Links and I'm STILL blown away by how horrible something was

[stoney321]

First, ze links. We had an exciting weekend at HDJM because we have our first advertisers going up, slowly but surely. Be sure to click on our supporters when you go for a visit (and check their fabulous products, etc. More to come this week.) Also, SPARTACUS IS BACK! And Liz is back with her breathless and energetic recaps.

Merlin! Melody has this week's recap waiting for you and your juicy thoughts.

And thank you again to everyone that is helping us get noticed by tweeting links, tumbling, liking - it's just a click for you, but it helps us TREMENDOUSLY. <3

My poor kid was sick all through the weekend, but rallied mid-day yesterday (his actual birthday) and we had a small family dinner. He'll get to have a proper party this coming weekend, but still. Poor buddy.

But now for my shock. SHOCK, I SAY! So, most of y'all that have been around here for a while know that I LOVE reading crappy fanfic. Like, really really bad. Comically bad. "He egressed in the seat of her audience" bad. (That remains one of my favorites. That and "he put his think in her butt.") That stuff is hilarious and entertaining. Then there are the stories that you think, "Huh, that's really boring." Or, "What the hell? This is the story everyone is going on about? REALLY?"

I am not going to link you or post names, because that's shitty. But I haven't been able to get these two stories out of my head for DAYS NOW, because I am so AGGRAVATED by their hit counts. <-- I am a child, yes. Your point? Lol.

That's an awesome concept! But LAWS, what terrible execution.
This is the worst, in my opinion. A story that sounds good on paper, and then you read it and think, why aren't you working with a proper beta? NOTE TO BABY WRITERS OUT THERE: you need a beta. YES. Yes, you do. And a beta isn't your BFF who thinks you are wonderful. A beta is someone that actually understands composition and grammar, that (hopefully) understands the characters, and is willing to tell you NO. That last one is the most important part.

"NO. No, Laura, you do not need fourteen paragraphs of fart jokes in this story."

(For example. Which we know is a lie, because fourteen paragraphs of fart jokes is AWESOME.)

Things a Good Beta Does:

• tells you to stop abusing the same word. (I read "keen/keening" FIVE TIMES in one paragraph. And no one was confronted with a banshee, huh.)
• tells you to not drop the ball on emotion - if it's important enough to write about, it's important enough to finish the thought
• tells you when a joke doesn't land
• tells you when you've used a word INCORRECTLY. (omg, clamor doesn't mean to get on top of, the fuck?)
• tells you when you've misspelled a word. Oh, you may have spelled the wrong word correctly, but if it's not the RIGHT WORD, it's spelled wrong. (Leaks for leeks, for example.)
• tells you when your characterization is slipping.
• when you've written the same damn thing over and over for the space of three pages. We don't need multiple paragraphs about the bare trees. The trees are bare, it's cold and stark. BOOM, move on to the story.

They also encourage you to keep going and to improve. I highly recommend you get one. Lord knows my writing has improved tenfold since I started working with flaming_muse.

The other kind of story... hmm.

The kind of story that is the literary equivalent of watching paint dry - and yet it has thousands of hits.

I almost called flaming_muse last night until I realized that it was 1:30am where she lives and she would be very mad at me if I had done so. And why? because I came across a story on the AO3 (which I am loving for multiple reasons) that had just over a couple thousand hits, loads of kudos, and I thought, "You know, normally I don't care for this author's story telling [to be honest, I'd only tried to read one or two of their stories and found them not to be my liking] but hey, maybe all of these people know something I don't?"

Nope. The public is stupid, I had it reconfirmed. (I am making up examples, because I'm not actually a finger pointing jack ass, so bear that in mind.)

***
CHAPTER ONE:

Character A called Character B and asked about laundry sorting. B said, "Well, I find that sorting clothes by color first, and then texture second, leads to the best results."

A, "Oh? That's so fascinating. Did you know that the codes on your clothing were instituted by a Federal Law crafted in 1983 after John Henry, a laundress with a man's name--"

B interrupting, saying, "Oh, that's so unbelievably interesting! A man's name for a laundress?"

A said, "It is unusual, is it not? However, back to the riveting tale of how a triangle and a circle mean dry cleaning and so forth. I would like to talk for another nine paragraphs about how this works."

