Rintaran's forum posts
That kinda was my point (*points at second sentence*). It works on the figurative level, but not the literal level. Hence the problem I have with the quote. On the literal level, even if you cut them open and put on their skin, you still won't know what it's like to be them, so the metaphor falls apart in the literal level. The figurative level, although important, is not the full extension of a piece of work. Both the literal and figurative levels must form some cohesion in order to satisfy properly. A good metaphor is meant to be interpreted Both literally and figuratively. If one of the two fails to satisfy, it's a not a particularly good metaphor. Not saying it's a bad metaphor, just not a really good one.I am going to have to disagree with you on that one bud.
Some of the best quotes and metaphors in the literary world are meant to be interpreted not only literally but also figuratively.
thetwenty0ne
Yay I was waiting for a thread like this... thanks guysstubby_01As far as I can tell, the thread's been here since the beginning of last month. But since I just joined GameSpot recently, it's kinda hard for me to have posted in it. Surprised there's so few tips still... Tip: Write a little bit every day, even if it's crap. It's even better if you're able to set aside a specific time every day to do so. By writing every day, even crap, you'll find getting through writer's block a little bit easier, and you will improve in your skill a little bit every day. By having a set time and duration, you'll be better able to accomplish this. Tip: Never throw out any of your writing. It may look like crap now, or it may not be usable in your current story, but the idea that you have lying underneath it may be valuable to you later on. Tip: Save your work often, and in more than 2 places. Computers crash, hard drives get wiped, paper burns, CDs & DVDs have 7-year life expectancies and are susceptible to a particular type of fungus (often referred to as CD-rot), and USB keys have a habit of finding the washing machine and dryer. By saving often in multiple locations, the chances of having to try to rewrite half your novel is reduced a lot. If you have access to online storage, this is probably the most convenient place to back-up your information, as a house fire can easily destroy all of your data storage devices. I think that's good for this installment. More coming soon I'm sure.
More than just you in the group Sparky, so I figured I better share it with everyone else too. I have a couple more here, and they've helped more than you could believe.
Tip: Set deadlines. I know, it's scary to even think about it. But by setting a deadline, you've given yourself something to work to, a goal with an attainable plan is set at your feet, or rather, at your pen, and all you have to do is write your way there. You will slack off, often during the first little while, but as that due date creeps up, all sorts of ideas (many of them crazy) begin to get summoned from the abyss, the muse, or where ever it is you get your ideas from. The great thing about a deadline, is that it makes you get it done. Have you ever left an essay for the last minute, but still somehow managed to crank out something that, although not the greatest, was at least done by the due date? Yeah, it's kinda like that.
Tip: Set multiple due dates for different parts of the project. One big due date at the end is all fine and dandy, but you end up leaving it for then and it ends up not nearly as good as you thought it should be. Generally, you can set the due date according to your outline (you did do an outline right?). You've got a series of events in your novel, so set due dates for when you want to have finished up to that event. Generally, in the process of my first draft, I have about 10 mini-due dates to help me along. Mini-due dates can be a little flexible, by a day or so, but you don't want to get in the habit of pushing them back, or you'll never get your work done.
Tip: No body reads the first draft, except for you. Not your Mom, your lover, your best friend, a chartered accountant, or a literary agent. No one. Hemingway said "95% of the first draft of anything is crap", and he was right. When you take a dump on the toilet, do you drag people in to see your turd? Of course not, you flush it down. And if it leaves a bit of a smear on the bowl, your flush a second time to get rid of the evidence. Sometimes you have to flush a lot, if it's really well stuck there. We're embarrassed of our crap. The first draft of a novel is the same, it's crap and we should feel a little embarrassed about it. So we flush it, or rather, flesh it out and sculpt it again. You'll want to do this several times before you show it to anyone. Plus, if you think your first draft is great, and you show it to a friend who doesn't like it, think about how discouraged you'll be. It's enough to set you off writing for a while, and you don't want that.
Tip: Don't use you parents or friends as peer editors/reviewers. Generally, you'll only get "it's good" or "it sucks", with little or no constructive criticism. Many writers create writing circles, and will share a portion of their work with each other for constructive criticism. These tend to congregate around coffee houses when you're university level or above. At high school level, looking in your local library can often turn up more than a handful of interested youth, though I'd recommend asking a teacher to volunteer as a creative writing mentor if at all possible.
Although, the idea of skinning people and putting on their skin as clothing works great for a hollywood thriller or horror movie, and you could probably make a decent investigative video game with the antagonist as the murderer/skinner... You could be on to something here.
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