Charlie Stross on the latest bit of the debacle.
Speaking for myself only, I agree that Burt needs to resign. This was very badly handled. Sigh.
Kelly McCullough
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Interesting Article on Book Tours
I got this from another list. The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article about "Why Book Tours are Passe" that I thought y'all might like taking a look at. It confirms a lot of anecodatal information I'd heard from other authors. I've never actually been sent on a book tour myself, but, as we've written about here, I've sat through many unsuccessful signings.
Quick Re-Direct: Starting A Critique Group
Some of my students asked me about how to start a critique group, and I thought that I would share an article I wrote sometime ago for BroadUniverse's Broadsheet: The Writerly Art of Critiquing en Masse: A Guide to Finding, Running and Surviving Writers' Groups.
Here's a teaser:
Here's a teaser:
"A writers' group is a great way to feel like a writer without actually writing," my friend David Hoffman-Dachelet said at a panel we shared on critique groups a few years ago. At the time I was a member of a number of different groups, all of which I felt were working for me in different ways, but I found myself nodding my head in agreement. There is something seductive about the critique process. "Workshopping" feels very "writerly." You can tell yourself that thinking about the writing process is the same as practicing the craft. It's extremely easy to eat up the precious hours you carved out of your busy life composing detailed responses to other people's writing—not to mention all the time spent just reading the manuscripts! All the while, your great American novel gathers dust and sprouts red rot.
Yet I'd never give up my writers' groups. Never.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
More on Series/Ology and Outlines
Hi all,
I had a question about planning ahead and the WebMage world come in from a mentee via email and since it was relevant to several of the ongoing topics here I thought it might be something I should share.
How far in advance do (did) you plan what happens to your characters. Did you know most of the things early on, or did they come to you as time went by? For example, (J) wondered about Ravirn's name change.
That depends on the specifics and when I wrote a given book. I tend to know much more much earlier at this point in my writing career than I did early on.
So, Cybermancy was much more thoroughly plotted out than WebMage. I didn't know about the name change in WebMage until a couple of weeks before I wrote it, though I knew that I wanted Ravirn cast out of his family months beforehand--the name change was a detail triggered by listening to Jane Yolen on a panel about trickster characters.
In terms of the impact of the Raven thing on Cybemancy, I literally had no idea until I started writing Cybermancy, because at the time I wrote WebMage I had no plans for a sequel. I only started playing with the idea of a second book when my agent suggested I might want to think about that if the eventual publisher asked for one.
Likewise, when I finished Cybermancy I wasn't planning for more books, because the numbers hadn't started coming in, but very shortly thereafter WebMage hit and almost immediately went into a second printing and that suggested that is was something I should be thinking about. So, I figured out much of what I wanted to do with CodeSpell and MythOS the September after WebMage came out, though I didn't write the proposals for another two months.
Book V, assuming there is a one, is roughly plotted in terms of the highly technical "things what has to happen" model but not in terms of a sequence of events. The looseness of this process is in part because WebMage wasn't planned as a series and has just sort of grown and in part because it's an open ended series and not an ology.
So, the Black School books (an ology) were always planned as a three book arc, with me knowing the broad outlines of II and III before I ever started writing I. The proposal for II and III looks radically different in terms of specifics than it would have if I'd written it before writing I, but the big events and the arc are much the same as they always have been.
Further questions? Comments? What have you?
I had a question about planning ahead and the WebMage world come in from a mentee via email and since it was relevant to several of the ongoing topics here I thought it might be something I should share.
How far in advance do (did) you plan what happens to your characters. Did you know most of the things early on, or did they come to you as time went by? For example, (J) wondered about Ravirn's name change.
That depends on the specifics and when I wrote a given book. I tend to know much more much earlier at this point in my writing career than I did early on.
So, Cybermancy was much more thoroughly plotted out than WebMage. I didn't know about the name change in WebMage until a couple of weeks before I wrote it, though I knew that I wanted Ravirn cast out of his family months beforehand--the name change was a detail triggered by listening to Jane Yolen on a panel about trickster characters.
In terms of the impact of the Raven thing on Cybemancy, I literally had no idea until I started writing Cybermancy, because at the time I wrote WebMage I had no plans for a sequel. I only started playing with the idea of a second book when my agent suggested I might want to think about that if the eventual publisher asked for one.
Likewise, when I finished Cybermancy I wasn't planning for more books, because the numbers hadn't started coming in, but very shortly thereafter WebMage hit and almost immediately went into a second printing and that suggested that is was something I should be thinking about. So, I figured out much of what I wanted to do with CodeSpell and MythOS the September after WebMage came out, though I didn't write the proposals for another two months.
Book V, assuming there is a one, is roughly plotted in terms of the highly technical "things what has to happen" model but not in terms of a sequence of events. The looseness of this process is in part because WebMage wasn't planned as a series and has just sort of grown and in part because it's an open ended series and not an ology.
So, the Black School books (an ology) were always planned as a three book arc, with me knowing the broad outlines of II and III before I ever started writing I. The proposal for II and III looks radically different in terms of specifics than it would have if I'd written it before writing I, but the big events and the arc are much the same as they always have been.
Further questions? Comments? What have you?
The Problem of a Good Book
I finished a really great book the other day. I'd love to talk about it, but as a published author I don't always feel like I can. I started to talk about this problem over at SF Novelists: Writers as Readers or Worse (?) Fans. But, I'm not sure I had enough coffee to get to the heart of the issue, because more than just gushing to y'all about the positives of this book, what I really, REALLY want is a forum in which we could have meaningful dialogue about this book.
Those of you who have met me at various conventions know that there's nothing I like better than a good debate. I was raised a Unitarian Universalist and I often joke that for me coffee and an intellectual argument is a religious experience. One of my favorite things about fandom is that it puts me in rooms filled with people who read (and watch and play) the same stuff I do, so the chances are I can find someone to talk to about whatever I've just finished/discovered that I'm fired up about. I think most fans understand that you can be critical about the things you love, so they know I mean no disrespect when I note the lack of queer characters on Battlestar Galatica, etc. I still love the show. I don't have to say I love it over and over for anyone in the room to believe it. The fact that I've memorized scenes, have shown up to a panel about it, etc., shows my devotion. But, when an author criticizes another writer, it feels different -- even when what you might have to say comes from the fact that you loved the book... got so into it, in fact, that it became IMPORTANT enough to want to argue about it.
Normally, I'd ask myself "how would I feel if it were my book." But the golden rule doesn't work in this situation, because my skin has been made particularly tough by years of theatre training. An unfair review still hurts me, of course, but criticism that comes out of love bothers me a whole lot less. I might still be stung by what someone has to say, but I tend to see that sort of criticism as a challenge (in the most positive sense of that word.) I don't tend to take that stuff personally. I defend my work, but I don't transfer my passion to the critic.
But I know that I'm weird that way. And sometimes I just couldn't resist. I've used my blog (or Tate's) a couple of times as a forum to talk about books I loved -- though not unconditionally, and I think because all of us authors have "google alert" set to notify us of any mention of our names I may have made some authors cranky with me, despite the fact that I LOVED their books.
This is a really long way of saying I loved Jo Walton's FARTHING. You should go buy six copies and you should read it. Then we should get together for some coffee (or on a panel) and talk about it.
Those of you who have met me at various conventions know that there's nothing I like better than a good debate. I was raised a Unitarian Universalist and I often joke that for me coffee and an intellectual argument is a religious experience. One of my favorite things about fandom is that it puts me in rooms filled with people who read (and watch and play) the same stuff I do, so the chances are I can find someone to talk to about whatever I've just finished/discovered that I'm fired up about. I think most fans understand that you can be critical about the things you love, so they know I mean no disrespect when I note the lack of queer characters on Battlestar Galatica, etc. I still love the show. I don't have to say I love it over and over for anyone in the room to believe it. The fact that I've memorized scenes, have shown up to a panel about it, etc., shows my devotion. But, when an author criticizes another writer, it feels different -- even when what you might have to say comes from the fact that you loved the book... got so into it, in fact, that it became IMPORTANT enough to want to argue about it.
Normally, I'd ask myself "how would I feel if it were my book." But the golden rule doesn't work in this situation, because my skin has been made particularly tough by years of theatre training. An unfair review still hurts me, of course, but criticism that comes out of love bothers me a whole lot less. I might still be stung by what someone has to say, but I tend to see that sort of criticism as a challenge (in the most positive sense of that word.) I don't tend to take that stuff personally. I defend my work, but I don't transfer my passion to the critic.
But I know that I'm weird that way. And sometimes I just couldn't resist. I've used my blog (or Tate's) a couple of times as a forum to talk about books I loved -- though not unconditionally, and I think because all of us authors have "google alert" set to notify us of any mention of our names I may have made some authors cranky with me, despite the fact that I LOVED their books.
This is a really long way of saying I loved Jo Walton's FARTHING. You should go buy six copies and you should read it. Then we should get together for some coffee (or on a panel) and talk about it.
OT - Voice of London's Underground Fired
Emma Clarke, the voice that reminds tube riders to "mind the gap" in London's underground, has been fired for posting spoofs on her own website according to MetaFilter: The Voice of the Underground is Silenced.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Books I have Written or Tried to Write
Update: Oops, forgot to mention–I got this meme from Naomi who got it from jpsorrow.
01. 1990 Uriel
My first Urban Fantasy, a vampires and faeries book. From which I learned that: I can write a book. I can do it fast. I really like doing it. Rejection letters are not much fun, and this business is tougher than it looks. Oh, and that I am not Anne Rice, and that's a good thing. Status: Trunked for now.
02. 1991 The Swine Prince
High Fantasy Farce. Wizards and princes and thieves and gnomes. From which I learned that: Uriel was not a fluke. I can write funny. I still don't much like rejection. I am not Terry Pratchett, although I'm much closer to being Pratchett than I am to being Rice, and again, it's a good thing. Status: mostly rewritten to current standard. Needs a new first 10,000 words.
03. 1992/1993 The Assassin Mage
High Fantasy. Book I of III, wizard assassins. From which I learned that: I really really like this writing stuff. Rejections suck. This business is tough, but I'm going to make it if it kills me. Status: Trunked with the intent to rewrite it as a YA.
04. 1994 (Partial) Uprising
High Fantasy. Elves and dead gods. Shiny. From which I learned that: I maybe need to figure out why I'm not selling stuff (I wander off to do short stories for three years). I also learn that I am not Mercedes Lackey and that this is an exceptionally good thing. Status: Trunked for now.
05 1997 (Partial) Family Planning
A scene is written in which a bunch of really cool characters have intense and interesting dialog that implies many dark and wonderful things. I fall in love. It goes nowhere. From which I learned that: Loving a story doesn't mean knowing where it goes or how to write it. Status: This is one I will come back to.
06. 1998/1999 WebMage
What I sometimes call my senior project book. This is where I finished my writer's equivalent of college. (My real college experience finished when I got a BA in Theater in 1991) Cyberfantasy that will sell in 2005. I sold the short story, my first sale, Woot! I've written another story in the same world. It occurs to me that there might be a novel here. In a fit of optimism I plot it out and begin. From which I learned that: Writing short stories has taught me an enormous amount about plot, story, and only putting in what should be there. Also, I learn how to write subplot that supports the main plot and how to write theme. This is the book that gets me an agent, and that keeps a second one when my first agent closes up shop and offers a bunch of us to a fellow agent. Status: In print.
07. 2001 Winter of Discontent
Contemporary fantasy. Shakespeare, Richard III, MacBeth, A touch of Coriolanus and The Tempest. From which I learned that: I am still deeply in love with Shakespeare, care deeply about theater, and am not so fond of theater people. That handling 8 viewpoint characters is a real challenge. That writing about things you love is pure joy. That I can write 60,000 words in 30 days without breaking a sweat. That I am very interested in the idea of belief and how it shapes the world we see (sub this, that being the child of a schizophrenic may have something to do with same). That my agent may not always love everything I write, but that he'll support me wherever I go because he has faith in me and my work. I tend to think of this as my Master's thesis in writing. I'm still very much learning and mastering my craft. Status: Under submission.
08. 2002 Numismancer
Contemporary fantasy. Coin magic. The EU and the Euro. More belief and reality. My dissertation book. From which I learned: An awful lot about directed research. How to successfully transfer dream cool to book cool. That thinly fictionalized incidents from my life will sometimes read as less believable than stuff I simply make up. Status: Under submission.
09. 2003 The Urbana
Contemporary fantasy. Assume that the fey really did die out. What evolves to use all that magical energy? That's where this one started. From which I learned that: I can write a book that I'm not feeling one hundred percent enthused about because I know that a lot of my readers are likely to enjoy it. How to love what I'm writing on a day-to-day basis even when I'm not as enthused as I have been about other books. I'm really pleased with this book, and I think of it as my first truly professional novel. Status: On submission.
10. 2004 (Partial) Outside In
Contemporary dark fantasy, architecture magic. From which I learned that: I am much more interested in certain aspects of architecture and construction than my writers groups. That I need to rethink some of the structure of this book. That being depressed makes it much harder for me to sustain a book in the face of criticism. Status: Trunked for now.
11. 2004 (Partial) Ave Caesar
Mystery, cozy, theater. A departure for me, and one that I want to come back to. From which I learned that: If your early readers aren't familiar with mystery as a genre, you may have a problem. Writers groups that specialize in one genre are probably more effective than groups with lots of folks doing different things. Status: Trunked for now, but I'll come back to it.
12. 2005 Chalice book 1
Young adult contemporary fantasy–arts magic. From which I learned that: YA is a blast to write and that the shorter length is incredibly natural for me. Oh, and that I still feel deeply and deeply ambivalent about theater. Status: On submission as part of a tetrology.
13. 2006 Cybermancy
WebMage Book II. From which I learned that: I can write a second book in a series that wasn't supposed to be a series, just a stand-alone. That Greek myth matters deeply to me. That being paid and having deadlines are both really great motivators for me. That I really really like turning books in early. Status: In print.
14. 2006 The Black School
Young adult, alternate history, WWII, fantasy. From which I learned that: Everything I liked about YA last time goes double for this book. That my YA is much darker than my adult fiction. That anger at contemporary politics is a great motivator for me to write. That my writers group likes my dark stuff more than my funny stuff, or at least that they like these books more than anything else I've ever done. Status: On submission as part of a trilogy.
15. 2007 Codespell
WebMage III. From which I learned that: I can write an ongoing series and enjoy it. That I'm happier writing under contract from proposal than writing spec books. That my own assessment of how smoothly I'm writing doesn't necessarily agree with my readers–everybody else liked this book more than I did, and I could see why when I reread the copyedited manuscript. That I really like turning things in way early and that this makes my editor happy too. Status: In preprint, releases in June.
16. 2007 (currently unfinished) MythOS
WebMage IV. From which I learned that: I should feel free to make strong changes in an ongoing series as long as I talk to my editor and agent first (did that, they were quite happy with the proposal and hopefully they'll like the result as well). That I really want to write at least one more WebMage book after this one. Status: Under contract, half-complete, due October '08.
17. 2007 (currently unfinished) Duel of Mirrors
Contemporary fantasy with a humor edge. Hopefully this will be the logical successor to the WebMage books and will help build that thread of my writing brand. From which I learned that: It's always a joy to fall in love with a new book. That travel juices the heck out of my creative mind. That I become very difficult to talk to when I'm in composing mode. Status: Begun, in plotting phase–aiming for three chapters and an outline for proposal.
18. 2000-2004 Chonicles of the Wandering Star
Hard SF, YA, illustrated short-story collection/serial novel for the teaching of physical science. This one is unusual which is why it's down here out of order. It's a work for hire project that I wrote as part of National Science Foundation funded full year physical science curriculum. I was hired to develop a science-ficitonal context for the curriculum and to write shorts as teaching tools. Fun project. From which I learned that: If the pay is high enough, work-for-hire is a great deal. That I can write YA. That I can write 1,000 word short in an hour if I have to. That I can write that short to teach a specific science concept, and that I can do it well enough to make a goodly percentage of the students who read it happy. That deadlines and getting paid are great motivators for me. Status: In print.