B said, "I would also like that. I would like that a lot. I like that."

A, "(nine paragraphs later) By the way, my cock is hard, shall we suddenly be boyfriends and have sex?"

Narrator: and they did.

CHAPTER TWO!

Character A has bought a day planner and is going to outline all of his life's goals in excruciating detail...

***

WHAT THE FUCK?! Wait, wait. The writer established a friendship, they yammered bullshit about laundry, and then they had sex OFF CAMERA?! I hate you. I hate your parents for making you. I hate the teachers that educated your parents enough to put them in a place in life where they were free to make you. Also, I hate your dog. JUST BECAUSE.

No one wants to read minutia. They don't. Details are not minutia. POR EJEMPLO:

Minutia:

Billy loved ballet When he was three and a half years old his mother took him specifically to the Ballet on Bleaker Street because it was close to his house and his mother only had a few minutes a day to devote to things that didn't involve her job because she worked for Mrs. Johnson up the street, and Mrs. Johnson was really mean to her and her husband was a banker so they had a big house with a lot of rooms for Billy's mother to clean, like lots of floors and windows and carpets and things to dust like knick knacks and lamps and tchotchkes and books and statues and small dogs. The bank often had tens of millions of dollars in transactions each day, transactions like deposits and withdrawals and other types of transactions that I would list if wikipedia was up today, and Mr. Johnson was happy about that, but he usually stayed at work for long hours, which made Mrs. Johnson unhappy because she was lonely. Her own parents had been workaholics and also she loved the color orange.

So Billy went to his first ballet and his mother went back to work for Mrs. Johnson where she pulled out all of the cleaning products and lined them up alphabetically and--

vs. Details:

It was a hardscrabble life in Manchester where the women worked their fingers to the bone and their children suffered for it. Billy was no different. Billy wanted to join the ballet, but no boy from a neighborhood like his would allow it, nor would his mother, a housekeeper for a mid-level banker, be able to afford it. But Billy continued to dream, even as his mother continued scrubbing floors.

No one gives a shit about Mrs. Johnson, unless she suddenly pays for Billy to go to ballet school. Or has sex with him. LOOK, I DON'T WANT TO STIFLE YOUR CREATIVITY.

Just...Christ. Details matter, minutia doesn't. I haaaaaaaate stories that aren't about the people, but about the thing they're doing. Like taking pictures, for example. I don't want to learn how to use a dark room, I want to read about the people USING THE DARK ROOM. In that they're doing something, then they do something else. I don't need the chemicals used, the length of time explained for each process... that shit is BORING. Are they developing pictures of a murder scene? Tell me about the pictures! Otherwise, no one gives a shit that you read three wikipedia pages. Really. I'm telling you this so you can get better.

(This is not to say that I think I'm an amazing writer. Because HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, no. Anyone that knows me knows that i have horrible self esteem. BUT. I do know how to keep an audience. After all, you read this, didn't you? BOOM, gotcha. Lol.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to write a story about Abraham Lincoln trying to make a light bulb. And then I am going to write it in real time so it takes you 24 hours to read about his 24 hours.

Comments

You're killing me...

[gottriplets.livejournal.com]

because:

a) I am dying to know what the fics are

and

2) I am terrified that it's something I'm beta-ing!!!

Gah!!

Re: You're killing me...

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

These are stories that have been around for a bit, so I doubt it. :D

But now that you know these important tips, you can be a better beta! HA! <3

Details, especially when they're symbolic or set a mood = awesome
Minutia, proving that the author did a lot of wikipedia reading and wants to sound smart = DREADFUL

[flaming-muse.livejournal.com]

The bank often had tens of millions of dollars in transactions each day, transactions like deposits and withdrawals and other types of transactions that I would list if wikipedia was up today, and Mr. Johnson was happy about that, but he usually stayed at work for long hours, which made Mrs. Johnson unhappy because she was lonely. Her own parents had been workaholics and also she loved the color orange.

I quite literally almost snorted iced tea out of my nose. It was such a near thing I have bergamot IN MY SINUSES. OMG, you make me laugh and LAUGH AND LAUGH. If wikipedia were up, aha ha hahahahaha.

