So I wrote Steve Likes Tony in four days, using Written? Kitten! and e.ggtimer. And what have we learned from this exercise?
( Process navel-gazing cut )
( Process navel-gazing cut )
Nonexistent stories meme
Dec. 13th, 2011 07:14 pmTaken from ![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ellen_fremedon:
Tell me about a story I haven't written, and I'll give you several sentences from that story.
I love this meme. It's like getting to wander through the Slash Annex of the Library of Babel.
[edited to change the terms of the meme, because apparently I'm incapable of sticking to "between one and three sentences" unless I write torturously long and complicated sentences with an illegal number of semicolons]
ellen_fremedon:Tell me about a story I haven't written, and I'll give you several sentences from that story.
I love this meme. It's like getting to wander through the Slash Annex of the Library of Babel.
[edited to change the terms of the meme, because apparently I'm incapable of sticking to "between one and three sentences" unless I write torturously long and complicated sentences with an illegal number of semicolons]
Text to speech to porn
Jul. 9th, 2011 11:12 amMy chapter of RWA isn't terribly helpful as a critique group. If there are twelve people at a meeting:
five of them are too nice to utter any criticism at all
our two published writers want to find out exactly what market category you picture your work going into, and then give you detailed step-by-step instructions on how you can precisely tailor your characters, conflicts, and word count to get you into some line of category romances.
So most of the time I don't bother to bring pages, but one thing that is useful is to hear your work read out loud by another person. Boy, that really draws your attention to, say, a sentence that has three words in it that end in -ly.
So I went looking for an application that would read selections out loud to me. And since I seem to be working with British characters at the moment, I went looking for applications with British voices, since the difference between "garridge" and "ga-rahge" could hypothetically throw off the whole rhythm of the sentence, right?
So I downloaded a free trial of GhostReader and then downloaded Graham, Peter, Lucy, and Rachel to read me my work in a fairly decent machine-voiced British.
And now I'm sitting in a coffee shop with headphones on, listening to Lucy, who seems quite a well-meaning sort, say, "Oh, fuck, that is so -- fuck --" in a dispassionate voice.
My life gets odder every year.
- five of them know a lot less about good writing than I do (a lot less; I should tell y'all about the great debate our e-mail loop had on the concept of "show, don't tell")
- three of those are also completely unfamiliar with fantasy, to the point where they say things like, "When you say 'elves,' you're speaking literally?!"
- and the other two don't see the difference between fantasy and paranormal romance. Which is a distinction that I don't feel equal to explaining in nice words, since as a fantasy lover I think of paranormal romance as "that shit that looks like fantasy but isn't."
- three of those are also completely unfamiliar with fantasy, to the point where they say things like, "When you say 'elves,' you're speaking literally?!"
So most of the time I don't bother to bring pages, but one thing that is useful is to hear your work read out loud by another person. Boy, that really draws your attention to, say, a sentence that has three words in it that end in -ly.
So I went looking for an application that would read selections out loud to me. And since I seem to be working with British characters at the moment, I went looking for applications with British voices, since the difference between "garridge" and "ga-rahge" could hypothetically throw off the whole rhythm of the sentence, right?
So I downloaded a free trial of GhostReader and then downloaded Graham, Peter, Lucy, and Rachel to read me my work in a fairly decent machine-voiced British.
And now I'm sitting in a coffee shop with headphones on, listening to Lucy, who seems quite a well-meaning sort, say, "Oh, fuck, that is so -- fuck --" in a dispassionate voice.
My life gets odder every year.
OK, this is neato: put a text file into the box at tagcrowd and it will render you a cloud of the most-used words. If you do this to a story, it's fascinating.
For instance: my current work in progress, in 50-word cloud form:
( Read more... )
Like, obviously I need to do a search-and-replace on "seemed" and "really," and anybody who knows me could have predicted "voice," "mouth," and "sound," but isn't it funny that "turned" is in there? "Think"? And look at those mid-level words. "Eyes," "face," "fingers," "head," "kiss," "mouth," and ... "something"?
Anyway. Happy new year, if it's your new year!
[eta: huh. I can't seem to get their html to work. Trust me, it's very cool on their page.]
For instance: my current work in progress, in 50-word cloud form:
( Read more... )
Like, obviously I need to do a search-and-replace on "seemed" and "really," and anybody who knows me could have predicted "voice," "mouth," and "sound," but isn't it funny that "turned" is in there? "Think"? And look at those mid-level words. "Eyes," "face," "fingers," "head," "kiss," "mouth," and ... "something"?
Anyway. Happy new year, if it's your new year!
[eta: huh. I can't seem to get their html to work. Trust me, it's very cool on their page.]
Cliches for everyone!
Jun. 22nd, 2009 08:47 pmI've never done this before and I'm kind of terrified, especially since I haven't written anything since approximately 1915, but I signed up for ![[livejournal.com profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
cliche_bingo and you should too!
