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writingquestionsanswered · 5 years

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I am ready to share my WIP with people (yay) but I have so many questions. I remember when writing my Bachelor's thesis I could send it off to different people and they would each proofread different aspects (spelling, formal stuff, comprehension etc.) would that be a good tactic for fiction too? At what point should I consider hiring an editor when traditional publishing is my goal? Is it necessary to put something like a none disclosure agreement in front of everything I share? (1/2)

or does that make me look paranoid? And what is a good tool for sharing your work? I figured something like google docs would work well bc it makes sharing things via link easy but then again is it good when everybody can read all the critiques other people have? I also figured I would share one maybe two chapters at a time and add some questions at the end of each section for people to answer. I really don’t know what the protocol is here, would be grateful for some of your awesome advice

Guide: The Feedback Process

First, congratulations on getting to this point!

1) “When writing my Bachelor’s thesis I could send it off to different people and they would each proofread different aspects (spelling, formal stuff, comprehension etc.) would that be a good tactic for fiction too?”

Sort of… Everyone has a slightly different process, but here are the typical steps:

Alpha Readers

Many writers share their manuscript with a friend, family member, or writer friend after the first or second draft is complete. This person is known as an “alpha reader” because they’re the first eyes (besides your own) on your completed story. The alpha reader’s role is to give you first impressions of the story from the reader perspective. Since this is an early and often unedited draft, they don’t need to worry about issues like typos, grammar, punctuation, etc. If the story or something about it doesn’t quite work, it’s their job to let you know.

Critique Partner

Lots of writers choose to work with a critique partner, and sometimes more than one. Critique partners can be project specific, but usually they become part of a lasting partnership and your writing BFF. Your critique partner may even fulfill the role of alpha reader if you don’t have anyone else to do it. Their job is to give you thorough feedback on everything from conceptual and structural problems to plot holes and grammatical errors. Then you do the same for their manuscript when they’re ready, which is what makes it a partnership. Critique partners can be notoriously hard to find so don’t sweat it if you can’t find one.If you want to try, here are some places to look: online forums, critique partner match-ups (Maggie Stiefvater has one, and I tried to get one off the ground), writing groups, writing workshops, writing conferences, and social media. Again, don’t worry if you can’t find one. Lots of writers work without one.

Beta Readers

Beta readers are probably the most common method used for feedback prior to querying or self-publishing, and many writers do two or even three phases of beta reading. If you don’t have an alpha reader and/or critique partner, you can use beta readers to fulfill the same function. Otherwise, you may choose to only do a single beta read. Whatever works is fine. Beta readers are typically found among your bookish and writer friends. It’s pretty essential that they’re either avid readers, writers, or both. The depth of feedback you ask them to provide is up to you, but once again this is more of an overall feedback and not really the place for editing-related feedback. Some writers will provide their beta readers with short questionnaires to fill out afterward targeting some of the writer’s specific concerns, like “Did you connect with the main character?”

Side note: Wherever you go to find readers, it’s a good idea to try to establish a bit of a friendship with them before sending them your whole manuscript. If you meet them in person at a writing workshop or conference, talk to them in e-mail or on social media for a little bit before making the exchange. If you meet them in a forum or on social media, spend a little while interacting with them and getting to know them. Do the best you can to vet them based on the relationships they seem to have with other writers, how together they seem to be, who they know and what they do, etc. If you can find someone that other people seem to trust, you can feel confident that you can trust them, too.

2) “At what point should I consider hiring an editor when traditional publishing is my goal?”

Here’s the thing about professional editors: they cost a small fortune. Depending on the length of your story, you will need to be prepared to pay anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000, give or take.

If you are pursuing traditional publishing, don’t even worry about it. Just polish your manuscript to the best of your ability and you’re fine. Agents and publishers don’t expect your manuscript to be professionally edited. If you go through an agent (as most writers do since few publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts), they will help make sure your manuscript is extra polished, and if they sell it to a publisher, the publisher’s in-house editor will edit your manuscript anyway. Publishers pay such small advances these days, especially to debut authors, it would be silly for you to be out of pocket for a professional editor. If your story is amazing and your writing is strong, an agent will be interested even if there are a few typos or other issues. As long as it’s clear you made the effort to polish it as much as possible, that’s what matters.

