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if you're interested in something, start a thread. that's the only way to get a conversation going.Dactyl said:Ii almost never see a question or discussion involving craft. There are no discussions about hooks, sentence length, echos, plot twists, passive vs. active tense, showing vs. telling, prologues, etc. Why is that? This not to suggest that there is anything wrong with the topics which are discussed. Just curious, not critical.
Thanks for the suggestion. However, I can usually find what I need, online or offline. I'm just curious. I saw a post within the last few days where someone asked (more or less), "What makes you put a book down?" That is a great question. There is a book, which I have, that is titled The First Five Pages which is an excellent read about what causes an agent or editor to put a manuscript down before going past the first five pages, literally. Even though it is written for the traditional publishing market, the observations noted in the book could easily apply to everyone here who wonders why their books don't sell or sell very few copies. The non-craft problems and questions can still signal a failing effort even though there may not be so much as a missing comma or an unnecessary extra comma in a given submission (or upload).SevenDays said:I always see the kboards as more business-oriented, rather than geared toward craft. I don't know why that is. If you're looking for a place where there's more discussion about craft, you might try AbsoluteWrite.
There seem to be a lot of threads right now asking for help with blurbs. Maybe a separate section - 'Craft help' or similar - would be useful. Personally, they don't bother me and I'll occasionally try to help if the book sounds interesting. But we're all busy with our own stuff - I often don't even click on those threads if I've only popped in for, say, marketing inspiration.Carol (was Dara) said:IThat said, every 30th or so thread here is related to craft - or at least to crafting blurbs. There was talk for awhile of adding a sub-section specifically for craft talk, so people looking for it wouldn't have to dig. But I don't think that ever came to anything. I think it'd be a nice addition but apparently there's not a lot of demand for it.
How about a craft discussion on how fun some British phrases are?Sam Kates said:(bless its cotton socks)
Jimmy Page? Jimmy Page? You've got to be kidding me.... You have the Jimmy part right only it's spelled Jimi .... lolJoe_Nobody said:I can't speak for others, but I seldom participate in craft threads for a variety of reasons:
1. My chops aren't that good, at least as compared to many on this board. Thus, I have little to offer in advice or learned opinion.
2. Craft to an author writing literary fiction is a completely different subject than those who write, say, dystopian fiction.
3. You want to start a fight? Post something about comma splices. State a position. Watch the fur fly.
4. I break just about every writing-rule you've ever heard of. As an example, I hate the word, "said," and try to avoid it in dialog. Many believe this makes me a heretic. I react poorly to being called names, and then the admins' have to get out the cattle prods.
5. If you subscribe to the CMOS, you know the number of revisions, changes, reversals, and contradictions therein. So even English language rules are constantly changing. Personally, I can't keep up, and don't care too. My readers seem to understand the story I'm trying to tell, and that's the bottom line.
Anyway, that's why I don't think you see as much craft traffic hereabouts. The subject tends to be like pizza, beer, and who was the greatest rock guitarist of all times - opinions vary. Well, maybe not the guitarist part. We all know that was Jimmy Page; right?![]()
I completely agree. It's been studied for hundreds of years. Marketing changes so rapidly. Even being an indie author is a relatively new phenomenon in the annals of author history.Cherise Kelley said:Craft pretty much stands still. You can find craft by looking many places on the Internet, and it is still in all its old haunts.
Marketing, however, is a moving target. It changes so fast! This forum is mostly our attempt to help each other hunt marketing. We take turns keeping our eye on it and point out where it ran to.
I think this would be a nice addition, too.Carol (was Dara) said:There was talk for awhile of adding a sub-section specifically for craft talk, so people looking for it wouldn't have to dig. But I don't think that ever came to anything. I think it'd be a nice addition but apparently there's not a lot of demand for it.
^^^Yep, that would be me too if I stuck my few cents worth^^^Joe_Nobody said:I can't speak for others, but I seldom participate in craft threads for a variety of reasons:
1. My chops aren't that good, at least as compared to many on this board. Thus, I have little to offer in advice or learned opinion.
2. Craft to an author writing literary fiction is a completely different subject than those who write, say, dystopian fiction.
3. You want to start a fight? Post something about comma splices. State a position. Watch the fur fly.
4. I break just about every writing-rule you've ever heard of. As an example, I hate the word, "said," and try to avoid it in dialog. Many believe this makes me a heretic. I react poorly to being called names, and then the admins' have to get out the cattle prods.
5. If you subscribe to the CMOS, you know the number of revisions, changes, reversals, and contradictions therein. So even English language rules are constantly changing. Personally, I can't keep up, and don't care too. My readers seem to understand the story I'm trying to tell, and that's the bottom line.
Look here you heretic!Joe_Nobody said:I can't speak for others, but I seldom participate in craft threads for a variety of reasons:
1. My chops aren't that good, at least as compared to many on this board. Thus, I have little to offer in advice or learned opinion.
2. Craft to an author writing literary fiction is a completely different subject than those who write, say, dystopian fiction.
3. You want to start a fight? Post something about comma splices. State a position. Watch the fur fly.
4. I break just about every writing-rule you've ever heard of. As an example, I hate the word, "said," and try to avoid it in dialog. Many believe this makes me a heretic. I react poorly to being called names, and then the admins' have to get out the cattle prods.
5. If you subscribe to the CMOS, you know the number of revisions, changes, reversals, and contradictions therein. So even English language rules are constantly changing. Personally, I can't keep up, and don't care too. My readers seem to understand the story I'm trying to tell, and that's the bottom line.
Anyway, that's why I don't think you see as much craft traffic hereabouts. The subject tends to be like pizza, beer, and who was the greatest rock guitarist of all times - opinions vary. Well, maybe not the guitarist part. We all know that was Jimmy Page; right?![]()