# Computer tips for the writers and readers of FA



## panzergulo (Jul 13, 2009)

This thread is a copy of the sticky thread 'Tips when writing/uploading/reading in FA', which was lost during the recent FAF hardware failure. I was confident enough to not make a copy of it on my hard disk and this is done mostly from my own memory. No big deal, I can remember all the topics, although the actual use of words might vary a lot compared to the original version. But, to keep the introductory short:


*Computer tips for the writers and readers of FA*

I have been now ten months a user in FA. I have never had any troubles using my computer when creating and uploading content or reading content done by others in FA, but again and again I can see people who have serious problems when they are trying to produce or enjoy the written content in FA. "I don't know why, but it works only if I do it like this." Come on, that's bullshit! Now, a computer is just a tool, like any other domestic appliance and nobody should have considerable difficulties when using it. Still, I see people asking for help either on the main site or here at the forums. And the questions are pretty much the same time after time. As there isn't a thread which would compile all these questions and tips together, I decided to write one. The thread is meant to deal only with technical tips, matters of storytelling, composition, formatting, layout, that is, anything that relates to the actual process of creating a work of literature do not belong here. In this thread we are interested about software, files and character sets, not about indentation, grammar or figures of speech.

I have personal experience with Windows XP, Linux Ubuntu, MS Internet Exploder, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, MS Word, MS WordPad, MS Notepad, OpenOffice Writer, Emacs and some minor experience with some other text editors. I don't have any experience with Mac or any other Mac related software, so if someone can cover the things that greatly differ on the Apple side of the Force, I would greatly appreciate it. And now, to our first topic:


*.txt is your friend*

Take any story of yours. Look the file through. Now, remove all the pictures, you're a storyteller, not an illustrator, after all. Then, remove all colored text, black and white is everything you need, all other colors just distract the reader. Then, make sure the whole file is written with same font style and size. Use of different fonts and sizes is a sign of sloppy storytelling. Then, remove all formatting like *bold* and _italic_. A true storyteller doesn't need these, emphasis can be told in other ways. Now, look through the story file. What do you see? Answer is: Plain text. And guess what? You can upload plain text to FA! .txt is even showed straight on the submission window. No downloading required. This removes one barrier from between the writer and the reader.

Now, here starts the problems. People seem to have immense problems to save and upload their written works as .txt. I have seen people using all sorts of "write in this and this editor, copy-paste into Notepad and save" majicks. I tell you: This is completely unnecessary. All you need is your latest modern text editor, like MS Word, MS Works text editor, OpenOffice Writer or even MS WordPad. All these have a feature called "Save As". Now, when you want to save your work, you choose "File" and "Save As". From there, you can choose the file format. Now, choose .txt. Press "OK". You are done. Congratulate yourself. Now, it wasn't that hard, was it?

One note: .txt uses several different character sets. Every software listed above should give you the choice to use different character sets when saving with "Save As". Now, when you save, you want to choose UTF-8, because that's the character set used in FA, according to Yak. You can avoid most of your problems by being sure you are using the right character set.

I repeat: "Save As", .txt, UTF-8. See, it isn't so hard. This is basic computer skills, not space science!


*BBCode is your friend too*

Now, some of you are now bawwing because I took your *bolds* and _italics_ from you. Some of you might go as far as using *these* and _these_ or maybe even /these/ to denote emphasis. Now, shed your tears, dear friends, because BBCode is the answer to your problems. BBCode is that bastard step brother of HTML that is used with [these brackets]. Now, BBCode isn't universal, you can't presume to be able to use it everywhere. But, FA and FAF uses it. So, if FA is your main forum, you might want to learn using it.

Here is a handy tutorial to BBCode, provided by the one and only Yak: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/441426/

Thank you, Yak!


*Curly quotes are your enemy*

If you look really closely, you can see several different kind of quotation marks used. The regular ones are "straight quotes", as you can see. But, somewhere, sometime, someone thought that quotes would look cool if they bend inwards. â€œCurly quotesâ€ alias â€œsmart quotesâ€ were born. Ugh... it hurts my eyes to even use them here...

Now, why are these a problem to us? I am not sure, but either FA supports UTF-8 sans curly quotes and some other special characters, or FA nearly supports some other character sets, sans their curly quotes. You can see this when somebody has uploaded in .txt and every quotation mark has turned into a box or diamond shape with a question mark in the middle and the user is crying: "Why did FA rape my story?" Well, usually this is because of curly quotes.