If you are self-publishing, it gets a little bit trickier. I used to advocate always using a professional editor when self-publishing, but the reality is many indie authors can simply not afford to spend that kind of money on their book without going into debt. The reality is that you’re extremely unlikely to make that money back anytime soon, so if you can afford to make that kind of investment without any hope of a near-future return, then go for it. But if that kind of investment would be a hardship, don’t even bother with it. There are plenty of alternatives, including just making sure you have a crackerjack team of smart people who are willing to help get your manuscript as polished as possible.

3) “Is it necessary to put something like a non-disclosure agreement in front of everything I share? Or does that make me look paranoid?”

Non-Disclosure agreements are not the norm. If you’re working with alpha readers, beta readers, and critique partners, you simply ask them not to share your manuscript or any story details. And, again, if you’re dealing with a stranger, it’s a good idea to get to know them a little bit and do a little surreptitious vetting before you enter into any sort of exchange. If you’re working with a professional editor, it’s their job to read unpublished manuscripts, so they know better than to share your work or details about it.

Theft is extremely rare, but when it does happen it’s usually in situations where there was little to no vetting or establishment of a writerly friendship first. If you take the time to get to know someone a little bit first, you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not they’re someone you can trust.

4) “I figured something like google docs would work well bc it makes sharing things via link easy but then again is it good when everybody can read all the critiques other people have?”

Different people use different methods, but the most common seems to be Microsoft Word with its review feature. This allows the reader to make comments within the document without being able to change it and without others being able to see it. That’s the method I have used both as an author and a beta reader, as well as with my critique partners. Although, sometimes my CPs and I are lazy and we just use e-mail. I’ve never used Google Docs but I would definitely caution against allowing everyone to see each other’s feedback. When alpha readers, beta readers, and critique partners give you feedback, it’s for your eyes only unless you ask their permission to share it. So at the very least, you would need to warn everyone that their feedback will be viewable by everyone else, and that may not fly with some readers. Also, I would be worried about one person’s feedback influencing another person’s feedback. It just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. If there’s a way you could do a separate Google Doc for each reader that only they have access to, that might be an alternative. Other programs I’ve heard of people using: Adobe Reader, iAnnotate, and WPS Writer. (Side Note: if you create a document that you e-mail to each reader, create a separate doc for each reader with their name in it. This way you don’t accidentally merge documents when you get them back.)

5) “I also figured I would share one maybe two chapters at a time and add some questions at the end of each section for people to answer.”

This is not the way it is typically done and I would caution against this method for a variety of reasons. Usually you would send the completed manuscript to your readers along with a target date for feedback to be returned. This allows readers to go at their own pace, which is preferable since some may choose to read the whole thing in one weekend while others may choose to do a chapter every couple days or so. Ultimately, it’s your job to make this process as easy on your readers as possible, which means giving them the ability to set their own pace. If you send it in chunks, you take away that ability and put added pressure on them. Plus, it creates a lot of extra communication and back and forth, which is not desirable.

6) Standard Protocol for Beta Readers

With alpha readers and established critique partners, the process tends to be a bit more personal since you probably know the person already. With new critique partners, you can establish whatever method works best for the two of you. But with beta readers, there’s a pretty standard process…

After you’ve gathered your beta reader team and have been given their e-mail addresses, you’ll compose an e-mail that can be sent separately to each one. This e-mail will thank them for volunteering as a beta, will outline what you are and aren’t looking for in beta feedback, and establish a deadline (preferably four to six weeks out.) Although Word Documents seem to be the most common, most writers offer alternatives for how feedback might be given. For example, you might say something like, “You’re welcome to leave feedback within each chapter, as you go, at the end of each chapter, or at the end of the manuscript.” You may also consider including a short questionnaire (ideally no more than 5-10 questions) that the beta reader can fill out at the end, in addition to whatever other feedback they provide. Give them any necessary instructions for that and let them know they can contact you at any point if they have any questions. Also, it’s a good idea to clarify your expectations should the person decide not to complete the beta read for whatever reason. Most writers will say something like, “If something comes up and you’re unable to complete this beta read, please be sure to let me know as soon as possible so I can find someone to take your place.” This way it’s clear it’s not a big deal if they can’t finish, and they know you won’t hold it against them. Finally, be sure to thank them again for participating.

