Forum: Author Hangout

Ngram is a lifesaver in these cases, as I use if frequently to determine which terms may confuse non-English speakers, though with many terms, since we pick them up quickly in films which often tend to be shown in both places, the English will also pick up many of those expressions, simply from the old TV reruns, where they're used a LOT. And in a visual element, you can usually pick it up from the context, while it's harder identifying the context of a single word description.

Understand why it meant to mean that: no

I agree. Have no idea. And I won't use the "scat" tag either. LOL

And I won't use the "scat" tag either. LOL

Yeah, you really need very particular tastes to post those types of stories (i.e. the whole 'dangerous-jerk' vibe).

I'll admit to having read one or two, mainly because the tag was added late in the ongoing story, yet I quit reading them soon after, as you have to include a LOT of very graphic violence on a regular basis to ever venture that far. As those are mainly the types who started harming puppies when young, 'just to see how it felt' (they typically go on to become mass-murders, yet on SOL, if you're describing violence, somethings authors just get a bit too carried away.

I'm normally happy with the 'closed door' approach, where you really don't need to details every single graphic detail, as I can generally image it without the explicit gruesome details.

I'm normally happy with the 'closed door' approach, where you really don't need to details every single graphic detail, as I can generally image it without the explicit gruesome details.

I'm a "show don't tell" author. I don't tell the reader the two had sex; I show it in graphic detail (if it's important as with any show vs tell decision). I don't tell the reader the bad guy tortured someone, I show it. I want that impact.

I say I write (or at least try to write) cinematically. What I mean by that is I want the reader to "see" what I've written as if they're watching a movie. Of course I'm not good enough to describe it that well, but I try.

I was disappointed when I saw how many answers about tags ruled out torture. As a writer of thrillers, torture comes into play so I sometimes have that code. But I've never written torture as part of sex. I don't think pain is erotic.

I'm both. 'Show don't tell' is my preference. On the other hand, if I 'showed not told' everything, I'd have about four times the story.

Some things can be 'told not shown'. Phone calls to absent friends mostly can. A lot of day-to-day life stuff ('We went out shopping and bought a fax machine' covers pages of showing-not-telling, and there's nothing of plot significance in the process of buying a fax machine except there now being a fax machine. (Yes, that's actually a literal example, one I added today to draft chapters).

But I'm writing an epic with a zillion things going on, not something more focused and event-driven. In a shorter story, if there's any point to buying the fax machine, it happens now and showing makes sense. For me, I just need them to have a fax machine so, later, people can send them faxes instead of their having to make multi-hour trips to pick up documents or wait for the mail.

Part of the point is that it's conscious. I know when I'm showing-not-telling and why that's usually better, and I know when I'm telling-not-showing and why I'm doing it. Every so often, there's a point where I'm staring at a blank page thinking, 'Is this a conversation I need to write as dialogue or is this a conversation I can summarize key points of?'

That's especially important when it's someone relating a conversation to a third person when we've just had the conversation itself in the previous chapter. If you believe they're a relatively reliable witness, then 'I related the conversation I'd had with Amy last night' is a great piece of shorthand to cover pages of repetition. If they're not so reliable and would omit or mess up chunks of the conversation, it's bad.

Some things can be 'told not shown'.

That's why I said: "as with any show vs tell decision)"

I've also discussed this quite a bit (other places, mainly) as "Show, Don't Tell" tends to increate a story's 'bloat' (text size), so usually, it's best to combine the two. Thus, you have the more detailed 'showing' examples for the most vital scenes, when for the transitory or unimportant scenes, it's often better to 'tell', because it's not as vital, and when summarizing, it makes those 'everyday' scenes much easier (i.e. faster to read).

So unless you're planning to write all 1 to 5 million word epics, it's best to split the difference, just to keep the overall page count down (as, at least with print books (like mainstream published novels) it's the paper cost which affect the publishers' bottom line the most.

And while that's not as essentially in eBooks or live postings, you still need to worry about how long it takes readers to plow through the slower, non-exciting transitory passages.

(Again, I've always focused on publishing standards, thus I've always aimed for twenty-some chapters to average in the traditional 'novel' length of 60,000+ words.)

The only thing I found (from Wiktionary):

Etymology. Possibly from a contraction of "grinning like a 'possum eating shit" (compare also happy as a pig in shit); later detached from meaning and persisting due to its vividness (cf. "there are many ways to skin a cat" or "happy as a clam").

I've never actually skinned a cat, though I've frequently shelled clams for ages, diving down and storing them in my 'bikini brief'', as 'swim trunks' are too loose to hold them. Though I have had more than a few taxidermist friends, so I'm used to seeing LOTS of stuffed critters of one sort or another.

Once you've seen a few deer and moose heads, the rest barely phase you anymore.

I come from a hunting family, my brother inherited my father's duck-hunting business, and they've both dedicated deer hunters—each separate season (bow, rifle, shotgun, etc). While I was in New England (an easy drive from NYC) I also knew several moose hunters, which can bleed quite, but there's a specific way to drain the blood before proceeding (sever the throat, then hang the body upside down for a few hours, or field dressing it, so it's easier to hand carry it out.

In most cases, for Moose Hunts, the only thing hunters are interested in keeping are their racks (horns), though some prefer the full head and horns, though those take a LOT of room to mount and hang (display).

Though as a teen and even in grade school in Rhode Island, it wasn't uncommon for a kid to grab a random skunk and toss in into a crowded classroom just for chuckles. They couldn't use the room for like a week afterwards without a considerable amount of hard scrubbing with bleach (diluted)!

It would be a bit different encountering a freshly severed moose head that's still bleeding.

Chance would be a fine thing. Although, the way the universe plays tricks, there's bound to be a gotcha. can moose transmit CJD or a moose equivalent?

AJ