Yahtzee Wrote a Book

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OANST

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Venatio said:
OANST said:
No. I was just mocking you. Slow on the uptake, eh?
Oh no, I just think that your an abolsute failure at everything. Either keep this civil or dont respond because a troll ike you is not worth my time.
Apparently not as you keep responding. Anyway, it was you that started with the insults, but don't worry. I won't mention that you're a hypocrite who throws a tantrum if other people say bad things about stuff that you like.
 

MrSpectabular

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Venatio said:
Did you just double post?
Oh this is too much. I suddenly understand why Yahtzee is so popular.

With your deft grasp of repetition used for humour I can understand why you're so fond of Yahtzee.
 

Chebs

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I'm going to ... I think fifth the request for an audiobook version read by Yahtzee. One less thing for my daughter to rip up in her quest to destroy all non-board books.
 

OANST

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martin said:
OANST said:
martin said:
And you can pre-order it at Amazon and Amazon dot co dot UK.
Where?
Haha, I was referencing the little messages he places after his Zero Punctuation videos. Amazon is a website where things can be purchased. (I think)
I know. I was trying to give you the opportunity to say it again.
 

martin's a madman

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OANST said:
martin said:
OANST said:
martin said:
And you can pre-order it at Amazon and Amazon dot co dot UK.
Where?
Haha, I was referencing the little messages he places after his Zero Punctuation videos. Amazon is a website where things can be purchased. (I think)
I know. I was trying to give you the opportunity to say it again.
Well I feel stupid.
 

Venatio

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MrSpectabular said:
Venatio said:
Did you just double post?
Oh this is too much. I suddenly understand why Yahtzee is so popular.

With your deft grasp of repetition used for humour I can understand why you're so fond of Yahtzee.
I am being insulted by a forum noob - lovely.
 

OANST

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Venatio said:
MrSpectabular said:
Venatio said:
Did you just double post?
Oh this is too much. I suddenly understand why Yahtzee is so popular.

With your deft grasp of repetition used for humour I can understand why you're so fond of Yahtzee.
I am being insulted by a forum noob - lovely.
No one more deserving.
 

MrSpectabular

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Venatio said:
I am being insulted by a forum noob - lovely.
I am genuinely sorry. We fall on opposite sides of the battlefield, purely because you like Yahtzee, and I have so much untempered hate for him it automatically makes me judge everyone who likes him, perhaps it's snobbish to do so, sure, but I judge all the same.

I'm sure you're lovely, really.

But you must appreciate how for someone coming here looking for validation as to why this man of questionable talent can be so popular, and then have one of his most vocal defenders misunderstand about 5 jokes in quick succession and miss out on some pretty blatant irony somewhat validates my opinion a little?
 

DayDark

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MrSpectabular said:
Oh here's an awesome thing:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm

tl;dr version: A better way of saying it's getting late would have been, shockingly, 'it's getting late'.

(i) Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

(ii) Never us a long word where a short one will do.

(iii) If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

(iv) Never use the passive where you can use the active.

(v) Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Writing it in some over the top convoluted way like that just because you think it shows the reader how clever and creative you are is generally the wrong road to be going down unless you're spectacularly masterful at it. You're writing the book to convey your story, characters and world to the reader, not to impress them with flowery ways of describing things.

What does using that phrase actually accomplish? Does it convey any particular image of HOW the sun is setting? Or is it just setting exactly like a sun sets? No image is conveyed, no insight is gained, it's just pointless fluff that makes reading the book take a little longer and doesn't help the reader get a clearer image of what's happening in the story at all.
I think it does pretty well, I actually like the symbolism of the whole sentence, both the characteristics of the suns situation and "mood", tells that it's getting late. It creates atmosphere, It's funny I've just read this other book which also colorfully described a sunset. "As the sun sets - a ball of molten iron sinking into the chilling waters of the Diamond Sea - you catch sight of Valsinore at long last". Sure you could describe that as simply, at the sun sets, you see valsinore, but that would be plain and boring.

This is basically amateur writer mistake #1 and shows a complete misunderstanding of the entire concept of good writing.
Well what is good writing really, I didn't know that there was a standard, and usually people are very at odds about what that standard is.