The feedback will usually trickle in throughout the specified period. When someone sends you their feedback, simply reply with a big thanks and leave it at that. If you have a comprehension issue on some of their feedback and it seems like something critical, it’s generally okay to e-mail them and ask them for clarification, but this is something you should only do when absolutely necessary. Normally, you will not discuss a beta reader’s feedback with them. That feedback isn’t there for you to quibble with or otherwise defend against, and doing so will only ensure that this particular beta reader won’t want to work with you again in the future. You may get feedback that you disagree with, that’s difficult to hear, or is downright hurtful, but it’s up to you to figure out how to apply the feedback if at all. Remember: readers have all kinds of different opinions, and where one reader might say, “I didn’t find this character very believable,” other characters (LOL! *readers*) may not feel the same way. If two or more people express the same opinion, it’s worth considering more deeply. If more than two do, it’s definitely something you’ll need to take a look at.

I hope that demystifies the whole process for you a bit!

————————————————————————————————-Have a question? My inbox is always open, but make sure to check through my FAQ and post master lists first to see if I’ve already answered a similar question. :)

#writing tips #writing advice #wqaadvice

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wikitopx · 5 years

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There are Tips and Advice for Writing a Great Cover Letter. This post will have you solve the problem. Read the following.

Updated March 13, 2020

When most people think about applying for jobs, they believe that writing their resume will be the most challenging part of the process. Your resume is, of course, extremely important, but it is the cover letter that accompanies it that makes the critical first impression on a hiring manager that will get you noticed. As such, it needs to be much more than a rushed, generic afterthought.

Every cover letter you write should be customized for the specific job you are seeking. It must be clearly written and concise, as well as free from any typos, grammatical errors, or misspelled names. Remember, most hiring managers will read your cover letter before they look at your resume. It's a golden opportunity for you, with a self-marketing document, to show why you are a great candidate for a job.

Here are tips and suggestions that will help your cover letter stand out from the crowd and get you one step closer to a job offer.

1. Send a Cover Letter Each Time

Your cover letter may make the difference between obtaining a job interview and having your resume ignored. It is your first opportunity to create a relationship with the person who is doing the hiring, and not including a resume could even cost you an interview.

Even if an employer doesn't request a cover letter, it can be helpful to send one. It shows you've put extra effort into your application.

2. Personalize Your Letter

If you can, address your cover letter to the individual who is doing the hiring. If necessary, conduct some online research to find out who the hiring manager is. Search LinkedIn or find the “Contact” or “About Us” section of the employer’s website. It’s also fine to call the company directly to ask the name of the person to whom you should address your letter. This is not being pushy. The hiring manager will respect you for taking the initiative.

3. Don't Rehash Your Resume

Your cover letter should complement, not duplicate, your resume. It should expand upon your resume, highlight your skills and experience, and explain how these relate to the job you're applying for.

The other advantage that a cover letter has over a resume is that, as a narrative, it allows you more of a chance to use your personal “tone” to build rapport with a hiring manager – to show, in your own words, your thinking process and goals in asking for his or her consideration.

Think of your cover letter, first and foremost, as a “sales pitch.” Its primary goal is to explain why you are a candidate who deserves a personal interview.

4. Target Your Cover Letter

Take a good look at the job posting and make a list of the criteria the employer is looking for. Then, list the skills and experience you have that correlate to what the employer is seeking. Focus on incorporating these qualifications into your cover letter. This is not cheating or “copying.” It's simply being smart enough to target your skills to the job. Be sure to directly address, in your letter, how your skills match the job requirements established by the employer.

Remember, a successful cover letter shows a potential employer how you'll benefit the company. Why you want the job and why it's a good fit for you are less important considerations for hiring managers. The lion’s share of the cover letter should focus on the employer’s needs rather than your own.

As a general rule, try not to use the personal pronoun “I” more than three or four times in your cover letter, and never begin a paragraph with “I.” This will help to ensure that your cover letter is focused on the employer.

5. Format Your Letter Properly

Your formatting will be slightly different if you're sending your letter through the mail, uploading it to an application portal, or sending it via email. Here's more information on how to format a cover letter.

All cover letters are structured into three basic sections:

In the first paragraph, you'll say why you're writing. Mention the specific job title and where you saw the posting.

In the middle section, you'll establish what makes you a good candidate, referencing relevant experience and skills.

Finally, in the third section of a cover letter, you'll thank the letter recipient for reading. You can also share details on how you'll follow up.

If you are sending a formal letter through the mail, use the same header (i.e., with your contact information) that you do at the top of the first page of your resume.

