Where is the sense in these desperate dreams...
I'm Alice, a dissolute British librarian.
This is a personal blog, and I tend to post a lot of random and completely unrelated things, including horror movies, various fandoms, art, writers, nature, and creepy things.
I ship Dean/Castiel and write lots of fanfiction about them.
I have bipolar 2 disorder, and I am trying to raise awareness of mental health.
Sarah Waters - On Writing
1 Read like mad. But try to do it analytically – which can be hard, because the better and more compelling a novel is, the less conscious you will be of its devices. It’s worth trying to figure those devices out, however: they might come in useful in your own work. I find watching films also instructive. Nearly every modern Hollywood blockbuster is hopelessly long and baggy. Trying to visualise the much better films they would have been with a few radical cuts is a great exercise in the art of story-telling. Which leads me on to …2 Cut like crazy. Less is more. I’ve often read manuscripts – including my own – where I’ve got to the beginning of, say, chapter two and have thought: “This is where the novel should actually start.” A huge amount of information about character and backstory can be conveyed through small detail. The emotional attachment you feel to a scene or a chapter will fade as you move on to other stories. Be business-like about it. In fact …
3 Treat writing as a job. Be disciplined. Lots of writers get a bit OCD-ish about this. Graham Greene famously wrote 500 words a day. Jean Plaidy managed 5,000 before lunch, then spent the afternoon answering fan mail. My minimum is 1,000 words a day – which is sometimes easy to achieve, and is sometimes, frankly, like shitting a brick, but I will make myself stay at my desk until I’ve got there, because I know that by doing that I am inching the book forward. Those 1,000 words might well be rubbish – they often are. But then, it is always easier to return to rubbish words at a later date and make them better.
4 Writing fiction is not “self-expression” or “therapy”. Novels are for readers, and writing them means the crafty, patient, selfless construction of effects. I think of my novels as being something like fairground rides: my job is to strap the reader into their car at the start of chapter one, then trundle and whizz them through scenes and surprises, on a carefully planned route, and at a finely engineered pace.
5 Respect your characters, even the minor ones. In art, as in life, everyone is the hero of their own particular story; it is worth thinking about what your minor characters’ stories are, even though they may intersect only slightly with your protagonist’s. At the same time …
6 Don’t overcrowd the narrative. Characters should be individualised, but functional – like figures in a painting. Think of Hieronymus Bosch’s Christ Mocked, in which a patiently suffering Jesus is closely surrounded by four threatening men. Each of the characters is unique, and yet each represents a type; and collectively they form a narrative that is all the more powerful for being so tightly and so economically constructed. On a similar theme …
7 Don’t overwrite. Avoid the redundant phrases, the distracting adjectives, the unnecessary adverbs. Beginners, especially, seem to think that writing fiction needs a special kind of flowery prose, completely unlike any sort of language one might encounter in day-to-day life. This is a misapprehension about how the effects of fiction are produced, and can be dispelled by obeying Rule 1. To read some of the work of Colm Tóibín or Cormac McCarthy, for example, is to discover how a deliberately limited vocabulary can produce an astonishing emotional punch.
8 Pace is crucial. Fine writing isn’t enough. Writing students can be great at producing a single page of well-crafted prose; what they sometimes lack is the ability to take the reader on a journey, with all the changes of terrain, speed and mood that a long journey involves. Again, I find that looking at films can help. Most novels will want to move close, linger, move back, move on, in pretty cinematic ways.
9 Don’t panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends’ embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce . . . Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way. And if all else fails, there’s prayer. St Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, has often helped me out in a crisis. If you want to spread your net more widely, you could try appealing to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, too.
10 Talent trumps all. If you’re a really great writer, none of these rules need apply. If James Baldwin had felt the need to whip up the pace a bit, he could never have achieved the extended lyrical intensity of Giovanni’s Room. Without “overwritten” prose, we would have none of the linguistic exuberance of a Dickens or an Angela Carter. If everyone was economical with their characters, there would be no Wolf Hall … For the rest of us, however, rules remain important. And, crucially, only by understanding what they’re for and how they work can you begin to experiment with breaking them.
This advice first appeared in The Guardian
Great advice from a Real Live Published Author!
Many common words and phrases are identical except for a strategic letter space — apart and “a part” come to mind — and though knowing which form to use in a sentence is often obvious (as in that example), the difference can be subtle. Here are some of the less clear-cut pairs:
1. Ahold/a hold: Ahold is a variant of the noun hold, used in such sentences as “I’ll get ahold of you later.” But when you mean to refer to an actual grip on something, use two words: “She really has a hold on you.” If it’s hard to decide which form to employ, try this test: If you can insert an adjective between aand hold, the two-word form is appropriate.
