Elmore Leonard's ten rules of writing Editor's note: Elmore Leonard gave the Detroit Free Press permission to post his rules for writing on November 6, 2010. These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story. If you have a facility for language and imagery and the sound of your voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip the rules. Still, you might look them over. • Related: Legendary crime novelist Elmore Leonard dies at 87 1. If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a character's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. 2. They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. 3. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. 4. . . . he admonished gravely. 5. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. 6. This rule doesn't require an explanation.
'Type So Hard You Bruise the Screen' In the late 1950s, Jack Kerouac typed out a list of thirty points describing his writing practice in a piece titled “Belief and Technique for Modern Prose: List of Essentials.” Some of it makes solid sense – “4. Be in love with yr life” – others are a kind of enjoyable nonsense – “11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest.” Following in this tradition, I humbly offer my own thirty points for prose. I have gathered these thoughts from mentors, fellow writers, and my own disjointed thinking. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Owen Egerton is an author, performer, and screenwriter. The Austin Chronicle is currently accepting submissions for its annual Short Story Contest.
Read These Seven Books, and You'll be a Better Writer Donald Miller I used to play golf but I wasn’t very good. I rented a DVD, though, that taught me a better way to swing, and after watching it a few times and spending an hour or so practicing, I knocked ten strokes off my game. • The War of Art by Steven Pressfield: This book is aimed at writers, but it’s also applicable to anybody who does creative work. Pressfield leaves out all the mushy romantic talk about the writing life, talk I don’t find helpful. • On Writing Well by William Zinsser: Zinsser may be the best practical writing coach out there. • Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott: Before becoming a literary superstar, Anne Lamott taught writing, and Bird by Bird is the best of her advice, broken up into chapters. Save the Cat by Blake Snyder: Snyder’s book is specifically for screenwriters, and yet I recommend the book for writers of any kind, and teachers and preachers as well. Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell: On Writing, by Stephen King: Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury:
How to Publish an Ebook, Step by Step Want to publish a book? You can either kill a bunch of trees, or get with the 2010s and publish it as an ebook. If you haven’t noticed already, ebooks are no longer a niche market. As of June 2011, ebook reader adoption had reportedly hit 25 percent in the United States, with the market growing at a phenomenal 169 percent year over year. An ebook can provide your small business a real competitive advantage by giving you instant credibility and visibility in the marketplace. Unfortunately, the ebook sales market is fragmented. As a budding publisher, you will need to prepare your book for at least those three platforms. I have a couple of ebooks on the market, but for the past few years they’ve been available only for Kindle. Prepare for E-Publishing Before you even create your Amazon or B&N account, here’s how to get ready for your career as an e-publisher. Start with the book: First, write a book. Next Page: Set the Magic Price, and Understand Your Rights
Eight Secrets Which Writers Won't Tell You Image from Flickr by Lazurite This is not particularly relevant to the post, but I’m getting an awful lot of comments telling me, often a little snarkily, “it’s ‘THAT’ not ‘WHICH’”. The “don’t use which for restrictive clauses” rule comes (as far as I can tell) from Strunk and White. Plenty of authors, including Austen, have used “which” exactly as I use it in the title. There was never a period in the history of English when “which” at the beginning of a restrictive relative clause was an error. I thought about putting “that” in the title – but I like the sound of “which” between “secrets” and “writers”. And with that out of the way, enjoy the post! A few years ago, I’d look at published writers and think that they were somehow different from me. They were real writers. But as I’ve taken more and more steps into the writing world, I’ve realised that my perception just doesn’t match up to the reality. I’m going to go through eight secrets. Secret #1: Writing is Hard It doesn’t end there.
30 things to tell a book snob It is World Book Night next week and World Book Night is a good thing, because it is fun and helps get books into the hands of people who wouldn't otherwise read them. And people should read books. Books are good. But many are intimidated. There is something innately snobby about the world of books. So here is my message to book snobs: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
Neil Gaiman: 'I don't think I'm mainstream. I'm lots of different cults' In one of the earlier stories in Neil Gaiman's hugely popular Sandman graphic novel series, a writer is keeping the muse Calliope imprisoned – "demeaned, abused, and hurt" – to fulfil his need for ideas. She is rescued by Morpheus, Lord of Dreams, who visits a curse of "ideas in abundance" upon the writer. He ends up grovelling on the street, clawing out his stories in blood: "a man who falls in love with a paper doll … two old women taking a weasel on holiday … a rose bush, a nightingale, and a black rubber dog collar … make them stop." It's hard not to wonder if Gaiman himself ever feels the same way. Gaiman, chatty and warm despite a hectic schedule on a trip to the UK from his Minneapolis home, admits he "will die with books unwritten". Not even tomorrow: he's currently deep in his Sandman prequel, the subject of much excitement among fans because it's the first Sandman story in over 10 years. "I wasn't thinking of it particularly in terms of publication.