( See my bingo card under here )
cliche_bingo and you should too!( See my bingo card under here )
'Moonlighting' syndrome
Jul. 31st, 2008 09:06 pmThe spouse is reading a book about Shakespeare. It claims that Shakespeare must have had an unhappy marriage, because none of his plays are about happy marriages. The spouse scoffs at this. "Nobody wants to see a play that's like their marriage, and nobody wants their marriage to be like a play," he says. "If you're lucky, your marriage is the opposite of dramatic."
Remember "Moonlighting"? Remember how sexy Maddy and David were as they bickered and maneuvered and claimed not to feel what they were feeling? Remember how fast all that sexy went away as soon as they actually acted on what they felt?
And yet ... And yet. As a person, I like having a relationship that can be measured in decades. As a writer, I like a challenge. And I don't believe that there's no way to write an established relationship except as the grave of a romance or a backdrop for nonromantic derring-do.
You can write a long-term relationship that still has the romantic and sexual tension you need to keep the sex sexy. Not many people do, but you can.
( Read more... )
Remember "Moonlighting"? Remember how sexy Maddy and David were as they bickered and maneuvered and claimed not to feel what they were feeling? Remember how fast all that sexy went away as soon as they actually acted on what they felt?
And yet ... And yet. As a person, I like having a relationship that can be measured in decades. As a writer, I like a challenge. And I don't believe that there's no way to write an established relationship except as the grave of a romance or a backdrop for nonromantic derring-do.
You can write a long-term relationship that still has the romantic and sexual tension you need to keep the sex sexy. Not many people do, but you can.
( Read more... )
The novelistic question
Jul. 11th, 2007 08:43 pmI'm reading novels like crazy this summer*, and I've noticed that one of the novelist's chief concerns is to be forever answering the question, "Well, if it's so bad, then why doesn't she just quit?"
*This is partly, I confess, because I'm now logging all my books at Goodreads and I read more when people are watching me.
Rec: writing meta
Apr. 16th, 2007 01:38 pmI don't know if y'all are following Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer's online writing community. I try to look into it a couple of times a week, but I hadn't really been connecting with it -- for a long time they were chiefly writing about things (like POV) that fandom teaches better than anyone, or things (like goal and motivation) that I've been struggling with for so long that it makes me tired just to read about them.
Today, though, there's a post on something I've never seen discussed: The protagonist's community, and how to build it.
One thing that particularly struck me was the way she stresses involving the reader in the community by starting out with no community, so that the reader is in on it from the start:
I tend to connect most strongly with the characters who are the most lonesome -- not just isolated but longing for connection. (Benton Fraser was the absolute archetypal Res-love in that respect.) So I don't know whether following this advice would make a story moving for everyone, but it would certainly work for me.
Today, though, there's a post on something I've never seen discussed: The protagonist's community, and how to build it.
One thing that particularly struck me was the way she stresses involving the reader in the community by starting out with no community, so that the reader is in on it from the start:
That emotional connection is even stronger when the reader reads the creation of the community or the protagonist’s entry into a existing community through the course of the story (”bonds developed over time”), participating vicariously in the struggles of the characters to bond.
I tend to connect most strongly with the characters who are the most lonesome -- not just isolated but longing for connection. (Benton Fraser was the absolute archetypal Res-love in that respect.) So I don't know whether following this advice would make a story moving for everyone, but it would certainly work for me.
How writing is like improv
Dec. 6th, 2005 09:00 pmI just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. It's a highly quotable book, one of those books that tempts you to drive your companions nuts by saying, "Hey, listen to this." Which is basically what I'm doing.
The book quotes Keith Johnstone, who's apparently a trendsetter in improv theater:
"If you'll stop reading for a moment and think of something you wouldn't want to happen to you, or to someone you love, then you'll have thought of something worth staging or filming."
Then he goes on: "In life, most of us are highly skilled at suppressing action. ... Bad improvisers block action, often with a high degree of skill. Good improvisers develop action."
So that takes me back to what I've been saying about my difficulties in creating action in stories.
One of the ways good improvisers create action, by the way, is by what Gladwell calls the "rule of agreement" -- if one actor suggests something, the other actor has to go along with it.
There's a rule like that in brainstorming, too. And now I wonder whether it ought to work with writing as well?
The book quotes Keith Johnstone, who's apparently a trendsetter in improv theater:
"If you'll stop reading for a moment and think of something you wouldn't want to happen to you, or to someone you love, then you'll have thought of something worth staging or filming."
Then he goes on: "In life, most of us are highly skilled at suppressing action. ... Bad improvisers block action, often with a high degree of skill. Good improvisers develop action."
So that takes me back to what I've been saying about my difficulties in creating action in stories.
One of the ways good improvisers create action, by the way, is by what Gladwell calls the "rule of agreement" -- if one actor suggests something, the other actor has to go along with it.
There's a rule like that in brainstorming, too. And now I wonder whether it ought to work with writing as well?
How to write a sex scene, part 4
Dec. 1st, 2005 12:04 pmI've moved this series to my webpage. You can find it here.
How to write a sex scene, part 3
Nov. 30th, 2005 01:39 pmI've moved this series to my webpage. You can find it here.
How to write a sex scene, part 2
Nov. 29th, 2005 12:51 pmI've moved this series to my webpage. You can find it here.