Now, at least OpenOffice Writer and MS Word use these "smart quotes", often even as a default. You shouldn't just surrender to this unfair and unnecessary use of weird looking quotes, but either you shouldn't have great difficulties to get rid of them. I have seen people telling they might even get rid of them manually, replacing every curly quote by hand. This is totally unnecessary. Both in Writer and Word there is an option to turn off the smart quotes. Check out the options of your text editor and turn these off and make your life easier. Learn to use your text editor!


*What if you have used curly quotes already?*

Now, at least don't replace them manually. There is "Find and Replace" function in all modern text editors. Copy a curly quote into the "Find" field and type a regular straight quote into the "Replace" field and let the program replace them for you. This has been the most convenient and easiest way I have used to replace them. Learn to use your text editor!


*About zoom*

Does this sound familiar? "I don't like reading anything in FA, the font is too small, my eyes start to hurt." Many find the font used when presenting .txt in FA too small. And guess what? All modern web browsers have a zoom feature! At least all the browsers I have used have zoom feature, it's often used with "Ctrl" and "+" and "-" keys, or "Ctrl" and mouse wheel. It might be somewhere under the top menus of the browser or as a separate drop menu in some other browsers. So, don't spoil your eyes because of FA, please, use zoom. Learn to use your browser!


*Google is your friend as well*

Albeit I am concerned about how much Google has control over our minds by controlling search results, this search engine proves it helpfulness on many occasions. This little collection of help I have here is too short to give all the answers to your questions. But, if you have a question, it's quite possible somebody else has had the same problem earlier. And it's quite possible this person has written about their problem somewhere in the net. So, if you have a problem, you can use a good method: Ask Google.

I quit using curly quotes pretty early in my writing career. When I installed my Linux Ubuntu OS on my computer, it had OpenOffice Writer as default. When I started using it, I noticed it was using curly quotes. Of course I didn't remember where I turn them off. So, I went to Google and typed "how do I turn off smart quotes in openoffice writer". And guess what? The first link gave me the right answer.

This is all you need to find handy information from the net: "how can i do [whatever] in [your OS] [your software]" Just a straight question works just fine. When I was learning C++ programming, I used this method and found answers, tips and example code from the net. If you are gullible enough to ask questions from random furries in FAF, you can as well ask the same question in Google.


These were the most important topics. Other topics to cover in the future: Spellcheck, importance of backup saving, .doc vs. .rtf and defending your work against power failure, or, quick save. I'll add links to posts containing information about other topics here.

*About tagging:*

[post=1109329]The art of tagging[/post]


*About spellcheck:*

[post]1072424[/post]
[post]1073858[/post]
[post=1107050]The glory and folly of spellcheck[/post]


*About different file formats:*

[post]1073903[/post]
[post]1074566[/post]


*About hotkeys:*

[post]1075349[/post]


*About saving your progress and making backups:*

[post]1358627[/post]


Well, this is pretty much this. If you have questions or tips of your own, don't keep them in, speak out. Also, if you found this helpful or you see some information that needs to be corrected, I would be happy to receive feedback. If somebody asks about these things or has problems with these, feel free to link or quote this thread. After all, using a computer shouldn't be made too hard. So, let's lower that limit as low as possible, shall we? This is basic computer skills, not rocket science!


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## TakeWalker (Jul 13, 2009)

Something of note: I read today that Microsoft is planning to put up stripped-down online versions of Office programs, including Word.


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## ScottyDM (Jul 14, 2009)

Computers are Evul & Bill Gates is the Devul. :evil:

MS is probably doing that to try to take a bit of Open Office's thunder.

S-


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## Shouden (Jul 14, 2009)

I doubt it will work, though. The whole "stripped down" thing is a bit worrisome when it comes to MS products.


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## BitofaDreamer (Jul 14, 2009)

Good topic, but I'm curious about how you would recommend writing out characters' thoughts? Italics seems to be an accepted method for recording internal dialogue, so what's the big deal? (Unless you're only referring to using italics for emphasis. In which case, ignore this post.)


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## Bladespark (Jul 14, 2009)

Any time anyone tells you that anything is, or isn't, the right way to do things as a writer, take it with a grain of salt.    Unless the person in question is an editor looking at your manuscript for publication, in which case they are GOD.  

Far as I know italics for thoughts is the standard in modern fiction, so go ahead and stick with it.


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## GraemeLion (Jul 14, 2009)

I wouldn't write out what a character is thinking.  I'd have them show what they are thinking.  The road to hell is paved with character exposition.


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## TakeWalker (Jul 14, 2009)

ScottyDM said:


> Computers are Evul & Bill Gates is the Devul. :evil:
> 
> MS is probably doing that to try to take a bit of Open Office's thunder.
> 
> S-



Actually, that's precisely what they said in the article. They'd rather have people using their products than actually paying them for it.

