#a book fair paragraph 300 words

[friendtechbd]

A Book Fair paragraph 8-10, SSC,HSC and all students 100-500 words

Easy way to write A Book Fair paragraph 8-10, SSC, HSC and all students 100-500 words. Go through the below written paragraph carefully, hope you will be able to appear in any exam by reading it. A Book Fair paragraph 8-10 150 words A book fair is an exciting event where people celebrate the joy of reading and exploring various books. It is a vibrant and bustling affair filled with booths and…

[ritzcrackee]

may tbr post yayy

rereads are marked by a ☆, new reads are marked by a ♡, and new acquisitions are bolded

physical tbr: 15

more letters from a nut - ted l. nancy ♡

fahrenheit 451 - ray bradbury ♡

little (grrl) lost - charles de lint ♡

dracula - bram stoker ♡

dune - frank herbert ♡

dune messiah - frank herbert ♡

frankenstein - mary shelley ♡

juilet takes a breath - gabby rivera ♡

sense and sensibility - jane austen ♡

stories of people and civilization, greek ancient

origins - lindsay powell, j. k. jackson ♡

the silent stars go by - dan abbet ♡

touched by an angel - johnathan morris ♡

the handmaids tale - margaret atwood ✩

the testaments - margaret atwood ♡

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the

universe - benjamin alire sáenz ✩

digital tbr: 4

pandora's jar: women in the greek myths - natalie haynes ♡

providence girls - morgan dante ♡

cemetery boys - aiden thomas ♡

if you could see the sun - ann liang ♡

read: 11

an education in malice - s. t. gibson - 3.5/5

i have,,, conflicted feelings on this book. it was good, the action was interesting, the characters were complex, the vibes were impeccable, but,,,,, idkkk.... i can't even verbalize it but there was something about this that just made it a slog to get through.

i can't help myself from comparing it to a dowry of blood, which i feel had a much cleaner execution of very similar themes. dracula felt charasmatic, he felt gravitational, he felt like a person you would give up humanity for. de lafontaine felt,,,, like a mean professor. carmilla and laura constantly wax on about how brilliant and intoxicating she is, but i never felt that. s.t. gibson can write an obsessive, imbalanced, interesting relationship! they can write it very well! so i don't understand why this fell flat for me.

overall, i think this book was disjointed. it felt like a collection of vibey scenes and quotes to put on your instagram. (which, to be fair, the quotes are banger. and the vibes are so so vibes.) i liked it, but i don't know how long it'll stay on my shelf.

maneater - emily antoinette - 2.5/5

tbh i don't have much to say abt this 👍 it was an ok book 👍

hot button issue - catrina bell - 2.5/5

i liked seeing more of this world! the couple wasn't really my thing but thats more of a me issue (get it? no? ok) i do wish there was a little more roller derbying but overall this was cool.

wild is the witch - rachel griffin - dnf

cool concept but the writing style was too repetitive for my taste 👍

luxuria - colette rhodes - dnf

i didn't like this book whoopsies. i wanted to actually try fantasy romance instead dismissing the entire genre but ummm. yeah no i don't like fantasy romance. not my thing. paranormal besties please take me back ill never stray again 🙏

garron park - nordika night - 1/5

ok so. well. where do i even start with this book. extremely silly to, at 25 years of age, call someone your enemy. are you five? are you five years old? everyone certainly swears like a five year old. tiny baby writing tip: maybe keep the word fuck to, like, once a paragraph.

additionally, you can create tension without violence sometimes! if your main characters have confessed their undying love to each other, probably they can talk to eachother for four seconds! probably they don't need to punch eachother as much! probably, a change in their actions and words would show the audience how much their relationship has grown.

i also wasn't super into how many times the main characters brothers brought up how sexy they were? kind of a weird move. certainly not something i would choose to say about my own brother, nor my best friends brother! maybe thats just me though who knows

it was genuinely just edgy k-pop wattpad poverty-porn yaoi but? i did read 300 pages in one sitting so? points for that? you get 1 point for that.

rebel girls - elizabeth keenan - 2.5/5

second pro-choice book i've read this month so thats cool! guess we have a theme going. tbh i don't have much to say about this. the characters were interesting, if lacking in depth. the plot was fine, if lacking in depth. the messaging was good, if lacking in depth. i guess this book was overall, lacking in depth. i'm sure my local free little library will appreciate it. 👍

undergrounders - j. e. glass - 2.5/5

this is just the month of the perfectly average books huh? everybody's getting 2.5 stars skdisjdj.

anyways, i wanted to see if my issue with luxuria was actually its genre, or if it was the overwhelming hetero of it all. so i read a queer fantasy romance! with all of the tropes i like! and i still didn't enjoy it :(. i am glad that i tried this, but i can say with absolute certainty now that fantasy romance is not for me.

the main couple was sooooo cutes though and the side characters were sooooo cutes and the worldbuilding was v v v cool! if you like sapphic fantasy romance? absolutely reccomend this book!

the ballad of songbirds and snakes - suzanne collins - 3/5

girl this is why u reread books bcus i used to tell people that this was my favorite book ever. it is not. idk why i thought that.

ANYWAYS this was alright. i liked how easy the themes were to pick up on, the ambiguous ending, and listening to coriolanus justify his weird evil behavior. that was cool. i didn't like um lucy gray. not because she was bad, but because she felt like a non-character yk? i thought she had some pretty cool characterization in the beginning, especially surrounding her being a performer (being a parallel to coriolanus) but then she kind of fell off and just became a stock Trusting Girlfriend. which was meh. i'm excited to watch the movie, snow lands on top or whatever 👍

cultish: the language of fanaticism - amanda montell - 4/5

this was very cool to learn about and easy to digest 👍. not a full 5/5 because it was nonfiction so i wasn't obsessed with it, but definitely more engaging than most other nonfiction books I've read.

fox court - nora sakavic - 1/5

started reading this because i heard that it was like,,, bad but addictive? like full wattpad nonesense but u look up and you've finished the whole series in one sitting yk? it was,,, not that way for me. i thought it was boring, confusing, and the characters were sooo unlikable. ik this has a pretty big fandom on here please don't come for me sowwyy um. yeah

last months goal: finish a reread

WOO HOO i did it this time! gold star for me, best reader in the whole world. this was really easy, because i genuinely couldn't remember a single thing about a ballad of songbirds and snakes, so it felt like i was reading a brand new book. i also said that i wanted to carve away a more sizable chunk of my tbr this month, which i kind of did? i only read 3 physical books, but i got rid of almost an entire shelfs worth because my family was having a yard sale! so yk. vibes.

this months goal: ... finish dune

LOOK LOOOK STOP THROWING TOMATOES AT ME LOOK ok. last time this was a lofty goal filled with folly and big dreams and it was stupid. THIS TIME i literally only have 257 pages left. which is actually so reasonable. if i read 50 pages a night before bed that's only 5 days of reading. i can straight up do this one this time I PROMISE.

[stoicallyshi]

February 13th

It wasn't a very fair and good thing that I did to myself when I stopped reading all together after I was done with my high school. Moving into college life I still tried to keep pace with some of most delicate heart warming stories but in those years more than reading I was into writing. Writing and testing my own creativity, like how far my imagination could chase words on the blank papers. I moved from stuffing my dairy with daily entries to writing short stories and mere poetries which I still think looks bizarre and like some sort of venting paragraphs in progress.

I always loved reading not just the idea but to actually indulging myself with any of the story I felt was worth given a chance. I read mostly romance novels because that's what I always loved the most. Whether it was poetries or books I always had eyes for romantic genre. I read not only because it gave me thrill and butterflies which it did but I read because I felt like one day maybe one day I might be able to portray my own emotions like these amazing writers and poets who could easily write a 300 to 400 pages story without caring about if the words in the lines were perfectly grammatized. I always thought reading was my safe escape from all this bullshit going around the world. I always had a feeling that nothing else in this world mattered more than the characters getting a happy ending in the book I was luring in for hours. I read like I didn't give a fucking fly about anything happening around me. I read like I could let the books and my fictional characters consume me with themselves and just keep me there without letting me go back into this cruel world ready to pounce and drown with its negativity on me any given minute. I never wanted to deal with this real world until I had to forcefully. I loved living in my bubble world and a universe that I myself created to keep me there from all these realistic things that could hurt me and break me down. I never wanted to leave my fancy fantasy life but the more the years and time added to my youth the more weary I became of myself. I was starstruck when I was shoved into believing that none of what I read will ever be real or was real for the first place to sit in. It didn't hurt me that bad when I first realized how incomprehensive all these felt to soak in.

When everything around me started getting complicated and real I felt the world under me as if the more I was running from it the more deniable I was getting to myself. The more I tried to just keep me there the more loathing it was becoming. I had to push myself out of that world, the world that felt safe and happy, the world that felt mine. But like every good book that ends one day I had to come to par with my own self to keep it as a beautiful memory to cherish forever in the hindsight of my brain.

Like no matter how much I might love that manually created, psychologically decorated universe filled with pictures of myself just happy, cozy, warm and fuzzy. The truth is also that I had to stop running from who I was with this body and I had to start accepting who I could be if I did justice to my this very self who is always waiting to be heard, to be believed in and to be made into a truly amazing person I could be without trying to find solace into the books I read, though a part of me still wish I could just be able to read and read without having to care about if I could make a career out of it or not. I always will long for days to have more hours, months to have more days, and years to have more months, so that I could just be done with every other things that requires my attention then come back to the unread books in my shelf gawking at me everyday, asking just to be picked up and read. I wish someday I might find enough time to just let myself balance the two worlds, both the worlds that I wanna dwell in !

[bellaslilpapercut]

Oh boy New Moon! I've got some Thoughts a brewin' babey:

1. Smeyer: you do not need to remind your audience what happened last book, they aren't stupid. Imagine if SC started catching fire with ANOTHER explanation of what the hunger games are and that's the vibe of the first chapters of new moon. We remember james, we know what vampires are, we know that Bella is white, stop reminding us!

2. Bella has the worst self esteem of all time. Every bad thing that has happened to her since the Van Incident has been Edward's fault but she still blames herself and idk if this is Intentional Insecurity or if smeyer is protecting edward's "character" or both but gdamn it's depressing.

3. The reason I said Jasper was Inconsistently Written jumped out at me again. Smeyer dedicated a whole paragraph to pointing out how terrible jasper is at the diet or whatever but in the guide, smeyer tells us jasper actively tried to starve himself in the past because of how difficult his gift made feeding. He was one of only two Cullens to show bella empathy, he smelled her blood before, why does he attack her? The weakness of this decision is pointed out in the exposition: if it really were likely that Jasper would attack Bella, she wouldn't have needed a superfluous paragraph dedicated to telling us how bad he is at self control. If the story had convinced us of that beforehand, we would have believed the attack without the addendum.

4. The party is my least favorite part of the whole series and I will die on this hill: edward should have attacked bella. Bella should have tripped into something glass and edward should have lost it because he tasted her blood before and couldn't help himself. That way: edwards self loathing makes sense and he's forced to recon with his superiority complex from the ending chapters of twilight AND bella's self blame makes sense. A vamp who was able to starve himself before he even heard of the cullens should not have lost it around someone he spent days in close quarters with, building rapport and friendship. Edward got too high and mighty after he fed from Bella in Twilight, that should have had real consequence.

5. The writing is getting a little better as we near Edward leaving. "Better" isn't a good word actually but it's getting closer to the prose in twilight (which was flowery and annoying but at least it didn't constantly feel like being spoonfed exposition every paragraph). Hm wrote this blurb while I was still on chapter 3 and the vibe of being spoonfed reminders has not really dissipated lmfao.

