John Smithers

9,865 reputation

2040

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	9,865 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	2 years, 6 months
2040 badges		location			seen	48 mins ago

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Dec 16	answered	How can one make technical issues more accessible to a non-technical audience?
Dec 14	comment	How much leeway can be expected from an editor regarding my preference for nonstandard punctuation? @neilfein: don't get huffy ;)
Dec 14	comment	Can I self-publish, and how much would it cost? You could become a publisher. If you find other people, who have experience or you are willing to learn it yourself, you can publish other authors and yourself. You wouldn't be the first one doing this. But I'm not sure if this is easier than the traditional way ...
Dec 14	comment	What genre is my writing? @JSBangs: What are you talking about? The genre is mentioned: Fantasy. Plus details what it is about. Fantasy was not a new genre, the last time I looked at LotR publishing dates.
Dec 14	answered	What genre is my writing?
Dec 13	awarded	Nice Answer
Dec 13	comment	The “Rules” of Writing What a pity, @jae. But that's exactly how it works. If you can silence the editor, you will get into this flow more frequently.
Dec 13	awarded	Quorum
Dec 13	comment	The “Rules” of Writing You should link to Twain's original rule, like here: writers.stackexchange.com/questions/439/…
Dec 13	comment	Using a world created by someone else for your own fiction @slashmais: Every pen&paper roleplaying game has its book series. Warhammer, AD&D, ... There are hundreds. You should already be familiar with the universe before starting to write for it. I wouldn't go for things as big as Perry Rhodan. Too many competitive authors there and probably the Rhodan guys follow the "don't call us, we call you" strategy. But I don't know.
Dec 13	answered	Using a world created by someone else for your own fiction
Dec 11	comment	What's a normal word count for a children's novel or collection? At Amazon the page count for books for 10-years-old children varies from 120 to 350. Pick up a children's book in your collection and count the words on one page. Multiply it with the page count and you get a vague idea.
Dec 11	comment	How does one deal with world builder's syndrome? @Nathan: Your problem description sounded different to me. I would still try my first point. Start one novel without making up any rules up-front. Doing the opposite thing of what you normally do, can be a helpful experience. Maybe your problem is how you organise your material. With a different organisation method you could get the overview to say: now it's done, I can start writing the novel.
Dec 11	comment	How to deal with self-criticism? @jae: If they are worth their "money", then they will tell you how bad your writing is. They will point shamelessly and brutally to your weaknesses. You will not like it. But this is the most valuable critique you can get. If you know your weaknesses, you can eliminate them. If you want someone to say "This is great", ask your Mom. I promise you, it will not be helpful improving your writing. If you want these critics to say "This is great", you have a long way to go and you will hate them for that.
Dec 11	answered	How does one deal with world builder's syndrome?
Dec 11	answered	The “Rules” of Writing
Dec 11	answered	How to deal with self-criticism?
Dec 11	revised	How to deal with self-criticism? deleted 25 characters in body
Dec 10	comment	How not to overuse ellipsis? Thanks, @justkt. Good to know!
Dec 10	answered	Do you use the word “that” too much?