01. 1990 Uriel
My first Urban Fantasy, a vampires and faeries book. From which I learned that: I can write a book. I can do it fast. I really like doing it. Rejection letters are not much fun, and this business is tougher than it looks. Oh, and that I am not Anne Rice, and that's a good thing. Status: Trunked for now.
02. 1991 The Swine Prince
High Fantasy Farce. Wizards and princes and thieves and gnomes. From which I learned that: Uriel was not a fluke. I can write funny. I still don't much like rejection. I am not Terry Pratchett, although I'm much closer to being Pratchett than I am to being Rice, and again, it's a good thing. Status: mostly rewritten to current standard. Needs a new first 10,000 words.
03. 1992/1993 The Assassin Mage
High Fantasy. Book I of III, wizard assassins. From which I learned that: I really really like this writing stuff. Rejections suck. This business is tough, but I'm going to make it if it kills me. Status: Trunked with the intent to rewrite it as a YA.
04. 1994 (Partial) Uprising
High Fantasy. Elves and dead gods. Shiny. From which I learned that: I maybe need to figure out why I'm not selling stuff (I wander off to do short stories for three years). I also learn that I am not Mercedes Lackey and that this is an exceptionally good thing. Status: Trunked for now.
05 1997 (Partial) Family Planning
A scene is written in which a bunch of really cool characters have intense and interesting dialog that implies many dark and wonderful things. I fall in love. It goes nowhere. From which I learned that: Loving a story doesn't mean knowing where it goes or how to write it. Status: This is one I will come back to.
06. 1998/1999 WebMage
What I sometimes call my senior project book. This is where I finished my writer's equivalent of college. (My real college experience finished when I got a BA in Theater in 1991) Cyberfantasy that will sell in 2005. I sold the short story, my first sale, Woot! I've written another story in the same world. It occurs to me that there might be a novel here. In a fit of optimism I plot it out and begin. From which I learned that: Writing short stories has taught me an enormous amount about plot, story, and only putting in what should be there. Also, I learn how to write subplot that supports the main plot and how to write theme. This is the book that gets me an agent, and that keeps a second one when my first agent closes up shop and offers a bunch of us to a fellow agent. Status: In print.
07. 2001 Winter of Discontent
Contemporary fantasy. Shakespeare, Richard III, MacBeth, A touch of Coriolanus and The Tempest. From which I learned that: I am still deeply in love with Shakespeare, care deeply about theater, and am not so fond of theater people. That handling 8 viewpoint characters is a real challenge. That writing about things you love is pure joy. That I can write 60,000 words in 30 days without breaking a sweat. That I am very interested in the idea of belief and how it shapes the world we see (sub this, that being the child of a schizophrenic may have something to do with same). That my agent may not always love everything I write, but that he'll support me wherever I go because he has faith in me and my work. I tend to think of this as my Master's thesis in writing. I'm still very much learning and mastering my craft. Status: Under submission.
08. 2002 Numismancer
Contemporary fantasy. Coin magic. The EU and the Euro. More belief and reality. My dissertation book. From which I learned: An awful lot about directed research. How to successfully transfer dream cool to book cool. That thinly fictionalized incidents from my life will sometimes read as less believable than stuff I simply make up. Status: Under submission.
09. 2003 The Urbana
Contemporary fantasy. Assume that the fey really did die out. What evolves to use all that magical energy? That's where this one started. From which I learned that: I can write a book that I'm not feeling one hundred percent enthused about because I know that a lot of my readers are likely to enjoy it. How to love what I'm writing on a day-to-day basis even when I'm not as enthused as I have been about other books. I'm really pleased with this book, and I think of it as my first truly professional novel. Status: On submission.
10. 2004 (Partial) Outside In
Contemporary dark fantasy, architecture magic. From which I learned that: I am much more interested in certain aspects of architecture and construction than my writers groups. That I need to rethink some of the structure of this book. That being depressed makes it much harder for me to sustain a book in the face of criticism. Status: Trunked for now.
11. 2004 (Partial) Ave Caesar
Mystery, cozy, theater. A departure for me, and one that I want to come back to. From which I learned that: If your early readers aren't familiar with mystery as a genre, you may have a problem. Writers groups that specialize in one genre are probably more effective than groups with lots of folks doing different things. Status: Trunked for now, but I'll come back to it.
12. 2005 Chalice book 1
Young adult contemporary fantasy–arts magic. From which I learned that: YA is a blast to write and that the shorter length is incredibly natural for me. Oh, and that I still feel deeply and deeply ambivalent about theater. Status: On submission as part of a tetrology.
13. 2006 Cybermancy
WebMage Book II. From which I learned that: I can write a second book in a series that wasn't supposed to be a series, just a stand-alone. That Greek myth matters deeply to me. That being paid and having deadlines are both really great motivators for me. That I really really like turning books in early. Status: In print.
14. 2006 The Black School
Young adult, alternate history, WWII, fantasy. From which I learned that: Everything I liked about YA last time goes double for this book. That my YA is much darker than my adult fiction. That anger at contemporary politics is a great motivator for me to write. That my writers group likes my dark stuff more than my funny stuff, or at least that they like these books more than anything else I've ever done. Status: On submission as part of a trilogy.
15. 2007 Codespell
WebMage III. From which I learned that: I can write an ongoing series and enjoy it. That I'm happier writing under contract from proposal than writing spec books. That my own assessment of how smoothly I'm writing doesn't necessarily agree with my readers–everybody else liked this book more than I did, and I could see why when I reread the copyedited manuscript. That I really like turning things in way early and that this makes my editor happy too. Status: In preprint, releases in June.
16. 2007 (currently unfinished) MythOS
WebMage IV. From which I learned that: I should feel free to make strong changes in an ongoing series as long as I talk to my editor and agent first (did that, they were quite happy with the proposal and hopefully they'll like the result as well). That I really want to write at least one more WebMage book after this one. Status: Under contract, half-complete, due October '08.
17. 2007 (currently unfinished) Duel of Mirrors
Contemporary fantasy with a humor edge. Hopefully this will be the logical successor to the WebMage books and will help build that thread of my writing brand. From which I learned that: It's always a joy to fall in love with a new book. That travel juices the heck out of my creative mind. That I become very difficult to talk to when I'm in composing mode. Status: Begun, in plotting phase–aiming for three chapters and an outline for proposal.
18. 2000-2004 Chonicles of the Wandering Star
Hard SF, YA, illustrated short-story collection/serial novel for the teaching of physical science. This one is unusual which is why it's down here out of order. It's a work for hire project that I wrote as part of National Science Foundation funded full year physical science curriculum. I was hired to develop a science-ficitonal context for the curriculum and to write shorts as teaching tools. Fun project. From which I learned that: If the pay is high enough, work-for-hire is a great deal. That I can write YA. That I can write 1,000 word short in an hour if I have to. That I can write that short to teach a specific science concept, and that I can do it well enough to make a goodly percentage of the students who read it happy. That deadlines and getting paid are great motivators for me. Status: In print.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
More OT Mindless Entertainment
This from the Associated Press (reprinted here at DailyCamera.com): Religion Scholars Meet to Discuss the Flying Spaghetti Monster Here's the opening paragraph:
When some of the world’s leading religious scholars gather in San Diego this weekend, pasta will be on the intellectual menu. They’ll be talking about a satirical pseudo-deity called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, whose growing pop culture fame gets laughs but also raises serious questions about the essence of religion.
Sometimes life is far stranger than anything we make up.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Fun Re-Direct
Today, WIRED Magazine currently has a Top-10 list of "Star Trek's Cheesiest Classic Critters" y'all might enjoy as a holiday treat.
Thus, if you please, settle back on the day before turkey day and ponder the meaning of "No Kill I" and other Trek gems.
SF&F Prose Poem/Flash Fiction Contest
This one from BroadUniverse:
Odyssey Con, a science fiction convention in Madison, WI, is sponsoring a contest for 500 words or less, paragraph form, to be judged by Bruce Boston. Preliminary details can be viewed at http://fibitz.com/oddcontest.html. $500 to winner; $10 entry fee. PayPal should be available on the OddCon site by December 1, but you can also mail a check or money order.
Odyssey Con, a science fiction convention in Madison, WI, is sponsoring a contest for 500 words or less, paragraph form, to be judged by Bruce Boston. Preliminary details can be viewed at http://fibitz.com/oddcontest.html. $500 to winner; $10 entry fee. PayPal should be available on the OddCon site by December 1, but you can also mail a check or money order.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Running Mostly Silent
Due to an insane October I've fallen behind my* schedule for MythOS, so I'm going to have to mostly drop off the face of the Earth for a bit. I've got some blog stuff percolating, and will probably throw out the bits as they ripen, so I won't be gone completely, but I will have a reduced posting presence for a bit.
On the blog back burner: Kelly's Rules for Writers, Or Publishing 101. Books I Have Written or Tried to Write (17, how did that happen?). Synopses, Lessons Learned from My Students. More on Series and Ologies. Raising the Stakes. Combat Scenes and Sex Scene--A Double Headed Coin?
TTFN,
Kelly
*Update: It should probably be noted that my schedule is seriously in advance of my publisher's, and I'm not in danger of turning in late, or even less than a couple of months early.
On the blog back burner: Kelly's Rules for Writers, Or Publishing 101. Books I Have Written or Tried to Write (17, how did that happen?). Synopses, Lessons Learned from My Students. More on Series and Ologies. Raising the Stakes. Combat Scenes and Sex Scene--A Double Headed Coin?
TTFN,
Kelly
*Update: It should probably be noted that my schedule is seriously in advance of my publisher's, and I'm not in danger of turning in late, or even less than a couple of months early.
A Couple of Fun Anthology Markets
I found these via my subscription to Gila Queen's Guide to Markets. They pay well, for once, and I thought people might be interested in seeing them:
------------------------------------
Warrior Wisewoman—see E-mail address. Editor: Roby James. "Warrior Wisewoman is a new annual anthology series of science fiction featuring powerful and remarkable women, to be published by Norilana Books starting in 2008. The anthology is intended as a sister volume to the Sword and Sorceress fantasy series, with the main difference being that the story themes will involve science fiction instead of fantasy. They will be intended for a more mature audience, allowing a mixture of serious contemporary issues and reasonable sexual content (but no erotica) in addition to action and adventure. The stories will have a stronger focus on the interface between scientific exploration and our sense of wonder."
"I am looking for stories that shed light on the truth of what it means to be female, that illuminate the wisdom and the strength of a woman, but not in cliché 'goddess' stories. I love action and adventure, grand space opera, thrilling discovery, and intelligent protagonists. Make the story thoughtful, wise, and surprising, not merely the same old metal spaceship hull filled with cardboard military uniforms with female names 'barking' orders and firing at aliens. In addition, the stories in the anthology should appeal to genuine emotions, suspense, fear, sorrow, delight, wonder. The science can be part of the background and the characters foremost, or the science can be central to the story, as long as the characters are realistic and appealing."
"This is science fiction, but I also welcome stories of spiritual exploration, looking at the bond between the scientific and the divine. I want to see how a woman survives tragedy and disaster, overcomes impossible odds, achieves her true potential, or goes on to thrive in a marvelous universe of so many possibilities, using what is inside her, as well as what she finds in the laboratory, the alien planet, or space itself."
"The stories should contain the question of 'what if' on some level. And they should have a woman answer it."
To 10,000 words, "with longer stories having to be exceptional"; pays 2¢/word + pro rata share of royalties + copy; on acceptance, for "First English Language Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights. The anthology will be published by Norilana Books in a trade paperback edition in June 2008, to be followed by an electronic edition to be produced later."
How to Submit: "Submissions are electronic only. Please submit your story as a Word (.DOC or .RTF) attachment to your E-mail. The subject line of your E-mail should say ‘Submission: Story Title, last name of author.’ Also, include a brief cover letter. It should have your full name, address, E-mail address, title of story, number of words, and brief biographical information in case we don't know you, with most recent publishing credits, if applicable. We are open to new writers and seasoned veterans alike."
[E-mail: roby.james@comcast.net]. Deadline: January 31, 2008.
-------------------------------------------
Unspeakable Horror: from the Shadows of the Closet—Dark Scribe Press; See Web site. Editors: Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder. "Format: Trade paperback, possible hard cover limited-edition."
"Dark Scribe Press is seeking short story submissions for an anthology of queer horror tales. We are looking for edgy, provocative dark genre fiction—horror and dark psychological suspense only. We are not interested in science fiction/fantasy or mystery for this anthology. We're looking for stories about those terrors that populate the closets of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. Terrors can be of any shape, size, and theme—supernatural, psychopaths and slashers, vampires, werewolves, zombies, urban legends, ghosts, witchcraft, demons, and original horrors of any kind."
"At the heart of all submissions must be a distinct queer theme running through the fabric of the story—stories that represent the harmful effects of repression, the manifestation of homophobia (both internal and external), childhood anxieties that run parallel to sexual orientation and the coming out process, and any other well-conceived and executed queer theme."
"At Dark Scribe Press, we believe that horror is meant to unnerve, disquiet, and strike deeply at the darkest places in readers' hearts. We believe that writers should never be restricted within the established genre limitations and should feel comfortable offering up their darkest tales. As the publisher, if we don't like it or it's not a right fit for a particular anthology, we'll simply politely pass on the submission. Taboo and edgy subject matters are welcome if handled in a literary manner—nothing is off limits if well executed and compelling. Stories may include explicit sex and erotic elements if well-integrated into the tale itself—we are not looking for a subtle ghost story with a raunchy sex scene inserted into the middle of it. Please avoid clichés—unless you have a fresh queer twist or perspective to offer."
"E-mail queries only. Please note some helpful E-mail query guidelines here. As with all Dark Scribe Press calls for submissions, your query represents our first impression of you and your story. Avoid rattling off an abstract to us in an informal E-mail—chances are we'll pass. We're looking to see that writers have given thought to their story and have the ability to articulate those thoughts."
"Queries can be E-mailed to [E-mail address below]. Once a query receives the green light, the deadline for actual submissions is June 30, 2008. Please put Query/Anthology in the subject line of all E-mails to help us efficiently route your E-mail. Kindly note that queries with attachments will be deleted; do not send your story until you have queried us first."
"Format guidelines will be E-mailed upon our response to your initial query."
1000–7500 words; pays 5¢/word, on acceptance for FNASR. "Anthology is slated for fourth quarter 2008 publication—subject to change."
"No simultaneous submissions and no reprints." [E-mail: Queries until May 15, 2008: publisher@darkscribepress.com; http://www.DarkScribePress.com]. RT—30–60 days on queries and submissions.
------------------------------------
Warrior Wisewoman—see E-mail address. Editor: Roby James. "Warrior Wisewoman is a new annual anthology series of science fiction featuring powerful and remarkable women, to be published by Norilana Books starting in 2008. The anthology is intended as a sister volume to the Sword and Sorceress fantasy series, with the main difference being that the story themes will involve science fiction instead of fantasy. They will be intended for a more mature audience, allowing a mixture of serious contemporary issues and reasonable sexual content (but no erotica) in addition to action and adventure. The stories will have a stronger focus on the interface between scientific exploration and our sense of wonder."
"I am looking for stories that shed light on the truth of what it means to be female, that illuminate the wisdom and the strength of a woman, but not in cliché 'goddess' stories. I love action and adventure, grand space opera, thrilling discovery, and intelligent protagonists. Make the story thoughtful, wise, and surprising, not merely the same old metal spaceship hull filled with cardboard military uniforms with female names 'barking' orders and firing at aliens. In addition, the stories in the anthology should appeal to genuine emotions, suspense, fear, sorrow, delight, wonder. The science can be part of the background and the characters foremost, or the science can be central to the story, as long as the characters are realistic and appealing."