Canada Writes - Avoid self-indulgence but take naps Being edited forced author Camilla Gibb to grow up and get professional. Editor Martha Sharpe has to sink into the muck and feel for unseen shapes before she can comment on a manuscript. They share their experiences on writing and editing. Here's the harshest thing an editor ever said to me: "It's not the reader's job to indulge you, Camilla." Yowza. I tended to get carried away. Apparently I wasn't as funny as I thought I was. The beginning of editing a book is exhausting. After the muck and the naps, I write a letter.
50 of the Best Websites for Writers There are tons of reference sites on the web that can help you find a job or write a poem, essay or story. Here is a list of the best 50 websites for writers. Reference Websites Merriam-Webster Online - Merriam Webster is the perfect place to look up words and find information. General Writing Websites Writer's Digest - Probably one of the best all-around websites for writers, Writer's Digest offers information on writing better and getting published. Fiction Writing Websites About.com - About.com publishes a Guide to Fiction Writing with general information about fiction writing and a number of community forums for both current and aspiring writers. Nonfiction Writing Websites Bella Online - This site offers a large collection of resources for nonfiction writers. Websites for Freelance Writers and Authors Media Bistro - This site is a good place to find freelance jobs online.
Copywriting: Eliminate "Writer's Block" Forever Okay here's a tip from a professional. The real stuff. I've been writing professionally since I was 15. I'm now 40. That's a LOT of writing. Including books (fiction and non-fiction), articles (I was a syndicated health columnist and I wrote articles in various styles for many different magazines), sales letters online and offline, ads, reports, information products etc etc etc. And at the risk of being immodest the quality of my writing is very, very high. These 2 secrets may surprise or even shock you but I guarantee 100% that they work and they work for everyone - even the lousiest writer in the world with the worst case of writer's block in history. Secret 1 to writing: This will sound bad I know but stick with me here... Take the attitude you're going to write ANY OLD CRAP on the subject that you can come up with. Whatever you think of - just write it down. Any old nonsense - GREAT. A pile of steaming crap no one would ever read? Not your problem - just write it anyway. Easy. P.S. P.P.S.
What Does Your Handwriting Say About You? What Does Your Handwriting Say About You? graphology Graphology is the study of handwriting, especially when employed as a means of analyzing a writer's character, personality, abilities, etc. How you write can indicate more than 5,000 different personality traits. In the medical field, it can be used to refer to the study of handwriting as an aid in diagnosis and tracking diseases. size large letters You are out-going, people oriented, outspoken & love attention. small letters You are shy or withdrawn, studious, concentrated and meticulous. average You are well-adjusted and adaptable spacing between words wide spacing You enjoy your freedom and don't like to be overwhelmed or crowded narrow spacing You can't stand to be alone. slanting No Slant You don't let your emotions get the best of you. Slants to the right You are open to new experiences & enjoy meeting new people. Slants to the left You tend to keep to yourself and generally like to work behind the scenes. shape of the letters Rounded letters Open
Tidbits from The Observation Deck John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil used to call his NY phone machine from Savannah and read his work aloud. Gay Talese hung his manuscript on a clothes line and viewed it through binoculars when he needed distance from his writing. Eudora Welty "cut and pasted" her text using scissors and push pins. Nelson Algren spent years pretending to look for a mugger so he could eavesdrop at the local police station lineups. Elizabeth Berg plays a game involving license plates to find out what she is thinking. Carol Shields meditates on the dictionary to get in the mood to write. Lawrence Block checks into hotels for 6 week stretches to finish a book. Leslie Marmon Silko painted a snake on the side of her building to get unblocked. Maurice Sendak can spend a full year writing a 32 page book. William Styron wrote Sophies Choice because of a dream. Robert Olen Butler created a series of short stories improvising on the headlines in a tabloid newspaper. Locate The Fear Variations
How to use Pinterest to Promote Your Book by Courtney Gornder by Courtney Gordner (@CourtGordner) I’ve been trying to get some time to explore the hugely popular social site Pinterest, but without much luck. I get traffic from the boards I do have there, and the biggest one is for the winners of the monthly Ebook Cover Design Awards. So it was good timing when Courtney Gordner told me she’d like to give readers some ideas about how to use this site to promote their books. Here’s her report. Almost everyone takes part in social media in some way, whether it’s just for work or for personal pleasure. But those are just the tip of the iceberg. There’s LinkedIn, which is designed to help you build a professional network;Vine, which grants users a creative outlet through which they can watch and make 7 second long videos;Instagram, which provides a similar service as Vine only with an emphasis on photography rather than film; and many more. Then they can share their boards, allowing their pins to be repined by others. Linking Other uses Downsides
Useful references for writers - WestSuburbanWriters Because there are HUGE misunderstandings about what a copyright is these days and I keep seeing them repeated over and over again. I thought I could help. There's a good start. So, yes fan fiction is a violation of copyright. Copyrights are made as soon as you make them into apparent form. This post will be invalid in its copyright after I'm dead for EIGHTY years. Also another thing to know is that an official copyright is EXPENSIVE, which is why most publishers will do it for you. Copyright info and Electronic publishing info from the Science Fiction Writers of America.