I can't read the word "suddenly" without hearing "dun-dun-DUNNNN!!" music in my head. Similarly, "meanwhile" is always followed by "at the Hall of Justice".
This girl at school? She told me that gelatin is made from ground-up cow's feet and that every time you eat Jell-O there's some cow out there limping around without any feet. But I told her that I'm sure the cow is dead before they cut its feet off, right?
Dawn ,'Never Leave Me'
The Great Write Way, Act Three: Where's the gun?
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
amych - Jan 13, 2010 7:53:10 am PST #2985 of 6724
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?
Dana - Jan 13, 2010 7:53:50 am PST #2986 of 6724
I haven't trusted science since I saw the film "Flubber."
Similarly, "meanwhile" is always followed by "at the Hall of Justice".
For me, it's "back at the ranch..."
erikaj - Jan 13, 2010 7:54:33 am PST #2987 of 6724
Always Anti-fascist!
Although my favorite Leonard quote on writing is when somebody asks a screenwriter in Get Shorty (so awesome. Be Cool=so sad) what kind of writing pays best and he says "Ransom notes."
Amy - Jan 13, 2010 7:56:16 am PST #2988 of 6724
Because books.
For me, it's "back at the ranch..."
Exactly.
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
Years of editing Scottish-set romances proves this brilliantly. One more "I dinna ken" and I would have cried.
Toddson - Jan 13, 2010 8:01:07 am PST #2989 of 6724
Friends don't let friends read "Atlas Shrugged"
and the classic "och, lassie"
Gudanov - Jan 13, 2010 8:01:09 am PST #2990 of 6724
Coding and Sleeping
I can't read the word "suddenly" without hearing "dun-dun-DUNNNN!!" music in my head.
It bugs me a lot because it seems like so often things that happen "suddenly" or "quickly" are things that just happen. I suppose if the POV character is a sloth, then it's okay, but most of the time it just bugs me.
My annoying habit word is "just". I just keeping slipping it in without thinking about it.
erikaj - Jan 13, 2010 8:01:17 am PST #2991 of 6724
Always Anti-fascist!
I don't doubt it. In the right hands, I like that sort of thing. I'm interested in the different ways people talk. Too bad the right hands are not often the hands itching to pick that stuff up.
Polter-Cow - Jan 13, 2010 8:03:54 am PST #2992 of 6724
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
My annoying habit word is "just". I just keeping slipping it in without thinking about it.
Oh yeah. I use it all the time. And "actually." Also, everything "apparently" happens with me.
SailAweigh - Jan 13, 2010 8:15:42 am PST #2993 of 6724
Nana korobi, ya oki. (Fall down seven times, stand up eight.) ~Yuzuru Hanyu/Japanese proverb
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
Years of editing Scottish-set romances proves this brilliantly. One more "I dinna ken" and I would have cried.
Ha-ha! I had a beta reader who complained, "but what happened to her accent? Where'd it go?"
It went to the rubbish bin, where excess patois belongs. One or two phrases to get the feel in the reader's head and they'll start doing the translating themselves. No one has to describe a redhead as being a redhead in every single paragraph, once you know, you know.
Dana - Jan 13, 2010 8:16:52 am PST #2994 of 6724
I haven't trusted science since I saw the film "Flubber."
It's particularly egregious in fanfic. Yes, we know Scotty has an accent. And Chekov. And Rogue. WE KNOW.