We remember Sam Uley, smeyer, you introduced him four chapters ago. Just quick question: did anyone proofread this?? I think it's fair to say: when she isn't reminding us of things that we remember the prose is more similar to twilight. A little annoying but interesting enough to forgive the errors (or at least move past them easily enough lol).

6. I'm on chapter 8 now (I'm gonna break this up into three parts so I don't forget stuff like I did during the twilight reread) and there's a very heavy Vibe that smeyer is setting Jake up to be a parallel for twilight-era Bella. This line here is a pretty clear parallel for Bella telling Edward not to hold his breath in Twilight when he tells her she might get tired of him.

7. This line here "almost happy in a shallow kind of way" really jumped out. What Bella's narration says about Jacob versus her conversations with him (and her one paragraph about his happiness being effortlessly contagious) are at odds. It doesn't read like shallow happiness when she's with Jake. However, Smeyer is also a bad writer, she thinks the story she's telling us is literally what the narration says and not what the action shows and I think she realizes this in Eclipse (but obviously I'm not there yet so I can't say for sure).

8. I really can't get over the drop in writing quality. I know that she had already mostly finished Forever Dawn by the time Twilight was published (or was halfway done, I think her website said she had over 300 pages of forever dawn complete when she found out Twilight was getting published). I think the writing quality really reveals that she was not prepared to write New Moon. It's sloppier than Twilight in a way I'm not able to articulate (by that I mean I personally have a more intuitive than technical understanding of grammar and syntax so I don't have the language to break down the differences). Twilight itself is ripe with technical errors and plot errors and awkward exposition so it's not an overt drop in quality but I think it very much reads like a rushed writing job. She was committed to forever dawn, her publishers wanted New Moon, it shows.

9. I think New Moon was when I first started physically editing my copies of the saga lol. Even reading it now I'm so tempted to open up a word document and cut half of the useless shit out and fix all the grammatical mistakes. I can't even talk shit because I am also a comma-abuser but I hoped an editor would at least catch the errors before publishing. Guess not! Brevity is very clearly not meyers strong suit and this would have been a much stronger sequel if she had been able to reign herself in a bit. New Moon isn't supposed to be as narration heavy as twilight, there's already more action in the first seven chapters than the there was in the first 19 of twilight but she always delivers exposition via awkward dialogue or Bella's narration. Again, we already got a lot of the exposition in twilight, we know how vampires work et cetera. You can show us how bella feels instead of making her tell us and the story would run a lot more smoothly.

10. I'll end on a nice note! Little treat!

This is my favorite part of the book so far. I whited-out the useless dialogue tag because the line reads better without it ( line originally ends with "I emphasized" but she could have been brief and just ended the dialogue with an exclamation point for the same effect). The dialogue is natural and shows the J/B relationship that lives in my head way better than anything else I've seen on the page at this point. Like, I literally love this line more than any dialogue that preceded it (including twilight) lol.

[unordinary-analysis]

Episode 170

Honorable mentions:

Blyke is pissed at this guy

I’m not sure if I can call the superhero posse the superhero posse anymore because Blyke is kind of doing his solo superhero thing now, but I mean he’s part of the posse, and nothing is really contradicting. Yeah I’ll keep calling them that. The nature of the group changed, but not the basics.

Superhero posse is Remi, Blyke, and Isen btw

At the end of my first paragraph, when I say, “-with the complications of a real world situation,” I am aware that the UnOrdinary universe is not real, lmao. The phrasing I used is to try to convey that the factors of things like actual performance ability in regards to power are the roots of this system. So rather than being presented with a society whose classifications exist just for the hell of it, like it seems with a lot of stories, it is clear in UnOrdinary that the hierarchy is prompted and necessary, which makes it harder to debate the morality of its nature when presented with issues like discrimination or abuse of authority. Just a quick note. Probably should have made that more clear, but I didn’t want to go too off topic lol. I do that too much already.

Tfw you didn’t think you would find much to write about and the all of a sudden you have pages of writing

No clue what to say about the end of the episode. I don’t have any predictions as to what Kuyo might want. His history with Rei could go either way because we still don’t know if he stayed a hierarchical abuser or if he eventually turned to Rei’s side. Until we know that, and maybe even then, I won’t say anything.

^^also just lazy this is long already and I have to write another of these

My eyes are numb to this sorry if the transitions are confusing

Low Tiers vs. High Tiers: Newside and Origin Edition:

So, and I’m aware this is a skillfully awful way to start this post, we’re all aware of how bad the tensions are between different tiers, especially in places like Wellston. But in this episode, and the few before it, there’s finally a chance to explore into this concept outside of the select group of teenagers that make up Wellston Private High School. And, yes, we’ve gotten a few examples outside of this when Remi spent time as a vigilante, and also when the superhero posse got into some trouble at Kovoro mall. I don’t know, Remi just brings out the injustice in people for some reason? Anyway, I’m bringing this up now because I don’t think I’ve really talked about this before even when the other examples were relevant. To be fair, I don’t think I was writing these for most examples and during the first superhero arc (Remi’s), I had just started and my posts were like maximum 300 words long. Anyway, I really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity now. It’s always really refreshing to see outside the small bubble we’re normally confined to as the usual focus of the story is on the hierarchy struggle in Wellston and everything to do with it. Though this Blyke arc is very much centered around his struggle with his power and his goal of advancing in the hierarchy, it also opens a window for us to see out, again, into that underlying concept similar to Wellston’s power struggle, but on a more extreme scale. Obviously, the villain of our story, John, is the main focus in the comic because he is the main character, but the villain(?) of the UnOrdinary universe is painted to be the struggle between low and high tiers. The hierachy’s paradoxical creation of social imbalance and social stability is the underlying focus behind uru-chan’s writing in this comic. This is a comic about class struggle with the complications of a real world situation (see honorable mentions above for clarification).

The social dynamic between the different tiers is magnified in the recent chapters’ events and location. We are already aware and comfortable with the concept of higher-tiers (not like high-tiers but higher) preying on low-tier districts to gain power quickly, so it’s a bit less noticeable, or standout, now, for me anyway. But in comparisons to the power struggle at Wellston currently (Joker situation), the situations in these worse off towns is still significantly worse. I’m just going to summarize what’s happening really fast, but hopefully you already know what’s happening because I’m bad at explaining. So basically: lower/mid-tiers or straight up mid-tiers (no known naturally higher-tiers have done this to our knowledge, but more on that later) pick a district known to be filled with low-tiers (always weaker than the offender) and attempt take over in hopes of gaining authority and power. Because no higher-tier has been seen attempting this, I want to say that the cause of this is the feeling deprivation of it in their normal life, where their ability grants them nothing special. Similar to how John reacted shortly after he gained his powers at first, they want to become the oppressor instead of the victims that they’ve always been. By going to lower-tier districts where around a 3.0 (or with aid, something higher), give or take is stronger than anyone else around, these people become “trigger-happy” for lack of a better word. They take advantage of finally being able to do something that they never have before and take it a little far. I do not think there are many motives other than this, especially because in this episode when Blyke was approaching the Newside woman, she thought, “Does he plan on toying with us, just like Lance did?” Take note of the word toying. From her word choices in her conversation with Blyke, I’ve pieced together that all Lance really did was mess things up around Newside, never really doing anything focused or thought through. He was thoughtless and impulsive. Destroyed their town and terrorized its people only because he could. I’ve also hinted at a little bit the use of ability enhancers. From Remi’s superhero arc, we know that some of these lower-tiers are injecting themselves with this enhancement drug to shoot up in strength to be able to attempt anything like this. This means that even if you are the lowest of the low, you have a chance at tasting power, which obviously stretches the number of people pulling something like this. I’m not too concerned about this today, however, because it’s kind of separate from the topic of hierarchical conflict, or at least enough for me to separate it from this post.

This entire concept of low-tier invasion and takeover is an example, probably the most telling one, of the dangers that come from such a polarizing system as the UnOrdinary hierarchy.

Everything I’ve said really seems to lead to the fact that dealing with both injustice and discrimination around ability and people trying to change who they were born to be is unavoidable in a world like UnOrdinary. Obviously, this ranking system was put into place for a reason as exemplified by Rei’s reign at Wellston. But as the world reaches new ages and innovative thinking, the confines of the hierarchical ladder aren’t as stable and reliable as they used to be. I’m sure in the past, the hierarchy has gone along almost without a hitch, but as violence grows due to the harsh pedestal the hierarchy unintentionally puts high-tiers on, and radical ideals are being placed into the heads of anyone who will listen (UnOrdinary the book), the structure of the hierarchy is becoming more fluid, which is confusingly ironic. It’s like the historical Age of Enlightenment reborn. People as a whole are growing more and more restless.

So, the big question is whether or not the hierarchy is still the best design for UnOrdinary’s society. Because while it has created a cushion for accidental and catastrophic incompetence in a more general, everyday context, it has evolved into less normalized, yes, but harsher clashes between the different ability levels. I will say that I, personally, support the idea of the hierarchy because order, when done right, will always defeat brute force. What I’d like to say is that, with proper involvement with the authorities, I think the hierarchical system would run smoothly. And yet they are caught in this circle of trying to stop revolutionary thinking among its civilians. This is why the authorities are trying to put an end to the superhero movement, not because the heroes are helping to clean up the streets, but because in doing so, the superheroes are disrupting the natural hierarchy. See the irony? The authorities aren’t doing what they need to do to stop the hierarchical uprising because they’re busy trying to stop people from rising up against the hierarchy, which somehow contradict. Now, all of this needs a beginning. This cycle obviously had to start somewhere or else the entire history of the hierarchy wouldn’t be so good and desired. The superhero movement is this start for this cycle and they all stem from the same thing: the revolutionary ideas that came from revolutionary thinkers: the book UnOrdinary. Obviously, before this there were some issues with the hierarchical system (allowing John to abuse his power as king), but the issue is more extreme and relevant as I explained in the second paragraph (the thick one), because of the lower-tiers feeling unsatisfied and acting out on other low-tiers because of that. But I really want to let myself believe that UnOrdinary set off a chain reaction in the UnOrdinary universe leading to the class struggles in the extreme state they are currently in. And as the comic is obviously called UnOrdinary, I like to think that there is a reason for that title rather than something so personal and niche as a sentiment of John’s.

[booksneedcaffeinetoo]

Book Review: House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

This review is going to be LITTERED with SPOILERS because idk how to talk about this book without giving away the whole plot.

Consider yourself officially warned. 

I’m still debating on my rating, but for now here is my review. Fair warning: it is rant-y and ramble-y and hasn't been edited yet. I'll clean it up when I come back for a rating.

As always, content warnings are listed at the bottom!

Overall Positives:

• SJM has actually included a few gay characters….now they are all very minor side characters (Isiah, Fury, Juniper, and Declan) who are only present for maybe 3% total of the novel, but at least they exist??? So she gets points for actually having gay characters who aren’t killed off. You can say that she’s making an effort.

• The banter between Bryce and Hunt was pretty funny

• That scene with the knock-off My Little Pony dolls was funny

• I think there might've been a reference in the book to First Aid Kit (the sister folk duo) and it made my heart squeal because I love that band SO MUCH!

• Bryce actually has a great relationship with her mom and her stepfather! And they are both alive! And stay alive! I’m actually struggling to recall a book I’ve read where the main character in the book has a). both parents alive and b). a great relationship with them both. So that was really refreshing!

• Hunt in a sunball cap.

• Bryce and Hunt taking photos together. Way too adorable.

• Ride or die friendship. I love books that emphasize the importance of friendship.

• That LIGHT IT UP DANIKA LIGHT IT UP LIGHT IT UP scene....like i felt that...her happiness. so sweet. i teared up at that scene ngl....

