These might seem like a dumb questions..

anotherday12 · Jan 6, 2010

Actually they somewhat are dumb questions so I'll just get to it.

When writing is it okay to use a fake city but say it's around a city that is actually real?
If a character is listening to a song is it okay to put the song name and the artist? I just have music class from 5th grade still stuck in my head and can hear my old teacher saying "When someone is writing/singing something and they use an artists name or a famous persons in it they have to get their permission"
When a character is thinking something or saying something inside their mind should it be put in italics or should I put 'yadiyadiyadi' < like that?
Should I continue to use Microsoft Works Word Processor? If not, what should I use? Also, if you have ideas of what would be easier/better to use, something kinda cheap?
If a character comes into the story and doesn't talk perfect English more so bionics is it okay for them to speak like "No man what chu talkin' bout?" If you catch my drift.
How the piss to get over writers block! I've put my work away and tried not to think about it and gone back but I just can't get the words on the screen. I have SO many ideas in my mind and SO many conversations in my mind but I just can't seem to put it down without it looked jumbled.

Yeah, I meant Ebonics. *smacks forehead*

I didn't mean blacks for Ebonics. It's more so white drug dealers. Unfortunately, throughout my life I had to deal with running into drug dealers and they all pretty much spoke as if they didn't get an education. I didn't mean to put a certain race on the spotlight >.<

Thanks

.

kaitie · Jan 6, 2010

1. Sure.

2. You only need permission if you use lyrics. Names and titles are okay.
3. Totally up to you.
4. No idea, never used it.
5. Go read the Moonrat's blog post from a couple of days ago. I'm not giving my opinion on this here but I'm wary of it myself.
6. http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166318

Libbie · Jan 6, 2010

I believe you mean Ebonics, not bionics.

blacbird · Jan 6, 2010

1. Yes.
2. Yes. Names and titles are not protected by copyright. But you can't quote lyrics without permission, unless the song is so old that it has lapsed into public domain.
3. I'd recommend italics, but there must be a hundred threads in various forums here devoted to this issue. Go search.
4. No. If you don't want to spend money, go download OpenOffice, which is free, and pretty good.
5. Don't use "phonetic" spelling, unless you desire instant rejection from any editor you submit to. Awkwardness in word choice, from a speaker not thoroughly fluent in English, works much better, as long as you render it well.
6. Talisker, Laphroaig, Oban, Highland Park, Lagavulin, Cragganmore.

caw

Mara · Jan 7, 2010

1. Yes.

2. No knowledge of the subject here.

3. Italics or just plain text without the quotation marks is the "official" way, from what I've read. But I'm sure publishers have their own standards.

4. I use OpenOffice. It's both free and high quality.

5. Don't use phonetic spellings, as they're hard to read.

Also, speaking as a historian, there's some very unpleasant history around phonetic spellings of Afro-American dialects. (Mostly around the 1870s-1940s era.) I'd strongly recommend you avoid it.

6. Try opening several documents, or a single document with a lot of page breaks to separate sections. Write different scenes in different documents. That way you can switch back and forth whenever you can't concentrate on a particular idea.

Also, the first draft is generally going to suck, even for veteran writers. So don't worry so much if it's a little jumbled.

stephenf · Jan 7, 2010

4 If you're happy with works ,stick with it, until you have a good reason to change.

Linda Adams · Jan 7, 2010

When writing is it okay to use a fake city but say it's around a city that is actually real?

Sure, why not? Sue Grafton took a real city and gave it a fake name (her Santa Teresa is Santa Barbara).

If a character is listening to a song is it okay to put the song name and the artist? I just have music class from 5th grade still stuck in my head and can hear my old teacher saying "When someone is writing/singing something and they use an artists name or a famous persons in it they have to get their permission"

Run a search on the boards. This is a regularly discussed topic.

When a character is thinking something or saying something inside their mind should it be put in italics or should I put 'yadiyadiyadi' < like that?

Check out the stickies at the top of the Novel board. There's a fairly detailed post on manuscript format that will give you the answer to your question.