2. Already/all ready: Use the former when you need an adverb, as in “I told you already.” The latter form is correct in sentences such as “We’re all ready for the party.”
3. Alot/a lot: These two forms are interchangeable except in one significant respect: The one-word version is wrong. It is used often in informal writing and may one day be standard, but until you get the official memo, refrain from using it if you want to be taken seriously as a writer.
4. Alright/all right: See item number 3.
5. Altogether/all together: The one-word form, an adverb, suffices to mean “completely” or “in total,” as in “Altogether, we saved $100 on the deal.” (It also means “nude” in the idiomatic phrase “in the altogether.”) The phrase is appropriate for sentences such as “We are all together in this.”
6. Anybody/any body: The on-word form is a pronoun used in such constructions as “He doesn’t get along with anybody.” The two-word adjective-noun form is applicable in limited contexts, such as in the sentence “Any body in motion responds to gravity.”
7. Anymore/any more: The one-word form is used as an adverb in sentences such as “We don’t go there anymore”; the two-word form consists of the adjective any and the noun more, as in “I just can’t eat any more of that pie.”
8. Anyone/any one: The one-word form is a pronoun, synonymous with anybody, used as in “Anyone can make that claim.” “Any one” consists of the adjective any and the noun one, as in “Any one of you might be next.”
9. Anyplace/any place: The adverb anyplace is a synonym for anywhere: “She won’t let me go anyplace without her.” The latter usage is an adjective-and-noun phrase that describes a location: “He doesn’t want to go to any place he can’t smoke.”
10. Anything/any thing: Anything is the likely usage: “I don’t remember anything.” The two-word adjective-noun form is generally separated by an another adjective: “She’s just does any little thing she wants.”
11. Anytime/any time: To describe with what frequency something might occur, use the one-word adverbial form: “Stop by anytime.” The two-word adjective-noun form is preceded by the word at: “You may leave at any time.”
12. Anyway/any way: Anyway is a synonym for anyhow: “We didn’t want to go anyway.” The two-word adjective-noun form is preceded by the word in: “That doesn’t change the results in any way.”
13. Awhile/a while: The noun phrase “a while” and the adverb awhile are virtually interchangeable in a sentence, though you should precede the two-word form with the word for: “I think I’ll sit here for a while” and “I think I’ll sit here awhile” mean the same thing.
14. Cannot/can not: Cannot is virtually the only proper alternative. The second usage is wrong except in the correct awkward construction in the sentence “I can not go,” meaning “I can decide not to go.”
15. Everyday/every day: The one-word form is an adjective meaning “ordinary,” used to describe something usual as in “These are my everyday clothes.” The two-word phrase, an adverb, is used in such sentences as “I go there every day” to explain how something is done.
16. Everyone/every one: To refer to everybody, use one word: “Everyone’s a critic.” To emphasize a single individual or item, use two words: “Every one of them is broken.”
17. Everything/every thing: Everything is the default choice: “You’ve ruined everything.” The two-word adjective-noun form is usually divided by an additional adjective: “Every little thing she does is magic.”
18. Maybe/may be: The first choice is an alternative to the adverb perhaps; the second is a verb phrase used in such sentences as “It may be that she was right after all.”
19. Overtime/over time: As one word, this means word done beyond a regular shift: “I’ve worked overtime several days this week.” As two words, it refers to the passage of time: “Over time, we’ve seen dramatic changes.”
20. Sometime/some time: The one-word form is an adverb describing vagueness about when something will happen, as in “I’ll get around to it sometime.”
From Daily Writing Tips (www.dailywritingtips.com)
+ eavesdrop on conversations.
steal jokes from other people. take bits of conversation and twist it. pay attention to the things left unsaid; to the silent implications. pay attention to how annoying people can be; how interesting; how strange. listen to the rhythm of speech.
+ stalk people.
notice people. all people. notice how everyone has their own quirks and sense of style. notice how people hold themselves, and talk, and interact.
+ ask questions.
why is that person running away? why is the light on the third floor on? why is that building run down? why are we afraid of the dark? why is the sky so terribly blue?
+ read.
read blogs. read newspapers. read magazines. read things you never thought you would read before. read things that are crap, read things that are good. read everyday - and if you can’t, read as much as you possibly can.
+ write.
write everyday - for five hours, for five minutes. write crappy things. write decent things. rewrite. revise. write things you’re proud of one day and hate the next day. keep a blog or a journal. write about how you feel. write in the moment, write about the past. write about the mundane, and make it into something extraordinary.
