The Big "Commentasaurus"-thread, For those who want to comment on multiple stories at the same time! Options

[Agent Griff]

Why do I always get categorized in the "Others" category?

Nah, I'm not upset. I remember we talked about one of my stories some time ago (a pretty long time ago actually) Minque, and I was asking you how stories were posted on the main sit since that was my main ambition at the time. Now that story is on the main site, and I'm sure I have you to thank besides Alexander and the other mods and admins since you must have put in a good word.

You also commented on my story several times in your very characteristic style (in that warm and fuzzy manner ) and I can't help but appreciate people who discuss my work.

I also feel the same way about those writers you mentioned. Top of the line, though I believe you forgot to mention Alexander. Judging by his latest story (better said epic) he deserves to be among those writers you mentioned.

[minque]

Why do I always get categorized in the "Others" category?

Nah, I'm not upset. I remember we talked about one of my stories some time ago (a pretty long time ago actually) Minque, and I was asking you how stories were posted on the main sit since that was my main ambition at the time. Now that story is on the main site, and I'm sure I have you to thank besides Alexander and the other mods and admins since you must have put in a good word.

You also commented on my story several times in your very characteristic style (in that warm and fuzzy manner ) and I can't help but appreciate people who discuss my work.

I also feel the same way about those writers you mentioned. Top of the line, though I believe you forgot to mention Alexander. Judging by his latest story (better said epic) he deserves to be among those writers you mentioned.

Awww Griffie! Sorry, my bad! I should naturally have given you a comment of your own! Bu please remember that I appreciate your writing, and have so all the time!

Of course Alex should be mentioned! His story Morrowind is really a masterpiece! Now...I'm sure he already knows that though!

[darkynd]

At the risk of necroing an old thread (although can you do that with a sticky?) I'd like to revive this thing and make some general comments about a couple of stories I've been following. Hopefully I'll be able to formulate more pointed criticisms and encouragements soon, but I want to give my impressions and maybe let the authors know they are not toiling in obscurity.

Just a little disclaimer; all of this is my opinion, and if you disagree with it, I'd be more than happy to discuss.

The Fall of Lorit (Jac) - A little story which has been showing a lot of improvement. It started out a little shaky, with a lot of simple sentences, and a lot of pronoun repetition, but Jac's steadily made it better. Two things I recommend: cut down on the pronoun repetition even further (she, he, etc.) and introduce more detail. Describe how people talk, how they look, how they move, the scenery, all that jazz.

The Cover Up (Lord Veneficus) - The prologue was a bit forced, but the second chapter was quite good. I realize it's a sequel and I never read the original, but I'm already interested in Eric. I hope Veneficus keeps up the story. A suggestion for him: get us even more acquainted with the main character! I really am curious about how he'll change as his adventures take him along.

Redsrock - I hate not to comment on one particular story, but he has so many! A very prolific writer, and very consistent in his writing. One suggestion to Redsrock: your stories are very much dialogue-driven. But (and unless memory fails, I've mentioned this before) you do need to flesh out your characters by other means as well. Note that this is mostly applicable to your third-person stories; you do very well in first-person. That is my general observation, and it's meant more to give you something to think about as you review your stories; someday soon I hope to give you (and all of these other authors) more complete comments in the stories' threads.

And that's all for today. I'd like to close by thanking all of the fine authors here. Reading your work and critiquing it is incredibly helpful to my writing process and in analyzing my own writing, and I get some first-class entertainment out of it all to boot!

This post has been edited by darkynd: Dec 10 2008, 03:19 PM

[redsrock]

Thanks, Darkynd. And yeah...you pretty much nailed it on the head. Third-person has always been harder for me than first-person. I can BE descriptive, but in the past I've been described as TOO descriptive. I just need to find that balance in between.

[darkynd]

Thanks, Darkynd. And yeah...you pretty much nailed it on the head. Third-person has always been harder for me than first-person. I can BE descriptive, but in the past I've been described as TOO descriptive. I just need to find that balance in between.