Should I continue to use Microsoft Works Word Processor? If not, what should I use? Also, if you have ideas of what would be easier/better to use, something kinda cheap?

There's nothing wrong with using it. If you already have it and are fine with it, don't worry about it.

If a character comes into the story and doesn't talk perfect English more so bionics is it okay for them to speak like "No man what chu talkin' bout?" If you catch my drift.

Misspelled words to show dialects will drive readers crazy. It makes it hard to read your story and to follow it. You can capture the flavor of the accent with word choices and flow.

How the piss to get over writers block! I've put my work away and tried not to think about it and gone back but I just can't get the words on the screen. I have SO many ideas in my mind and SO many conversations in my mind but I just can't seem to put it down without it looked jumbled.

Write all your ideas down so you don't have to think about them. Then jump into your first draft and dash through it as fast as you can. A lot of people get overwhelmed by it and end up stalling out, so it's really important just to finish it, even if it's horrible and you skip ahead in places. If not all the ideas or conversations get it, that's okay, because you've written them down. You can always check them out for later use on revision.

bonitakale · Jan 7, 2010

I like WordPerfect better, but Open Office is free. Free is a good price.

If you have a character who speaks for only a sentence or two, you could use the dialect. Otherwise, please don't. But it's your book.

However, try writing your own dialect phonetically, and you'll see how silly it looks. People will 'get' the character from word choice and order, without weird spellings. Where I live, people say "Mary me," instead of "Marry me," and "Ar father" instead of "Our father." But anyone who spelled things that way would look like an idiot.

Dave.C.Robinson · Jan 7, 2010

blacbird said:
6. Talisker, Laphroaig, Oban, Highland Park, Lagavulin, Cragganmore.

caw

No Macallan?

Jamesaritchie · Jan 7, 2010

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. Usually neither. If a thought is terribly important and earth shattering, put it in italics. If it isn't, just work it into the narrative.

4. You should use teh word processor you want to use. The vast majority of writers do use MS Word, but it doesn't matter.

5. Be very, very sparing of any sort of dialect. Think of it as cayenne pepper. A little bit adds flavor, too much burns you.

6. Sit your butt down and write. Writer's block does not exist unless you want it to exist. Sitting down and writing is the only cure.

third person · Jan 7, 2010

regarding #4: i wrote my first novella using a DOS program, and that was in 1997! use what works for you.

bclement412 · Jan 7, 2010

Reading Number 1: Yes. For my story, I made up a town and put it in Vermont. It doesn't exist in real life

DeadlyAccurate · Jan 7, 2010

Be sure Works can save the document in .rtf or .doc format. It can be difficult to open Works file formats in other programs (including, stupidly, MS Word and Excel). I use OpenOffice, too.

I make up my protagonists' cities all the time. That way I can decide how big they are, whether they have airports, subways, trains, etc. and throw street names in whenever I feel like it without having to deal with someone emailing me to tell me that This Street is actually parallel to That Street, not perpendicular.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 7, 2010

If it's a newer version of Works, it's just a stripped down version of Word, and can do most of the important things Word does.

Maryn · Jan 7, 2010

If you want to see a first-rate example of black characters sounding black without being reduced to ebonics, read Richard Price, especially "Clockers." He captures rhythm, word choice, word order, and uses almost no phonetic spelling, yet the ear supplies just the right tone for the characters. Even if you don't read-read it, flip through it and read some of the dialogue.

Maryn, who was impressed

unicornjam · Jan 7, 2010

Ebonics isn't imperfect/incorrect English. I suggest you read literature by blacks featuring black characters and books on AAVE. You'll find that the dialogue (in general) isn't that heavy based on phonetics.

MGraybosch · Jan 8, 2010

Ever hear of Castle Rock, Maine?
You can, but quoting lyrics requires permission and often payment.
I usually italicize thoughts.
You can continue to use Works if you want. I'm on a Mac, so I use Scrivener. When I was on Linux, I just used the vi editor.
If a character speaks bad English, then his dialogue should probably reflect that.
Don't worry about it being jumbled. Get it out of your head, then sort it.

