Search found 38 matches

by midenianscholar
June 25th, 2010, 10:48 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Favorite quotes about writing
Replies: 62
Views: 20276

Re: Favorite quotes about writing

Love this one. "Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." ...
by midenianscholar
June 25th, 2010, 10:28 am
Forum: Books
Topic: Summer Reading for kids
Replies: 20
Views: 7936

Re: Summer Reading for kids

Looks like you have enough recommendations for several summers!

I'd add Ella Enchanted. I think I was about 8 or 10 when I read it first, and I adored it.

Also I'll second Percy Jackson, Anne of Green Gables (at least the first one), Little Women, Harriet the Spy, and Because of Winn-Dixie.
by midenianscholar
June 25th, 2010, 10:25 am
Forum: Books
Topic: Which book have you read the most number of times?
Replies: 90
Views: 31295

Re: Which book have you read the most number of times?

I love reading books again, because I rush through them so fast in the first go.

Pride and Prejudice is mine, without a doubt. I lost count after 8+.
by midenianscholar
June 25th, 2010, 10:23 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: "Boy books"
Replies: 17
Views: 6750

Re: "Boy books"

When I think boy-book, I think Percy Jackson. My younger brother never really loved reading (even though his school curriculum was heavily reading-based) until a teacher friend of ours recommended the Olympians series. I read them all over winter break, and I can clearly see the difference between t...
by midenianscholar
June 25th, 2010, 10:11 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Endings
Replies: 20
Views: 11513

Re: Endings

When I got to the climax of my first manuscript, I had absolutely no idea what to do. It's interesting, because when I read back now I can totally see when I hit the wall. My writing style changed (for the worse), my sentences were wobbly... everything screamed, "I'm just making this up now, k?...
by midenianscholar
June 23rd, 2010, 11:37 am
Forum: Excerpts
Topic: First page YA fantasy critique - open to any and all advice!
Replies: 10
Views: 4570

Re: First page YA fantasy critique - open to any and all advice!

I kind of like that it starts mid-conversation. It reminds me of Antony and Cleopatra. Jumping in midway through a conversation can say a lot about how the book itself is going to play out. However, I agree with other comments that there needs to be more detail, more development even while we're lis...
by midenianscholar
June 23rd, 2010, 11:30 am
Forum: Excerpts
Topic: Excerpt--Shades of Gray: A Jude Magdalyn Novel
Replies: 6
Views: 3534

Re: Excerpt--Shades of Gray: A Jude Magdalyn Novel

Really intriguing! I would just echo what Gina Frost mentioned - there are a lot of adjectives being thrown around. I would try trimming them down, particularly in phrases like this: "...if one could imagine a little girl in the overly surgically enhanced body of a fifty some odd year old woman...
by midenianscholar
June 23rd, 2010, 11:21 am
Forum: Synopses and Plot Outlines
Topic: Synopsis - Under The Sun
Replies: 4
Views: 2881

Re: Synopsis - Under The Sun

Piggybacking on BlancheKing's suggestions, here are some questions you can ask yourself as you rewrite it: Why do they fall in love/Why do they love each other? The setting is almost irrelevant when it comes to this. If they're really in love, you've got to fight against my prejudice as the reader t...