I highly recommend Stephen King's book, On Writing, to anyone with dreams of becoming an author. It's informative, funny, inspiring, and realistic. One passage made me laugh so hard that I reread it a couple of times and then shared it on my sister site http://greek4cheerful.wordpress.com/ a year ago. While browsing through old posts over the weekend I came across it and thought it would be the perfect addition to my writers blog.
Here's the set up:
King is giving his opinion on the importance of writing seminars and retreats, which he certainly doesn't favor as being important in the life of a writer. This is what he had to say about the critiquing sessions.
"And what about those critiques, by the way? How valuable are they? Not very, in my experience, sorry. A lot of them are maddeningly vague. I love the feeling of Peter's story, someone might say. It had something... a sense of I don't know... there's a loving kind of you know... I can't exactly explain it...
Other writing-seminar gemmies include I felt like the tone thing was just kind of you know; The character of Polly seemed pretty much stereotypical; I loved the imagery because I could see what he was talking about more or less perfectly.
And, instead of pelting these babbling idiots with their own freshly toasted marshmallows, everyone else sitting around the fire is often nodding and smiling and looking solemnly thoughtful. In too many cases the teacher and writers in residence are nodding, smiling and looking solemnly thoughtful right along with them. It seems to occur to few of the attendees that if you have a feeling you just can't describe, you might just be, I don't know, kind of like , my sense of it is, maybe in the wrong fucking class."
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Cheers!!!
Today I heard, or rather I read some great news! A newbie author like myself has finally taken the plunge and gone Indie! That’s right, she did the work and published her own book!
I first “met” DH Nevins after she sent me a request on Bloggers.com asking me to check out her novel and sign her Facebook petition. What was the petition for??? It was intended to catch the eye of a publisher or agent and ultimately help her get the book published after several attempts at it the old fashion way.Well, I read a couple chapters of her book, loved them, and signed her petition along with 700 others. Over the last year I’ve witnessed her tweeting her little heart out, posting quotes and tidbits from her novel on Twitter, and gaining a good following. We had briefly discussed the possibility of her going indie several months ago but I was nevertheless surprised when I read this tweet from her today:
I am super stoked for DH Nevins and wish her the best of luck!!! Find her post-apocalyptic novel Wormwood at Amazon, Smashwords, & CreateSpace!
http://www.dhnevins.com
I first “met” DH Nevins after she sent me a request on Bloggers.com asking me to check out her novel and sign her Facebook petition. What was the petition for??? It was intended to catch the eye of a publisher or agent and ultimately help her get the book published after several attempts at it the old fashion way.Well, I read a couple chapters of her book, loved them, and signed her petition along with 700 others. Over the last year I’ve witnessed her tweeting her little heart out, posting quotes and tidbits from her novel on Twitter, and gaining a good following. We had briefly discussed the possibility of her going indie several months ago but I was nevertheless surprised when I read this tweet from her today:
@dhnevinsD.H. Nevins
Wow, I can’t believe this has finally happened. WORMWOOD is now available! YEAH! http://ow.ly/6GTa4
I am super stoked for DH Nevins and wish her the best of luck!!! Find her post-apocalyptic novel Wormwood at Amazon, Smashwords, & CreateSpace!
http://www.dhnevins.com
Monday, October 3, 2011
Reading, Writing, and Reading
When I first started my novel I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. We're talking zip, zero, NOTHING. Late one evening I sat down at my computer and began writing a story about four best friends who'd grown up together in a small Virginia town. I knew I wanted the story to be about witches and magic but that was the extent of my knowledge. I didn't have an outline, which would have been fine if I had thought the story through and had some understanding of where I wanted it to go. I hadn't done the first bit of research on Virginia or the occult and wasn't sure what kind of witches my girls were going to be. In short, it was a train wreck waiting to happen.
It became clear to me within the first six months that what I was doing wasn't working. The story was too complex, the characters too numerous, and the back-story encapsulating too much history for such an inexperienced writer to keep control of. Stephen King could have done it. Anne Rice could have molested it into a masterpiece. But I was drowning in fluff and inconsistencies, bored with some of my own characters, and on the verge of giving up.
Determined to finish what I'd started I began reading books about the craft of writing, notably Stephen King's On Writing. I also searched the internet for advice, finding several helpful sites for writers, one worthy of mentioning is Holly Lisle's website: http://hollylisle.com/
What I learned was that there was no method to my madness: I wrote at various times of the day, I wrote without a plan- mental or otherwise, I breezed in and out of tenses, I was writing from a POV I wasn't comfortable with, and I was writing far more than I was reading.
