Hi, everyone. I stumbled on this site while looking for some feedback regarding the conventions of writing telepathic communication. Since Norwescon I've been considering a more active involvement in the writing community, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to join up here. Of course, I've now lost the thread that prompted this decision, though it seemed I wasn't going to gain anything particularly useful from it anyway. I know the conventions on the subject, but I was wondering if there might be a movement to possibly reinvent the status quo. I've got two projects going at the moment--one a novel I hope to turn into a screenplay somewhere along the line, and a short story prompted by a series of dreams I've had in the midst of an otherwise dry spell.
Hello Saje, Welcome to the Writing Forums. Communication is communication, whether it be face to face, over a telephone, a com link, wigwagging, or telepathy. Dialogue is dialogue, and should be written according to those conventions. Even if it is symbolic in nature, you quote it as a translation to native speech (English, if the book itself is in English). Please read How to Use the Review Room before you post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here. It is worth taking the time to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog. Also, be aware that posting a piece of writing on any public site, including this one, will greatly diminish your chances of selling it for publication. Removing the writing later does not alter that fact - once posted, it is irreversibly considered published. So do not post anything more than a small excerpt of any piece you are planning to submit for publication. If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate. As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize constructive critique as a vital writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
Thanks for the welcome And thanks for reiterating one of my issues with the original thread. Rule one is not to break the flow of the story, and if the reader has to go back to re-read to determine the nature of a communication (be it verbal, telepathic, computer-to-human brain), it would quite likely break that flow. Conventions in speculative fiction have good reason to be different than those of literature of the non-speculative variety and this is a great example of why this is so.
