Activity for micapam‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Edit	Post #39386	Initial revision	—	almost 5 years ago
Answer	—	A: What's a good market for experimental novellas? I've just imported my data from SE and found this old question of mine! I honestly can't remember what happened to the novella I mentioned (probably another abandoned manuscript) but meanwhile I wrote another one, and found a publisher for it: Seizure, an imprint of Brio Books. So after seven year... (more)	—	almost 5 years ago
Answer	—	A: What is a reasonable rate for proofreading a manuscript in terms of sales percentage? If someone asked me to proofread in return for a percentage, I'd turn them down, because I'd want to be paid as soon as the work is done, and I wouldn't want how much I get paid to be dependent on sales of copies. However, if you want to take them up on it, I guess you should first work out the flat... (more)	—	over 7 years ago
Answer	—	A: Direct thoughts The quoted passage is completely comprehensible; it's clear that the question is being asked by the character. The alternative would be absurd - the narrator making some kind of parenthetical commentary on her own narrative! Adult readers of serious fiction will not be even momentarily confused by yo... (more)	—	over 9 years ago
Answer	—	A: Name of writing style or structure of novel that is in non-chronological order I don't know any one word that encompasses both. But if a narrative is not chronological, it's anachronic , and if it follows multiple characters, it's heterodiegetic. So maybe heterodiegetic anachrony is the term you're looking for. Source: Gérard Genette, Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method, ... (more)	—	over 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: Order of references You haven't mentioned the style guide you're following; different guides have different rules. For Turabian / Chicago Style, the rules applicable are: > A single-author entry precedes a multiauthor entry beginning with the same name. and > Successive entries by two or more authors in which only t... (more)	—	about 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Using P.S. in a formal email A postscript is a passage at the end of a letter, following the signature. It only makes sense in the context of a letter composed by hand or on a typewriter, to accommodate an afterthought when you have already finished your letter, and don't want to retype or rewrite the whole thing again. It make... (more)	—	about 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is it possible to write a novel completely devoid of dialogue? Short answer: yes. The question is complicated, though, by what counts as 'dialogue'. If you read - for example - Birgit Vanderbeke's The Mussel Feast (Peirene Press, 2013, trans. Jamie Bullock) you won't find any direct speech - i.e., dialogue in quotation marks. But there's plenty of reported spee... (more)	—	about 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: What do you do if you enjoy writing, but have no ideas? 'Coming up with an idea' is a self-defeating exercise. Ideas are everywhere - you just have to get used to recognising them as an idea, catching them and recording them. My advice is simply to carry a small notebook and pen everywhere, and cultivate a sense of openness to experience and its possibili... (more)	—	about 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Software to organise world building? I use the Gollum wiki. It works well for me. There's no database, just wiki-formatted text files. It uses the git version control system so you have a history of every change you make (and you don't have to know how to use git, it does it all for you). Very nice and extremely simple to use - you just... (more)	—	about 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is it better to have a deadline? I don't see how a deadline could improve the quality of what you're writing; if you don't leave yourself enough time and make yourself rush, it could have the opposite effect. It can certainly motivate you to sit down and actually write, though, rather than thinking about what're going to write. You... (more)	—	about 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Suggest any good text editor for Mac for writing in multiple languages You could try out Mellel: http://www.mellel.com/ Apparently it's good at RTL languages which you mentioned you will be using (Arabic, Urdu) and it's cheaper than MS Word etc. That having been said, I use Scrivener, as various others have mentioned; but I haven't had much experience with multi-lingu... (more)	—	over 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to convert handwriting into text You won't like this answer, but I'm going to give it anyway. The best way to convert handwriting into text is to type it up. Don't skip it just because it's a little tedious. Typing up work is a valuable opportunity for engaging with each word and sentence of the text. Scanning over the text on the... (more)	—	over 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Not happy with format of self-published book. How to proceed? You could try Lightning Source. I've heard good things about them and I've seen a couple of the books - they look pretty good. Considering using it for a volume this year (that I'm editing , I should add, not writing! I'm not on board with this self-publishing malarkey). Also, unlike CreateSpace, the... (more)	—	over 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: UK laws broken by piracy of novels I believe the most relevant law is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988:http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/contents Terms are defined in Part I, Chapter 2. Section 17 (2) defines infringement by copying for literary works: > Copying in relation to a literary, dramatic, musical or ar... (more)	—	over 11 years ago
Question	—	What's a good market for experimental novellas? A short story of mine has grown until it's become a bit of a monster - about 15K. I don't know if that makes it a novelette or a novella, but it's certainly too long for most of the journals I would normally consider for submission. A superstitious dread of talking too much about my work before it's... (more)	—	over 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to write from the middle? Beginning in the middle is absolutely fine - in fact, how else could it be? We should come aboard the process 'in the middle, as onto a moving train' (I read this somewhere - it is either Gilles Deleuze or someone like him); how else can we seize hold of the story in its authentic form? Personally, ... (more)	—	over 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Does this riddle abuse language to make it fit into verse? Abuse grammar all you wish! Leave it dead in a ditch if you must to get the rhythm right. Right now the nice imagery is being let down with by the dragging artificiality of the metre. To see why, just separate all the syllables, and annotate them to show the stresses. There is a formal way to show t... (more)	—	over 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Good book on writing for children? I can't give you the advice you want, but I will give your advice you need: The books you need to read are models, not how-to guides. Count me among those who, unlike the many you mention, do not highly regard any book that markets itself 'for dummies'. More specifically, the industry of teaching pe... (more)	—	over 11 years ago
Answer	—	A: Multiple authors in MLA header From memory (and this is quite a long time ago - since finishing my first degree I've used Turabian style rather than MLA), you are correct to use full names (first name before surname), in alphabetical order, separated by commas on a single line. Do you have a copy of the MLA Style Manual? I'd stro... (more)	—	almost 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: Should I close this quoted paragraph? Avoiding the problem (as per Lauren Ipsum's answer) is probably the best way to deal with this. But let's assume you don't want to change anything about your paragraphs. The answer is unambiguous: no close quotation mark. For two reasons. First reason is simple correctness: you don't want Fowler to ... (more)	—	almost 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: What software do you use for writing and then structuring a book? I'm actually at the point now where I want to take hundreds of scrappy scenes and bits and pieces and try to give my novel some structure. So the question you've asked is actually uppermost in my mind. So I like Scrivener. I use it for all my drafting. But it doesn't quite cut it for the big-picture... (more)	—	almost 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: Choosing character names is a constant difficulty I wish there was a single reference book for given names from around the world, but I haven't been able to find one. I have a couple of books on my shelves that have been quite helpful: Concise Dictionary of First Names (OUP)http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780198662594.do African Ethnics and Pe... (more)	—	almost 14 years ago