Yes, it is very hard to find that balance. Lord knows, I myself struggle with it constantly. But you're definitely heading in the right direction; you write so much, and simply writing and reading a lot is the fastest way to get better.

And I wonder, could you possibly direct me to where it was said you used too much description? I would like to see where you came from and how your writing has changed from that, and see if I could maybe lend some insight.

This post has been edited by darkynd: Dec 10 2008, 04:04 PM

[Jac]

Thanks, darkynd. One thing I've always struggled with was how much detail to put in. Too much and you can lose the reader. To little and you can risk leaving the reader with wanting more. I've never had a creative writing class, so I'm still trying to learn as I go and the feedback helps immensly.

[redsrock]

And I wonder, could you possibly direct me to where it was said you used too much description? I would like to see where you came from and how your writing has changed from that, and see if I could maybe lend some insight.

Hmm...I can't seem to remember. I know it was the early part of summer, and it very possibly could have been during my first "Tales of Teir" story. *shrug* Another thing I tend to have a problem with is telling, rather than showing.

[darkynd]

Thanks, darkynd. One thing I've always struggled with was how much detail to put in. Too much and you can lose the reader. To little and you can risk leaving the reader with wanting more. I've never had a creative writing class, so I'm still trying to learn as I go and the feedback helps immensly.

Yeah, I haven't taken one yet either. Classes are limited in being able to teach you how to write though, since it's such a personal thing. The easiest way to learn though is just read read read; and deconstruct it. Read fiction of any stripe and see what you like, what you don't like, and try to build from there.

Hmm...I can't seem to remember. I know it was the early part of summer, and it very possibly could have been during my first "Tales of Teir" story. *shrug* Another thing I tend to have a problem with is telling, rather than showing.

Well, I will trawl back through your writing...although that could possibly take a while

And I think you'll often find that 'showing' and including a fair bit of detail are pretty inextricably linked. Simply telling often doesn't require a lot of depth, so if you find that you're able to push out a story incredibly fast you might want to give it a harder look than usual. That's what I've learned from experience - and what I'm still learning.

One bit of advice that I have not yet seen on this forum but would like to bring up is this: If you have the time (which you ought to if you can waste any reading on this site ) then you should always try and break down at least some part of a story and comment on it. Even this small amount of crit will help you immensely in your own writing. By breaking a story down you learn a lot about how other people approach their writing and thus glean some additional insight into how you do so with yours. Not to mention it also helps the author of the story, so it's in everyone's best interests!

This post has been edited by darkynd: Dec 11 2008, 03:20 AM

[minque]

Ok folks, this is my way of telling you that I do read! yes I read, one part at a time, then when I've read the parts of one story...well then there's another one! So you will get comments from me, I assure you but you're all post-machines and there's no way I'll be able to stay constantly updated ...not all the time!

But I will also tell you that there's so many wonderful stories here now, I'm deeply impressed and i find it awesome that the fanfic-section here is so lively!

Thank you all writers....I love your stories and I love you all!

[mALX]

Ok folks, this is my way of telling you that I do read! yes I read, one part at a time, then when I've read the parts of one story...well then there's another one! So you will get comments from me, I assure you but you're all post-machines and there's no way I'll be able to stay constantly updated ...not all the time!

But I will also tell you that there's so many wonderful stories here now, I'm deeply impressed and i find it awesome that the fanfic-section here is so lively!

Thank you all writers....I love your stories and I love you all!

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say Thank You for having us here! You are greatly appreciated!

[minque]

hey all!

Time is hard nowadays, or rather life is hard, I have absolutely not so much time to be online as I wish...so I will just say that I'll try to catch up with your wonderful stories as soon as I can...

Eventually I will get that one whole day I'll need to do it!

Lots of love to all of you

[mALX]

hey all!

Time is hard nowadays, or rather life is hard, I have absolutely not so much time to be online as I wish...so I will just say that I'll try to catch up with your wonderful stories as soon as I can...

Eventually I will get that one whole day I'll need to do it!

