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[WolfieBoy]

Hey guys first post, woohoo!

lol

im wolfie, and im a writer. When I can be. Im studying english lit, and ive been asked to write a creative piece based on an everyday experience. I play DF for a few hrs ever day, so im going to write on that - boatmurdered style, bt with my own wee flair im jst wondering about any tips people wwould be willing to give me, and if anybody would be interested in reading it??? It wouldnt be another boatmurdered knockoff - I have a few plans

thanks

wolfie

[TheBronzePickle]

Welcome to the forums, hope you enjoy it he-

GRAMMAR NAZI MODE ACTIVATED

Okay, first tip. If you're writing this for an English class, they'd probably fail you for what you just wrote. Number one, apostrophes. "I'm", "I've," "wouldn't," etc. Number two, finish your words. Use "hours," not "hrs," "but," not "bt," and "just," not "jst." Another thing, smiley faces do not count as punctuation. Don't forget capitalization either. And never end a sentence with more than two punctuation marks without good reason, and you should strive to use only one.

Also, you misspelled "would."

GRAMMAR NAZI OPERATION COMPLETE, SHUTTING DOWN

-re.

Oh, um, sorry about that. That happens sometimes. You get used to it.

Anyway, enjoy yourself. I would help, but I honestly haven't played DF in a while.

[lordnincompoop]

Hey guys first post, woohoo!

lol

im wolfie, and im a writer.

Gee whiz, that's great. I hope your creative pieces are just as breathtaking and competently written as your opening post!

Im studying english lit, and ive been asked to write a creative piece based on an everyday experience. I play DF for a few hrs ever day, so im going to write on that - boatmurdered style, bt with my own wee flair im jst wondering about any tips people wwould be willing to give me, and if anybody would be interested in reading it??? It wouldnt be another boatmurdered knockoff - I have a few plans

thanks

wolfie

Tips? First of all, write properly. Claiming you're a writer while at the same time missing out on your commas and capitals, and spraying your posts full of "lol"s, smileys and typos is not going to give anyone a good first impression, and certainly won't establish your credibility as a paragon of the English language - even in the most casual of settings.

Second, Boatmurdered is overrated. I know what this sounds like in a community full of DF fans, but it is. The writing was far from anything that could be considered standard in any published work of contemporary literature, and is probably not suited for an assignment at any stage in the educational process.

Third, you're asking a lot from people who know very little about you and know even less about what you're writing (not only that, but you have no idea how good their English is, either). Though some will undoubtedly volunteer, they won't be as thorough as you think they'll be - honestly, though you may benefit marginally from what you're doing here, any English assignment will fare the best when proofread by another English professor - or, preferably, the English professor him/herself. Failing that, taking it to a dedicated writing forum would be a wise choice - seeing as your professor will almost certainly not be part of the fandom, you will need critique from someone with a similar mindset.

[Eagleon]

Going to agree with most of everything just said, but I think we only need one grammar-nazi per post, guys.

Welcome to the forums, anyway. You're welcome (and encouraged!) to post your work here, just be prepared when you say "looking for tips" - as I think you just saw, people are more than willing to speak their mind here It's really nothing personal, maybe, I don't think most people are looking to find flaws, they just tend to be a little more apparent for people that actively look for creative projects of others (i.e., this forum)

[Girlinhat]

Imagine everything that they just said above me, but now imagine that I'm saying it.  This is what my reply would be if I weren't too lazy.

[Hubris Incalculable]

To summarise what all these people are saying, 'shorthand is for texting, not forums'.

[Itnetlolor]

To summarise what all these people are saying, 'shorthand is for texting, not forums'.

Don't forget social networks. Those make good breeding grounds for shorthand and other nonsense.

Of course, at times, there are exceptions for using shorthand here; provided appropriate use and context.

I suppose a good way to put things into perspective is the simplest rule, even on the internet: If you want an intelligent discussion, speak intelligently. If you want an immature squabble, then act like everyone else.

Over here, we're intelligently immature (or is that immaturely intelligent?) at times. Welcome to the forums, we're not like most other places.

[WolfieBoy]

-.-" so not the welcome I was expecting.

but yes - believe it or not, shorthand is a way people write in informal settings - and shorthand doesnt just mean text speak either, shorthand includes slang terms and other little things you and your culture through in (such as the australian "fair go", which i have seen in numerous essays)

I would not call this forum formal.

