{ ＩＮＫＬＩＮＧＳ v.4 } A Thread For Writers

[Greenleaf]

Do you like "classic" books? Why or why not?
For the most part, I like them! The classics have a lot of impact and influence on literature as we know it today, so personally, I find them really fascinating to read. A bunch of them are a bit odd to me, or too complex for me to understand at the moment (a classmate of mine was reading something by Dostoevsky recently and neither of us could understand a word of it lol), but there are also plenty that are really very good. Currently I'm making my way through some Poirot and Jeeves, hopefully Raffles if I have the time over the summer. I have a lot of unread classics sitting around my home - I hope to finish them all soon. (On the topic of classics, I would really recommend the books of PG Wodehouse for anyone to read - all his books are absolutely hilarious.)

What's a story that has changed your mind about something?
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. It changed my views on war and forced me to reconsider the topic in a far more respectful manner.

Do you feel you have any writing quirks?
An abundance of run-on sentences, lol. I'm also overly wordy, though I'm trying to change that.

[The Worst Username]

@Greenleaf

I love your sig--happy pride month!

What's a story that has changed your mind about something?

There's a ridiculous ton of books, but the ones that come to mind are A Thousand Splendid Suns and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, which my friends and I refer to as "the ultimate pretentious white people book" (take that title as you may :P). The former taught me a lot about life, war, and culture in Afghanistan; the latter taught me a lot about racism, crime, interracial relationships, jail, and life in inner-city Black communities in the 30s.

I haven't read many stories that changed my mind, but I've read a lot that made me go from "ignorant on a topic" to "less ignorant on said topic".

Also, am I the only one here who doesn't like donuts?

[Ranger of the North]

Also, am I the only one here who doesn't like donuts?

Yes.

[blackbird.]

ack, sorry i've been away so long! i went on a holiday and horribly overestimated the presence of wifi in the countryside hah
ooh okay so let me get started on the questions and then later on i'll try to post comments/critiques of some of the written stuff posted!

what are you inspired by?
real life, actually! a lot of what i write is character-driven, and i'm inspired by different factions of my personality, as well as the personality of others. i'm inspired when i witness conflicts in character motivations and in beliefs, especially when there's no right or wrong, no clear and obvious "good guy".

do you like "classic" books? why or why not?
yes i do! a lot of it is due to my upbringing, because my mother taught english lit at a higher level so i was exposed to classic literature (which my mother called "real literature" sometimes). so i grew up on bronte and austen and all that stuff, and that kind of stuck as i read books by authors such as orwell, huxley, wilde, and one of my favourite authors is dickens (long-winded and over-descriptive as he may be). i really enjoy poetry a great deal (william blake is bae), especially wordsworth and yeats and dickinson. even until now i've never read any of meyer's books, nor the hunger games series or most ya novels because that's not what i'm brought up to like - not saying they're bad, or that they're "fake literature", it's just that i'm not in the demographic that it appeals to.

how would you go about writing about a sensitive topic (mental health, some kind of trauma, etc)?
research! and lots of it. i try to write something i at least know about (mental health, poverty, marginalisation) and i try to ask for opinions and see things with my own eyes before i actually write about it. for example, i wouldn't even dream of writing about war because i admit know nothing about it except through what i've read. i also try to stay away from female discrimination and sexism because i don't feel i have the right to talk about it. heavens knows the last thing i want is for victims to feel upset or even insulted just because of my own ignorance.




Also, am I the only one here who doesn't like donuts?

Yes.


i'm gluten intolerant so i don't eat doughnuts - does that count? cx

[blackbird.]

sorry for the double-posting but as promised in my last post, some comments about writing posted while i was away!
(hopefully i didn't miss anything out)

yo! it's been a while since ive posted here,
but I wanted some opinions on this poem
I wrote a while ago. it's simply called
if only, and it bears a pretty serious
tone to it.

