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"The Secret World of Arrietty" First Glance Review
It's a strange feeling to watch a movie and not know whether you like or dislike it. That's the feeling I got from Studio Ghibli's The Secret World of Arrietty. The film is about a fourteen-year-old girl named Arrietty, who is only a few inches tall. She belongs to a family of Borrowers, extraordinarily small humans who "borrow" and hide from ( Read more... ) -
I'm Doing It Wrong
November 30th is my NaNo anniversary! It's been a year since my first draft's completion and I'm proud of my WIP second draft. I've posted 11 chapters of it on Fictionpress, and I've made a few good acquaintances along the way ( Read more... ) -
The Rape Kiss
Now, this is a petpeeve I've also developed through experience. As I write this down now, I am uncomfortable to admit that when I was younger, the pet peeve was cool and heroic. But when I recently read a particular passage of a book that included it, I came to the realization that "cool and heroic" is not how I would describe it at all. Ever.
Now ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
I am currently suffering from Backspace Syndrome, the condition in which the pinky finger of my right hand involuntarily presses the backspace button, so often that any new words I have written for my story are erased. It doesn't just affect my creative writing. I have trouble writing short emails and LiveJournal posts. Seriously, I could only get ( Read more... ) -
Epiphany
During the summer, I had written quite a lot of rants on fictionpress/fanfiction writing, with no audience. Once summer was over, I realized that I had posted most of those rants in the wrong place. They should be posted where they matter most; on fictionpress. If you're interested in FP-relevant rants, please go to my FP profile. So far, I have ( Read more... ) -
Enter NaNoWriMo Winner, Persnickety Fox!
If you have never heard of NaNoWriMo, it's the abbreviation of National Novel Writing Month,. According to their 2011 press release, "participants are pledge to write 50,000 words in a month, starting from scratch and reaching “The End” by November 30.” Yesterday, November 30th, I hit 51,279 words.
I'll revoke my bragging rights in about half a week ( Read more... ) -
Indulgent Rant: Your Hero Is So Attractive, Your Readership Would Pay For An Autographed Picture
The tell of good writing skills appear when the reader is able to visualize a scene, a person, or a setting with unmistakable clarity. For this rant, the skills is not the issue. It's the content ( Read more... ) -
Good Writing Technique #2: The Rampant Plot Bunny
In fanfiction, the "plot bunny" refers to an idea, any idea, that can translate into a plot and eventually become a full-fledged story.
The plot bunny I classify as a good writing technique not just because of common sense. The plot bunny provides two elements that I find essential to writing. But first...
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Bad Writing Technique #2: Bad advertising
Readers have certain preferences, be it about ratings. genres, or pairings, and that factors into why someone may not want to read a story. But sometimes, it's not the story that makes a reader avoid someone's work. Sometimes, it's the writer's bad advertising. Here's a few ways writers dig their work into a hole and leave it there, hoping someone ( Read more... ) -
Good Writing Technique #1: Working an Audience In Less Than Ten Seconds
Some writers get carpal tunnel syndrome from clicking all the review notifications flooding their email accounts. This is not just because of their writings skills. It's also their advertising ability that makes or breaks their popularity. From what I've seen on fp, making a story popular starts with a two-line blurb. When searching for a story on ( Read more... )