How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day When I started writing The Spirit War (Eli novel #4), I had a bit of a problem. I had a brand new baby and my life (like every new mother's life) was constantly on the verge of shambles. I paid for a sitter four times a week so I could get some writing time, and I guarded these hours like a mama bear guards her cubs - with ferocity and hiker-mauling violence. To keep my schedule and make my deadlines, I needed to write 4000 words during each of these carefully arranged sessions. But (of course), things didn't work out like that. Needless to say, I felt like a failure. When I told people at ConCarolinas that I'd gone from writing 2k to 10k per day, I got a huge response. So, once and for all, here's the story of how I went from writing 500 words an hour to over 1500, and (hopefully) how you can too: A quick note: There are many fine, successful writers out there who equate writing quickly with being a hack. Update! Side 1: Knowledge, or Know What You're Writing Before You Write It
How Spritz Redesigned Reading, Letting You Scan 1,000 Words A Minute When we read, our eyes move across a page or a screen to digest the words. All of that eye movement slows us down, but a new technology called Spritz claims to have figured out a way to turn us into speed-readers. By flashing words onto a single point on a screen, much like watching TV, Spritz says it will double your reading speed. Spritz Inc. is attempting to redesign reading--and renaming it “spritzing”--by streaming one word at a time at speeds varying between 250 and 1,000 words per minute. Words are centered around an “Optimal Recognition Point" in a special display called the "Redicle." This method reportedly eliminates the time-consuming need to move your eyes across a page, which Spritz's research suggests improves focus and comprehension. “Spritzing is not for everyone,” CEO and co-founder Frank Waldman tells Co.Design. The technology was released last Sunday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and the company has since received more than 5,000 developer submissions.
20 Tips For Writing a Captivating Short Story (Part 1) by Mindy Halleck Today, as I edit, trim, cut, and otherwise obliterate a short story I wrote that ended up to be 8,000 words, but needs to be 5,000 words, I am reminded of this quote: “Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.” -Henry David Thoreau Wise man. I thought I’d share some editing tips this morning, not so much for you as for me. I will share these tips in three concurring post over the next two weeks. Anyway . . . drum roll . . . . Writing short stories is a great way to investigate diverse genres, characters, settings, and voices. Here are some editing tips that hopefully will keep you from banging your head on the editing desk. Watch your word count. Check out part 2 for the rest of the tips! Mindy Halleck is an award winning author who lives in the Pacific Northwest. Like this: Like Loading...
Infographic shows the most common problems in screenplays I'd love to see a breakdown of manuscript rejections done this way. Having watched a few movies in the last ten years, I can tell you from authority that these are not the reasons manuscripts get rejected. It depends on what studio you're pitching, what sort of movie they're in the market for, what sort of other movies they've greenlit, what sort of mood the scriptreader is in that day, whether they're looking for a good role for some actor they just signed a deal with, what movie made the most money last year, and even more importantly, what movie LOST the most money last year (ooooh, you wrote a western? If only you'd turned in that script BEFORE The Lone Ranger crashed and burned.) So basically, it's 95% dumb luck. But writing a good script certainly can't hurt (it's also nice because then if your movie actually gets made, it has less of a chance of being savaged by critics and ultimately forgotten.) That's an example of an odd phenomenon. It sickens me. Not really.
Truths About Fiction The following essay was previewed in the class that Stephen Graham Jones taught for LitReactor, Your Life Story Is Five Pages Long. 1. The reader should never have to work to figure out the basics of your story. Who’s whose wife or husband, what the time period is if that matters, why these people have broken into this house, and on and on, just the basic, ground-level facts about your story. 2. Meaning you don’t have to lay every last detail of every last thing out. The best writers are the ones who can cover the most distance with the fewest words. 3. It can be as simple as if the story opens with what feels like a dramatic frame—two people sitting by a fireplace, talking over brandy—then we already expect the story to circle back to that fireplace. 4. You open with a hook, of course—the title—then you hook with the first line, then, usually at the end of the first paragraph, you set that hook. 5. They’re not reading so you can render for them their already quotidian lives. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Stephen Gallagher: Articles - Space Chase Notes toward a pilot show for a proposed series that was eventually to be realised by Rockne S O'Bannon as FARSCAPE. Originally drafted for Jim Henson Productions in May 1993. We slam straight into the heart of things, no setting-up. The whole cold-sleep thing has been a part of screen culture since 2001, and there's nothing to be gained by introducing or explaining it; there is, however, an advantage of mystery in having our character wake up somewhere totally different from where he expected to be. His spacecraft is a kind of delivery bullet about the size of a big car with a bubble on the top under which he lies. The craft stands in what looks like a workshop, and is tilted at an angle. Out in the corridors, he comes face-to-face with the biggest, ugliest monster he's ever seen. He runs after it, calling out. Exploring the bridge, he finds a big window with some of the crew on the other side of it. Right now they're way off-course. But things take a downturn. More deaths. Jaws drop.
