Article Dumping: Writer's Block Edition

My guess is your name.

Wait, you mean that gosh-awful "interactive mini-quiz"?

Oh. I put the story's name in. Also, I failed the first question. 0_o

Blech. Sometimes, there's something to be said for a quiet, understated conflict.

Like I said: gosh-awful. Previous opinions on it here include:

Agreed. I always hate things that try and tell you there is One Right Way to write fiction. And that example practically reads as Stealth Parody.

edited 14th Dec '11 7:34:36 PM by nrjxll

Would you mind if I quote you on a comment on that blog post?

Bleh... I agreed with a lot of what they said. Some of the issues (for example, "does your fight scene involve 4+ combatants?" "why yes, it's a war story—aw, dammit!") were because it seemed more geared towards fantasy than general fiction, and of them I simply disagree with them as to what is reasonably acceptable and what is not.

One question I got wrong because I totally misunderstood the answer.

^^ Go ahead. I'll take it as a compliment.

edited 14th Dec '11 7:46:16 PM by feotakahari

More like superhero fiction. Having more than four superheroes fighting in one scene, especially with their different skill set, is prone to slowly down the pacing.

I'm dealing with the first half while I have plenty of time:

Thursday:

• Daily Writing Tips: The Right and Wrong of Writing: I bet you didn't know the English language is democratic...in a way.
• Time to Write: Want to get published but have no connections? Here's how to make some.: Does Mom count?
• Danielle's Mobile Author Blog: Holiday Blog Hop 2011: Want a Kindle Fire?
• The Other Side of the Story: Knowing the Future: Avoiding Predictable Plots Through Plot Exposure: It's hard to have good plot twists these days.

edited 15th Dec '11 2:59:38 PM by chihuahua0

A post on magic systems, which struck me as surprisingly similar to how I myself design such systems.

Monday:

• Time to Write: How to make money writing--without being scammed, cheated, or misled: Sometimes, Google isn't to be trusted.
• The Other Side of the Story: Tell Me About it: When Telling is Better Than Showing: Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.
• Ghostwriter Dad: How to Avoid the Mistakes Most Writers Make: This is some information on the business part of writing.
• Lynette Labelle: Raising the Stakes: This is very familiar, but it serves as a reminder.

Tuesday:

• Superhero Nation: Redesigning Robin: Costume matters.
• Adventures in Children's Writing: 15 Books for 1500 Writers: Big giveaway for the holidays!
• The Other Side of the Story: Guest Author Kody Keplinger: 3 Things to Consider When Writing Teen Romance: Mostly basic, but worth reading.
• YA Highway: Winter Giveaway Winners!

edited 21st Dec '11 2:19:48 PM by chihuahua0

Wednesday:

• Adventures in Children's Writing: WOW Wednesday: Suzy McKee Charnas on Why Teens Love Reading Fantasy: Teens and escapism.
• The Sharp Angle: 2011 Blog-Reader Favorites: What I Learned From Watching Sucker Punch: It's a re-post, but point four stands out.
• The Editor's Blog: Character Rants and Breakdowns—Let ‘em Rip: "Ooo-o-oo-o. I'm breaking down again..."

edited 23rd Dec '11 9:18:42 AM by chihuahua0

Thursday:

• The Other Side of the Story: The Great Debate: Italics or Underline?: Basically, don't fret.
• YA Highway: Villains! And Villanesses!: I should watch this show one day.

edited 22nd Dec '11 9:40:56 PM by chihuahua0

Always preferred the look of italics in modern text, though in the absence of that option—or for greater differentiation of, say, work titles and subject emphasis—a tasteful use of underlining can be extremely effective, especially in more archaic fonts or typefaces.

Bolding is a different matter, to be exclusively used for intense emphasis and definitive separate statements. Or so I feel.

Article dump!