How to write a sex scene, part 1
Nov. 28th, 2005 12:11 pmI've moved this series to my webpage. You can find it here.
Begging for help again
Oct. 15th, 2005 11:13 amYou know, occasionally I have a thought, or write a story, or overhear something funny, but mostly it seems that I exist only to ask y'all for help.
So. Who can recommend useful resources on planning/outlining a novel? Books, websites, whatever's been helpful to you.
So. Who can recommend useful resources on planning/outlining a novel? Books, websites, whatever's been helpful to you.
Stupid, on the necessity of being
Sep. 12th, 2005 12:34 pmAfter my three weeks with little or no writing time, last week was a lovely, open week with endless stretches of time, during which I still contrived to get almost nothing at all done.
Here's the thing. When I'm not writing, I don't forget how to write. What I forget how to do is watch myself write crap.
Only, I don't know about you, but for me that's a necessary stage in the writing process.
1. Write something crappy.
2. Fix it.
Or sometimes:
1. See that I'm not ready to write the actual story. Decide instead to write a rough, which is crappy.
2. Write the story, which is only moderately crappy because I've been able to fix some of the problems at the rough stage.
3. Fix it.
So obviously if my brain is in there talking nasty to me and preventing me from doing step 1 ("My god, that's stupid. You can't possibly put down something so stupid. Better just play some Bejeweled or something until you think of something less stupid"), then I can't ever get to steps 2 and 3, which are where the worthwhile stuff happens.
Next time I get out of practice, maybe I'll just make myself sit down and write something that's as bad as I can possibly make it. Get that over with and get on with my work.
Here's the thing. When I'm not writing, I don't forget how to write. What I forget how to do is watch myself write crap.
Only, I don't know about you, but for me that's a necessary stage in the writing process.
1. Write something crappy.
2. Fix it.
Or sometimes:
1. See that I'm not ready to write the actual story. Decide instead to write a rough, which is crappy.
2. Write the story, which is only moderately crappy because I've been able to fix some of the problems at the rough stage.
3. Fix it.
So obviously if my brain is in there talking nasty to me and preventing me from doing step 1 ("My god, that's stupid. You can't possibly put down something so stupid. Better just play some Bejeweled or something until you think of something less stupid"), then I can't ever get to steps 2 and 3, which are where the worthwhile stuff happens.
Next time I get out of practice, maybe I'll just make myself sit down and write something that's as bad as I can possibly make it. Get that over with and get on with my work.
On Writing: Character Building
Jun. 23rd, 2005 01:42 pmWhen I went back to work, I said to myself: OK, it's basically as if my scholarship money ran out before I quite finished my MFA. I've got to bring some money in, but getting the homework done still has to be a priority.
So, on a recommendation from someone in my romance writers' group, I've been reading Tami Cowden's The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines.
( And now I understand why fictional characters are unrealistic, and why that's a good thing. )
So, on a recommendation from someone in my romance writers' group, I've been reading Tami Cowden's The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines.
( And now I understand why fictional characters are unrealistic, and why that's a good thing. )
Plot Considerations, part 3
Mar. 14th, 2005 02:11 pmThis weekend I slurped up three more books from the Writer's Digest Elements of Fiction Writing series. I will continue to digest the digests, for those of you who share my plot perplexity.
( Action, reaction, and how conflict aversion leads to pacing problems )
( Action, reaction, and how conflict aversion leads to pacing problems )
More plot considerations
Feb. 17th, 2005 12:04 pmSince so many of y'all responded to the angry wombat theory of plotting, I gather I'm not the only writer here who's trying to turn a puzzle brain into a drama brain, so here's more of what I'm learning from plotting books.
( Inside you'll find Nancy Kress's theory of forces, not to mention the reason why every plot-deficient beginning writer ought to be writing smut. )
( Inside you'll find Nancy Kress's theory of forces, not to mention the reason why every plot-deficient beginning writer ought to be writing smut. )
Plot considerations
Feb. 14th, 2005 02:10 pmI've been reading a book about plotting. I'm finding it very inspiring, though I'm not sure whether that means it's an outstanding book or not; it's possible that it's just wildly exciting for me to have even the most incomplete and flimsy sort of conceptual framework for thinking about story structure.
(For what it's worth, the book is Plot, the author is Ansen Dibell, and it's part of the Elements of Fiction Writing series from Writer's Digest.)
Ever since I started writing fanfic, I've been wondering: How did I manage to read so much fiction without getting an intuitive grasp of what's necessary to make a good plot? I mean, I picked up other aspects of fiction writing -- sentence structure and characterization and dialog and how to write explicit sex and so on -- just from reading; why didn't I do the same with plot?
( The light dawns. )
(For what it's worth, the book is Plot, the author is Ansen Dibell, and it's part of the Elements of Fiction Writing series from Writer's Digest.)
Ever since I started writing fanfic, I've been wondering: How did I manage to read so much fiction without getting an intuitive grasp of what's necessary to make a good plot? I mean, I picked up other aspects of fiction writing -- sentence structure and characterization and dialog and how to write explicit sex and so on -- just from reading; why didn't I do the same with plot?
( The light dawns. )