"This is science fiction, but I also welcome stories of spiritual exploration, looking at the bond between the scientific and the divine. I want to see how a woman survives tragedy and disaster, overcomes impossible odds, achieves her true potential, or goes on to thrive in a marvelous universe of so many possibilities, using what is inside her, as well as what she finds in the laboratory, the alien planet, or space itself."
"The stories should contain the question of 'what if' on some level. And they should have a woman answer it."
To 10,000 words, "with longer stories having to be exceptional"; pays 2¢/word + pro rata share of royalties + copy; on acceptance, for "First English Language Rights and non-exclusive electronic rights. The anthology will be published by Norilana Books in a trade paperback edition in June 2008, to be followed by an electronic edition to be produced later."
How to Submit: "Submissions are electronic only. Please submit your story as a Word (.DOC or .RTF) attachment to your E-mail. The subject line of your E-mail should say ‘Submission: Story Title, last name of author.’ Also, include a brief cover letter. It should have your full name, address, E-mail address, title of story, number of words, and brief biographical information in case we don't know you, with most recent publishing credits, if applicable. We are open to new writers and seasoned veterans alike."
[E-mail: roby.james@comcast.net]. Deadline: January 31, 2008.
-------------------------------------------
Unspeakable Horror: from the Shadows of the Closet—Dark Scribe Press; See Web site. Editors: Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder. "Format: Trade paperback, possible hard cover limited-edition."
"Dark Scribe Press is seeking short story submissions for an anthology of queer horror tales. We are looking for edgy, provocative dark genre fiction—horror and dark psychological suspense only. We are not interested in science fiction/fantasy or mystery for this anthology. We're looking for stories about those terrors that populate the closets of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals. Terrors can be of any shape, size, and theme—supernatural, psychopaths and slashers, vampires, werewolves, zombies, urban legends, ghosts, witchcraft, demons, and original horrors of any kind."
"At the heart of all submissions must be a distinct queer theme running through the fabric of the story—stories that represent the harmful effects of repression, the manifestation of homophobia (both internal and external), childhood anxieties that run parallel to sexual orientation and the coming out process, and any other well-conceived and executed queer theme."
"At Dark Scribe Press, we believe that horror is meant to unnerve, disquiet, and strike deeply at the darkest places in readers' hearts. We believe that writers should never be restricted within the established genre limitations and should feel comfortable offering up their darkest tales. As the publisher, if we don't like it or it's not a right fit for a particular anthology, we'll simply politely pass on the submission. Taboo and edgy subject matters are welcome if handled in a literary manner—nothing is off limits if well executed and compelling. Stories may include explicit sex and erotic elements if well-integrated into the tale itself—we are not looking for a subtle ghost story with a raunchy sex scene inserted into the middle of it. Please avoid clichés—unless you have a fresh queer twist or perspective to offer."
"E-mail queries only. Please note some helpful E-mail query guidelines here. As with all Dark Scribe Press calls for submissions, your query represents our first impression of you and your story. Avoid rattling off an abstract to us in an informal E-mail—chances are we'll pass. We're looking to see that writers have given thought to their story and have the ability to articulate those thoughts."
"Queries can be E-mailed to [E-mail address below]. Once a query receives the green light, the deadline for actual submissions is June 30, 2008. Please put Query/Anthology in the subject line of all E-mails to help us efficiently route your E-mail. Kindly note that queries with attachments will be deleted; do not send your story until you have queried us first."
"Format guidelines will be E-mailed upon our response to your initial query."
1000–7500 words; pays 5¢/word, on acceptance for FNASR. "Anthology is slated for fourth quarter 2008 publication—subject to change."
"No simultaneous submissions and no reprints." [E-mail: Queries until May 15, 2008: publisher@darkscribepress.com; http://www.DarkScribePress.com]. RT—30–60 days on queries and submissions.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Wyrdsmiths Birthdays
Wyrdsmiths itself celebrated an anniversary in September, but mid-November sees some of our members turning another year older, including:
Tate Hallaway
Lyda Morehouse
Okay, so those are the same person, but I'm just a hog for birthday wishes.
Tate Hallaway
Lyda Morehouse
Okay, so those are the same person, but I'm just a hog for birthday wishes.
The Trouble with Names
The big (read: enormous) project that I'm working on at the moment, Magi, is a novel retelling the life of Jesus. (Yes, I know it's been done before, many times.) The issue of the names in the story has come up several times, both in Wyrdsmiths and in the years preceeding my entrance into the group. This is a complex story with a large number of characters, quite a few of whom get reasonable on screen time and end up being integral to the story. Also, they aren't characters I can "cut out" as it were--this is a very well-known story, so there are certain givens.
So there are a lot of characters for the reader to follow. Additionally, I am writing this as something of an international intrigue, and there are a number of plot threads for the reader to follow. Also, since I am using this as a vehicle for an argument about the merging of cultures, there are a number of myth-tropes that must be involved. It's a lot to follow.
So the difficulty with the names is this: They weren't Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; they were Yeshua, Miryam, and Josef. Easy enough, right? But what about when I get into the disciples? Natanel bar Talamai, Yaakov bar Zavdi, or Yehudah Ish-Kriyot? That becomes potentially problematic. The reader already has something on the order of fifty recognizable characters to keep track of (some of whom have exceedingly similar names--think "Mary"), along with a host of other characters as well as plot threads and timelines to manage--plenty of work. To have to sort through all that while trying to hold on to unfamiliar monikers from an unfamiliar language (or three) is, potentially, asking too much.
And yet, something feels off about using the exceedingly loaded and somewhat inaccurate name "Jesus".
The argument has been made for consistency across the board, and it's one I have a fair bit of belief in myself. And I want to be as accurate to the time and to the original stories as possible. But even I balk at this litany of names, and I am truly concerned that people will get confused and put the book down.
Is this just me not trusting the reader? People read the original Bible stories all the time--with all of its many characters--and while they don't memorize the whole thing and it's variations, they do know more or less that "Peter, James, and John" are big name disciples. But will they get ahold of "Petros, Yaakov, and Yochanan", or will they spend the whole time trying to relate this story back to what they already know, translating "Yochanan" to "John" every time it shows up?
Here is a very incomplete list of some of the names in question:
Jesus = Yeshua
Mary = Miryam
Joseph = Yosef
James = Yaakov
Joses = Yosei
Judas = Yehudah
Simon = Shimon
Simon [Peter] (b. Jonah) = Shimon, Petros, Cephas (Rock)
Andrew (b. Jonah) = Andrai
James (b. Zeb.) = Yaakov (bar Zavdi) [B'nai Ragesh]
John (b. Zeb.) = Yochanan (bar Zavdi) [B'nai Ragesh]
Philip = Pilipos
Nathaniel (Bar-tholemew) = Natanel (bar Talmai)
Matthew (b. Alpheus haLevi) = Matityahu
Thomas, Didymus = Toma
James (b. Alpheus) = Yaakov (bar Chalphi)
Thaddeus = Tadai
Simon [the Zealot] = Shimon
Judas Iscariot = Yehudah (Ish Kriot)
Mary = Miryam
Martha = Marta
Lazarus = Elezar
Mary Magdalene = Miryam ha-Magdalit
The suggestion has been made to use the accurate names, whever possible. Likewise, to use entirely the recognizable names that people are familiar with. And also the option has arisen to use all the recognizable names with the sole exception of Yeshua, suggesting that this is the same story they already know, but different, too.
And I am entirely too close to this project to adequately judge the answers. I know these stories pretty much inside and out, and the minor details that most people didn't even notice their first time through, so I can follow any number of variations without losing touch with the main story. So I'm asking you, dear reader--what works for you?
So there are a lot of characters for the reader to follow. Additionally, I am writing this as something of an international intrigue, and there are a number of plot threads for the reader to follow. Also, since I am using this as a vehicle for an argument about the merging of cultures, there are a number of myth-tropes that must be involved. It's a lot to follow.
So the difficulty with the names is this: They weren't Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; they were Yeshua, Miryam, and Josef. Easy enough, right? But what about when I get into the disciples? Natanel bar Talamai, Yaakov bar Zavdi, or Yehudah Ish-Kriyot? That becomes potentially problematic. The reader already has something on the order of fifty recognizable characters to keep track of (some of whom have exceedingly similar names--think "Mary"), along with a host of other characters as well as plot threads and timelines to manage--plenty of work. To have to sort through all that while trying to hold on to unfamiliar monikers from an unfamiliar language (or three) is, potentially, asking too much.
And yet, something feels off about using the exceedingly loaded and somewhat inaccurate name "Jesus".
The argument has been made for consistency across the board, and it's one I have a fair bit of belief in myself. And I want to be as accurate to the time and to the original stories as possible. But even I balk at this litany of names, and I am truly concerned that people will get confused and put the book down.
Is this just me not trusting the reader? People read the original Bible stories all the time--with all of its many characters--and while they don't memorize the whole thing and it's variations, they do know more or less that "Peter, James, and John" are big name disciples. But will they get ahold of "Petros, Yaakov, and Yochanan", or will they spend the whole time trying to relate this story back to what they already know, translating "Yochanan" to "John" every time it shows up?
Here is a very incomplete list of some of the names in question:
Jesus = Yeshua
Mary = Miryam
Joseph = Yosef
James = Yaakov
Joses = Yosei
Judas = Yehudah
Simon = Shimon
Simon [Peter] (b. Jonah) = Shimon, Petros, Cephas (Rock)
Andrew (b. Jonah) = Andrai
James (b. Zeb.) = Yaakov (bar Zavdi) [B'nai Ragesh]
John (b. Zeb.) = Yochanan (bar Zavdi) [B'nai Ragesh]
Philip = Pilipos
Nathaniel (Bar-tholemew) = Natanel (bar Talmai)
Matthew (b. Alpheus haLevi) = Matityahu
Thomas, Didymus = Toma
James (b. Alpheus) = Yaakov (bar Chalphi)
Thaddeus = Tadai
Simon [the Zealot] = Shimon
Judas Iscariot = Yehudah (Ish Kriot)
Mary = Miryam
Martha = Marta
Lazarus = Elezar
Mary Magdalene = Miryam ha-Magdalit
The suggestion has been made to use the accurate names, whever possible. Likewise, to use entirely the recognizable names that people are familiar with. And also the option has arisen to use all the recognizable names with the sole exception of Yeshua, suggesting that this is the same story they already know, but different, too.
And I am entirely too close to this project to adequately judge the answers. I know these stories pretty much inside and out, and the minor details that most people didn't even notice their first time through, so I can follow any number of variations without losing touch with the main story. So I'm asking you, dear reader--what works for you?
Saturday, November 17, 2007
More WGA strike
If you feeling like helping the WGA you can make a call or write a letter to the studios. Here's an article on the subject with excerpts below. And here's that contact info:
Anne Sweeney, President, Disney-ABC Television Group: 818-560-1000
The Walt Disney Company, 500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank CA 91521
Kevin Reilly, President, Fox Entertainment: 310-369-1000
Fox Broadcasting, 10201 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Bruce Rosenblum, President, Warner Bros. Television Group: 818-954-6000
Warner Bros Studios, 3400 Riverside Drive
Burbank, CA 91505
Philippe Dauman, President/CEO, Viacom: 212-258-6000
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
Leslie Moonves, President/CEO, CBS Corporation: 212-975-4321
CBS, 51 West 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019
Jeff Zucker, President/CEO, NBC Universal: 818-777-1000
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
Points to make:
1. Writers are asking for fair compensation when content is streamed or downloaded on the Internet. Right now, writers are getting ZERO. Publishers claims that everything on-line is only promotional are just bogus--they are selling advertising on-line!!!
2. The media business is healthy. CEOs brag to Wall Street that they are making money from new media--all the better to raise money and keep the share price going up (which helps CEOs profit from generous stock options they are given) but they are hypocritically crying poverty when it comes to paying writers.
3. If you need to, you can use these statistics to show how profitable media companies are and how well the CEOs are being compensated.
Anne Sweeney, President, Disney-ABC Television Group: 818-560-1000
The Walt Disney Company, 500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank CA 91521
Kevin Reilly, President, Fox Entertainment: 310-369-1000
Fox Broadcasting, 10201 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Bruce Rosenblum, President, Warner Bros. Television Group: 818-954-6000
Warner Bros Studios, 3400 Riverside Drive
Burbank, CA 91505
Philippe Dauman, President/CEO, Viacom: 212-258-6000
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
Leslie Moonves, President/CEO, CBS Corporation: 212-975-4321
CBS, 51 West 52nd St.
New York, NY 10019
Jeff Zucker, President/CEO, NBC Universal: 818-777-1000
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608
Points to make:
1. Writers are asking for fair compensation when content is streamed or downloaded on the Internet. Right now, writers are getting ZERO. Publishers claims that everything on-line is only promotional are just bogus--they are selling advertising on-line!!!
2. The media business is healthy. CEOs brag to Wall Street that they are making money from new media--all the better to raise money and keep the share price going up (which helps CEOs profit from generous stock options they are given) but they are hypocritically crying poverty when it comes to paying writers.
3. If you need to, you can use these statistics to show how profitable media companies are and how well the CEOs are being compensated.
Friday, November 16, 2007
ML Indices Update Jan-April 2006
Writers Index updates:
Copyright
"The life expectancies of books. An essay on shelf life, afterlife, immortal prose, and how that interacts with extension of copyright to ludicrous lengths. Immortal books are very very very rare, and not a good model for law. 235 comments Jan, 2006.
Perpetual copyright, a perpetually bad idea. 348 comments Feb, 2006.
Fanfic
Star Wars fanfic writer makes grave copyright error and publishes and attempts to sell unauthorized novel-length Star Wars fic. 211 comments Apr, 2006.
Teresa commenting on the nature and (very long) history of fanfic. Very smart stuff. 893 comments Apr, 2006.
Literary Scams
The Screenplay Agency and fee charging scams, an analysis. 94 comments Feb, 2006.
"The perfect uselessness of Warren Whitlock" A truly dizzying mix of literary and general scammer and purveyor of bad advice for authors is taken apart in detail. 261 comments Mar, 2006.
Teresa singles out Barbara Bauer as the "Dumbest of the Twenty Worst" agents when BB starts throwing around legal threats. Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware posted WB’s list of the 20 Worst (literary) Agents, one of whom (BB)decided to stop into various venues on the web, which has the side effect of drawing all kinds of google juice to her place on said list. 124 comments Apr, 2006. The action continues when BB mistakes Making Light for an official Tor website and threatens legal action against Tor's parent company. 75 comments Apr, 2006.
"Tina Adams wants to sell you something"...bad advice on writing romance. A selling the sekrit formula for success scheme. As usual with these things Tina hasn't ever actually had any of the success she claims to sell. 133 comments Apr, 2006.
Publishing Industry
In publishing non-fiction/=true, an industry oriented discussion in light of the James Frey mess. 242 comments Jan, 2006.
Submission, Rejection and the Slushpile
A decisive takedown of the the old standard “test,” where someone retypes a published book and sends it around to various publishers and agents. To what should be no one’s surprise, it’s rejected all over town. 151 comments Jan, 2006.
Writing Craft
Fantastic post linking to an article on “Economy and efficiency as motivations in fiction”. In essence it talks about the problem of the evil overlord and the really inefficient mechanism for achieving his plans, and applies the argument much more broadly. Teresa adds a great discussion of why this happens. Go, read the whole thing. It's really useful. 388 comments Jan, 2006.
General Index updates:
Administrative/In the Beginning
New linking script added to fight comment spam. 40 comments Mar, 2006.
Civil Rights and Liberties
Gore on the false security vs. freedom meme and defending the constitution. 138 comments Jan, 2006.
