Search found 15 matches

by fionaw
March 25th, 2010, 8:27 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: What is writing to you?
Replies: 11
Views: 4490

Re: What is writing to you?

Writing is the escape that reconciles me to life in the real world.
by fionaw
February 13th, 2010, 5:18 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Resurrecting a manuscript
Replies: 5
Views: 2465

Re: Resurrecting a manuscript

Thanks, Holly, that's very useful. I actually have Colleen on Google reader, but didn't know she had a GLBT bent. (Hah! A pun!).

Hmm. Maybe I will have to do a little MS polishing...
by fionaw
February 13th, 2010, 5:08 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Resurrecting a manuscript
Replies: 5
Views: 2465

Re: Resurrecting a manuscript

That's from the US perspective, though, isn't it? In Australia and Europe the attitudes towards homosexuality really shifted in the late 80s/early 90s, though even before then, attitudes in literature were much more laissez faire . And where it did matter, it was treated more in a 'don't frighten th...
by fionaw
February 13th, 2010, 4:49 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Words Per Day
Replies: 13
Views: 4733

Re: Words Per Day

I manage anything from 2000 to 10 000 words a day. I live a reasonably quiet life (no kids), so on my days off I can write without interruption. One of my best days was flying Maroochydore/Sydney/Melbourne/Devonport - 16 000 words! I have no idea what the people sitting next to me on the planes thou...
by fionaw
February 13th, 2010, 4:33 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Resurrecting a manuscript
Replies: 5
Views: 2465

Resurrecting a manuscript

On a writing course last year we read excerpts from our work to one another in the evenings. One of the pieces I read was from a ten year old MS, and I was startled, when I finished, to discover there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Everyone, without exception, urged me to submit it for publication, ...
by fionaw
January 18th, 2010, 8:23 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: American dialogue
Replies: 31
Views: 13236

Re: American dialogue

I've been to and fro between Aus and the UK since 1994. Been living in Tassie now for a little over two years. I'm finding it increasingly difficult as far as the writing goes - much as I love living here I need to actually meet people to talk about writing sometimes. There is a local writing group ...
by fionaw
January 16th, 2010, 5:23 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: American dialogue
Replies: 31
Views: 13236

Re: American dialogue

Aussie dialogue is fun. Spot who's Australian and who's British: ‘You OK?’ the director said to her, returning from one of his rapid trips to the toilet. ‘I think so.’ ‘You got lucky. Bloody refrigerator carked it yesterday, and no one noticed. There’s eleven people chundering their guts up now. If ...
by fionaw
January 13th, 2010, 4:08 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Advice From Amateurs?
Replies: 17
Views: 7928

Re: Advice From Amateurs?

For me, this actually divides into three places you can get advice - amateur writers, published writers and professionals such as writers/editors who have experience beyond their own work. All can have useful things to say - but the proportion of wheat to chaff varies a great deal. The latter group ...
by fionaw
January 13th, 2010, 3:54 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: American dialogue
Replies: 31
Views: 13236

Re: American dialogue

Thanks very much for all the help and suggestions! It made me think more deeply about the characters - one of the things I hadn't considered was that the setup (plane crash in the Amazon) implies that all of them could (a) afford a holiday there and (b) would consider it as a holiday destination. Ev...
by fionaw
January 11th, 2010, 6:06 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: American dialogue
Replies: 31
Views: 13236

Re: American dialogue

Aaagh! I should have spotted the vacation/holiday thing myself!

This is why I need another pair of eyes. there's stuff I know is different in the US, yet I can't spot it in my own writing.
by fionaw
January 10th, 2010, 1:49 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: American dialogue
Replies: 31
Views: 13236

Re: American dialogue

Problem is, I don't want to get too bogged down in research - though the characters need some background, the point is that they are marooned in the Amazon after a plane crash and trying to wak out. The story centres on another (english) character, and his wife in the UK who believes he is dead. The...
by fionaw
January 9th, 2010, 10:00 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: How do you know what is right for your Characters?
Replies: 5
Views: 2974

Re: How do you know what is right for your Characters?

I would give it some time before making a decision. Unless you are working to a deadline, I wouldn't try to force it. Also, I'd ask what the story as a whole needs to happen; generally the answer to that is to use the scene that increases conflict (unless it is the final closing scene, when that mig...
by fionaw
January 9th, 2010, 9:11 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: American dialogue
Replies: 31
Views: 13236

Re: American dialogue

It's not the accent I'm after, precisely. It's the way people phrase things, the odd stuff you don't notice until you're immersed in another culture. I'm worried about ending up with a pastiche; this seems likely because I'm finding it harder than I anticipated. I will look up those books, though it...
by fionaw
January 9th, 2010, 7:27 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: American dialogue
Replies: 31
Views: 13236

American dialogue

I'm a Brit, and I'm struggling a bit with the three American characters I have in my WIP. I don't want them all to sound like cops (as most of the contemporary American stuff on my bookshelves is crime), but I'm aware that at the moment they all sound very English. They are: Ed, 52M, Midwestern, ex-...
by fionaw
January 9th, 2010, 7:11 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Pure Pain or Pure Ecstasy??
Replies: 14
Views: 6146

Re: Pure Pain or Pure Ecstasy??

The emotional journey of my curent WIP is tough, but it's partly because I have a tendency to use bereavement in one way or another in most of my novels. What has been spookier this time is that because I'm writing something very contemporary, which is loosely based on real events, my MC feels very ...