CloverReef

I think it has a lot to do with the writer’s upbringing and world view too. Everyone has a different view of the differences between men and women, (and whether there’s a difference at all) and their writing would reflect that natural bias. Like you said, you have issues writing female characters. I’ve actually come across plenty of female authors whose female characters don’t ring true to life to me, and male authors writing male characters. Of course I’m not talking about the obvious problem of bad characterization/writing here. One of my favourite M/M books is written by a woman. Oh god were the male characters whiny and emotional and prattled endlessly about philosophy and love and were constantly cuddling and stuff, which kinda struck me as a little (a lot) odd considering they were supposed to be brutal pirates in a situation I have a hard time believing would allow for so much of that stuff. Of course I still read the whole series and besides my Repairman Jack series, it’s the only physical set of books that I will never ever ever give away. (My point is, I think you can get away with being a little out of touch with gender portrayals) And I’ve read really well written books by women who have really made believable male character, from the brutally masculine to the gentle bookish and sensitive artist types without making it feel like it was written by a woman. I should probably be commenting on the male author’s portrayal of women, but I think F. Paul Wilson is the only male author I read religiously, so… I don’t like the women in his books lol… Oh! Marsden! I think he’s an Australian writer? Wrote Tomorrow When the War Began series? Maaan I loooved his portrayal of his female characters. They were so spot on, and at no time did I think “This is definitely a man writing this” TL;DR version: I’m a relativist. It depends. [Oh and I didn’t mean to imply @SirGeneralSir said all men can’t write women and all women can’t write men. He stated very clearly he was just talking about some. I just loved the topic and got carried away with my thoughts!]

I agree. Though you and I may not agree on the example I provided, I think we’d both agree that it’s important not to twist yourself in knots to avoid breaking a rule. I like that every writer develops their own rules for style, their own pet peeves. What tends to pull me out of a story very well might pull another person in. I tend to tell the people I beta for, when they’re getting conflicting advice, to always consider where the advice is coming from. Read the stories of the people giving it, when possible, and take the advice from the one they most enjoy or would most like to style themselves after. That you can just pick and choose your style based on what you like is pretty awesome. LOL I know, I sound a bit nerdy, maybe even soap boxy about it, but I really do get excited about this kinda thing – seeing styles develop and twist.

Cold Snap Chapter 3 Jean: You flatterer, you. This was an awesome review to wake up to, so thanks! MonaMina: (Cue evil cackle) I will neither confirm nor deny the amount of shit in their collective pants at that moment. Bravery is overrated anyway! Thanks, Mona, you made me laugh! And I’m so happy you approve of my cliffhangers! They’re so much fun to write. You’re awesome! Anonnie: I’m glad you like it! It’s such a relief to see you think it’s engrossing! I think I went over the first few chapters about a billion and three times, and each time panicked a little more because, of course, by the billionth and third time, it’s hard to see something for what it would be to fresh eyes! Anyway, I’m rambling. 3 am makes me rambly. Where was I? Oh yeah, lol that woulda made an awfully short fic, huh? Just wandering through a locker room, sniff a monster, run and bam! Death by wall. And he didn’t even get laid first. So tragic.

Ah, I like that rule too! Forces yourself to get creative about sentence structure.

Worship Thank you Kylee! That's such a sweet thing to say. I like you!

It’s a personal style choice. I find descriptive pronouns like that to be awkward, and that ambiguity best dispelled in action and proper description. ”His brown eyes swept over the campsite,” for instance, I would prefer if I wanted to slip in a little description. Versus: “The brown eyed boy scanned the campsite,” typically pulls me out of a story when I’m reading. It might be because I used to rely on them so much when I was a budding writer. It’s somehow become one of my pet peeves, whether rational or not lol.

Chapter 3 is up! I meant to put it up yesterday, but then it got late, and I started thinking 2 am was a bad time to post, because anxieties are random like that! Anyway… Bon appetit?

Love your rule! I try to keep it myself, but I still slip up frequently. I have a few hard set rules, but most are style-related, more than they are proper-grammar-related. Like descriptive pronouns. I’ve banned those from my writing. Ex: The green-eyed boy. (I used to use them waaaay too much)

Essentially a proofreader/editor/copyeditor, depending on what you ask of them

I completely agree that one must understand the risks. You can’t effectively bend the rules if you don’t know them intimately enough. And if you’re writing to publish, you should definitely familiarize yourself with their particular style guide. That being said, if you aren’t writing to publish yet, and you aren’t familiar with the rules and how to effectively utilize/bend them, experimenting and asking questions on forums like this is an excellent way to learn via the various techniques of other writers.

Proper grammar tends to have a very specific set of rules with minor differences dictated based on dictionaries and stylebooks. Publishers tend to stick to a specific stylebook when conflicts arise. But the great thing about creative writing, as with most forms of art, is that rules are bendable. As long as you don’t bend them so much they’re distracting and pull your reader out of the story. So your decision to keep it the way you have it now is perfectly valid. Good luck with your story!