Copyright/Patent/Trademark
A whimsical take on poor man's copyright (mailing a copy to yourself and leaving it unopened) and it's pretty much complete lack of effectiveness beyond the strictures of copyright already provided from the minute you set stuff down on the page. 36 comments Sep, 2005.
"The life expectancies of books. An essay on shelf life, afterlife, immortal prose, and how that interacts with extension of copyright to ludicrous lengths. Immortal books are very very very rare, and not a good model for law. 235 comments Jan, 2006.
Perpetual copyright, a perpetually bad idea. 348 comments Feb, 2006.
Corporate "citizens", dystopia, and the DC/Marvel attempted rights grab on the term "superhero." 129 comments Mar, 2006.
Fandom
Star Wars fanfic writer makes grave copyright error and publishes and attempts to sell unauthorized novel-length Star Wars fic. 211 comments Apr, 2006.
Teresa commenting on the nature and (very long) history of fanfic. Very smart stuff. 893 comments Apr, 2006.
Hamsters
Arthur the hamster RIP. 71 comments Feb, 2006.
Hamster tubes and the mysteries of their disassembly. 72 comments Mar, 2006.
Hamster dreaming? Life with young Porco Bruno. 43 comments Apr, 2006.
Internet Discourse
Teresa stumbles upon a how to guide for conservative trolls. She's not very impressed. 92 comments Apr, 2006.
"Blog" a blank slate post a bit over a year before I independently put up something very similar in my Generic Universal Blog Post. Which just goes to show there's no such thing as a new idea. 327 comments, Apr 2006.
Iran
Rice Warmongering Iran 148 comments Mar, 2006.
Iraq/Afghanistan Wars
The anniversary of Mai Lai and lessons for Iraq. 44 comments Mar, 2006.
The bio-warfare trailers debunked. The ones used as a justification for our invasion of Iraq. Teresa concludes there are only three reasons to continue supporting Bush: 1. You’re stupid. 2. You know there’s no excuse, but you’re too dishonest and unpatriotic to say so. 3. You’re bound by solemn oath to make a public show of supporting him (i.e., you’re in the military, and your job requires it). 104 comments Apr, 2006.
A whole of (retired) generals call for the removal of Rumsfeld. 153 comments Apr, 2006.
Linky Posts
April Fools links. 37 comments Apr, 2006.
Medicine/Emergency Response
Ralph @%#$#%@$ Nader for non-political reasons this time. Got one of the better Narcolepsy medicines killed. 644 comments Jan, 2006.
Jim on Flu pre-packs–see also go bags, etc. 85 comments Jan, 2005.
Jim on Ralph Nader and Public Citizen playing unwanted nanny once again and trying to kill of one of the more effective pain killers. 92 comments Feb, 2006.
Mourning
David Stemple. 32 comments Mar, 2006.
Poetry
A Limerick definition of poetry as part of a post on Patric heading for Dublin. 65 comments Mar, 2006.
Politics
Canadian territorial waters in light of a melting arctic. Made fabulous by the quote Patric notes as part of the post: As Jim Henley once observed in a post I can’t seem to track down, you know those people all over the world who get pissed off at overbearing, grabby Americans? Like all those Iraqis with rifles and IEDs? Those people are often conservatives, the local variety, devoted to home and turf. Only American “conservatives” are airheaded enough to think that “conservative” automatically means “in favor of the continuing power, glory, and wealth of the United States.” 110 comments Jan, 2006.
When and how did one the chief functions of a democratic government–responding to the will of the people–become "pandering?" Great observation. 51 comments Jan, 2005
Using members of the military as political props–immoral and illegal a Presidential twofer. 115 comments Mar, 2006.
Bush claims to have never linked September 11th with Iraq. Argh. 69 comments Mar, 2006.
"Jane Smiley’s “Notes for Converts”" For Johnny-come-latelies to the world of opposing Bush and his policies. Bush doesn't care about you, your opinion, or the truth or falsity of words that come out of his mouth. 150 comments Mar, 2006.
Religion
St. Patrick's Day and St. Patrick in history. 43 comments Mar, 2006.
Scams
The Screenplay Agency and fee charging scams, an analysis. 94 comments Feb, 2006.
"The perfect uselessness of Warren Whitlock" A truly dizzying mix of literary and general scammer and purveyor of bad advice for authors is taken apart in detail. 261 comments Mar, 2006.
Teresa singles out Barbara Bauer as the "Dumbest of the Twenty Worst" agents when BB starts throwing around legal threats. Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware posted WB’s list of the 20 Worst (literary) Agents, one of whom (BB)decided to stop into various venues on the web, which has the side effect of drawing all kinds of google juice to her place on said list. 124 comments Apr, 2006. The action continues when BB mistakes Making Light for an official Tor website and threatens legal action against Tor's parent company. 75 comments Apr, 2006.
"Tina Adams wants to sell you something"...bad advice on writing romance. A selling the sekrit formula for success scheme. As usual with these things Tina hasn't ever actually had any of the success she claims to sell. 133 comments Apr, 2006.
War on Terra
"War on Terror, War on Drugs, same diff" That quote from the first post in the thread pretty much sums up the bad idea of using the Patriot Act to regulate Sudafed. 111 comments Mar, 2006.
Wingnuttery
Claiming the right not to be educated. It's not censorship, but it's an ugly page drawn from the same book. Arizona Senate votes to allow students not to read things they might find offensive. Heaven forfend someone might get their mind expanded. 311 comments Feb, 2006.
Jim dismantles a wingnut email meme in detail. This wingnut defends desecration of the Koran because of the War on Terra. 133 comments Mar, 2006.
Uncategorized (Thus Far)
"Darwin fish found" Transitional fossil week. 223 comments Apr, 2006.
Copyright
"The life expectancies of books. An essay on shelf life, afterlife, immortal prose, and how that interacts with extension of copyright to ludicrous lengths. Immortal books are very very very rare, and not a good model for law. 235 comments Jan, 2006.
Perpetual copyright, a perpetually bad idea. 348 comments Feb, 2006.
Fanfic
Star Wars fanfic writer makes grave copyright error and publishes and attempts to sell unauthorized novel-length Star Wars fic. 211 comments Apr, 2006.
Teresa commenting on the nature and (very long) history of fanfic. Very smart stuff. 893 comments Apr, 2006.
Literary Scams
The Screenplay Agency and fee charging scams, an analysis. 94 comments Feb, 2006.
"The perfect uselessness of Warren Whitlock" A truly dizzying mix of literary and general scammer and purveyor of bad advice for authors is taken apart in detail. 261 comments Mar, 2006.
Teresa singles out Barbara Bauer as the "Dumbest of the Twenty Worst" agents when BB starts throwing around legal threats. Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware posted WB’s list of the 20 Worst (literary) Agents, one of whom (BB)decided to stop into various venues on the web, which has the side effect of drawing all kinds of google juice to her place on said list. 124 comments Apr, 2006. The action continues when BB mistakes Making Light for an official Tor website and threatens legal action against Tor's parent company. 75 comments Apr, 2006.
"Tina Adams wants to sell you something"...bad advice on writing romance. A selling the sekrit formula for success scheme. As usual with these things Tina hasn't ever actually had any of the success she claims to sell. 133 comments Apr, 2006.
Publishing Industry
In publishing non-fiction/=true, an industry oriented discussion in light of the James Frey mess. 242 comments Jan, 2006.
Submission, Rejection and the Slushpile
A decisive takedown of the the old standard “test,” where someone retypes a published book and sends it around to various publishers and agents. To what should be no one’s surprise, it’s rejected all over town. 151 comments Jan, 2006.
Writing Craft
Fantastic post linking to an article on “Economy and efficiency as motivations in fiction”. In essence it talks about the problem of the evil overlord and the really inefficient mechanism for achieving his plans, and applies the argument much more broadly. Teresa adds a great discussion of why this happens. Go, read the whole thing. It's really useful. 388 comments Jan, 2006.
General Index updates:
Administrative/In the Beginning
New linking script added to fight comment spam. 40 comments Mar, 2006.
Civil Rights and Liberties
Gore on the false security vs. freedom meme and defending the constitution. 138 comments Jan, 2006.
Copyright/Patent/Trademark
A whimsical take on poor man's copyright (mailing a copy to yourself and leaving it unopened) and it's pretty much complete lack of effectiveness beyond the strictures of copyright already provided from the minute you set stuff down on the page. 36 comments Sep, 2005.
"The life expectancies of books. An essay on shelf life, afterlife, immortal prose, and how that interacts with extension of copyright to ludicrous lengths. Immortal books are very very very rare, and not a good model for law. 235 comments Jan, 2006.
Perpetual copyright, a perpetually bad idea. 348 comments Feb, 2006.
Corporate "citizens", dystopia, and the DC/Marvel attempted rights grab on the term "superhero." 129 comments Mar, 2006.
Fandom
Star Wars fanfic writer makes grave copyright error and publishes and attempts to sell unauthorized novel-length Star Wars fic. 211 comments Apr, 2006.
Teresa commenting on the nature and (very long) history of fanfic. Very smart stuff. 893 comments Apr, 2006.
Hamsters
Arthur the hamster RIP. 71 comments Feb, 2006.
Hamster tubes and the mysteries of their disassembly. 72 comments Mar, 2006.
Hamster dreaming? Life with young Porco Bruno. 43 comments Apr, 2006.
Internet Discourse
Teresa stumbles upon a how to guide for conservative trolls. She's not very impressed. 92 comments Apr, 2006.
"Blog" a blank slate post a bit over a year before I independently put up something very similar in my Generic Universal Blog Post. Which just goes to show there's no such thing as a new idea. 327 comments, Apr 2006.
Iran
Rice Warmongering Iran 148 comments Mar, 2006.
Iraq/Afghanistan Wars
The anniversary of Mai Lai and lessons for Iraq. 44 comments Mar, 2006.
The bio-warfare trailers debunked. The ones used as a justification for our invasion of Iraq. Teresa concludes there are only three reasons to continue supporting Bush: 1. You’re stupid. 2. You know there’s no excuse, but you’re too dishonest and unpatriotic to say so. 3. You’re bound by solemn oath to make a public show of supporting him (i.e., you’re in the military, and your job requires it). 104 comments Apr, 2006.
A whole of (retired) generals call for the removal of Rumsfeld. 153 comments Apr, 2006.
Linky Posts
April Fools links. 37 comments Apr, 2006.
Medicine/Emergency Response
Ralph @%#$#%@$ Nader for non-political reasons this time. Got one of the better Narcolepsy medicines killed. 644 comments Jan, 2006.
Jim on Flu pre-packs–see also go bags, etc. 85 comments Jan, 2005.
Jim on Ralph Nader and Public Citizen playing unwanted nanny once again and trying to kill of one of the more effective pain killers. 92 comments Feb, 2006.
Mourning
David Stemple. 32 comments Mar, 2006.
Poetry
A Limerick definition of poetry as part of a post on Patric heading for Dublin. 65 comments Mar, 2006.
Politics
Canadian territorial waters in light of a melting arctic. Made fabulous by the quote Patric notes as part of the post: As Jim Henley once observed in a post I can’t seem to track down, you know those people all over the world who get pissed off at overbearing, grabby Americans? Like all those Iraqis with rifles and IEDs? Those people are often conservatives, the local variety, devoted to home and turf. Only American “conservatives” are airheaded enough to think that “conservative” automatically means “in favor of the continuing power, glory, and wealth of the United States.” 110 comments Jan, 2006.
When and how did one the chief functions of a democratic government–responding to the will of the people–become "pandering?" Great observation. 51 comments Jan, 2005
Using members of the military as political props–immoral and illegal a Presidential twofer. 115 comments Mar, 2006.
Bush claims to have never linked September 11th with Iraq. Argh. 69 comments Mar, 2006.
"Jane Smiley’s “Notes for Converts”" For Johnny-come-latelies to the world of opposing Bush and his policies. Bush doesn't care about you, your opinion, or the truth or falsity of words that come out of his mouth. 150 comments Mar, 2006.
Religion
St. Patrick's Day and St. Patrick in history. 43 comments Mar, 2006.
Scams
The Screenplay Agency and fee charging scams, an analysis. 94 comments Feb, 2006.
"The perfect uselessness of Warren Whitlock" A truly dizzying mix of literary and general scammer and purveyor of bad advice for authors is taken apart in detail. 261 comments Mar, 2006.
Teresa singles out Barbara Bauer as the "Dumbest of the Twenty Worst" agents when BB starts throwing around legal threats. Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware posted WB’s list of the 20 Worst (literary) Agents, one of whom (BB)decided to stop into various venues on the web, which has the side effect of drawing all kinds of google juice to her place on said list. 124 comments Apr, 2006. The action continues when BB mistakes Making Light for an official Tor website and threatens legal action against Tor's parent company. 75 comments Apr, 2006.
"Tina Adams wants to sell you something"...bad advice on writing romance. A selling the sekrit formula for success scheme. As usual with these things Tina hasn't ever actually had any of the success she claims to sell. 133 comments Apr, 2006.
War on Terra
"War on Terror, War on Drugs, same diff" That quote from the first post in the thread pretty much sums up the bad idea of using the Patriot Act to regulate Sudafed. 111 comments Mar, 2006.
Wingnuttery
Claiming the right not to be educated. It's not censorship, but it's an ugly page drawn from the same book. Arizona Senate votes to allow students not to read things they might find offensive. Heaven forfend someone might get their mind expanded. 311 comments Feb, 2006.
Jim dismantles a wingnut email meme in detail. This wingnut defends desecration of the Koran because of the War on Terra. 133 comments Mar, 2006.
Uncategorized (Thus Far)
"Darwin fish found" Transitional fossil week. 223 comments Apr, 2006.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
WGA Strike...GO WGA!
Just for the record I am firmly and completely in support of the WGA strikers.
This video on the strike is "priceless." ...or is that "worthless." Depends on whether your a media exec or a writer I guess.
This video on the strike is "priceless." ...or is that "worthless." Depends on whether your a media exec or a writer I guess.
Any Resemblance is Purely Accidental
People often ask me if I resemble the main character in my novels.
My answer is complicated because in many ways I don’t. I’m not nearly as good-looking as Garnet is, but I certainly have moments when I’m as flighty. Actually it’s one of the many arguments I end up having with my critique group. Often they say, “How can Garnet be this dumb?” and I think, “Uh, I just wrote what *I* would have done.” What does that say about me, eh?
I was reminded of this because I’m in Indiana. I’m here visiting in-laws who usually have awesome (and unsecured) WiFi. It’s one of my favorite things about visiting… besides the company, of course (*cough* *cough*). The point is, I’ve been attempting to “hack” into my father-in-law’s wireless so it will let my laptop in. Not that he’s not helping me, but alas, he had that nice fellow from Comcast set everything up for him, and he honestly doesn’t really remember the passwords and whatnot…. which brings me back to my point. If only I was as computer savvy as my alternate personality’s character “Mouse,” I’d have had this done yesterday.
Alas, my computer skills are much more on par with Garnet’s than Mouse’s. That’s something that’s worried me in the past, actually. Something that Spock may have said in “Mirror, Mirror,” when the away team ends up on the alternate reality Enterprise with the bearded Spock and the murderous crew, which is (when they discover their counterparts were quickly discovered): ”It is far easier for a civilized man to play a barbarian, than for a barbarian to play a civilized man.”
Stupid I can write. But smarter than me? I think this is often a problem in SF/F because we occasionally portray computer crackers, scientists, girl geniuses, alien intelligences, and the like. Presumably the characters are only as smart as their creator. You think that’s true? How do you deal with those kinds of personality differences?
My answer is complicated because in many ways I don’t. I’m not nearly as good-looking as Garnet is, but I certainly have moments when I’m as flighty. Actually it’s one of the many arguments I end up having with my critique group. Often they say, “How can Garnet be this dumb?” and I think, “Uh, I just wrote what *I* would have done.” What does that say about me, eh?
