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Author Craft / Re: Good books on writing
« on: June 14, 2006, 10:25:32 PM »
Thanks for the Holly Lisle link. Good stuff in there.
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Author Craft / Re: Any WriMo's out there?
« on: June 10, 2006, 05:40:13 PM »
I've done it twice and both times, I made the deadline and then kept going til the end of the story. I've since edited and polished my 2004 nano into a presentable novel, and I'm shopping it around now.
My first novel took me ten years to complete the first draft (lots of time off and time to learn). My second took a month. Go figure.
My first novel took me ten years to complete the first draft (lots of time off and time to learn). My second took a month. Go figure.
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Author Craft / Re: Good books on writing
« on: June 10, 2006, 05:29:03 PM »
I was on the waitlist for the Breakout book at the library, but when it came through, I was out of town for a while and missed my window of opportunity. D'oh. Need to try again.
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Author Craft / Re: Good books on writing
« on: June 05, 2006, 07:24:11 PM »
Good stuff! I like the essays about writing. I've enjoyed Terry Brooks's, Stephen King's, and right now I'm reading I. Asimov by the man himself. Great, inspirational stuff.
The Pat Elrod site seems to have some good real-world tips. Thanks for the link.
--Todd
The Pat Elrod site seems to have some good real-world tips. Thanks for the link.
--Todd
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Author Craft / Re: Use of Have/Has Got in Jim's books
« on: May 31, 2006, 04:24:47 PM »
Think of a phrasal verb like a vector. Velocity includes info on speed and direction.
Or maybe that doesn't help. Anyway, you can talk about speed without reference to direction. Same for throw. I can tell you I threw something and maybe the direction doesn't matter. Or maybe the direction is implied. "The pitcher threw the baseball and the batter swung the bat."
Or maybe that doesn't help. Anyway, you can talk about speed without reference to direction. Same for throw. I can tell you I threw something and maybe the direction doesn't matter. Or maybe the direction is implied. "The pitcher threw the baseball and the batter swung the bat."
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Author Craft / Good books on writing
« on: May 31, 2006, 04:20:19 PM »
I've read a bunch of them, some useful, some not, and some that were amazingly useful. Do you have a book or three that helped you out?
The ones I recommend are:
--Todd
The ones I recommend are:
- How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy - Orson Scott Card: great overview
- Characters and Viewpoint - Orson Scott Card: no one writes characters like him. It is part of "The Elements of Fiction Writing" series. The rest are good too and focus on different aspects of the craft. I believe Jim learned from William Noble, who wrote Conflict, Action, and Suspense in the series.
- Writing the Novel - Lawrence Block: a good overview of all the aspects of novel writing
- The First Five Pages - Noah Lukeman: indispensable guide to editing. Tells you, in order of importance, what things make editors and agents reject a book.
- The Elements of Style - William Strunk and EB White: no list would be complete without it. Grammar rules, tight writing style, common mistakes to avoid, and witty as well. What's not to like?
--Todd
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