Round 1 of the Literotica Writer's Group

[Guest]

This will have to be close enough to Monday the 13th. I can't hold it anymore, I wanna see if this bird flies or crashes and burns like the one in Bug's Life.

Okay. To recap:

Timeline, by midnight PST:

August 13th: picture or thesis statement is posted, discussion begins with the first posted writing sample
August 20th: close of writing sample posts
August 27th: end of discussion on this thread
August 27th+ we regroup and consider if this thing will fly and how it might be improved for next round.

The Rules, as it were:

Please try to keep your post to one word processor page in length. We don't have a tremendous lot of room here and it's about the writing itself, not the story.

Please try to remember that you're supposed to be constructive, not destructive, in your comments. The goal is to help improve the writing, not to be better than anyone else.

If you post a writing sample, you should participate in the discussion of others to help this bad boy work.

Please put an introduction on what kind of help you might be looking for at the top of your writing sample. like this:

[Introduction about what we are about to read. A brief description of where we are in the story and what the story is in a sentence or two.

Then, follow with the prose to fill the rest of the page. It doesn't have to be a complete idea, story or thought. But hopefully it does fulfill what you intended.

When it comes to discussion, please put the name of the author whose sample you are discussing at the head of your discussions/critiques for clarity. You may put several in one post, just make sure it's clear what you're discussing.

This is open to those who like to participate as it is for the first round. We'll discuss more on it after the first round to see how it might work the best. There is no restriction on how you interpret the picture or thesis statement, no restriction to category, tense, POV, or who your characters must be. Just no minors.

Some helpful hints on the criticism portion of the postings:

Judo
After you post, the other writers in the group will respond with feedback on what works and what doesn't for them. Either way, responses should be constructive criticism. An idea the writer can build from to improve.

I like to think of this as a "safe space." Which means no judgemental, if offends me, egotistical commentary should be tolerated. Just help us poor writers get better.

bluetrain
well, whenever we as a class analyze a story, i have my students use questioning that can only lead to formative, constructive answers or discovery.

questions come in three categories:

literal: questions that can be answered yes or no (example: "do you like this character?" or, "do I set up the conflict at all?"

interpretive: questions that can be debated and can be supported by the text at hand (examples: "how can I make this plot more cohesive?" or, "IN what ways can this dialogue sound more real?"

and finally, evaluative: questions whose answers go beyond the text to the critic's and writer's experiences. examples: "do YOU think this story is appropriate for the intended audience?" or, "would YOU ever have a conversation like these characters are having?"

obviously, we focus on interpretive and evaluative questioning, as they lead to better and more developed responses. the answers are only as good as the questions.....

Thanks for trying this idea out!

Without further adieu, the picture for today. I hope it works. I thought it was interesting and that a talented writer could certainly work with it. If you want to write a story, please do!

 

[KillerMuffin]

Drat

I KNOW that it had my user name and password in this baby before I posted it!

 

[KillerMuffin]

!

 

[KillerMuffin]

Pain in the ass thread. Starting a new one under my own name so that those looking for my name will find it.