Fencer for Jesus Congratulations on finishing the book, wow you write quickly! I hope it doesn't take too long to get it the way you want it.
*edit* I have now read all the posts i missed and if you still haven't thought of a name wild rose what about using the word for black or dark or shadow ect. in another language. (Yes I am copying The Little White Horse ) I hope this helps

All right, in the near future I'm going to write a story set in Russia at the time of Czar Nicholas Romanov, and involving ballet and the army. I was wonder, how do you guys do research? Do you do it before you write anything, or do you get your basic story written and then go back and research and sort of edit and change the story once you've learned? I was thinking researching after you've written it would be easier, that way you know your characters and you won't run the risk of reading all this research and letting it influence you so that you're just writing a history of Russia with a few fictional characters thrown in (which is what I hate about most historical fiction).

When I do research for my stories (especially when I am writing historcal fiction) I like to make a sort of broad study before I start writing, that helps to give me a basic idea of how people lived, what was the general trend and way of life, what was popular, what wasn't, usually it's very basic and just to help me in writing, then once I have finished my first draft I go back and research some more. Like when I writing my novel set during the French Revolution, I didn't know much about French life right before and during the Revolution and some of the things that I originally planned to write just wouldn't have made much sense and would have given me a lot of headach replanning and rewriting later. So I read a few articles about the French way of life in those days, about the French Revolution, the causes, the way people lived when it happened and got a basic picture of what I was writing about, then I wrote the novel and will get back to it in September for editing, and I'll do a more intense research

I have now read all the posts i missed and if you still haven't thought of a name wild rose what about using the word for black or dark or shadow ect. in another language

oh wow, I really like that idea, thanks, that will really help me out

Does anybody have sugestions for writing through writers block or should I just leave it and come back later?

I'm not a good or experiance writer but I have found from what little experiance I have at writing is that even if I have writer's block I should keep writing, I fore myself to write a whole bunch of nonsense and then at one point I suddenly realie the that I start making some sense Sometimes I do try and wait for the writer;s block to go away but I have found that waiting just doesn't help me. I can't speak for everyone and maybe for some people it helps to step back and wait a awhile, just for me personally I found that forcing myself to write helpt to lift the writer's block. Actually that is what Leo Tolstoy did too, he would lock himself in his room for four or five hours and force himself to write. He would say that you can't always wait for the insperation to come to you, do the work and the insperation will come. Anway I hope this helps some

So I have a question about something that's been bothering me for a while:

When I'm writing some action sequence in a story of mine (Or any sort of sequence, for that matter, whether it's in first person or third person) I always feel like I have to many "I"s or "She"s and stuff like that. "She did this, and then she did that, and then she did something else." Sometimes I try to fix it by saying, "She did this, then that, and then something else." But that, too, feels kind of messy. Other times I'll try to add a lot of detail and get really specific as to what's going on. But then sometimes that feels like it's getting bogged down.

So does anybody have any advice for reducing the amount of pronouns when writing?

Is the action scene a fight sequence, a chase sequence or what? If there are more than one person involved, change up who is doing what. In a sword fight, (or martial arts or gun), do the actions from one person, then do the actions from the other. That shows both sides and also prevents too many pronouns because you have to change the name the pronoun is references. Also to help with blocky sentence structures, add prepositionatory phrases to start out some sentences. Not all but some. For exampe this is one line from one of my action scenes: "Closing the distance, Edomare spun his spear vertically to strike Jacen in the chin with the butt (of the spear)."

So add variety but not necessarily too much. Something else that will really help is to try to get your reader to be in the action sequence. Make your reader feel like he/she is involved in the action or is a front-row spectator. The line I provided is done from the spectator perspective, but I have other actions scenes that will make you feel like you are the one wielding the sword. If you do the scene like a narrator just describing it, it will feel blocky and messy. But if you do the scene like you are showing it, it will flow much better.

What exactly do you mean by showing a scene as opposed to describing it?

Thanks for the advice wild rose, considering it worked for Tolstoy I think I'll try it! I'm glad my suggestion was helpful. Right I'm going to go, metaphorically, actually I'm goibg to sit exactly where I am and write (at least until I'm forced to go down stairs and eat breakfast.).
Jill

I have a couple questions concerning word choice.

There are some words that, in English and Writing textbooks, we are told never to use; either because they're not descriptive enough, or are just considered poor writing when used.

1. "Pretty". My textbooks tell me never to use this. It calls it a cop-out word that is used when the writer can't think of one better, and they say it's too vague. But I know many instances when "pretty" really was the best word, and the definition I have always given it is much more than just "a vague cop-out word". To me, it's a very light, delicate variation of the word "beautiful". And I've seen it used many times in classic literature, in ways that it fit very nicely. Like when C.S. Lewis wrote that Bacchus's face was "almost too pretty to be a boy's". I don't see how that's poor writing on Lewis's part, and I certainly don't see any need to rewrite that sentence.

