[NancyBrooke]

What's your worst writing foible?

I have two: I procrastinate, and I get too attached to my text: if there's a phrase I really love, but maybe takes the story or the moment in the wrong direction, it will take me a long time to discover that and then some time more before I can hear an alternative and do the necessary rewrite.

So, don't do this at home, kiddies.

[SpaceWeavil]

[Rhapsody]

what does foible mean?

[NancyBrooke]

[ghettoelleth]

I, for one, would like to consider myself foibless as a silmaril. However, axe my betas and they will tell you something along the lines of, Dear LORD! has this women been introduced to the concept of punctuation? Elliska, in particular, likes to ask if I've met any commas lately. Another would have to be my innate affection for the conjunction, which helps me deal with my chronic reluctance to use the "." key. Wow, I need a stiff drink just typing it.

[NeumeIndil]

Biggest foible: taking the long way 'round... and chronicling every minute of the trip. I work out details as I plan a piece, then unconsciously try to use every detail I've come up with somewhere in the story and often don't cut enough of them. Minute detail can be great to read in small doses, but not by the page full.

Ghetto would probably remind me that I also have a "beginning sentences with pronouns" fetish, though that's far simpler to catch in a proofread than figuring out which runs of detail to keep and which ones to delete. Thank God for betas (and not the fishy kind).

[DeLynn]

Ditto on the pronoun issue. Neu caught me doing it lately. Also, too many short sentences. Conjunctions make for a good flow. Here I go again!

Back to work.

[Rhapsody]

I think that foible thingie must be more then one thing...

My everlasting confusion between then and than... (I really need to get a hold on it or imbedded on my desk).

I have heard about punctuation more then many can imagine and I simply gave up. Bags of comma's are available if anyone needs them.

A block on writing a narrative and bring it across to a, for me, foreign language. I am always happy that a beta tells me if it works or not. But I try to avoid it as much as I can.

And the list goes on..

[ArwenUndomiel]

My worst one is struggling with the temptation of copying writers I admire. I'll read a really good story, then similar scenarios begin sneaking their way into my own work. Or, if I read a phrase I particularly like, I will accidentally slip something similar into my story. It isn't that I can't come up with my own ideas, it is just that what I read influences my imagination, so I will have lots of little scenarios in my mind, and differentiation between what is mine and what isn't can become something of a grey area. No need to fear for your stories though; I am coming down hard on this tendency and have mostly mastered the habit.

[SilverMoonLady]

My inescapable 3 week cycle of - I can write > I am writing > someone's done this better I give up - drooling apathy > I can write! > I am writing.... *smirk*

[TariElensar]

My worst foible is starting a story without actually deciding what is going to happen! It means I take a looong time to write the next chapters as I start writing then I find I do not like the latest development. Then I change it! So frustrating! Does everyone plan their stories or do they just come to you

[NeumeIndil]

I plan a little, Tari, though most of the time said plan goes right out the window. Usually I'll have ideas marinating for a while and suddenly realize I'd better write an "outline" or I'm going to forget stuff. I suppose that's another foible in and of itself- trying to plan something that I *know* is going to take off on its own anyway.

[vladazhael]

Planning... yeah, not so much. I suffer from CPS - Can't Plan Shit. Aside from having random ideas of individual things to do in a story, I generally don't know what's going to happen until I read what I've just typed.

My muses are the ones that keep things organized. Thanks, guys.

[inglor]

Minor foibles? major hangups maybe...

-Laziness... why use a whole paragraph when two words are good enough...
-Spelling
-Grammar
-Lack of follow through (corollary of the laziness issue)

[Rhapsody]