Search found 266 matches

by Allison
Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:36 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be A Better Writer--THE MAGIC ENDING
Replies: 57
Views: 77738

Re: Be A Better Writer--THE MAGIC ENDING

Also, keep in mind that sometimes "magic endings" actually do happen in real life. Take Apollo 13, one of my favorite movies as an example. If someone came into that movie not knowing it was based on a true story, they would likely write off the ending as "too predicable" and &q...
by Allison
Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:02 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be A Better Writer--THE MAGIC ENDING
Replies: 57
Views: 77738

Re: Be A Better Writer--THE MAGIC ENDING

Sorry to post twice in a row, but I came up with an alternate ending for the story I posted above, and want to see if you think it works better. Jackie huddled in the corner, covering Molly and whispering a desperate prayer. Through clenched teeth she seethed, "I don't even know you, Gary. You'...
by Allison
Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:06 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be A Better Writer--THE MAGIC ENDING
Replies: 57
Views: 77738

Re: Be A Better Writer--THE MAGIC ENDING

Also, keep in mind that sometimes "magic endings" actually do happen in real life. Take Apollo 13, one of my favorite movies as an example. If someone came into that movie not knowing it was based on a true story, they would likely write off the ending as "too predicable" and &qu...
by Allison
Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:52 pm
Forum: Christian Writers' Groups
Topic: St Louis, MO ??
Replies: 2
Views: 8471

Re: St Louis, MO ??

Hey, I'm so sorry I didn't see this until now. I'm from the St. Louis metro area too. Hi! :D I'm not sure of any Christian writer's groups in St. Louis, but there probably are some. There is a general writer's group in St. Peters, MO called "Saturday Writers" that meets the last Saturday o...
by Allison
Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:42 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be A Better Writer--THE MAGIC ENDING
Replies: 57
Views: 77738

Re: Be A Better Writer--THE MAGIC ENDING

I am definitely guilty of the "magic ending," and more than once. :oops: Here's one where not only do I have a magic ending, but the villain is also a very flat character. It's definitely not my best writing. I suppose I was going for something different and darker, but couldn't bring myse...
by Allison
Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:58 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Conclusion #2--the 5th judging criterion
Replies: 40
Views: 58512

Re: Be a Better Writer--GREAT ENDINGS

No, I definitely linked the wrong story the first time. Whoops! I'll edit it, but here's the correct link here too.. http://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-level3-previous.php?id=13965 On the second one, I can definitely see how the "Mr. Desk Chair" ending could be foreshadowed and somewha...
by Allison
Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:23 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Conclusion #2--the 5th judging criterion
Replies: 40
Views: 58512

Re: Be a Better Writer--GREAT ENDINGS

Oddly enough, this one ended up with an EC, but I never did like the story. The basic idea is fishing from the fish's POV. I got a bunch of comments about the ending on this one, saying I should have left the last part out and finished Sammy's thoughts. The part that clearly did not come across was ...
by Allison
Thu Feb 13, 2014 10:30 pm
Forum: Results and Highest Rankings
Topic: Winners for BOOKENDS Challenge
Replies: 5
Views: 5017

Re: Winners for BOOKENDS Challenge

Congratulations, Toni! :coolsign It says on this forum I got third place, but there is no third place listed on the Level Champion Challenge Winners page and no ribbon on my profile page for the story. I'm not sure if I did or not. Interesting. There's actually no 3rd place in beginners listed at a...
by Allison
Tue Feb 11, 2014 12:08 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Craftsmanship--the 3rd judging criterion
Replies: 30
Views: 39372

Re: Be a Better Writer--Craftsmanship, and a CONTEST

One of the things I think is very important when writing prose fiction is avoiding the temptation to have the deus ex machina at the end. In other words, having all the problems 'magially' resolved because God shows up and does a miracle. In real life, our problems are very, very rarely solved in t...
by Allison
Tue Jan 28, 2014 12:28 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--CREATIVITY
Replies: 23
Views: 42074

Re: Be a Better Writer--CREATIVITY

Jan, one more question...How much does style, word choice, and form impact creativity? In other words, can the usual be dressed up by the above so as to appear out of the box? Lillian I'm not Jan, but I would say that style, word choice, and form DEFINITELY have a huge impact on creativity. And I'd...
by Allison
Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:12 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--CREATIVITY
Replies: 23
Views: 42074

Re: Be a Better Writer--CREATIVITY

Okay. so I suppose I should actually do the homework. :) For "home" common idea would be homework ;), "home sweet home," and since this is a Christian site, anything about heaven being our real home. An idea that people might THINK would be creative, but would actually be pretty ...
by Allison
Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:06 am
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--CREATIVITY
Replies: 23
Views: 42074

Re: Be a Better Writer--CREATIVITY

Lillian, that's definitely a virus of some sort. Now, back to the topic. Creativity. I've been waiting for this class. I've been told I have a lot of creativity, yet I still struggle to come up with creative ideas at times. I've been entering the challenge enough (and I used to even judge on occasio...
by Allison
Mon Jan 13, 2014 9:06 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--Writing on topic
Replies: 44
Views: 61309

Re: Be a Better Writer--Writing on topic

And on the other end of the scale is my "Don't try to walk before you learn to crawl" story. I was SO disappointed that most of the commenters said they didn't see the topic at all. I guess I tried way too hard not to be obvious. :) http://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-level4.php?id=208...
by Allison
Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:02 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--INTENTIONAL ANACHRONISM
Replies: 8
Views: 10168

Re: Be a Better Writer--INTENTIONAL ANACHRONISM

I just realized that I said I would post what I did wrong in "Anna's List" (a story I linked to in my first post) and I never did. So here goes. In Anna's List, I put words in Jesus' mouth. And while I don't think that I had Jesus saying anything UN-Biblical, in general, it's just not a go...
by Allison
Sun Jan 12, 2014 9:44 pm
Forum: Jan's Writing Basics
Topic: Be a Better Writer--Writing on topic
Replies: 44
Views: 61309

Re: Be a Better Writer--Writing on topic

Allison, thanks for stopping by, and for leaving those links. I appreciate your being willing to set out some examples of "less than perfect" for us. As far as your examples for creativity--that's definitely the sort of thing that I'll cover in a few weeks, when I write about that criteri...

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