Wayne R. · Jan 8, 2010

Speaking as a reader, I quite like seeing some words spelt the way they're said. In the Shining, Dick Halloran said if the Overlook's creeping boiler blew, "You and your fambly'll likely end up on the moon!" (or something very similar)
People where I'm from say things like, "Y'what?" and, "Dun't matter." -In fact, that's a whole chunk of a typical meaningful conversation right there!
I think it's more authentic to see it included, but Jamesaritchie put the usage very well with that cayenne pepper example.

Millicent M'Lady · Jan 8, 2010

To weigh in on number 5, ebonics and other dialects can be fine and not overdistracting if done well. I always think of Roddy Doyle when this question comes up whose dialogue is clearly very Northside Dublin and is written to reflect that.

From The Snapper:

He was restless now and it wasn’t even half seven yet. He said it before he knew he was going to.

– I suppose a ride’s ou’ of the question.

– Hang on till I get this line done, said Veronica.

– Are yeh serious?

– I suppose so.

– Fuckin’ great, said Jimmy Sr. — It’s not even dark yet. You’re not messin’ now?

– No. Just let me finish this.

Jimmy Sr stood up.

– I’ll brush me teeth, he said.

– That’ll be nice, said Veronica.

I can't think of any other way to get that exact accent across and his dialogue is more believable because of it.

bonitakale · Jan 9, 2010

This points up an interesting thing -- you have to be at least a little familiar with the dialect to get it at all. The quote below means nothing to me in print, brings no sound to my ear, because I'm not familiar with the dialect it portrays.

Which may be a good reason to use very little of it: you know that for some of your readers, it won't ring any bells.

Quote:

He was restless now and it wasn’t even half seven yet. He said it before he knew he was going to.

– I suppose a ride’s ou’ of the question.

– Hang on till I get this line done, said Veronica.

– Are yeh serious?

– I suppose so.

– Fuckin’ great, said Jimmy Sr. — It’s not even dark yet. You’re not messin’ now?

– No. Just let me finish this.

Jimmy Sr stood up.

– I’ll brush me teeth, he said.

– That’ll be nice, said Veronica.

Aschenbach · Jan 9, 2010

Wayne R. said:
Speaking as a reader, I quite like seeing some words spelt the way they're said. In the Shining, Dick Halloran said if the Overlook's creeping boiler blew, "You and your fambly'll likely end up on the moon!"

It wasn't Dick Halloran who said that, it was the janitor (sorry to be such a pedant

).
That line also stuck in my memory (although I think there was a "f*ckin'" in it as well, before family, or possibly moon, I don't remember which). Anyway I completely agree it is a great use of phonetic spelling. It really brings that line to life and somehow makes it a lot funnier than if it was correctly spelt.

And on the subject of street-speech I reccomend OP reads George P. Pelecanos, who writes great dialogue. He uses phonetic spelling occassionaly but what really makes his speech sound so authentic is the underlying rhythm, the slang terms, and the subjects his characters like to talk about.

Because. · Jan 10, 2010

1. Completely fine.
2. Yep, just don't use lyrics.
3. This is more of something you have to answer. You could incorporate it into the main text or use italics. Well if you're using first person it shouldn't be necessary to use italics because the entire book would basically be their thoughts.
4. I really can't say much on this, but I have used Open Office (free) and it works well.

These might seem like a dumb questions..

anotherday12

I'm usually screaming.

kaitie

With great power comes

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar

blacbird

Mara

Clever User Title

stephenf

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

bonitakale

Dave.C.Robinson

... with the High Command

Jamesaritchie

third person

She blinded me--with magic!

bclement412

DeadlyAccurate

Absolutely Fazed

Jamesaritchie

Maryn

At Sea

unicornjam

MGraybosch

Lunch Break Novelist

Wayne R.

Millicent M'Lady

Exploring the infinite abyss

bonitakale

Aschenbach

Moral Marjorie

Because.

told before & told again