At 07:10 PM 7/3/98 -0700, Shunsuke wrote:

Hi, all,

kukuru@worldnet.att.net wrote:

Jamie and Bridget Wilde wrote:

I wonder how long before this thread is going to be banned.

You're askin' the wrong guy...

I hope not before people read this post of mine.

Hmmm, This has been one of the few threads about general
writing practice, I for one hope to see more discussion.

2) Leave one line of blank space between paragraphs, 
  as I am doing in this post.  (Very readable, ne?)

<snip>

This is a pretty good rule for plain text formatting,
and I prefer to see plaintext stories formatted in
this way... but it goes against standard publishing
conventions.

In a paperback, there is generaly no white space
between paragraphs, unless the author wishes to 
indicate a break in continuity, (Such a delay in time,
or a change of veunue or character.

3) Keep the lines in your story to a maximum of 70 
  characters in length.  Wordwrapping is such an 

Plaintext is really a lot harder to read than typeset
text, and most paperbacks are only 56 - 60 chars per
line. On my website I have forced breaks at about 56
Chars, and I find that much more readable.

I really prefer the 'look' of my stories when they are
done up in HTML, and I feel really restricted by the
lack of italics in plaintext.

One thing I really dislike about Email plaintext is
the lack of a "Page" to begin on. My Email program
shows the  header and the text in one window, so at
the top of each post there is an inelegant jumble of
text which hides the beginning of the story.

Sometimes it's very difficult to find where the
actual story begins. If I find that in an email,
I usualy skip it and go to next one.

My suggestion to authors is to make a clean break
between any houskeeping you feel the need to prepend
to your story, and the story itself.
Try a row of Underscores....

____________________________________________________

Then the Story Name

By Author

   Now begin with a really compelling opening sentence
to set the mood. Now another to draw me in. I suggest
you go to your bookshelf and read the opening paragraphs
of 10 or 20 of your favorite books.
   "See, that's how the experts do it," he wrote. "They
learn from the millions of others who've gone before
them." The author shifted stiffly in his chair. "Oh, and
one more thing, the backspace key is your best freind. I
usualy find that if somthing is not working, it's because
the sentence is too long."   

Enough. 

I think it would be a great thread to go through a few
opening pararaphs from fanfics and really look closely
at them. To pick out what works, and why, and what does
not work, and why. 

For example: (From My fic, Autumn.)

	   The rake pulled smoothly through the grass,
	the leaves bunching and spilling past the sides.
	The tines hissed through the grass, the leaves
	crackling with each stroke. 
          "Every year?" Ranma called across the yard.
          "Every year." Akane replied, pausing to remove
	some leaves that had stuck in her rake.


Do you see it?

	In the first sentance I have:
		"...the grass, the leaves..."
	and then I follow it in the second sentence with 
		"...the grass, the leaves..."

Eeeeeew! It might be 'artistic', but it starts the story
on a -stutter-, and I think it could be improved. Anyone
Want to take a hack at it? Or volunteer their own?

J.




_______________________
Joseph Palmer, Founder
Video Storage Systems
jpalmer@videos2.com
www.VideoS2.com