Also... good betas are amazing. They're even better if they're stronger writers than you are, or at least are stronger at some things, so that they can challenge you instead of just picking up typos and telling you if they can't follow the plot. Although a good beta doesn't have to be a writer; she needs to be an editor, and while a lot of us can do double-duty not everybody can. Some writers are horrible betas because they're too intuitive (or too afraid to offer criticism).

Every writer tells a story in a different way, but at the end of the day it is the story that matters (IMO). If you're telling it in a way that gets in the way of the idea, you're doing your story a huge disservice.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHAHA, I'm glad someone laughed at the "if wikipedia were up" line. HEE.

You are absolutely right: a good beta is someone that is going to ELEVATE your writing. You have to admire their work/understand why their writing works. Then you can get better and dump that ho by the wayside. IN YOUR FACE, SUCKER! (lol)

And yes yes yes: too many people are afraid of offering criticism, and...that's not what you want! If you're going to call yourself a writer, you better get some thick skin and not see critiques as personal attacks.

[romanyg.livejournal.com]

*nod nod* I'm completely in agreement about minutiae vs. detail. Rereading the Little House books with my girls, I was amazed how Wilder managed to get so much detail in simple words. She managed to make cheese-making, cabin-building and *laundry* interesting enough so that a 7-year old girl wouldn't yawn and say 'bored now, what's on TV?' Sure pioneer life should be fascinating, but I've read some snoozer AU fic about it.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, weren't those the best?! I was just thinking about those books last night, actually! Great minds, etc. etc. ;)

She had such a way of engaging the audience. I hung on her every word and used to play act DAILY that we were best friends and making cheese together (or sewing or making a ball out of a pig's bladder or...) <3

[sockmonkeyhere.livejournal.com]

Rereading the Little House books with my girls, I was amazed how Wilder managed to get so much detail in simple words. She managed to make cheese-making, cabin-building and *laundry* interesting enough so that a 7-year old girl wouldn't yawn and say 'bored now, what's on TV?'

I'll bet that that skill came partly from her years of "seeing out loud" for her blind sister (which according to biographies she actually did in real life, not just in her Little House books.) She had to quickly scan their surroundings and then cull out what she didn't think would be important/educational/entertaining/necessary/etc. to her sister (and later, to her readers), and then describe the interesting, informative stuff to sister Mary in a clear, concise manner that didn't take forever and ever. A great example of that takes place during their train ride in On the Shores of Silver Lake, in which Laura whispers a running commentary to Mary -- a commentary that combines accuracy, simplicity, and poetry: "Now the man is taking a drink. His Adam's apple bobs." "The telegraph lines are swooping past. One-oop-two-oop-three! That's how fast they're going."

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

You know, she even got existential in the books meant for a SMALL CHILD. In a few words. From "Little House in the Big Woods"

When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, "What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?"

"They are the days of a long time ago, Laura," Pa said. "Go to sleep, now."

But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa's fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods. She looked at Pa sitting on the bench by the hearth, the firelight gleaming on his brown hair and beard and glistening on the honey-brown fiddle. She looked at Ma, gently rocking and knitting.

She thought to herself, "This is now."

She was glad that the cosy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.

[wowbright.livejournal.com]

Just...Christ. Details matter, minutia doesn't. I haaaaaaaate stories that aren't about the people, but about the thing they're doing. Like taking pictures, for example. I don't want to learn how to use a dark room, I want to read about the people USING THE DARK ROOM. In that they're doing something, then they do something else. I don't need the chemicals used, the length of time explained for each process... that shit is BORING. Are they developing pictures of a murder scene? Tell me about the pictures! Otherwise, no one gives a shit that you read three wikipedia pages. Really. I'm telling you this so you can get better.

So, this was kind of my reaction when I got to the Waterloo part of Les Miserables. Though I actually enjoyed the bit about the sewers. The bit about the sewers set the mood. The Waterloo bit - I'm still like, WTF??? Why the history lesson, Victor Hugo?

And now I totally want to know what the stories are.