━━━━━━━━

If only I could release every wretched
twisted thought condemned
within my bellowing lungs
​
If only I could glare deeper
past the exterior of the skin
to snap apart the bones inside

If only I could release my words
from my swollen throat
onto your limp skin

if only I had the courage
to tear this world apart

i really like this piece! the way the words flow and the way each one just links to the next is amazing and the vivid descriptions are just wonderful. i particularly like the line "twisted thought condemned" because it's just so ominous and feels like there's so much meaning and pain behind it. i love the serious undertone to it, the anger and frustration and yet the hopeful tone to it. out of curiosity, is the non-capitalised "if" in the last stanza a stylistic device? and if so, it'd be great to hear the reasoning behind it! i guess the only critique i can give is to improve the diction in the third stanza - phrases like "swollen throat" and "limp skin" seem out of place because of the simplicity of the words compared to "exterior" or "wretched" or "condemned". perhaps words such as "engorged" or "flaccid" would provide deeper and richer descriptions? idk just a thought! also i feel like it'd be fantastic if you expanded on it! a poem entitled "if only" seems to suggest that there's something lacking, and it's mentioned briefly in the last stanza as courage, but why so? is it because the persona is afraid of judgment? consequences? inadequacy? but overall it's amazing! great job c:
(bleargh sorry it's so long but a poem as great as that inspired me to write a review as long as this!)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Also, I wrote a thing last night~!
So... you have no back-story, no idea who these people are, no idea what's going on (I think), and I haven't looked this over yet, haha... But anyways, it's from the same guy who 'wrote' invisible bunny-ears the small piece at the start of this post. Um. So I hope you can make heads or tails of it enjoy it, and... I'd appreciate feedback, but yeah?? Very much a WIP lol. and I still don't know if the end makes proper sense, so this is going to be fun lolol XD

xxxxxHe waited outside — for how long he didn't know — scuffing his boots in the dehydrated dust. Heat beat down rhythmically, almost forcefully, on his exposed neck. And the stillness was stifling. Uncharacteristically, the camp was hushed and quiet. Stunned and in shock. Only the sound of soft weeping broke through the thick fog in his mind.
xxxxxFinally — finally — Jerry emerged from the tent. His eyes were hollow and bloodshot; haunted; his face an icy white. As his mate walked by without a word or a glance, a stab of pain ricocheted through Jared's heart. The world was suddenly too large.
xxxxxSteeling himself, he brushed the tentflap aside and forced himself into the tent, launching forward almost too fast to stop himself.
xxxxxThe low, ragged stretcher stood alone, bearing a single body. Blood soaked his arm and chest; sweat stood out against his deathly-pale skin, and a bandage wrapped his forehead.
xxxxxThe soldier stumbled forward, dropping unsteadily to his knees and clasping the other man's limp hand in his as his eyes blurred.
xxxxxWhy did life have to be this way? It wasn't fair.
xxxxx“You'll be right, Frank,” he murmured brokenly, squeezing the limp hand. “You'll be right, I'll get you home — I'll get you home to Emmie again.”
xxxxxSuddenly Frank's eyes shot open, bleary and wild as they rolled in his head; Jared straightened, pressing an arm against the other's chest to keep him still.
xxxxx“Sh, sh, sh — you're alright. It's alright, Frankie,” he murmured soothingly, pain and fear and hope tightening his throat. “You'll be alright.”
xxxxxFrank's unfocused eyes landed on his comrade's, and he opened his mouth a few times; no sound came out.
xxxxx“Red?” he gasped finally, voice gurgling sickeningly. “That-that you, mate?”
xxxxxJared nodded and sniffed, realising only as he squeezed the feebly-twitching hand that his cheeks were wet.
xxxxx“Yeah — yeah, it's me,” he affirmed gruffly. “It's me, mate; it's me, Frankie.” A brief, watery smile worked its way across Jared's face before wavering away.
xxxxx“I-I need — I did — I-I drew — you need to — promise me!” Frank's throat and lungs sounded full of phlegm, and Red felt his heart sink like a stone to the toes of his boots.
xxxxx“Of course — anything, mate — anything.”
xxxxx“I — I need you — to — to-to-to — to — ” Frank's hands scrabbled desperately at his jacket-pocket and Jared lunged forward, restraining his friend.
xxxxx“Hang on, mate, I'll get it for ya.” It was hard — so, so hard, to sound cheerful; to be reassuring; to not sink in the swamp of pain and grief and bitter hatred. Bitter everything. And hold himself together. But he had to. And he was.
xxxxxAll he found in Frank's pocket was paper — but it was worth a-thousand times its weight in gold.
xxxxx“T-take it — for... me. To... to — to Gerald — Geraldine Mcmill...”
xxxxx“A new one, huh, Frankie?” Red grimaced in amusement. “But 'Mcmill' — that's not a name; Geraldine who?...” The words died in his throat as he glanced at the other man.
xxxxxExpressionless. Cold. White. Blank.
xxxxx“Frank-Frankie? Frankie, no! NO!” Not another one — another childhood buddy —
xxxxx“Doctor!” Jared screamed — then instincts took over; the rush of adrenaline before a charge. “Medic! MEDIIIIC!!”