The paper you link to, George Orwell seems to focus completely on expressing oneself clearly, when the goal is clarity, not entertainment or creative ways of expressing a setting. Indeed George Orwell talks specifically about the political use of the language, and how better clarity can be achieved by not over expressing yourself, when you need people to understand you as best as possible.

In Yahtzees description of the sunset, he starts by saying that the day is wearing thin, effectively making sure that the reader knows already from this what 'time' of day it is, and then proceeds to 'paint' a picture of it, or set the mood. Like a descriptive "!". If we apply George Orwells guidelines, even though they aren't IMO meant to be applied to this form of writing, Yahtzee wouldn't even be able to write that the day is wearing thin, because this is a metaphor, and someone could misunderstand it, it would lack precision.

Despite the liking ZP comment, otherwise I'm 100% behind OANST and consider him 100% correct in this thread. Not just me who thinks so, GEORGE ORWELL agrees. ;D
I didn't find it particularly amateurish, at least it wasn't boring, but than again I find that the terms, amateurish writing and good writing to blend together a little since given the lack of concrete examples.

OANST said:
But don't you see that this is the problem with that particular line? We have no idea what he means by it. That's not good writing.
No not really, I mean he describes it as flamboyant, as in having the characteristics that flamboyant covers.
 

MrSpectabular

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Jun 17, 2010
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Hey guys, we should stop this squabbling. It's not really fair to the Escapist or Yahtzee to be squabbling and arguing with each other and hijacking this thread, we should keep the comments purely about the sample chapter.

It sucks.
 

feather240

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I don't think this will rock the world, but I might pick it up at a library or buy it if it's cheap. To me it's like finding an amusing post, but the post goes on for a few hundred pages and you can carry it around with you. It also gets better the more you read into it. I really liked how the adventurers from early on were recycled for the argument with the mayor. I don't know why but I like little details that interlock the story.

(Hurry for above average filler novels! You can read them again, and again, and again, and still be entertained! It sure beats Redwall.)

Mr. Win said:
I would agree that the first page or two are pretty terrible, but once the characters got talking I really liked it.
I agree with you. I imagine those first two pages will make more sense after reading the first chapter since they seam a little more plot centered.
 

tautologico

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Apr 5, 2010
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MrSpectabular said:
Hey guys, we should stop this squabbling. It's not really fair to the Escapist or Yahtzee to be squabbling and arguing with each other and hijacking this thread, we should keep the comments purely about the sample chapter.

It sucks.
You are an anti-fanboy. You said it yourself: you have issues with Yahtzee, to the point of registering here to post your rant. Thus, your opinion is worth exactly the same as a fanboy's opinion.

As for my opinion, I'm thinking about buying it. I like Pratchett and Adams, and although what is shown here could be better written, it is quite readable. Let's see how the rest of the text fares.
 

DayDark

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OANST said:
In what way?
In a striking way, or colorful and brilliant way. The point isn't how it is flamboyant, it's that what it says. That the sign is flamboyant, I suspect is simply pointed out because it makes the fact that Johns failure to express himself more clearly where they needed to go. Is even more of a failure, given that a flashy sign tells anyone that there are more inns, that in fact it's a street dedicated to inns. So it would be obvious (because of the street name given by the flamboyant sign) to anyone, that if you were to guide someone to one of those inns, simply telling them to meet at the inn, is insanely inadequate.

edit: I think John needs a talk with George Orwell :D
 

OANST

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DayDark said:
OANST said:
In what way?
In a striking way, or colorful and brilliant way. The point isn't how it is flamboyant, it's that what it says. That the sign is flamboyant, I suspect is simply pointed out because it makes the fact that Johns failure to express himself more clearly where they needed to go. Is even more of a failure, given that a flashy sign tells anyone that there are more inns, that in fact it's a street dedicated to inns. So it would be obvious (because of the street name given by the flamboyant sign) to anyone, that if you were to guide someone to one of those inns, simply telling them to meet at the inn, is insanely inadequate.

edit: I think John needs a talk with George Orwell :D
But that doesn't answer the question of what is flamboyant about it. Is it curved in a flame like pattern? What? What is it?
 

feather240

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ResiEvalJohn said:

For the people who say it sucks, stop complaining already and go write your own damn book about MMOs if you think you can write better.
You aren't allowed to say this anymore, no one's allowed to say this anymore, ever. Please. ):>