H.P. Lovecraft Gives Five Tips for Writing a Horror Story, or Any Piece of "Weird Fiction" Though the term “weird fiction” came into being in the 19th century—originally used by Irish gothic writer Sheridan Le Fanu—it was picked up by H.P.
Lovecraft in the 20th century as a way, primarily, of describing his own work. 27 tricky homophones. Words that are spelled differently but sound the same can be the cause of some serious confusion.
Here's some help to get it all straight. By Laura Hale Brockway | Posted: September 15, 2014 Last weekend, I was browsing in the Cajun food section at the grocery store. The Sense of Style: Psycholinguist Steven Pinker on the Art and Science of Beauitful Writing. By Maria Popova.
Zadie Smith on the Psychology of the Two Types of Writers. By Maria Popova “It’s a feeling of happiness that knocks me clean out of adjectives.
I think sometimes that the best reason for writing novels is to experience those four and a half hours after you write the final word.” The Psychology of Writing and the Cognitive Science of the Perfect Daily Routine. David Foster Wallace on Writing, Self-Improvement, and How We Become Who We Are. By Maria Popova “Good writing isn’t a science.
Theodor Adorno's Philosophy of Punctuation. Regarding the colon: Stop abusing this handy punctuation mark. The colon is a versatile punctuation mark.
Here are its three primary functions, followed by a few other uses: 1. Definition or expansion "But here's the interesting thing: He hadn't ever been there before. " Note the capitalization of the first word after the colon. How I created the languages of Dothraki and Valyrian for Game of Thrones. In a guest blog article, David J Peterson uses his experience as a language creator on Game of Thrones, Defiance, and Dominion to discuss the world of conlang.
What Makes a Great City: E.B. White on the Poetics of New York. By Maria Popova “A poem compresses much in a small space and adds music, thus heightening its meaning.
The city is like poetry.” A great city is like a great love — it makes you feel closer to your own center, envelops you in its immutable and caring magic, and no matter how far from it you may travel, it always beckons you with steadfast, unshakable mesmerism. But what makes a great city? How to Get Out of Your Own Way and Unblock the “Spiritual Electricity” of Creative Flow. By Maria Popova “No matter what your age or your life path … it is not too late or too egotistical or too selfish or too silly to work on your creativity.”
“Art is not a thing — it is a way,” Elbert Hubbard wrote in 1908. But the question of what that way is, where exactly it leads, and how to best follow it is something artists have been grappling with since the dawn of recorded time and psychologists have spent decades trying to decode, outlining the stages of creativity, its essential conditions, and the best technique for producing ideas. In 1978, a few months after she stopped drinking, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer, and journalist Julia Cameron began teaching artists — by the broadest possible definition — how to overcome creative block and get back on their feet after a “creative injury.”
Art by Sydney Pink from 'Overcoming Creative Block.' Writing in the introduction to the 10th anniversary edition, Cameron adds to the most beautiful definitions of art: 20 Charles Bukowski Quotes on Writing ... where no reviews are ever written. 15.
“There is only one place to write and that is alone at a typewriter. The writer who has to go into the streets is a writer who does not know the streets. . . when you leave your typewriter you leave your machine gun and the rats come pouring through.” 36 redundant phrases to eliminate from your writing. As Strunk and White famously admonished, ‘Omit needless words.’ Here are some worth omitting. By Laura Hale Brockway | Posted: June 12, 2014 As writers, editors, and PR professionals, we are keenly aware of having to fight for readers’ attention. My daily sanity check is to ask, “Is someone actually going to read this?” 9 time-saving tools for writers. Have you ever had a great idea, but not the time, discipline or will to put it into writing? All writers and content creators struggle with the same problem—they are hit by inspiration at the weirdest moments, but it evaporates by the time they get to their computers and start writing.