I was reminded of this because I’m in Indiana. I’m here visiting in-laws who usually have awesome (and unsecured) WiFi. It’s one of my favorite things about visiting… besides the company, of course (*cough* *cough*). The point is, I’ve been attempting to “hack” into my father-in-law’s wireless so it will let my laptop in. Not that he’s not helping me, but alas, he had that nice fellow from Comcast set everything up for him, and he honestly doesn’t really remember the passwords and whatnot…. which brings me back to my point. If only I was as computer savvy as my alternate personality’s character “Mouse,” I’d have had this done yesterday.
Alas, my computer skills are much more on par with Garnet’s than Mouse’s. That’s something that’s worried me in the past, actually. Something that Spock may have said in “Mirror, Mirror,” when the away team ends up on the alternate reality Enterprise with the bearded Spock and the murderous crew, which is (when they discover their counterparts were quickly discovered): ”It is far easier for a civilized man to play a barbarian, than for a barbarian to play a civilized man.”
Stupid I can write. But smarter than me? I think this is often a problem in SF/F because we occasionally portray computer crackers, scientists, girl geniuses, alien intelligences, and the like. Presumably the characters are only as smart as their creator. You think that’s true? How do you deal with those kinds of personality differences?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Is This Thing Live? Reader Survey
(Taps microphone)
Hullooooo! Anybody out there?
According to the mappy thing down at the bottom of the page we have something like 50-80 regular readers here. I can identify thirty or so who've checked in at one time or another, but that still leaves quite a few question marks in terms of readership. I thought I'd put this up and ask folks to say hi and maybe introduce themselves. Heck, you could even use the opportunity to ask some sort of writing question that we could blather on about–either general or specific to something one of us has written. Or not, as the spirit takes you.
This is a voluntary exercise, of course.
So, anybody want to take the plunge?
Is that crickets I hear? Oh, come on, pretty please?
First time's free. Your mother won't find out...Okay, maybe she will, but only if she hangs out here as well and then she'd have to admit to it.
...?
Hullooooo! Anybody out there?
According to the mappy thing down at the bottom of the page we have something like 50-80 regular readers here. I can identify thirty or so who've checked in at one time or another, but that still leaves quite a few question marks in terms of readership. I thought I'd put this up and ask folks to say hi and maybe introduce themselves. Heck, you could even use the opportunity to ask some sort of writing question that we could blather on about–either general or specific to something one of us has written. Or not, as the spirit takes you.
This is a voluntary exercise, of course.
So, anybody want to take the plunge?
Is that crickets I hear? Oh, come on, pretty please?
First time's free. Your mother won't find out...Okay, maybe she will, but only if she hangs out here as well and then she'd have to admit to it.
...?
POV part 2, Multiple POVs and Multiple Protagonists
First thing these are NOT the same thing.
Second thing, multiple POVs is bog standard as a tool for writing fiction and perfectly acceptable to pretty much the entire writing world. It only becomes an issue (not a problem necessarily, but definitely an issue) when you start to get into a bunch of in-scene POV switching. There it will often both confuse the reader and weaken their emotional investment in the scene's primary character.
Third thing, reader investment. That's really what it's all about. You, the writer really want your reader to have an investment in the story. You want them to feel a sense of possession–that this is their story too. That's the root of having your reader really care about what you write. There are two primary types of reader investment, emotional and intellectual. The emotional one is significantly more powerful in keeping the reader involved. Intellectual investment is important and can substitute for emotional investment to a degree, but it's not as visceral a commitment, nor generally as deep.
And reader investment is where multiple protagonist stories start to run into issues. Standard disclaimer, good writing trumps everything else and every writing rule has numerous exceptions.
One of the first things that a reader does at a conscious or unconscious level is to ask Whose story is this? If the answer is simple: This is X's story, then the reader brain moves on to the next tier of questions. If the answer is more complex: This is the story of a bunch of people and how they interact, or this is the story of a planet, or this is the story of a movement the reader brain has to do more work. Some readers prefer this. Some writers manage it so skillfully that the reader brain doesn't worry about it too much. But no matter how you slice it, the reader's brain is doing less work with a story that belongs to one character.
Likewise, it is much easier for the reader to emotionally invest in one central core character, particularly if other POV characters come into conflict with that core character. We are a tribal species and we tend to take sides. If we know whose side we're on going into a conflict, we're more comfortable. It's easier to have a best buddy in the story or a single person that the reader can project themselves into.
Can more protagonists be included successfully? Absolutely? Can you have a story about a planet? A conflict? A movement? Again, absolutely. But it will be harder to get solid reader investment in the story and therefor harder to do successfully. Like everything in writing it's a balance. Is the added degree of difficulty in engaging the reader worth whatever it is the multiple protagonists buy you in terms of the story you want to tell?
Thoughts? Comments? Vehement disagreement?
Second thing, multiple POVs is bog standard as a tool for writing fiction and perfectly acceptable to pretty much the entire writing world. It only becomes an issue (not a problem necessarily, but definitely an issue) when you start to get into a bunch of in-scene POV switching. There it will often both confuse the reader and weaken their emotional investment in the scene's primary character.
Third thing, reader investment. That's really what it's all about. You, the writer really want your reader to have an investment in the story. You want them to feel a sense of possession–that this is their story too. That's the root of having your reader really care about what you write. There are two primary types of reader investment, emotional and intellectual. The emotional one is significantly more powerful in keeping the reader involved. Intellectual investment is important and can substitute for emotional investment to a degree, but it's not as visceral a commitment, nor generally as deep.
And reader investment is where multiple protagonist stories start to run into issues. Standard disclaimer, good writing trumps everything else and every writing rule has numerous exceptions.
One of the first things that a reader does at a conscious or unconscious level is to ask Whose story is this? If the answer is simple: This is X's story, then the reader brain moves on to the next tier of questions. If the answer is more complex: This is the story of a bunch of people and how they interact, or this is the story of a planet, or this is the story of a movement the reader brain has to do more work. Some readers prefer this. Some writers manage it so skillfully that the reader brain doesn't worry about it too much. But no matter how you slice it, the reader's brain is doing less work with a story that belongs to one character.
Likewise, it is much easier for the reader to emotionally invest in one central core character, particularly if other POV characters come into conflict with that core character. We are a tribal species and we tend to take sides. If we know whose side we're on going into a conflict, we're more comfortable. It's easier to have a best buddy in the story or a single person that the reader can project themselves into.
Can more protagonists be included successfully? Absolutely? Can you have a story about a planet? A conflict? A movement? Again, absolutely. But it will be harder to get solid reader investment in the story and therefor harder to do successfully. Like everything in writing it's a balance. Is the added degree of difficulty in engaging the reader worth whatever it is the multiple protagonists buy you in terms of the story you want to tell?
Thoughts? Comments? Vehement disagreement?
Re-Direct: Openings
Thanks to one of my students (Gary) who found this post over at Slushmaster's LJ: It Came From the Slush... And Survived! Interesting stuff.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Smart Things
Nancy Pickard says very smart things about strong emotion as a root and driver of good writing. Go read it, she is wise.
Quick Hit-Sideblogging
Over at SF Novelists I talk about the surreal experience of seeing your books being read by the people close to you.
Wyrdsmiths Appearances +, +, + (Free)
So, this weekend is the Fantasy Matters conference a the U of M in Minneapolis. There will be quite a number of fantasy authors reading from their work and answering questions as well as panel discussions and academic presentations on the subject of fantasy. An html version of the schedule can be found here.
Most events are free and open to the public. That includes the general readings, the panels, and the presentations. The Keynotes, Social Events and Refreshments require registration.
Our own Naomi Kritzer will be part of a group reading/opening panel which also includes a bunch of folks from one of my other writers groups including Barth Anderson (Patron Saint of Plagues), and Alan Deniro (Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead). That's Friday from 4-6 in room 25 Mondale Hall.
I'll be reading and taking question from 4-4:30 on Saturday in room 55 Mondale Hall.
Other writers at the conference include. Neil Gaiman (Keynote, so registration is required) Pamela Dean, Patrick Rothfuss, Jackie Kessler, Jim Hines, P.C. Hodgell, Theodora Goss, and Peg Kerr, among others.
Come, listen, talk, have fun.
Most events are free and open to the public. That includes the general readings, the panels, and the presentations. The Keynotes, Social Events and Refreshments require registration.
Our own Naomi Kritzer will be part of a group reading/opening panel which also includes a bunch of folks from one of my other writers groups including Barth Anderson (Patron Saint of Plagues), and Alan Deniro (Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead). That's Friday from 4-6 in room 25 Mondale Hall.
I'll be reading and taking question from 4-4:30 on Saturday in room 55 Mondale Hall.
Other writers at the conference include. Neil Gaiman (Keynote, so registration is required) Pamela Dean, Patrick Rothfuss, Jackie Kessler, Jim Hines, P.C. Hodgell, Theodora Goss, and Peg Kerr, among others.
Come, listen, talk, have fun.
Monday, November 12, 2007
The Small, Wingless Man Hovered in the Corner, Unseen by the Boy and his Mother
I want to talk about POV and scene shifts a little more, but rather than replying, I though I would bring the argument to the main table. Spill wine on the holiday finery, and all that.
I’m not about to vigorously disagree with most of what Kelly wrote about POV, but I am going to note that there are certain sub-genres of SF/F--most notably alien encounter stories and high fantasy stories--where this sort of mid-scene shiftery is not only acceptable, but normal.
Now, I do think he’s got an absolutely essential point in with regard to banisters--you just cannot go pulling an Escher with your plot direction without hinting to the audience “Hey, hold on, bit of a left turn, here”, or you’ll send them spinning off out of the story, and they may not come back. I’m all for banisters. And, properly used, I’m all for POV shifts.
I think there are certain types of stories--most notably horror, but certainly plenty of others do this as well--that fill in the audience ahead of time that certain mischeifs are afoot. This can be seeing the alien-shaped shadow prowling into the scene after our heroes have just departed, or it can be obtaining little bits of knowledge about what the enemy is planning by watching private scenes that are completely outside the realm of our main POV. These stories can be marvelously well delivered. Read Guy Gavriel Kay’s A Song for Arbonne or Tigana and tell me that the shifting between multiple POV’s doesn’t deliver a wonderful, complex, rewarding story. Tell me how Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s The Mote in God’s Eye isn’t scarier and stranger by knowing what the aliens are thinking when they are observing and learning about the humans.
Like all tools on the writing workbench, POV shift has its applications, and like all tools, overused or poorly used, it will yield a weaker, less-engaging story. Does Kelly identify some of those potential problems? Yes, quite accurately, and I’ll hold that his point is usually correct. But it isn’t the whole story, and I think that as with all techniques, practice can teach us what we need to know to achieve a better telling.
I’m not about to vigorously disagree with most of what Kelly wrote about POV, but I am going to note that there are certain sub-genres of SF/F--most notably alien encounter stories and high fantasy stories--where this sort of mid-scene shiftery is not only acceptable, but normal.
Now, I do think he’s got an absolutely essential point in with regard to banisters--you just cannot go pulling an Escher with your plot direction without hinting to the audience “Hey, hold on, bit of a left turn, here”, or you’ll send them spinning off out of the story, and they may not come back. I’m all for banisters. And, properly used, I’m all for POV shifts.
I think there are certain types of stories--most notably horror, but certainly plenty of others do this as well--that fill in the audience ahead of time that certain mischeifs are afoot. This can be seeing the alien-shaped shadow prowling into the scene after our heroes have just departed, or it can be obtaining little bits of knowledge about what the enemy is planning by watching private scenes that are completely outside the realm of our main POV. These stories can be marvelously well delivered. Read Guy Gavriel Kay’s A Song for Arbonne or Tigana and tell me that the shifting between multiple POV’s doesn’t deliver a wonderful, complex, rewarding story. Tell me how Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s The Mote in God’s Eye isn’t scarier and stranger by knowing what the aliens are thinking when they are observing and learning about the humans.
Like all tools on the writing workbench, POV shift has its applications, and like all tools, overused or poorly used, it will yield a weaker, less-engaging story. Does Kelly identify some of those potential problems? Yes, quite accurately, and I’ll hold that his point is usually correct. But it isn’t the whole story, and I think that as with all techniques, practice can teach us what we need to know to achieve a better telling.
POV Part 1, Shifts Within Scenes
So, one of my students asked me about Point Of View (POV) shifts, multiple POVs, and multiple protagonists.
This is an interesting question for a number of reasons, not least because the way it is handled varies wildly from genre to genre and over time. For example, young adult is (or has been-these things shift with startling speed) mostly all right with mid-text snippets out of the POV of the scene's main character. Modern F&SF frowns on this, rather a lot, though, of course, there are exceptions. As with every rule of publishing, sufficiently outstanding writing trumps all.
I personally have trouble with in-scene POV shifts. In my experience, jumps outside of a scene's established POV tend to be weaker writing. This is for two reasons.
One, out of POV snippets are more likely than regular prose to tell instead of show, an inherently weaker form. Show, Don't Tell when applied as an iron clad rule is a bad idea, because there are simply times when the writer has to tell or has to do both (Eleanor has commented on that here), but as a guideline it's trying to get at an important point–actively engage the reader whenever possible.
Two, they usually signal that the writer has encountered some situation that he or she hasn't figured out how to approach from within the established format of the ongoing narrative, thus forcing the writer to cheat, again inherently a weaker solution than maintaining the form established for the narrative.
The corollary to all this is that staying in POV usually results in stronger writing. Not always, of course, but usually.
That said, good writing trumps all. If you're going to do in-scene POV shifting, make sure that you give your reader the tools to make sense of it. The few times I've seen it done well, the writer has always given the reader something to hold onto as they change POVs, a banister (term borrowed from Barth Anderson who got it from somewhere else). So, you might do something like this:
Main narrative voice.
Out of POV bits.
Main narrative voice.
Or this:
Main narrative voice.
***
Out of POV bits.
***
Main narrative voice.
The things is to give the reader that banister–some simple way of knowing that this bit is different from that bit over there.
In the next installment I'll talk about multiple POVs and multiple protagonists which are related but not identical phenomena.
Comments? Questions? Vigorous disagreement?
This is an interesting question for a number of reasons, not least because the way it is handled varies wildly from genre to genre and over time. For example, young adult is (or has been-these things shift with startling speed) mostly all right with mid-text snippets out of the POV of the scene's main character. Modern F&SF frowns on this, rather a lot, though, of course, there are exceptions. As with every rule of publishing, sufficiently outstanding writing trumps all.
I personally have trouble with in-scene POV shifts. In my experience, jumps outside of a scene's established POV tend to be weaker writing. This is for two reasons.
One, out of POV snippets are more likely than regular prose to tell instead of show, an inherently weaker form. Show, Don't Tell when applied as an iron clad rule is a bad idea, because there are simply times when the writer has to tell or has to do both (Eleanor has commented on that here), but as a guideline it's trying to get at an important point–actively engage the reader whenever possible.
Two, they usually signal that the writer has encountered some situation that he or she hasn't figured out how to approach from within the established format of the ongoing narrative, thus forcing the writer to cheat, again inherently a weaker solution than maintaining the form established for the narrative.
The corollary to all this is that staying in POV usually results in stronger writing. Not always, of course, but usually.
That said, good writing trumps all. If you're going to do in-scene POV shifting, make sure that you give your reader the tools to make sense of it. The few times I've seen it done well, the writer has always given the reader something to hold onto as they change POVs, a banister (term borrowed from Barth Anderson who got it from somewhere else). So, you might do something like this:
Main narrative voice.
Out of POV bits.
Main narrative voice.
Or this:
Main narrative voice.
***
Out of POV bits.
***
Main narrative voice.
The things is to give the reader that banister–some simple way of knowing that this bit is different from that bit over there.