• Pretty good depiction of grief. How even after years the pain of losing your friend doesn’t go away. How some people cut themselves off to cope and others don’t. How some take out their anger on the closest target. How some people remember the dead one’s birthday and other don’t. etc. etc.

• It really was a slow burn because they like didn’t even kiss until 75% into the 3,000 page book.

• Rhun is my favorite character in this book. He’s a goth softie king. I also loved the Demon Cat. And Fury. And Declan. And Flynn. And Isaiah. And Hunt. And Lele. And the dog. And Jesiba. And Randall. And….well….that’s about it….

• I have recently been getting more and more into Urban Fantasy so I am excited and glad that this book is UF. I also like how it takes place in a different world with a different history (although for some reason I went into this book under the impression it takes place in New Orleans…)

Overall Negatives:

• If I ever have to see the word “alphahole” again it will still be too soon. I get that she was going for meta and trying to poke fun at how the trope in so many UF books includes an alphamale love interest….but it just doesn’t really work because none of the guys she was calling an alphahole was actually acting like one??? Okay so this is kind of ramble-y but whatever. When I think of an alphamale love interest acting like a…*shudders*…. alphahole I think of the stereotypical shifter romance/erotica novel where the guy likes wants to punch any guy who stands too close or talks to his mate. I think of him making outrageous claims, always posting a guard, never letting her leave the house, etc. all without any cause. Having a literal demon serial killer who (at this point in the book) you believe RIPPED APART AN ENTIRE PACK OF WEREWOLVES and is killing everyone who is close to working on the same case as you and you are a half-fae who NEVER carries a weapon with you, doesn’t have magic, and no one beside your mom, stepdad, and dead bestie know that you can turn into a flashlight at will…..yeah it makes sense that the people who care about you would like you to have a guard. But that’s not “alphahole” behavior. Nor is when you’re starving yourself from guilt him being concerned and wanting you to eat, or wanting you to try to take care of yourself….that’s not “alphahole” behavior, it’s being a good friend/sibling. If someone wanted a guard on her PRIOR to her investigating the murder than yeah….that would be “alphahole” 100%. But that’s not what happened…one of the highlights of the book was Hunt calling out Bryce by telling her that she is actually the “alphahole” here.

• Fucking sunball = baseball. WHYYYYYY I thought it was soccer for so long until Hunt tossed on a “sunball cap”

• I thought that Violet Hall from Pucked was the most infuriating main character I have read in a long time until I met Bryce fucking Quinnland. It is a pet peeve of mine when a character acts like someone (usually lazy or a partier) and then gets pissed because people think they are how they act??? Like, if you act like an asshole then don’t be shocked if people think you are an asshole. Also she was someone who was terribly selfish and stupidly reckless for no reason for 99% of the book. Yeah she’s ride or die for her friends which is supposed to be her best quality but she is just terribly rude to so many people. Like take Lele for example. Bryce treated her horribly until Hunt was sold again, then was friends with Lele for like a week which someone equated to Lele being willing to die for her???

• Part two of that bullet above^: Why was everyone willing to die for Bryce? Maybe I hate Bryce because she reminds me too much of Jane Salone from The Bold Type with her ‘I’m always right’ attitude. But yeah, everyone is willing to die for her. I don’t get why though. Also everyone wants to fuck her. She can’t walk down the street without like five dudes wanting to fuck her. It was so annoying. Also how the hell has she not died by age 25!?!? There is a different between being bitchy with your algebra teacher versus being bitchy with some guy who could smite you before you blink. And all of them are like ‘oooh she’s not afraid of me like everyone else how charming’ and I’m just like NO. That’s like if I intentionally pissed off some mafia dom and instead of making an example out of me for dissing him in front of his mafia bros, he’s like ‘oooh you’re sassy wanna fuck?’ MAKES NO SENSE!!!

•Part three of the above^: okay before someone comes at me and says ‘well would you be saying the same things if she was a guy doing an acting this way’ well probably. I love the KATE DANIELS (Magic Bites) series. And Kate is a no-nonsense, can come across rude, and gives zero fucks what anyone else thinks about her. Kind of like Bryce, but less bitchy and has the power and skills to back up her recklessness. (No one around Bryce learns of her secret lightbright gift or of her sharpshooting skills until the very end so I am maintaining my ‘she’s reckless’ viewpoint based on everyone around her not knowing of her abilities when she does all of this dumbshit). Kate also is a fucking martyr who runs towards danger even when the odds are against her. Just like Bryce. But I love Kate and hate Bryce. So…yeah I think it was just a Bryce issue. It took until about 41% with the whole phone-Sandriel thing for me to stop finding her insufferable….but I still never really liked her after that...I could stand her for the occasional paragraph or two

• Speaking of martyrs…why is everyone one in this book!?!? NOT EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE A MARTYR!!!

• Another reason I hate Bryce (yes I’m back on that Bryce shit) is because after Hunt broke her heart he immediate thought upon learning who he was going to be sold (back to his old owner who is a sadistic fuck) her thought was good, he deserves it and all he did was break her heart and not want to be a slave anymore and kept something he knew would destroy you (which yeah, keeping that secret furthered his cause but still…) and I just????? Have???? No words???? Like girl you have a RIGHT to be PISSED but jfc that doesn’t equate to TORTURE.

• Ugh and then her whole ‘take me instead’ bullshit was so reminiscent of that Jules and Emma whipping scene from Lady Midnight I almost gagged for the level of cheese and martyr-syndrome 

• Why is everyone described as “brown,” “golden brown,” or “tan”?! It’s like SJM is trying to not make everyone white but doesn’t want to fully commit…

• And was anyone uncomfortable/cringed at the ‘white angel wings are supreme to any wings with color’ bit....

• I hate books where the werewolves can talk outloud in human form. I cringed.

• Why was the calling people by their last name thing not consistent? I’ve read books before where characters flip between using another character’s first and last name, but there is context behind why they choose one or the other: the professional setting, if the person is happy or upset, who is being addressed, etc. But you’ll get Hunt calling Bryce “Bryce” and “Quinnland” within a sentence of each other? And literally every character did stuff like this. It was weird and not consistent at all.

Negatives About the Plot:

• This book really felt like three books in one: Part One (first 12ish%) being the day leading up to the Pack of Devil’s murder. And I do mean like every boring thing that happened. Part Two (the next 66ish%) being the murder investigation. Part Three (the last 22ish%) being where all the action occurred. The book felt like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. The summary promised a murder investigation so I was expecting it to be a KATE DANIELS-esque plot. But nothing of true importance really occurred during that investigation. We got some cool flashbacks with Danika, and some sweet moments between Hunt and Bryce…but that’s it. SJM isn’t Brandon with a Stormlight Archives (The Way of Kings) complicated interwoven plot. I think the book as whole would have been better if it was about 300 pages shorter.

• Nothing in the plot of true importance happened until the last 100 pages or so.

• I mean we literally got every single thing that happened during every single day of their investigation…it was….too much detail.

• When I got to 80% like every other chapter felt like the book should end. It could’ve ended on a cliffhanger. Like right after Hunt was found on that boat. But nope….

• Figures. SJM can’t have a main couple unless they both are super special. Did anyone else feel like she just recycled parts of ACOMAF in this book? Hunt: has wings and super special powers. Bryce: absorbs some super-fae juiced up power from a cauldron—er….I mean arch—to get extra powers and become the most super cool and super special fae in all existence because god forbid we have a heroine who isn’t the most physically powerful person ever. I mean, to hell with mental strength. Must be physically magically powerful or you’re no good!

• The only plot points that surprised me were the hunt being at the drug bust (because we got nothing from his povs that he was remotely interested in going back down that revolution road especially after his whole meeting with Briggs…still iffy with this one, because his thoughts in that cell sound like he actually was on board with it until he called it off because the drug is too dangerous but his call to the viper queen said she owed him a favor so…..) and Micah’s weird horn hard-on. Literally nothing else surprised me...

• I really though Reid would play a bigger role considering Bryce used to date him and is fam is responsible for that drug....but nope. The dude is like never even mentioned.

• Ugh...that villain speech. Maybe I'm just like...what's the point? Why not just zap the bitch why do you need to tell her your life story!?!?!

• Also let's be real, Danika's password never would have been allowed to be that simple nor remain unchanged for 2 years. But whatever.

• It’s also pretty cringe that Bryce freed Lele just for her to die…………..

• Why is Jesiba’s shop impenetrable (the building and cameras) until it’s convenient for it not to be…I mean it sounded like nothing could break into her building or the cameras but then… Micah just easily waltzed in there and Declan easily hacked into the security cameras….makes no sense but okayyyyyyy…..

• ....or about how the dog can teleport and undo locks until once again it's convenient for him not to be able to so she can dramatically save the day (look I also have issues with her valuing her pet's life over Lele's in that scene...also isn't the dog supposed to be like terrifying, it could've fought while her and Lele got out. not really sure how the water which delayed him like two seconds helped more than her dog would've....look, i love pets and i don't want him to die but i don't want Lele to die either!)

• Bryce and Hunt literally never have a talk about everything???? Like I get the world almost ended but neither of them had a thought like I know we need to talk about everything that happened on the boat. About if his love for Shahar trumps his love for me. But that can wait… Because those were all fears she had before but now vanished???? I get not wanted to have verbal talk but a thought from Bryce would’ve been nice.

• How can you run, carry a sword, and shoot a gun all at the same time? Still trying to figure out the logistics of that all....

• Why is SJM's adult book the least smutty thing she has written so far!?!?!?!?

�� The love saves everyone and everything line is so fucking cheesy I can’t.

My Overall Feelings:

• The book couldn’t choose a plot. Did it want to be a crime book? Did it want to be ACOMAF? Who the fuck knows.

• This would have worked better as a TV series than a book. Especially that scene where Bryce is trying to save the city and everyone is just watching it happen on the jumbo screen at the summit. In book form it was just….weird….and felt disruptive...and someone could've started flying to help out. Plus I like watching shows with characters like Bryce but hate reading books with characters like her if that makes sense...

• Also if the summit is just between the leaders of CC then why did Sadriel have to be there? Why does it happen only every 10 years? Why does it have to take place outside of the city if no other leaders from other places are present?

• Why don’t we get a map of all of the other countries that were mentioned?

• This book was wayyyyyy too long. It would have been much better if it was reduced to 500ish pages instead.

• Also the character’s flip-flopped with their character development way too much. It wasn’t consistent.

• This is definitely one of the better SJM book’s I’ve read, but it won’t be one that I’ll reread. It is too long with too many boring bits in the middle.

• But hey! If you love SJM then you’ll probably love this book…

Content Warnings and Trigger Warnings: restricted eating, self-harm, drug use, alcohol consumption, implied rape, mentions of abusive relationships, suicidal thoughts, depression, emesis, slavery, terrorist attacks, grief, gun violence, death, murder, violence, torture

View all my reviews

[christinaroseandrews]

How Line Editing Can Make Your Story Stronger -- From a Line Editor

Hi everyone! If you follow this blog and read our book reviews then you know a lot of times one of our big complaints is the story could use a better editor. We don’t often state what kind of editing is needed (unless it’s a proofreader/copy editor), but a lot of the time what’s needed is a line edit.

So what is a line edit?

A line edit is where an editor (or an author if they aren’t too close to the writing) goes through the text with a fine tooth comb looking for things that bog the text down. Things like repetitive phrasing, weak verbs/words, similar sentence structure. Line edits look for overused words, cliches, and telling vs. showing.

A line edit is not a content edit. It is not a developmental edit. It is not a sensitivity edit. It’s not a proofread/copy edit.

Its purpose is to make your prose stronger. More interesting. While leaving the core plots, words, and ideas.