OSHI IMPLICIT VALIDATION OF PIRACY


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## Tanzenlicht (Jul 15, 2009)

BitofaDreamer said:


> Good topic, but I'm curious about how you would recommend writing out characters' thoughts? Italics seems to be an accepted method for recording internal dialogue, so what's the big deal? (Unless you're only referring to using italics for emphasis. In which case, ignore this post.)



Oh, I have lost the use of italics, she thought to herself, draping the back of her hand dramatically against her forehead.  Whatever shall I do.

You don't actually _need_ them to get your point across.  If your readers aren't complete morons they'll get the drift.  Or you can _fake underline_ things.  Or use non-standard thought indicators.  #Don't do this.# And, of course, when uploading a story to FA in text format so that people might actually read it, you can just use _the italics tags_.


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## ScottyDM (Jul 15, 2009)

Interesting they should admit to that.

When XP came out with their new form of copy protection, I thought it was the start of the end of Microsoft. If they didn't change that policy--at least in certain parts of the world.

You see back then China was coming on as a technology powerhouse. And China doesn't like to pay for software if they can "borrow" it instead. Sure some clever Chinese hackers could crack the copy protection, but why bother if there is a free operating system as an alternative to Windows?

Okay, well Linux for China then. Except Linux's problem is a rather poor selection of applications compared to Windows... heck even compared to Mac. Of course if you've got a few millions of talented software programmers who speak Chinese and their O.S. of choice becomes Linux. Then it won't be long and Linux will be the new hotbed with a rich choice of applications available. They'll be in Chinese, but someone will port their U.I.s to other languages.

Then Microsoft is screwed. The advantage of Windows is all the apps. If Linux gets as many apps as Windows then why stick with Microsoft?

I suspect Microsoft figured it out and created a special Chinese market version of Windows XP (and now Vista) that sells for about $10, or is copyable, or both. Of course if that's the case then Microsoft would never tell us.

S-


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## panzergulo (Jul 15, 2009)

You are all Microsoft's bitches, admit it! And it seems MS wants it to stay so, hence stripped down free version of their Office suit.

Okay, enough with my poor jokes... well, the other statement was just a half-joke... guess which one... anyway, the freer software turns, the better, in my opinion. I have used OpenOffice for years and have changed to Linux Ubuntu recently, because I want to believe that free, open source software can be as good as commercial software. I have nothing against Microsoft, as such, I'm just against paying anything, if there is a free alternative available. This far, I have been happy with my Ubuntu, my OpenOffice and my Firefox, all of which have been free... and which are the software I use the most.

Anyway, as the subject of this thread was computer hints and tricks, could we stay in the subject? Sure, a little war Ã  la MS vs. Linux vs. Mac once in a while is cool, but more staying in the subject, please? To contribute to that cause: Did you know that all modern web browser have spellcheck? Whenever you write online into a text field, you can actually have your spelling checked? See? Even this message have been spellchecked by Firefox's spellchecker. Learn to use your web browser!


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## Tanzenlicht (Jul 15, 2009)

I have a freeware program called tinyspell.  So that even when Firefox is not checking my spelling (Say in an IM, or if your browser is primitive instead of modern) I still spell things good. <-- Grammar mistakes are all me.


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## ScottyDM (Jul 15, 2009)

redcard said:


> I wouldn't write out what a character is thinking.  I'd have them show what they are thinking.  The road to hell is paved with character exposition.


Do you also show what they are saying?


*On Topic*

What I'd really love to see is the ability to upload PDF.

Screw DOC. The definition changes with each new rev of MS Office. And if you aren't on Windows or OS X and have $$$$ you're stuck with a non-MS, non-supported DOC reader. If someone uploads the latest version of DOC it may not be readable on your platform.

RTF is ancient and should be supported by everyone, but there's no real standard.

Adobe is the "standards body" for PDF files, and unlike MS they support more than two OSs. Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, Palm OS, Pocket PC, and Symbian.

Another universal choice is "text", which really means text plus square-bracket codes that the website will translate into HTML for direct viewing online. The huge downside is FA's love affair with really tiny text. Okay for a paragraph or two, but for several thousand words?

Only last night I was fiddling with the codes to try to get the FA story system to give me larger text, but they've apparently "forgotten" to add that feature. Oh, and curly quotes are not a problem if you know the magic. However this upload a file nonsense for text is the pits. In my experience pasting text into a web form is far more robust.


Given all that, currently the best choice is probably RTF with a few hundred word preview of the story in place of the author's notes.

