tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post7637406449697288056..comments2024-03-27T23:59:01.850-07:00Comments on Writing About Writing (And Occasionally Some Writing): Follow-Up Questions About Developmental Editors MailboxChris Brecheenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-36768220967131383662020-09-01T07:26:12.753-07:002020-09-01T07:26:12.753-07:00I'm glad this has come around again because I&...I'm glad this has come around again because I'd forgotten about it. I took Fictionary on a two-week trial and decided not to proceed with it. It's not an editor. It's a storage facility for answers to the questions you should be asking. No recommendations emerge from your recording efforts. I figured I'm getting all this (and more) from the wide-ranging Excel spreadsheet on which I record statistics and answers to Those Questions.<br /><br />Fictionary wants to know about entry and exit hooks, details concerning the setting and characters' motivations and reactions. But it does nothing with that information. So I'll stick with my beautiful spreadsheet, thanks.<br />David Stentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07993498842344746171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-78283087398653210602019-07-23T17:13:29.556-07:002019-07-23T17:13:29.556-07:00(This is David, despite Blogger calling me "A...(This is David, despite Blogger calling me "Anonymous")<br /><br />Many thanks for this, Chris. Google gave you the same as it gave me (surprise). I found the lack of Fictionary reviews, er, disturbing. One of those "reviews" is from another software package I use, which claims to be more than a grammar checker, but still flags many "errors" because it reacts to trigger words without considering the context. (And yes, I think all the "reviews" were shills.)<br /><br />On the plus side, my main beta reader is a diamond. She's a friend (yeah, Red Flag, but she's not afraid to tell me I'm stupid, or that this character wouldn't do/say that), a voracious reader of fiction and non-fiction. She's not a professional writer (yet - she's crafting a biography of the father of modern genetics, Dolly the Sheep and all that), but she has a First Class Honours degree in English Lit from Cambridge Uni. Her input - sometimes kind, sometimes brutal - has helped me shape something I'm starting to feel happy with. When I look back, I expect I'll value her input far more than any software package.<br /><br />As I plough through this edit (hopefully the last or thereabouts), I'm looking at each scene and asking what it's doing for character and/or plot development. Already I've excised huge chunks that add nothing.<br /><br />This process can also put the text into the format Fictionary wants without too much aggravation. So I'm thinking I'll take the recommendation in your final paragraph and see what this "amazing" program makes of it. (I might even drop you a follow-up email giving my reactions. If they're printable.)<br /><br />Many thanks again!<br />David<br /><br />David Stentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07993498842344746171noreply@blogger.com