So how does it work?

Well... I’m going to show you using a U.S.A. Today Bestselling author’s opening 300 words. This is not my writing. I am using a very small sample as an example for educational purposes. 

Now that the fair use jargon is out of the way. Here we go.

----

I happened across this while trying to find something to read. I didn’t like the opening, and I couldn’t figure out why. So I took off my reader’s hat, put on my editor’s hat, fired up google docs, and got to work.

When I was done, I had a document that looked something like this:

Let’s break this down. (You also get to see my fandom name, which I am very open about so if you like reading Hunger Games AUs or Soulmates stuff or a diary fic where Tom Riddle gives Ginny Weasley the facts of life you can hunt me down!)

First Paragraph:

The opening starts in the wrong place and doesn’t flow smoothly.  And I noticed pretty early on that this author (assuming it isn’t a ghostwriter which is possible considering the author’s release schedule of 10+ books a year) has very repetitive phrasing. 

Now onto the second paragraph of my edit.

One of the first things I noticed were the weak verbs. The repeated “Walk” permutations. And, of course, the similar sentence structure. I also wanted to break it up. Add some drama. Heighten the tension. And you can do that with short paragraphs and even one sentence paragraphs. Here are my edits and rationales.

All of that I parsed from the original first paragraph. The words are still mostly Croix’s (or her ghostwriter’s), I just moved a few around, tightened a few verbs, and got rid of what looked like unintentional repetition.

Now we’re onto the original second paragraph which has a lot going on with it. Like the original first paragraph, the second needs a lot of work to make it flow nicely. (It also needed a proofreader, but we’ll get to that.)

It may not look like I changed much, but I what I did change mattered.

the last two edits are technically a sensitivity edit, but it’s a very minor one. It’s more about making Harper a little more real.

The last tells me this wasn’t proofread. There’s more wrong tenses in this.

And there’s two more grammar errors and another mistake that tells me that the person writing this wasn’t British and didn’t use a Brit-picker. When editing, any editor worth their salt will ask you what vernacular you’re going for. While technically not part of a line edit, most line editors will point this kind of thing out. And this is where I get annoyed -- if fanfic authors (particularly in the Harry Potter fandom) who write for fun are expected to have Brit-pickers (and vice versa) the same should be expected for published works. *gets off the soapbox*

On to the why I stopped for a grammar lesson about commas... Basically if there is only one of something be it a book, a brother, or a fiancee as is the case here, commas need to be used to set them off because it is considered non-essential information. There’s a really good guide HERE that explains why - just jump to rule 6.

Continuing with this paragraph.

I want to point out, the way this author did the flashback wasn’t bad. It just needed to be set off more and put in the right tense. People do have flashbacks. This is how you do them.

To finish up we have this.

That’s the first 300 words of J.H. Croix’s Big Win.

So what does the finished line edit look like?

I think it’s tighter. More dramatic and a better hook. The words are still mostly Croix’s (or her ghostwriter, I’m not judging) but they’re now stronger. I took out the unintentional repetition. I hit a few grammar problem spots (right now this book would be heading toward losing a star for the grammar errors alone).

It may look like I rewrote the thing, but I didn’t. I used what was there. These aren’t my words. Sure I added a sentence here and there, but mostly for clarification or to combine two clunky sentences into one.

Also with line edits, most of the suggestions are just that -- suggestions. It’s an opinion. If the author decided that they liked the wall of text and subject-verb-direct object sentence structure, then that’s okay. They don’t have to take the changes. However, what is important is that the author looks at them. Thinks about them. In many cases a line edit can help pinpoint what I call ‘crutches.’ Every writer, EVERY SINGLE WRITER, has a go-to sentence structure. Every single writer has a favorite rule they like to break. Every single writer has words they default to or use as filler. And most writers don’t have the distance to see these things.

That’s why you need a line editor. It’s a huge eye-opener. Even I, a line editor, still get line edits done for my work.

Also a few final notes: you’ll notice I did some proofreading and sensitivity editing in my line edit. That’s because I tend to see them as going hand-in-hand. They don’t always, and it can vary from editor to editor. Line editing is also more in-depth than proofreading for most editors so will take longer.  A good rule of thumb is that a professional editor can edit approximately 5-9 pages an hour for copy editing or 1500 words/hour. Content editing tends to be 1-5 pages an hour or about 750 words/hour. This will also vary from editor to editor. Here’s a good guide... no matter what do not expect someone to be able to turn around 50,000 word manuscript in a week that may be approximately 34 hours of work, but most editors have other jobs, other clients, and may need to pause to research something... especially if your editor is fact-checking for rooting out anachronisms (which we do in the line edit phase).

No matter what, you should always have another set of eyes do one last proofread/copy edit after you do a line edit. And it shouldn’t be your line editor. They’re too close to the text, and it’s not their job to go that granular.

I hope that helps! 

If you like more posts like this, consider buying us a coffee. If you want to look into hiring us to edit your work, you can visit our website.

Later!

--Lark/FanficAllergy/One Half of Christina Rose Andrews

[aelinbitch-archive]

unpopular opinion: i don’t like rowan/rowaelin. i’m not here to convince u to unstan lol ppl are allowed to like/dislike things w/o feeling bad about it omg but i hate that some rowan stans are so insensitive when it comes to those who don’t like him! they’re so thirsty for him that they condemn anyone who doesn’t stan him & then excuse his problematic/lowkey triggering actions bc he’s hot and it’s gross. AGAIN not saying ppl can’t like rowan it’s ok lol but it’s more about some stan’s behavior

That’s totally fair my angel. I dislike the vibe that some people are locked out of the fandom for not being a cheerleader for every aspect of the series, and I hope that my followers/mutuals know that if they dislike stuff I like, or like stuff I dislike, expressing their opinions regarding that won’t ever cause me to cut them off (unless it’s like, some truly gross shit, which disliking rowaelin isn’t). 

Also I have to say, even tho I do like rowaelin, I understand where you’re coming from about people excusing his actions because he’s hot. I’ve toooooootally seen that. And I’ll just be 100% honest - no shade to anyone, but some of the rowaelin content on this website disturbs me a little bit, in terms what’s considered hot/romantic/acceptable when writing or depicting them in art. I’ve seen some weird stuff defended as hot or even just “not that bad.” Which isn’t necessarily a problem with canon, but your ask was more about stans anyway, so yeah. 

A while ago I actually wrote rowaelin meta in response to some other peeps (which was more about Aelin in relation to Rowaelin and how she’s included or not included in discussions of the ship, but it has some thoughts relevant to this ask) so I’m gonna just copy and paste what I wrote below and feel free to read if u want. (It’s like very overdramatic and fiery lmao but anyway). 

I agree with a lot of this, but (at risk of derailing ms aelinapologist’s amazing post) I do have a few things to say, which are

1. OP took two whole paragraphs at the beginning of her post to say that the point wasn’t to discourse about rowaelin being abuse or not abuse, it was to talk about how the conversations centering around said abuse consistently display a disturbing lack of empathy for the character who should be the main concern of the debate. So I just find it a bit funny/odd that the replies (including a portion of the one I’m about to make, I admit that) have been like “Yeah great post! And now to discourse about Rowaelin-” but I digress.

2. I have consistently loved reading about Rowan and Aelin and they’re one of my favorite fictional couples. So nothing I’m about to say is intended to be like “GOTCHA they suck and you suck for liking them!!!” Because I like them as well. A lot. And in addition, nothing about this reblog is intended to be shady or confrontational in any way shape or form. I just think this is a great and very needed discussion I’d like to contribute to, so here goes.

3. Even if we look at HoF alone and ignore how things play out later: yes, they are both mean to one another, yes, they are both in a dark place and end up having a mutually positive effect on one another (so I definitely agree that, at least for HoF alone, it’s not a “douchey guy changes for the heroine story”) but. There IS still a power imbalance. I don’t think it’s entirely accurate to say “they were both bad The End” without also bringing up the fact that Rowan is 300 years old and Aelin is 18, and that Rowan is training Aelin and is in a position that gives him a massive amount of control over her, and that he is stronger and more powerful than her physically, magically, and socially (he is a prince and legendary warrior, she is a AWOL teenage princess currently working as a scullery maid).

Maybe I’m reading into it too much, but I really just don’t think that Aelin, a 17 y/o girl going through an unimaginably shitty time, being like “fuck you!!” to this 300 y/o jerk who doesn’t know shit about her is on the same level as aforementioned 300 y/o jerk hitting her, biting her, and telling her she would have been of more use to the world if she’d died when she was eight.

And in addition to that, we see that his behavior effects her a lot more than it effects him. When he verbally tears her down, we see her experience genuine and devastating despair and shame, whereas everything she does and says to him, no matter how snarky or outright cruel, is not having that same effect on him. People always seem to think they’re giving Aelin credit for being a Strong Woman™ by saying “she’s tough! she can handle it!” when in reality… we have evidence for the fact that she kinda can’t handle it. That the way he treats her in the beginning is slowly wearing her down and sending her deeper into a depressive state. And I don’t understand how it somehow reflects poorly on Aelin (or is even misogynist) to acknowledge this. Women, especially literal teenage girls, should not be measured by their tolerance for mistreatment.

All I really wish is that somewhere along the line we’d gotten a genuine apology from Rowan for this besides a throwaway line in KoA about regretting their “brawling.” And again, none of this is to say “see!! it IS abuse!!” it’s just to suggest that, even as an enemies to friends to lovers story, the “enemies” part was not exactly on a level playing field.

4. But with that being said, I could probably forgive the imbalance in their early relationship, mostly because their later relationship, as both friends and lovers, is so amazing and supportive in pretty much every way. And the great thing about enemies to FRIENDS to lovers, like you said, is that 1) none of the assholery occurred during any kind of romantic or sexual relationship or a transition into one, so it was sort of “fair and square” in that way, and 2) they had the opportunity form a solid, platonic foundation of trust and caring before they crossed into the lover territory.

Aaaaaaaaaand then Sarah did a retcon job on HoF which negated… pretty much all of that. I can totally be down with “good old fashioned mutual hatred thaws into caring which grows into love” but once we start hearing shit like “‘Sometimes, you’d be sleeping beside me at Mistward, and it’d take all my concentration not to lean over and bite them. Bite you all over’” and “‘That was the first time I really lost control around you, you know. I wanted to chuck you off a cliff, yet I bit you before I knew what I was doing. I think my body knew, my magic knew. And you tasted… So good. I hated you for it’”……. hhhhhhhhhhh.

I can’t think of many arguments for this NOT contributing at least a little to the “he’s mean because he loves you (and stick it out because someday he’ll figure it out)” trope. And while it might be a bit different because Aelin was quite mean as well, her behavior was just… meanness. Not some sort of weird outlet for repressed sexual attraction/love. I guess I just get flashbacks of “No sweetie, that boy in your class kicks your desk, pulls your hair, and calls you names because he likes you and doesn’t know how to express it.”

And I think this decision on Sarah’s part to go back and say he was into her all along is 1) a result of the mating bond thing she’s so fond of and 2) kind of a panicked backpedalling to the backlash she might have gotten over Rowan’s behavior in HoF? Which is…. so ironic because she made it SO much worse. In my humble opinion, she should have just doubled down on what she originally wrote as enemies-friends-lovers (and had Rowan bring up his early behavior and apologize in some way), and the problem would have been solved. And while I personally feel that I can recognize this for what it is - a shitty retcon - and enjoy the relationship despite it, I don’t think we should talk over people for whom this is a deal-breaker for the ship.