But PDF would sure be sweet.

S-


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## Bladespark (Jul 15, 2009)

You can't just increase your browser's text size/zoom in on the page to get larger text?


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## GraemeLion (Jul 15, 2009)

ScottyDM said:


> Do you also show what they are saying?



Clever 

No.  However, let's think about this.

----

Option 1
----

Jason tried to listen, but this woman was so boring.  _I'm way too smart for this class.  What the hell am I doing here?  I told them I was better than this, and did they listen? No.   _

The teacher continued to ramble on about how a bill becomes a law, her voice squeaking each time she said the word "veto."

Jason finally stood up, and walked out.   _I don't need this shit.  My family is in politics and has been for generations.  This bitch knows what a stupid text book says._
-------
Option 2
-------

Jason fidgeted with a pencil on his desk as Mrs. McEntyre droned on about the legislative branch.  He pondered reaching into his bag to pull out his Nintendo, but figured he'd get caught at that.  Instead, his notebook containing his journal would have to do.  He opened it, and started sketching a robot stomping on the White House when..

"Mr. Flynn, do you happen to know the answer to that?  Or is what you are doing more important than the legislative branch of this country?"

Jason sat there, angry that she would attempt to embarass him like this.    The teenager seethed in his seat, before responding.

"Mrs McEntyre, my father is a United States Congressman.  My grandfather was Governor of Virginia, and I think I know a little bit about Politics.  This class is a grand waste of my time, and you're a bitch for trying to call me out."  

He stood up, and left, slamming the door behind him.
---------

Which one works better?


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## Bladespark (Jul 15, 2009)

What works best in one specific situation does not a universal rule make.   When you say "never" you limit your options severely.


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## ScottyDM (Jul 15, 2009)

Bladespark said:


> You can't just increase your browser's text size/zoom in on the page to get larger text?


Could. But is it better for every site visitor to have to fiddle with their browser settings--assuming they have them--or for the site manager or page author to create a readable page? In this case I don't see a way for the page author to fix it.



redcard said:


> Clever
> 
> No.  However, let's think about this....


Oh how sweet. A contrived example formulated to prove your point.

So "fix" this. A real-world example.


> He studied the display of his handheld trying to decide what to do next when gravity ramped up for him and he settled to the surface, his black calf-length boots dimpling the moist sand.
> 
> "Touchdown! The Foxx has landed." _No, that doesn't sound right. It needs a piratey spin._ He tried again.
> 
> ...


Only one rule: You may not switch the character's internal monologue to the narrator telling the reader what the character is thinking.

Oh yea. Later in this story this particular character is "possessed" by the spirit of his father, who controls what the character says and does, but not what he thinks.

Good luck, eh?

S-


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## Tiarhlu (Jul 15, 2009)

I read this book on editing a few weeks ago and it says you really don't need to italicize thoughts. You often don't need to put "he thought" as a tag either. The reader should be able to figure out it's what the character is thinking. I was hesitant, but I've started trying that and it's actually fine.


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## panzergulo (Jul 16, 2009)

ScottyDM said:


> What I'd really love to see is the ability to upload PDF.
> 
> [...]
> 
> But PDF would sure be sweet.



Er... Scotty, you can upload .pdf to FA. If you can't, what's this: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/1622736/

Also, you kinda covered all other file formats FA supports there too... thanks. I was going to do that sooner or later, but great to see somebody else is interested too. I'm especially concerned about the interface issues other OSs and softwares have to face with .doc, because that file format is so damn popular.

And, in any case, I'm happiest when I don't have to download anything further than the submission page itself. I'm just happy with the 'Zoom' feature of Firefox, it's good enough for me... no need to ruin my eyes when reading in FA.
*

About writing thoughts (off topic, but I have an opinion)*

Notice, just my opinion... I think writing the characters' thoughts is poor storytelling. I try to avoid doing it at all. I show their reactions by writing about their gestures and expressions. Writing thoughts is for role players. If you have a focus character whose thoughts "must" be shown, why don't you go and write the whole story in first person view? That POV gives you the opportunity to show all the thoughts of _one_ character without it being poor storytelling. You can still fail it, though.

But, in my opinion, thoughts and reactions should be shown only as gestures and expressions, and if the characters thoughts are strong enough, they will say what they are thinking. _"Gee, Bob, I have been thinking, maybe this isn't so good idea after all..."_


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## GraemeLion (Jul 16, 2009)

ScottyDM said:


> Oh how sweet. A contrived example formulated to prove your point.



Now don't be unfair.   We both know there are times where rules can be broken.  But in general, I've seen too many people italicize thoughts when a better option can be offered.  

