On Words

[Svrtnsse]

Ahoy crew,

Someone linked me this article with tips on word usage.
5 Tips for Word Use in Your Novel by JosephBlakeParker on DeviantArt

I especially like the bit where the writer defines different ways of relating to words. I think this is something that's important for us as writers to consider, both in our stories, and when communicating with each other here on the forums.
I've seen more than one discussion where people here have basically agreed on something, but because they used the words differently they kept arguing/discussing as if in actual disagreement.

 

[kennyc]

That is nice I'll check further and his other tips as well.

You might also enjoy Reading like a Writer by Francine Prose

 

[skip.knox]

I was struck by this:
>Criticism, given before a first draft is completed, has a powerful discouraging effect for the writer.

I would modify that a bit to say it can have a powerful disrupting effect. The sentence as it stands implies a guaranteed and universal result. But the basic message is valid and relevant. I see a great many bruised egos here in part because the author has be critiqued on something incomplete or even something as yet to be written. The very act of completing a first draft lays down an extra layer of skin for the author.

Even without the emotional disruption, though, too-early critiques can derail an author. I have a large stack of critiques, especially of my early chapters. I used to look through them, and very early on I actually incorporated some of the suggested changes. Now, though, I have let them pile up until I have written my way through an entirely completed draft. A number of critiques (I peeked) I know will be irrelevant because I've already rewritten that passage or re-shaded a character, or even threw out the entire scene. Trying to respond to critiques while still composing is a bit like trying to build the airplane while flying.

Submitted for your consideration.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Yeah, it's far from universal. Depends on the psyche of the writer. In my youth, I could say this was true, now? Heck, I can let people critique something I first drafted 30 seconds ago, that is horribly incomplete, and nothing said about it will phase me.

I was struck by this:
>Criticism, given before a first draft is completed, has a powerful discouraging effect for the writer.

I would modify that a bit to say it can have a powerful disrupting effect. The sentence as it stands implies a guaranteed and universal result. But the basic message is valid and relevant. I see a great many bruised egos here in part because the author has be critiqued on something incomplete or even something as yet to be written. The very act of completing a first draft lays down an extra layer of skin for the author.

Even without the emotional disruption, though, too-early critiques can derail an author. I have a large stack of critiques, especially of my early chapters. I used to look through them, and very early on I actually incorporated some of the suggested changes. Now, though, I have let them pile up until I have written my way through an entirely completed draft. A number of critiques (I peeked) I know will be irrelevant because I've already rewritten that passage or re-shaded a character, or even threw out the entire scene. Trying to respond to critiques while still composing is a bit like trying to build the airplane while flying.

Submitted for your consideration.