Charleston Wrimos

championisjustatitle:

ozwinozwald:

inkerdoodle:

When you’re writing aND YOU CAN’T FIND THE RIGHT WORD

http://chir.ag/projects/tip-of-my-tongue/

you’re welcome

(via theirontardis)

Blue Books versus Commonplace Books

Let’s get ready to rummmmmmmmmmmbbbbbbbblllllllllllllleeeeee!

Tells us what you think worked best for you, Blue Books or Commonplace Books? Can’t remember what one is?

Commonplace Book

Blue Book

Happy voting! NaNoWriMo 2013 rest in your hands!

Take Our…

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Pressure of the “Novelist”

writeworld:

anonymous asked: For years, I’ve written by myself, sort of in secret, and I’ve always loved it. Now, I’ve chosen to become a novelist and take creative writing in university, and suddenly I’m full of anxiety. It’s like I’m afraid of writing. I don’t want to be. Do you have any advice?

Word. This is scary. If you’ve never shown people your writing before, you’ll be scared that you’re showing them deeply personal subject matter and characters that you’ve gotten to know exclusively for so long, and you also know that they will judge you for the quality of your writing, which is probably even scarier.

There’s also the whole pressure of having “chosen to become a novelist.” Now it seems that your whole career is banking on how well you do in these classes, how much you learn, and in some ways, how much better you are than your classmates. Right? Maybe a little.

The thing is, you can choose to think this way. You can choose to think of each word you set down as something that is going to set you on the road to achieve your dream. And that’s horrifying. After all, you only live once. Can’t afford to make mistakes.

Alternatively, you can think of it as every word that you set down as a small part in a made-up story about a bunch of things that don’t exist. And if you become unsatisfied with this small piece, you can edit it out.

Nobody is amazing at writing the first time they try. It takes a metric ton of practice to get anywhere near good, and those writers that are Voices of Their Generation edit their work constantly.

Just as writing can be improved with a little work, so can you. You’re going to school to get better at writing, yes? That must mean that your writing could be improved in a whole lot of ways. So don’t worry about how good you are now. That doesn’t matter one little bit compared to how good you’ll be once you’re done, and that won’t matter one little bit ten or twenty years in the future.

So for now, just write. Have fun, and keep your ears open. There’s nothing to worry about and a whole lot to learn. Focus on the learning.

Here are some other resources relating to worries, nervousness, and stuff.

• On Writing “Books”
• The Perks of Being a Workshopper

- O

amandaonwriting:

What NOT to Do When Beginning Your Novel: Advice from Literary Agents

GIVEAWAY: I am very excited to again give away a free book to a random commenter. The winner can choose either CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM or the 2013 GUIDE TO LITERARY AGENTS. Commenters must live…

No one reads more prospective novel beginnings than literary agents. They’re the ones on the front lines — sifting through inboxes and slush piles. And they’re the ones who can tell us which Chapter 1 approaches are overused and cliche, as well as which techniques just plain don’t work. Below find a smattering of feedback from experienced literary agents on what they hate to see the first pages of a writer’s submission. Avoid these problems and tighten your submission!

FALSE BEGINNINGS

“I don’t like it when the main character dies at the end of Chapter 1. Why did I just spend all this time with this character? I feel cheated.”
- Cricket Freeman, The August Agency

“I dislike opening scenes that you think are real, then the protagonist wakes up. It makes me feel cheated.”
- Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary

IN SCIENCE FICTION

“A sci-fi novel that spends the first two pages describing the strange landscape.”
- Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary

PROLOGUES

“I’m not a fan of prologues, preferring to find myself in the midst of a moving plot on page 1 rather than being kept outside of it, or eased into it.”
- Michelle Andelman, Regal Literary

“Most agents hate prologues. Just make the first chapter relevant and well written.”
- Andrea Brown, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

“Prologues are usually a lazy way to give back-story chunks to the reader and can be handled with more finesse throughout the story. Damn the prologue, full speed ahead!”
- Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary

