BLOG.ANDIERYAN.COM: Recent Comments

Comment on Free Critiques!

2010-09-07T17:52:53Z

Wow, Andie . . . What a find.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I checked out Peter Selgin's blogspot and learned a lot just reading other people's first pages and Peter's comments.
I'll be revising my own first page in light of what I found there . . . so that when I submit it, I'll get the next step for me.
Thanks again.

Comment on Writing Workshops - Pointers for Success II

2010-09-07T17:42:18Z

Yes . . . The best writers are always in apprenticeship mode. Life is so full of detail and nuance, we will never get it all down. Thank goodness for that.

Celebrate a well-crafted phrase, sentence, or paragraph, and then move on and try to do it again.

Thanks for the entertaining, enlightening, and encouraging ideas.

Comment on The Beauty of Difficult Words

2010-09-07T17:28:09Z

She claimed to be a Virgo, but her temper revealed her to also be a virago---a shrew, a scold, a hellion, a bitch.

How's that? It IS tough. Word play helps, and a string of synonyms doesn't hurt when airing out "difficult" words.

Thanks for the challenge. I'll be back to see what others have come up with.

Comment on Italics are the Crutch of a Puny Mind

2010-09-07T17:12:46Z

That's so true. As a copy editor, I have been ruthless with authors who overuse italics. The ringing (in moderation) of a bell can be a beautiful sound. Rung in excess, it quickly becomes a nuisance to all. The same is true of italicized words.

And here's one more thought. While foreign words and phrases are properly italicized, if Webster's has decided that a word or phrase has passed into common American English usage, its initial listing in the dictionary will be in roman letters. (See "qua" and "quid pro quo," as examples, as compared to "vers libre" [free verse], which is always in italics.) Look up every "foreign" word you are tempted to italicize and follow Webster's usage. You may be surprised at how much italicization this will eliminate.
Bravo (in roman letters)!

Comment on Fiction Writing Junkies

2010-09-07T16:44:56Z

Thanks . . . Here's a site I have found useful: blog.maggiegoins.com. She provides good ideas and links to other writing blogs and forums. I'll be visiting you again soon to see what other resources you have rounded up.

Comment on Writing Workshops - Pointers for Success II

2010-06-19T07:23:07Z

This is a great place for me to visit as I need to understand more of this. Thanks for the tips.
Adam Bruno,
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Comment on Can't Beat Those Early Influences

2010-03-31T21:50:59Z

Great Post! Thanks for the encouragement...

It is interesting how much one can learn from children, even from ourselves as children. Instinctively, and at a point in time where there isn't a whole lot of stored experiences that would either encourage or discourage them from pursuing true interests, children innately know what they want or like; or know they would be good at a particular something. And if they are lucky enough, maybe these early pursuits lead them to something that brings them happiness later on.

Most of us however, are not that lucky...to have found something early and making it a career or life-long hobby. But writing is different. Writing, if it is in your blood, can be taken on at any point in one's life. There are no barriers to entry. No age limits. All you have to do is sit down and start. It doesn't matter where it takes you. If you want to write, then start writing.

Comment on Powers of Observation and Lazy Writing

2010-03-10T00:48:32Z

I think that we're so used to these "fallback references" because we see them on a daily basis. We have so much terrible writing surrounding us everyday, that we just accept it as "normal" and move on. Great topic! :)

Cheers!
-Booker

Comment on The Backroads of Revision - Part IV

2010-03-07T21:02:15Z

I don't know who Andie Ryan is, but he sounds like a wise and experienced writer/teacher. Probably the trait that prevents most (younger) writers from learning from their mistakes is ego, particularly the defensive variety.

Comment on Powers of Observation and Lazy Writing

2010-03-05T16:56:28Z

Thank you for the informative post. I think your advice on writing will be very useful to a lot of people. Writing is a difficult thing, and it's great to hear about other peoples' experiences!