Mishka's First Assignment

Mishka asked me to post this because she is busy in real life and wanted to get it in. Please ignore that I am posting it and pretend it is her.

ASSIGNMENT ONE

I did like the first “How I can become a better writer” very much. It was very succinct in its pointers and easy to remember. What I do from the list is edit a lot, so much so that I never finish. I never feel the story is truly done, or as good as it can be. Without due dates I wouldn’t finish any of them.

What I really should do from the list is keep much better notes. Ideas strike me frequently but they’re forgotten quickly. I can sometimes sit down and write a portion of something, but there’s usually a blank place that was filled in before. I then stop the story until I can fill in the blank. That blank gets filled and a different blank crops up.

The second thread was so much more in depth I will need to refer back to it frequently. As far as characters go, I like mine. Personally, if the story is long enough, I think I can make a well-rounded character. My dialogue is also a strong point, but there’s a lot of room to improve.

My weak spot is grammar, punctuation, and the good use of adjectives and adverbs. I would like to have my settings be more vivid and my actions more clearly explained, hoping to give a better mental imagery to readers.

I am not looking forward to the assignment on writing a story without the use of spell and grammar checks. I have it on good authority that some writers are notoriously bad at spelling. I comfort myself with the thought that there are worse things I could be doing besides misspelling things. I don’t remember what a dangling participle is, how to spell it (got help from the tool bar again), or if it’s good or bad to use, I’m just pretty sure that Microsoft Word is taking care of it or no one will notice.

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Originally Posted by Rhabbi

Mishka asked me to post this because she is busy in real life and wanted to get it in. Please ignore that I am posting it and pretend it is her.

ASSIGNMENT ONE

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Sorry Rhabbi,
No way we can ignore this or pretend you're Mishka.
First because she's so much prettier than you, and second because of the gender thing ya know. Lews may be slow but he picks up on basic anatomy things. Besides aren't you supposed to be working on some other assignment (no pressure)?

Mishka,
I empathize with you on the editing thing. I never really finish a story. I just get so tired of putzing (technical term for amateur editing) with it that I send it off to be posted. I then spend a week or two with regrets that I didn’t do this or change that, and then I move on.
Just ask Dragon's Muse I'm a comma abuser who can't spell worth beans. That's why god (or maybe Bill Gates) invented the spell checker. It's not a panacea but it helps.
Dangling participles are very dangerous as are split infinitives. If you won't take my word for it I'll have to introduce you to the story of Hope; believe me you don't want to go there. (Kilgore Pike did not die in vain, he died to keep Hope alive.)
Your sincerity and effort will surely be rewarded.
Mad Lews

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Originally Posted by Mad Lews

Sorry Rhabbi,
No way we can ignore this or pretend you're Mishka.
First because she's so much prettier than you, and second because of the gender thing ya know. Lews may be slow but he picks up on basic anatomy things. Besides aren't you supposed to be working on some other assignment (no pressure)?


Mad Lews[/SIZE]

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Anatomy, is that one of those words i should know? *pulls the dictionary down* Nope, not here. Sorry, i am pretty sure I was Mishka for the few seconds it took to post that, after all she is my slave.

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Originally Posted by Rhabbi

My weak spot is grammar, punctuation, and the good use of adjectives and adverbs.

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Adverbs are something I consciously try to avoid, especially as qualifiers of dialogue. For example:

"You have beautiful hair," he said lovingly.

She smiled back at him.

While the meaning of 'lovingly' is understood, I think it makes for a better story if you actually describe what 'lovingly' looks like or what it feels like for the character.

"You have beautiful hair," he said. He lightly brushed her fringe aside to look deeply into her eyes.

She smiled back at him.

This takes more time and may interrupt with the flow when writing, but it's worth doing even if you write a first draft using adverbs and then revise them at the edit stage.

Looking forward to reading you work, Mishka :)

Thanks Mishka and thanks Rhabbi for being Mishka for just the briefest of moments!

I too tend to have trouble finishing some stories and understand how hard it is to know when to finish an edit or when to read through just one more time. The best thing I find is to leave the story for a little while and then read it again. I am always amazed what mistakes I find that I just didn't see before!

As for spelling, I too rely so much on my spell check! I really have to work hard on ensuring my spelling is correct, so don't let that hold you back. Apart from assignment two, use all of the resources you have to check your work. In my mind, a mistake here or there can be ignored if the story has real emotion and style.

Thanks for taking the time to read and reflect on the readings, I do hope they will be useful.

Good luck on assignment two, and don't stress too much about not having the grammar and spell check. Instead think of this as the one time people might expect some errors in your work and just have fun with the story!

I look forward to reading your work.

AG

Thanks for all the encouragement.

And thank you for thinking I'm prettier than Rhabbi...a girl could get really self-conscious about others not being able to tell her apart from her Master.

And thank you for thinking I'm prettier than Rhabbi...a girl could get really self-conscious about others not being able to tell her apart from her Master. - Mishka

He said you had strong thighs, so I imagine he is the one with the pointy head. Hmm, does that make him a thorn in your thighs?