AN EXPERIMENTAL LIFE
When I was in college, I went to a play. It was tedious, and the person I was with whispered "ah... redemption" at one point - you know, in that enthralled tone of someone who gets a painting that you think is crap. Yeah, sure, remdemption, I thought - so? I never really felt out classed - there are some really boring plays out there. But I felt like I should feel outclassed, because I wasn't … [Read more...]
"Do the Work" is an immensely helpful book by Stephen Pressfield. If you are stuck, and need to read one book, make it this one. If you've felt there's an underlying force resisting your desire to go forward, read this book. If you've taken class after class, applied solution after solution, and don't understand why the resistance is still there, read this book. You are up against the Borg, and … [Read more...]
When there is absolutely no way to write for real, because of what's happening, they keep you going. You just can't let them become a placebo. … [Read more...]
You know, as I listen to artists talk about art, it seems like they're all afraid. I say artist (or writer), because that's what aspiring artists and writers most commonly call themselves. It's not what I call myself, but I've explained that already. I sat next to a lady on the plane who talked to another lady about being an artist. "I'm an artist" she kept saying. And about any quirks - "must be … [Read more...]
8/18/11: I don't think there's a Card method to writing, which is why I can't disagree with him on anything he said about writing. There's one overall rule that he stated several ways: "Whatever works, do it - that's the standard - not categories that we have or will learn from English teachers and workshops; you're the writer, you make the rules. There are no rules, even I break my own rules, … [Read more...]
"If you want my advice, Peter, you've made a mistake already. By asking me. By asking anyone. Never ask people. Not about your work. Don't you know what you want? How can you stand it, not to know?" - Howard Roark … [Read more...]
I went to Uncle Orson's Writing Class and would trade very few life experiences for it. It's irreplaceable. Many years, Orson. … [Read more...]
Orson Scott Card’s writing class successfully divested me of a team of controlling vampires and parasites. He ran a stake into everything I learned in English, Lit, and Creative Writing classes. And he finished off by driving a javelin into the heart of all those awful freaking writers workshops. Thanks, Dr. Card. I feel free! … [Read more...]
"You can't get to wonderful without passing through alright." —Andrew Zuckerman (via Bill Withers) #99conf … [Read more...]
The submission process is like a writing school. If an editor rejects with comments, you can use those comments. It tells you not only what can be better about how you write. I think people get it wrong - believing it's about what can be better about this story. That's kind of a self-preservation mentality - defensiveness. But I'm not in this for self-preservation - this is a moral fight. I'm in … [Read more...]
Steve Manning says "If you want to write well… write fast! If you want to be prolific, write quickly." This is inspiring to me, because I want to do both of those things. It's not a rule, though. Koontz perfects each page as a page before he moves to the next one, and he only writes maybe 5 pages in a day. But look at how many books he sells. There are inspiring imperatives that I don't have to … [Read more...]
OK - one more of Rachel Aaron's pieces, just because it's so helpful. Rachel offers three ways to write a good villain: empathy - perhaps they were treated unjustly, and have very understandable human emotions - like Saliere in Amadeus admiration - e.g. for the incredible skill of Livia in I Claudius can't look away - she cites the Joker in Dark Knight I have to say that I'm a big fan of method … [Read more...]
"The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity." - Harlan Ellison … [Read more...]
"You are not entitled to your opinion. You are entitled to your informed opinion. No one is entitled to be ignorant." - Harlan Ellison … [Read more...]
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; but if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - Harlan Ellison … [Read more...]
"I don't mind you thinking I'm stupid, but don't talk to me like I'm stupid" - Harlan Ellison … [Read more...]
Holly Lisle has [these] topics for timed writing, many of which look interesting. Borrowing some from her, and making some of my own, I have: rage revenge fear self-defense escape against a man against society against God against oneself needing love needing peace needing freedom a fight a sale an overcoming protecting providing defending a mistake … [Read more...]
A story must contain proof that each character means what they say? - another incredibly useful insight from Rachel Aaron. She calls this the "Knife Test". [original] If you're kind of geeky - think that Uruk Hai pulling himself farther onto Boromir's sword to finish him, or the way Klingon's charge a vastly superior enemy - preferring death to dishonor, or Gollum biting that finger off even as he … [Read more...]
Things like the Graham Green [500 words method] are proof that most advice about writing is like most advice about marriages - it can't be generalized to writers. Sometimes you have to come up with your own method that works brilliantly for you and just pisses off everyone else who might try it. People call that arrogance, because they haven't had the courage or cleverness to do it for themselves. … [Read more...]
Some of the advice I hear given to would-be writers (I never look like I'm open to advice, so I only catch about 5% of what most of them do), is stuff I find incredibly harmful. Toxic, even. Outright poison. I'll choose [this list] because there's some good stuff in it - but I'd count about half of it harmful. Just a few examples: "Write for 24-hours straight." That's a recipe for seriously … [Read more...]
Rachel Aaron uses a checklist. If any of her scenes doesn't do one of these 3 things, she kills it: Advance the story Reveal new information Pull the reader forward [original] … [Read more...]
Five common traits of good writers: They have something to say. They read widely and have done so since childhood. They possess what Isaac Asimov calls a “capacity for clear thought,” able to go from point to point in an orderly sequence, an A to Z approach. They’re geniuses at putting their emotions into words. They possess an insatiable curiosity, constantly asking Why and … [Read more...]
Good description is a learned skill, one of the prime reasons why you cannot succeed unless you read a lot and write a lot. It’s not just a question of how-to, you see; it’s also a question of how much to. Reading will help you answer how much, and only reams of writing will help you with the how. You can learn only by doing. - Stephen King Thanks to here. … [Read more...]
Start telling the stories that only you can tell, because there’ll always be better writers than you and there’ll always be smarter writers than you. There will always be people who are much better at doing this or doing that - but you are the only you. Tarantino - you can criticize everything that Quentin does - but nobody writes Tarantino stuff like Tarantino. He is the best Tarantino … [Read more...]
It's immensely freeing to get murderous with cutting your word count. First, you build it, lots of words. For me it's currently 2000 words/day. And you don't edit until the piece is done (some of those 'don't edit' claims are bullshit - editing while you write is how you get complete sentences - if you punctuate, you edit - but you don't rewrite whole sections or start the rewrite process until … [Read more...]