5. I don’t think about all of this and have the reaction that so many “anti tog” people seem to have of “FUCK Rowan he’s ABUSIVE and PREDATORY and I wish he was DEAD!!!” I think there are things to criticize about his behavior and about the way Sarah decided to spin their relationship, but they have had many great moments, especially in the later books, and I don’t think I or anyone else is “shipping abuse” by enjoying that. All of this is just to emphasize how, in OP’s very succinct words, “your inalienable right to enjoy two characters’ dynamic does not outweigh the right to criticise it.” Because there ARE valid things to criticize, and we as Rowaelin shippers (lol.) need to be careful not to conflate ugly hatred with valid criticism when we speak over it.

And because there IS so much ugly hatred for Aelin and her relationship with Rowan on this website, I completely understand why there’s a kind of knee-jerk reaction of jumping to defense of this ship we love. But that impulse, quite frankly, means nothing to me if defense of Rowaelin includes the erasure of Aelin’s canonical experiences. And maybe this is wacky and controversial, but I’m pretty sure we can express our enjoyment of Rowaelin AND keep Aelin as an individual from being swept under the rug.  

6. More than saying any of that what I really really want to do (and have been trying to do in the previous paragraphs, but maybe unsuccessfully) is bring the conversation back to OP’s original point which was not “abuse!” or “not abuse!” but about how the ways in which we discuss “abuse or not abuse” often includes a stomach-turning lack of concern for Aelin and some frustratingly reductive arguments. And somehow I have the sneaking suspicion that Rowaelin shippers are reading this post and missing the point, which that this is happening on BOTH sides of the argument.

Everyone is perfectly entitled to ship Rowaelin and argue their opinion about its merits or lack thereof, but when we cover our ears and say “she was mean too she was mean too she was mean too she was mean too la la la la la la la” that’s completely ignoring the genuine pain that she did experience in HoF and the power imbalance that she was subjected to, no matter whether or not we personally feel that it was sufficiently rectified in later books.

And I see this ALL THE TIME, in both the fandom and “anti-fandom”, and I’m honest to god quite sick of it. I’m sick of the willful ignorance of a teenage girl’s pain in order to further an agenda. Yes, it’s more stomach-turning when the agenda is to prove what an evil bitch she is or whatever, but it’s not excusable if your agenda is to prove Rowaelin is great, either! And I don’t understand why we have to throw all nuance out the window and ignore how Dorian hurt her, ignore how Chaol hurt her, ignore how Rowan hurt her, fucking hell, ignore how SAM hurt her, just so we can make our arguments! Because as much as the antis love to scream about “WHAT MESSAGE IS THIS TERRIBLE SHIP SENDING THE TINY GIRL-CHILDREN WHO READ THE BOOKS???” it’s also like, what kind of message is our ongoing discussion of it sending by sweeping a teenage girl’s experiences under the rug when we argue about her relationships?

And like OP said, what have we even got to show for it? No conclusion has been reached, nothing has been achieved besides valuing a romance (or the hatred of that romance and preference for a different romance) over individual characters, namely an individual character who happens to be a teenage girl that has suffered an ungoldy amount - suffered, sometimes, at the hands of male characters we like.

In conclusion, the mass allergy everyone seems to have to giving a shit about Aelin unless its to further their agenda is sickening. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve had to hear about how poor Manon’s character was “ruined” by Manorian (although not directly by DORIAN, of course, because apparently Saint Haviliard can do no wrong) I’d have enough money to buy a lamborghini and drive it off a cliff like I wish I could every time I hear someone’s terrible hot take about how Aelin is complicit in her own alleged abuse. Yet somehow I’ve never heard anyone complain about the damage done to Aelin’s character by any of the male characters, including Rowan. It’s never “Rowan ruined Aelin’s character!!” it’s “Rowaelin sucks and so does Aelin.” In fact, one of the REASONS Aelin sucks in the first place IS Rowan/Rowaelin! What a great implicit message to send to people reading your “critiques”: if you are annoying and #problematic enough, your suffering will be used against you and you will receive no sympathy for it. Cool!

And for other ships, too: it’s never “Chaol and Dorian, while at points a very good for Aelin, also caused her a lot of pain” it’s either “Chaol was right about Aelin in QoS and both he and Dorian are ruined because of her #chaorian” OR, from the fans, who, again, are not off the hook, “Chaol and Dorian and Aelin are BFFs forever #originaltrio.” And as a teenage girl myself, who loves and identifies with Aelin, who is more invested in her story than anyone else’s… I’m just tired. And more than a little appalled. And I wish we could do better.

[seanpatricklittlewriter]

Vicious Cycle

 A while back, I wrote about the physical aspects of my creative process—where I write, the tools I used, etc… Now, to mix it up a little bit, I want to talk about the mental aspects of the creative process, at least the mental aspects of my creative process. I can’t speak for every creative person, and I certainly can’t speak for other writers.

 I am impressed by how some writers have an incredible, workman-like approach to the craft. Stephen King is amazing, of course. He is prolific. He writes every day, rain or shine, holiday or not. He’s at his desk by seven or eight in the morning, and he goes until lunch, maybe later.  Of course, there are other writers than make King look like he’s suffering from writer’s block. John Creasy, a British mystery novelist, has written over 500 books under a dozen pen names. That guy is a workhorse.  In Stephen King’s book, ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT, King talks about Anthony Trollope:

“At the other end of the spectrum, there are writers like Anthony Trollope. He wrote humongous novels (Can You Forgive Her? is a fair enough example; for modern audiences it might be retitled Can You Possibly Finish It?), and he pumped them out with amazing regularity. His day job was as a clerk in the British Postal Department (the red public mailboxes all over Britain were Anthony Trollope’s invention); he wrote for two and a half hours each morning before leaving for work. This schedule was ironclad. If he was in mid-sentence when the two and a half hours expired, he left that sentence unfinished until the next morning. And if he happened to finish one of his six-hundred-page heavyweights with fifteen minutes of the session remaining, he wrote The End, set the manuscript aside, and began work on the next book.”

That is an admirable work ethic. And an incredible pace. Every writer has to figure out what works for him or herself. Writing is a personal art. Some people work better at night. Some in the early morning. Some need quiet. Some blast music (the louder, the better). Some have little spaces set up where they write daily. Some write in various locations—you get the idea. Whatever works best for you, you must do. When people tell me they’d like to write, but they don’t have the time, I always think, “Then you don’t really want to write.” You  make time for what’s important to you, always. If you value television (as I do), you find the time to watch. Runners find time to run. Anglers find time to fish. Painters find time to paint. Barbarian hordes find time to bathe in the blood of their enemies. You make time for what is important to you.

When it comes to the amount of dedication it takes to write 300 pages of a rough draft, that has never been a problem for me. I have been churning out novels since I was in high school. I wrote at least one or two piles of garbage in high school, and I probably cranked out several thousand pages of unreadable hack when I was in college. (This is a good thing, though—Brian Michael Bendis said that you have to write about 20,000 pages of slop before you start to figure out what you’re doing.) I can always find time to write. Even when I worked jobs that had me doing 12-hour days, I would manage to scrape out a paragraph or two at night. Before John Grisham quit law to write full-time, he wrote on legal pads between court cases. I read a story about a mystery writer who was driving semis, and he would dictate his story into cassettes while he drove, then he paid a local gal in his hometown to transcribe the stories to MS Word for him. I have known servers who wrote scraps of stories in order pads with cheap pens standing at the counter waiting for an order to be put up. Point is—if it is important to you, you’ll do it.

Writing isn’t about waiting for some mythical muse to kick you in the ass. It’s not about art. It’s not about being attuned to the celestial heavens. Over my lifetime of writing, reading about writing, taking classes on writing, and teaching classes on writing, more than anything else I’ve learned, writing is about putting your butt in a seat and writing. That’s it. No magic. No inspiration. Just sit and do. If you can’t do that, you can’t write. I get people (especially students) telling me about stories they have in their heads. They can summarize them well. They can tell you about them for days. However, the story stays unwritten until they can put themselves in the chair and write it out. My good friend, Nella Citino, gave me a mug a few years ago that I keep on my desk at home. It says, “Any idiot can come up with a good idea—get it written!”  That is the truth of the matter. Put up, or shut up. Sit down and write.

That’s all fine and dandy to say, I know. The actual practice of it is much harder in reality. I have learned that my own creative process tends to follow an ebb and flow. When I’m writing, I’m 100 percent writing. I don’t want to edit. I don’t want to read someone else’s book. I don’t want to watch TV. I write as long and as hard as I can. I write until the backs of my hands hurt from typing. I write until my vision goes blurry from staring at the screen.

When I get into editing, I don’t have time for writing. The two modes are different parts of my brain, it seems. I cannot switch back and forth between the modes easily. I don’t have time for someone else’s book, either. I cannot enjoy reading a new book when I’m in editing mode. I get too critical. I get too into the “That’s not what I would have done there…” mode, and I start to hate that book. I feel like I have unfairly subjected some authors to that mode of my brain and now I dislike their stuff.

When I am out of the writing and editing modes, I get fully into the reading mode. I will read six or seven hours a day. I will put away three or four books a week when I’m in that mode. I have always been a fast reader, and when I’m in that mode, I read even faster. I enjoy reading in that mode. When I’m trying to read when I’m in writing mode, I have no patience for reading. Why read someone else’s story when I’m not done telling my own, yet? I do force myself to read when I’m in writing mode, but it’s only after I’ve put in a full day of writing, or I’ve had to take a break from writing because my hands hurt too much to continue. (Getting old is for the birds.)

My final mode in the creative process is the do nothing mode. It happens usually after I first finish a book and my brain begins to feed me the “why bother” rap it has perfected over the years. “Why bother?” it says. “Wouldn’t you be happier lounging back into depression and playing video games for fourteen straight hours?”

--You have a point, Brain.

“How about you maybe just watch Scrubs reruns instead of writing?”

--Brain, you are on fire!

“Hey—remember five years ago when you accidently read that really negative review of one of your books? Go back and reread that comment so you know not to do this anymore.”

--As you command, Overlord.

This do-nothing mode is one of the worst things my brain tries to do to me. It is very easy to slip into, because doing nothing is literally the easiest thing in the world to do. Doing nothing requires zero effort. Doing anything at all requires 100 percent more effort than doing nothing.

I have quit writing books at least a thousand times in my life, maybe more. Every time this weird creative cycle in my brain hits this point in the rotation, I quit being a writer. “Been thirty years with no real success to show for it, Fatso,” says my Brain. “Do the world a favor and shelf your keyboard.”

And I do. I do every time. Every time I hit that point in my creative process, I officially quit writing.

Sometimes, that brain-forced retirement lasts months. Sometimes, it’s only a few hours. But I always quit.

I also always come back.

In the movie, THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN, Billy Crystal uses the expression, “Writers write. Always.” It is something my father has repeated to me many times over the years. It is something I have imparted to my students many times. It is okay to quit writing. If you stay retired from it, though—that is where you run into problems.

I have found that I am able to claw my way back from those self-imposed bouts of retirement through sheer force of will. Pick up the computer. Open the file. Put your damn hands on the keyboard and make some words. Sometimes, I do that, and I will only get a few words, maybe a sentence or two. Nevertheless, I will have written something. That’s the key. The next day, I might only get a few words again. Maybe I only sat at the computer for ten minutes before letting that negative part of my brain take over for the day. (“C’mon Fatboy…let’s go re-watch THE PRINCESS BRIDE.”  –Swell idea, Brain.) But it IS a few words that I did not have that morning, and that is what counts.

I am getting better and the productivity side of writing. I am getting better at knowing that I can sit down and churn out five or ten pages in a sitting, even if I don’t “feel” like doing it. Those pages might need some enhancement later on, but they will exist. It is always easier to go back and enhance. You cannot edit if the pages don’t exist.