6. Write Simply and Clearly

Write a short, targeted letter by getting right to the point. No one has time for an epic novel, so keep your cover letter to one page. Also, make sure each paragraph has no more than three or four sentences. If you want, you can opt to use bullet points to break up chunks of text. Just make sure they do not duplicate the language of your resume.

Avoid clichés in your cover letter. While it is a formal piece of correspondence, it shouldn't sound stilted, stiff, or unnatural.

7. Highlight Your Top Qualifications

A great way to catch a hiring manager’s eye is to present your most desirable qualifications in a bulleted section in or right after the second paragraph of your cover letter. If possible, quantify impressive professional achievements with numbers, dollar amounts, or percentages, using boldface to make these figures “pop” on the page. Here’s an example:

A few examples of my qualifications include:

10 years’ experience producing YOY gains within the luxury automobile sales sector, achieving a 75% increase in sales from FY 20XX to FY 20XX.

Proven foresight in capitalizing upon rising internet marketing strategies to build a strong client base.

Superb customer service talents, consistently earning client satisfaction scores of more than 95%.

8. Incorporate Keyword Phrases

Like your resume, your cover letter may be scanned by a company’s automated applicant tracking system (ATS) if it is submitted digitally. These systems are programmed to pinpoint specific keyword phrases (or “buzzwords”); they then rank the applications received according to the placement and the number of times the keywords appear in the application.

If your cover letter and resume fail to use these keyword phrases, they may never reach the human eye of a hiring manager.

It’s important, then, to use relevant keyword phrases in your cover letter. Your best guide to which phrases to use is the listing that describes the job you are applying for. If a phrase appears high and/or frequently on the list of the company’s “Required” or “Preferred” qualifications, it’s a good idea to include it somewhere in your cover letter.

Just be sure not to overdo it with these "buzzwords." While including them can help rank your application higher, repeating them too often can read as robotic and possibly off-putting.

9. Keep Email Cover Letters Short

When you email a cover letter, make sure your letter is short. Include the copy in the body of the email message or upload it to the company website with your resume.

List your name and the position for which you're applying in the subject line of the email. Don't send a cover letter as an attachment unless the employer specifically requests it in that format.

Keep copies of all your cover letters so that you can track what you sent to whom and when. That way, if you get a request for an interview, you can look back at your cover letters to know what you already mentioned.

10. Spell Check and Proofread

Before you send the cover letter, ask someone to read it and review it for typos. It's difficult noticing mistakes in our own writing because we are so close to it. If you're alone and need to proofread your own work, you can try a few techniques to catch errors: change the font style, copy the text into another document, or read the document backward (from bottom to top).

Always double-check that you have spelled the company name, the job title and department, and your contact's name correctly. These are particularly embarrassing errors. Follow these proofreading tips for job seekers for additional assistance.

11. Review a Cover Letter Example

Cover Letter Sample

Annabel Jones 123 Central Street Lima, OH 45802 555-212-1234 [email protected]

November 7, 2019

George Greene Director, Human Resources ABC Charitable Trust 123 Country Club Road Lima, OH 45802

Dear Mr. Greene:

It was with much interest that I read your advertisement on LinkedIn for the Development Officer position that has opened with the ABC Charitable Trust. As an individual with 10 years’ experience in non-profit fundraising, I can offer you knowledge and expertise that will ensure the continuing success of your philanthropic programs.

In your job posting, you mentioned that you particularly seek a Development Officer well-versed in donor segmentation, multichannel fundraising, and grant writing. During my tenure first as a grant writer and then as a Development Officer with ABC College, it was my responsibility to build our donor pipeline both through these approaches and through strategic calls-to-action and the solicitation of legacy, principal, and recurring gifts.

My qualifications and credentials for this role include:

Acknowledged success increasing our college’s total endowment from $75K in 20XX to more than $1.75M today through major giving, annual giving, and planned giving initiatives.

Solid leadership expertise onboarding, training, and supervising a 7-member team of grant writers who garnered over $5 million for various departmental research programs last year.

Ownership for directing all phases of a capital campaign that raised $4.5M for the renovation of one of three college libraries.

The ABC Charitable Trust is renowned for its success in transforming the lives of its beneficiaries, and it would be both a joy and a privilege to support your fundraising initiatives. Thank you for your time and consideration of this application; I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with you in person to discuss your mission and vision for the future in greater detail.

Sincerely,

Annabel Jones

12. More Cover Letter Examples

Review cover letter examples, both written and email, that are designed for a variety of job applications and employment inquiries.