this is great as an intro! i like so much how you started out with the descriptions - enough to establish the setting and short enough that the reader doesn't begin shifting in nervous anticipation. fantastic writing to show and not tell the emotions of the characters, and i especially like the subtlety with which the characters display their emotions. feelings are overwhelming to them, but there is still some constraint and that adds more sadness compared to outright bawling, for instance. interesting start to a story as it starts with a death - leading to questions like 'who?' and 'how?' and 'why?' - and of course, there's the lead up to the quest jared must take to find this geraldine mcmill, leaving the reader to want to know how jared's going to do that and whether he's going to be able to do it or not. so yeah, great writing! are you going to be continuing this?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Also, would anyone mind reading this? I'm really enjoying writing it, but one chapter takes me sooooo long. Does anyone have some tips? I'd also like to have some more readers. Ranger's reading it already but it feels like a ghost town. :p

just spent the last couple of hours on-off reading it! should i leave comments here or on the thread itself? or pm? c:

[Ranger of the North]

~snip~

this is great as an intro! i like so much how you started out with the descriptions - enough to establish the setting and short enough that the reader doesn't begin shifting in nervous anticipation. fantastic writing to show and not tell the emotions of the characters, and i especially like the subtlety with which the characters display their emotions. feelings are overwhelming to them, but there is still some constraint and that adds more sadness compared to outright bawling, for instance. interesting start to a story as it starts with a death - leading to questions like 'who?' and 'how?' and 'why?' - and of course, there's the lead up to the quest jared must take to find this geraldine mcmill, leaving the reader to want to know how jared's going to do that and whether he's going to be able to do it or not. so yeah, great writing! are you going to be continuing this?

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━


~snip~

aaaaah, thank you so much!! <3 I'm glad you took that from their reactions/emotions, because that does sum up what I was trying to do almost perfectly And yesss, the mysterious Miss Geraldine.... I'm glad you liked it, and I'm totally continuing; possibly for Camp NaNo next month Thanks for the encouragement! <3

[ukiiyo]

Aha, there we go! Thanks, Py; I have it saved on my computer, but not on my phone XP


I found a cool video last night: toodle-oo
I found it rather encouraging. So yeah~ c:


Also, I wrote a thing last night~!
So... you have no back-story, no idea who these people are, no idea what's going on (I think), and I haven't looked this over yet, haha... But anyways, it's from the same guy who 'wrote' invisible bunny-ears the small piece at the start of this post. Um. So I hope you can make heads or tails of it enjoy it, and... I'd appreciate feedback, but yeah?? Very much a WIP lol. and I still don't know if the end makes proper sense, so this is going to be fun lolol XD

