Search found 40 matches

by lmjackson
December 31st, 2012, 9:13 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: The Great American Novel (not that I'm going to write it)
Replies: 7
Views: 5728

Re: The Great American Novel (not that I'm going to write it)

I've become quite jaded with the term "Great American Novel" as well as the American literary canon as a whole. As you'll find, the majority of authors on such lists are: - White - Middle class - Male - Dead Additionally, the protagonists of such stories are usually: - White - Male - Middl...
by lmjackson
July 28th, 2011, 9:02 pm
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Google+
Replies: 32
Views: 14694

Re: Google+

Would guess that means they have nothing like "pages" or the like? I certainly hope so. I never understood why everybody and their grandma (not literally speaking) has to have a Facebook page. My university has over 30 or departmental Facebook pages now. The College of Liberal Arts & ...
by lmjackson
July 28th, 2011, 4:56 pm
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Google+
Replies: 32
Views: 14694

Re: Google+

Yep, I do it all the time. You can post to friend lists, a mix of specified friends and lists, networks, etc. Been a feature for probably a year, maybe longer. I've just gone back to facebook and looked all over for this. I couldn't find it, except perhaps the group things. This is making me think ...
by lmjackson
July 26th, 2011, 2:25 pm
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Google+
Replies: 32
Views: 14694

Re: Google+

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Google and G+ is neat, but so far it's really just a Facebook-but-not-quite. Google has filled in some neat gaps (such as posting status updates to specified Circles) that Facebook never got finessed enough to try. I saw something like that mentioned in a revie...
by lmjackson
July 25th, 2011, 8:40 pm
Forum: Social Media and Book Promotion
Topic: Google+
Replies: 32
Views: 14694

Re: Google+

I feel like everyone's opinion of G+ thus far can be summed up with the following picture: http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/googleplus.png Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Google and G+ is neat, but so far it's really just a Facebook-but-not-quite. Google has filled in some neat gaps (such as postin...
by lmjackson
January 13th, 2011, 3:30 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: (Un)Realistic young character dialogue
Replies: 45
Views: 19701

Re: (Un)Realistic young character dialogue

Looking at the specific snippet of dialogue, it's not so much too intelligent as much as too antiquated. But from what I can remember from when you posted about your WIP earlier, the setting here is not contemporary. So in this case consistency, not realism, would be the major factor. Having one cha...
by lmjackson
January 4th, 2011, 6:36 pm
Forum: Self-Publishing
Topic: Huck Finn Gets Some Changes
Replies: 17
Views: 8276

Huck Finn Gets Some Changes

Just saw this on Yahoo! News. According to Publishers Weekly, NewSouth Books plans to release a version of "Huck Finn" that cuts the "n" word and replaces it with "slave." The slur "injun," referring to Native Americans, will also be replaced. One person sarca...
by lmjackson
December 31st, 2010, 2:50 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Start the story somewhere else...
Replies: 43
Views: 17898

Re: Start the story somewhere else...

Yes, I'm an English major with a polisci minor because I absolutely DETEST intellectual works. Read "The Eclipse of the Crescent Moon". It's a bit different type of intellectual work, which is really entertaining while it has a unique style. http://www.amazon.com/Eclipse-Crescent-Moon-Gez...
by lmjackson
December 31st, 2010, 11:30 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Start the story somewhere else...
Replies: 43
Views: 17898

Re: Start the story somewhere else...

There's always those artists that have the stance of "If you don't understand what I'm going for, then you must not GET ME." Or even worse: "If you don't understand it, than you're not intellectual enough to GET IT". I never said that, but as I see you have a great prejudice aga...
by lmjackson
December 31st, 2010, 1:49 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Start the story somewhere else...
Replies: 43
Views: 17898

Re: Start the story somewhere else...

I mean quiet in the sense a protagonist's troubles, problems, trials, dilemmas, in other words, complications aren't roiling at full boil from the get-go, more of an impending simmer. Quiet where a narrative takes its time to engage readers in the participation mystique of exotic proxy reality sett...
by lmjackson
December 31st, 2010, 1:18 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Start the story somewhere else...
Replies: 43
Views: 17898

Re: Start the story somewhere else...

George Orwell's literary debut semi-autobiographical novel, Down and Out in Paris and London , 1933, opens on a quiet picaresque account of a young artist living a high life in Paris and thriving on modest means. But it's not long before Mr. Eric Blair encounters reversals that impoverish his circu...
by lmjackson
December 31st, 2010, 12:25 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Start the story somewhere else...
Replies: 43
Views: 17898

Re: Start the story somewhere else...

Enough of them are telling you something that I bet an agent will end up telling you the same thing. You will most likely be told to change it in order to get representation. If an agent will want drastic changes, because of a matter of taste and not because of some serious mistake what I committed...
by lmjackson
December 30th, 2010, 8:26 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: I'm a NOBODY(Try two)
Replies: 7
Views: 3323

Re: I'm a NOBODY(Try two)

Seventeen-year-old Dominic Taylor can open locked doors with a touch and pass security cameras undetected. He’s never been able to understand his powers, so when he sees his classmate Jennifer exhibit the same talent open a door he knows is locked, his curiosity gets the better of him and he follow...
by lmjackson
December 29th, 2010, 11:22 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Start the story somewhere else...
Replies: 43
Views: 17898

Re: Start the story somewhere else...

You're not the first who is saying this. But the entire WIP got the... it's maybe going to be too intellectual for some readers. Well, that was the essence to create an intellectual, interesting, detailed and twisted storyline. It seems I've went beyond this goal a bit... Yeah, I think there is a d...
by lmjackson
December 29th, 2010, 10:49 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Start the story somewhere else...
Replies: 43
Views: 17898

Re: Start the story somewhere else...

If the world is "conflict free" then what's the problem? And where's the story?

If it's "conflict free" in that it's too-good-to-be-true, then the first chapter should somehow highlight that.