Posts Tagged ‘ fiction ’

What’s J Been Reading? [Feast of Qawl, 23 Nov 11]

Of course, the big news in the literary world is the passing of Anne McCaffrey. The best tribute (I have read) to this amazing author is by Juliette Wade, who discusses how McCaffrey brought genre definitions into play with her Dragonriders of Pern series.  Also at Wade’s Talk To YoUniverse blog: an excellent piece on how hard choices for your characters require consequences.

Melville House, one of my favorite sources for publishing news, details an intense and disappointing exchange between blogger Jeremy Duns, who outed the plagiarism of Quentin Rowan, and the latest accused plagiarist Lenore Hart.  (By the way, considering that her subject is Poe, Lenore Hart must be a pseudonym, yes?)

BEST READ OF THE DAY: Josh Getzler at Hey There’s a Dead Guy gives us a truly remarkable insight into the writing process by showing us how a writer feels when he’s given the opportunity to enjoy his own writing as a reader.  There is so much that can be taken from this piece (for writers and readers) that I won’t say more.  Go check it out.

What Has J Been Reading? [Vespasian's Birthday, 17 Nov 11]

After my brief detour through Charles Bukowski‘s Pulp, I am back into Raymond Chandler‘s anthology, The Simple Art of Murder.  Specifically, the short story “Pickup On Noon Street.”  Lots of archaic racial stereotypes, so I am waiting to see if the story rolls into some redeeming qualities.

In science news, Jupiter’s moon Europa is believed to have shallow subsurface lakes that connect to the deeper moon-wide ocean.  Hard sci-fi writers … On your mark! Get set!

On the writing front: Read more »

Ten Literary Rumors I’d Like To Start

In honor of my friend Genghis Ron‘s blog post, “Ten Rumors I’d Like To Start,” let me offer my bookish version: Read more »

Stephen King on Tabitha – Selected quotes from “On Writing : A Memoir of the Craft”

I was hesitant to read Stephen King’s On Writing because I was afraid I would find little in it that was unexpected.  Keep sending out queries, ✔ check.  Don’t use this or that part of speech except when it works, ✔ check.  Read a lot, ✔ check.  Write a lot, ✔ check.

But, I did finally relent, and one key theme in the memoir struck me as more insightful than anything I had read about writing for years.  In fact, I think it merits a book of its own.  I am talking about the critical influence of people other than the writer in the success of that writer. For King, the most important other-than-the-writer person is his wife Tabitha.

No matter how important individual determination might be, for a social creature like Homo sapiens there is no such thing as individual success.  All success is cooperative.  There would be no Stephen King (as we know him) if there were no Tabitha King.

So, today I want to share what I feel are the most revealing and inspiring quotes on Tabitha from On Writing. Read more »

Best First Lines (according to Leith) – Part 3

In part one of this series, I discussed the pros and cons of insisting on killer opening lines, how it serves the interests of agents and editors more than readers, yet how a strong first line can still lend an air of dignity and confidence to any story.  In part two, I presented my favorite first lines based on engaging ideas.

Today I want to dig into my second list of Best First Lines, six of them, dedicated to openers that present the reader with an engaging character.

You might think that the “engaging character” in question would always be the first-person narrator but, as we’ll see, that’s not always the case.

Read more »

Monday Music – Whataya Want From A Monologue? Dialogue.

I’ve analyzed lyrics as flash fiction (see “Jeremy Spoke But Is Anyone Listening?“)  but I recently stumbled on an opportunity to discuss how to use dialogue to explore character motivations and struggles, using a song written as a monologue but serendipitously recorded by two famous vocalists using the same background tracks.

Adam Lambert’s Grammy-nominated smash hit Whataya Want From Me was written and recorded by P!nk and friends for her Funhouse CD, but never released.  Later, the song was handed over to Lambert, tracks and all. 

It’s an amateur mash-up artist’s dream.

It also provides an exercise in dividing a complexly motivated monologue so that it becomes a powerful and coherent dialogue, a skill that is very useful to authors or screenwriters who find that they need to split a character in two, or for editors and script-doctors trying to tweak dialogue so that it sounds more authentic.

Continue reading →

Story structure helps your story fly

Some writers might dismiss the concept of story structure as contrived of stiflingly un-artistic conventions, a set of gimmicks reserved for mere “genre” fiction, i.e. stories with (allegedly) little importance.

You want a story with weight and seriousness? Violate the rules!

Others might obsess about their stories adhering to the proper pattern, as if they are filling out a form.  What page is the Inciting Incident supposed to occur?  Where’s my guidebook?

There is a middle ground, my friends.

Read more »

Overheard Wisdom on First-Class Treatment

Sometimes, overheard snippets of conversation create miniature stories of their own, revealing character and family dynamics as clearly as a novel, and much more succinctly. 

Take, for example, this conversation overheard on an airplane:

Kid- When are we going to get something to drink?

Man- They have to serve those people [first class] right now.

Kid- Why?

Man- Because they’re special.

Woman- They are not special. They just paid more.

Saturday Short – Heather Hadrigal

For the third installment of Saturday Shorts, another brand new short story.

It is difficult to describe “Heather Hadrigal” except to say that it’s paranormal fiction with a hint of conspiracy theory and undercurrents of ancient menace … starring a black-haired girl with a disarming smile.

Can you tell when the waking world ends and the dream begins?

One more Western post, then it’s done for

Some of y’all might have noticed that there have been a few more posts of a Western nature lately.  For example, the Archaic Definition of the Week was “simoleon” and then “cat wagon.”  There was the short story “Banter“ and a publishing quote from the classic novel True Grit.

And that novel will be the end of it, for now. 

I plan on posting a review of it, including how its diminishing esteem after the John Wayne adaptation demonstrates the erosive effect film adaptations can have even on a masterpiece, how the Coen brothers’ big-screen wanderings from the book actually celebrate Portis’s comic genius, and why their film and the book resonate so strongly with me as a writer. 

Look for it over the weekend.