I know I’m hardly an expert on writing. I know that my pathetic sales are a misty, almost evaporated drop in the wide and vast lake of publishing. I know that I am not an expert on the creative process. This is just a summary of how my brain works when I write. It is why I do what I do. And why I want to write. It might not help you, but it is something to read and consider.

If you struggle in a creative field like I do, like so many of us do, I think it is important to remember that we are not alone. We are all tiny little ships making our own way on a large, cruel sea. Your mast might snap. You might hit a rock. A big whale might sneeze on you. Maybe you don’t feel like holding the tiller anymore. This is okay. It is all part of the process.

But don’t give up.

Keep sailing.

I hope we all get to where we want to go.

[pcadcuriosityblog]

Justin Carney Curiosity Blog 2: Publishing a Book

When you finish your manuscript, what’re the next steps? What is the proper way of reaching out to publishers? 

Few traditional publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts, but that doesn’t mean they don’t consider new writers and their work. They accept submissions from agents or from writers recommended to them by one of their current authors.

Getting a literary agent or a publisher to take a chance on you or your manuscript does not happen by accident. It requires time, focus, and excellence.

Begin by considering:

What genre or category is your book? The genre you choose determines your target audience, your potential agent, and even which publishers to pursue.

Who is your target reader and why will your book sell? And resist the temptation to say it’s for everybody. Naturally, we put that much effort into writing something and we wonder who wouldn’t want to read it? Truth is, that kind of thinking waves a red flag of amateurism to agents and publishers. Successful, even mega-bestselling, books don’t appeal to everyone. They are written to specific audiences, and if they cross over to other markets (as, for instance, the Harry Potter Young Adult titles—which have become vastly popular to adults as well), that’s a bonus.

Do you have a platform? If that’s a new term to you, it simply means the extent of your influence—how many people are interested in what you do. This is one of the first questions an agent or publisher asks. With the variety of social media and blogging vehicles available today, building a following and interacting with potential readers has never been easier. 

A first-time fiction writer is expected to submit a complete manuscript for consideration.

The Process of Getting Traditionally Published

1. Edit Like Your Writing Life Depends On It, Because It Does

The most important step as you begin is to become a ferocious self-editor. Even if you choose to self-publish, the quality of your writing is determined by this.

Acquisition editors (first readers at publishing houses who decide whether your manuscript is worth showing to their bosses) and literary agents tell me they know within two minutes or as few as two pages whether your manuscript is worth pursuing.

That may not sound fair, but it’s the hard truth. If you wished they would have stuck with it till you got to the good part, next time start with the good part.

All writing is rewriting. Put your best foot forward by learning to aggressively self-edit until you’re happy with every word.

If an agent decides to take you on and/or your manuscript is accepted by a publishing house, it will still go through editing there.

But your goal is to make it the best you know how so it will get past those first readers—potential agents or acquisition editors.

2. Find An Agent

Landing an agent can be just as difficult as landing a publishing deal, because they are every bit as discerning regarding a manuscript’s (or an author’s) potential.

The advantage of an agent (which makes them worth their 15% of whatever you make) is that they serve as your manuscript’s cheerleader.

Agents know the business, the industry, the players—who’s publishing what and who might like what you’ve written.

They shop your manuscript to publishers and advocate on your behalf. Having landed an agent is a credit in itself.

It shows that you and your writing have already survived serious vetting.

Some (but not many) traditional publishers consider unsolicited or unagented manuscripts, but if you can land an agent, that’s your best bet.

Having an agent can make your life a lot easier. They can:

Coach you on refashioning your proposal

Help you understand the publishing process

Handle the business side so you can stay in your creative lane

Once you’ve researched and compiled a list of agents who seem to be a good fit, follow their submission guidelines to a T. (Google literary agents.)

3. Write A Query Letter

A query (question) letter is designed to determine whether an agent or publisher might be interested in your manuscript. It’s your first impression—your initial sales call.

Make it stimulating and intriguing.

You’re not selling your writing just yet; you’re merely asking to get in the door.

Position yourself as a colleague, not a fan. Make it short and to the point, preferably one page, and send electronically.

Include:

Your elevator pitch: a one-sentence summary of your book’s premise, called this because it’s what you should imagine saying to publishing professionals between the time you meet them on an elevator and when they get off.

Your synopsis: a one-paragraph summary that goes beyond the elevator pitch and tells what happens and how things turn out. For nonfiction books, explain what the book is about and what you hope to accomplish with it. For fiction, explain the basics of your plot.

Your target audience and why they’ll buy your book. Don’t oversell.

Your personal information—what qualifies you to write this book. The kind of platform you’ve built. The address of your blog. Your contact information.

Before you hit Send, proofread your letter. Then proofread it again.

While up to a half dozen typos in a 300-400-page manuscript are of little consequence, any typo in such a short document will make you look like an amateur.

Have a friend or relative proofread it with fresh eyes.

4. Write Your Proposal

This is the document agents want. For some, it’s the only document they require before asking to see your manuscript.

Every word should pique an agent’s interest—your goal is an invitation to send your entire manuscript.

Briefly but completely describe the details of your manuscript. Leave nothing out.

For nonfiction, include every issue you cover and the basics of what you’ve said about each.

For fiction, synopsize every chapter.

Proposals can contain any number of components, including:

Premise

Elevator pitch

Overview

Target audience

Chapter synopses

Marketing ideas

Endorsements

Your analysis of competing books, and where yours fits

Up to three sample chapters

The average proposal can range from between 10 to 25 pages. Keep it as tight as you can without leaving out anything crucial.

https://jerryjenkins.com/how-to-publish-a-book/

https://www.pw.org/literary_agents

[fyrapartnersearch]

on the search for fandumbs

 INTRO

Hi, there!! My name, or online alias, is Sei. I am not publicly sharing my real name simply because I dislike it, but if you absolutely must know, you may ask upon contacting me. 

I’m nineteen years old, a virgo, and have a plethora of interests including (but not limited to) writing, drawing, comic books, horror movies, science, reading, and spicy food. I’m an optimistic and laid back person and to me, roleplaying is nothing more than a hobby so I try to be in the middle between completely care-free and serious. I am open minded and non-judgemental so no matter who you are, I’ll probably accept you unless your request goes against my limits.

I am looking for anime/manga-centric fandoms. I am okay with both OCxOC and OCxCanon pairings but CanonxCanon doesn’t hold my interest. 

GUIDELINES

I would prefer for my partner to be at least fifteen years of age, considering the fact that I am a legal adult. While I am fine with writing with minors, I don’t write out smut with those under eighteen as I can legally get in trouble. I’m also quite uncomfortable with writing smut out with males, but I will accept general roleplay partners of the opposite gender. Really, other than these guidelines, I’m fairly laid back and I could care less if you were a swamp monster behind a monitor or something. (Okay, maybe not to that extent).

I can either do OCxCanon pairings or OCxOC pairings depending on your preference. If we decide to do OCxCanon pairings, I double and only double as that seems like the fair way to do things. What that means is I play your love interest and my OC, and you play my love interest and your OC. I also expect both sides to be fair; if you write a million paragraphs for your side and only a sentence for mine, I won’t accept it. Obviously, a slight difference is fine, but nothing extreme. Another important thing to mention is that I am absolutely in no way picky over love interests! If we happen to share the same one, I’ll gladly settle for another. I am alright with love triangles, f//, mxf, and m//. If you contact me, you have to be alright with at least f// and mxf because a handful of my personal pairings consist of these.

I, unfortunately, do not have the time to construct 1500+ word per side replies. I am a full time student and it would take me ages to even finish one half of the roleplay. Even if I weren’t, roleplaying is just a hobby for me and I would prefer for it to not feel like a chore. With that being said, my comfort zone is generally 300-650 words per side. I can write more or less, depending on the scene taking place. As far as grammar goes, I’m no grammar nazi; everyone makes mistakes, and I am especially understanding of those who did not grow up with English as their native language. 

While I prefer third person, I can be persuaded to write in first if that is something that you absolutely want. I hold no preference between present & past tense, so that is your poison to pick! I really don’t like AU’s all too much, but if you have an awesome idea that you’re itching to try out I’ll happily listen. If anything, my side can be canon while yours can consist of an AU.

I am in the middle between picky and lenient with OC’s; of course, I’m not going to tear them up. It’s your character, and you can do what you please with them. However, I don’t want a bio that you spent five minutes on sent to me. Back stories, personalities, and everything in between are extremely important to a character. I don’t accept Mary Sue’s, either; no overpowered OC’s and no Japanese characters with English names. I spend a lot of time on my OC’s and I’d appreciate the same for you - I obviously don’t expect you to send me a novel, but I like to know about what kind of character I’m writing against. When it comes to the spotlight, there’s not much to say other than to keep it balanced between our characters; it can’t be on yours the entire time.

I can normally promise at least one response a day, and if I’m on break, multiple. It is highly unlikely that I won’t be able to promise that, but in the event that I can’t, please be patient with me. Life comes first. Now, if you don’t hear anything from me in four-seven days, then you may pester me. Chances are, if I haven’t replied in that long, I merely opened your email and forgot to reply! I don’t expect much from you, other than the fact that I would appreciate at least one reply every three days. That’s not too bad, no?

I absolutely adore plotting and OOC chatting. It makes me a lot more comfortable with my partner, and encourages me to reply to the roleplay quicker! Plotting is one of my favorite parts of a roleplay, and I like to do it even after we get things started; even merely speaking about our OC’s is fun! Bottom line is, I prefer these things and would like if you did so, too.

Tell me your limits within your initial email, or I will consider it an open book between the both of us! Mine would consist of: porn without plot (pwp), bestiality, necrophilia, bathroom play, pedophilic relationships, extreme age gaps, incest, and strange foot fetish type things. I will not budge on any of these, and I will be sure to respect your limits as well!

My weapon of choice (I’m kidding) when it comes to roleplaying is email/gdocs. When you contact me, make sure to state your name, age, love interest, and any limits you may or may not have.

Email: decayinq@gmail.com (with the q)

 FANDOMS

Love interests are listed below the fandom. Of course, if you’re looking for OCxOC you can ignore them. They are listed in order of preference, but I’ve mentioned before that I’m not picky. c:

— Attack on Titan

Eren Jaeger | Mikasa Ackerman

— Bleach

Ichigo Kurosaki | Rukia Kuchiki

— Blue Exorcist

Rin Okumura | Shiemi Moriyama

— Death Note

L Lawliet | Touta Matsuda | Light Yagami | Misa Amane

— Death Parade

Decim | Nona

— Diabolik Lovers

Ayato Sakamaki | Ruki Mukami

— Durarara

Izaya Orihara | Shizuo Heiwajima

— Fairy Tail

Natsu Dragneel | Gray Fullbuster

— Future Diary

Yuno Gasai | Aru Akise

— Naruto

Naruto Uzumaki | Sasuke Uchiha

— Ouran High School Host Club

Haruhi Fujioka | Hikaru Hitachiin

— Pokemon

I prefer to use OC’s for this!

— Soul Eater

Soul Evans |  Death the Kid

— Sword Art Online

Kazuto Kirigaya | Asuna Yuuki

— Tokyo Ghoul

Ken Kaneki | Ayato Kirishima | Touka Kirishima

[academiablogs]

On Novel Length - A Joint-Blog

The Genre of Length

by Dr. Joshua Grasso

If you placed two novels beside a prospective reader, one being a slim volume of around 200 pages, and the other a weighty tome of closer to 800, which would the reader choose? Assume, too, that the reader couldn’t examine the covers, the blurbs, or even skim the text itself. If both were the same price, I imagine most readers would choose the longer volume—more bang for their buck, perhaps—but also because it conforms to our expectations of what a novel is supposed to deliver: length and depth. While a 200-page novel might be just as deep and profound, most assume it will be breezy and finished all-too-quickly. And after all, how much can you really say in a mere 200 pages? Where are the elaborate back stories? The extensive subplots? The gratuitous sex scenes? In 200 pages you get a plot, a few characters, and a resolution—if that. After all, it takes many novels a mere 200 pages to warm up to the story, to throw all the characters together, and to make us actually care about finishing the rest of the story.