I hope this post can be helpful to you. You will be solved the problem with Wikitopx.com. More ideas for you: Employment-Related Email Message Examples

From : https://wikitopx.com/job/tips-and-advice-for-writing-a-great-cover-letter-712975.html

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authorlaneblevins · 6 years

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How to Write Dialogue that is Purposeful and Powerful

One of the most important ways that you can convey information, build conflict and develop characters is through purposeful dialogue. Out of all the various skills involved in storytelling—many of which may feel purely instinctive—dialogue is likely the one that requires the most practice and earnest study. It seems pretty logical that young writers (especially those who may have committed their first story to the page when they were still teenagers) are at a clear disadvantage when it comes to writing effective dialogue: for starters, their exposure to conversations is limited, and they’re still trying to understand communication practices themselves. Perhaps this is why many writers don’t become comfortable with dialogue until they have gained some experience, both in writing and in life.

As you begin to take a closer look at whether your dialogue is meeting its full potential or not, here are a few helpful guidelines:

-Focus on dialogue that is natural, not “realistic”: One of the mistakes many writers make is paying undue attention to how “realistic” their dialogue is, or, more specifically, how closely it resembles the way that people speak in real life. The issue with this is that, in real life, people have a lot of vocal habits that would impede storytelling. In other words, if my life was a novel, there would be a lot of pages a reader would skip over because me asking my coworkers about how their night was or if they’d read the latest email traffic is not conducive to a riveting story. In normal everyday speech, people repeat themselves, drift off into non sequiturs, issue the polite exchanges that are socially expected of them, and use several gap-words (words that “bridge the gap” while they’re thinking such as “like,” “um,” or, in my case, “fucking”) that would unnecessarily pad a word count.

The general rule of thumb is this: instead of obsessing about your dialogue being as true to life as possible, instead focus on your dialogue being accessible and natural. After you write an exchange, read it out loud. Does it sound stilted? If so, you may want to reduce formal words and the use of names in every line (people saying the name of who they’re talking to in every line sounds less like people talking, and more like aliens putting on a play about people talking). Is it loaded with ellipses, stutters, repeated words and dashes to denote a pause? If so, you likely had a difficult time reading it out loud, and you may want to simplify the use of punctuation: your job is not to provide stage direction for any would-be actors reading these lines, it’s to keep the story going.

-Formatting and grammatical considerations: The key here is consistency. If you decide to use quotation marks to demarcate lines of dialogue, use them throughout. If you choose not to use quotation marks (a risky move for less-seasoned writers or anyone trying to appeal to mainstream audiences), stick to that rule throughout. That isn’t to say that you can’t summarize some lines for the sake of expediency or to portray a narrator’s mental state, but even that you would want to do sparingly, and utilize some tool to show that this is dialogue, such as italicizing the lines or still using “she/he said” at the end of the line. Also, be sure to use quotation marks correctly, with all punctuation closing the line of dialogue within the quotation marks.

Furthermore, when it comes to dialogue tags, there are three general rules of thumb to abide by: one, avoid using the thesaurus to come up with new ways to say “said.” This word is preferred because the reader skims right by it, maintaining the rhythm of the dialogue while still providing them the information they need, which is who is doing the talking. Secondly, you can switch up the placement of your dialogue tags to present variety in sentence structure: you can begin with the dialogue tag, end with it, or break up a line of dialogue by placing the dialogue tag in the middle. As long as you practice appropriate grammar in these instances, they offer an easy way to keep your reader’s eye engaged. Lastly, you don’t need to use dialogue tags after every line; this would, in fact, get tedious fast. Instead, if the conversation is between two people, throw tags in every few lines so that the reader doesn’t get confused about who is talking. If the conversation is between more than two people, you may want to use tags more frequently.

-Avoiding expository dialogue: Or, at the very least, disguise it. It’s pretty inevitable that, at some point, you will have some instances of expository dialogue; an easy way to have one character learn about the world your story is set in or the conflict they are engaged in is to have another character tell them about it. In many ways, this is preferable to blocks of exposition given by the narrator: expository dialogue at least gives the reader information about who knows what, and how the speaker may feel about the information they’re giving.

One way to use expository dialogue without it coming across as glaringly unnatural is to never have only one character deliver it, and to space it out amongst several scenes. Whenever you have a character whose sole purpose is to give expository dialogue (often an old sage, professor or even a best friend) it strips the character of the ability to have anything else to talk about. Also, as with non-dialogue exposition, the aim is to not overload the reader all at once, as this slows down the pacing and the development of the primary conflict of the story.

