Turkey City Lexicon

[Drasn]

Not sure if this has been shared here, but I recently found it while mindlessly netsurfing. It's basically a list of no-no's for writers. The lexicon claims to be tailored to SF, however I found it pretty much covers any genre.

Here is the link:

Turkey City Lexicon

 

[Guru Coyote]

I agree, it is good stuff. (It has been mentioned on these forums the search tells me, but not easily accessible)

 

[SeverinR]

I have read many different ways of describing show, not tell. This one is the most effective in realitively few words, and it tells why.
"The reader should be allowed to react, not be instructed in *how* to react."
I hate the "reboot." Nothing in the story really happened because they went back in time, they woke up. ie I just wasted my time reading something that never happened.

 

[WyrdMystic]

I would say sometimes there is a perfectly good reason for using 'he ejaculated'.

 

[SeverinR]

I would say sometimes there is a perfectly good reason for using 'he ejaculated'.

I would say it would be proper in a very limited instance. The words double meaning would disrupt the scene.
And can he really do that in public?

 

[WyrdMystic]

I would say it would be proper in a very limited instance. The words double meaning would disrupt the scene.
And can he really do that in public?

It is also really good to get a laugh if you're writing a spoof or some such. Sometimes, disrupting the scene is exactly what is called for - Robert Rankin is especially good infusing reactions of characters with narration so characters end up talking about things they really should not know about. For instance...and not from Rankin...just a poor illustration of what I mean...

"What utter rubbish," he ejaculated.
"You can't do that in public," said Jim.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I swear I once read a Jar of Tang story that was immediately followed by a full-length essay in which the author explained why we should be impressed by its cleverness. (I forget what it was called, but it detailed a history in a science-fictional fashion, then revealed that this was the story of the conquest of Peru.)