I am also oh-so-curious as to how "he put his think in her butt." All the things that could mean, if it weren't a misspelling - well, it just opens up new horizons.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, they meant "He put his thing in her butt" which is almost as bad, but less hilarious. Go hit my tag "bad(Great!)fic." That used to be a regular feature here, back in the day. :D

[entrenous88.livejournal.com]

Oh Lord Lord, the paint-drying fics out there. I mean, there are some people who write fascinating world-building that includes amazing sharp descriptions of seemingly every-day stuff, or atmospheric shaping of a setting. It's the kind of going-on about surroundings and landscapes I would never do, because I'm all about the character and dialogue, and because while I admire it in people who hit it out of the park, it's not my forte.

So obviously it can be done so, so well -- exactly your point with the details versus minutiae.

But so often, my god, just stab me now instead of going on and on and on about the characters' interior decorating choices.

I would like to talk for another nine paragraphs about how this works."

B said, "I would also like that. I would like that a lot. I like that."

*sets A & B on a raft and pushes them out to sea*

Also -- *keens at you* -- Sometimes I want to make a newbie guide to certain fandoms that include the overused words there -- it may be certain writers dominating the scene, or just the hive buzz, but why oh why is it that all Andrew/Xander writers abused the word whine while HP/DM and HP/SS deserve to have the word smirk literally obliviated from their heads? It's bad enough when one story hammers a phrase or word into the ground; so much worse when you cannot take a step in a particular pairing or fandom without having the word constantly barked.

God, remember the awesome icons from Bad Fic? Senor Draco...

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Yes! This is not to say that world building is bad, because I love breathing, smelling, seeing the places you're writing. But...it takes a deft hand to take details that DON'T MATTER TO THE STORY and leave them by the wayside and find the correct way to help the reader see/smell/etc. But we don't need things EXPLAINED. I think that's the key - if you're having to explain the process (by having a character drop a shit ton of exposition) then you're doing it wrong.

And oh, your dialog! *kisses fingers* I want you writing screenplays (or teleplays) You are an EXPERT at dialog writing, have been for years. FOLKS: read EntreNous' fics for how to get dialog snapping and right!

I just laughed so hard the dog jumped at you keening at me. Oh, the other thing that kills me is when someone "shrieks" or "screams" when the dick goes in. WOW THAT SHOULDN'T HURT THAT MUCH. Not if you're calling it "love-making." O_O Shriek. Try that, writer, try shrieking next time you're having sex and see how that goes over with your partner.

The thing this past summer in Glee/Klaine fic was "spread out below him, undone" or "his pupils blown" <-- that was in almost EVERYTHING I read for weeks. WHINE!! Yes! Oy, find a new way to say it and blow fandom's mind, folks!

[zyrya]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? Where is the rest of the story about the laundry marks??? You and your bloody cliff-hangers. Rawr!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHAHA. Give me a minute and I'll add more! :D

[fitofpique.livejournal.com]

Oh, Stoney. I currently really want (no need!) to read fic about a certain pairing, and I am going insane with all the truly terrible badfic I keep stumbling across! I'm going to go blind if I read on more story where the author uses a nickname for a character that would obviously stroke out if anyone called him by anything other than his full name. Also, POINT OF VIEW. There is a right way and a wrong way to deal with it! Look it the fuck up, children!

This is why I look like this D:< every time I look at the internet these days.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD YES YES YES. When you're hungry for new fic and you have nothing but DRECK to wade through!! That is the WORST. Esp. when you try something and they have NO CLUE how the characters think, act, react... So damn frustrating.

POINT OF VIEW AUTHORS: PICK ONE. You can swap for each CHAPTER, but not each PARAGRAPH. Christ.

[huzzlewhat.livejournal.com]

I feel so bad for laughing, but I did. I read a fic this weekend that came highly recommended, and it was basically a travelogue — the characters were only there, really, to travel to these amazing cities and describe the tourist sites in detail (including history, etc.). And then they went back to the hotel and had sex. The end.

The reason that it upset me wasn't that it was boring, but that it had been recommended to me based on fic that I'd written, and it sent me scurrying back to my own stuff in a panic. :-)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Why feel bad for laughing? I always want you to laugh!

Oh, that story sounds DREADFUL. I mean, okay. Maybe if I was agoraphobic and never went anywhere and someone wrote it just for me, because I would never ever go to that place. But STILL So indulgent and boring.