In the next installment I'll talk about multiple POVs and multiple protagonists which are related but not identical phenomena.
Comments? Questions? Vigorous disagreement?
Sunday, November 11, 2007
ML Indices Update Nov-Dec 2005
Index Updates From Nov, Dec 2005
BTW, though there is some stuff that's gone into both inidices, there is material in the Writers Index that is not in the general index and vice-versa, so the completest would be advised to check both.
Writers Index update
Conventions
Publish America does actual service, by generating this thread wherin there is much of use to writers on how not to behave at cons. 133 comments Nov, 2005.
F&SF As A Genre
"The Visual Index of SF Cover Art" Just what it sounds like. Go look. 41 comments Nov, 2005.
Literary Scams
Martha Ivery goes to jail and the world is slightly better place. Who is Martha Ivery? One of the worst lit agency scammers in recent history. 25 comments Dec, 2005.
Vanity Press
PQN (Print Quality Needed) as the latest iteration of attempts to make vanity publishing sound like it's something else. 61 comments Dec, 2005.
Writing Craft
"The Defence of Duffer’s Drift" Patrick links to an online copy of same. Excellent introduction to the basics of combat and tactics for writers. 15 comments Nov, 2005.
General Index Updates
Civil Rights and Liberties
George Bush, Oathbreaker. The one to uphold the constitution, specifically the search and seizures bits. 138 comments Dec, 2005.
Ghosts of the Great War
Ghosts of the great war 2005. #4 in an ongoing series. A retrospective in multi-link format. 107 comments Nov 11, 2005.
Iraq/Afghanistan Wars
Peter Pace (chair joint chiefs) tells Rumsfeld he's wrong live on national TV, in re: a soldier's responsibility to halt abuse of prisoners. 128 comments Nov, 2005.
Medicine/Emergency Response
Jim on Hypothermia. 417 comments Dec, 2005.
Jim on Diabetes. 128 comments Nov, 2005.
Mourning
Robert Sheckley. 43 comment Dec, 2005.
Music
A very different Christmas carol...a drunk's song, in Latin. 62 comments Dec, 2005.
John M. Ford lyrics for songs about buildings and food. Flatiron building/Lullaby of Broadway. 19 comments Nov, 2005.
Poetry
Constructing meaning entirely with monosyllabic words. Cool. 112 comments Dec, 2005.
Politics
Tom Delay and the Marianas Islands. Sure, why not add slavery to torture and aggressive war in the things Republicans support? 192 comments Dec, 2005.
And, in the same vein as the entry above this one "A proposal prohibiting defense contractor involvement in human trafficking for forced prostitution and labor was drafted by the Pentagon last summer, but five defense lobbying groups oppose key provisions" "Kidnapping, then torture, then domestic wiretapping, and now slavery? I’m agog. What’s next, cannibalism?” 90 comments Dec, 2005.
Cheney, VP for torture at America inc. 58 comments Nov, 2005.
The "Dirty Hippies" were right about war with Iraq. Yuh-huh. 293 comments Nov, 2005.
Recipes
Stuffed Squash Deseret. 80 comments Dec, 2005.
Cooking turkeys, math geek style “For a turkey of greater than ten pounds, the roasting time should be equal to 1.65 times the natural log of the weight of the bird in pounds, cooked at 325 F.” 206 comments Nov, 2005.
Religion
"Pat Robertson preaches gross heresy (again)" calling down destruction on those who disagree with him. Dover PA. 167 comments Nov, 2005.
Scams
Martha Ivery goes to jail and the world is slightly better place. Who is Martha Ivery? One of the worst lit agency scammers in recent history. 25 comments Dec, 2005.
Wingnuttery
Al Jazeera attacked by the clue free (British spelling edition). I'm speechless. 31 comments Dec, 2005.
The annual war on Christmas fuss Oh noes, they're taking away our Christmas stamps edition. One minor detail, they aren't. 88 comments Dec, 2005.
Uncategorized (Thus Far)
"The Defence of Duffer’s Drift" Patrick links to an online copy of same. Excellent introduction to the basics of combat and tactics for writers. 15 comments Nov, 2005.
Four things meme, as in four jobs you've held, four places you've vacationed, etc. 137 comments Dec, 2005.
Superballs, 250,000 of them bouncing down a hill in San Francisco. Gorgeous. 50 comments Dec, 2005.
Teresa meets The Da Vinci Code, is not impressed. Bad bad cryptography. 293 comments Dec, 2005.
Patrick: remember Pearly Harbor. Timeline of the day. 151 comments Dec, 2005.
Jim on St. Nicholas Eve. 95 comments Dec, 2005.
A rant on the lack of genuine quantization in women's clothes, particularly the difficulty this creates in buying mail order. 226 comments Dec, 2005.
Teresa smells a funny smell...her recently deceased neighbor, as it turns out. 135 comments Nov, 2005. Her recently deceased, murdered neighbor, actually. 510 comments Nov, 2005.
Bad patent office, bad! You clean that up. Patent office issues patent for scientifically ridiculous space ship. Plus dumb POD patents action. 69 comments Nov, 2005.
Life in a museum exhibit, where would you want to be displayed. 43 comments Nov, 2005.
BTW, though there is some stuff that's gone into both inidices, there is material in the Writers Index that is not in the general index and vice-versa, so the completest would be advised to check both.
Writers Index update
Conventions
Publish America does actual service, by generating this thread wherin there is much of use to writers on how not to behave at cons. 133 comments Nov, 2005.
F&SF As A Genre
"The Visual Index of SF Cover Art" Just what it sounds like. Go look. 41 comments Nov, 2005.
Literary Scams
Martha Ivery goes to jail and the world is slightly better place. Who is Martha Ivery? One of the worst lit agency scammers in recent history. 25 comments Dec, 2005.
Vanity Press
PQN (Print Quality Needed) as the latest iteration of attempts to make vanity publishing sound like it's something else. 61 comments Dec, 2005.
Writing Craft
"The Defence of Duffer’s Drift" Patrick links to an online copy of same. Excellent introduction to the basics of combat and tactics for writers. 15 comments Nov, 2005.
General Index Updates
Civil Rights and Liberties
George Bush, Oathbreaker. The one to uphold the constitution, specifically the search and seizures bits. 138 comments Dec, 2005.
Ghosts of the Great War
Ghosts of the great war 2005. #4 in an ongoing series. A retrospective in multi-link format. 107 comments Nov 11, 2005.
Iraq/Afghanistan Wars
Peter Pace (chair joint chiefs) tells Rumsfeld he's wrong live on national TV, in re: a soldier's responsibility to halt abuse of prisoners. 128 comments Nov, 2005.
Medicine/Emergency Response
Jim on Hypothermia. 417 comments Dec, 2005.
Jim on Diabetes. 128 comments Nov, 2005.
Mourning
Robert Sheckley. 43 comment Dec, 2005.
Music
A very different Christmas carol...a drunk's song, in Latin. 62 comments Dec, 2005.
John M. Ford lyrics for songs about buildings and food. Flatiron building/Lullaby of Broadway. 19 comments Nov, 2005.
Poetry
Constructing meaning entirely with monosyllabic words. Cool. 112 comments Dec, 2005.
Politics
Tom Delay and the Marianas Islands. Sure, why not add slavery to torture and aggressive war in the things Republicans support? 192 comments Dec, 2005.
And, in the same vein as the entry above this one "A proposal prohibiting defense contractor involvement in human trafficking for forced prostitution and labor was drafted by the Pentagon last summer, but five defense lobbying groups oppose key provisions" "Kidnapping, then torture, then domestic wiretapping, and now slavery? I’m agog. What’s next, cannibalism?” 90 comments Dec, 2005.
Cheney, VP for torture at America inc. 58 comments Nov, 2005.
The "Dirty Hippies" were right about war with Iraq. Yuh-huh. 293 comments Nov, 2005.
Recipes
Stuffed Squash Deseret. 80 comments Dec, 2005.
Cooking turkeys, math geek style “For a turkey of greater than ten pounds, the roasting time should be equal to 1.65 times the natural log of the weight of the bird in pounds, cooked at 325 F.” 206 comments Nov, 2005.
Religion
"Pat Robertson preaches gross heresy (again)" calling down destruction on those who disagree with him. Dover PA. 167 comments Nov, 2005.
Scams
Martha Ivery goes to jail and the world is slightly better place. Who is Martha Ivery? One of the worst lit agency scammers in recent history. 25 comments Dec, 2005.
Wingnuttery
Al Jazeera attacked by the clue free (British spelling edition). I'm speechless. 31 comments Dec, 2005.
The annual war on Christmas fuss Oh noes, they're taking away our Christmas stamps edition. One minor detail, they aren't. 88 comments Dec, 2005.
Uncategorized (Thus Far)
"The Defence of Duffer’s Drift" Patrick links to an online copy of same. Excellent introduction to the basics of combat and tactics for writers. 15 comments Nov, 2005.
Four things meme, as in four jobs you've held, four places you've vacationed, etc. 137 comments Dec, 2005.
Superballs, 250,000 of them bouncing down a hill in San Francisco. Gorgeous. 50 comments Dec, 2005.
Teresa meets The Da Vinci Code, is not impressed. Bad bad cryptography. 293 comments Dec, 2005.
Patrick: remember Pearly Harbor. Timeline of the day. 151 comments Dec, 2005.
Jim on St. Nicholas Eve. 95 comments Dec, 2005.
A rant on the lack of genuine quantization in women's clothes, particularly the difficulty this creates in buying mail order. 226 comments Dec, 2005.
Teresa smells a funny smell...her recently deceased neighbor, as it turns out. 135 comments Nov, 2005. Her recently deceased, murdered neighbor, actually. 510 comments Nov, 2005.
Bad patent office, bad! You clean that up. Patent office issues patent for scientifically ridiculous space ship. Plus dumb POD patents action. 69 comments Nov, 2005.
Life in a museum exhibit, where would you want to be displayed. 43 comments Nov, 2005.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Cover Art for Romancing the Dead
I just got this a few days ago and I wanted to share. Just after complaining that there was no cover art for my book before it became available on Amazon.com, this wonderful cover art for the third book in the Garnet Lacey series, Romancing the Dead. showed up in my inbox courtesy of my editor Anne Sowards and the artist Margarete Gockel, (designed by Monica Benalcazar).
The back cover copy reads: I’m on the top of the world. The Vatican witch hunters think I’m dead, the FBI has closed my file, I might get to buy the occult bookstore I manage, I’m co-founding a brand-new coven—and the vampire I love has just proposed. How lucky can a girl get? Wait, wai—
Oh, crap. I’ve jinxed myself. My fiancé, Sebastian, is missing and I’m worried sick. Has he been kidnapped? Or could he have run off with that leggy blonde from the coven? Now I’ll have to seek the help of my future stepson—the same brat who once turned me over to the Catholics, all for a pimped-out Jag. Plus, the Goddess Lilith, who camps out in my body, has been making embarrassing appearances. Now all I need is some crazy killer on my tail. Hold on, hold—
Double crap.
If that's not enough to tempt you, I also made the first chapter available on my website: Romancing Excerpt
//END Shameless Plug
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Making Light Indices update Aug-Oct 2005
Stuff added to the ML indices for the Aug-Oct 2005 period. Please take special note of James D Macdonald's Index of Medical posts, which does that part of this task better than I could, though I'll continue to put them in the general index.
Writers Index
Copyright
A whimsical take on poor man's copyright (mailing a copy to yourself and leaving it unopened) and it's pretty much complete lack of effectiveness beyond the strictures of copyright already provided from the minute you set stuff down on the page. 36 comments Sep, 2005.
F&SF As A Genre
An F&SF primer for beginners–Yes Mr. literary reviewer, those zombies really are zombies. No, not metaphors, zombies. really. It's not that hard to figure out. Oh, come on. 399 comments Aug, 2005. And as a bonus follow-up post in the same vein, Teresa's introduction to New Magics: An Anthology of Today’s Fantasy. 98 comments Aug, 2005.
Grammar, Punctuation and the Copyeditor
Better bad sentences, a Bulwar Lytonesque contest that better reflects an editor's sense of the disasters in the slush pile. 103 comments Aug, 2005.
Misc
"Fiction scientifique" The 2005 Hugo awards scrip. Fun stuff. 10 coments Aug, 2005.
On Tim Clare, and “Everyone Does Not Have A Novel Inside Them” 164 comments Aug, 2005.
Life is a really strange place. Teresa comments on the "Bay Area public access cable show called Fantasy Bedtime Hour. Each episode is the same: two bubbleheaded and ostensibly naked girls, Juliana and Heatherly, lie in bed and read a four-page selection from Stephen R. Donaldson’s Lord Foul’s Bane, then try to figure it out." I'm dumbfounded. 90 comments Sep, 2005.
Everything I need to know about survival in a fantasy landscape I learned from traditional folk songs, or something like that. 400 comments Sep, 2005.
Writing Craft
Michael Swanwick Clarion Stories as retold by Teresa. "writing is a matter of finding the appropriate balance of dinosaurs and sodomy." A trick played on Gardener Dozois who taught after him? Or valuable writing advice? Your decision. Go read it. 116 comments Oct, 2005.
General Index
Civil Rights and Liberties
"Foreign citizens who change planes at airports in the United States can legally be seized, detained without charges..." 103 comments Aug, 2005.
DIY A Myriad of Odd and Sometimes Useful How-Tos
Teresa gets instructions for making Wizard Crackers among other things via Make magazine. 125 comments Oct, 2005.
Internet Discourse
Teresa on disemvowling scripts and links to the very first disemvowelment. 64 comments Sep, 2005.
Iraq/Afghanistan Wars
Jim on winning hearts and minds in Iraq and the beatings used to do it. 157 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim post a long and detailed description of the Sepoy Mutiny and compares it to possible events in Iraq. Quite chilling actually. 78 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim finds video game simulations and the potential giant mess to come in Iran. 97 comments Oct, 2005.
John M. Ford Misc
John M. Ford Billie Holliday/Judith Miller/Vallerie Plame song lyrics...My old Plame. 26 comments Oct, 2005.
Medicine/Emergency Response
Index of Medical Posts by Jim Macdonald. He's covered this far better than I'm going to be able to, though I'll continue my own posts in the category. 61 comments 2005-present.
"Emergency preparedness redux" Links to earlier post on same, primarily indexed for comment thread. 43 comments Aug, 2005.
John M. Ford on the emotional symptoms of stress, a little call for a timeout in the midst of the emotional firestorm of Hurricane Katrina. 50 comments Sep, 2005.
Teresa on walking away from disaster–evacuation on foot, the good, the bad, etc. 37 comments Sep, 2005.
Emergencies and the Incident Command System–a look at emergency response. Inspired in part by how things should have worked for Katrina. 104 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim on heart attacks. 63 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim Macdonald discusses Triage in great detail. 108 comments Sep, 2005.
Poetry
Teresa asks about Dives and Lazarus "My question concerns Dives and Lazarus, a traditional ballad, which rhymes (or almost rhymes) the second and fourth line of every stanza—except when it doesn’t. Here are its last four stanzas, two of which don’t even pretend to rhyme...Anyone know what’s going on there—alternate versions, regional pronunciations, famous typos?" 169 comments Sep, 2005.
Politics
Urban myths about irresponsible lawsuits, and how they drive unnecessary "tort reform" 25 comments Aug, 2005.
Teresa on dumb beyond words...Michelle Malkin demonstrates the "mind" that made her famous in re: the "crescent" (dread symbol of Islam...oh noes) design of the flight 93 memorial. 93 comments Sep, 2005. Followup post here in which the stupid is more thoroughly trashed. 482 comments Jan, 2005.
The nine Senators who voted against the anti-torture amendment as ringwraiths. Fitting analogy. 106 comments Oct, 2005.
Tom Delay's long expected indictment. 130 comments Sep, 2005.
