Comments for Writing and all that

Comment on Fascinating Vintage Photographs by Philip Ray-Jones

Philip Ray-Jones — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:38:12 +0000

Supataps are still around. The washer could be changed without turning off the water. As the tap head was unscrewed a valve dropped down which stopped the water flow. In paicture 4 I think there is an electric water heater under the wooden draining board. They were known as UDB (under the draining board), they were heated by two elements, well insulated and had two tanks. One designed for filling a bath, the other a lot smaller for the sink. I have forgotten the sizes but perhaps around 5 and 25 gallons.My mother bought one in 1946-47 and it was in use for many years.

Comment on Is your writing ready to party? by Caroline Rance

Caroline Rance — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:09:42 +0000

Yes, that’s true. Some people tweet whole novels once published – I wonder if they ever get to a bit that makes them cringe!

Comment on Is your writing ready to party? by Paul Lamb

Paul Lamb — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:49:22 +0000

Thanx for the clarification. I understand better now.

And I suppose if you did post every sentence on the internet, a publisher would consider the whole novel already published and not be interested.

Comment on Is your writing ready to party? by Caroline Rance

Caroline Rance — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:59:03 +0000

I mean that seeing a sentence in isolation shows up whether it’s the best it can possibly be. Other people don’t have to understand it or like it – in fact people’s response isn’t much of an issue because I wouldn’t literally post up every sentence on the internet – it’s more of an exercise in my own mind and of course I am well aware of the context. I just want to expose any cliche, dullness or laziness that I would otherwise be too soft on.

Comment on Is your writing ready to party? by Paul Lamb

Paul Lamb — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:58:24 +0000

But context is everything! Most of what we say in an average conversation wouldn’t make sense if it wasn’t in context.

Why should a single sentence, ripped out of its context, have to be able to stand alone and sound right or make sense? Should it be grammatical? Probably. Should it be sensibly constructed? Again, probably.

The narrator of my WIP has an inflated sense of himself, and he’s well educated, so his narrative sentences are bloated, verbose, and haughty. They make sense in terms of the character and the direction he is headed in my story. They make sense in context. If you took one of his sentences on its own, most people would say it is, well, bloated, verbose, and haughty.

I don’t know. I think I must be missing your point.

Comment on Computers of the Olden Days by andyt31

andyt31 — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:32:08 +0000

I still have a lot of these machines in my personal collection at home!

See http://retrocomputers.wordpress.com/ for more info.

Comment on Is your writing ready to party? by Elliott

Elliott — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:32:21 +0000

Next parteee I have will invite you…

Elliott

*I don’t have many though so don’t start looking for party dress yet…

Comment on Why haven’t I read this yet? by Caroline Rance

Caroline Rance — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:38:05 +0000

Proulx’s Close Range collection is a great place to start.

Comment on Is your writing ready to party? by Caroline Rance

Caroline Rance — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:36:55 +0000

In my case, that’s usually the whole book… but if it’s OK on a sentence level, at least that’s something!

Comment on Is your writing ready to party? by annebrooke

annebrooke — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:09:00 +0000

Then again, one has to have something one is totally embarrassed about in a book, otherwise what’s the point of publication at all?…

)

Axxx