[FFML] [Ranma 1/2] Three final writing exercises, and: Goodbye, FFML

[Elin B]

Thank you, Gary!! 

Good points re these writing exercises. I agree that there's a temptation in these things to make dialogue carry most of the exposition, since you don't have much room for narration. 

(As an aside, with ultra-short ficlets on Twitter I came up with one more cheat form -- using emojis to symbolize who's speaking so you don't need to write out their names! Obviously that technique only fits that specific setting (if even that) and probably only for ephemeral writing exercises that's just meant to set the creative juices flowing.)
I forgot to say this when I posted them, but although the point of the exercises was to stick to a round but short number of words, when it comes to improving them I'm ready to consider they might work better - while still being very short snapshots -- with a few more words added, or even subtracted. 

And thank you so much for all your work and contributions to the list for all these years. You've definitely been one of the examples I've wanted to follow when it comes to many things in writing fanfic, giving and taking constructive criticism, keeping the original canon in mind despite the onslaught of popular fanon, and holding onto characterization and good character voices.
All the best,
Elin

   Den torsdag 1 juli 2021 03:02:59 CEST, Gary Kleppe <gary at garykleppe.org> skrev:  
 
 Let's toss off some quick comments before it's all over.

Overall, I think these were pretty good for what they attempted. I 
would've rather read them as part of a complete story, but hey, we all 
have lives, and at this point I'll take what I can get. I will say that 
there's a temptation with dialog scenes to use the dialog as exposition, 
a way of passing information to the reader. This information might be 
plot points, or it might be characters explaining how they feel. This is 
okay up to a certain point, but in your first scene it was maybe a 
little too obvious. What I think works somewhat as a cure for this is to 
spice your dialog up with some sort of conflict. This could be a dispute 
between the characters, or it could be something internal, like a 
character trying to decide how he really feels about something. I do 
think your third vignette was better in this regard. Anyway, I hope this 
gave you something to think about.

And it's so long, FFML. I've been involved with the list in a number of 
different capacities, including reader, writer, frequent critic, 
cartographer (it's a long story), assistant Tybalt, FAQ maintainer, list 
admin, and probably more that I'm forgetting. When I started out here, I 
really couldn't write prose, and had to do my first story in script. 
It's been overall one of the great experiences of my life, to be able to 
put stuff out there and have it become in some small way part of the 
collective consciousness. So, I guess that's it. Best of luck to 
everyone in any future writing projects. If anyone wants to reach me, I 
can be found at www.garykleppe.org, or if you prefer, 
facebook.com/GaryKleppe/

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