-Depicting voice without overdoing dialect: I have personally always had an aversion to overuse of dialect in writing. I can get behind common slang usage—such as “gonna,” “ain’t” and “y’all,” for example—but when every word in a line of dialogue is misspelled for the sake of dogged dedication to a character’s specific accent, I will very quickly close a book and never pick it back up again. In my opinion, if dialect is conveyed heavily enough that it slows the reader from comprehending what is being said or from getting past the dialogue, then it is wasting the reader’s precious time. If you want to let the reader know that a character has an accent, this might be one of the occasions where “telling” works better than “showing.”

You generally don’t want to sacrifice plot progression or pacing for realism.

With that being said, it is of vital importance that you depict each speaker’s voice and differentiate them from one another; by the second act of the book, a reader should be able to tell who is speaking without requiring dialogue tags: each speaker’s unique speech patterns, rhythms and lingo should clue the reader in. If this is not the case, and each speaker sounds pretty much like every other speaker in your book, you may want to go back and tailor each voice by asking yourself a simple question: given what I know of the character (where they’re from, what their personality is like and what they think about all of the other characters), how would they talk if they were pissed off? How would they talk to the love of their life? How would they talk if they were afraid?

-Don’t be afraid to show humor (and avoid melodrama): In life, as in literature, one thing that gives perhaps the clearest window into who someone is as a human being is their sense of humor. What kind of things do your characters find funny? How would they joke in a time of great tension and stress? How would they joke when that tension is resolved and they can relax? Humor is also a way that people can hide their emotions; would your character joke when they’re uncomfortable with a situation, or would they laugh it off when they’re depressed? You can use humor to depict a character’s mental and emotional state via subtext, and using this subtext allows you an escape from one of the many alternatives, which would be to move towards melodrama or being too on-the-nose in your dialogue. In other words, humor prevents you from having a character tell another character or the reader how they really feel all the time, which is unrealistic human behavior, treats the reader like an idiot, and dissolves tension.

-Developing an ear for speech patterns, rhythms and sharp dialogue: As an introvert, I learned a lot about speech patterns and the unique ways that people speak simply by eavesdropping on conversations. Given that I’ve only ever been comfortable with one-on-one conversation and seldom felt the desire to volunteer any tête-à-tête myself in a group setting, I was always content to listen to others. This, in and of itself, is not sufficient though, as it can only teach me the realistic way that people talk to one another and not the sharper and more stylized dialogue that works better for storytelling. I supplemented these unofficial studies with a boat load of books and movies—as good as dialogue can be in a novel, I would be hard-pressed to find any dialogue-scribe on par with the likes of Aaron Sorkin, Quentin Tarantino or Raymond Chandler. Long story short, the best advice for developing a sense for dialogue that works and dialogue that doesn’t is to expose yourself and listen carefully to the world around you—both the real world, and the world of fiction.

-Dialogue that either advances the plot or develops a character: This is, perhaps, the most important guideline for writing effective dialogue: make sure every line either advances the plot or develops a character. True, this bit of advice could go for every word in a novel, dialogue or not. The bottom line is that you don’t want to waste your reader’s time with your characters exchanging pleasantries (the “Good morning, how was your night?”, “Oh it was great, I had a really nice dinner” exchanges that we spend a good chunk of our real lives participating in) unless that exchange of pleasantries carries a meaningful subtext that says something about the character dynamics. When re-reading the dialogue you have written, ask yourself frequently and answer honestly: does this line serve a purpose? Sure, I might like it, it might sound pretty or give me a chuckle, but what does it do to advance the plot or show who the speaker is? Is this line redundant? Have I already conveyed the same information elsewhere? Can this dialogue be condensed, as in could I convey the same sentiment in one word as I just did in thirty words? If your honest assessment to any of these questions is affirmative, you may want to cut or at least edit the line.

