Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 1

Re: Aboot

Americans are fascinated by variation in accents because we're monolingual. If we comment on the differences, we can pretend it counts as speaking more than one language.

Attempting to move this back towards the topic, I was just rereading Aliens and Linguists. Meyers complains that SF authors will do just about anything to avoid showing someone learning a new language (RNA pills, hypnosleep, the ubiquitous universal translator, etc.). I've done this myself, although I've tried to make my translator a plot *point* rather than just a plot *device*. How do other people handle this problem? Sometimes the plot permits a few months of language training that can be skipped with "...a few months later...," but sometimes not.

Ashni

Learning Languages in SF

In my SF stories, I leave it as fact that there is a common language which has prevailed over time through trade, colonization, and so on. Much like English has spread throughout the world as a major language. That doesn't mean other languages aren't predominant in their own region or even that everyone speaks English, but that there is one language which is widespread enought to be used for interactions between these regions/worlds. Then, I can use the presence of other languages to complicate the plot if required. I think it depends on whether you want to focus on languages or use the differences as a tool in the story. If language is a focus, it could be a lot of fun making use of mispronounciations, incorrect word choice and so on. If you've ever traveled and tried using that language of the country, you may have experienced this yourself. For example:

When I was 12, I went to Germany to stay with family friends for a few weeks. I had limited German behind me, and used it when I could. I once said "Ich bin heiss" which word for word translates to " I am hot." What I was actually saying was "I'm in heat." (I believe the words don't hold the same meaning if a man says them.) I was quite embarassed of course, especially considering I had been saying this for weeks before someone finally corrected me and told me "Ich habe heiss" is correct!

When I was in Japan, I used my limited amount of Japanese but the people were so appreciative that a westerner even tried to speak their language, that I got the warmest greetings and amazed looks. Who knows what interesting sentances I actually threw together without realizing it. I left blissfully ignorant of any mistakes, knowing now matter what I hadd said, I had had a great time!

Re: Language

In The Doomsday Book, Connie Willis's protagonist time-travels to medieval England. She has a physical device that translates spoken Middle English into modern English, but it isn't perfect. So she has to figure out what the device is trying to say, and she bumbles along, learning a little Middle English along with a little of everything else she encounters that's unfamiliar. The details contribute to the reader's impression of a person plopped down in a strange culture and trying to cope. It's all done well - because it was done by Connie Willis.

Synopsis

When writing a synopsis, should I follow the sequencing in the book and only reveal information to the agent as it is revealed to the person reading through the full novel? Or can/should any of the character's motivations be revealed in the synopsis earlier than they actually appear in the novel for the purpose of explaining his/her actions?

Does anyone have any sample synopsis (not a chapter by chapter breakdown) that he/she would like to share?

Welcome Joanna

Joanna,

Welcome to the board.

The editor-in-chief, who is a brilliant woman, has a very business-like approach to editing that was a good fit for me personality-wise and taught me a very practical lesson early on. Basically, she had no tolerance at all for “I am an artiste” types of writers.

Click to expand...

If you learned that lesson, you have a good chace of making it as a novelist.

And thanks for reading the whole thread from start to finish. I wish more "newbies" would do the same, on this and other threads. It cuts down on the flaming posts that say in effect, "We covered this thirty-five pages ago!"

Looking forward to more input from a fellow Canuck.

Ruth

Skill building exercises?

I am wondering what you think of writing exercises. People always give me books with them (and in fact one contains nearly every ‘lesson’ we did in the writing class I took with the well-known author. Stunning coincidence?) So---waste of time, or useful skill-builder?

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For me it depends -- if it's a basic skill, no, but if it's a more advanced skill, then perhaps.

For example, I'm now working through a book called Adios, Strunk and White. The authors are introducing complex sentence forms, and doing the exercises is much more useful than just reading examples.

Various

Julie> I think a synopsis should follow the same order as the book, in order to allow the reader to appreciate how you develop any suspense in the story. Not that I'm an expert, but it _seems_ right to do it that way!

On the subject of grammatical problems in regional dialects, I spent formative years of my life in Cornwall, where there are some peculiar perversions of the English language in common use. Particularly in terms of pronoun and preposition usage:

Where'd'you get they to?
I was up Truro and saw 'em in shop window.
I'll get over and get me some dreckly.

(Dreckly is a contraction of 'directly', which has been described as 'similar to the Spanish mañana, only without the sense of urgency')

Dreckly

'similar to the Spanish mañana, only without the sense of urgency' <img border=0 src="http://www.absolutewrite.com/images/Emoterofl5.gif" />

Dreckly, hm. I must remember that.

Re: Aboot

Americans are fascinated by variation in accents because we're monolingual. If we comment on the differences, we can pretend it counts as speaking more than one language.