Fictional Culture The way I build worlds is by collecting cool stuff from the history, myth and people around me. I blend these details with my own imagination, and create my own cultures. Culture is a vital part to realistic worldbuilding. Normally there are a few particular cultures that interest me at a given time. I read whatever I can find about them, their environment, their traditions and their myths. The interesting details filter into the new world I’m creating (example: at one time, Venetian widows could only remarry on the stroke of midnight). In the long term, there is nothing more inspiring and challenging than visiting foreign cultures yourself (especially if you can get far beyond your comfort zone to do it). But reading (non-fiction, myth/legend/fairytales, as well as the classics like Dune and Lord of the Rings) and watching documentaries/films can get you a long way toward filling up on your inspiration tank. What is the most important ideal to this culture as a whole? Like this:
The Crucial Storytelling Mistake that Many Beginning Writers Make I'm not sure I know what a "situation" means - a scene? Or just a conflict/obstacle with no arc or backstory? I've started short stories with a "scene" before, and if you're good enough to develop themes efficiently, you might be able to create an entire short story with just one. I'd say a big mistake I see is when writers try to write a novel/novella/very big short story and create too many "situations" without threading them together in a meaningful way. It's like seeing one crisis after the next without a sense of flow, escalation or purpose. I took it to mean a situation is static — I can't get these vampires to leave my house! Basically, a situation means "the location/surroundings of a place" or "a set of circumstances in which one finds oneself; aka state of affairs". I think a lot of people, myself included, have stories that start "Wouldn't it be cool if...?". At least that's how I take it. She means concept. What happens when you do the vampire protection spell backwards?
MASTER LIST of Physical Descriptions! | Bryn Donovan Sometimes it can be hard to find the right words to describe individual facial features, faces in general, bodies, and even hair. I’m hoping this post will be a good resource for describing the looks of characters in your story. Before I get to the long list, I have a couple of notes and words of advice: When you’re in a character’s POV, their attitude toward another character’s appearance may change over the course of the story as their relationship to that character changes. A classic case in point: Mr. Don’t rely too much on attractiveness or ugliness to make me as a reader like or dislike a character. Some of these phrases are more expected than others, and whether you care is up to you. Okay, here we go! Eyes – General I’m focusing here on physical descriptions rather than emotional expressions, though there’s a little crossover. large small narrow sharp squinty round wide-set close-set deep-set sunken bulging protruding wide hooded heavy-lidded bedroom bright sparkling glittering flecked dull bleary rheumy
Writing the Premise | Mike DiMartino This is the first of a 3-part post about the writing process for A:TLA and Legend of Korra. My goal is to describe the steps we take to bring a story from an initial idea to a finished script. Although this applies specifically to a half-hour animated TV show, I think the principals can be used when approaching any writing project. I also will provide examples of the premise, outline, and scripts from episode 207 “Beginnings, part 1″ to show how the story evolved. I want to take some of the mystery out of the writing process. Rough animation of Avatar Wan by Studio Mir Writing stories is a daunting process. Different shows have different ways of “breaking” a story. Quick sidebar: In the case of shows with continuous storylines like Lost or Breaking Bad, there seems to be a myth that the writers have (or should have) figured out everything from the start. In interviews last summer you still weren’t sure how Breaking Bad was going to end. His response? “It was everything. As George R.R.
Practical Creative Writing for inspiration, tips and information The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations is a descriptive list which was created by Georges Polti to categorize every dramatic situation that might occur in a story or performance. To do this Polti analyzed classical Greek texts, plus classical and contemporaneous French works. He also analyzed a handful of non-French authors. Publication history[edit] “Gozzi maintained that there can be but thirty-six tragic situations. This list was published in a book of the same name, which contains extended explanations and examples. The list is popularized as an aid for writers, but it is also used by dramatists, storytellers and many others. The 36 situations[edit] Each situation is stated, then followed by the necessary elements for each situation and a brief description. See also[edit] References[edit] External links[edit]