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Ray of Sunshine
How do you tell someone you don't like their writing or think it's bad without sounding like a jerk? Not in a case of style clash but in a case of poor grammar and punctuation or just being unreadable for different reasons.
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Unless, you know, you can't read it. While I'm still paranoid of being an asshole I feel there are situations in which you absolutely should critique someone's writing whether they ask or not (looking at you person who didn't put spaces after periods. Pretty sure that's what killed that roleplay).I don't think it's good policy to critique someone's writing unless requested
Yeah, no. Samples are the worst. Especially when they ask me to write a paragraph about firing a gun. Like, why? Just write "He fired the gun."If you care about writing quality maybe you could ask for a sample before hand?
It's not about style, it's about legibility and grammar. Unless you're writing in first person (in which case I actually do feel comfortable calling you out) or shakespearian english I couldn't give a damn about your style.
- talk talk -
instead of using “ talk talk talk “ within the paragraph.
Yeah, no. Samples are the worst. Especially when they ask me to write a paragraph about firing a gun. Like, why? Just write "He fired the gun."
Write the gun firing, the sound it makes, the casing it ejects and how it hits the floor, the way the gun bucks in their grip, how they feel, what happens, etc.
This is overly descriptive word padding.
That moment is going to stick with them.
Or they won't even remember anything other than they were terrified. People in extreme situations aren't aware of what they are doing, that's how accidental gunshots and 100 stab wounds happen.
But I digress. For me, if I wanted a writing sample, I'd ask for literally anything. The more the merrier. Ideally, I'd just check the roleplay history of person in question, and whatever standalone works of fiction they wrote.
Unless I was looking for a specific style. Then I'd give a vague order such as "Write a terrifying scene in first person past tense" or "write a comedic scene in 3rd person present tense".
Then write that. Write that fear and panic, how the gun jolts them with its sound and its buck, that unfamiliar weight, how they clench their finger and it locks in panic as it fires round after round. If this is a major moment for the character, you can very easily use it to show their character, how they react, how it effects and changes them with the subtext.
Much better. Getting this kind of description would most certainly quality a pass from me. As opposed to a mere dry description of what the gun is physically doing, divorced from the character's emotional feedback and the context of the scene.
Being able to intervene action with the internal monologue, and utilizing the dreaded "show not tell" technique are all signs of a competent writer.
Hello fellow Pitch Meetings/Ryan George fan.That one is super easy, barely an inconvenience.
Also, I'm pretty sure that most countries have consistent punctuation.