Tag: writing exercises

November 8 story: The Dork Knight

On By emperorpondersIn EnglishLeave a comment

The businessman shot off to nearest alley, loudly cursing the sudden downpour. There, in the recessed doorway of an old building, decorated by the grotesque, jutting moldings that were a fashionable feature of the Old City district, he found shelter. And other men were looking for the same thing, or at least that’s what he thought at first.

The four men didn’t seem worried by the rain, and they walked his way with an almost casual pace. He didn’t like how they were dressed, or how they looked (and looked at him,) but he repressed the thought since he was a tolerant fellow.

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November 7 story: The Dreadful Writer, Part II

On By emperorpondersIn English, writingLeave a comment

The second half of the interview with the fictitious writer James L. Cunningham. Part I is here.

Weber (editor): Does that come from your years in the army? You fought in Sudan, correct?

Cunningham (writer): Yes, against the Mahdists. Although ‘fought’ is not the best word for what happened there. Keep in mind that, when I was young, I read stories and tales of our Empire’s wars in the Far East. The ones from the Indian Rebellion of 57 were my favourites. Soldiers still fought duels back then. Not many, true, but it was not unheard of for men of both sides to single each other out for combat. But when I fought in Sudan… that was not the era of the duelist anymore, but the era of the Maxim gun. The closest I ever got to an enemy was perhaps thirty meters, a very angry Dervishe who became the inspiration for my first published story and, I guess, the original seed for many other.

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November 6 story: Twenty Feet, part II

On By emperorpondersIn English, writing2 Comments

Part I

“Let’s go back to your military… insights,” Corin said. “You are known for your unique tactics. Is there something you believe the standard troops could learn from your experience against the green horde?”

The man with the nose bone scratched his chin and then grinned malevolently with his black teeth. “Fire,” he said. “You need a lot of fire.”

“Firepower?” Corin asked

“No, I mean fire, literal fire. Even the orks are not stupid enough to walk through a blaze.”

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November 2 story: “Twenty feet (of ork-slaughtering)” Part I

On By emperorpondersIn English, writing2 Comments

I was thinking recently about how disappointed I have been by some W40K stories I had tried to read, so I have written my own fanfiction here as part of the November story-athon. I’ll probably divide it into two or three parts. The title may not make sense now, but it will later on. I hope.

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November posting forecast

On By emperorpondersIn English, writing3 Comments

November is the month when writers-bloggers disappear and go radio silent as they set to do a Nanowrimo or similar writing ordeal. I’m going to do something like that but, if all goes well, I won’t go silent.

On MeWe.com I joined a group that put forward the idea of writing a flash story (500-1000 words or so) a day for the entire month. I believe that’s harder than a straightforward writing marathon, not due to the quantity of output but quality, since writing 10 one-thousand-word stories is usually harder than just a single ten-thousand-word story. Still, that’s the goal, or the ideal anyway, and that’s what I’m aiming for.

Before I had jumped into that project, I actually already had another one in mind for this month: posting a writing-related post each day. I had even written down the list, but I doubt I’ll be able to do both things. However, it may be a good filler for those days when, for one reason or another, the stories fail to appear.

So, basically, I’ll write whatever I fell like writing, mostly fiction, but whatever pours forth from the muses. Adventure, horror, parody, the most exciting retelling of watching paint dry… whatever I come up with. I already have a few ideas for some stories, but I’ll mostly improvise. Naturally, that, and time constraints, means quality and themes will be varied. But I’ll try to churn out some quality e-pulp, that’s for sure.

Psychology of reading and writing: recalling vs. recognizing.

On By emperorpondersIn English, writing3 Comments

In a previous post, I mentioned I believe the usual advice given to writers (or, rather, to people who want to write) may not be that good, if not downright useless. And if one wants to be controversial, you might as well start with a big bang:

“Read a lot. Reading will make you a better writer,” or variations of the same. It seems logical, common-sensical. But if you think about it, it’s a bit like saying that if you want to be a good musician, you should listen to a lot of music, or look at many paintings if you want to be a painter. A kind of craftsmanship by osmosis.

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Could be better written: “My life is perfect, and everything around me sucks.”

On By emperorpondersIn English, writing1 Comment

If you want to write, you must read a lot is a useful advice. However, like most proclamations with an almost religious vibe, they have a long string of caveats and exceptions which, although commonsensical, cannot be packed along with the original statements without diminishing their gravitas. To put it bluntly, the advice only works if your read good material, and sometimes not even then.

Not only what you read has to be “good,” an adjective that implies value and, therefore, the ability to discriminate (something that terrifies a lot of people,) but relevant to your goal as an artist and your craft. Obviously, you are not going to learn how to write science fiction by reading Victorian romance novels or Nature Poetry (your descriptions of alien landscapes may be awesome, though.)

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