Comments for Translated from the Gibberish

Comment on Words We Hate by t.on.air

t.on.air — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 09:23:20 +0000

Yeah, hubby is terrible. I totally agree. I also hate “No.” Keep up the good work!

Comment on A Big Week in Independent Publishing by Guest Post by Nader Elhefnawy author of Surviving the Spike « alchemyofscrawl

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:43:29 +0000

[...] paperbacks in sales, the success of Amanda Hocking, and Barry Eisler‘s decision to “go independent,” all did much to convince me that this is a route worth trying. In a different way, so did [...]

Comment on “A Shocking … Tour de Force …” by B. E. Hopkins

B. E. Hopkins — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 16:06:27 +0000

Haha, that one's a classic. I imagine the same was said of Eat, Pray, Love, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and The Alchemist, among many others ...

Comment on “A Shocking … Tour de Force …” by Michael J. Coene

Michael J. Coene — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 21:38:05 +0000

Once again you and I see eye-to-eye. I recently picked up “Tinkers” by Paul Harding, which won the Pulitzer. First of all, I think this novel is god-awful, but that’s not what I’m here to comment on. One of the blurbs on the back said, “Tinkers is more than just a novel, it is an instruction manual on how to live.”

Seriously.

Comment on Further Crimes Against the Humanities by B. E. Hopkins

B. E. Hopkins — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:11:11 +0000

Glad you approve of my mean-spiritedness, Ernie. I’m sure your gay romance fan fiction is much better than this urban fantasy book was, though.

We used an iPhone app called Songify to do the recording. Misou’s sister and her boyfriend made a really funny one using phrases they would have to say if they were Walmart employees…

Comment on Further Crimes Against the Humanities by Ernie Achenbach

Ernie Achenbach — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 02:46:18 +0000

You are so vicious! I love it. I cannot wait for you to tear apart and autotune my cheap gay romance novels!!! BTW, what are you using to create your autotune songs. I love it.

Comment on Hot Book-on-Book Action by B. E. Hopkins

B. E. Hopkins — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:27:18 +0000

Also check out this “Writer’s Must-Read List” by Patrick Ross of The Artist’s Road:

https://artistsroad.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/a-writers-must-read-list/

Comment on The Case of Show v. Tell by B. E. Hopkins

B. E. Hopkins — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:39:11 +0000

That’s another good example, Dave. That’s the sort of telling I do think “Show, don’t tell” eliminates: where the author fails to engage the imagination of the reader. It’s a matter of evoking rather than simply stating.

However, when you’re condensing time in a bridge, I still don’t think there is much wrong with saying “Dan was depressed.” It’s a lot shorter, for one, and the reader understands that details are being glossed over. It depends on how important Dan’s depression is to the movement of the story. If it’s of great importance that he is depressed, then it should be shown. The evocativeness of your second version, though, is admittedly more interesting to read in either case.

Comment on The Case of Show v. Tell by Dave Morris

Dave Morris — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:48:30 +0000

“Show not tell” must be the most commonly misunderstood rule of writing. It is not the same thing as “Make a scene of it”, which is often a better way of saying something, but not invariably. The point about showing not telling is that you have to make the reader feel what you are saying, so you can’t just report it in abstract terms. Eg “Dan felt depressed” – that’s telling. Showing would be: “Dan felt as if a weight was pressing him to the ground, so that every action was a physical effort that he could barely bring himself to attempt.”

Comment on Words We Hate by Amy P.

Amy P. — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:18:48 +0000

I have friends who do truly own kids…then again I’m a veterinarian. Brandon- with your comments on regular basis instead of regularly- do you think that might have anything to do with the dying of the adverb in current speach? Then again I also use gender over sex at times, but being in public health there are times when it is the correct usage – as a social construct. Agreed, sex is based on biology, gender on identity. I wonder if there are any conservatives out there using gender over sex for puritanical reasons who don’t realize they are really supporting the other side by using the term gender…