On the point of condensing, I would like to close with an example provided in Richard Walters Essentials of Screenwriting. “Ideally, dialogue must in a single stroke accomplish two goals: expand characters and advance plot. In Escape from Alcatraz (Richard Tuggle, adapting the J. Campbell Bruce book), a prison psychologist inquires of the protagonist, portrayed by Clint Eastwood, ‘What was your childhood like?’ Eastwood’s reply: ‘Short.’ ”

#writing #writing advice #writers on tumblr #writerblr #dialogue

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sydneyepps · 7 years

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Pomona's Institutional Discrimination Hurts All LGBTA+, All People of Color, and All Higher Education Professionals

Hello #SAPro friends, A few days ago, a great scholar-practitioner had a university rescind his offer of employment for speaking truth of his experience of discrimination... instances which stemmed from white gay men practicing racism within the LGBTQ+ community and from white women doing the "good work" in ways that do more harm than good. These things exist, and are no less real than the Moynihan Report, Bill Clinton's crime laws, Lena Dunham, "no fats, no femmes, no Asians”, or Rachel Dolezal. I am growing weary of higher education and its treatment of diverse minds when we speak truth to our survival despite outrageous odds; not only must we fight for every grade, but our very presence remains challenged in terms of why we are present (as if our melanin is the reason we get employed anywhere), how we remain (under constant surveillance), and why we are necessary (because we cannot possibly align... and if not, groupthink works better?). This is our collective experiences through our studies and our careers, and is shared by domestic and international students, faculty and staff. We are manipulated and used to further other's value, and discarded or run off when we stand in defense of our wellness. This is the POC experience at predominantly white institutions; a search of "Racial Battle Fatigue in Higher Education" will draw much literature on the status of conditions within these arenas with long-ignored strategies on how to start changing the dynamics, yet the acts of bravery - to be direct and intentional about rectifying eras of intentional blockades to minority success - are few and far between. The act of the Claremont College, to search for another leader for their LGBTQ Center, is a great example of how institutions wave flags of progress while simultaneously using historically discriminatory tactics to silence, and eschew responsibilites of bringing difficult histories to the table for examination. Once again, liberalism has materialized as a pathology rather than a viable gateway to liberating the developing minds of our students. Why are we so afraid to challenge a status quo that hurts ao many? Why must the door to full citizenship be so weighty? The challenges and pain of living as a queer person of color come alongside the academic excellence and outstanding service that makes/made Dr. Jon Higgins a great choice for the director of the Pomona College Queer Resources Center. We are dimming our message of providing discourse arenas for all, when we set a requirement of tenure - another privileged status, rarely given to racial, religious, gender and orientation minorities - for the honor of expressing experiences. Must the rest of us working for our students grovel at the feet of boards and administrators to be granted permission to lead the way for diverse truth? Or are we to act as if these battle scars, oozing and fresh, come with no moans? While my personal experiences have varied in terms of the support I've received, the arena in which H.E. politics have been used to silence and intimidate tend to be drawn along lines of race, gender and orientation; my openness to spread other gospels in exchange for support of my own passions and needs has provided my bedfellows... I'm cognizant of a work world that, had other tensions been resolved, perhaps my personal struggles and activist stances may not have resonated with individuals I see as progressives. The goal in working within higher education, for many of us, is to resolve societal ills that individuals are perpetuating into our society... in our businesses, families, religion, voting polls and local/state/national policies. Without recognizing the inherent discrimination within these facets of our life structure, and only listening to victims of discrimination for the desire to entertain oneself with the appreciation that the weight of oppression is not as heavy for you as someone else... that narcissistic joy of being under the radar... we are recreating an unjust world, generation by generation. The gap of injustice gets wider with every generation. Those who believe they benefit from the present society are merely a few years away from falling into the same hole they once claimed was never there. The middle class is a facade; the verbiage is a farce for those who are too naive to recognize their proximity to poverty. To those with real power... billions of dollars, and zero concerns over access to healthcare, guns, abortion, and the best formalized indoctrination money can buy... none of us matter. None of us matter. It is not enough to sigh and repost. We must ACT. We have to act when it is inconvenient and embarrassing. We have to act when we think there may be negative repercussions. We have to act when we wonder, "am I the one who needs to say it?" A lot of unsure voices speaking their deepest thoughts are better than unsure silence. Please read up on some of my recent posts on The Claremont Colleges and sign the statement below. MOST IMPORTANTLY, BOOK DR. HIGGINS TO SPEAK AT YOUR UNIVERSITY. This is a very insightful man who can bring a plethora of new thoughts on LGBT and POC student, staff and faculty inclusion and activism to your school... and all of our institutions need it! http://www.doctorjonpaul.com/ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeYitannJ-PtjR25dOpx23GjwzZ6xlaafY93mjlcqN1aZVCvA/viewform

Forgive any grammatical/spelling errors, as I have written this in a bit of distress from my mobile device.

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