1: The Inkling are to be polite and respectful of one another.
2: We discourage violence, and insulting. Please settle disputes in a calm and rational manner.
3: Do not use any foul or dirty language, and please respect the values that we hold here at Inklings.
4: Do not ridicule, or tarnish anothers character, they are beloved by their creators.
5: No dark, or violent characters in the chat room.
7: Respect the moderators and obey them, regardless of age.
8: Anyone who abuses, stretches or defies these rules will be banned from the chat room and if great lengths are taken to rebel against these guidelines, then you will be cast out of Inklings.
The Chocolate Box
The Chocolate Box will be under Probation. So if anyone acts up badly and abuses the chatbox we will reserve the right to remove it without warning.
This week’s Writer’s Talk is about outlines. does anybody do a quick outline of their story beforehand? Do you find that a brief outline of the story helps you keep on track, or does it limit your creativity? How detailed are your outlines? Do you use it as an emergency measure, if a section just isn’t flowing? What’s your experience?
Homer
P.S. Do you guys think that Writer's Talk and any other posts about writing in general should be posted here or on the Inklings' Lounge, or even a new blog?
I know I posted this last week, but I made the mistake of making it too long for anybody to have time to read (whoops!) so here is the questions, I promise to do a proper writer's talk next week!
Where can I find the Inklings’ chatzy? I can’t find the link on the site, and I don’t know the address. It sounds like a great place for writers to “talk shop” and discuss their art.
What do you guys think (leaders especially) about creating a new blog on the Inklings account, alongside the Bible Studies and retold fairy tales blogs, for writing about the art of writing? So Writer’s Talk would be posted there, as well as any discussions about writing or questions etc. The reason behind it is that since Inklings is so large (yay!) and everybody posts so regularly (double yay!) the “discuss-type” posts get pushed down out of sight before there’s a chance for much conversation. If we had a separate blog for it, the discussions would stay current for much longer, giving us a chance to get real conversations going without digging through the archives.
What do you guys think? I haven’t tried the Chatzy (I intend to!), do you think that the Chatzy does it all? Or is there some advantage in having a discussion about writing blog as well, since it’s linked and it’s right there?
How do you guys try to reflect God in your writing? Do you have analogy, an Aslan-type person, or do you try to add thoughtful parts or even just short sentences into your writing? Are your characters Christian? Or do you do something else to reflect God in your writing?
I apologize for the lack of any Writer’s Talk posts in such a long time. They’ve slipped out of my mind. However, don’t worry, Writer’s Talk isn’t dead, and here's the next one to prove it!
Which authors have had the most impact on your writing style, content or genre? How have they affected your writing?
Does anyone here sometimes give their characters an accent, Scottish, Cockney, Chinese, or whatever? Or even just a habit of speech (keeps using the same phrases, manner of speech, pirate-y slang, etc.)? If so, how do you do it? How do you depict different accents? Do you base the accent on a friend, and copy their mannerisms in your character, or what?
I personally haven’t done accents/dialects/mannerisms very much, and I don’t really know how to portray different accents. Does anyone have any tricks or tips?
This week’s Writer’s Talk is inspired by my own writing struggle- what to do when a character simply refuses to fit into your plot? In my case, I’m trying to turn a disinterested, pacifistic businessman into a freedom fighter involved in a patriotic revolt. And I can’t see how to change his heart so that he becomes willing to fight for freedom as I want him to. How do you guys fix a character that refuses to go along with your exciting, cleverly devised plots?
Sorry this one’s a bit late… Saturday kinda just slipped by without me noticing it… which is really lame. Anyway!
This weeks discussion question is “Describing scenery”. How do you tend to describe the countryside your characters live in? Do you base it on your local landscape, make something up, or base it on a geographical location (i.e. Dwarves swimming in the Nile! Sorry, couldn’t resist, fantasy writers!)?
So, our very first, inaugural, Writers’ Talk session is now open! I’ll kick start it off with that ageless question, “How do you fix Writer’s Block?” Please, comment your solutions, and then comment about other people’s comments, and let the round table of talk begin!
Hello, fellow Inklings! I have some news. R.K. and Jane Austen (Dixiefiddler) have kindly allowed me to organize a writer’s discussion page every week on the art of writing. The basic idea is that I post a question about writing- such as “how do you guys fix writer’s block?” or “how do you create your characters?” “How many descriptions do you like to add in to your stories?” etc. Then it’s up to you to comment and discuss it!
So share your solutions, opinions and questions, and reply to other people’s comments. Imagine that it’s a conversation we’re having around the dinner table about writing. Somebody opens up the conversation with a question, and then others start throwing in answers, and start talking about other people’s answers or remarks to each other, and a whole, boisterous noisy conversation centred on writing is started! It will be like having a writers’ forum on our very own HSB!
