Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 1

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Sean D. Schaffer

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writerdog said:
Uh. That stare at a blank screan think won't work for me. I am epilepstic. If I were to stare for a blank anything for two hours on end, it would most likely lead to a bad siezure. Same goes for a set time. I have doctors appointments, and lots of them these days. I do, however, try to write as often as possible. Oh! And as for radios and tv and stuff, the "break" isnt a destraction for me. In fact, I find getting up periodically and changing the channel/station actually helps me. That's just me, though.


May I make a suggestion?

If you're worried about a seizure, which is a serious fear these days where a computer screen is concerned, perhaps you could do the creative portions of your writing either on a typewriter or longhand. Since a typewriter generally does not have a screen (I know some have tiny screens the size of a calculator screen for certain word-processing-like functions) and neither does writing on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil, this might help alleviate some of your fears (which I understand to be quite justified based on recent news reports).

Also, I would think that whether you set a particular time of the day to do BIC or not, is not the issue. Rather, the issue would be that you do BIC at all.


I wish you all the best, Writerdog, with your writing.
:)
 

Brickie

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*waves*

Someone on the NaNoWriMo forums pointed me in the direction of this truly epic thread, so I'm currently working my way through it. It's practically novel-length in its own right, isn't it?
 

Brickie

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Gosh.

Is there a sort of collated version of your "lessons" anywhere? Might help me cut to the meat of the discussion through the odd diversions into holy grammar wards and such like.
 

Brickie

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Sure, but it might mean that I could find something I'm interested in and zero in on it in the main thread
 

BardSkye

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Has your publisher, (or other publishers) ever indicated they might want to release "Writing with Uncle Jim"?

And on another note: I went to my favourite bookstore this morning with the express purpose of ordering a copy of Land of Mist and Snow. Didn't need to, they finally had it in stock!

I'm about 50 pages in but have to stop and actually work now.
 

Akuma

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BardSkye said:
Has your publisher, (or other publishers) ever indicated they might want to release "Writing with Uncle Jim"?

I second this idea.
 

ebrillblaiddes

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Akuma said:
I second this idea.
Heck, if it doesn't get picked up by a publisher, he could Lulu it...I'm sure enough people here would put in an order for it to be worthwhile.
 

Duncan J Macdonald

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BardSkye said:
And on another note: I went to my favourite bookstore this morning with the express purpose of ordering a copy of Land of Mist and Snow. Didn't need to, they finally had it in stock!
Heh. Of the two bookstores that I've gone into in the past couple'a days -- buying books, you know, the sort of thing that certain parties claim doesn't happen there anymore -- _Land_of_Mist_and_Snow_ was 1) on the New in Paperback table at the front of the store, and 2) Eye level on the an end-cap facing the main aisle in the Science-Fiction and Fantasy section.
 
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Ken Schneider

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Akuma said:
I second this idea.

Now if you could get the other ten thousand posters to consent to using their contributions.... We talked about this before.

Already read Land of Mist and Snow. Pre-ordered way back in Sept.

Very good Epistolary novel.

Haven't seen the book, LMAS, on the shelf here, yet, but I'm in the mid-west.
 

Akuma

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Ken Schneider said:
Now if you could get the other ten thousand posters to consent to using their contributions.... We talked about this before.



I mean, yeah, the task would be tedious and large, but I like to think most posters would give permission for their contributions, as long as they get credit.

Idealistic? More than likely. Still, it's nice to think about...
 

BrendaK

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I don't have to go to work tomorrow! And then I'm off for a week!!!!!

UJ--"Just my own contributions come to over a thousand pages in standard manucript format." Now, where have I heard that? Oh, yeah. It's a thousand pages, give or take a few. I'll be writing more in a week or two. Live long and write.

Sara King--Maybe you have, not an antagonist, but an antihero?

Anna White and Ken Schneider--Scratching in the dirt sounds useful for communication. Anna, by the way--does the alphabet in your world have to look like the Western alphabet? An alphabet with lots of straight vertical strokes would be easier to produce with claws. Or, think Roman numerals. Or, at the most basic--a 5 made with 4 verticals and 1 horizontal slash. An animal could produce 4 verticals by chance, but the slash is a deliberate addition.

YMMV.
 

BardSkye

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Akuma said:
I mean, yeah, the task would be tedious and large, but I like to think most posters would give permission for their contributions, as long as they get credit.

Idealistic? More than likely. Still, it's nice to think about...

I wasn't thinking of just copying the thread. Just Uncle Jim's posts by themselves make up a book without the replies to specific people or off-topic asides.

I know I've certainly learned more from this thread than from any other source, bar none.
 

bsolah

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BrendaK said:
I don't have to go to work tomorrow! And then I'm off for a week!!!!!

Same here. I go back on the 2nd, though, but gee it'll be good to wake up on Monday knowing I don't have to spend 8 hours wasting my time. Won't have time for writing, though. I'm camping with mates, so will just let all my ideas fester until I'm about to explode when I get home.
 

PeeDee

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I just bought a lovely hardcover copy of The Stars Asunder from the used bookstore I work in. I haven't read it yet, but it's next after The best Fantasy & Horror 2006. Honest.
 

lfraser

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Ken Schneider said:
Writing sets you free on an adventure. Always take that trip.

Thanks for that.

I've been getting my knickers in a twist for months being a perfectionist and getting nowhere. The net result is that I've virtually stopped writing for the past few weeks because it wasn't enjoyable any longer. There's been altogether too much editing and not enough flow. I forgot why I started this in the first place -- which was to have fun, and send myself off on an adventure or two.

I'll be without my computer for a few days over Christmas, but I'm taking a notebook and a supply of pens with me.
 

Lilybiz

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Right back at ya, Jim.

I don't comment a lot because my B is I my C, many thanks to you (and because I don't have that much to add). But I love love love this thread, along with you and everyone on it. Thanks, and bless you all and all the traditions you celebrate.
 
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