Category: On Writing

These words… they don’t mean what you think they mean.

"Evidently, you do."
“Evidently, you do.”

Steven Pinker is a brilliant linguist with an ear for the common tongue and a brain to understand how it fits into the new millennium. Still… there are words which he says we (the collective, English-speaking we, not you in particular) get wrong with alarming regularity. He also has a word or two (or ten, in fact) to say about modern grammar myths and issues which we all think are rules but in actuality are not.

Of course, for my money, you can’t go wrong with The Oatmeal when you need spelling advice.

Lester Dent and the Pulp Formula

L.DentLester Dent wrote pulp stories in the 30s and 40s, writing as much as 200,000 words in a month and known for creating the super-heroic Doc Savage. While writing so much, he came up with a “Master Fiction Plot,” reprinted below. Karen Woodward, on her blog (which I strongly recommend for writers), has a great write up on his formula and goes into detail on the various steps. Additionally, Michael Moorcock speaks highly of the formula and has adapted it to writing a full novel.  Continue reading “Lester Dent and the Pulp Formula” →

ARTS: Neil Gaiman on getting hooked on handwriting – Tulsa World: ARTS

ARTS: Neil Gaiman on getting hooked on handwriting – Tulsa World: ARTS.

Over the past few months I’ve gotten two beautiful fountain pens: One for Christmas and one as a “Thank You” for a favor done. I bought myself a nice case for the two of them and they live in my bag, for use when I need to sign things.

I also have a preponderance of journals and notebooks. I wonder if I should try this? It’d be an interesting experiment for sure. That said, my handwriting generally sucks. And when I had to take the GRE test the hardest thing to do was copy something out by hand.

But still… getting back to the old ways, at least for some things, might not be a bad way to go.

Review: Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing

Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing
Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing by Dean Wesley Smith
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

If there’s only one thing to take away from this book it’s that Dean Wesley Smith has traditionally published over 100 novels. Seriously. He tells us this repeatedly in order to prove his bonafides. This makes sense when you remember these ten essays were originally published on his blog (and are still there, among others) so you weren’t getting them all at once. Might have been nice to reformat or go over the collection in advance of compiling them into a book, but one of the other bits of advice we get is (in other words) never look back – keep moving forward. Continue reading “Review: Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing” →

What Age Did Well-Known Authors Publish Their Most Famous Works? | ShortList Magazine

IMG_2551What Age Did Well-Known Authors Publish Their Most Famous Works? | ShortList Magazine.

Just good to remember that not everyone gets success at the same time. And it’s never too late to make it big.

In other words – you have to keep at it. Whatever it is you’re doing. I know what Mike Rowe has to say on the subject, but that doesn’t mean you can’t keep at it. He’s saying you may not be good at everything you try to do, and that’s okay. Shouldn’t stop you from having fun doing it – even if you don’t make a career at it.

Cause you know, you might just get good enough.

Review: Joss Whedon: The Biography

Joss Whedon: The Biography
Joss Whedon: The Biography by Amy Pascale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a Joss Whedon fan. I think Firefly is one of the best shows ever aired and The Cabin in the Woods a classic deconstruction of the horror genre. I think his turns of phrase are incredibly clever and full of the pop culture references I love. So yeah, I’m a fan. Not sure you’d pick this book up if you weren’t. Even more so, I’m not sure this book would convince you to be if you weren’t already. And I think that’s the biggest problem with Amy Pascale’s book – she’s also a fan, a big one, and this book comes across like a fan’s take on examining the catalog of her hero.

Which, to be fair, she does quite well. Continue reading “Review: Joss Whedon: The Biography” →

Anne R. Allens Blog: Is Talent Overrated? 8 Things that are More Important than Talent for Writing Success

Typewriter - logo (color)Anne R. Allens Blog: Is Talent Overrated? 8 Things that are More Important than Talent for Writing Success.

While I disagree that skill overrides talent completely, I agree 100% that without skill all the talent in the world doesn’t mean anything.

I know a number of people with an amazing amount of talent but no skills. I also know people with little talent but with the prerequisite skill set. In either case though, there’s a certain amount of talent required. There are some people, who no matter how much they work and struggle and acquire skills will never get anywhere because there isn’t enough raw talent to push them into that realm.

Review: 30 Days in the Word Mines

30 Days in the Word Mines
30 Days in the Word Mines by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun, easy to read kick in the pants for aspiring writers. I read it as a possible text for my creative writing class.

The conceit here, especially coming as it does at the start of this year’s NaNoWriMo, is that Wendig, a prolific author and blogger, will guide you through 30 days of writing. It’s a good conceit. It works and I can certainly see how reading a chapter a day at the start of your writing will give you a nice little push for the day’s word count. And Wendig is a fun teacher, the kind you always wish you had in school. He curses, goes off on tangents, and generally doesn’t feed you any bullshit. This is a good thing. There’s not a lot of padding here. reading it straight through took less than an hour. And while none of his advice is particularly new or inventive, it’s presented in a fresh way and he does offer some insight befitting his “I’m a professional, I’ve been doing this for a while” credentials.

What this isn’t, however, is a book for base beginners. He gives solid advice, yes, but with no explanation or tutorial. It’s like trying to learn plumbing without knowing what the wrenches are called. Once you have the basics, this is a wonderful way to push yourself through a month of writing.

View all my reviews

What’s good for actors (may also be good for writers)

Quora: What Are Some of the Telltale Signs of a Bad Actor?.

There’s some great advice here for actors, both in your own performance or in watching/evaluating another’s performance.

That said, as a writer, I think there’s an awful lot to be said for some of these observations. The ability to reveal yourself on the page, to make your characters face uncomfortable situations and honestly deal with truths is what will define a good character and by extension, make you a better writer.

Mostly, I’m posting this for me to remember. One of the hardest things for me is to be cruel to my characters, to let them not be nice people, to put them in circumstances where the easy thing to do might be the least honorable.