The Official P/T Collective Archive by Peg Robinson. © 1997 Disclaimer: Distribute freely. The more folks who know how to give and take crit ethically, humanely, and usefully, the better. One of the things I was beginning to suspect just watching the dialogues go by on the newsgroup has been confirmed reading the responses to my query about a crit essay. Yes, there are useful concepts you can pick up, there's vocabulary that comes in handy. Most of you know darned good and well when a piece of material seems disorganized and poorly presented, you know when a stretch of dialogue is vivid, believable and revealing, you know when a character seems to jump off the page—and when a character seems wooden and artificial. What many of you are missing is not the comprehension of writing that would allow you to comment. Crit can be seen as an interactive 'combat sport,' pursued in public by more than one person—while reading and writing are fairly peaceable, and usually pursued in solitude. Two final comments, before I start. OK.
Stephen King's Top 20 Rules for Writers Image by the USO, via Flickr Commons In one of my favorite Stephen King interviews, for The Atlantic, he talks at length about the vital importance of a good opening line. “There are all sorts of theories,” he says, “it’s a tricky thing.” “But there’s one thing” he’s sure about: “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. We’ve talked so much about the reader, but you can’t forget that the opening line is important to the writer, too. This is excellent advice. Revision in the second draft, “one of them, anyway,” may “necessitate some big changes” says King in his 2000 memoir slash writing guide On Writing. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. See a fuller exposition of King’s writing wisdom at Barnes & Noble’s blog. Related Content: Stephen King Creates a List of 96 Books for Aspiring Writers to Read Stephen King Writes A Letter to His 16-Year-Old Self: “Stay Away from Recreational Drugs”
Locus Online Features: Cory Doctorow: Writing in the Age of Distraction from Locus Magazine, January 2009 We know that our readers are distracted and sometimes even overwhelmed by the myriad distractions that lie one click away on the Internet, but of course writers face the same glorious problem: the delirious world of information and communication and community that lurks behind your screen, one alt-tab away from your word-processor. The single worst piece of writing advice I ever got was to stay away from the Internet because it would only waste my time and wouldn't help my writing. This advice was wrong creatively, professionally, artistically, and personally, but I know where the writer who doled it out was coming from. But the Internet has been very good to me. I think I've managed to balance things out through a few simple techniques that I've been refining for years. I don't claim to have invented these techniques, but they're the ones that have made the 21st century a good one for me. Cory Doctorow is one of a dozen Locus columnists and reviewers.
Planning a Novel: Character Arc In A Nutshell It’s NaNoWriMo Season, and that means a ton of writers are planning their novels. Or, at the very least (in the case of you pantsers) thinking about their novel. Whether you plot or pants, if you don’t want to end up in No Man’s Land halfway to 50K, it is often helpful to have a solid foundation of ideas about your book. Can you imagine it, that fresh page that’s full of potential? But here’s a fact, my writing friend…if you don’t know WHY your protagonist is doing what he’s doing, readers may not care enough to read beyond a chapter or two. It doesn’t matter how well drawn your hero is or what cool and trippy things he does in a story…if readers don’t understand the WHY behind his actions, they won’t connect to him. Because of this, the question, What does my character want? Outer Motivation – THE BIG GOAL (What does your character want?) Your character must have a goal of some kind, something they are aiming to achieve. What do I mean by that? Characters, like people, bury pain.
Toasted Cheese Creating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 1: Can You Structure Characters? What if there were a sure-fire secret to creating stunning character arcs? Would you be interested in discovering it? If you care about connecting with readers, grabbing hold of their emotions, and creating stories that will resonate with them on a level deeper than mere entertainment, then the answer has to be a resounding yes! But here’s the thing about character arcs: they’re way too easy to take for granted. 1. 2. 3. That’s character arc in a nutshell. Turns out: a lot. (Featured in the Structuring Your Novel Workbook.) The Link Between Character Arcs and Story Structure Too often, character and plot are viewed as separate entities—to the point that we often pit them against each other, trying to determine which is more important. We often think of plot as being about structure, but our notions of character and character arc tend toward the more airy-fairy. Surely, right? Wrong, actually. The three acts of the [story] correspond to the three stages of the hero’s outer motivation.
Writing Tips for Fiction Writers Writers' Workshop | Characterisation How to write convincing characters Characterisation - the task of building characters - isn't easy. But if you're struggling to build characters with real life and vigour, just follow these rules. If you do follow them correctly, we can pretty much guarantee that your characterisation will be just fine! Know what kind of character you are writing There are roughly two types of protagonist in fiction. The second type of character (rather less common, in fact) is the genuinely extraordinary character who would make things happen in an empty room. Either type of character is fine - don't struggle to equip your ordinary character with a whole lot of amazing skills, or try to 'humanise' your James Bond character by making him nice to old ladies and interested in baking. Empathy is about story and good writing Likewise, don't worry too much if your character is likeable. A) you write well enough that your reader is drawn in to your protagonist's world, whether they like it or not; and
You and Your Characters Written by James Patrick Kelly Copyright © 1991 by Davis Publications, First published in WRITING SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY, edited by Gardner Dozois, et. al., St. Martin’s Press. Once I admitted to myself that I had the raging hunger to write, I gobbled up every book on the subject I could find. I still have most of them; I’ve just gathered fourteen and stacked them beside my computer monitor for inspiration. Each has a chapter on characterization. It seems there are all kinds of characters: developing characters, static characters, round characters, flat characters, cardboard characters (oh, are there cardboard characters!) I’ve recently been teaching my daughter Maura to ski, a skill described by a language every bit as arcane as that of characterization. Although the vocabulary of characterization is important, it can also get in your way. Having said that, there’s one suggestion I can offer before you launch yourselves onto fiction’s slippery slopes. Antagonist: a.k.a.
10 Steps to Creating Realistic Fantasy Animals by Ashley Lange Why do writers write? Because it isn't there. - Thomas Berger Arguably, the two most challenging aspects for fantasy/science fiction writers to conquer are originality and believability. Okay, so why use animals? The attraction to fantasy animals is obvious. The first question you need to ask yourself is why you are creating a creature in the first place. To attack the hero (wild animal) To be guarding something/a gateway To be a feature of the environment (aka, hero sees a herd grazing) To be someone's pet To oppose the hero (aka enemy orc soldiers) To aid the hero (such as friendly elves) To set the mood (glowing eyes in a dark forest) For a mount (a variant of a horse/camel/donkey, etc.) To be hunted To work (such as on a farm) To be raised for meat/milk/silk/wool To race competitively To fight (such as in an arena) To draw (Who says you have to write about it?) “All monsters need a personality,” – Peter Jackson EYES: Eyes see.
FAN FICTION CHEAT SHEET INDEX undefined BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER fans, Giles doesn't go around calling everyone he dislikes a "pillock." Don't limit his vocabulary; learn some British slang at sites like A DICTIONARY OF SLANG. Visit Wikipedia for some samples of police jargon. Go here for a dictionary of hard-boiled slang ala Bogart detective movies. To absorb wisdom from Little Calamity's background notes on various cult TV shows, and occasionally find links to useful sites on said shows, click on the appropriate link below: Action Shows in General Western TV shows Review helpful hints on HOW TO WRITE ALMOST READABLE FAN-FICTION. Read stories about shows like these. Copyright © 1999 - 2012, Jane A.