Any writer worth their ink will tell you to READ, READ, READ. It's one of the most valuable tips I've ever received. On average I read three to four books a month- I'm a fairly slow reader anyway but because I'm studying the writing as I read, it takes me a bit longer to finish. This is excluding my Christine Feehan marathon months where I'll start and finish four or five of her books. :)
Stephen King tells a story in On Writing about running into a man who said he was a writer. "So what are you reading right now?" Stephen asked the man. "I don't have time to read," the man answered. "Then you're not a writer," Stephen replied. --I'm sure the guy was pissed off and problem thought Stephen was a pompous ass but who can argue with the King??? Certainly not I, especially when, through my own experience, I know he's right.
When I read I write better. It's that simple.
Though I'm a sucker for YA and paranormal romance I try to keep a plethora of genres and writers stocked on my imaginary Kindle bookshelves. I wish I could say that I've learned something from every book I've read but that is simply not true. I love, love, love The Twilight Saga but did I actually learn anything from Stephenie Meyers writing style? Sadly, no. That's not to knock her writing, Stephenie's talents rest within her imagination; she creates characters her readers fall head over heels in love with- from Edward and Bella to, my personal favorite, Emmet, and that is nothing to sneeze at!
Here are a few writers whose books have taught me a thing or two. Remember that I am not a literary genius with a BA in English, I just call 'em like I see 'em.
The classics are important, two examples are Hemingway and Steinbeck. Hemingway teaches us to do away with unnecessary adjectives- snuff the fluff and get to the heart of the matter. Steinbeck- one of my favorites- paints beautiful, lively worlds with every word- greatly feeding the imagination with very little.
Amid today's published writers no one can move time like J.K. Rowling. She is, in my opinion, the master of moving forward. Harry Potter seamlessly goes from day to day, month to month, year to year in a fashion that I am far from understanding let alone utilizing.
Then there are the writers whose books have inspired me whether by style or story.
The Fallen Series by Lauren Kate is certainly not a literary work of art but the story is rich and lovely. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice draws you in with her unparallelled ability to set the scene. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is dreadfully boring and depressing but her use of proper grammar is infectious. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of my all time favorite books; riddled with inequality and sadness, yet it's inspiring and hopeful. Lastly, The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. As I said before her style may not be the best, but no one can make me love and hurt the way Stephenie Meyer did. I knew Bella; when she loved I loved and when she cried I cried. That my friends, is good storytelling no matter its simplicity.
Today I have a much more structured approach to writing. I still fly by the seat of my pants as far as plotting goes, I rarely use an outline but I do have one. I write in the mornings, usually between eight and eleven, trying for at least 1,200 words a day. I research ever facet of the story, from location and architecture to weather, religion, and statistical data. I've claimed past tense, third person point of view as my own- though I know I share them with many other writers. Most importantly, I will not pick up a pen or open my laptop until I've sufficiently read.
Reading is the most important thing a writer can do, it opens up our imaginations and helps us adequately express our thoughts and words. "Well-read" should always be the sharpest tool in a writer's toolbox.
It became clear to me within the first six months that what I was doing wasn't working. The story was too complex, the characters too numerous, and the back-story encapsulating too much history for such an inexperienced writer to keep control of. Stephen King could have done it. Anne Rice could have molested it into a masterpiece. But I was drowning in fluff and inconsistencies, bored with some of my own characters, and on the verge of giving up.
Determined to finish what I'd started I began reading books about the craft of writing, notably Stephen King's On Writing. I also searched the internet for advice, finding several helpful sites for writers, one worthy of mentioning is Holly Lisle's website: http://hollylisle.com/
What I learned was that there was no method to my madness: I wrote at various times of the day, I wrote without a plan- mental or otherwise, I breezed in and out of tenses, I was writing from a POV I wasn't comfortable with, and I was writing far more than I was reading.
Any writer worth their ink will tell you to READ, READ, READ. It's one of the most valuable tips I've ever received. On average I read three to four books a month- I'm a fairly slow reader anyway but because I'm studying the writing as I read, it takes me a bit longer to finish. This is excluding my Christine Feehan marathon months where I'll start and finish four or five of her books. :)
Stephen King tells a story in On Writing about running into a man who said he was a writer. "So what are you reading right now?" Stephen asked the man. "I don't have time to read," the man answered. "Then you're not a writer," Stephen replied. --I'm sure the guy was pissed off and problem thought Stephen was a pompous ass but who can argue with the King??? Certainly not I, especially when, through my own experience, I know he's right.
When I read I write better. It's that simple.