ACK - that was supposedly based on your story? I would have reacted the same. (I came across a story that was "inspired" by one I posted recently and I was SO OFFENDED by how awful it was. Like, how in the HELL did they think that bit of writing had anything to do with mine? *cries*)

LOL. Fanfic - so emotional. Hee.

[secondalto.livejournal.com]

I had a GODDESS of a beta when I started out. She was responsible for a lot of my award winning fic. She made me the writer I am today. (Not that there is a lot of writing these days, having a small child around kind of limits that.)

Let's hear it for great betas!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Doesn't that just make all the difference? I have floundered for years with excellent writers, but not the best at pushing me to be better. It's not an easy process, finding someone that gets what you mean and helps you SAY IT, you know?

HEAR HEAR! *toasts*

[shannon-f-r.livejournal.com]

I think it was Aaron Sorkin who said that his job as a writer was to entertain you for however long he could hold your interest, and that everything else--mimesis, politics, whatever--came a very distant second.

As a beta, I'm becoming very aware of the fact that it's conflict which holds one's interest. So if there's not conflict on every page--or at least the building up to conflict--I will stop reading.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely true (even if Aaron Sorkin is a dick. He can write, damn him.)

Conflict! Emotions! How they relate to the story! And it must be a rollercoaster. You have to have funny/happy to balance the sorrow/horror, or it's just an emotional beat down as a reader. And something funny/happy underscores the sorrow - I WISH PEOPLE WOULD LEARN THAT LESSON.

Ugh, and cheap tricks piss me off, too. Forced cliffhangers, forced conflict (the Lucy-syndrome, as I call it.) I hate that stuff. It's amateurish at best.

[war-of-ataraxis.livejournal.com]

*applauds*

I still use fanfiction.net from time to time and it drives me BONKERS to see some of the most useless, contrived, pointless, pitiful stories with thousands of reviews and people fawning all over them. I just don't get it.

Also, I love when people ignore the true mechanics of gay sex because they didn't bother with basic research; I don't care how hot the story is when my mind is screaming "OH MY DEAR LORD, LUBE! MY ASS IS HURTING FOR YOU!"

Or when stories go on and on (like my comments); sure, great, another sex scene but JFC, WHAT IS THE PONT?

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'll be honest: if something is on FF.net, I automatically assume the worst and won't bother reading it. I'm too much of a fandom dinosaur, lol. And some of the most popular fanfics I just do not understand WHY they are popular. Usually there is loads of sex, but the sex isn't even well written! BAH. (Folks in Glee Fandom: look to Cimmerians and SkinTightSocks to see how to write porn. Better yet, leave it to them.)

oh, the mystery of the disappearing balls! One partner always fails to have some, I've noticed. They can just hop on Pop and not scream out in pain from balls being crushed. (lol)

Yes, the sex scene just for the sex scene. Christ, I'm getting sore just reading about it, WHAT ELSE DO THESE PEOPLE DO, WRITER?

[bitchygrrl.livejournal.com]

You could not be more right about the beta issue. I wrote without one for ages. I figured I was a more than competent academic writer so why bother. In retrospect bad idea. I mean those stories are okay. Once I started using a beta, my first serious one was for a BH 90210 Brandon/Dylan fic for Yuletide I saw all the things I wasn't doing. Being prodded to get more deeply into the motivations of my character, and being told that events didn't have the proper setup, that I needed more, made a huge improvement. Now I only skip the beta if it's a drabble or comment fic. In conclusion, everyone needs a beta.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

"being prodded to get more deeply into the motivations of my character" and "didn't have the proper setup" THERE YOU GO! I have that same problem, and a beta is great for me, too. I think as a writer you get too invested in what's happening, it's in your head, and you can easily skip over details/set up because you know in your head where you're going.

But if it's not on the page... YES. Everyone needs a beta! (Be it reader or editor.)

[jenbooks.livejournal.com]

This is hilarious because I am currently plowing through Earth's Children because apparently I hate myself.

I remember liking CotCB an eon ago, but even that was kinda bad on this read through.

ANYWAY Jean Auel REALLY NEEDED A BETA! (ref: minutia != details)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

AHAHAHAHA. Stop hating yourself! (But oh, I know what you mean - it's closure! We need it for those sprawling stories. Even if we want to murder baskets of puppies while subjecting ourselves to the story.)

