Article Dumping: Writer's Block Edition

This is convenient. Monday happens to be the page-topper.

Monday:

• Notes from the Slushpile: Second Book Syndrome, or How putting one book behind you can unleash a brand new world: With some MS Paint magic!
• Jeff Goins, Writer: The Difference Between Art and Entertainment: Art transforms us.
• Writers In The Storm: What Makes a Good Book Cover?: Why it can be considered a science.
• Kirssy Media Ink: A Word Aspiring Writers Don't Use Enough: "No."

Tuesday:

• Jody Hedlund: How Much Interaction Should Authors Have With Readers?: The more visible and relatable an author remains the better.
• Write to Done: How To Write a Best Seller – Advice From an Olympic Medal Winner: Be prepared to endure an apprenticeship.
• Storyfix: Hunger Games 6 — The Stealth Power of Sequencing: A series of scenes fulfilling a mission.

Wednesday:

• Daily Writing Tips: 50 Tips on How to Write Good: Psst, take a close look at the title.
• The Blood-Red Pencil: Why Novelists Should Write Flash: Flash fiction can strengthen your craft. Not to mention "flash" is a spunky word.
• Help! I Need a Publisher!: Listen to constructive criticism: Even published novels are imperfect.
• YA Indie: Should you write a sequel? Or make your book a trilogy?: Just make sure each installment is a story by itself; not filler.
• The Writer's Resource: Plotting A Romance Novel: Back from hiatus!

Thursday:

• Bryan Thomas Schmidt: The Importance Of Reaching Beyond Female Stereotypes: Why the phrase "strong female character" still exists.
• Jami Gold, Paranormal Author: Has Writing Made Your Life…Strange?: Who else would go off on a "grains" zombie tangent?

http://io9.com/5912366/why-i-write-strong-female-characters

This is why Greg Rucka is my hero.

Chi - since you mentioned it in this post and it's an issue I have something of a passion about, here's the best article I've read on the subject of the problems with 'Christian fiction'.

[no one cares]

[I care]

-starts reading article-

You're welcome. Although I'm not compiling links this week, I'm still doing some posting on my Twitter (@chihuahuazero) and Google+ profile (which is much more streamlined).

edited 6th Jun '12 1:01:59 PM by chihuahua0

(Also, I'm going on a binge of the last page and a half. Thanks for compiling these. :D )

Plotting with Layers (Janice Hardy)

The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar

I don't know if you've seen this yet (I think it was just posted yesterday), but it's got some good points. It's a compilation of short tips by a storyboard artist who works for Pixar.

This is something I should focus on more in my writing. Which might mean putting more weight on the protag-antag relationship Bryan and Finn has for most of the book.

Ooh, that is good. I especially like this one:

I don't really agree with this one:

It feels just as cheap to me if the conflict comes from unfavorable coincidences as it does when it's resolved by favorable ones.

This one strikes me as an interesting idea, though:

I'll have to try it sometime.

I see where you're coming from, but it's a bit more complicated than that. You're right that a Diabolus ex Machina is a bad plot device, if that's what your thinking. But a lot of plots are born when somebody just plain gets screwed over by misfortune in Act 1 and has to use their wits and resources to overcome it. The problems only happen when the unfavorable coincidences are constant or blatantly bizarre instead of merely uncommon. Even then, darker comedies are free to ignore that advice.

I gotta try this...

edited 9th Jun '12 1:08:37 PM by KillerClowns

If there's any trope I'm arguing against here, it's No Delays for the Wicked, not Diabolus ex Machina. Having the protagonists be put in trouble (or deeper in trouble) by arbitrary chance, while the antagonists suffer no such problems, has always struck me as a cheap way of extending a plot or conflict.

It can work in comedies, but in serious works it tends to undercut the gravity of the situation if, instead of things coming as a logical result of in-story forces, there's only a problem because (essentially) the author wanted one.

If there's anything I've learned from Schlock Mercenary, it's that coincidences making things worse for the villains don't have to mean things get better for the heroes.

Meanwhile, any thoughts on this blog series concerning The Hunger Games?

More will be posted this afternoon:

Monday:

• Suite T: What's the Point of Publishers?: It's a matter of ego.
• #amwriting: What has LRP ever done for me…: It's serious business! *
  This one is for you, AHR.
• Krissy Media Ink: 3 Unappealing but Effective Ways to Make Time to Write: Do what you have to do.

edited 11th Jun '12 1:35:37 PM by chihuahua0

Huh? What?

LRP?

As in LARP?

Well.

—reads—

Tuesday:

• Jody Hedlund, Author: Can Writers Earn a Living Writing Just One Book a Year?: No, but...
• Jami Gold, Paranormal Author: 3 Reasons to Love the Writing Community: Random acts of kindness!
• Procrastinating Writers: Pen Name: How To Create Yours: Marketable is the keyword.

Wednesday:

• Terribleminds: The Indie Writer Rejection Meme: Support good authors with good books!
• Building Character: Witer’s Neurosis 101: With pictures!
• Readin N Writin with Patricia: The Secret Myth of Traditional Publishing: A publishing contract is not a guarantee.
• Duolit: Be Narrow Minded: 11 Questions to Turn a Target Market into a Reader Profile: A fun exercise.

Thursday:

• The Bookshelf Muse: 5 Techniques for Adding Subtext to your Story: Secret, secret refresher post.
• Jody Hedlund, Author: Are the Demands on the Modern Writer Growing Unbearable?: Classical composers had it worse.

A new week!

Monday:

• Katie Ganshert: Deep Point of View: Be careful with authorial intrusions and prepositional telling.
• Writability: Why You Need to Stop Rewriting: Relive the scenes instead.
• Moody Writing: What Makes Your Character Think That'll Work?: Have a very good reason.

Tuesday:

• The Bookshelf Muse: A Worthy Cause, and a Few Words on Good Description: Got a couple of good examples.
• Novel Rocket: Sure Fire Way To Get Rid Of Your Typos: Reading aloud makes a difference.

Liked a bunch of these recent ones. The tips on deep point of view are well-taken; I try to do this but don't always succeed.

I really liked the "Why you need to stop rewriting" one. It reminds me of a saying in software development: "Write one to throw away." Why? Because the first one you write, you started it without knowing the details of what you were trying to accomplish. It was an exploratory work, an "understanding by doing" effort.

By the time you finish writing the first version of something, you know what you're trying to do. But the words, or program/function/subroutine, that you have still contains a lot of what you wrote before you wholly understood the task.

So, "throw it away." (Don't really trash it, of course — just don't refer to it while writing it again). If necessary, write down everything that you learned, but if the piece is short, you don't even have to do that.

Doesn't work for everyone, and doesn't work for every situation, but if you have a case where a piece of your work technically works — it accomplishes what it should — but isn't quite "right" it might be just the cure you needed.

I think I may expand this to a blog posting of my own, in fact.

edited 19th Jun '12 7:28:21 PM by Morven