Internet Resources - Writers Resources - Writing Links & Writers Links for Writers - Word Stuff
Unsorted [/writers] James Patrick Kelly - Murder Your Darlings - "When time comes to make that final revision, however, you must harden your heart, sharpen the ax and murder your darlings." Greda Vaso - Determining the Readability of a Book - includes formulas for Gunning's Fog Index, Flesch Formula, Powers Sumner Kearl L. Kip Wheeler - Literary Terms and Definitions L. Kip Wheeler - Comp - Lit - Poetry - Links - more Style - Grammar - Errors in English [/writers]American Heritage - Book of English Usage - free download Band-Aid AP StylebookPaul Brians - Common Errors in EnglishCJ Cherryh - Writerisms and other Sins The Chicago Manual of Style FAQ Gary N. Curtis - The Fallacy Files - Logical fallacies and bad arguments Prof.
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do.
Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of your laptop as a machine like the one at the gym where you open and close your inner thighs in front of everyone, exposing both your insecurities and your genitals. Because that is what writing is all about. Procrastination is an alluring siren taunting you to google the country where Balki from Perfect Strangers was from, and to arrange sticky notes on your dog in the shape of hilarious dog shorts. The blank white page. Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” Finding a really good muse these days isn’t easy, so plan on going through quite a few before landing on a winner. There are two things more difficult than writing. It’s no secret that great writers are great readers, and that if you can’t read, your writing will often suffer.
"Never Date a Writer" by xstephens [821940-1] - RedBubble.com
Never date a writer because she’ll fictionalize everything. She’ll write about things you have done to her, or things you never did for her. She’ll write about how you never bought her flowers. Not once. She’ll say in well-constructed prose how the whole time you were together, she never came home from a long week to see a vase full of roses, or daises, or anything. She’ll describe times you embarrassed her, like at a party. She’ll continue this emphasis on what you had done to her, by describing things she had found, but said nothing about. She’ll later describe the moment in the bedroom when she sat at the foot of the bed and you kneeled in front of her. And she’ll send you a manuscript and you’ll be on the couch where you both had sat and you’ll read every word. You’ll sit alone on that couch where you made love to her and you won’t move and the glass of whiskey on the table will not be touched.
10 Things Shakespeare Can Teach Us About Writing Thrillers
Conspiracy. Murder. Politics. Love. Sex. Ghosts. And, as Hartley proved in his session “Cues From Shakespeare, the First Thriller Writer,” there’s a lot the bard can teach scribes about storytelling. Here are some of the enduring lessons Hartley shared. 1. Most of Shakespeare’s stories originated in other source material. 2. Hartley asked: Without delving into the Shakespearean authorship question, how could the son of a glove maker evoke settings, fields and time period he couldn’t have ever experienced? 3. Shakespeare doesn’t waste time getting things moving. 4. In the bard’s world, the props and costumes are kept to a minimum. 5. Just like the screenwriting maxim. 6. “It’s not enough for the door to be locked. 7. “Don’t be afraid to slow down to focus between action and event.” 8. Beyond Shakespeare’s works, Hartley used George R.R. 9. Hartley pointed out that we tend to think of Shakespeare as a great philosopher, spouting off wisdoms—but that’s not the case. 10. You might also like:
One Page Per Day: A web typewriter for authors.
A Q&A with the Creator of "I Write Like": "The Algorithm is Not a Rocket Science"
This week's meme is I Write Like, a new website that uses an algorithm of mysterious methodology to tell you which author's work your writing most resembles. You enter some text-"your latest blog post, journal entry, comment, chapter of your unfinished book"-and a split-second later, it spits out the html code for a blog-ready badge: "I Write Like H.P. Lovecraft," or any of the 49 other authors in its database. It's hard science and great literature, together at last! Well, kind of. I Write Like's science has already been strung up and dissected: Gawker's Max Read inputted Mel Gibson's latest phone rant, got Margaret Atwood and came to an unfavorable opinion; Paste magazine got an "I Write Like Stephen King" badge after entering a few Big Boi rhymes; Margaret Atwood herself pasted in a sample of her own writing and got … Stephen King. So take the site's web address-iwl.me-as indication of how seriously we should be taking its diagnoses. Dmitry Chestnykh is the creator of I Write Like.
Stormwriting: What It Is and Why You Should Try It
Now you’re to the point where you’re ready to start crafting your book. You’ve done a bit of brainstorming, and perhaps you’ve done some writing. But there’s something about brainstorming that’s only partly right. After years of writing, teaching writing, and talking with writers, I’ve come to realize that brainstorming is a critically misunderstood process. Bad practices have become common. Most people have been told that brainstorming is where you sit with a blank piece of paper and you’re supposed to just, like force out new ideas. —Elizabeth Sims (You’ve Got a Book In You) Too often we get stuck in a rigid idea of what a brainstorm is supposed to be. There is a better way. The answer, I found, lies in the very word ‘brainstorming.’ You need to use something deeper and more productive to write a good book: You need to engage your heartbrain, that is to say your whole, deepest self. In one of my mystery series, my main character is an actress. “What attitude is that?” “No,” he said.
10 Creative Block Breakers That Actually Work
Doesn't matter what you call it: writer's block or creative block or simply "Where is my inspiration when I need it?!" All creative individuals find their work coming less easily at some times than others. That's when you need strategies, and plenty of them. There are at least 90 such tips, tools, and techniques in , edited by Alex Cornell, with a foreword by Erik Spiekermann. is a fresh compilation of practical, real world solutions offered by a range of creative individuals, including graphic designers, artists, writers, and photographers. The insights in this perkily designed, light-hearted, and useful little volume are sometimes amusing, often unexpected. to find it more compelling. Place an ink-stained handprint on its blankness so you have something to fix. You can't criticize the results. Consider this: "I'm not running out of ideas, just trying to push myself into better ones." in your episodes of creative block. to conceive of your blocks. , not just one. Blocked?
I Write Like Chuck Palahniuk
Become a better writer! Subscribe to our awesome free newsletter to learn how to become a better writer and receive monthly tips on writing. We respect your privacy: email addresses are never sold, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Below are the results of analysis of your text. Your Badge Code for your blog: <! Link for Twitter, Facebook, etc: I write like Chuck Palahniuk. Link to share with your friends Analyze another text Chuck Palahniuk's Books
