Advice to writers by Vonnegut How to Write With Style by Kurt Vonnegut Newspaper reporters and technical writers are trained to reveal almost nothing about themselves in their writings. These revelations tell us as readers what sort of person it is with whom we are spending time. Why should you examine your writing style with the idea of improving it? The most damning revelation you can make about yourself is that you do not know what is interesting and what is not. So your own winning style must begin with ideas in your head. 1. Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. I am not urging you to write a novel, by the way --- although I would not be sorry if you wrote one, provided you genuinely cared about something. 2. I won't ramble on about that. 3. As for your use of language: Remember that two great masters of language, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, wrote sentences which were almost childlike when their subjects were most profound. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. In Sum:
Foreshadowing and Suspense by Anne Marble Suspense is an important element of any story. So you're not writing romantic suspense? Foreshadowing is one tool you can use to heighten the suspense. Leaving Your Readers in Suspenders Some writers have described suspense as being like a roller coaster. Make the Climax Live Up to the Suspense As we all know, sometimes the anticipation is more exciting than the actual event. If the suspense is good enough, readers may forgive a relatively weak ending. Avoid Contrived Suspense There's nothing more annoying than stories where the suspense comes about because the heroine walks into a parking garage alone even though there's a serial killer out to get her. Avoid throwing in random obstacles that don't stem from the plot or characters. Avoid False Suspense Don't you hate it when movies make you think something important is about to happen, and then the "prowler" turns out to be the heroine's cat? Avoid inflicting scenes like this on your audience. Use Mood to Evoke Suspense
Character Need To Knows Previous iterations of the “25 Things” series: 25 Things Every Writer Should Know 25 Things You Should Know About Storytelling And now… Here you’ll find the many things I believe — at this moment! — about characters: 1. Without character, you have nothing. 2. A great character can be the line between narrative life and story death. 3. Don’t believe that all those other aspects are separate from the character. 4. The audience will do anything to spend time with a great character. 5. It is critical to know what a character wants from the start. 6. It doesn’t matter if we “like” your character, or in the parlance of junior high whether we even “like-like” your character. 7. It is critical to smack the audience in the crotchal region with an undeniable reason to give a fuck. 8. You must prove this thesis: “This character is worth the audience’s time.” 9. Don’t let the character be a dingleberry stuck to the ass of a toad as he floats downriver on a bumpy log. 10. 11. 12. 13. The law of threes.
John Scalzi’s Utterly Useless Writing Advice People wrote me: “Hey, as long as you’re reposting old crap, why don’t you repost your “Utterly Useless Writing Advice”? Well, okay. I’ve made some minor changes to get certain personal facts up to date, but otherwise it’s the same cranky bit of advice it was when I wrote it in 2001. I do have the urge to write something else about writing, but inasmuch as I actually have real writing I need to do, it’s going to have to wait. Anyway, here you go. People are always asking me for advice on how to become a writer, because they assume (ha!) I’ve been a professional writer since June of 1990, when I got my first paid writing job as an intern for the San Diego Tribune, where I wrote music and concert reviews and other entertainment pieces. Being a freelance writer is interesting and not really a good thing for people who don’t enjoy a permanent sense of panic. I write for online clients and for offline clients. (So how much do I actually make? 1. DUH. 2. Let’s be clear. This means: 3. No. Look.
List of idioms in the English language This is a list of notable idioms in the English language. An idiom is a common word or phrase with a culturally understood meaning that differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest. For example, an English speaker would understand the phrase "kick the bucket" to mean "to die" – and also to actually kick a bucket. Furthermore, they would understand when each meaning is being used in context. An idiom is not to be confused with other figures of speech such as a metaphor, which invokes an image by use of implicit comparisons (e.g., "the man of steel" ); a simile, which invokes an image by use of explicit comparisons (e.g., "faster than a speeding bullet"); and hyperbole, which exaggerates an image beyond truthfulness (e.g., like "missed by a mile" ). Visit Wiktionary's Category for over eight thousand idioms. See also[edit] References[edit] Jump up ^ "A bitter pill". Notes[edit]
Character Bios Enter your e-mail to get the e-book for FREE. We'll also keep you informed about interesting website news. "I have searched the web and used different worksheets, but none have come close to your worksheets and descriptions of (what to do and what not to do). "As usual - I already love the course on Irresistible Fiction, rewriting a lot and improving greatly even after the first lesson. “Essentials of Fiction proved that I could indeed write and I wrote every day, much to my boyfriend's dismay (waa sniff).” - Jill Gardner "I am loving the course and the peer interaction on the blog is fantastic!!!" "I'm enjoying the weekly email course, Essentials of Poetry Writing. "Thank you for all the material in this course. "I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the lessons and feel they were very helpful in introducing new ideas and perspectives to my writing. "Thanks very much for this course. "I'm learning so much. "Thank you so much!! "The Irresistible Fiction course is going well.
A Long, Lonely Road: Advice to New Writers By David Brin, Ph.D. Writing is a worthy calling -- one that can, at times, achieve great heights that ennoble the human race. Actually, I believe writing was the first truly verifiable and effective form of magic. Think of how it must have impressed people in ancient times! To look at marks, pressed into fired clay, and know that they convey the words of scribes and kings long dead -- it must have seemed fantastic. Knowledge, wisdom and art could finally accumulate, and death was cheated one part of its sting. Still, let me admit and avow that writing was not my own first choice of a career. I also had this hobby though -- writing stories -- and it provided a lot of satisfaction. Don't mistake this for modesty! I know this seems an unconventional view -- certainly my fellow scientists tell me so, as they often express envy -- an envy that I find bemusing. Ever notice how this propaganda is feverishly spread by the very people who benefit from the image? Don't you believe it. Baloney!
Developing a writing style This is just one person’s view. Others will want to stress other virtues and vices in writing. I originally put together these notes a few years ago as part of a ‘Training Programme’ aimed at philosophers just starting out on that postgraduate careers: but more or less everything here applies to writing undergraduate essays too (and not just in philosophy). Make what use of these remarks you can! Introduction I used to edit the philosophy journal ANALYSIS. Like the other major journals, ANALYSIS could accept less than 12% of submissions in my day (and significantly less now). Since ANALYSIS publishes relatively short articles, it attracts a lot of papers from philosophers finishing graduate school or starting out on professional careers. So the idea of these notes is that I try to impart some of what I’ve learnt about bad writing and the mistakes to avoid. Writing and reading But hold on! Eye and ear If I had to give just one rule to help improve your writing it would be this. And so on.
Cro's Nest The Daily Routines of Famous Writers By Maria Popova UPDATE: These daily routines have now been adapted into a labor-of-love visualization of writers’ sleep habits vs. literary productivity. Kurt Vonnegut’s recently published daily routine made we wonder how other beloved writers organized their days. So I pored through various old diaries and interviews — many from the fantastic Paris Review archives — and culled a handful of writing routines from some of my favorite authors. Ray Bradbury, a lifelong proponent of working with joy and an avid champion of public libraries, playfully defies the question of routines in this 2010 interview: My passions drive me to the typewriter every day of my life, and they have driven me there since I was twelve. Joan Didion creates for herself a kind of incubation period for ideas, articulated in this 1968 interview: I need an hour alone before dinner, with a drink, to go over what I’ve done that day. E. I never listen to music when I’m working. Photograph by Tom Palumbo, 1956