Is this forum a barometer...

[rich2003dm]

...of how we all feel about Epinions lately?

In the last 45 days only 4 new threads were started here.

Are we all writing less and therefore don't care much about writing issues?

Or has the new "editor" role nudged people away from writing and into reading and commenting almost exclusively?

Or have we all miraculously turned into Hemingways and Faulkners and don't need any writing help or advice?

This was, for a time, a very active forum. It should still be if we are a membership of writers.

What happened? Any thoughts?

Rich

[theeye]

We're all having too much fun playing silly games in the Have Book, Will Read forum.

Come join us.

[rich2003dm]

Abandon my art? To play silly games in the book forum?

Sounds good to me.

See you there.

Rich

[Redlass]

I'm glad you asked this question, Rich.

You'd think this would be one of the more active forums since it was writing that brought us all here together. Yet I know I've thought of very little to contribute here--despite the fact that I love talking about writing and everything surrounding the craft.

Maybe we need to start with some silly games in this forum and then expand??

[AuntieEmma[$]]

I'd be interested in talking about writing also but it just occured to me that maybe it's hard to talk about writing because, at least once you get past certain fundamentals, writing perhaps may be largely an intuitive process, so there's not too much that can be said about it?

I'm putting this out as a debatable point (even though this isn't a debate forum) because I really don't know the answer to that, and I would like to know.

[purplewiz]

Originally posted by AuntieEmma
I'd be interested in talking about writing also but it just occured to me that maybe it's hard to talk about writing because, at least once you get past certain fundamentals, writing perhaps may be largely an intuitive process, so there's not too much that can be said about it?

This is something I've always wondered about. Both about what you talk about and whether it's intuitive past a certain point. I'm new to this writing business (yes, I wrote papers in high school and college, but they don't count because they were uniformly thorough, dull, and written because I had to, not because I had something to say), and it's all very much a strange new world to me.

[juliette]

Originally posted by AuntieEmma
writing perhaps may be largely an intuitive process, so there's not too much that can be said about it?

Have forum, will debate.

I think there is a lot to be said about the craft of writing! Yes, writing is intuitive to a certain extent, but the finer points definitely need to be taught.

These are just some of things I would like to know:

What makes a short story different from a novel, other than length?

How can/ should a writer reduce the number of adverbs and adjectives in a piece?

What is voice, and how does a writer find his or hers?

and on and on.

[amykhar]

Juliette,
How about starting threads with your questions? I am sure you will find somebody willing to discuss those subjects with you.

Amy

[juliette]

Originally posted by amykhar
How about starting threads with your questions

Yikes! I have never actually started a thread here! Maybe I'm just afraid of being confonted by what Wired magazine calls Warnock's Dilemma...

But I'll think about it!

[erik_kosberg]

What makes a short story different from a novel, other than length?

There’s less character development (and fewer characters). Sometime’s we learn nothing about the physical appearance of the main character, perhaps not even the protagonist‘s name. There’s little if any backstory. The ending depends more on a twist than a novel’s ending does.

[juliette]

Originally posted by erik_kosberg
There’s less character development (and fewer characters). There’s little if any backstory. The ending depends more on a twist than a novel’s ending does.

And isn't there something like a "single (story) arc," while a novel has several, with one leading to the main climax, or something like that?

That is why these things haunt me: maybe I read something years ago when I wasn't interested, and now I can't remember the details...

[AuntieEmma[$]]

I think a story is usually very tightly focused, with everything leading up to a single climax or epiphany or whatever. A novel can usually wander around more, take some detours.

P.S. Don't mind me ranting (in various threads) about the pointlessness of writing advice. I'm not sure I totally believe what I've been saying -- it's just that I had studied this stuff for so friggin long, with zero noticeable effect -- I still can't write the way I'd like to -- and now I'm just a bitter old burn-out case (not even sure if I should insert a smiley here or not). Anyway, I've got issues, as they say, and sometimes end up arguing with myself in what passes for trying to work this out.