TECH: 101 Tips (2)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 30 April 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Every writer works differently. I know some writers who know exactly what happens from start to finish in a very short space of time and are able to write a very quick draft. Then they'll spend a long time polishing and filling out characters. But I don't like to work like that. I would rather not know what happens next or how it ends. I think it keeps it more interesting for me. And I think if I don't know what's going to happen at the end, then, hopefully, the readers won't know either." Marian Keyes

Writing by the seat of your pants? Or plotting, planning, and character sheets? How do you start, how do you get to the end, and how do you revise and rewrite? Some people prefer dashing off into the wilderness, and then figuring out how to guide the reader into that heart of darkness. Others like to lay out the plans and itinerary first, and then fill in the missing parts.

And there are those who change their methods as they go. Some do their first work relying on inspiration and muse and all that stuff, but then start a more craft approach as they get into doing further work. Others may lay out plans and plots, and then set them aside in the blaze of writing. Or there are those such as Lois McMaster Bujold who do both -- writing the story on one hand, but also writing a journal/plan/superstructure alongside with the other hand. According to her own estimation, that hidden book weighs in at least as heavy as the one that gets published.

How do you handle the ideas and the writing? Why?

(considering the cautionary tale of the centipede who was asked which foot he started walking with, and in contemplation of an answer to this vexation, discovered that he could no longer walk...)

EXERCISE: the top ten movies? Or nine, at least?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 30 April 2009

I missed at least one of these, but this was a recent special on Japanese TV, counting down the top 100 movies? They had little clips from each of the movies, and some commentary about what it was about these movies that made them special. Kind of interesting.

Since I only managed to list the top nine, why don't you pick a number from 1 to 9? Have you got your number? Okay, here's what you picked.

9. Miracle on 34th St. -- Magic in everyday life
8. Breaking Away -- the underdog
7. Grapes of Wrath
6. ET -- child grows up and letting go
5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington -- the little guy who wins
4. Rocky -- keep on fighting
3. Schindler's List -- man's inhumanity to man
2. To Kill a Mockingbird -- stand up for the right
1. It's a Wonderful Life -- what one life means

Feel free to disagree with those short little blurbs about each of the movies. Think about what your movie, the one you picked, means to you. Then think about trying to put that theme, that insight into human life, that conflict and resolution, into a story of your own. Simple, right?

Incidentally, I suspect this was from one of the AFI specials -- don't ask me which one. Plenty of lists over here http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/movies.aspx in case you want to try another list.

Write?

Somewhere over the rainbow...

TECH: 101 Tips (3)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 1 May 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"You write the book you're driven to write, and you really can't do more than that. It's a leap of faith, the entire book is a leap of faith, and not everybody is going to take it with me." Alice Sebold

How do you know what people want to read? Actually, you don't. You write the best book you can, the story that grips you, the poem that is singing in your heart -- and then you find out. Of course, every day when you wake up and get out of bed, you make that same leap of faith -- driven into it by the passage of time, no doubt, but still -- we always do things and then find out how the rest of the world will react. It would be a very strange world indeed if the world reacted and then we did things, wouldn't it? Life is a risky business, but it's the only game around, so go ahead and play it!

Oh, and write.