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You should get out more. Most American cities are far from monolingual...

I'd say that most people are, if not fascinated, at least interested in [or sometimes perplexed by] the many accents within a shared language.

I live in Costa Rica and once helped "translate" the English of an Australian for a Costa Rican tourist guide who was fluent in English but found an Aussie accent unintelligible.

I also met a Peruvian woman in Nicaragua who spoke fluent English, but with a Dutch accent! She'd learned English while working in the Netherlands.

Patriarch...

Out of curiosity:

Whatever happened to the venerable patriarch of this thread?

Re: Learn Writing with Uncle Jim

You know, I was wondering the same thing.
Uncle Jim, where are you?!
:shrug

Re: Various

If I remember correctly, I think Jim said something about a conference or workshop or something looming on his near-horizon.

Re: Patriarch...

Whatever happened to the venerable patriarch of this thread?

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'Probably writing,' he deadpanned






bloody typos

Re: Patriarch...

Evan,

This is a sacred thread regarding Uncle Jim. I think it ill-advised to incite the mob that hangs around these parts by calling him a deadpan...

~ R.Q.

Re: Patriarch...

Robert,

Sacred cows are always the first to the barbecue.

Thanks for the heads-up on the typo. Miffed my whole joke.

-Evan

Skill building exercises

"I am wondering what you think of writing exercises. People always give me books with them (and in fact one contains nearly every ‘lesson’ we did in the writing class I took with the well-known author. Stunning coincidence?) So---waste of time, or useful skill-builder?"

When I was younger I worked through a lot of exercises and read and applied Strunk and White, The Elements of Style to my writing. I also copied parts of books that I liked just to keep the information (kind of a summary of the info in a book).

Then I went out into the world to work, thinking I'd have to do art and writing once I'd put a roof over my head and food in my stomach.

Now, that I've come back to writing much of these skills have stayed with me. But there is at least one thing I run into in each short story that needs work (It feels like it can be better, or I realize that I'm not actually sure that I'm punctuating it right). Then I go looking for some exercises or examples of what I'm weak on and work at them until I feel confident. Yes, I find them helpful.

They can be part of the million words we need to write.

Watcher:thumbs

Oh, by the way, the British say we Canadians have ice and snow in our accents!

And about Jim...
I'm guessing he might have given us "the great place to fish" as a hint that he might be taking a vacation. Do you think maybe?

Re: details

On a similar vein to "about/aboot" and it being a giveaway about authorial preparation, I read a Star Trek novel years ago by Peter David in which he used parts of the Jewish seder plate as names for his villains. I am sure he thought they were great exotic-sounding alien names, but I think he neglected to take into account that every single Jewish person reading the book would immediately know where he had filched them from. Personally, I did know---and I found it quite difficult to take the villains seriously when their names were essentially Bitter Herb (the leader) and his cohorts Boiled Egg, Shankbone and Green Leafy Vegetable.

Re: details

Good one Joanna!


:rofl

Re: Patriarch...

"Shankbone" I can handle. But dueling to the death with some nefarious criminal named "Hard Boiled Egg" might prove my undoing.

Re: Patriarch

I believe Uncle Jim is stuffing many, many books in little boxes, wrapping china in newspaper, and eating pizza off paper plates.


nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/

whither Uncle Jim

Uncle Jim is indeed helping with many boxes, many many boxes, and yet more boxes.

He is off being a mensch for some of our friends (see Making Light). Alas, my back and my desk covered in mss. that need typesetting and/or copyediting didn't let me join the moving party.

(This is Nancy -- hello. I am an old friend of Jim's, and am a freelance editor (no, I don't buy books; I just fiddle with 'em, so to speak) and production maven for a couple of publishing houses.)

Re: details

Welcome Nancy. Any friend of Jim's is no doubt a brain worth picking. I hope you'll visit and chime in often.

Re: Patriarch...

Thanks for the welcome! I will try to at least peek in here when I'm avoiding work on my desk.

(I'm sure Jim has told you guys all about "waxing the cat," right?)

Re: Patriarch

Waxing the cat? No, not that I can remember.

Quick, tell us before he digs himself out from under those boxes...:jump

Re: whither Uncle Jim

Ah...... Waxing the cat.

Ever have That Book sitting on your desk (so to speak), and you do anything to avoid writing? Wash the dishes (five times a day), mow the yard, trim the bushes, take a walk, build a new barn from scratch .... ANYTHING but write the manuscript that is driving you nuts, taunting you, whining to you, telling you that you have to come back and write -- but you just can't. Avoidance behavior.

When you've done everything you possibly can (in my case, all the silver in the house has been polished to perfection), you ...

... wax the cat.