Monday:

• Seeking the Write Life: Mighty Heroes REQUIRE Mighty Villains
• Mystery Writing is Murder: Commenting On Reviews: A Different Type of Author Intrusion
• Ghostwriter Dad: Social Sharing Sites in 15 Minutes a Day
• The Other Side of the Story: The Line Forms Where? Knowing Where to Start Your Novel

Tuesday:

• Time to Write: If you had only 2 years to live, would you write? (She did...)
• YA Highway: Some Thoughts On Naming Characters
• The Other Side of the Story: Guest Author Holly Cupala: Finding the Emotional Juice
• Ghostwriter Dad: How I Became a Ghostwriter the Easy Way
• Writer Unboxed: A Singularly Unpopular View of Adverbs

edited 12th Jan '12 5:31:47 PM by chihuahua0

Wednesday:

• Seeking the Write Life: Is Your Story a Rolling Stone, or a Stagnant Pond?
• Mystery Writing is Murder: One Way Novelists Have it Easy
• The Other Side of the Story: Hey, Still With Me? Poking Dead Scenes With A Stick, Part One

Thursday:

• The Writer's Resource: Motivation for Characters In Fiction
• Ghostwriter Dad: THIS Is The Cancer In Your Writing

Friday:

• Adventures in Children's Publishing: This Week for Writers 1/13/12: Our Favorite Articles and Blog Posts
• Ghostwriter Dad: Weekly Roundup: January 13, 2012
• The Other Side of the Story: Query First? The Query as a Plotting Tool

http://youngaspiringwriter.blogspot.com/2012/01/weekly-round-up-11312.html

edited 13th Jan '12 12:20:50 PM by chihuahua0

New week!

Monday:

• Mystery Writing is Murder: Eliminating Echoes in Our Writing: Another reason why to love your copyeditor—once you get one.
• Seeking the Write Life: Self-Editing—Seek & Destroy List #1 and #2: Although done before, it comes with some detailed explanations and reasoning.
• The Other Side of the Story: Have You Met Ted? Introducing Characters: "Hey, how's Janice?" "Oh, just waiting to actually appear in the story".
• Veronica Roth: A Peek Behind the Publishing Curtain: Simple, but a nice peek for beginners.

edited 16th Jan '12 8:44:08 AM by chihuahua0

Tuesday:

• Ghostwriter Dad: LMFAO: Context is EVERYTHING: I repeat. Everything.
• Adventures in Children's Publishing: Writerly Inspiration and Aha Moments

I'll comment on a few, in rough chronological order:

1. The one about "mighty villains" makes me wonder. There was an essay I read a while ago that referenced an old complaint about how The Lord Of The Rings could have been over with much more quickly if the main characters had acted intelligently (I forget exactly how.) It then referenced a story that did have the main characters take the intelligent route to quickly dispose of all villains, with the conflict instead arising from intractable societal issues. I don't go quite as in-depth as all that, but I do have a tendency to end battles quickly with either a victory or a defeat, and to have the story be about the journey to those battles rather than the battles themselves.

2. The adverbs one from Tuesday interests me, if only because the author didn't do the research:

Even today, there are painters who refuse to use black paint, or any shade created by mixing black paint with other paints. (I think it's ridiculous, for much the same reason I think adverbs are a useful tool, but there you have it.)

3. Hmm . . . I guess I don't actually have a 3. (I think the "seek and destroy" posts are stupid, but they're not stupid in a way that's educational to discuss rather than ignore.)

edited 17th Jan '12 6:10:47 PM by feotakahari

Had you read the Thursday article on adverbs? I added the adverbs one on Tuesday after the fact simply because those two posts take opposite sides of the same issue.

However, the Search and Destroy posts have a point. While you don't have to oblivate every word on that list (like that and was), usually removing cases strengthens the prose.

@Ghostwriter Dad's adverbs article: In general, Ghostwriter Dad seems like a bit of a hack. I can't argue with his business advice, and I won't argue with anything he says about how to mimic other writers, but a lot of his advice seems destructive to finding your own narrative voice (which, while not necessarily the thing that will make you money, is probably the thing that will make writing more fun than doing other work for better pay.)

edited 17th Jan '12 6:15:03 PM by feotakahari