Show, don't tell, is repeated so often in writing books and courses and critique circles that it might as well be tattooed on everyone.

That's why I made the suggestion that thoughts don't need to be italicized.   And it's why I suggest people TRY to show, instead of telling, as much as they can.


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## TakeWalker (Jul 16, 2009)

Is it my imagination, or are thoughts not always translatable into action? Aren't internal thoughts sometimes just... thoughts?


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## Ainoko (Jul 16, 2009)

I would have to think that you are right there


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## GraemeLion (Jul 16, 2009)

TakeWalker said:


> Is it my imagination, or are thoughts not always translatable into action? Aren't internal thoughts sometimes just... thoughts?



They're not always translatable into actions, no.  But at the same time, I've seen a lot more writing out there where it WOULD be of benefit to translate the thoughts to actions.

And you'll even see authors, in situations where some would just use thoughts internally, create sounding board characters.  

Remmember Dougie Howser, MD?  At the end of every episode, he'd type his thoughts into a journal.  A whole two minutes of the show , just white text on a blue screen while meaningful music played.   That could have been a "Wonder Years" voice over.. but the writers wanted to SHOW the thoughts being written.  Showing thoughts allow you to show emotional feelings in the character in a palpable manner that the reader can tie into their own emotions.  

So no.. nothing is per se wrong with telling.    But slamming a door hard enough to knock a picture off a wall will always deliver the message more effectively than an italicized "Man, I'm pissed off."

Just my thoughts. 

My intention is not to make people angry, just to explore writing and make myself better at this craft.  If I made you angry or upset or anything along that line, I apologize.  That's not my intention.


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## M. LeRenard (Jul 16, 2009)

Same goes for spoken dialogue, really.  Thoughts like that are just dialogue, after all.  But I'm one of those authors who never uses italics, and instead just writes the occasional sentence from the character's direct point of view and hopes the reader can follow along.  I prefer it when other authors do that, so I do it myself.
Where did this discussion start, anyway?  This is supposed to be a thread about computers and technology.


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## panzergulo (Jul 16, 2009)

M. Le Renard said:


> Where did this discussion start, anyway?  This is supposed to be a thread about computers and technology.



It started because in my first post, in my first real tip I ask all writers to remove all formatting from their stories. Some just couldn't read until the tip about BBCode and started asking after _italics_, because they use them to denote thoughts. I don't mind. I even took part to the conversation myself, stating that I don't like written thoughts at all. I have used them myself in my older prose, but never in TftNE, unless the story has been told in first person.

Anyway, about thoughts, I agree, if you have to denote them, you aren't good enough storyteller. There are ways to tell inner monologue. Things which are more urgent, like surprise, disgust, excitement etc are not inner monologue. _"Damn, I'm pissed!"_ can be shown with acts, gestures and expressions.


To keep in the topic: Learn your hotkeys!

'Ctrl' + S = 'Save'
'Ctrl' + A = 'Select All'
'Ctrl' + X = 'Cut'
'Ctrl' + C = 'Copy'
'Ctrl' + V = 'Paste'

Possibly 'Ctrl' and B, U and I access *bold*, _italic_ and underline, but I don't use them, because I use BBCode. Stop wanking with your mouse! Learn to use the hotkeys! Mouses are for wussies! Emacs doesn't even have graphical interface! ...and it has totally different hotkeys too... mmm... Unix...


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## M. LeRenard (Jul 16, 2009)

Well (since we're off-topic anyway), I still think every now and then it's fine to use them as exposition.  I see nothing wrong with someone writing, say, something like this:
"A large balding man walked into the bar and took a seat by some obviously drunk women.  _Here you go again, Cousin John_, Harold thought."
Then you're getting across several facts (the large balding man is named John, he's the MC's cousin, and he apparently does this sort of bar- and women-hopping a lot) that you can't get across through actions.  Granted, if it were me I'd write it like this:
"A large balding man walked into the bar and took a seat by some obviously drunk women.  That would be his favorite cousin, John, just doing his thing."
Exposition rather than a specific thought.  But I think either way is just fine.

So I guess to put it on topic, if you don't want to bother with italics or BBCode for a .txt document, you should do it my way and just flip to the character's PoV in the narration, rather than turning a thought into a piece of inner monologue.  I would recommend against just using quotes, though, as 99% of the time those stand for spoken words, and most people don't focus too much on dialogue tags.  So that could be a point of confusion.


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## ScottyDM (Jul 18, 2009)

It's on topic, sorta, because for some styles of writing thoughts use italics. If you write in that style then you'll want to know how to put italics into your text file when you upload it to FA.