Daily writing tip #28 from Frank Delaney.
Illustrations by Donna Mehalko
Writer’s block, how to overcome it: write something substantial every morning, and while doing so forget entirely the impression you’re creating. That is, overcome ego.
PAUL FUSSELL
Have you ever noticed yourself reading something or listening to someone speak, just getting sick of a word? If you hear a word enough times, it begins to sound weird. That is called “Semantic Satiation” (wiki) and it is a psychological phenomenon that tells us that the overuse of a word can make it lose its meaning, reducing it to noise.
For anyone interested in writing…
My brothers and sisters of short attention span but great creativity, I know your feels. But if I can finish a book and half of its sequel, then anyone can.
- Turn off the TV, shut your Youtube tab and - gasp - close Tumblr. Eliminate as many distractions as possible. Yes, it’s painful and the urge to click refresh is just so strong, but you can do it. I believe in you.
- Have a writing playlist ready. iTunes, Pandora, Trntbl, Spotify, whatever works for you. I have a playlist on my iTunes, phone and iPod waiting for me, so whenever inspiration strikes I don’t waste time trying to find the ~perfect song. Just pick one and go.
- Make a list of everything you want to accomplish. If you’re working on a big project, say a book or a multi-chapter fic, it’s really helpful to make a list of what all needs to get done. And make yourself do it. Hold yourself accountable.
- Draw your plot up in advance, not right before. Confession time. I’ve started at least five books that fizzled out after a few chapters because I had absolutely no idea where I was going. Now, I have to draw up my entire plot, including foreshadowing and back story, on big posters. They’re taped to my closet door, so I can consult them whenever I feel like I’m getting off track. This keeps you from going off on a tangent, and gives you a goal to reach: the final chapter.
- Turn it into a game. I like games. Tell yourself, I’m going to write ten pages before I finish listening to this entire album. Or I’m going to write three pages, paint my toenails, then do three more. Anything to make it a challenge works. Along with your plot and accomplishment list, you’re going to finish what you’re working on in no time.
- Give yourself breaks. No one can resist the power of the internet forever. Every ten or fifteen minutes, do a quick check of your sites. Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest and my phone all take about three minutes to check. This includes answering messages. Once you’ve seen that the modern world hasn’t ended in your absence, return to work.
- Multitask. I write some of my best stuff when I’m supposed to be doing something else entirely. Class is a particularly creative time. If you know you’re more than likely going to get an idea, split your page in half, drawing a vertical line right now the middle. One side is for notes and the other side is for your story. Take a bullet point down, write a sentence. Two bullet points, another sentence. Scrub, rinse and repeat until class is up, then rush off to finish your brilliant masterpiece.
- Whenever inspiration hits, run with it. You aren’t going to have that little spark of an idea for long, so don’t let it get away from you. Write it on your arm, text it to yourself or even ask a stranger for a piece of paper to write it down. Trust me, you’ll be so glad you did.
- When you hit a roadblock, don’t sweat it. Take a shower, put on some comfortable pajama pants and open up a good book. Read for awhile and maybe take a nap. When you’re feeling it again, the story will come back. You can’t force it, and don’t try to fight it.
- So You Want to Write a Fantasy: Writing Female Characters
- So You want to Write a Fantasy: Culture
- SYWTWAF: Writing What you Don’t know
- A list of adjectives to describe physical attributes, Or, As it turns out, I could go to Starbucks with half this list
- Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
- Some primers
- More Primers
- RaceFail ‘09: Or where Deepad’s I didn’t dream of Dragons comes from, and why.
- Writing characters of Color
- Writing Outside your experience
- Media Representations Wiki - stereotypes/tropes/culture/etc
- On A:TLA’s whitewashing - All The World’s White, the Rest of Us merely live in it
- The Face of the Other: Do Manga & Anime characters look “white”?
- Describing Characters of Color pt 1 & Describing Characters of Color (pt 2)
- I Didn’t Dream of Dragons
- Shame
- So You Want to: Avoid Unfortunate Implications
- Transracial Writing for the Sincere
- Why Writing Colorblind is Writing White
- What a Girl Wants: Representation
- An Equal Place at the Table
- Avoiding LGBTQ Stereotypes
- The Problem With Colorblindness (and the Rest of Racebending.com)
- Making Movies for White People: A Tongue in Cheek critique of Minority Representation in the Media, or lack thereof
- From Margin to Center: Writing Characters of Color via Racialicious
- Writing Characters of Color - a helpful community!
