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Lynn K Hollander

The ConsequencesTWIP6.0 corrected copy is uploaded and waiting to be moderated.  The changes are minor, but I like the reality bits to be realistic.  That means my fictional east has been adjusted to be the same east as the rest of the world's.  ((Larry Niven had this same problem))

 I really loathe the stupid censor program.  In a fantasy site I can't write Michael Moorcock's name?  He's one of the greatest authors in the genre!  What semi-literate nincompoop bought this totally inappropriate commericial product? 

I approach each story published here as a reader. If the story is easy to read, if it's inviting, if it isn't a monolithic block of print, I'll start reading. Is the story interesting? If no, I stop.

If yes, I continue, but other issues become important: Two misspelled words in the first sentence and I stop. Poor or absent punctuation and I stop.

At this point I make a decision: Is this story worth saving? If the answer is no, that's all. I don't bother finishing the story and I never look at it again.If, on the other hand, there is some promise under the sloppy writing, I comment.

I have recently noticed some introductions and blurbs are offering excuses for poor writing:  I was in a hurry.  I don't have a beta reader yet.  I haven't looked at this recently.  Nonsense.  There are no deadlines at Elfwood.  There is no reason to hurry and expose innocent readers to sloppy workmanship just because the author is in a rush.  Do it right or don't publish. 

 I have decided that most of the chapters I have up are not so much chapters as they are novellas(see below).   The problem with this is that each chapter now needs a name.  (Only chapter 4 --Julia-- had a seperate title even before publication.)  As a solution to a vague dissatisfaction, this may not be a complete, satisfactory or workable solution.  Until I arrive at a better method of naming, I will continue to number what I publish here as if they were chapters.   uptate:  15Aug09  --Consequences: The World in Play, part 6.  I'll see if I continue to like this.  The problem is, I've never named anything.  I call everything I'm working on 'Spindrift'  (in homage to PGWodehouse's Lady Florence Cray's very modern, very important, novel.)  My beta readers suggest titles upon request.  I just write what I write.   

"But isn’t one person’s mistake another’s standard usage?
Often enough, but if your standard usage causes other people to consider you stupid or ignorant, you may want to consider changing it. You have the right to express yourself in any manner you please, but if you wish to communicate effectively, you should use nonstandard English only when you intend to, rather than fall into it because you don’t know any better."  --Brians' Errors.

I have recently become aware of ((and a fan of)) the Southern Vampire novels of Charlaine Harris.  While there are certain silmilarities, my first published mention of vampires and Cambells, canned vat-cultured  blood, occured 1 December 2000.  Harris's first Sookie Stackhouse novel, involving vampires and True Blood, bottled artificial blood, was published one month later, in 2001.  It is a case of parrallel inspiration, with neither author influencing the other. 

Cambridge Forum:   Television writer and director Joss Whedon receives the 2009 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism from the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy. The creator of the long-running television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" joins the show to discuss the moral foundations of a humanistic universe. '

It's PROLOGUE !  It's not porlogue or  prolouge; it's prologue.

Henceforth Dick and Jane will be replaced by John Thomas and Lady Jane, repectively.   (The censoring program cannot tell the difference between Dick as a name and dick as a reference to what Constance, Lady Chatterly, refers to as John Thomas.  It also passed the more formal cursing --hellfire and damnation -- while 'beep'ing hell and damn.   It's a commericial program, remarkable mostly for its stupidity.  Tthere must be something better out there.)

Omit needless words --Elements of Style, Strunk and White

  Singers sing, dancers dance, writers write.  What more do you need to say about why you write?  I am also a gardener.  Gardening is more arduous, but just as much fun.

A favorite  quote:  

I use the verb "to write" here to mean writing literary and/or commercially salable prose. Writing in the sense of how to compose a sentence, why and how to punctuate, etc., can indeed be taught and learned – usually, or at least hopefully, in grade school and high school. It is definitely a prerequisite to writing in the other senses; yet some people come to writing workshops without these skills. They believe that art does not need craft. They are mistaken.  -- Ursula K.  LeGuin

at ursulakleguin.com LeGuin offers  practical writing advice, by herself and a few guests commentators.  Another helpful  site is :  englishplus.com/grammar/contents.htm              A third interesting site is http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/   This site offers a brief and understandable disucssion of why writers should avoid unintentional mistakes.  It then goes on to explain how to correct them.  