LOL that’s too bad. I was thinking that was quite a dedication to oysters! Still definitely a redeemable, unattractive flaw though, and quite original at that!

What, you don’t find puffiness, rashes, and inability to breathe to be sexy? I hope he carries an epipen.

I agree that so many ellipses in one sentence is jarring. I’d never use commas; since it’s an incorrect use of them, it would be especially jarring. I’ve seen periods used. Like in William Shatner impressions. Like. Every. Word. Is. Its. Own. Sentence. It’s improper, of course, but I think it works in short sentences if you’re going for comedic effect. The method I’d prefer is kinda a combination of ellipses, and what Bronx mentioned. You can use that tag (the sentence you use to describe how the word is being spoken) and others within the dialogue to create pauses. Example. “Please,” Loretta forced out, “don’t… abuse,” she gulped, “commas!” But if the sentence is long, just describe it and add an ellipses/tag or two at the most pronounced pauses (if there are any).

This forum looked so lonely. So… Let’s talk about creating flawed characters! Like I don’t mean “omg he’s so tortured it’s sexy” kinda flaw, I mean non-sexy flaws. Things that add a little bit of ugly to an otherwise attractive character. I personally think every character needs a little ugliness added, especially in smut fics (Not counting PWPs in this statement. Everything goes out the window for PWPs) where most of the main characters tend to be on the sizzling side. I think lots of people have a line they draw in the sand between redeemable and not-redeemable. Like if your character is super sexy, but he keeps raping neighbourhood grandmothers, I probably won’t root for him no matter how many animal shelters he donates to or how many sonnets he writes. But there’s ugliness to me that is redeemable that isn’t so redeemable to other readers. Someone who kills, for example. (In fiction only!) Someone with explosive diarrhea (though I wouldn’t necessarily want to see him in an anal sex scene). Um… What else? Scars and stuff are too attractive, but horrific burns over half their body aren’t so much. A penchant for completely inappropriate jokes? Racism?

Cold Snap Chapter 2 MonaMina , It’s soooo hard to resist the whiney voice! That’s like my fifth biggest weakness. My first is moths… Just thought you should know. In the locker room, it was just an overfed rat named Fred and Officer Dreamboat is actually an axe murderer with a penchant for beanie babies. Mysteries solved! You’re welcome… No, seriously though, I’m fucking ecstatic you’re enjoying it so far, and I love your review. Thank you! BTW, what do you think copboy is up to?

Chapter two is up! Enjoy!

It depends largely on the woman. Some women would say the exact kinda thing that a guy would. “Daaamn, I wanna tap dat ass!” or just something short like “Yes please!” Some would do it with a little more feminine, romantic twist. “Hello prince charming!” or hopeful, like the wanting babies thing you were looking for. “I want his babies” is totally legit, though I’m not sure about the holy ovulating ovaries part unless it’s a campy comedy lol. Though if she’s a fan of 1960s batman, that’d work! For a blurt, I’d go for something short and sweet, just because the longer and more rambly it is, the longer she has to realize she’s saying it out loud and cut herself off, so she probably wouldn’t get it all out. IRL I haven’t really blurted anything myself, or known any women who have, but I have of course heard a lot of what my friends say about men, and I assume that’s what you’re looking to have her blurt. They dirty minded as all hell. So you can pretty much safely go with what you know a man would say with a little baby making twist if you wanted to.

I’m not sure I understand the question. Could you elaborate? And I’m assuming here that the part in question isn’t 100% serious. Is it tongue in cheek, or more outrageous humour, or just a bit silly for comic relief in an otherwise serious context?

LOL oh god, that’s horribly inappropriate for a place where kids can go. I don’t support censorship in material for adults, but normalizing (and having fun with) the dehumanizing and torture of women to kids kinda terrifies me a little bit. I’m glad they’re getting rid of it.

So that’s why I keep finding fingers in my cedar mulch!

Yeah, people suck… Not me personally of course, but everyone else.

LOL! I don’t know why, but when I read that, it was in 1960’s Robin’s voice in my head. I love that!

When it comes to puuuure porn, I feel like anything is game as long as it’s not like saying ‘hey reader, go out and rape a bunch of school girls with your tentacles right now’. Well… I kinda feel that way about non-porn too. I think a lot of the appeal of pure porn is that we can play with and glorify depraved things that wouldn’t necessarily appeal to us in reality. (I hope). You mentioned murder. I can totally write or read a sex scene murder and get turned on whereas if I saw it on like a snuff film, I’d get sick. So yeah, lazy writing is lazy writing, I think. I don’t think it can be blamed on what’s happening in the story, whether its rape or deus exs or the koolaid man making a random cameo in a downton abbey fan fiction. The only thing that makes writing lazy is a writer ceasing to care or improve.