- Why my Protagonists aren’t white (even though I am.)
- The Dangers of Telling a Single Story (a helpful Video)
- The Lack of People of Color in Historical Fictions
- How to Read and Respond to Literature of Color
- The Advantages of being a White Writer (in getting published)
- Writing Characters of Colour (Now With 10% Less White Liberal Anxiety!)
- Fic and Skin Tone (discusses Nyota Uhura, otherwise relevant)
- On Problematic Writing
- Writing Race in YA fiction: Debunking Myths
- Diversity Writers: How to Write People of Color
- The Importance of Inclusionary Writing
- Racialicious
- Overcoming the Noble Savage and the Sexy Squaw: Native Steampunk
- The Intersection of Race and Steampunk: Colonialism’s After-Effects & Other Stories, from a Steampunk of Colour’s Perspective
- Beyond Victoriana: For EVERYTHING Steampunk/1800s/Industrial Revolution that isn’t just Victorian England and the archives Tales of the Urban Adventurer
- Can I just watch A Game of Thrones in Peace? (A brown feminist fan rant).
1.) It’s not hard to figure out what to do, there are plenty of resources.
People say you have to get it right, do your research, but … what else are you supposed to research? It’s not like people with more pigment in their skin have completely different personalities than those with less, any more than any individual. It’s frustrating when I can’t even figure out what the heck people are talking about.
Bam. Research step one done for you.
2.) Writing characters of color/minorities is a good thing.I don’t like the notion that fantasy authors are under some kind of obligation to present ethnically diverse worlds. I’m English, and a fair sized part of English history consists of unwashed beardy white people in mead halls. If I’m inspired by my own history and cultural heritage, then that’s what I’m damn well going to write about. I’m not writing about some other culture just to appease the people who think there aren’t enough black characters in fantasy, or whatever. You want it, you write it. Nothing to do with me.
You’re wrong.
3.) Your all White Fantasy Land Didn’t Exist in Real Life:…the rather medieval one has more diversity than real medieval Germany probably had […] In a world with medieval means of transport, it just doesn’t seem natural to me to mix dark-skinned people with blue-eyed blondes in one setting. I just try to give the people a colour that fits the place where they live.
You mean like the people from Africa and the Middle east who began to take over Southern Spain, as well as the Jews who were pretty well spread out throughout Europe, the Middle Easterners they would have met on the Crusades, and the incoming Mongol Hordes who spread to the very edges of Eastern Europe before the empire finally collapsed? Don’t forget that Turkey is right there, and the silk road would have gone from Song Dynasty China, through India, and ended in Turkey before moving further westwards into places like Germany. Also the attempts at the Franco-Mongol alliance would have been pretty interesting. (That’s about the 13th century - arguably smack dab in Middle Ages Europe and definite contact between France/Christian Europe and the Mongolian Empire.)
Unless you’re writing everything in the far reaches of Denmark or something, historically speaking, I call bullshit on people who have societies that are only all white ever, because it’s just inaccurate. Consider the relative closeness of Northern Africa to Spain, or Turkey to the rest of Europe, the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Crusades, Slavery existing in Europe, including England, the slave trade, imperialism, Pax Mongolica, The Silk Road, Jewish Diaspora, the Islamic Empire vs The Holy Roman Empire, Egypt, Algeria, China’s sailing across the world, The Maruyan/Gupta Empires of India, tea trades, Columbus sailing in hopes of finding China, etc, etc, etc.
4.) I mean I just don’t believe you anymore. It’s unrealistic. Seriously guys.You’d think I’d just denied the holocaust or something. Get a grip. All I said was that I’m going to write about my own cultural experience and anyone who thinks I should do otherwise for the sake of political correctness can bugger off.
This isn’t even about being PC this is just not being wrong about everything.
good lord.
this is amazing.
useful to you writers!
This is basically the best thing I’ve seen today. I want to write diverse characters but am terrified of making huge mistakes because I just don’t know/understand. This makes me so excited.
Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack fucked me sideways with awesomeness when I first read it and it continues to do so today.
Daily writing tip #9 from Frank Delaney.
Illustrations by Donna Mehalko
Three Words You Should Eliminate from Your Writing | Write to Done
((By James Chartrand))
Every good copywriter will tell you that you should write concisely. Eliminate every unnecessary word. Be bold with your choice of nouns and adjectives. Choose precise words, not common ones. Cut all the fluff, the clutter and the jargon.
And if you’re a copywriter, you probably follow this advice – or think you do.
To read this article in full, please click the above title link.