So is length, by itself, a genre? Most would say ‘yes,’ since a quick glance of most modern novels clock in at around 400 pages or more, or at least 100,000 words. Granted, other categories of novels, such as Young Adult, or Romance, might generally run shorter, but for mainstream fiction, and even many subgenres, length is the golden mean. There is historical precedent for this assumption: many of the earliest novels were quite long, from Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa (1748, around 1,200 pages) to Anne Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794, around 800 pages), not to mention the double-decker novels of Dickens and Trollope. A novel has always been an immersive experience, one that makes you lose your bearings and sink into the fictional fabric of an author’s imagination. Once you relinquish control to the writer—which often takes a few hundred pages—you’re lost, ready to believe anything and go wherever the plot takes you.

But to be honest, many of these early novels aren’t particularly deep—nor do many of them require 800+ pages to tell their story. Since many of them were serialized (especially the case with Dickens), the author got paid by the word, which required him or her to spin out the story as long as possible. Also, too, in an age without modern amusements of television, the internet, etc., books were the only thing standing between you and endless hours of boredom. Thus, the longer, the better (like many of our TV series that have 30+ episodes a season—one day people will complain about these, too!). Yet, for all the humor and cleverness of Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers (1837), it’s a daunting book to read or re-read considering the amount of time necessary to wade through it all. Now that serialization is behind us, do we really need excessive length? Is it merely a hold-over from the page-counting Victorians?

While I love drowning in a long, juicy novel (Dune and Tom Jones are two of my favorites), I think there is a danger inherent in the idea of big books. Namely, that not many people can write them. Sure, anyone can be trained to write a long book—just keep writing and turn off the internal editor! But what does it really require to maintain a book that runs over 100K words or more? Plot alone isn’t enough, since a satisfying, substantial plot can be offered in 10 pages—Boccaccio did it throughout The Decameron (1353). Good characters help, but we really don’t need to spend that much time with even the best (we only spend about 300 pages with Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, after all!). And philosophy can be dispatched in a paragraph—look what Kafka and Camus did with their short novels. So what does go into a longer book? Chiefly, incident and adventure. But even these can get old, particularly in less practiced hands.

If long books are the industry standard, it behooves beginning writers to write them. Why write a novella when no one buys them? Why collect a book of short stories when the market is dried up? If a writer want to make his or her mark on the world, they write a novel...and more precisely, they write a long and thick one. Yet to be frank, not many of us have that much to say. Even a long classic like Don Quixote (1605) tends to take us through one scenario after another simply for the sake of doing so (though some, admittedly, are sublime). More people would read and adore that work if it were half its length. The same is true for my favorite novel, Fielding’s Tom Jones (1745), which goes on and on in an endless stream of wit and incident. While it would cause me physical pain to prune it, my students would gladly provide the knife. And I’ve often had just as much fun discussing a mere 100 pages of it than the entire 800.

So I would suggest that we should resist assuming novels are long, or need to be long, or are supposed to be long. Some of the greatest novels are short—tiny, even. Candide (1759), The Time Machine (1895), Heart of Darkness (1899), 1984 (1949). Yet these books speak of the deepest and most timeless dramas of human existence—so much so that, we can’t stop reading them. A shorter book also gives us the divine pleasure of re-reading it, which might be discouraged from a longer one unless we really, really love it. As a writer, a shorter book also lends itself more to editing, which will result in a leaner, more concise, more thoughtful debut novel. So while it might sound reductive to say “shorter is better” (and that’s not my intention), I think we should consider how many great books are getting buried by the genre of length. Indeed, I wonder if every long book doesn’t have a little gem of a novel inside it, like a block of wood waiting to be whittled into a priceless objet d’art.

Of Novel Voice and Length

by Caitlin E. Jones

“Well, that’s too long to be published traditionally.”

This was the first thing I heard when I started talking about how long my first YA novel’s draft was. 158,000 words, for the morbidly curious- and still very editable at the time. This was a little disheartening for me though, still unsure how to edit my book baby and if I even wanted to edit it.

A long story short; I did continue and cut down the book from its monstrous length. Still, my last edit landed the book’s length just over 130,000; no matter what I do, this story will always be too long.

But is bigger better in some cases?

We are entering a different era of writing style. Gone are the ages of the Victorian serial, the slim stylings of Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and the 80′s rise of the mega-fantasy novel. Long stories are out, according to every agent and blogger. The overarching trends for YA (of all genres) is to stay under 100,000 words, and many books fit neatly into that corner.  Article after article suggesting what the accurate length is for every genre, and why you absolutely must meet that criteria, otherwise prepare for the rejections. And yet, many don’t: The Lunar Chronicles books are each over 100,000, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is a whopping 140,000 words, almost unheard of in children’s fiction. Eragon by Christopher Paolini is likewise around 150,000, and none of these are all that surprising if you’ve read these books; these stories are large enough that they need such a word count.

In the blog, Word Count Anxiety, there is a line I adore: “Before you stress over what’s publishable, finish the book. Write the story as it wants to be told.” A fine reminder for most writers, who can suffer from a “cart before the horse” mentality on making the book work for an audience or a market. During my early work on my novel, I focused too much on what I had heard and edited everything out of the novel. Success: I brought the novel down to 115,0000. it was a mess. My fervor only landed me in further problems when I  almost edited the book to death.

This isn’t an uncommon occurrence in publishing, especially for more marketable YA, fantasy, and science fiction: books that read as though they should be a 100 pages longer. Books that deserve more world-building and time on their universes. 

In all fairness too, I have read equally as many books that would benefit from 100 less pages (and then some). The key is knowing your story, and how to make every single vote.

Which is probably the best rule to follow when writing, or revising and cutting things out: every word and scene has to count. They are all steps toward an ending and pieces in the plot, even if the reader will blow through them in a matter of seconds. 

Recommended length is, if anything, a more simplistic call for the finely-tuned spot between good editing and necessary length. Masterful storytelling does mean knowing what and what not to tell, and mostly importantly, what kind of room your story truly needs.

[iampikachuhearmeroar]

uni feels blab post 2525

so, this semester has got me feeling some shit bc it’s my second last one, as i intend to finish my degree at the end of autumn session next year and graduate in july 2018, granted if i pass everything (fingers crossed!). 

let’s start on last saturday night, when i was organising my important documents. whilst doing this to avoid my assignments (two of which are due next week and i still haven’t bothered to start lmao); i found my uni acceptance letter that i received in 2014 to say that i had spot in the bachelor of communication and media studies (BCMS) at uow. obvs, i transferred out of the course bc i felt at the time i felt like i didn’t fit into it... and i still feel that way when i’ve debated with myself whether i should go into a double degree with it or not (and fyi, the answer is a resounding NO on that one). 

but the point is that i just can’t believe how far i’ve come from then, let alone the end of high school. like, at the end of high school in 2013, i wasapproaching my higher school certificate/HSC and i was incredibly depressed and anxious, so much so i didn’t believe that i could even get into uni to do philosophy or theatre or english literature etc etc etc. i also believed that every one i knew from both of the high schools i had gone to (st joeys and lake) as well as my tafe class; thought i was to brainless (insert other words that mean “dumb” or “stupid” here bc it’s late and  can’t bothered to think of any) to get anywhere the required mark to get into the course from school (an atar of 70). I was still like that in 2014 while i was attending business college for my advanced diploma... up until about june. this is where, after my tutor gave us a big talk about marks not mattering in the real world blah blah blah, that i picked myself off the floor and realised that my worth wasn’t based on my marks. i kinda threw myself into that course in 2014 to prove to myself that i could something with myself. and i did. i got into uni, lmao. (and pls mind that i know that i talk about this a lot, but its bc it means a lot to me lol)

of course, over my time at uni, i have had times where i feel like my success is wholly dependent on my marks, like my dad keeps telling me to do honours but my results don’t meet the requirements (i.e. to 75′s/distinctions in 300 level english subjects and a WAM of 75). i do qaulify for a new PG course my uni offering though to my wam range, a masters of research... but honestly, i couldn’t be fucked to carry on with study. i’ve done enough for now, in a way. and then all of the internships/grad programs i look at half a minimum req. of a credit average (a wam of 65), which is what i’ve basically got (67.5), so its good enough.

ANYWAY. back to this semester. i finally received my mark for my first essay of the term, one in kid’s lit. we had to close-read one paragraph in a 300 page book and write 1200 words on it. im pissed as fuck with my tutor/lecturer who told me to use the paragraph i chose bc it was a good one to use.... bc he said in the marking comment that it “didn’t really lend itself to close reading very well”.... and it’s like “then why the fuck did you say it was ok to use???” and “then what the fuck actually constituted as a good length paragraph to use???” 

bc i picked a load of para’s for him to look at and all he said was” “no, that’s too long... if you take half of it out it will lose its meaning in your essay, and there’s too much going on there. so, no, you can’t use it” (mind you, some of the ones that elicited this comment were like half a page long so maybe it was fair enough...) or “no that’s too short! you won’t get enough out of that!” so it was like “honestly, what the fuck man... what the actual fuck type of fucking paragraph from the book was i meant to fuckin use????” overall, though, i got 68 for my all nighter effort which is good enough for this complete bullshit assignment and good enough for being completely fucked around by my teacher. also, he marked me down for my MLA referencing at the end... which i got off my uni library’s website bc apparently it was wrong???? honestly im livid at this guy lmao. my professors in my philosophy and shakespeare subjects have finally got their shit together and posted the questions for our first essays for the term... one is due next week (philosophy) he gave us an extra week to do it (wahoo) after forgetting to post them... and my Shakespeare one is due on october 6th...  and my presentation of shakespeare is due ext thursday and i still haven’t bothered to research merchant of venice properly or even read it fully lmao, fuck.

anyways... overall this sem has been quite cruisy due to me picking to do most of my assignments right at the end and my profs mentioned above forgetting to post shit. i’ve also decided to downgrade my philosophy major to a minor to finish faster, thank christ.  but the one thing thats got me stressed now is finding jobs. i have a careers consultation next week and i still have no idea where i want to go... like my linkedin is sort of helping giving me editing/writing/publishing jobs to look at as well as events/marketing/communications and PR jobs to flick through. but ugh. its terrifying. and too bad that the entry level for most of them is at least 2-3 years experience in a similar role. i want to die. and thats my emotional mid-sem breakdown post completed. if you read it, i hope you enjoyed it lmao.

[thedailysteven]

Gender and sexuality

Dutee Chand

A female Asian Games bronze medallist and national champion in 100 m and 200m.Chand discovered that her natural levels of the hormone testosterone were normally only found in men, when this went public people started to question if she’s a boy or girl.

Dora/Heinrich Ratjen

The German high jumper pretended to be a woman to win medals, this has been a concern for as long as women have been allowed to play sports. This high jumper nearly bronze medal at the 1936 olympics. Him pretending to be a woman brought in genetic testing.

Maria Jose Martinez-Patino

Is a Spanish hurdler and was told in 1985 that she was an XY "man", but refused to quit or feign injury. She spent the next three years fighting for ignorance and ridicule alongside other women.