xxxxxHe waited outside — for how long he didn't know — scuffing his boots in the dehydrated dust. Heat beat down rhythmically, almost forcefully, on his exposed neck. And the stillness was stifling. Uncharacteristically, the camp was hushed and quiet. Stunned and in shock. Only the sound of soft weeping broke through the thick fog in his mind.
xxxxxFinally — finally — Jerry emerged from the tent. His eyes were hollow and bloodshot; haunted; his face an icy white. As his mate walked by without a word or a glance, a stab of pain ricocheted through Jared's heart. The world was suddenly too large.
xxxxxSteeling himself, he brushed the tentflap aside and forced himself into the tent, launching forward almost too fast to stop himself.
xxxxxThe low, ragged stretcher stood alone, bearing a single body. Blood soaked his arm and chest; sweat stood out against his deathly-pale skin, and a bandage wrapped his forehead.
xxxxxThe soldier stumbled forward, dropping unsteadily to his knees and clasping the other man's limp hand in his as his eyes blurred.
xxxxxWhy did life have to be this way? It wasn't fair.
xxxxx“You'll be right, Frank,” he murmured brokenly, squeezing the limp hand. “You'll be right, I'll get you home — I'll get you home to Emmie again.”
xxxxxSuddenly Frank's eyes shot open, bleary and wild as they rolled in his head; Jared straightened, pressing an arm against the other's chest to keep him still.
xxxxx“Sh, sh, sh — you're alright. It's alright, Frankie,” he murmured soothingly, pain and fear and hope tightening his throat. “You'll be alright.”
xxxxxFrank's unfocused eyes landed on his comrade's, and he opened his mouth a few times; no sound came out.
xxxxx“Red?” he gasped finally, voice gurgling sickeningly. “That-that you, mate?”
xxxxxJared nodded and sniffed, realising only as he squeezed the feebly-twitching hand that his cheeks were wet.
xxxxx“Yeah — yeah, it's me,” he affirmed gruffly. “It's me, mate; it's me, Frankie.” A brief, watery smile worked its way across Jared's face before wavering away.
xxxxx“I-I need — I did — I-I drew — you need to — promise me!” Frank's throat and lungs sounded full of phlegm, and Red felt his heart sink like a stone to the toes of his boots.
xxxxx“Of course — anything, mate — anything.”
xxxxx“I — I need you — to — to-to-to — to — ” Frank's hands scrabbled desperately at his jacket-pocket and Jared lunged forward, restraining his friend.
xxxxx“Hang on, mate, I'll get it for ya.” It was hard — so, so hard, to sound cheerful; to be reassuring; to not sink in the swamp of pain and grief and bitter hatred. Bitter everything. And hold himself together. But he had to. And he was.
xxxxxAll he found in Frank's pocket was paper — but it was worth a-thousand times its weight in gold.
xxxxx“T-take it — for... me. To... to — to Gerald — Geraldine Mcmill...”
xxxxx“A new one, huh, Frankie?” Red grimaced in amusement. “But 'Mcmill' — that's not a name; Geraldine who?...” The words died in his throat as he glanced at the other man.
xxxxxExpressionless. Cold. White. Blank.
xxxxx“Frank-Frankie? Frankie, no! NO!” Not another one — another childhood buddy —
xxxxx“Doctor!” Jared screamed — then instincts took over; the rush of adrenaline before a charge. “Medic! MEDIIIIC!!”

Wow! This Is amazing. Your writing style is one I could die for o-o

[Ranger of the North]

~snip~

Wow! This Is amazing. Your writing style is one I could die for o-o

Awww, thank you so much!!

Who's planning to do Camp NaNo next month? I'm thinking of maybe making a combined Inklings/Lazy Writer cabin, but it depends on how many people are interested/don't already have cabins

[Pyjaks]

~snip~

Wow! This Is amazing. Your writing style is one I could die for o-o

Awww, thank you so much!!

Who's planning to do Camp NaNo next month? I'm thinking of maybe making a combined Inklings/Lazy Writer cabin, but it depends on how many people are interested/don't already have cabins

Me!!! I'd join a Cabin:0 though admittedly I have no idea what they are

[Ranger of the North]

Who's planning to do Camp NaNo next month? I'm thinking of maybe making a combined Inklings/Lazy Writer cabin, but it depends on how many people are interested/don't already have cabins

Me!!! I'd join a Cabin:0 though admittedly I have no idea what they are

XD basically just a chat-room thingy; you can have up to twenty people in one. c:
What's your name on the site, btw? I didn't know you had an account!