The solution is to use tools. The tools below will not only provide you with a way to write down your ideas whenever they strike, but enable you to better organize your time and create more content. Writing tools. The Last Screenwriting Tool You’ll Ever Need: The Periodic Table of Storytelling. By: ScreenCraft Staff Posted on: April 17, 2014 Posted in: Blog, Featured The writing community has been buzzing lately about this little jewel, which Screencraft unearthed last year and has recently risen back to prominence thanks a new interactive design of the same graphic.
16 Shakespearean insults. When it comes to clever comebacks, insults, and affronts, few can match the wit and genius of William Shakespeare. Though his plays are filled with stabbings, poisonings, and sword fights, some of the most wounding moments include the verbal attacks of Shakespeare’s characters. Though it is unlikely that any of us could work these into our writing for PR purposes, reading them is certainly a diversion, and perhaps they could inspire a clever, non-vicious turn of phrase in a blog post or a press release.
David Foster Wallace’s 1994 Syllabus: How to Teach Serious Literature with Lightweight Books. Note: click here to see the full syllabus and other related teaching materials. David Foster Wallace Breaks Down Five Common Word Usage Mistakes in English. David Foster Wallace’s Love of Language Revealed by the Books in His Personal Library. David Foster Wallace’s Lists of His Favorite Words: “Maugre,” “Tarantism,” “Ruck,” “Primapara” & More. David Foster Wallace Talks About Literature (and More) in an Internet Chatroom: Read the 1996 Transcript. Reddit’s Ask Me Anything (AMA) series, where users get the chance to pose questions to the likes of Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen King, and Bill Nye the Science Guy, provides a surprisingly simple way to interact with celebrities.
David Ogilvy's 10 tips for clear, concise writing. David Ogilvy is widely hailed as the father of advertising for his ability to communicate a clear vision and a deeper passion at the highest level of achievement. 7 idioms almost everyone gets wrong. The English language is old. 10 words everyone should know how to pronounce. Read 10 Free Articles by Hunter S. Thompson That Span His Gonzo Journalist Career (1965-2005) Most readers know Hunter S. » 10 Things To Do To Become a Better Writer in 10 Days.
117 Most beautiful words in the English language. 25 ways to tighten your writing. Writers rarely spit out their best copy on the first draft. 10 words to cut from your writing. Do You Have To Suffer For Your Art? Or Can Happy Writers Be Successful? 9 old words and phrases we should use more often.
10 more words you're probably misusing. 16 substitutes for 'because' or 'because of' See F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Handwritten Manuscripts for The Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise & More. 12 writing mistakes nearly everyone makes. David Foster Wallace, Who Took His Life on September 12, 2008, on Writing, Death, and Redemption. The Curious History of Punctuation: Author Reveals the Beginnings of the #, ¶, ☞, and More. 7 punctuation staples for polished writing. 18 (Free) Books Ernest Hemingway Wished He Could Read Again for the First Time. 50 plain-language substitutions for wordy phrases. 6 books to boost your creativity. Tips for effective storytelling. WRITERS ON WRITING; Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle. 10 Unfilmable Books That Would Make Great Films.
LPT: When writing, studying, or reading, listen to music with no vocals : LifeProTips. Famous Advice on Writing: The Collected Wisdom of Great Writers. Good Writing vs. Talented Writing. In the Beginning: How to Draw in Your Reader. 8 Unstoppable Rules For Writing Killer Short Stories.
Crime Writer Elmore Leonard (1925-2013) Provides 13 Writing Tips for Aspiring Writers. Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, and Anne Enright Give Ten Candid Pieces of Writing Advice Each. 27 modifiers that have been drained of meaning. 25 editing tips for your writer's toolbox. 17 verbs that cut fat from your writing.
The 5 best writing books no one ever told you about. 10 fun and inspiring quotations about writing. 20 creative prompts to ward off writer's block. 18 obsolete words worth rediscovering. Your A-to-Z guide of adjectives. 'Awesome': The most overused word in English.