What is the longest novel excerpt you'd be willing to read?

To get back to @GeorgiaMasonIII 's original post, the length people will be willing to read is probably dependent on how good the writing is.

Think about it this way. You're not asking people to simply READ the piece and move on. You're asking for critique and feedback.

If the 10,000-word selection is nearly perfect, it would be no problem giving feedback. We would become immersed in reading and would not notice the length—and it wouldn't require line-by-line or section-by-section critique. It would require an overall impression of what the reader gets from the story, and would point out aspects of the writing that are effective, etc. More like a review than a critique.

However, if the piece needs loads of work, a critique of 10,000 words will take ages. Not many people are willing to devote that kind of time and effort to a critique...especially if the piece is ridden with mistakes (both SPAG and compositional issues.)

So, in general, the longer the piece, the better it must be to get feedback on it.

Unless I'm in the mood, I don't usually critique anything that is ridden with SPAG errors. I don't feel it's my 'job' on the forum to become an unpaid English teacher. If I read the first few sentences and are confronted with numerous SPAG mistakes, I just stop and go elsewhere. I want to work on things like characterization, story flow, starting scenes, transitions, etc. I don't want to spend my time teaching basic English. Basic English is a given prerequisite for any writer who plans to produce writing in English. If you haven't already got that in place, you're getting the cart before the horse.

Thinking it doesn't matter is like singing off-key, forgetting words, hitting the wrong chords, then asking the listener if they liked the song. The 'content' will have been swamped by the bad delivery, and chances are will not even have registered in the listener's mind. Same with bad writing. The content is dependent on the delivery. The writer's intentions don't matter. It's what the writer gets across to the reader that matters.

 

unacceptable to you but not me or most others

is it illegal. are you God. why should i care what you find acceptable.
if are you a millenial then find your safe space by skipping what i write

 

Well... I think we've seen a pretty broad cross-section of board members commenting unfavourably on this, so I'm not sure I'm with you on the "most" others.

But it does seem as if you're phasing in some punctuation and capitals... that's a good start!

At the same time, the phase-in is coming pretty slowly, so... as you suggested, I'm going to find my safe space by putting you on ignore. I'll check back in a while to see if you're writing like an adult yet.

 

That millennial bit is insulting and unnecessary. All we're asking is that you follow basic punctuation rules, something that's considerate and that the rest of us do without being asked. I'm out.

 

You're exhibiting CheeseMoose behavior.

 

Okay, I'm gonna need a translation...

 

I'm a few decades older than a millennial. Does the mention of safe spaces indicate that you fear punctuation and the Shift key?

 

There is no literal translation. It's what I call my son (five years old) when dumbass/jackass/dipshit would be applicable, but it's inappropriate to call your five year old child those names...so...CheeseMoose.

EDIT: Obviously all in jest.

 

i fear nothing
and i ignore bullies who try to tell me what to do

when i write in formal settings then i will format my content as appropriate to a formal setting

this is informal like conversation in a coffee shop
turn on speech to text and it will sound like we are talking

or just ignore my posts since you have nothing to add to the content
but need to feel superior by whining about informal writing

 

I'm curious--do you go to meetings of organic gardeners and insist on spraying Round-Up round the room during the discussion? Do you eat a nice plate of beef tartare while you attend meetings of vegetarian cooks?

All righty. I will join those ignoring you, since you are obviously on a writing forum for the purpose of demonstrating that you hold writing in contempt.

(Edited to add: Though I would like to be on the record as stating that my firm opinion that absent some issue that makes it impossible to follow basic writing standards, the persistent and deliberate refusal to follow them should be grounds for moderator action and eventual banning. Have you seen the writing on some other forums? I do not want to take a step down that slippery slope.)

 

I agree with your ETA - our decision to ignore him solves the problem for us as individuals, but it does nothing to solve the problem for the forum as a whole.

Oh well. I'll take the small win and be glad I've solved the problem for myself!

 

First language, inability to type, there are many perfectly legitimate reasons. And I'm slightly hampered by the fact that I think that we have at least one very valuable poster who doesn't use caps, though I think they do use punctuation. But that poster has been actively valuable for a very long time; somehow, that feels different.

(Edited to add: And in any case, it appears that they've been gone for a while, so no need to wrangle about an exception in their case.)

 

Cummings used punctuation, or lack thereof, to enhance his poetry.

I see nothing similar in evidence here.

 

Well, maybe if you'd just convert it to text-to-speech, you'd see the true beauty of the form.


or maybe not

 

Maybe he's here to persuade us that text to speech is the way that all the cool kids communicate, and after we're all his loyal acolytes he'll offer to sell us the very best text to speech software for the low, low price of $49.95 per month?

Edited to add: Ooh! I've got it! I've got it! His posts have subliminal commands, but they will only embed themselves into our brains if we play them out loud.