Though I'm a sucker for YA and paranormal romance I try to keep a plethora of genres and writers stocked on my imaginary Kindle bookshelves. I wish I could say that I've learned something from every book I've read but that is simply not true. I love, love, love The Twilight Saga but did I actually learn anything from Stephenie Meyers writing style? Sadly, no. That's not to knock her writing, Stephenie's talents rest within her imagination; she creates characters her readers fall head over heels in love with- from Edward and Bella to, my personal favorite, Emmet, and that is nothing to sneeze at!
Here are a few writers whose books have taught me a thing or two. Remember that I am not a literary genius with a BA in English, I just call 'em like I see 'em.
The classics are important, two examples are Hemingway and Steinbeck. Hemingway teaches us to do away with unnecessary adjectives- snuff the fluff and get to the heart of the matter. Steinbeck- one of my favorites- paints beautiful, lively worlds with every word- greatly feeding the imagination with very little.
Amid today's published writers no one can move time like J.K. Rowling. She is, in my opinion, the master of moving forward. Harry Potter seamlessly goes from day to day, month to month, year to year in a fashion that I am far from understanding let alone utilizing.
Then there are the writers whose books have inspired me whether by style or story.
The Fallen Series by Lauren Kate is certainly not a literary work of art but the story is rich and lovely. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice draws you in with her unparallelled ability to set the scene. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is dreadfully boring and depressing but her use of proper grammar is infectious. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of my all time favorite books; riddled with inequality and sadness, yet it's inspiring and hopeful. Lastly, The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. As I said before her style may not be the best, but no one can make me love and hurt the way Stephenie Meyer did. I knew Bella; when she loved I loved and when she cried I cried. That my friends, is good storytelling no matter its simplicity.
Today I have a much more structured approach to writing. I still fly by the seat of my pants as far as plotting goes, I rarely use an outline but I do have one. I write in the mornings, usually between eight and eleven, trying for at least 1,200 words a day. I research ever facet of the story, from location and architecture to weather, religion, and statistical data. I've claimed past tense, third person point of view as my own- though I know I share them with many other writers. Most importantly, I will not pick up a pen or open my laptop until I've sufficiently read.
Reading is the most important thing a writer can do, it opens up our imaginations and helps us adequately express our thoughts and words. "Well-read" should always be the sharpest tool in a writer's toolbox.
My first post...
Well I've decided to give blogspot a go, yet again. I have found that it isn't easy being a blogger when you are certifiably computer retarded. I always brag that I am computer savvy to my less than pc competent friends but truth be known I am just like them, I've only learned to fake it better. I've been blogging as my alter ego Greek4cheerful for several years over at Wordpress and while I do like WP I prefer blogspots gadgets and whatnot-- now, if I can only figure out how to utilize them. You can check out the musings of my other (she wants me to add and BETTER) half @ Greek4cheerful-- The Good The Bad The Antidepressants
So this is my first post here, on what will become my new writers diary slash monotonous drivel blog. I plan for this to take the place of my original WP writers diary.
What is a writers diary? I'm so glad you asked. I have no idea, I think the answer would differ with each person you asked. For me its simply a place where I talk all things writing, from publishing options to the much dreaded writer's block.
I'm planning to move some of my previous posts over from WP. Only the best though :) So be sure to check back if you're at all interested. <--- If you noted the self-deprecating tone of that sentence let me say in my defense that I'm a writer and from what I know of writers we are some of the most insecure creatures alive. There are times when I write something so good that, no matter its platform (Facebook. Twitter. Blog.) or word count, I have a writers high that lasts hours. But what goes up, must come...
The crash is inevitable and it usually comes the following morning after rereading what I wrote the day before, yeah, the same sentence, paragraph, or chapter that had given me the high in the first place. I'm highly critical of myself, so sharing my writing (which admittedly needs improvement <---There I go again!) with others isn't something I do easily.
So this is my first post here, on what will become my new writers diary slash monotonous drivel blog. I plan for this to take the place of my original WP writers diary.
What is a writers diary? I'm so glad you asked. I have no idea, I think the answer would differ with each person you asked. For me its simply a place where I talk all things writing, from publishing options to the much dreaded writer's block.
I'm planning to move some of my previous posts over from WP. Only the best though :) So be sure to check back if you're at all interested. <--- If you noted the self-deprecating tone of that sentence let me say in my defense that I'm a writer and from what I know of writers we are some of the most insecure creatures alive. There are times when I write something so good that, no matter its platform (Facebook. Twitter. Blog.) or word count, I have a writers high that lasts hours. But what goes up, must come...
The crash is inevitable and it usually comes the following morning after rereading what I wrote the day before, yeah, the same sentence, paragraph, or chapter that had given me the high in the first place. I'm highly critical of myself, so sharing my writing (which admittedly needs improvement <---There I go again!) with others isn't something I do easily.
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