Recipes
Habaneros and spicy oil made therefrom. 208 comments Sep, 2005.
Religion
John M. Ford's first post as a frontpager: "The object of the game is to create the Table of Contents for the Graphic Bible" and his take thereon. 63 comments Aug, 2005.
Tragedies, Great and Small
Hurricane Katrina, a bunch of posts with a bunch of comments Aug, 2005. Handing over the reins of government to people who have an ideological bias against government working and huge incentive therefore to make sure that it doesn't is insane. This disaster and the Bush response make me too mad to be coherent, but it's something that should go in the index. So, a non-comprehensive Making Light Katrina sequence: One,
two,
three,
four,
five,
six,
seven.
It continues in September: Eight,
nine,
ten,
eleve (right wingers and survivalism)
twelve,
thirteen, (Barbara Bush...argh!)
fourteen
fiteen,
sixteen, (may Michael Brown ultimately get what her deserves for leaving Americans to die in NO)
seventeen, (Blackwater in NO)
eighteen,
nineteen, (blocked bridges and the people who blocked them)
twenty, (the @*&%#% Blame Game meme)
twenty-one, (using force to prevent trapped citizens of NO to flee into the suburbs)
twenty-two, (the press actually doing its job in Bush's America-miraculous)
teenty-three, (Michael @$#&@$ Brown rehired at FEMA).
Uncategorized (Thus Far)
Rob Schneider, gets a tremendously well deserved smackdown on Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo from roger Ebert. That's gotta hurt. 101 comments Aug, 2005.
Right wingers writing dirty books, an informed commentary by a genuine editor. 190 comments Oct, 2005.
"Quentin Tarantino’s Republic Dogs" the script. Pretty much what you're imagining, yes. 35 comments Oct, 2005.
Jim on model railroad miniatures with links to some wonderous miniature slums. 54 comments Oct, 2005.
Movie trailers and trailer remixing. 37 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim on time as derived from the world around us. Sundials, etc. 67 comments Sep, 2005.
Writers Index
Copyright
A whimsical take on poor man's copyright (mailing a copy to yourself and leaving it unopened) and it's pretty much complete lack of effectiveness beyond the strictures of copyright already provided from the minute you set stuff down on the page. 36 comments Sep, 2005.
F&SF As A Genre
An F&SF primer for beginners–Yes Mr. literary reviewer, those zombies really are zombies. No, not metaphors, zombies. really. It's not that hard to figure out. Oh, come on. 399 comments Aug, 2005. And as a bonus follow-up post in the same vein, Teresa's introduction to New Magics: An Anthology of Today’s Fantasy. 98 comments Aug, 2005.
Grammar, Punctuation and the Copyeditor
Better bad sentences, a Bulwar Lytonesque contest that better reflects an editor's sense of the disasters in the slush pile. 103 comments Aug, 2005.
Misc
"Fiction scientifique" The 2005 Hugo awards scrip. Fun stuff. 10 coments Aug, 2005.
On Tim Clare, and “Everyone Does Not Have A Novel Inside Them” 164 comments Aug, 2005.
Life is a really strange place. Teresa comments on the "Bay Area public access cable show called Fantasy Bedtime Hour. Each episode is the same: two bubbleheaded and ostensibly naked girls, Juliana and Heatherly, lie in bed and read a four-page selection from Stephen R. Donaldson’s Lord Foul’s Bane, then try to figure it out." I'm dumbfounded. 90 comments Sep, 2005.
Everything I need to know about survival in a fantasy landscape I learned from traditional folk songs, or something like that. 400 comments Sep, 2005.
Writing Craft
Michael Swanwick Clarion Stories as retold by Teresa. "writing is a matter of finding the appropriate balance of dinosaurs and sodomy." A trick played on Gardener Dozois who taught after him? Or valuable writing advice? Your decision. Go read it. 116 comments Oct, 2005.
General Index
Civil Rights and Liberties
"Foreign citizens who change planes at airports in the United States can legally be seized, detained without charges..." 103 comments Aug, 2005.
DIY A Myriad of Odd and Sometimes Useful How-Tos
Teresa gets instructions for making Wizard Crackers among other things via Make magazine. 125 comments Oct, 2005.
Internet Discourse
Teresa on disemvowling scripts and links to the very first disemvowelment. 64 comments Sep, 2005.
Iraq/Afghanistan Wars
Jim on winning hearts and minds in Iraq and the beatings used to do it. 157 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim post a long and detailed description of the Sepoy Mutiny and compares it to possible events in Iraq. Quite chilling actually. 78 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim finds video game simulations and the potential giant mess to come in Iran. 97 comments Oct, 2005.
John M. Ford Misc
John M. Ford Billie Holliday/Judith Miller/Vallerie Plame song lyrics...My old Plame. 26 comments Oct, 2005.
Medicine/Emergency Response
Index of Medical Posts by Jim Macdonald. He's covered this far better than I'm going to be able to, though I'll continue my own posts in the category. 61 comments 2005-present.
"Emergency preparedness redux" Links to earlier post on same, primarily indexed for comment thread. 43 comments Aug, 2005.
John M. Ford on the emotional symptoms of stress, a little call for a timeout in the midst of the emotional firestorm of Hurricane Katrina. 50 comments Sep, 2005.
Teresa on walking away from disaster–evacuation on foot, the good, the bad, etc. 37 comments Sep, 2005.
Emergencies and the Incident Command System–a look at emergency response. Inspired in part by how things should have worked for Katrina. 104 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim on heart attacks. 63 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim Macdonald discusses Triage in great detail. 108 comments Sep, 2005.
Poetry
Teresa asks about Dives and Lazarus "My question concerns Dives and Lazarus, a traditional ballad, which rhymes (or almost rhymes) the second and fourth line of every stanza—except when it doesn’t. Here are its last four stanzas, two of which don’t even pretend to rhyme...Anyone know what’s going on there—alternate versions, regional pronunciations, famous typos?" 169 comments Sep, 2005.
Politics
Urban myths about irresponsible lawsuits, and how they drive unnecessary "tort reform" 25 comments Aug, 2005.
Teresa on dumb beyond words...Michelle Malkin demonstrates the "mind" that made her famous in re: the "crescent" (dread symbol of Islam...oh noes) design of the flight 93 memorial. 93 comments Sep, 2005. Followup post here in which the stupid is more thoroughly trashed. 482 comments Jan, 2005.
The nine Senators who voted against the anti-torture amendment as ringwraiths. Fitting analogy. 106 comments Oct, 2005.
Tom Delay's long expected indictment. 130 comments Sep, 2005.
Recipes
Habaneros and spicy oil made therefrom. 208 comments Sep, 2005.
Religion
John M. Ford's first post as a frontpager: "The object of the game is to create the Table of Contents for the Graphic Bible" and his take thereon. 63 comments Aug, 2005.
Tragedies, Great and Small
Hurricane Katrina, a bunch of posts with a bunch of comments Aug, 2005. Handing over the reins of government to people who have an ideological bias against government working and huge incentive therefore to make sure that it doesn't is insane. This disaster and the Bush response make me too mad to be coherent, but it's something that should go in the index. So, a non-comprehensive Making Light Katrina sequence: One,
two,
three,
four,
five,
six,
seven.
It continues in September: Eight,
nine,
ten,
eleve (right wingers and survivalism)
twelve,
thirteen, (Barbara Bush...argh!)
fourteen
fiteen,
sixteen, (may Michael Brown ultimately get what her deserves for leaving Americans to die in NO)
seventeen, (Blackwater in NO)
eighteen,
nineteen, (blocked bridges and the people who blocked them)
twenty, (the @*&%#% Blame Game meme)
twenty-one, (using force to prevent trapped citizens of NO to flee into the suburbs)
twenty-two, (the press actually doing its job in Bush's America-miraculous)
teenty-three, (Michael @$#&@$ Brown rehired at FEMA).
Uncategorized (Thus Far)
Rob Schneider, gets a tremendously well deserved smackdown on Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo from roger Ebert. That's gotta hurt. 101 comments Aug, 2005.
Right wingers writing dirty books, an informed commentary by a genuine editor. 190 comments Oct, 2005.
"Quentin Tarantino’s Republic Dogs" the script. Pretty much what you're imagining, yes. 35 comments Oct, 2005.
Jim on model railroad miniatures with links to some wonderous miniature slums. 54 comments Oct, 2005.
Movie trailers and trailer remixing. 37 comments Sep, 2005.
Jim on time as derived from the world around us. Sundials, etc. 67 comments Sep, 2005.
How Do We Square My Last Post
about the problems facing SF with the following quote from Ms. Lyda Morehouse, which appeared in the Loft Literary Center Schedule?
In contrast, Norman Spinrad in the SFWA Forum sees SF writers as becoming more conservative as their audience decreases and writing for the graying fannish core, rather than trying to reach out to the rest of the world.
So, SF tropes fill popular culture, and mainstream literary authors (as Spinrad points out) are writing more and more fiction that is fantastic in one way or another. At least some prominent SF authors appear to have moved into this new mainstream, which is more welcoming to nonrealistic fiction. Gibson's most recent novel is cutting edge present, rather than cutting edge future.
As this happens, the SF writers who are left behind in the genre become more and more confused about what they should be writing and where their audience lies.
Science fiction and fantasy often get a bad rap as the genre of Star Wars, Star Trek et al. However, if a person actually reads the literature currently being written in the SF/F genres, they will find a surprising array of social and political commentary that talks not so much about the future as the present. SF/F is the genre of radicalism, in my opinion. To write effective SF/F. a writer needs a keen awareness of the here and now and a willingness to take risks.
In contrast, Norman Spinrad in the SFWA Forum sees SF writers as becoming more conservative as their audience decreases and writing for the graying fannish core, rather than trying to reach out to the rest of the world.
So, SF tropes fill popular culture, and mainstream literary authors (as Spinrad points out) are writing more and more fiction that is fantastic in one way or another. At least some prominent SF authors appear to have moved into this new mainstream, which is more welcoming to nonrealistic fiction. Gibson's most recent novel is cutting edge present, rather than cutting edge future.
As this happens, the SF writers who are left behind in the genre become more and more confused about what they should be writing and where their audience lies.
SFWA Forum and Bulletin
I just read the most current issues of the SFWA Forum and Bulletin. There were some issues raised that I think are worth talking about. This blog may have discussed them to death. If so, I apologize for raising them again.
One is what to do about changes in technology and the resulting new kinds of publishing. Is it okay to put work on the Internet for free? What makes a professional these days?
Second is how to respond to the changes in the traditional publishing industry, which make being a midlist writer increasingly difficult. Norman Spinrad calls publishing, especially SF publishing, dysfunctional; and he may well be right. (This ties to point one. As writers find they can't sell to the traditional New York houses, they turn to other outlets.)
Third is the graying for the core readership. In spite of the importance of SF and fantasy ideas in popular culture, people aren't reading SF, it is argued. If this is so, what kind of future do SF writers have?
Finally, there is the fact that most SFWA members don't make a living by writing SF and probably never have. Tom Easton has a graceful essay on this topic in the Bulletin.
Given all this, what is a SF writer? And where are we going from here?
One is what to do about changes in technology and the resulting new kinds of publishing. Is it okay to put work on the Internet for free? What makes a professional these days?
Second is how to respond to the changes in the traditional publishing industry, which make being a midlist writer increasingly difficult. Norman Spinrad calls publishing, especially SF publishing, dysfunctional; and he may well be right. (This ties to point one. As writers find they can't sell to the traditional New York houses, they turn to other outlets.)
Third is the graying for the core readership. In spite of the importance of SF and fantasy ideas in popular culture, people aren't reading SF, it is argued. If this is so, what kind of future do SF writers have?
Finally, there is the fact that most SFWA members don't make a living by writing SF and probably never have. Tom Easton has a graceful essay on this topic in the Bulletin.
Given all this, what is a SF writer? And where are we going from here?
OT: Planets Like Ours
I saw this news item and wanted to pass it on as fuel for thought for all of us SF authors.
---------------------------
Solar system “packed with planets” looks like our own
Nov. 6, 2007
World Science staff
Astronomers say they have found a distant solar system that looks more like ours than do any of the others known. Though it lacks any evidence of habitable worlds, they added, some might turn up there.
It’s the “first quintuple planetary system,” and may have as yet-undetected Earth-like planets or habitable moons, said San Francisco State University astronomer Debra Fischer, a member of the research team.
It seems to be “packed with planets,” as ours is, she added. All the planets detected there are much heavier than Earth, she noted, which poses problems for their habitability. But Earth-sized planets, practically undetectable outside our Solar System with current technology, could easily have gone unnoticed.
The finding “has me jumping out of my socks,” said Geoff Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley, another member of the research team. The group announced the findings at a press conference in Pasadena, Calif. Tuesday.
The discovery suggests solar systems much like our own are common, he added. “Our Milky Way galaxy, with 200 billion stars, contains billions of planetary systems—many as rich as our own,” he said. “We strongly suspect many of these harbor Earth-like planets.”
More than 250 planets outside our system are known, but most of them are in solar systems or in arrangements that would seem to make it hard for life to form there.
A possible exception was announced last April with a report that a planet orbiting the star Gliese 581 might be habitable. But astronomers have begun debating whether that’s the case, according to Fischer’s team. It’s very tricky to define a star’s “habitable zone,” the region around it with the right temperatures for liquid water to exist, Marcy said.
The new findings—involving the star 55 Cancri, visible with binoculars in the constellation Cancer—do reveal a habitable-zone planet, they added. But it seems too large for life as we know it to take root there: it weighs the equivalent of an estimated 45 Earths, which scientists say would probably make it a gas giant like Saturn, though smaller.
“Such planets are probably not habitable,” Marcy said; but it might well have habitable moons that remain to be found. “If there is a moon orbiting this new, massive planet, it might have pools of liquid water on a rocky surface,” said Fischer. The habitable-zone giant is about as far from its star as Venus is from the Sun; but it would be cooler than Venus because the star is somewhat smaller and fainter than ours, the researchers added.
The other planets around 55 Cancri, whose whole planetary coterie took 18 years to discover, are also giants, they said. Researchers discovered the worlds using the Doppler technique, in which a planet’s gravitational tug is detected by the wobble its gravity produces in the parent star.
A key feature of the newfound system is that most of its worlds have near-circular orbits around the star, Fischer said. That’s important because it means they wouldn’t suffer drastic temperature variations at different times of the year; rather, their temperature fluctuations would be more or less equivalent to those of our seasons. The 55 Cancri system also resembles ours in terms of its approximate size, the researchers said. A paper on the findings is to appear in The Astrophysical Journal.
---------------------------
Solar system “packed with planets” looks like our own
Nov. 6, 2007
World Science staff
Astronomers say they have found a distant solar system that looks more like ours than do any of the others known. Though it lacks any evidence of habitable worlds, they added, some might turn up there.
It’s the “first quintuple planetary system,” and may have as yet-undetected Earth-like planets or habitable moons, said San Francisco State University astronomer Debra Fischer, a member of the research team.
It seems to be “packed with planets,” as ours is, she added. All the planets detected there are much heavier than Earth, she noted, which poses problems for their habitability. But Earth-sized planets, practically undetectable outside our Solar System with current technology, could easily have gone unnoticed.
The finding “has me jumping out of my socks,” said Geoff Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley, another member of the research team. The group announced the findings at a press conference in Pasadena, Calif. Tuesday.
The discovery suggests solar systems much like our own are common, he added. “Our Milky Way galaxy, with 200 billion stars, contains billions of planetary systems—many as rich as our own,” he said. “We strongly suspect many of these harbor Earth-like planets.”
More than 250 planets outside our system are known, but most of them are in solar systems or in arrangements that would seem to make it hard for life to form there.