EXPOSITION/DESCRIPTION

“Perhaps my biggest pet peeve with an opening chapter is when an author features too much exposition – when they go beyond what is necessary for simply ‘setting the scene.’ I want to feel as if I’m in the hands of a master storyteller, and starting a story with long, flowery, overly-descriptive sentences (kind of like this one) makes the writer seem amateurish and the story contrived. Of course, an equally jarring beginning can be nearly as off-putting, and I hesitate to read on if I’m feeling disoriented by the fifth page. I enjoy when writers can find a good balance between exposition and mystery. Too much accounting always ruins the mystery of a novel, and the unknown is what propels us to read further.”
- Peter Miller, PMA Literary and Film Management

“The [adjective] [adjective] sun rose in the [adjective] [adjective] sky, shedding its [adjective] light across the [adjective] [adjective] [adjective] land.”
- Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary

“I dislike endless ‘laundry list’ character descriptions. For example: ‘She had eyes the color of a summer sky and long blonde hair that fell in ringlets past her shoulders. Her petite nose was the perfect size for her heart-shaped face. Her azure dress—with the empire waist and long, tight sleeves—sported tiny pearl buttons down the bodice. Ivory lace peeked out of the hem in front, blah, blah.’ Who cares! Work it into the story.”
- Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary

STARTING TOO SLOW

“Characters that are moving around doing little things, but essentially nothing. Washing dishes & thinking, staring out the window & thinking, tying shoes, thinking.”
- Dan Lazar, Writers House

“I don’t really like ‘first day of school’ beginnings, ‘from the beginning of time,’ or ‘once upon a time.’ Specifically, I dislike a Chapter 1 in which nothing happens.”
- Jessica Regel, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency

IN CRIME FICTION

“Someone squinting into the sunlight with a hangover in a crime novel. Good grief — been done a million times.”
- Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary

IN FANTASY

“Cliché openings in fantasy can include an opening scene set in a battle (and my peeve is that I don’t know any of the characters yet so why should I care about this battle) or with a pastoral scene where the protagonist is gathering herbs (I didn’t realize how common this is).”
- Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary

(Hi, everyone. Chuck chiming in for a quick second. I just wanted to throw in a quick plug: I am now taking on clients as a freelance editor. If your query or synopsis or manuscript needs a look from a professional, please consider my editing services. Thanks!)

VOICE

“I know this may sound obvious, but too much ‘telling’ vs. ‘showing’ in the first chapter is a definite warning sign for me. The first chapter should present a compelling scene, not a road map for the rest of the book. The goal is to make the reader curious about your characters, fill their heads with questions that must be answered, not fill them in on exactly where, when, who and how.”
- Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect Agency

“I hate reading purple prose – describing something so beautifully that has nothing to do with the actual story.”
- Cherry Weiner, Cherry Weiner Literary

“A cheesy hook drives me nuts. They say ‘Open with a hook!’ to grab the reader. That’s true, but there’s a fine line between an intriguing hook and one that’s just silly. An example of a silly hook would be opening with a line of overtly sexual dialogue.”
- Daniel Lazar, Writers House

“I don’t like an opening line that’s ‘My name is…,’ introducing the narrator to the reader so blatantly. There are far better ways in Chapter 1 to establish an instant connection between narrator and reader.”
- Michelle Andelman, Regal Literary

“Sometimes a reasonably good writer will create an interesting character and describe him in a compelling way, but then he’ll turn out to be some unimportant bit player.”
- Ellen Pepus, Signature Literary Agency

IN ROMANCE

“In romance, I can’t stand this scenario: A woman is awakened to find a strange man in her bedroom—and then automatically finds him attractive. I’m sorry, but if I awoke to a strange man in my bedroom, I’d be reaching for a weapon—not admiring the view.”
- Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency

IN A CHRISTIAN NOVEL

“A rape scene in a Christian novel in the first chapter.”
- Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary

CHARACTERS AND BACKSTORY

“I don’t like descriptions of the characters where writers make them too perfect. Heroines (and heroes) who are described physically as being virtually unflawed come across as unrelatable and boring. No ‘flowing, wind-swept golden locks’; no ‘eyes as blue as the sky’; no ‘willowy, perfect figures.’ ”
- Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency

“Many writers express the character’s backstory before they get to the plot. Good writers will go back and cut that stuff out and get right to the plot. The character’s backstory stays with them—it’s in their DNA.”
- Adam Chromy, Movable Type Management

“I’m turned off when a writer feels the need to fill in all the backstory before starting the story; a story that opens on the protagonist’s mental reflection of their situation is a red flag.”
- Stephany Evans, FinePrint Literary Management

“One of the biggest problems is the ‘information dump’ in the first few pages, where the author is trying to tell us everything we supposedly need to know to understand the story. Getting to know characters in a story is like getting to know people in real life. You find out their personality and details of their life over time.”
- Rachelle Gardner, Books & Such Literary

amandaonwriting:

Understanding Viewpoint Terminology - Writers Write

Which viewpoint should you use?

As a writer you can choose to tell your story using first person, second person, or third person as your viewpoint. Different viewpoints suit different stories. Different tenses suit different types of stories. Memoirs, for example, are almost always written in first person present tense. Crime fiction, especially in the police procedural genre, is almost always written in third person past tense.

There are no absolute rules for choosing a viewpoint for your story. You can even choose to tell the story from multiple viewpoints, although we suggest you have no more than three per novel.

Once you’ve chosen there is one rule you should observe with viewpoint. Never change viewpoint in a scene. This confuses readers who like to be in one character’s head at a time.

We cover viewpoint in more depth on our Writers Write course, but I’ve put together some definitions, and examples here.

First Person – The character tells the story, using the pronoun ‘I’. 

Example: I walk into the room. I know he’s there in the darkness. I smile as I smell the sunshine and wind in his hair.

1. Simple – One character tells the story. Example: Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
2. Simple Unreliable Narrator – One character tells the story but we don’t know if he is telling the truth. Example: Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye
3. Rashamon Effect – This means multiple characters tell their version of the same events in the story. Example: As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner 
4. Separate Multiple Viewpoints – This means multiple characters tell the story using first person perspectives. Example: blueeyed boy by Joanne Harris 
5. Sequential Multiple Viewpoints – This means different characters tell the story from their perspective in a timeline or sequence. You may have Jane narrating events in January, Debbie narrating events from February to June, and Sarah in July. Example: The family sagas written by Susan Howatch
6. First Person Omniscient - The narrator is a character in the story, but also knows the thoughts and feelings of all the other characters. Examples: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Second Person – The character tells the story using the pronoun ‘You’. 

Example: You walk into the room. You know he’s there in the darkness. You smile as you smell the sunshine and wind in his hair.

This is the least common of all viewpoints used by authors. It is used to make the reader feel uncomfortable. The character is often alienated or in an altered state. The reader feels as if he or she is being compelled to listen. Children do not like second person. Examples: Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney, Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins

Third Person – The narrator tells the story using the pronouns ‘He’ and ‘She’. 

Example: She walks into the room. She knows he’s there in the darkness. She smiles as she smells the sunshine and wind in his hair.

1. Subjective – This means the author focuses on one character and his thoughts and feelings. It is similar to simple first person but the author uses ‘he’ instead of ‘I’. Examples: The Harry Bosch novels by Michael Connelly,The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.  (You can also use separate multiple viewpoints and sequential multiple viewpoints in third person subjective.)
2. Omniscient – This means the author gives readers a broad view of the story. The thoughts and feelings of many, or all, the characters are shown. Examples: Jane Austen’s novels, Tom Clancy’s novels, Charles Dickens’ novels
3. Objective – This means the author observes, and tells the story according to the actions of the characters. Readers have no idea what is going on inside the heads of the main characters. Examples:  Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway and The Mallory Novels by Carol O Connell 

By Amanda Patterson, author of Writers Write – how to write a novel