P.T. Hylton’s podcasts are short and informative, and today’s meshes with my post yesterday about my word count, and Kristine’s blog post.
http://www.pthylton.com/tips-productive-writer/
Category Archives: Writing in general
Marvelous interview with editor Harry Dewulf
I went sailing over the weekend with some friends of mine. It was a 2 hour drive each way, and with time to burn I decided to listen to the Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast. I was completely blown away by the interview with Harry Dewulf. He really cares about his craft, and the lengths he goes for his writers are above and beyond what I thought was possible in an editor-for-hire.
I immediately sent the link to the podcast to various friends. I also emailed Harry. He’s a great guy, even offered to Skype with me about my current work in progress, for free. I had to decline, mostly out of shame that the project isn’t as far along as I wanted it to be. But I also told him I’m going to try to get him to edit it when it’s done.
Link: Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast with Harry Dewulf
Link: Harry’s Website…
Link: Harry’s Blog…
Filed under Indie Publishing, Writing Experience, Writing in general
Carol Kean: You’ve Got Fantasy in My Science!
I recommend the article below, by Carol Kean, to anyone interested in reading a fascinating literary rant from a professional reviewer who reads over a hundred books a year.
In addition to being a great article, she actually mentions me (she read and reviewed “Kick” recently).
As Jim Butcher once said, “My gast has been thoroughly flabbered.”
http://www.perihelionsf.com/1405/article_3.htm
Filed under Just Cool, Reviews, Writing in general
Jim Butcher videos!
Something to watch later:
** Quick Update **
Here’s a breakdown of the basics of Jim Butcher’s theory on scene-design:
1. POV: unless you are using first person, the way to choose POV is to decide which character has the most to lose in a scene
.
2. Goal: The POV character must be actively pursuing this in the scene. They must be pursuing this goal for a reason which must be communicated to the reader.
3. Conflict: Somebody or something must be getting in the way of the POV character reaching the goal. The best choice here is the antagonist, but it doesn’t have to be. Often it can be the POV’s allies, and conflict doesn’t have to represent a great argument or a fight, just something that will block or slow the POV character down and distract from the goal.
4. Setback (the end of the scene): Does the POV character achieve the goal? There are 4 possible options:
A) YES… (Butcher says you should only ever use this at the end of the novel, and even then rarely, because it’s boring)
B) YES, BUT… (The character achieves the goal, but in doing so creates a new, unforeseen problem)
C) NO (Butcher says this is great for drama, but should be used sparingly as a character coming to a complete stop can halt the momentum of the story)
D) NO, AND FURTHERMORE… (This is Butcher’s favourite (and mine!). Not only does the POV character fail to achieve the goal set out by the scene, but in their failure they make things a whole lot worse)
Filed under Writing Experience, Writing in general
Reading “Write. Publish. Repeat.” now
I’m finally reading “Write. Publish. Repeat.”
It’s a book by the makers of the Self-publishing Podcast, and it’s pretty darn good so far (about 1/2 the way through). I can already tell it’s worth the purchase price of $5.99, and potentially worth much, much more in terms of my success as an indie author. What’s funny (sort of) is that these guys are too successful to qualify for the “Awesome Indies” list.
But it doesn’t stop me from saying good job, now does it?
Filed under Indie Publishing, Reviews, Writing in general, Writing Market
Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast with Michael Corlim
Something to listen to later:
Filed under Indie Publishing, Writing in general
Interesting writing blog
Just making a note for myself (and YOU) about a neat writing blog I went to, with videos. Something to look at.
Filed under Writing in general
Breaking Bad 24×7
If I was one of the writers for Breaking Bad, I think I’d giggle myself to sleep every night. I’d walk through life saying, “Yep, I did that, you’re welcome.” I’d write autographs — to myself. The sheer awesomeness of the accomplishment would probably destroy me. The density of my ego following such a feat would cause my entire being to collapse upon itself like a massive black hole.
Thank goodness I have “Kick” to keep me humble 🙂
Filed under Writing in general
The Legendary Lawrence Block
An interview with one of the inspirations for a book I wrote (still unpublished). Highly recommended.
Filed under Favorite Books, Writing Experience, Writing in general
John L. Monk 