AND considering I am 17 years old (and here comes the literary jargon) my context is the more modern age, so excuse me if I miss capitals and other such items - but this isn't a term paper. it is a forum post. i suppose i shall have to dilligently observe my appraisals and responses I submit to this forum.

Now that my little rebuttle is over - thanks for the advice so far. either way, i need a topic. And this will serve.

Wolfie.

[lordnincompoop]

Just a short reply to this: No, this forum is not formal. Note, however, that this was both your very first post and the post in which you claimed to be a writer and Eng. Lit major (or whatever it is). If you post in Facebook shorthand to introduce yourself, you'll have to excuse me if I don't fully trust your abilities from the outset.

Be sure to keep us updated, then.

[TheBronzePickle]

This forum certainly isn't formal, but we've got a much more formal setup than your average forum, and one of the things we typically expect is a minimum level of proper language use. Your second post is far better than the first, it must be said. Some people might complain about you not using proper caps, but you'll either change, they'll get over it, or you can just ignore them.

As for you being seventeen, I'm eighteen, and I've been on here since I was sixteen. A lot of the people on here are roughly our age.

Anyway, sorry for the less-than-warm welcome, know that despite our low tolerance for certain things, we are a very friendly community. Considering your good attitude about it all, you'll probably be able to fit in here.

And I've been beaten to the post because of revision, as typical.

[Eagleon]

AND considering I am 17 years old (and here comes the literary jargon) my context is the more modern age, so excuse me if I miss capitals and other such items - but this isn't a term paper. it is a forum post. i suppose i shall have to dilligently observe my appraisals and responses I submit to this forum.

To be fair, it is good practice if you want to become quick about it. Sooner or later if you stick with regular English, it doesn't require much diligence at all to write it. Case in point, I blew away most of middle-school (and a good portion of high-school) playing MUDs, posting here when DF finally came out, and talking in a chat-room that didn't tolerate this except to make fun of it. Ended up placing in an honors program at one of our better state unis due to, you guessed it, exceptional ACT English and Reading scores. And Science, but that has more to do with my parents being geologists.

[Nivim]

 As to the creative piece, it will be interesting to see how you convert the style and feel of Boatmurdered into a coherent english paper. It sounds like quite a challenge, but if you manage to guide the plunge into madness with sufficient subtlety and depth you might see it leave a mark on the minds of your readers. Good luck, and get writting!

[MorleyDev]

typing without good grammar and spelling and missing out things like fullstops capital letters and other such linguistic markers is annoying in any text related setting be it on a forum on facebook or even in a txt altho it is a lot more forgivable in a txt due 2 the imposed character limit and difficulties in typing with a phone however when you have an efficient typing tool such as a keyboard there is very little excuse other than lazyness which creates a bad impression on and can annoy the readers whom let us be honest you are hear to interact with at the end of the day it makes you look like a foolish little person who does not know what they are talking about as they are too stupid to grasp basic english whilst this is most likely not true it is still the impression it gives

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Typing without good grammar and spelling, and missing out things like fullstops, capital letters and other such linguistic markers is annoying in any text related setting, be it on a forum, on facebook, or even in a text. Although, it is a lot more forgiveable in a text due to the imposed character limit, and the difficulties in typing with a phone. However, when you have an efficient typing tool, such as a keyboard, there is very little excuse other than laziness. This will create a bad impression on and can annoy the readers, whom (let us be honest) you are here to interact with. At the end of the day it makes you look like a foolish little person who does not know what they are talking about, as they are too stupid to grasp basic English. Whilst this is most likely not true, it is still the impression it gives.

See my point? It's just polite to try at least, create the right impression and life is ultimately about nothing else but the impression you create and the skill with which you create it. ^^ And I'm only 20, so from the generation that practically invented "txt tlk" on mobile phones. Then again now I have a phone with a keyboard, I never have a reason to use it and am glad of this as I find it rather ugly and annoying to read.

Nazisms aside, welcome to the forums.

[Caz]

I agree that BoatMurdered is a bit overrated. Maybe you could try reading some of the other great community forts like Nist Akath or anything else in the Hall of Legends for inspiration. Good luck.

Also, you say that you're a writer - got any of your previous works? Maybe if you showed them to us here people would pipe down about your poor forum grammarz. We could comment on what's good and what needs improved, etc.

[Fniff]

Personally, I don't mind grammar nor spelling if you have a nice story with good characters to back it up.