FaithWriters.com-Christian Writers Forum

Thinking over a few sarcastic characters I've written..and some of them are obviously self depracating, and those that aren't usually learn a humbling lesson in the end. And I didn't infer you to mean that sarcasm was bad humor. My pastor pointed out one Sunday morning where Jesus used sarcasm in Sc...

Catching up - and commenting collectively on a some previous posts. :) Thinking back on my own "humorous" stories, most (all?) stem from a tragedy of some sort, including my most recent challenge entry. I find that I tend toward sarcastic humor a lot, and most of my stories contain some el...

I also stumbled a bit reading "unknown smile", but the explanation helped. I've awakened with a smile on my lips before, so I know what you mean. Maybe "unconscious"?

I'm loving the edit exchange! I agree with Steve about "flutter". "Flew" changes the scene from the smell of breakfast gradually waking him up to jolting him awake. But I agree with Jan that it's girlie. :) Maybe "flicker"? Okay, for homework...two sentences off the cuf...

One title on this list made me laugh out loud. A hearty congratulations and well done to all who made the "lists", and to all who put yourself out there and hit submit this week.

Love your mini-memoir, Rachel. You cracked me up.

When I first joined FaithWriters, the Challenge (and main reason I joined) was on break, and after reading everything in the FAQ's and making myself home on the main site and especially the boards, I started writing. My mom had just died, and two of those first "stories" back in 2006 were ...

Hi Jan! Here are a few Haiku from my Poetry files - I'll work on limericks today. :) sunset on water brilliant colors paint the sky kaleidoscopic smoke-filled autumn air red flames nibble at darkness camp fires dot the night Glistening turquoise Roils into foaming whitecaps, Crests, curls, crashes, ...

When I was a volunteer judge back in the day, this was the hardest criterion for me to judge. I finally settled on looking at how likely I would be to read this sci-fi short story in a magazine that catered to sci-fi aficionados (to build on your example). It was kind of like a mash-up of all the ca...

I don't remember ever receiving hurtful "criticism" as some of you have, but I've had some negative critiques, as in - this didn't make sense, I don't understand this part, it would be stronger if you did this or that -- and I've at times been stung and at times thankful for the improvemen...

Thanks for permission to break the cardinal show/don't tell rule! (on occasion and when necessary). I sometimes feel under such extreme pressure to "show" everything, my words freeze up somewhere between my head and my fingers. I smiled when I read your example paragraphs about woman out o...

I think I have a natural ear for rhythm/meter, and yes, a rhyming poem that doesn't have a consistent meter is hard for me to read. Shann, I wonder if an editor could tweak the meter of your poems for you? Jan, reading the "altered" version of Amazing Grace, I was re-writing it in my head:...

rcthebanditqueen wrote:

CatLin wrote:I'm a fan of long sentences. I write a lot of them, but then go back and painstakingly break them up while editing because I've been called out on them. Why is it okay in Pulitzer prize winning novels but not for the average Joe Writer?

^ THIS. I am the same way.

I'm reading "The Goldfinch" by Diana Tartt and am absolutely enthralled. I love her metaphorical descriptions and the soft gentle 1st person voice that is telling you a sad, horrible story. I opened my Kindle PC app and this is just a random example from a scene where she makes a cluttered...

Great lesson Jan! I've broken all of these rules and lived to tell about it. :) For example, in this opening paragraph, I broke #3, twice. This challenge entry was an Editor's Choice. (I also just saw, for the very first time ever, an extra word in the 2nd sentence :roll: ) "Although she was ve...