25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author: Lazy Bastard Edition (Guest Post By Delilah S. Dawson) So, here’s the deal — August for me is, as the kids say, “supa-cray-cray.” I’m working on like, 17 novels and two scripts or something like that. As such, I have put out various tendrils and pea shoots and solicited the aid of various Friends of Terribleminds (TM) to drop in throughout the month and plaster their guest posts on the walls here. This is like that Couch to 5k thing people do to gear up for a marathon. What follows is the quickest, dirtiest, most simple route to writing a novel and getting it published by a traditional publisher, which I accomplished from my own couch in Atlanta while nursing a baby and having neither an MFA nor any previous contacts in publishing. Is this advice perfect? Seriously. This is no secret. When I started writing my first book, I stopped reading. If you want to finish the first draft of your first book, you must think of it like skiing downhill. Looking for a leg up on improving your writing at any point of this writing thing? So celebrate.
111 Lessons Life Taught Us Sometimes thinking about your life and sorting out what you have learned is just as important as tackling a new venture. That’s what our new sister site, Everyday Life Lessons, is all about. It’s an online community where people share, rank and discuss life’s greatest lessons. The site challenges you to reflect on your past, dig deep within yourself and answer one simple question: What has life taught you? Think about all the things you would love to tell yourself if you could travel back in time to give your younger self some advice about life. Here’s a sample of 111 life lessons that were recently submitted to the site: Spend more time with those who make you smile and less time with those who you feel pressured to impress.Never tell someone their dreams are impossible. Everyday Life Lessons is updated daily. Photo by: Lauren Macdonald Related 7 Important Life Lessons Everyone Learns the Hard Way “People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.” May 11, 2012
Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips - Article #29643 Joss Whedon is most famous for creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer, its spin-off Angel and the short-lived but much-loved Firefly series. But the writer and director has also worked unseen as a script doctor on movies ranging from Speed to Toy Story. Here, he shares his tips on the art of screenwriting and how, if you have your clear delivery, you can make something mundane like a Fenton law office or Cincinnati drug store seem captivating. Actually finishing it is what I’m gonna put in as step one. Structure means knowing where you’re going ; making sure you don’t meander about. This really should be number one. Everybody has a perspective. Here’s one trick that I learned early on. When I’ve been hired as a script doctor, it’s usually because someone else can’t get it through to the next level. You have one goal : to connect with your audience. Write the movie as much as you can. The first penny I ever earned, I saved.
10 Mind-Blowing Theories That Will Change Your Perception of the World Reality is not as obvious and simple as we like to think. Some of the things that we accept as true at face value are notoriously wrong. Scientists and philosophers have made every effort to change our common perceptions of it. 1. Great glaciation is the theory of the final state that our universe is heading toward. 2. Solipsism is a philosophical theory, which asserts that nothing exists but the individual’s consciousness. Don’t you believe me? As a result, which parts of existence can we not doubt? 3. George Berkeley, the father of Idealism, argued that everything exists as an idea in someone’s mind. The idea being that if the stone really only exists in his imagination, he could not have kicked it with his eyes closed. 4. Everybody has heard of Plato. In addition to this stunning statement, Plato, being a monist, said that everything is made of a single substance. 5. 6. Enternalism is the exact opposite of presentism. 7. So, what is the debate? 8. What’s the point? 9. 10.
Dear Publishers, Hi there, publisher! I’m an author. Maybe you know me? I’m the Internet’s “Chuck Wendig.” AKA, “That Guy Who Curses A Lot In Interesting Ways.” I write stories. You’re a publisher. I like you. I think you do the Story Lord’s work in bringing books to to the world. And that word, “vital,” applies to you. Ahem. Still, as much as I like you, I think it’s time we had a conversation. Just the same, I’m going to opine loudly. Because that’s how I do. Let’s talk about you, you silly scamps, you. DRM Is For Assbadgers I get it. And, hey, DRM by itself is not toxic. And, for the most part, DRM is implemented poorly. DRM is dumb. Similar situation with DRM (with way fewer dead people, to be clear). DRM creates — and then challenges — pirates. It punishes regular readers. I Will Buy The Physical Book And You Will Give Me The E-Book No, really, I’m not kidding. Don’t worry, there’s still room for you at the party. Partner With Independent Bookstores Indie stores are awesome. Help libraries. Mmkay? *stares*
All the Essential Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Coming in 2014 Is there not a single Star Wars novel due out in 2014? That would be surprising. Don't they publish Star Wars novels pretty regularly? I know there's one coming out soon by James S.A. According to my primitive Amazon search skills Honor Among Thieves is the ONLY novel slated for 2014. Incorrect. Darth Maul: Lockdown - Joe Schrieber...schedule for January 28 (the guy who wrote Death Troopers and Red Harvest) Honor Among Thieves - James SA Corey...March 4 That's all for fiction for now. It is a very light slate for 2014. Maul: Lockdown is out at the end of the month, Honor Among Thieves in March. I think there's another book coming out by Kevin Hearne that's focusing on Luke (and like the Corey and Wells books, is set between SW and ESB). Yes - there's a third book in the "Empire and Rebellion" trilogy of novels that focuses on Luke, also set b/w SW and ESB. Personally speaking, I'd love to see John Jackson Miller try his hand at another stand-alone novel.
Nuts and Bolts: “Thought” Verbs In six seconds, you’ll hate me. But in six months, you’ll be a better writer. From this point forward – at least for the next half year – you may not use “thought” verbs. These include: Thinks, Knows, Understands, Realizes, Believes, Wants, Remembers, Imagines, Desires, and a hundred others you love to use. The list should also include: Loves and Hates. And it should include: Is and Has, but we’ll get to those, later. Until some time around Christmas, you can’t write: Kenny wondered if Monica didn’t like him going out at night…” Thinking is abstract. Instead, you’ll have to Un-pack that to something like: “The mornings after Kenny had stayed out, beyond the last bus, until he’d had to bum a ride or pay for a cab and got home to find Monica faking sleep, faking because she never slept that quiet, those mornings, she’d only put her own cup of coffee in the microwave. Instead of characters knowing anything, you must now present the details that allow the reader to know them. For example: Versus:
25 Things You Should Know About Writing A Novel I figured, okay, I just finished the first draft of a new novel. Just got a book deal for another one. Got DOUBLE DEAD coming out in November. Maybe a list of “25 Things” to do with writing a novel. Specifically. The other lists apply, of course — plot, character, storytelling — but this one about the mechanical act of smacking your face again and again into the meaty thighs of a novel. Previous iterations of the “25 Things” series: 25 Things Every Writer Should Know 25 Things You Should Know About Storytelling 25 Things You Should Know About Character 25 Things You Should Know About Plot 1. Let’s get this out of the way right now: if you start a fucking novel, then plan to fucking finish that fucking novel. 2. Say it five times fast: momentum-momentum-momentum-momentum-momentum. 3. It’s you and hundreds of other soldier-penmonkeys clawing their way up the enemy beach of the People’s Republic Of Novelsvainya. 4. 5. Take risks on that first draft. 6. 7. Seriously, you have to stop sometime.