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Posts Tagged ‘writing’

Some days I stand here at my desk trying to generate a creative thought (or even two!) and it doesn’t happen. If I can’t do the thing I set out to do I still try to do something, so on those days I look for alternatives to get my mind working. My latest filler project is a little Applescript (sorry Windows, I just don’t swing that way) that pops up a window with practice ideas for writing projects. Not what to write, but what to practice while writing.

Here’s the code with a sampling of my current list of practice topics. If this is your sort of thing, substitute your own practice topics as necessary:

set x to some item of {"*action*", "*all five senses*", "*catchy beginnings with a hint of the speculative*", "*characterization*", "*cliffhangers*", "*conflict*", "*distinctive dialog*", "*emotion*", "*grounding*", "*imagery*", "*immediacy*", "*openers*", "*scenes*", "*settings*", "*showing instead of telling*", "*smart science*", "*visual detail*", "*writing without 'was'*"}
set textToType to "Practice " & x & " in your story today."
set answer to the button returned of (display dialog textToType as string buttons {"Excellent idea, thanks!"} default button 1 with icon note)

So it’s code today, perhaps cake tomorrow. Chocolate. Triple tier. With Bailey’s icing:)

/unless that’s a lie

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Crime Novelist Elmore Leonard Dies

Elmore Leonard died today, after a recent stroke and related complications. That’s sad in all sorts of ways, most importantly for his family but also for his fans.

That said, I have had it up to here with death.

Yes, it’s inevitable. Yes, you only have one life and then poof, gone. But what if you have an impact on the people around you that will last beyond your lifetime? What if you are thoughtful and kind and concerned about bringing the best to our shared world? And what if you are a writer with the sort of innate feel for dialog, story and character that Elmore Leonard had, dedicate your efforts to the constructive pursuit of creativity, and work hard enough and well on work like Get Shorty and Maximum Bob?

Then you earn a devoted following of fans who will not only remember your efforts but will see the world in a slightly different way, thanks to your work. I am such a fan. Mr. Leonard will be missed.

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I Hate Strong Female Characters

Over at the New Statesman, Sophia McDougall has written a thoughtful piece on female characters in television, movies, and text. Provocatively titled, it is much more complex than one might think at first glance. This isn’t a tear-down or a diatribe, and it’s well worth a read.

I like “sexy kickassery” as much as the next person, but when it comes to characters…

What do I want instead of a Strong Female Character? I want a male:female character ratio of 1:1 instead of 3:1 on our screens. I want a wealth of complex female protagonists who can be either strong or weak or both or neither, because they are more than strength or weakness. Badass gunslingers and martial artists sure, but also interesting women who are shy and quiet and do, sometimes, put up with others’ shit because in real life there’s often no practical alternative. And besides heroines, I want to see women in as many and varied secondary and character roles as men: female sidekicks, mentors, comic relief, rivals, villains. I want not to be asked, when I try to sell a book about two girls, two boys and a genderless robot, if we couldn’t change one of those girls to a boy.

I want her to be free to express herself

I want her to have meaningful, emotional relationships with other women

I want her to be weak sometimes

I want her to be strong in a way that isn’t about physical dominance or power

I want her to cry if she feels like crying

I want her to ask for help

I want her to be who she is

…this list of things is better.

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>> note: this is a repost to get around an editing problem; ignore if you’ve seen it or reread at your leisure…

Over at the Clarion Foundation‘s blog, Gregory Frost shares some terrific advice about the importance of establishing place in writing. I agree that authors need to use their details wisely, but too many people forget the importance of place, and I’m not just saying that because I spent time studying Geography.

Quick, what’s the first question you would ask if you woke up in a strange place?

“Where am I?”

Settle that and you can move on to other issues (like “Why am I perched on a tower fifty stories in the air?” or “Who tied me up and how the hell do I get out of here?”). Without it,  all the conflict in the world can’t keep the story from feeling like it’s taking place in front of a green screen.

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Tor.com is celebrating its fifth birthday this week. I’m glad that this bastion of quality speculative fiction has both survived and thrived, and that they are celebrating that fact with a collection of stories. View it online or download to your e-reader, as you prefer:

Download Five Years of Tor.com’s Original Fiction for Free!

Thanks, and Happy Birthday, Tor!

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Today’s useful writing link: David Mamet’s Master Class Memo to the Writers of The Unit. Originally written in 2005, it remains as concise a discussion of dramatic writing as I’ve seen. Funny too. For those of you interested in writing, I highly recommend that you read the whole thing (it’s not long); here are a few excerpts to whet your appetite.
 
QUESTION:WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL.
SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.
1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

Ignore the typos and the all caps to focus on the substance. This memo is terrific advice for any writer, television or otherwise. 
  
START, EVERY TIME, WITH THIS INVIOLABLE RULE: THE SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. it must start because the hero HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS.
 
 
LOOK AT THE SCENE AND ASK YOURSELF “IS IT DRAMATIC? IS IT ESSENTIAL? DOES IT ADVANCE THE PLOT?
ANSWER TRUTHFULLY.
 
On that note, it’s time to get back to writing:)

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It’s Monday, and I like to start the week with a healthy dose of motivation. This list is a mashup of writing advice from a number of sources, arranged in no particular order except that I believe the last one to be the most important. Bracketed initials at the end of each entry refer to the author key below. Today’s post is brought to you by the letter F (as in “finish!”).
  • Don’t use generic beginnings. [lb]
  • Don’t use slow beginnings. [lb]
  • Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. [kv]
  • Don’t try too hard. [lb]
  • Don’t use clichés. [lb]
  • Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for. [kv]
  • Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. [kv]
  • Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action. [kv]
  • Start as close to the end as possible. [kv]
  • Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of. [kv]
  • Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages. [kv]
  • Structure, a.k.a. know where you’re going [jw]
  • Have something to say [jw]
  • Everybody has a reason to live, know who everybody is and why they’re there [jw]
  • Cut what you love [jw]
  • Listen to feedback [jw]…but also…
  • Don’t listen, and do the unexpected [jw]
  • Don’t sell out [jw]
  • Finish it! [jw]
Author Key and Citations:
[jw] Joss Whedon, adapted from Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips.

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Google Maps Street View now features an up close and personal tour through the Warner Brothers version of Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley. If that’s not fun for a Sunday morning, I don’t know what is. Thanks go out to the magical imagination of  J.K. Rowling, and enjoy!

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“Write something, damnit! Send it in. Do it again.”
– Gardner Dozois

Because some days you (ok, I;) need a kick in the pants.

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Joe Hill's Thrills.

I was feeling a little blue and I was looking for something on the internet to cheer me up and Warren Ellis has a post on his tumblr pointing to a website, I Write Like, so I thought, oh, hey, why not? Warren got David Foster Wallace; I was thinking, huh, maybe it’ll tell me I write like John Steinbeck! Hell, maybe David Mitchell!!!

Thanks to the above post by Joe Hill I’ve discovered an entertaining website called “I Write Like.” Unlike him, however, my stylistic tendencies seem to be more varied. Depending on the story, I apparently write like Cory Doctorow, J.K. Rowling, Ray Bradbury, and David Foster Wallace. I think the minds behind the site put this fun tool together to raise writers’ confidence levels; who wouldn’t want to be told they write like any one of the people on that list?

I don’t write like Stephen King, though. Joe Hill’s got that all wrapped up.

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