Article Dumping: Writer's Block Edition

One problem is the fact that the topic is one of the most heavily covered ones among fiction writing blogs, to the point that it's hard finding one that stands out or says something new or rarely said.

I think I have posted a couple of "show-not-tell" articles here though, but I need to do some digging.

Yeah. Which is why I was asking.

-digs through the first eight pages-

Hmm...here's a tell-not-show post, and a tell-don't-show post...

I might dig through the latter eight later...but here's a basic show not tell collection. I'm not sure of the quality of the advice though.

I really need to organize the links here one day.

Do you think I should make a "Best of the Best" post one day, perhaps near the end of the year? Basically, the best articles from 2011 and 2012.

I think this is what we mean when we're talking about "breezy" prose.

edited 2nd Aug '12 9:52:41 AM by chihuahua0

That be a good idea, maybe post in some honorable mention to good writer's sites, web-series or software as well.

John Green on Symbolism defense.

Sort of a writing/reading related thing.

I'm not doing the weekly round-up this week, but here're two links that stand out:

• YA Muses: The Elusive Voice
• Daily Writing Tips: Twelve Non-Negotiable Elements of Force in Writing

David Wong of Cracked.com gives his comments on "5 Ways You Don't Realize Movies are Controlling Your Brain", which is not so much about movies specifically as the ways in which stories such as movies shape society and its perceptions. It seemed relevant.

edited 9th Aug '12 5:35:34 AM by KillerClowns

That is a VERY good article by Wong, and I normally hate the stuff he puts out. Mostly because I'm a possible media/communications major, and I'm sick of the fact some people think that things in the media "don't matter"

of course, on the extreme end, you have people who thinks it causes others to go out and shoot each other. So bleh.

But yes.

By the way, I'm making some arrangements concerning the round-ups with another blogger.

Monday:

• Jungle Red Writers: Reality or Fiction?: Be sure not to have a character murdered in a real bookstore.
• Pub Crawl: Correcting Problems with Pacing: This is for someone.
• Courage 2 Create: 3 Anti-Tips For Killing Procrastination: Dora the Explorer can help spice up a draft.
• Jane Friedman: Selling Flash Fiction Via E-Mail—Successfully: What a sales model!
• Writers in the Storm: QR Codes ~ A Sexy Marketing Technique for Your Books: They're appearing out of Entertainment Weekly.
• Write to Done: 20 Strategies For Tackling That “Bottomless Pit” of Writing: This might have been useful for me two weeks ago.

Tuesday:

• Terribleminds: 25 Things You Should Know About Metaphor: To admit, I'm sharing this before reading the entire article. I just trust Chuck that much.

I actually forgot about this!

Tuesday:

• The Blood-Red Pencil: Show Visceral Reactions First: It's basis cause-and-effect.
• The Character Therapist: Top 8 Unknown Bizarre Mental Conditions: I know about two of these from Cracked. On the other hand...Paris Syndrome?
• Write to Done: How to Write Better: 7 Instant Fixes: For the tightening sort of writer.
• YA Indie: We are 87 pixels high: Make your name pop out on an Amazon cover.
• Lydia Sharp: Breaking Down Story Structure: LABYRINTH, Act Two (first half): I learned two things—the protagonist should be a little cocksure at Act II, and Act II is where the premise shines.

Thursday:

• Bryan Thomas Schmidt: Write Tip: Top 10 Practical Everyday Money Saving Tips For (Starving Writers: When will Mom deal with those empty ink cartridges?
• The Bookshelf Muse: How to Start Your Synopsis: One Strategy: Have the first paragraph be a reaction to the inciting event.
• The Write Practice: Just Write: The blogger, The Magic Violinist, probably has me beat in the writing department. Got to check her out.

By the way, I'll be posting some links to some more writing articles tomorrow—in a blog post. Stay tuned, since I'm not going to post them directly here.

I have some Friday links at the end.

It's a new week!

Monday:

• The Blood-Red Pencil: Memories of Slang: All hail slang!
• [Insert Title]: Five Mediocre Film Adaptations: I'm really digging the reassign.
• Romance University: Dressing–and–Undressing Your Characters…Plus How Did They Do the Laundry on Downton Abbey?: Clothes make the character.
• The Character Therapist: To Medicate or Not, That is the Question: Play with the stigma.
• The Write Practice: 4 Tips to Avoid Having Your Short Story Rejected by a Literary Magazine: Don't forget to check out Joe Bunting's book!

Thanks so much for posting all these chih, I need to check this area out more often. I really enjoyed the one about email publishing it got me all giddy inside.

You're welcome! I included that because I thought it was an interesting and unusual way to make money with shorter stories. Perhaps combined with some larger works—either short story collections or novels—it might be profitable.

Tuesday:

• Jody Hedlund, Author: Beware of This Sly Writer's Enemy: Burnout. Just like to remind you.
• YA Highway: Not Who You Think They Are: A Character-Building Exercise: Out-of-character behavior can say volumes about a person.
• Pub Crawl: The words you cut are the most important: It's worth overwriting for a reason.
• Copyblogger: BECAUSE AWESOME!: NOT ABOUT YOU. ABOUT TRUTH. *
  This isn't about writing, but this is how you write a blog post in-character.

edited 21st Aug '12 6:19:15 PM by chihuahua0

Ahhh, Burnout my mortal enemy. You and your twin procrastination.

Thursday:

• Writers In The Storm: Writers In The Storm Blog: Even rational people can have a hard entrance into forums.
• Write to Done: Write Like an Architect: Description by Design: Use setting to establish characterization and atmosphere.
• Lydia Sharp: Breaking Down Story Structure: LABYRINTH, Act Two (second half): A continuation of a great break-down...of a charming children's movie.

edited 22nd Aug '12 5:51:22 PM by chihuahua0

So I found this link to a blog called The Random Thoughts of Jeff where he is currently doing a series on lessons writers can learn from programmers.

It is called What Writers Can Learn from Programmers, Part 2: The Agile Methodology, and it is a REALLY good blog post.

Adding blog to watchlist:

Thursday:

• Don't pet me, I'm writing: Just when you thought the housemates were gone...: Small worlds make good stories.
• Jami Gold, Paranormal Author: Bookstores vs. Backlist: A New Decision: Do you trade royalties for longer shelf time?
• The Write Practice: Geeks and Freaks Make Better Characters: The more specific a character is, the more universal they turn out to be.

Here is an article of sorts for Chi, in which Colson Whitehead explains my issues with the "Young Adult" category better than I can. It's also for nrjxll, because he would appreciate it. I wanted to post this weeks ago, but the library's wi-fi was acting up; after that, I forgot, then remembered again. It happens sometimes.

Speaking of Mr. Whitehead, here's his article for the New York Times on "How To Write". Basic, naturally, but wonderfully written.

Interestingly, I found this comment a more apt answer to the question of what I find wrong with the "YA" idea (and that of demographics in general) then the 'actual' answer:

edited 25th Aug '12 1:23:46 PM by nrjxll

I greatly enjoyed that comment, although both statements work together nicely to create a whole idea, one coming from the "writer" view and the other from more of a third-party view.

That's really the best one can hope for in an anonymous comment to an internet article: A succinct and intelligent addition to the concept at hand.

Interesting article, although it doesn't necessarily mean it's a problem exclusive to YA. I bet most of fiction gets labeled in one way or another.

By the way, this is an interesting article.

edited 25th Aug '12 12:22:21 PM by chihuahua0