Joe

271 reputation

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	location	Eastern, NY
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Long time Linux user (currently kubuntu). Use Windows 98 and XP when I have to. Programed in many languages, currently using bash and awk for most things.

Have one project on sourceforge:

Duplex printing emulator for non-duplex printers (Linux) http://sourceforge.net/projects/duplexpr/

	271 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 6 months
24 badges		location	Eastern, NY		seen	May 15 at 6:49

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20 Comments

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May 15	comment	What do you do if you enjoy writing, but have no ideas? You could go to a news website where new stories keep popping up. Go to a library open a random book to a random page. There are so many places to get an initial idea - and then apply the suggestions in the answers below. How does "Genetic sequencing of the floating bladderwort" sound for a starting point (found on wikipedia's home page just now)? It even sounds funny to start with.
Apr 4	comment	How can I translate my poems in English that it doesn't sound odd/non poetic for English speaker audiences? +1 Great detailed answer.
Feb 20	comment	How can I express this fragment more clearly and concisely? "Automatically" continued: The point is to put something directly in the sentence that doesn't require a comma separated phrase which makes it "feel" difficult or complicated.
Feb 20	comment	How can I express this fragment more clearly and concisely? Your rewrite is much better. "Intended audience" probably should be reserved for a heading or index entry. The second sentence has me buggy because it's almost right. Maybe: When connected to ESP, [application] will automatically generate and collect analytic and underlying data related to [analytic metric] that would otherwise take hours to (manually?) compile. (I didn't like the extra clause - in just a few minutes, but "automatically" might not be accurate.)
Jul 18	comment	How to separate scenes in a chapter? I've seen some stories that used a graphic symbol - possibly spaced and repeated more than once (sort of like a dingbat) between scenes. It has a slightly different feel than the other methods described.
Jul 18	comment	If I'm going to hire a copyeditor, do I need to do any proofing myself? What these people usually can't catch is: did you say what you meant to say. Sometimes, reading text again from a more removed viewpoint of just fixing typos will cause something to jump out at you that might have slipped by when you were in the groove of knowing exactly what you meant and seeing it whether it was there or not. Believing is seeing.
Jun 1	comment	How to leverage social proof? +1 for shagging, LOL, but the rest of the answer is pretty good too. Combine this with the case study/statistics answer.
May 24	comment	Do I have to revise my book on paper? In addition to these good answers: You can see more context on (several sheets of) paper. People retain far more when viewing paper than on screen or in a movie. I can't site the source of the research, but when you retain more, that's also more context to look for things like flow and consitency.
May 24	comment	My cool character is doing nothing for the plot. How do I deal with him? RE The Xander ... Check out "The Common Man" in the play (not the movie!) A Man For All Seasons. He has no real role other than observing, but he's one of my favorite characters.
May 18	comment	How can you write less to say more? Along the same lines as refactoring, consider a top down approach. This is most easily done with something that supports hypertext (not hard copy). Tell them precisely the steps/concepts that are needed and provide references to more detail on each step. That way an expert can quickly recall the material and other readers can find the supporting material that explains it - with the added benefit that they can see the overall picture before learning all the details. This may even have the side benefit of making updates easier when the details change, but the overall process does not.
May 13	comment	How to handle screenplay revisions in Final Draft? Since no one else has answered: No idea of the actual answer, but there are screen writing templates/add-ons for LibreOffice that might be enough to eliminate the need for Final Draft (unless your publisher requires it in that format) and LO can export in Word format when you're ready to submit your work. LO has extensive support for revisions and for comparing two documents and updating one based on the other.
May 13	comment	Is it more advantageous to have an excerpt or a plot summary critiqued? This makes really good sense. What's the point of getting the style and details of an excerpt right (from the perspective of getting the project done) if the structure is wrong and that excerpt may have to be thrown out or largely rewritten anyway? (I understand that you can always learn from a critique of your work.) In a way, this whole discussion sounds just like top down design verses bottom up design in software. They're fundamentally different points of view, but they can be used together when it makes sense.
May 13	comment	How important is it to know the end before the writing the beginning? You could put the alternative endings (or beginnings) of your story in the box with the cat and see which one survives the collapse of reality when you open the box (the one the cat didn't chew up or litter on!). Anyway, a little uncertainty is a probably a good thing - at least until the editing is done. ;) (and it beats killing cats!) ;)
Apr 7	comment	Would it be weird if I write “a simple sample something”? @Shahbaz I'm not technically sure without more context. "Enable build" sounds like two verbs in a row with no object (noun). While "build" may actually refer to an object in context, it doesn't sound that way.
Apr 7	comment	Would it be weird if I write “a simple sample something”? @Shahbaz I'm not technically sure without more context.
Apr 5	comment	Is it overkill to follow style-guides for technical writing? @NeilFein - Are you suggesting that this process is so daunting that it will turn the OP into a semiconductor? LOL (complementary metal oxide semiconductor)
Apr 5	comment	Would it be weird if I write “a simple sample something”? Unrelated, but you might consider: "This option builds" ... or, "Select this option to build" ...
Apr 5	comment	Would it be weird if I write “a simple sample something”? +1 Much better.
Apr 5	comment	Floating vs Float +1 for a novel way of evaluating the construction and also pointing to an underlying problem
Feb 9	comment	Would a paid-for review from Kirkus give me real insight into quality of my manuscript? OP doesn't say what genre their writing fits in. Are there other similar options for works that don't fit in Sci Fi, Fantasy, and Horror?