Search found 15 matches

by GabbyP
October 7th, 2010, 11:44 am
Forum: Procrastination
Topic: What's your favorite song that tells a story?
Replies: 58
Views: 28912

Re: What's your favorite song that tells a story?

Papa Was a Rolling Stone (Temptations)

And lots of Chris DeBurgh stuff: A Spaceman Came Traveling, Old Friend, Spanish Train, and pretty much all of his songs.
by GabbyP
October 7th, 2010, 11:39 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Ambivalence and the murder mystery
Replies: 7
Views: 2840

Re: Ambivalence and the murder mystery

Does he have to get off completely in every way/shape/form? Maybe he doesn't get prosecuted by the law, but it would be satisfying if he was punished in some other poetic way: like he gets a deep cut during the murder (or as he is getting away...and stops on a rusty dirty nail), and the cut gets inf...
by GabbyP
September 9th, 2010, 8:11 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Hi, my name is Regan and I’m stuck in a plot hole.
Replies: 23
Views: 8158

Re: Hi, my name is Regan and I’m stuck in a plot hole.

Hi, Here's my take on plot holes: when you identify them, take care of them ASAP! Your plot is like the engine on a jumbo jet. If there's a hole in your engine, and you are lucky enough to still be on the ground (and haven't taken off yet), then you haul everyone off the jet, get the engine manual o...
by GabbyP
August 27th, 2010, 1:22 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: How much detail for readers outside the USA
Replies: 11
Views: 4763

Re: How much detail for readers outside the USA

Hi, I live in Europe in a country where the main language is not English...but lots of people speak and read English and therefore the bookstores carry lots of English language books. This is quite common in lots of countries all over the world. Don't think of your book only being read by Americans ...
by GabbyP
August 19th, 2010, 2:22 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Moving on
Replies: 8
Views: 3163

Re: Moving on

Here's a bit of advice I got in one of my writer groups a few years back when I was having a similar problem. Put the story in a drawer and don't touch it for 6 months. In the meantime, try something brand new, using the techniques you learned the first time around plus some of the newer stuff you'v...
by GabbyP
August 18th, 2010, 5:04 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Naming protagonists
Replies: 14
Views: 4412

Re: Naming protagonists

Hi,

good names. I'm Italian and just have a couple teeny things to mention:

-Luca...is actually spelled Lucca

Joe: this the English translation of Giuseppe. The short form or nicknames for Giuseppe are: Pino, Beppe, G, Geppino

Hope that helps!
by GabbyP
July 30th, 2010, 10:33 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Naming / Numbering -- Help???
Replies: 11
Views: 4000

Re: Naming / Numbering -- Help???

If you know any IT people who work in large companies...give them a call and ask them how they name their servers. Techie people tend to love sci-fi, and often the servers in their server farms reflect this love. I worked at one place where each new server was named after an asteroid, or a famous ph...
by GabbyP
July 23rd, 2010, 3:05 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Canucks
Replies: 16
Views: 6014

Re: Canucks

Hi, I too am from Hamilton, Ontario (I lovingly refer to it as Hamilrock, some call it The Hammer, Steeltown, etc). I live in Europe now, and my Canadian-ness stands out all the time in ways I could never imagine, and it definitely comes out in my writing themes (although not consciously). I've noti...
by GabbyP
July 2nd, 2010, 8:09 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Of the characters you've written, who is your favorite?
Replies: 40
Views: 20117

Re: Of the characters you've written, who is your favorite?

My fav character I've written is a lanky red-haired 20-something guy named Marvell who works in an advertising agency, and is too lazy to get up and walk so he likes to sit on his office chair and roll to wherever he needs to go. He is very creative and mostly thinks about his next sugar fix. Marvel...
by GabbyP
May 20th, 2010, 3:31 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Two Competing Ideas...
Replies: 10
Views: 4461

Re: Two Competing Ideas...

Take some extra time now to write up the first 25 pages of a rough draft of each of your two ideas. By the end of writing those pages, you'll know which one feels right and which one feels like it just isn't ready yet. Now, if you still feel exactly the same about both ideas after this exercise, the...
by GabbyP
February 19th, 2010, 11:19 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Share your opening sentence!
Replies: 236
Views: 86076

Re: Share your opening sentence!

From my romance/mystery entitled: Annabel Pitkeathely: Food Detective

Wolf never called on Sundays.
by GabbyP
February 18th, 2010, 2:21 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Should you share your writing before it's finished?
Replies: 22
Views: 12175

Re: Should you share your writing before it's finished?

Well, I look at it like homemade waffles. I can let someone dip their finger into the lumpy batter, and I can spend time explaining that the finished product will be lighter, fluffier, tastier, smell like heaven, and will gently hold tiny pools of butter and maple syrup within the crispy indentation...
by GabbyP
December 31st, 2009, 1:09 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: A shallow book - what to do?
Replies: 14
Views: 6836

Re: A shallow book - what to do?

Could it be that this is your second book? Maybe you could start a new novel, using all the tips/tricks/strategies you learned from writing the previous novel. Then send the new novel out for representation. By the end of writing the new novel, the problems within your 'shallow' novel should become ...
by GabbyP
December 22nd, 2009, 9:19 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Confession time
Replies: 33
Views: 14012

Re: Confession time

I wear comfy 'grubbies' which sometimes double as PJs ;-)
by GabbyP
December 8th, 2009, 12:53 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Outline or Out of the Mist?
Replies: 50
Views: 27654

Re: Outline or Out of the Mist?

Outline-a-rama for me!