The style you choose when you depict thoughts depends on several things. First person or third is the biggest factor, but also important is if your narrative is in past tense or present. How many point-of-view characters do you have in this scene? And if in third-person, what is your narrative distance?

Show versus tell is a question of pacing and the importance of the scene. When you write that Joe Jackrabbit was unhappy, that's telling. It doesn't matter if Joe says it in dialog, thinks it as internal monologue, or the narrator (in a 3rd person narrative) says it. It's not somehow magically okay if Joe or the narrator says it, and only bad when Joe thinks it.

Also, just because some hack used a particular method does not make that method bad. I'm not fond of present tense because of hack writing, but then I see a really lovely example of present tense and I realize the problem is not present tense.   


I probably could write a bit about the different ways to depict a POV character's mental state, and the currently accepted methods to write/punctuate that. But it's late and I hope to go up to the cabin this weekend. Maybe I'll whip something up when I'm there and post it Sunday night.

S-


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## CryoScales (Jul 18, 2009)

I find Word pad is your friend when your on a budget and can't afford the latest office (Even though it is a MUST). Since Word pad still has formatting and you can still make paragraphs that don't stretch across

On the topic of Italics. I normally drift away from using thoughts as pieces of dialog. All thoughts have something around them, a certain emotion, a certain flair that you normally can't use with an adverb. Normally I just integrate it into the narrative and add a whole lot of description about it, then make it sound interesting.


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## ElizabethAlexandraMary (Jul 18, 2009)

Oh, yeah, while we're discussing every little bit of this guide, I found the zoom part to really stand out.
Most of these are tips for writers, not readers. So why not mention a way to enlarge the text with BBCode, or update the tips for readers, 'cause they really aren't many.
Actually, I don't even know how far this can go. It's not like there's a "proper way" to read a story besides for some minor details.


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## panzergulo (Jul 18, 2009)

FrancisBlack said:


> Most of these are tips for writers, not readers. So why not mention a way to enlarge the text with BBCode, or update the tips for readers, 'cause they really aren't many.
> Actually, I don't even know how far this can go. It's not like there's a "proper way" to read a story besides for some minor details.



The title says: *Computer* tips for the writers and readers of *FA*. The site is as it is, we can't really affect that, and frankly, there's very little you can do with your computer to enhance the reading experience. The 'Zoom' is the only thing I could think of, because many have said the font size used in FA is too small. Also, you can't affect the font size in the main site with BBCode, if there's a size tag, the main FA sit doesn't support it. At least, there's no mention of such in Yak's tutorial. But if anybody has any tips how to make reading easier with their computer, I would be most interested to hear about it. If there isn't any tips, then perhaps reading is as easy as it gets. Why fix something that isn't broken?


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## ScottyDM (Jul 27, 2009)

I've tried the size tag on the main FA site and couldn't get it to do anything.


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## panzergulo (Jul 29, 2009)

As I promised, there are more topics to cover in this thread. And so, I present you:
*
The glory and folly of spellcheck*

First, a warning example:

1)_ Mark my words, Michael, you're a loose cannon!_
2)_ Make me swords, Michell, your a lose canon!_

And I think everybody can see what is the problem with spellcheck when it's not used right. Sentence number one makes sense, sentence number two... well... not really. But, spellcheck says nothing. Because, all the words are spelled right. You can't expect the spellchecker to write for you. Sure, it's a handy tool, for checking all the spellings, but, in the end, it's just a dumb program checking all the words from a library. It can't read your mind.

I have found spellcheck very good tool. My spelling has improved a lot since I started using it. It's rewarding to be able to write a long passage of text without seeing that annoying red line. Sure, typos happen, but I try to avoid misspelling words and most often I succeed. Spellcheck has improved my writing.

A word of warning: The libraries the spellcheckers use don't have all the words known in the English language. You might want to check from another source if the word the spellcheck doesn't want to know is actually a real word. This happens often with yargon and special vocabulary.

All modern text processors have 'Spellcheck' features, as do most modern web browsers. This post has been spellchecked by Firefox, for example. Learn to use your software!


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## panzergulo (Jul 30, 2009)

First, for your information, I updated the first post to contain links to the most helpful and on-topic posts of this thread. You can admire them [post=1068640]here[/post]. Then, I came up with another topic, which wasn't included in the original thread, but I think it's relevant for this one... and the topic is:


*The art of tagging

*Earlier this year FA was given a "keywords" feature. That is, keywords are tags that can be searched with the "Search" feature. What I have noticed is that people don't really use tags in their full extent. This saddens me, as they are one way to get more readers.