 'And your manuscript has to pass through a number of hands before it ever reaches an editor. Every lap it lands in has hundreds of others just like it to read - which do you think is more likely to get forwarded, the one with random capitalization and an overabundance of ellipses, or the one that person can actually read without interruption?'  --  http://www.scribophile.com/blog/lets-talk-grammar/

PS:  I loathed the stupid little fairy ad.  I'm glad the 'inspirations' list is no longer with us. 

FYI:  Hugo Categories.  Novels,  40K or more  words; Novellas, 17.5 - 40K words; Novelettes, 7.5 - 17.5K words; Short stories, 7.5K  or fewer words. 

A reader asked why my characters have so many names.   Normal humans usually have one or maybe two names.  Spies, runaways, immortals and authors are not normal humans and can have noms de guerre,  psuedonyms, noms de plume, street names, cover names, use names and aliases.           

 I wonder about people who come out with dialogue like this:  "Jane." Her brother said.  "What do you want?"  Asked Jane.  Have they gone their entire lives either never reading anything or never noticing the standard American English punctuation conventions?    Come to think of it, they would have had to avoid school, too.  To be clear, here  are examples of  the norm:  "I need to go out, Jane,"  the dog said.  "Run, Jane!"  her bother said.  "What is it, Spot?"  she asked.   Notice how neatly what is said is tied directly to who said it.  There is simply no excuse for not getting this right.  One should have learned this in first grade.

 I loathe silly or pretentious noms de plume.  There are not that many reasons -- valid  reasons -- for adopting a pen name.  1)  If you have written all the stories in an issue of a magazine.*  2)  If your employer is touchy.  (I think Charles Dodgson and David Cornwall, employed by Oxford and HMG **respectively, had valid reasons for becoming Lewis Carroll and John leCarre. )  3) If you  are writing two or more genres.   4) If your name really is John leCarre, Thomas Hardy or Upton Sinclair.  In none of the above examples is there any excuse for assuming  a ridiculous name that even the author of The Eye of Argon would reject.   A silly pen name means you don't take your writing seriously.  If you don't, why should I?

*  I have been told that on more than one occassion in the last century all  the stories in an issue of a scifi prozine were written by one author.  The name of the author changes, but the story is widespread in SF fandom.  House names, as opposed to pen names, are attached to the magazine or series, not the author. 

**HMG ~ Her Majesty's Government.

Guestbook for Lkhollander

Date Name Comment   21 Aug 2009 Trish Harold Loading... Hello! Just wanted to say hi,and that I’m trying to find that SSB picture in my collection of unicorn stuff(yes,I have it still...I think most of the stuff is classified as antique or vintage now). I was given The Elements of Style by my neighbour when he found out I was writing an s/s story. Great book. I’ll let you know how my research goes. 30 Aug 2009 Christina Jo Brinkley Loading... have you been published because I did read some of your story so far. I could never be a writer like you, only in dreams. 31 Aug 2009 Anon. Loading... thank you for your comments on my story. im a new writer and am not sure on all points of writing so what you have told me will help me greatly. 8 Sep 2009 Lynn K Hollander Loading... I was trying out the ’modify’ option on Chapter 6. The intentional modifications were exactly what I wanted, but there were unintentional changes --the dreaded typos, or possibly, simple glitches. All the apostrophes (&rsquo became double quotes (". Well, of course, I couldn’t have that, so I yanked the chapter. It is currently re-uploaded to the mods, in the corrected form. 8 Sep 2009 Lynn K Hollander Loading... And people think I’m too harsh on the subject of emoticons. Nonsense. I am quite restrained and reasonable. Burn them all! Let us write like the grown-ups we are! Damn and blast those --but I can go on for hours. Apostrophes ’ Double quotes " Let’s see the stupid smiley faces change that! 22 Sep 2009 Alexander Damien Gonzalez Loading... "If, on the other hand, there is some promise under the sloppy writing, I comment." Thank you so much for your comment. Thank you. 23 Sep 2009 Martha Fae Bartell Loading... thanks for the advise! Do you think you could read it over again for me? 25 Sep 2009 Jane Dillon Loading... Thanks for the advice on grammar! 27 Sep 2009 Frances Monro Loading... Congratulations on 6.0 7 Oct 2009 Matt Darrow (senegoth) Loading... Hello, Ms. Hollander. Thank you for the constructive criticism. I appreciate the feedback and will consider making adjustments based on your suggestion. Sincerely, Matt Darrow (senegoth) Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6

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Lynn K Hollander