Pimping Gabe
Oct. 21st, 2008 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marguerite_26I don’t usually talk about writing and style – frankly, my flist is filled with far better writers than I will ever be – but I wanted to point you to a bigger brain than mine because ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gabe_speaks has these incredible ‘tutorial’ posts that make me understand writing and flow better than anything I’ve seen.
The first is Blending Action and Dialog Dynamically.
I adore the flow of the writing when this style is used.
Example:
"Look—" Marlene tugged her long fringe, pulling them behind her ears, "—she didn't mean what she said to you."
"Listen"—Gabe grabbed Marco by the shoulders, flung him around—"to me! I'm talking to you!"
Isn’t that pretty? I’ve been trying to incorporate Gabe’s hints in my writing for a couple months now and I’m very pleased with the result. It gives much better pacing to the fic than having an explanation before or after the dialogue to say ‘btw-while he was talking this is what happened’.
Personally, spelling, grammar and sentence structure rules don’t stick in my head. If it weren’t for Spell Check and glorious beta readers my work would look like it was written by a twelve yr old. And rather under-educated, kinky twelve year old.
The last thing I do before posting or submitting a fic is do a search for quotation marks, pull up this lesson and make sure I followed the rules. It sounds neurotic, maybe but it’s the only way I know I managed to get it right.
Recently Gabe posted another little gem about avoiding over-writing and providing clarity with punctuation: Letting Punctuation Do Its Job: The Dash, The Ellipse, and a Bit on the Semi-Colon
Take a look (if you haven’t found and worshipped this already). I think, as reader, it’s these little things that make a fic have a polished feel. And as a writer, it takes a little of the mystery away from how to take your writing to the next level.
gabe_speaks has these incredible ‘tutorial’ posts that make me understand writing and flow better than anything I’ve seen.The first is Blending Action and Dialog Dynamically.
I adore the flow of the writing when this style is used.
Example:
"Look—" Marlene tugged her long fringe, pulling them behind her ears, "—she didn't mean what she said to you."
"Listen"—Gabe grabbed Marco by the shoulders, flung him around—"to me! I'm talking to you!"
Isn’t that pretty? I’ve been trying to incorporate Gabe’s hints in my writing for a couple months now and I’m very pleased with the result. It gives much better pacing to the fic than having an explanation before or after the dialogue to say ‘btw-while he was talking this is what happened’.
Personally, spelling, grammar and sentence structure rules don’t stick in my head. If it weren’t for Spell Check and glorious beta readers my work would look like it was written by a twelve yr old. And rather under-educated, kinky twelve year old.
The last thing I do before posting or submitting a fic is do a search for quotation marks, pull up this lesson and make sure I followed the rules. It sounds neurotic, maybe but it’s the only way I know I managed to get it right.
Recently Gabe posted another little gem about avoiding over-writing and providing clarity with punctuation: Letting Punctuation Do Its Job: The Dash, The Ellipse, and a Bit on the Semi-Colon
Take a look (if you haven’t found and worshipped this already). I think, as reader, it’s these little things that make a fic have a polished feel. And as a writer, it takes a little of the mystery away from how to take your writing to the next level.
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no subject
Date: 2008-10-22 04:51 am (UTC)Firstly, thank you so much for taking the time to read my ramblings, and for pimping them with more elegance and eloquence than that which you are pimping! In this case, the old ghetto adage, "the pimp has outshone the ho'", rings ever-so true!
...
okay, so there's no such adage. but if there were such a thing, you'd be proof of it. thanks again, luv!
no subject
Date: 2008-10-22 08:38 pm (UTC)You are fabulous. *smooches*
btw - I love that adage! Completely not true in this case, but it's a great adage. ::pulls out Lucius' pimp cane::