My first furry art site wasn't FA, I was a member in a site called 'Furry Art Pile' before its downfall. FAP had no categories at all. It had only tags. And it had a superb search feature with which one could manipulate the search results. I was an avid tagger, as FAP had also a "user tagging" feature. That is, all users could add tags to all submissions. Therefore, I learned fast the power of the tags. And after we got our "Search" here... my skills became again used.

Often I see that writers don't use keywords at all. That is a big mistake. There is so many ways to use tags as there are different sub-parts in a story. All these can be mentioned in the tags: Length, genre, character species, style, setting, themes, major plot points, motives, keywords, place, era... the list just continues. I bet you can figure out more on your own.

Let's take an example. I use a story of my own here, the story in this case is Sunset. The keywords are:

flash, fiction, short, story, fantasy, post, apocalyptic, sun, sunset, sky, air, colors, glow, uranium, jackal, coyote, waste, wasteland, desert, off-road, buggy

Now, let's analyze these a bit:

Genre, length: flash fiction, short story
Genre, style: fantasy, post-apocalyptic
Theme: sunset, sun, sky, air, colors
Plot point: glow, uranium
Species: jackal, coyote
Setting: waste, wasteland, desert
Motive, vehicle: off-road buggy

I think you can see what I'm trying to do here... Because of the way I tag my submissions, I get approximately two or three totally random comments per month and I presume I might get maybe a couple of dozens of random views per month, just because know how to tag my stuff. Somebody just happens to search for stuff with just the keyword I have used and decides to read. I'm rather sure to claim that most writers who don't use keywords or extensive comments in the 'Comment' section of their submissions, won't get any random views to submissions older than one or two weeks.

Then, let's talk a bit about search manipulation. The "Search" of FA is quite medieval, I don't find it especially sophisticated, but it has some features every one of us can use. One such use I figured out is creating a pseudo-sub-gallery of your own. Hereafter, I presume you all are familiar with the "Search" features. If you aren't, click here and choose "Help" and read more about the features.

First, creating a pseudo-sub-gallery by titling your stories in a certain way and using search. I show you an example:


```
[url=http://www.furaffinity.net/search/@title ateotw]After The End Of The World[/#url]

(remove # to make the BBCode work)
```
results:

After The End Of The World (try the link to see what I mean)

As you can see, all the stories titled with the word "AtEotW" are search results.

Another example. This time, I use my own username and a common keyword to create another kind of pseudo-sub-gallery:


```
[url=http://www.furaffinity.net/search/panzergulo @keywords military]panzergulo's army stories[/#url]

(remove # to make the BBCode work)
```
results:

panzergulo's army stories (try the link to see what I mean)

The "Search" finds all my stories which have "military" as keyword... which is pretty much "panzergulo's army stories".

I think I have made the power of tagging clear now. Use them, experiment with them and enjoy all the results. But remember, misleading tags might cause drama and ultimately deletion of the submission. So, if you use keyword "porn", be sure the piece is porn. Furries take their porn seriously.

Alright, that was that. Learn to tag!


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## yak (Jul 30, 2009)

Clever.
But I have to remark that using keywords for "ateotw" instead of it being a part of the title is a more efficient approach.


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## panzergulo (Jul 30, 2009)

yak said:


> Clever.



Thank you. Coming from you, I take that as a compliment. Pretty meaningful compliment, too.



yak said:


> But I have to remark that using keywords for "ateotw" instead of it being a part of the title is a more efficient approach.



Probably. I mean, you probably know better than me. I just title my stories that way, therefore I can use that method. The efficiency of the "Search" is totally another topic. Here, I just give some little ideas for other users, hoping that at least some would take the hint and start tagging their stuff.

Also, if you return to read this, a question for you: I see people using the old "Tag" feature but not the new "keywords" feature. What is the function and future of the old "Tag" feature, that is, "Gender", "Theme", "Species", "Custom Tag", etc.? Are the "Tags" included in the search results? I heard a rumor the old "Tag" feature would be removed later in favor of the new "keywords" feature. Is there any base in this rumor? Also, what about the old "Categories"? What is their destiny? I am concerned, as I find folksonomy superior over taxonomy. I find the categories restricting. Also, a site full of artistic people should be able to create tags of their own.


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## yak (Jul 31, 2009)

"Tags" were supposed to be removed a while ago, I just never gotten around to doing it. As they are implemented now they are useless for machine processing.

Categories will stay in this incarnation of the code, along with those keywords. Whatever replaces the current code, which is being written, should have fully functional tags and no categories.