2. Adjectives and Adverbs ending in "-ly". Happily, smugly, stubbornly, etc. I've seen multiple sources say to not use these at all if you can, because it's "poor writing". They would rather you say, "She stood with stubborness" than "She stood stubbornly", even though it says the exact same thing. They just want to get those "-ly" words out of there. The site also said that while some classic authors will use a "-ly" word once in a while, it's very rare; and very hard to come across instances of it in such well-written books. But I literally found five instances just on one page of Booth Tarkington's Alice Adams. To make sure it wasn't a one-time occurrence, I also checked another classic book. To Kill a Mockingbird also had five instances all on one page.

So what's the deal with this? Is it really that terrible to break the rules these textbooks are giving me? They don't seem to have any method in their madness, as far as I can see. Will I really be a bad author if I use words like "pretty" and "stubbornly"? Will publishing houses refuse me, or editors mark up my books? Or should the advice of these sites and textbooks be tossed out?

~Riella

Thanks, wild rose! That amount of research you said you did is about the amount that I do when I'm going to be writing a period novel. I generally pull up a Wikipedia page on whatever I want to learn about and just skim until I get the general idea. The thought of researching in minute detail while I've got a great story waiting in my mind just always daunts me.

Ithilwen, I've never heard of not using -ly words, but I have heard of not using words like 'pretty'. In the writing books I've read, they say that writing rules aren't always set in stone. To quote Pirates of the Caribbean: "They're more of guidelines, anyway." They said it's a good idea to follow the common known rules, but sometimes you can get away with breaking or bending them (And like every publisher, agent, and author will have myriads of conflicting rules, so you have to break some at some point). I would say those rules are there so that you won't fill your book with pretty eyes, pretty lips, pretty sunsets. I think if you think out your sentences and really make sure that whatever word you wanted to use would make the sentence stronger, than go for it. I mean, if the book is well written and interesting, I highly doubt a publisher is going to throw it back just because the main character was dancing 'jauntily' and sang a 'pretty' tune.

Gathmandais, It's the difference between 'telling' and 'showing'. Let's say you have a scene where a character is caught in a burning building and trying to get out. If you were to mere describe the scene via telling, you would say the building was on fire, the character was desperate to get out and eventually found a way. Or something like that. 'Showing' is different. What does the character feel? Physically, emotionally? How hot is building due to the fire? How does the character breathe in the smoke? What kind of sounds are going on as the fire eats the building? Don't have the reader look at the scene like there is a TV screen between them. Have the reader feel like he/she is in the building. Does that help?

Oh, you guys are great. I love reading over all this discussion.

Fencer, in response to your question, I expect my novel to be between 50-60k when it's done. Right now I'm a bit ahead of myself to be looking for readers, since I don't expect to finish this draft for a little while. But if you're still open to reading it when the time comes, I'd love to hear your comments. Somehow I know you'd have some very helpful things to say.

On Research: I usually am inspired to write about things I already know a great deal about. Generally, I try to know everything I can about the era or setting before I begin, and I often end up researching a couple more things along the way, for detail's sake. Submitting your work to someone who might know about it (like a ballerina or someone from Russia in your case, viridian_hues) helps to work out the little kinks later.

Ithilwen: I'd never heard not to use '-ly' words, though I have noticed that this can easily be overdone (one of my major weak points). I don't think there's anything wrong with using words like 'pretty', 'good,' or 'nice, as long as they are not overused. I'd say that whenever you can, try and substitute with another word.

FencerforJesus, oh, that makes sense. Okay, thanks!

Though it wasn't directed towards me, I really enjoyed reading your last post, Fencer - it gave me some food for thought in my writing, and encouraged me. Thank you!

I asked that question because I've been trying to write a story (I'm currently working on the 6th chapter). Anyway, I posted the first chapter on my blog. I would really appreciate anyone who would read it and then tell me what they think, either by commenting on it there or sending me a PM here. Or, of course, by posting a reply to this comment. So here's the link: http://literaevictoriae.wordpress.com/2 ... chapter-1/

I look a look at your chapter. Overall, I think you did a pretty good job. You depicted the action quite well. Dialogue seem realistic to me. But there were a few things that stood out to me. First off, I pictured your MC to be female at first and didn't think he was male until the name' Phillip' came into picture. The other major thing is distinguishing between the narrator telling the story and tellling his thoughts. Because it's 1st person, you are totally free to be inside the head of the main character. So no issues in that regard. You just need to go over again the transitions between when the story is being told and when you are expressing the narrator's thoughts. But aside from that and a few spelling errors (I'm don't judge on that unless it is ready for a final polishing) not bad. Keep working on it.