A possible exception was announced last April with a report that a planet orbiting the star Gliese 581 might be habitable. But astronomers have begun debating whether that’s the case, according to Fischer’s team. It’s very tricky to define a star’s “habitable zone,” the region around it with the right temperatures for liquid water to exist, Marcy said.
The new findings—involving the star 55 Cancri, visible with binoculars in the constellation Cancer—do reveal a habitable-zone planet, they added. But it seems too large for life as we know it to take root there: it weighs the equivalent of an estimated 45 Earths, which scientists say would probably make it a gas giant like Saturn, though smaller.
“Such planets are probably not habitable,” Marcy said; but it might well have habitable moons that remain to be found. “If there is a moon orbiting this new, massive planet, it might have pools of liquid water on a rocky surface,” said Fischer. The habitable-zone giant is about as far from its star as Venus is from the Sun; but it would be cooler than Venus because the star is somewhat smaller and fainter than ours, the researchers added.
The other planets around 55 Cancri, whose whole planetary coterie took 18 years to discover, are also giants, they said. Researchers discovered the worlds using the Doppler technique, in which a planet’s gravitational tug is detected by the wobble its gravity produces in the parent star.
A key feature of the newfound system is that most of its worlds have near-circular orbits around the star, Fischer said. That’s important because it means they wouldn’t suffer drastic temperature variations at different times of the year; rather, their temperature fluctuations would be more or less equivalent to those of our seasons. The 55 Cancri system also resembles ours in terms of its approximate size, the researchers said. A paper on the findings is to appear in The Astrophysical Journal.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Q&A With Mystery Author Nancy Pickard
One of the joys of this here internet thing is that you get to meet some really cool people, often in venues unrelated to what you might otherwise expect. One of my favorite writing friends was met while hanging out at a political site for example.
Nancy Pickard is a noted mystery author with a pile of awards and other achievements. She is the author of many short stories and 17 novels, including the Jenny Cain series, the Marie Lightfoot series, and three books in the Eugenia Potter series. She is the co-author of Seven Steps on the Writer's Path. Her latest novel, The Virgin of Small Plains, won the Agatha, Macavity, and Lovey awards and was a finalist for the Edgar, Anthony, and Dilys awards. It is in production with a cable network. She is a founding member and former president of Sisters in Crime, and a former board member of the Mystery Writers of America. She lives near Kansas City. She's also a genuinely lovely person.
When I was talking about my Loft class over at her blog she made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Each of my students could ask one writing question and she would attempt to answer them. This Q&A is the result of that very generous offer and some pretty damn good questions from my students.
Here's Nancy:
1) Which is more important for you, the beginning (hooking the reader into the mystery) or the end of the novel (solving the mystery and satisfying the reader)?
I think of them as being all of one piece. The beginning makes the promise and the ending fulfills it. So they are equally important to me. But I wrote a lot of books before I knew that was true. At some point, I went back to see if the beginnings of my books really do foreshadow the endings, and in every case, they do, which was a shock to me, because I hadn't known I was doing that when I did it! Now I look at the beginnings to see what they "promise," and I'm not satisfied with an ending unless it feels to me as if it delivers in a satisfying way on that initial promise.
2) What is the best way to deal with 'rejection' (or indifference) from trusted family and friends with whom you might share your writing (either pre- or post-publishing)?
Ah. This is why the best-selling writer Lawrence Block only half-jokingly advises, "Never show your book to anybody who calls you Dear." Yeah, those are the toughest ones to take, I think. And there are only two cures. One is--don't show them your stuff. And the second is, I'm sorry to tell you, developing a thick skin that comes with time, age, and a lot of rejections. And even then, they still hurt.
Indifference--especially from our loved ones--is really painful. But you have to know that the only enthusiasm that matters is yours. The hell with 'em. Maybe they're jealous, maybe they're selfish, maybe they're idiots, maybe they're afraid of your reaction, maybe they want to like your writing but the truth is that even though they love YOU, they don't love it. There can be people who like us a lot, but who don't happen to like the kind of thing we like to read and write. And there can be people who love us, but who don't "get" fiction, for instance. Not their fault; it's just how they're built. Or, maybe some of the people in your life wouldn't know good writing if it sat on them. The only enthusiasm that matters in the long run is yours.
3) Do you think it's important to have a consistent workspace, and if so what are some things a good workspace should not have?
That depends entirely on the writer, truly. I used to require a separate office, yadda yadda. But now I write in libraries, cafes, coffee shops, and on park benches. I have written in airplanes and hotels, at the edge of soccer fields and in the middle of car pools. If there is distracting noise, I turn on my portable CD player and stick on the headphones. The only important thing to consider is. . . what kind of environment will encourage YOU to write? If you need quiet and isolation, then you really do have to create that, somehow, for yourself. If it's hustle and bustle you need, then you're lucky, because you can write anywhere.
4) What are your biggest motivators?
Well, I guess it's not money or fame, because I'm always late on my book deadlines so I don't get paid on time. And fame is a hideous temptation to the ego. So it must be the need to tell a story. When I get an idea, it nudges at me until I write it. And I have no interest in writing only for myself. I do want to be published, so that's a motivator to rewrite, lol.
I don't love to write novels, because they're so hard, but I do love to write short stories, so I think I write them out of love of the form.
5) What tricks do you use to build suspense and a bit of nervousness/fear on the part of the reader?
That's harder to answer than you might think it is! I think what I like to do is withhold. You drop a provocative sentence that hints at something wrong, then you leave it there to stew in the reader's mind. Then maybe a little while later, you drop another one. I haven't analyzed how I do it, so I can't really say. If I know anything at all about suspense and tension, it comes from all the other writers I have read. I think I have learned how to do it by absorbing how they do it.
6) In light of having written so many books, how do you keep things fresh, with character, plot, and theme?
I hope I do keep it fresh, though my readers are probably the better judge of that! What I try to do is not get stuck doing the same things in the same ways for years and years. I have had three series and stopped writing all of them when it was time to move onto something else. I write novels and short stories, and everything from cozy to hardboiled. I keep trying to write in ways, or about things, that challenge me. And I try to read really good stuff that makes me want to improve my game. I remember in the days when I played a lot of tennis, every time I watched one of the major tournaments on TV I played better for a little while afterward. It's like that with reading other people's novels. I try to read the best, so I have something high to aim at.
7) And, sub-question to that last: How do you insure what you do hasn't already been done before, with so many mysteries out there already, knowing it's tough to read everything?
I don't worry about it, really. Nothing is totally original, not in any novel, no matter how great. We all copy what has come before, and it's also often true that similar ideas seem to circulate in the air at the same time. I just concentrate on telling the stories I seem to need to tell, and try to write them as well as my abilities will let me. If I do catch myself using a cliché of the form, I think about it and see if a.) it's justified; or b.) it can be improved somehow.
8) I always seem to learn best from cautionary tales. In that vein, what was the worst advice that you got as a starting writer? Was there anything you did starting out that we should never ever do?
Yeah, don't assume that your writing career will proceed in a rising and straight line. Creativity ebbs and flows. Boy, does it ever. Careers ebb and flow. If you want to be a fulltime writer, but you don't want constant financial struggles, live frugally and take nothing for granted.
I didn't get any terrible advice that I recall, but the *best* advice I got was this: If you ever encounter somebody who makes you feel like not writing, run like hell in the other direction.
Oh, and there was one thing, not advice, exactly, but. . .a few times in my career, editors or agents have tried to get me to do some things that looked attractive on the surface. Once, an editor asked me to write a new series, for which she would pay me three times what I was getting for the series I was doing at that time. Problem was, I didn't want to write another series. So I listened to myself, and turned her down. It was a good choice. Another time, an agent wanted me to try what they called "romantic intrigue." But I knew that wasn't where I wanted to go, so I turned that down, too. The lesson was, listen to myself. Listen to yourself. Your creativity knows where it's going, even when it all looks foggy to you.
9) In music, no matter what masterpiece you were working on, each day's practice always started with scales, arpeggios and finger exercises. In your writing, do you have an equivalent to daily scales?
I don't, but I used to. When I started out, I did this daily:
-Sit down with pad, paper, and timer.
-Set timer for l0 minutes.
-Then look up. Use the first thing you see as your topic. Could be "drapes." Could be, "Waitress." Could be, "television set." Could be "knee." Whatever. Start writing. Forget spelling, punctuation, grammar. -Don't stop, don't edit, erase, or correct. Just write. If nothing comes, write something like, "Nothing's coming, nothing's coming, la la la, this is boring, I hate this, when is the time. . ." And you will probably surprise yourself and start writing on the topic.
-When the timer goes off, stop. Really. Stop.
-Read it a few times to please yourself.
-Then tear it up and throw it away. I mean it. Throw it away. It will help you learn that ideas will just keep coming, and so will the writing, and there are no words you can't change or throw away.
Finis
There is a great deal of wisdom here. Let me be the first to thank Nancy for her time and her thoughtful answers.
Nancy Pickard is a noted mystery author with a pile of awards and other achievements. She is the author of many short stories and 17 novels, including the Jenny Cain series, the Marie Lightfoot series, and three books in the Eugenia Potter series. She is the co-author of Seven Steps on the Writer's Path. Her latest novel, The Virgin of Small Plains, won the Agatha, Macavity, and Lovey awards and was a finalist for the Edgar, Anthony, and Dilys awards. It is in production with a cable network. She is a founding member and former president of Sisters in Crime, and a former board member of the Mystery Writers of America. She lives near Kansas City. She's also a genuinely lovely person.
When I was talking about my Loft class over at her blog she made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Each of my students could ask one writing question and she would attempt to answer them. This Q&A is the result of that very generous offer and some pretty damn good questions from my students.
Here's Nancy:
1) Which is more important for you, the beginning (hooking the reader into the mystery) or the end of the novel (solving the mystery and satisfying the reader)?
I think of them as being all of one piece. The beginning makes the promise and the ending fulfills it. So they are equally important to me. But I wrote a lot of books before I knew that was true. At some point, I went back to see if the beginnings of my books really do foreshadow the endings, and in every case, they do, which was a shock to me, because I hadn't known I was doing that when I did it! Now I look at the beginnings to see what they "promise," and I'm not satisfied with an ending unless it feels to me as if it delivers in a satisfying way on that initial promise.
2) What is the best way to deal with 'rejection' (or indifference) from trusted family and friends with whom you might share your writing (either pre- or post-publishing)?
Ah. This is why the best-selling writer Lawrence Block only half-jokingly advises, "Never show your book to anybody who calls you Dear." Yeah, those are the toughest ones to take, I think. And there are only two cures. One is--don't show them your stuff. And the second is, I'm sorry to tell you, developing a thick skin that comes with time, age, and a lot of rejections. And even then, they still hurt.
Indifference--especially from our loved ones--is really painful. But you have to know that the only enthusiasm that matters is yours. The hell with 'em. Maybe they're jealous, maybe they're selfish, maybe they're idiots, maybe they're afraid of your reaction, maybe they want to like your writing but the truth is that even though they love YOU, they don't love it. There can be people who like us a lot, but who don't happen to like the kind of thing we like to read and write. And there can be people who love us, but who don't "get" fiction, for instance. Not their fault; it's just how they're built. Or, maybe some of the people in your life wouldn't know good writing if it sat on them. The only enthusiasm that matters in the long run is yours.
3) Do you think it's important to have a consistent workspace, and if so what are some things a good workspace should not have?
That depends entirely on the writer, truly. I used to require a separate office, yadda yadda. But now I write in libraries, cafes, coffee shops, and on park benches. I have written in airplanes and hotels, at the edge of soccer fields and in the middle of car pools. If there is distracting noise, I turn on my portable CD player and stick on the headphones. The only important thing to consider is. . . what kind of environment will encourage YOU to write? If you need quiet and isolation, then you really do have to create that, somehow, for yourself. If it's hustle and bustle you need, then you're lucky, because you can write anywhere.
4) What are your biggest motivators?
Well, I guess it's not money or fame, because I'm always late on my book deadlines so I don't get paid on time. And fame is a hideous temptation to the ego. So it must be the need to tell a story. When I get an idea, it nudges at me until I write it. And I have no interest in writing only for myself. I do want to be published, so that's a motivator to rewrite, lol.
I don't love to write novels, because they're so hard, but I do love to write short stories, so I think I write them out of love of the form.
5) What tricks do you use to build suspense and a bit of nervousness/fear on the part of the reader?
That's harder to answer than you might think it is! I think what I like to do is withhold. You drop a provocative sentence that hints at something wrong, then you leave it there to stew in the reader's mind. Then maybe a little while later, you drop another one. I haven't analyzed how I do it, so I can't really say. If I know anything at all about suspense and tension, it comes from all the other writers I have read. I think I have learned how to do it by absorbing how they do it.
6) In light of having written so many books, how do you keep things fresh, with character, plot, and theme?
I hope I do keep it fresh, though my readers are probably the better judge of that! What I try to do is not get stuck doing the same things in the same ways for years and years. I have had three series and stopped writing all of them when it was time to move onto something else. I write novels and short stories, and everything from cozy to hardboiled. I keep trying to write in ways, or about things, that challenge me. And I try to read really good stuff that makes me want to improve my game. I remember in the days when I played a lot of tennis, every time I watched one of the major tournaments on TV I played better for a little while afterward. It's like that with reading other people's novels. I try to read the best, so I have something high to aim at.
7) And, sub-question to that last: How do you insure what you do hasn't already been done before, with so many mysteries out there already, knowing it's tough to read everything?
I don't worry about it, really. Nothing is totally original, not in any novel, no matter how great. We all copy what has come before, and it's also often true that similar ideas seem to circulate in the air at the same time. I just concentrate on telling the stories I seem to need to tell, and try to write them as well as my abilities will let me. If I do catch myself using a cliché of the form, I think about it and see if a.) it's justified; or b.) it can be improved somehow.
8) I always seem to learn best from cautionary tales. In that vein, what was the worst advice that you got as a starting writer? Was there anything you did starting out that we should never ever do?
Yeah, don't assume that your writing career will proceed in a rising and straight line. Creativity ebbs and flows. Boy, does it ever. Careers ebb and flow. If you want to be a fulltime writer, but you don't want constant financial struggles, live frugally and take nothing for granted.
I didn't get any terrible advice that I recall, but the *best* advice I got was this: If you ever encounter somebody who makes you feel like not writing, run like hell in the other direction.
Oh, and there was one thing, not advice, exactly, but. . .a few times in my career, editors or agents have tried to get me to do some things that looked attractive on the surface. Once, an editor asked me to write a new series, for which she would pay me three times what I was getting for the series I was doing at that time. Problem was, I didn't want to write another series. So I listened to myself, and turned her down. It was a good choice. Another time, an agent wanted me to try what they called "romantic intrigue." But I knew that wasn't where I wanted to go, so I turned that down, too. The lesson was, listen to myself. Listen to yourself. Your creativity knows where it's going, even when it all looks foggy to you.
9) In music, no matter what masterpiece you were working on, each day's practice always started with scales, arpeggios and finger exercises. In your writing, do you have an equivalent to daily scales?
I don't, but I used to. When I started out, I did this daily:
-Sit down with pad, paper, and timer.
-Set timer for l0 minutes.
-Then look up. Use the first thing you see as your topic. Could be "drapes." Could be, "Waitress." Could be, "television set." Could be "knee." Whatever. Start writing. Forget spelling, punctuation, grammar. -Don't stop, don't edit, erase, or correct. Just write. If nothing comes, write something like, "Nothing's coming, nothing's coming, la la la, this is boring, I hate this, when is the time. . ." And you will probably surprise yourself and start writing on the topic.
-When the timer goes off, stop. Really. Stop.
-Read it a few times to please yourself.
-Then tear it up and throw it away. I mean it. Throw it away. It will help you learn that ideas will just keep coming, and so will the writing, and there are no words you can't change or throw away.
Finis
There is a great deal of wisdom here. Let me be the first to thank Nancy for her time and her thoughtful answers.
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