Open Thread: Oracle Hotline

[mithen]

--Share one of your strengths.

Ooooh, probably...a light touch on prose? I get comments from non-native English readers that my work is usually easy to understand, and that always makes me happy...

I got smidges of writing done this week, nothing too major (first week of classes!), but enough to keep me happy! I hope you had a good week as well!

Comments

[me_ya_ri]

Persistence? I don't give up, pretty much no matter what. I'm working on my description, on drawing the reader in. Yeah, I'm going to go with persistence. Give me enough time and I'll learn anything.

I got lots written this week! Most of it was advice on how to self publish your stories, detailed advice that's going to be posted over the next month or so of Wednesdays, but some fiction got written, too, so I'm happy. The really weird but cool thing is that since I started tracking my WPM my productivity has skyrocketed. I'm over 15,000 words more this month than I expected to be and the only real change was the WPM tracking.

*grin* Yes, I'm going to continue doing it. Hey, if it tricks my brain into thinking I must write then heck yes, I'm going to do it. XD

Good luck getting more writing time!

[mithen]

Persistence? I don't give up, pretty much no matter what. I'm working on my description, on drawing the reader in. Yeah, I'm going to go with persistence. Give me enough time and I'll learn anything.

Frankly, I think that's the most valuable skill to have as a writer (and possibly in life in general). Sheer dogged plugging away and insisting on learning stuff step by painful step is incredibly valuable...

The really weird but cool thing is that since I started tracking my WPM my productivity has skyrocketed. I'm over 15,000 words more this month than I expected to be and the only real change was the WPM tracking.

That's interesting! I feel like it would freeze me up, but these things are often anti-intuitive!

I got a little writing time in yesterday (yay!) but getting caught up on fannish things is kind of taking precedence today... I'm hoping for a little, though! The fall is always the hardest time, October to January is a brutal schedule here...

[prince0froses]

Character building/characterization. My prose waffles from 'dialogue only bare bones' to 'so purple Anne Rice would be proud', I can only string a plot together given many years to charge at it, but oh man can I decide on character traits, let other ones develop naturally, and pinpoint exactly how a character would react to a given situation. Thus why I get very fussy over headcanons for works that aren't my own too - if a fic is too OOC, I can't finish reading it.

I have had a very good week - an idea I've been sitting on for about a year is coming to fruition, and I'm pleased by it. I'm hoping to keep up the good momentum and not let what progress I've been building up get annihilated by the coming week, which has been the case all summer.

[mithen]

My prose waffles from 'dialogue only bare bones' to 'so purple Anne Rice would be proud',

See now, I would change that verb from "waffles" to "ranges," and then you have yourself a strength! :) But I do agree that coming up with and fleshing out memorable characters is a big strength of yours as well--I can definitely vouch for their depth and charisma! :)

[prince0froses]

Well, the reason I say 'waffles' is because 'ranges' implies I have control over it. I don't really. I know, I'm the person making the words, theoretically I would be, but you get the bare bones when I'm writing on fumes and you get the purple prose when I'm on all cylinders, and sadly due to mental illnesses and life I do not have any control over that particular fuel gauge.