tylerharms

623 reputation

bio	website	up.com
	location	Barcelona
	age	32
visits	member for	6 months
	seen	Apr 26 at 6:48
stats	profile views	4

I write and teach and run long distances and play a mediocre concertina.

	623 reputation	bio	website	up.com	visits	member for	6 months
10 badges		location	Barcelona		seen	Apr 26 at 6:48

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Dec 19	comment	Should you use two spaces after a period, or just a single one? Can you elucidate the reasons publishers may or may not care about this rule that modern writers are taught is a relic of a bygone age.
Dec 19	comment	Characters with no names @Tannalein: That's been my thinking, or rationalizing, so far. I am thinking of my characters as stand-ins for anybody.
Dec 19	comment	Characters with no names +1 Jay: This helps me rationalize a lot of it. I think I would certainly avoid naming peripheral characters, as you mentioned in cases like the manager. So far, I haven't run into any cases of pronoun confusion, like, "He gave the bag to him". That, though, might be the breaking point. I don't want to sacrifice clarity and concision just to keep my characters nameless stand-ins for humanity, which, btw, has been my reasoning for keeping them nameless.
Dec 18	asked	Characters with no names
Dec 17	comment	Looking for some tips on how to improve writing Yes, welcome. I would recommend paring this question down. I think that if you leave us with the first few sentences, and then ask us a pointed question about an attention grabbing technique, we could help you. As it stands, though, your question (which is three different questions) is beyond the scope of the sight
Dec 17	comment	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing? "SF: I like "soaring pain" real well, and I would argue that you have subconsciously settled on an improvement of the idiom. To your point, none of this should be criticized in a vacuum. I wouldn't recommend someone who likes flowing prose to start writing three-page Faulnerian sentences without becoming familiar with clause connecting techniques. I would recommend someone to pick out those flourishes that a particular writer makes and learn them. Maybe you share your efforts with someone in the process, and maybe that person catches some errors too. It's mimesis. It's how we improve.
Dec 16	comment	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing? @Glenn1234: Obviously, all of those elements are learned over time. My suggestion is to pick writers whom you admire and emulate the things they do well. Hemingway always get referenced in these conversations because he was so good with word economy.
Dec 16	comment	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing? @Standback: I agree. Processing feedback is an oft-overlooked element of the writing process, and it blindsides you when the feedback doesn't gel with your ideas. And only takes one innocuous comment phrased in the wrong way to throw you.
Dec 16	comment	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing? @Glenn1234: First of all, I have to point out the humor in that we're requesting that you clarify your question and your clarification is that you have been told that you lack clarity. With that said, I am reminded of a friend who had trouble clarifying his ideas. A debate coach told him he was always explaining backwards, from supporting evidence to thesis. He was given an assignment to only speak in thesis statements for a whole week of class to help him seek clarity and efficiency. Perhaps this speaks to you.
Dec 16	comment	Looking for a verb that means “making something looks very simple by ignoring its complexity or details” I agree about the somewhat pejorative connotation of oversimplify. I got the impression, though, that the OP was heading in that direction with the use of "basically" in his example sentence.
Dec 16	comment	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing? @SF: Are you saying that English teachers have issues? ;)
Dec 16	revised	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing? added 821 characters in body
Dec 16	comment	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing? That's why I suggest reading.
Dec 16	answered	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing?
Dec 16	comment	How Do You Genuinely Improve The Quality of Your Writing? This question is localized and overly general at the same time. You're asking about improving your writing by interpreting the feedback you personally have received, but we don't know what those criticisms are or in what areas of writing you would like to improve.
Dec 15	comment	Looking for a verb that means “making something looks very simple by ignoring its complexity or details” I don't know about that. Simplify means "to reduce". How would you re-phrase the sentence?
Dec 15	awarded	Critic
Dec 15	answered	Looking for a verb that means “making something looks very simple by ignoring its complexity or details”
Dec 14	answered	Is it a bad writing practice to start sentences with a verb?
Dec 13	accepted	How many short stories make a collection