Caster Semenya

A junior champion in 2008, the muscular teenager be her personal best for 800m and over the next nine months, breaking the South African record. After her huge win in 2009 it was leaked that the sport’s governing body asked for a gender test.

David Epstein

David Epstein is an award-winning writer for the US magazine Sports Illustrated, also known as the author of the sports gene book. This book talks about the physical differences between men and women including testosterone.

Biological racism

Biological racism is like discrimination between genders or certain people that produce more testosterone than other people.

In a paragraph of 300-500 words, answer the following question: Should athletes like Dutee Chand and Caster Semenya be allowed to run against other female athletes? Provide at least two references to the article in your response.

Yes, Dutee Chand and Caster Semenya should be allowed to run against other females. They should be allowed to participate in races with other woman because It’s not like they are using steroids to produce high levels of testosterone. It’s in their genes, they were born with it and it’s just something they can’t control. I feel that these women should not be discriminated by other people because they can’t control how much testosterone they produce.I see no reason why they shouldn’t be allowed to run with the same gender. The other athletes shouldn’t complain because it’s not about how much testosterone they produce it’s about how much work they put in, how much they training they do get their bodies fit to compete. I would definitely feel differently about this if it was something within their control or if they were deliberating taking something to make them have a better advantage over others.

I think it’s unfair that they’re treated differently and sometimes even mocked. For example when Dutee Chand’s testosterone levels were found to be the same it would be in a man, Several reporters went to her home to question her parents and six siblings about her gender. Also Caster Semenya had a crushing win in 2009 worlds and a russian competitor said "just look at her".

It would be good if they had an event just for people in the same situation as them. But since it does not exist it’s only fair that they are allowed to race with the other women. These women should be allowed to compete in any sport with every other woman.

[minstvdies]

via Study AP Exam – Best AP Books https://ift.tt/2I9xMls

Best AP Psychology Review Books

We will help you score 5 on your Psychology AP Exam

AP Psychology Exam Review - Introduction

At StudyAPExam our team of experts would like to focus on books that can potentially get you a 4 or 5 in the AP Psychology exam. We would also like to list AP Psychology Textbooks that would enable you to learn AP Psychology exam material in a short time period. 

Our team of experts would like to ensure that you have access to AP Psychology textbooks both covering primary and supplementary materials for your AP test.

Interesting fact about this exam is that we haven’t seen it change much in a long time. Due to this, some students believe it maybe an easier exam to prepare for, however, word of caution that you should always spend time studying for this exam like any other.

To prepare for AP Psychology test, here are our book recommendations.

You will need these books to score a five on your AP Psychology test. 

Are you ready to get into this? We have collected just enough information to help you score high on your AP Exam, so relax!

  The AP Psychology exam consists of two sections.  This exam is also considered to be one of the easiest exam to pass, however, our panel of experts recommend at least allowing two weeks to prepare for this exam. 

AP Psychology Exam Information

Duration

Section I

Section II

Additional Info

Duration

Duration of AP Psychology Exam is 120 minutes. Section I would take you the longest time to complete with 1 hour 10 minutes and Section II would take 50 minutes to complete.

Section I

The first section of the AP Psychology exam is multiple choice. There are 100 multiple choice questions and you’ll have 70 minutes to answer them.  

If you can breeze thru these questions quickly, you will plenty of time to tackle the next section which is time consuming.

Section I counts towards 66% of the overall exam score.

Section II

After the multiple choice section you’ll have a 10-minute break.

Following the break is the Free-Response Section. This section consists of two free-response questions and you’ll have 50 minutes to complete both of them. 

Unfortunately don’t get a chance to go back thru earlier section of multiple choice questions and review them, so hopefully you had done well on those questions already.

Additional Info

The good news is that free-response is not quite the same as an essay. There’s no need for introductory paragraphs, smooth transitions, beautiful prose, or weighty conclusions.

Each free response question presents a scenario followed by a list of terms and your job is to explain, using examples, how those terms relate to the situation in question. This can usually be done in just a few sentences for each term, so you won’t need to write pages upon pages in order to get full credit.

As long as you make it clear that you know the term and you correctly explain how it might relate to the prompt you should be all set.

AP Psychology TextBook – Best AP Books ~ Titles [2018 – 2019]

Rank   Most Popular AP Book Titles Review Score   1 5 Steps to a 5: AP Psychology 2018 Edition (McGraw-Hill 5 Steps to A 5) 4.7 BUY NOW 2 Cracking the AP Psychology Exam, 2018 Edition: Proven Techniques to Help You Score a 5 (College Test Preparation) 4.5 BUY NOW 3 5 Steps to a 5: AP Psychology 2019 (5 Steps to A 5 on the Advanced Placement Examinations) 4.3 BUY NOW 4 Cracking the AP Human Geography Exam, 2018 Edition: Proven Techniques to Help You Score a 5 (College Test Preparation) 4.2 BUY NOW 5 Barron’s AP Psychology Flash Cards, 3rd Edition 4.1 BUY NOW

AP Psychology TextBooks - Recommendations 2018

# 1 AP Psychology TextBook 2018

5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology Book 2018 – McGraw Hill

PROS: Our team of experts recommend AP Books that get you ready for your specific exam within a short time period. In addition our goal is ensure you get a 5 on AP Psychology. To keep that in mind, our recommendation provides both primary and supplemental resources.

AP Psychology Textbook, you should take a look at McGraw Hill publication 5 Steps to a 5. There is a lot to like about this book, but to begin with if you are looking to quickly be prepared for your exam, this book is the book to read.

Most of the books from McGraw Hill cover clear and helpful introduction, however, in this case particularly 5 steps to a 5 for AP Psychology exam, scoring, format and content is clear.

Our panel also likes the study plan that provides additional information to keep you focused regardless of your studying style. With study plan, you can prepare for AP psychology exam in a more efficient manner. Also, we like the style which is easier to understand along with two practice exams at the end.

With this book you get test prep guide that matches the actual exam syllabus and online help to include three test.  You also get two practice tests with the book itself.

CONS: One thing to note about these practice tests is that they tend to be easier just like the exams provided on the College Board ap psychology online resources. It is condensed for the AP Psychology exam, so if you need details make sure you also review our unofficial resources. 

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Cracking the AP Psychology Exam 2018 – Princeton Review

PROS: This book was fair in terms of quality compared to other Princeton’s Books. Even then, this is a good and detailed study guide on the year’s topics.  In terms of learning test taking strategies, this is one of the better books.  Like many other Princeton books, content is good, yet it doesn’t have the level of detail covered compared to other books.  

Give yourself enough time and along with another book, you can definitely increase your chances of scoring 5 on AP Exam. Book is engaging and you see some humor, but we would rate this below compared to McGraw Hill Book AP Psychology Guide 5 steps to a 5. 

Overall, we consider this book to be a good guide that provides comprehensive content reviews. Book was recently updated and includes the latest in terms of what you might need for 2018 exam. Also, AP Connect that provides online portal can be anther great resource to prepare for the test.

With 2 full-length practice tests with detailed answers and practice drills you will be ready quickly. We also like guessing strategies and tactics when you are unsure about an answer.

CONS: Tests are rather easy compared to actual AP Tests, but instructions are not very clear.  Also, make sure you give yourself time to read it.

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Barron’s AP Psychology Book 7th Edition

PROS:  Barron’s guide offers content and test questions that are also beneficial and reading in conjunction with McGraw Hill 5 steps to a 5 AP Psychology textbook can get you 95% ready for the exam.

In addition to being an additional resource Barron’s provides three full length practice exams with an additional diagnostic test. Barron’s book has 15 multiple choice practice questions as well, which is useful for reviewing specific topics that you’re not sure about instead of having to take a full AP Psychology test.

So, this book is great book which covers almost everything you need once combined with McGraw Hill AP Psychology Textbook. There are some chapters in this book that require memorization, so you can go back and review them later. As an option you can also obtain Barron’s AP Psychology Flash Cards, if you are in a hurry or make your own labels.

You also get a CD-ROM with this book which also provides an additional full-length AP Exam to get you prepared for AP Psychology exam.

CONS: Barron’s book remind  you what a book should really look like and some students don’t like this. So, this book is written in a format which includes long paragraphs, which can be hard to follow.

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AP Psychology Textbook Myers 2nd Edition

David Myers’ has put together a great book which is pretty much the Gold Standard which is widely used throughout many schools in order to prep for AP Psychology exam. 

David G. Myers second edition is by far one of the best AP Psychology textbook, which covers all aspects of AP Psychology test.  We felt that the this book is well-researched and extremely well written. 

Combine this book with the right AP Psychology exam books and you got a winning combination that is sure to get you 5 on your test. 

If you are looking for the holy bible of psychology, this is the book to get to prep for your AP Psychology Test.

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AP Psychology Humor For You, Enjoy!

The post Best AP Psychology Textbook ~ [2019] Detailed Reviews appeared first on Study AP Exam - Best AP Books.

[iuniverseblog]

5 Aspects that Authors Overlook

During the laborious and stressful writing process, most authors tend to focus their thoughts on the story, the title, and the front cover. However, there are several other very major aspects of a book that should be considered well in advance of sending the book to publication.  You don’t want to have to make these decisions in a rush or when you are exhausted from having finished your manuscript. Please make sure to carefully consider the aspects below while you are writing your story.

    Font style and size: The key requirement here is that the font is readable and does not distract from the story. After that, it is down to personal preference, but please save the “funky” fonts for your marketing materials. One way to help you decide on a font is by finding one that you like in a book that you have read, and then to either track down its name (some books include the font style on the copyright page, i.e. the page before the Table of Contents) or look for a close match. Some popular fonts include Baskerville, Sabon, Garamond, and Utopia. Regarding font size, most writers tend to opt for 10 or 12. A font size that is too large makes the book look cheap and not serious, whereas a small font size is likely to alienate readers when they open it up in a bookstore.

  Book length: How long, in pages rather than story, do you want your book to be? With all the options available in modern technology, the length of your story is not the only variable that is responsible for book length. A typical “full” page in the average-sized book has a maximum of 400 words, so you can divide the total number of words in your book by 400 to determine the number of pages that you will have. The fewer words you put on a page, the longer your book will be. However, bear in mind that book length is proportional to book price. For a fiction work, it is advisable to have at least 300 words on a page. Self-help and business books can get away with fewer words on a page, though less than 200 will have a negative effect on shoppers.

  Back cover description: Some people may judge a book by its (front) cover, but nearly all potential readers look at the back cover before buying. The back cover is a tremendous opportunity for you to write something compelling about your book. You will want to avoid specific details but also give people enough information to make them open the book. The total amount of words on the back cover should not exceed 220. Make sure there is a fair amount of empty space (i.e. breaks between paragraphs), that the sentences are relatively short, that the print is not small, and that the words are not against a background that makes the text difficult to read (avoid white text on a black background).

  Table of Contents: In addition to the back cover, potential readers also look at the table of contents. Hence, referring to each chapter simply by its number, e.g. “Chapter 1,” will not be advantageous. Instead, especially for self-help and business books, make sure to have an interesting title for each chapter. This also works well for thrillers and other fiction – just look at the chapter titles that Ian Fleming used in his 007 novels!

  Book subtitle and elevator pitch: Especially for nonfiction works, subtitles are essential. The successful formula is a catchy title plus an informative subtitle. This is a two-pronged attack, as it both attracts and informs the shopper. As for the elevator pitch, this does not go into your book itself, but it is the concise way that you respond when you are asked, “What is your book about?” It should be 15 seconds long, and is basically a short extension of your subtitle.  This will be extremely important for marketing your book, both orally and in writing.

  Make sure to check out the iUniverse site for more advice and blogs, as well as iUniverse Facebook and iUniverse Twitter. For a FREE Publishing Guide, click here!