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## ScottyDM (Aug 4, 2009)

For reading a few paragraphs this itty-bitty font doesn't suck too hard. But it's deadly to the eyes when attempting to read a few thousand words or more.

How about a BIGGER font for the stories on www.furaffinty.net? Or failing that as a default, how about support for the [size] code?

Thanks!

S-


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## panzergulo (Aug 4, 2009)

ScottyDM said:


> For reading a few paragraphs this itty-bitty font doesn't suck too hard. But it's deadly to the eyes when attempting to read a few thousand words or more.
> 
> How about a BIGGER font for the stories on www.furaffinty.net? Or failing that as a default, how about support for the [size] code?



I'm afraid they will only point out the zoom feature of your web browser, Scotty. It isn't that hard to use. I can dig with your point that it sucks to change the default preferences of the browser, but really...

CTRL and 3 times + does the trick for me.
CTRL and 0 and I'm back in 100%.

It isn't harder than that...


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## Poetigress (Aug 4, 2009)

It's not difficult, but it's also not the best solution. My issue is that, by the time I've zoomed enough to get the text easily readable, I wind up having to scroll side-to-side (at least on my monitor, and no, I'm not changing my monitor settings). So it's definitely not the same as having the option of a larger text size in the submission box.


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## panzergulo (Aug 4, 2009)

Has anyone suggested this in 'Suggestion Box'? If you really think FA main site needs the option to change the size of all text, or the option to use [size] tag, maybe you should tell it in a place where the administration will read it. I have no problems as things are now, but if others have... maybe you should make a suggestion.


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## Tanzenlicht (Nov 19, 2009)

*Saving your work*

You've been writing for hours, thousands of words.  It's been going really well because it's one of those windy rainy evenings just perfect for sitting and thinking and writing and all of a sudden _power outage_.

Saving often is your friend.

But, alas, even though you save compulsively every ten minutes, today when you opened your file your word processing program couldn't read it.  Or today when you tried to boot up your computer it didn't boot.  You lost everything. All that hard work, straight down the tubes.

But you have a back-up, don't you?

*Email backup*
This one is my personal favorite.  Why?  Because it's free!  A gmail account has practically unlimited storage space.  Just set one up and email your current draft to yourself every day when you're done writing.

*Blog backup*
Unless you are famous, or loose with your url, you can make a blog or networking site page, that no one will ever, ever see.  There are also,usually, privacy options that will ensure even the very curious will never, never see your stuff until you're ready to share.

*Usb drive backup*
For twenty bucks or so you can pick up a little stick of memory that will hold everything you've ever written.  Just don't take it out of the USB port and forget where you put it.

*Discs*
Floppy discs, cds, dvds.  Your computer probably has a disk drive and it can probably write a data disc.  Get a rewritable one.  These, I find, have a tendency to get corrupted.

*Paper*
Write in a notebook.  Having a physical copy of your first draft will keep you from losing your idea to the wiles of the digital age.  You should probably print and file a copy of your final draft as well.

*Secondary drives*
Having a second (third, whatever) hard drive, whether internal or external, and keeping a copy there can save your work in case of primary computer failure.  Unless there's a fire involved, or...melting or something.  Kinda spendy though and you don't really need all that space for writing.  If you've got one anyway, do save copies on both drives.  Couldn't hurt.

*FA backup*
Use scraps.  It's hard enough to convince people to read stuff on FA without raw, unedited, unfinished drafts showing up on the front page.  Well, more raw, unedited, unfinished drafts...


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## Thou Dog (Nov 21, 2009)

panzergulo said:


> Did you know that all modern web browser have spellcheck? Whenever you write online into a text field, you can actually have your spelling checked? See? Even this message have been spellchecked by Firefox's spellchecker. Learn to use your web browser!


...and if you are clumsy, and accidentally add tons of misspelled words to the spell-checker's dictionary, you can always fix the problem by going to Google and typing in "reset [browser] spell check". I'm doing this with Firefox at the moment. :B


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## Altamont (Nov 24, 2009)

panzergulo said:


> remove all formatting like *bold* and _italic_. A true storyteller doesn't need these, emphasis can be told in other ways.


 
Great advice, though I must say I don't neccessarily agree with the above quote. I think experimentation with font and typeface (not to mention structure nd whatnot) can add to the mood and quality of a story. Indeed, a writer doesn't _need_ italic, bolface, etc, but they _can_ add a richness to the story that would otherwise be excluded.

Awesome post, though


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## Thou Dog (Nov 25, 2009)

Oh yeah, I forgot something.

What do you do, regarding "erase nonstandard fonts from your text", if part of the text is in a language written with a different script? Saving txt files with unicode seems to screw them up very badly.


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