and to give a title, then after a few days my fellow students would have little stories in book form that they were free to draw on the pages of before they were left in the classroom for any of the other kids to look over and check out their stories during reading time. I guess the idea that something I could create could end up being something others might love was what initially started or inspired this hobby for me.
When I hear writing I think of the challenge, the breaking down and pouring my heart out to tell a tale, the trying process of it all and then finally the rewarding feeling of it being complete. And yes I do experience anxiety while writing though I think the word might be a tad severe to describe it that way. Sometimes when I tell a story I worry it isn't told right or well enough. Then I calm down when I think "that is why it's called a rough draft. Go over it again." and that is usually when I find my place where I am back in the zone, enjoying the process of writing.
Hey you guys! Great news, and big congratulations to Ajay. His poem has been short listed for Amy King's big monthly poetry contest. And came in second! Well done Ajay!
That's awesome Ajay. Congrats!
Congratulations, Alex-Pie and Courtney! ^_^
Hello, Aurelius. Whenever I see your name into my mind I prepend your name with Marcus. Are you familiar with his writings?
I have a question for all of you. Have you read Shakespeare's Star Wars? It's literally Star Wars rewritten in the language of Shakespeare's time. It's absolutely amazing.
DARTH VADER: Luke...thou art thy father.
Gashbeen wrote: "I have a question for all of you. Have you read Shakespeare's Star Wars? It's literally Star Wars rewritten in the language of Shakespeare's time. It's absolutely amazing."I have not. It sounds like fun!
Congratulations to all the big winners that week! :)
With my last AP exams finished and graduation coming up, I plan to be making my return to the short story contests in the next few weeks! I can't wait to start reading everyone's writing again, and seeing how much everyone has improved since I last participated :)
It'll be awesome to have you back, Angie-Pie! :)
Hi Angie, glad to have you back!
I just added a new chapter to my life story. It is called "Painful things"It is in the work "Little Snippets of Me."
Here's the link, please check it out: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...
Thank you thank you.
------Oh yeah, also how is everybody????
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Hey guys! So I have to give a graduation speech on Thursday, in front of my graduating class of more than 700 students and a few thousand people in the audience. Needless to say, I'm kind of nervous. I've run through my speech 50+ times, but does anyone have any tips or advice for me?
Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company!
Books mentioned in this topic
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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Noam Chomsky (other topics)
Jane Jacobs (other topics)
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First, you'll want to make sure your fictional languages possess all the elements of one, and for that I suggest you build from the ground up. Humans are capable of producing and recognizing 100 phonemes, but most languages only use a small portion of them. For instance, English only uses about 40. I would suggest you first pick which phonemes your languages contain and work from there, that way your words sound consistent when you start creating them from your base phonemes.
Something to bear in mind when assigning meaning to your words is that they don't need to have direct translations to English, and they can have different nuances to their English counterparts. Language embodies the ideas of a culture, so the focus of your words should reflect the world you're creating. It might help to think about the kind of society you're going to write about and their values.
After you have a vocabulary, you'll need to establish your rules of syntax. It might help to start with sentence diagramming, arranging abstract concepts before using actual words. Once you figure out how the nouns, adjectives, direct objects, verb, etc. fit together and modify each other in a sentence, it's easier to format your sentences. If following your established template makes for an awkward sentence, it's okay to make an exception. No language is without its irregularities. Just make sure to decide when you want to allow that exception in other circumstances.
If you want to look into it some more, there's a book called The Art of Language Invention by David J. Peterson (the man who wrote the languages for The Game of Thrones and Thor) that gives more detailed help. I've never read it, but I've been warned that it can get very technical because Mr. Peterson is a linguist.
I wish you the best on your writing!