Lots of love to all of you

Minque <3

It took me weeks to catch up. While I was off everyone started writing like banshees. I had to read like one to catch up. Thank you Evelyn Woods!!!

[Lord Veneficus]

The Cover Up (Lord Veneficus) - The prologue was a bit forced, but the second chapter was quite good. I realize it's a sequel and I never read the original, but I'm already interested in Eric. I hope Veneficus keeps up the story. A suggestion for him: get us even more acquainted with the main character! I really am curious about how he'll change as his adventures take him along.

Wow. I can't believe I didn't notice this. I appreciate your comments, Darkynd.

God, I have a bunch of these stories that I need to pick back up and dust off.

This post has been edited by Lord Veneficus: Mar 17 2011, 12:24 AM

[Zalphon]

To all the fanfics I didn't get to read today, you're on my list. I'll be getting you when I get time next, I assure you of that.

[Burnt Sierra]

Ok, quick post here.

First up - mALX, SubRosa, Grits and Black Hand...

Unfortunately I've been off the forums for the past year and a half (real life decided to become a nightmare), so I'm attempting to catch up on your stories. Which seeing that all of you in some regard seem to have become posting machines, (used to be your nickname Black Hand about 6 years ago if I remember correctly ), it might take me a while... I will catch up, I WILL!

Secondly:

We seem to have quite a few new writers that have appeared. Seeing as I wasn't here to welcome you when you arrived, a belated WELCOME to all of you.

Again, I will be trying my hardest to catch up on all that you've written.

*Pleads for patience and understanding*

Right then. Best get back to reading, hadn't I? Glad Minkey set up this thread now

[mALX]

Ok, quick post here.

First up - mALX, SubRosa, Grits and Black Hand...

Unfortunately I've been off the forums for the past year and a half (real life decided to become a nightmare), so I'm attempting to catch up on your stories. Which seeing that all of you in some regard seem to have become posting machines, (used to be your nickname Black Hand about 6 years ago if I remember correctly ), it might take me a while... I will catch up, I WILL!

Secondly:

We seem to have quite a few new writers that have appeared. Seeing as I wasn't here to welcome you when you arrived, a belated WELCOME to all of you.

Again, I will be trying my hardest to catch up on all that you've written.

*Pleads for patience and understanding*

Right then. Best get back to reading, hadn't I? Glad Minkey set up this thread now

Thanks Burnt Sierra! It is so good to see you back on here, hope the real life issues have resolved so we can see more of you!

[Diamandis]

Still catching up with a lot of stories here!

Really enjoying A New Sun Rises, Teresa of the Faint Smile, No Elves in Sovngarde... just to name a few!

I've managed to full catch up on one story, which is Jerric's story!

Still got plenty to go... but i'm loving everything

[mALX]

Still catching up with a lot of stories here!

Really enjoying A New Sun Rises, Teresa of the Faint Smile, No Elves in Sovngarde... just to name a few!

I've managed to full catch up on one story, which is Jerric's story!

Still got plenty to go... but i'm loving everything

Thanks Eva !!!

[Rihanae]

Slowly catching up....

Slowly slowly....

My schedule has returned to normal now...

So much to catch up on.... I CANT WAIT!

Congrats on the new book, Elizabeth! (Still need to finish the first one ) Haha

[ThatSkyrimGuy]

So, my gig that was going to keep me away for a few days fell through, but I have held back on posting to my story, A Question of Fate, to avoid getting into the "I've written so much and I want people to read it now" trap. I would like to thank Acadian, mALX, and SubRosa once again for their kind comments. I have read Acadian's "Executive Summary" of Buffy's saga, mALX's Chapter Outline of Maxical's adventures, and some of SubRosa's "Previously, on Teresa..." paragraphs. While the idea of these summaries is an excellent one, I can't live on just that. Might as well ask a thief to unlock a door and then not enter the room. Since posting comments about Chapter 1 in a post that follows Chapter 203 (in Maxical's case), I am going to start posting my comments on these stories in this thread. But it will have to wait until tonight, because I am going to be late for work if I don't get moving!