[evewithanapple.livejournal.com]

No one gives a shit about Mrs. Johnson, unless she suddenly pays for Billy to go to ballet school. Or has sex with him.

See now, THAT would be a whole different musical.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

That's what I'm saying! Details vs. minutia... (Ahahaha)

[moonlite-n-rose.livejournal.com]

I think the details vs. minutia think is what terrified me the most when I used to write fanfiction. Descriptive writing was never my strong suit and when I tried it, it turned into minutia. I stuck to what I felt was my strong suit, comedic dialogue. I wish I'd tried to get over that hump when I still had the drive to write.

That being said, you are the funniest writer I know on here, I love your posts and look forward to them all the time.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

details vs. minutiae is def. something I've had to struggle with. Or I don't tell enough and everyone is wondering if I wrote some avant garde hunk of crap. :D

Writing dialog is a special talent, truly. GET THEE TO THE SCRIPT MOBILE! (I actually love reading scripts, and wish more people wrote stories in screenplay format. It's REALLY difficult to convey things that way, so if you can? *kisses fingers*)

And thank you! I'm a dork, but I'm YOUR DORK. Hee.

[out-there.livejournal.com]

yes to all those points about beta-readers. In general, some of the best beta-reads are from people who aren't linked through friendship because they see that very clearly (the flip side is that some of the lasting fannish friendships are made through people betaing because when you find a good beta reader, it's worth clinging to them like glue). And funnily enough, it's always characterisation that I worry about when I send to beta (it's always my first concern) and yet wrong word usage, overusage and relying on favourite words nad phrases isare usually big things that need to get fixed.

I hate you. I hate your parents for making you. I hate the teachers that educated your parents enough to put them in a place in life where they were free to make you. Also, I hate your dog. JUST BECAUSE.

*giggles* The thing with badfic wordcounts though, is that you get a hit even for all the people who read half a paragraph and hit the back button. And for people reading and staring in horror. It doesn't always mean it's a *good* story or that everyone reading thought it was. (Say the girl who's read some... let's say dubious comfort fic in Klaine fandom and found herself wondering why she read to the end when it was bad from the first chapter.)

ow if you'll excuse me, I am going to write a story about Abraham Lincoln trying to make a light bulb. And then I am going to write it in real time so it takes you 24 hours to read about his 24 hours.

Hee!

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't really get bent out of shape over things being popular when I can't understand why - it's more I just like figuring out WHY DOES EVERYONE LOVE THIS? But then, McDonalds has served billions, etc.

I've been in fandom long enough to know this is how it is in ALL fandoms, I am just surprised by fics on occasion and love sharing my "Bzuh?" -ment. ;D

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

YES YES YES

And it's not just fic. I've seen movies also where I think why did you ruin this amazing premise with your crappy, boring script.

Then again, one person's worst thing ever is someone else's award winner. Obviously, they're wrong and I'm right, but whatever. 8-)

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Clearly you're in the right here. I mean...clearly. ;D

[soberloki.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds bad, the fic full of irrelevant crap. HAAAAATE those.

Also, you and I are TWINS I TELL YOU regarding the spelling and such. It is the wrong word even if it's correctly spelled as a homonym of the word you wanted. Also, then and than are not interchangeable, nor are they're/their/there or you're/your, I don't care what your best friend thinks, and I don't give a toss what YOU think, it is NOT a 'style' to write badly. It's just writing badly, ranty-ranty-rant-rant. Sorry, I have a head cold and I'm at work and this all maketh Diaz a bit cranky.

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD THEN AND THAN MAKE ME BANANAS. I see that ALL THE TIME. I have posted so many times explaining that THEN is time THAN is a choice, why is this so hard?!

Best writing advice I ever got was my first year in college when my creative writing professor said, "Laura? You're not ee cummings. Use frickin' punctuation." AHAHA.

[kuzu-no-ha.livejournal.com]

I just finished the last of Spartacus via Netflix. OMG OHMAZING.
I can't wait til the new ones are added. *waits*

I loved how every episode I would say "I cannot believe they DID THAT!"
Also Lucy Lawless and John Hannah are brilliant. Forever and ever brilliant.