Every now and then I like to step back from the actual writing to read what authors have to say about the process. I decided to share some of what I've found.
The links are arranged from shortest read (NeilHimself’s advice) to longest (Seanan’s epic essays) mostly. Not going to quibble over whether Ms Bear’s or Ms Darwin’s post is longer. I’ve included a quote from each as a tease.
To start, writerly advice from Neil Gaiman: “2. Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.”
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/09/28/neil-gaiman-8-rules-of-writing/
Vonda N McIntyre has long been a favorite author of mine (Read Dreamsnake! Also The Moon and the Sun!) McIntyre’s First Law: “Under the right circumstances, anything I tell you could be wrong.” “His heart beat in his chest. Where else, ordinarily, would your heart beat?”
http://bookviewcafe.com/blog/2009/10/04/pitfalls-of-writing-sf-fantasy-14-everything%E2%80%99s-in-the-right-place/
Carol Lanham on revision - that’s when you add the bling. “This is the moment where I get to sew little weird pieces of me into the mix.”
http://storytellersunplugged.com/carollanham/2012/07/02/the-good-part/
Elizabeth Bear on The Expert Problem. “This is kind of a running joke among writers--never talk about firearms, motor vehicles, or horses, because somebody will give you hell about it--no matter what you say.”
http://matociquala.livejournal.com/1943343.html
Emma Darwin (my favorite explainer of How Writing Works) on “where the narrative (and therefore the reader) stands, relative to a character.”
http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/psychic-distance-what-it-is-and-how-to-use-it.html
And to wrap it all up, here’s Seanan McGuire’s Fifty Thoughts on Writing. “3. Putting fifty thousand words on paper does not make you a novelist.” (No, she is not against NaNoWriMo. She makes important points here.)
http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/14069.html
First she made the list of thoughts. Then wrote essays! Includes links to her essays for Thoughts 1 through 47. (The essays for #48-50 weren’t yet posted as of today.) All The Things!
There you have it: a mini writing course by professional, award-winning authors in the trenches. Apply liberally! Use wisely.
And remember McIntyre’s First Law.
3 comments:
Thanks -- I've found some good reading there and look forward to the others. That expert bit -- it can bite an author. I was reading a mystery where the hero and heroine were dashing back to pick up her passport so they could fly from Miami to St. Croix, USVI. Ooops - no passport needed, and the apartment trip was not essential to the plot. In another book an airline was blown up and mention was made as to the changes in airlines' yield management results across Europe. Again, not essential to the plot, but absolutely spot on perfection - I was a tester for several airlines' YM software and the implication in the book was as good as one of our sales pitches as to accuracy. I thought better of writing the author and asking "Where did you get THAT idea?" It couldn't have been off the cuff.
This is definitely one to be bookmarked, and referred to, over and over. Nice compilation.
Thank you both. I'm glad you found at least some of it useful. :-)
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