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Sitting Here posted:That said, if you're writing 400K of fantasy, you're going to have plenty of fat to trim. Love the fat. Enjoy it before you have to sheer it away and leave it to rot in your many many note files. anime was right posted:so uh magnificent7 posted:Hey Writertards
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Dec 20, 2016 03:16
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Stephen King's steps for writing: get blasted until you can't remember how you wrote the book, include a fat woman as a villain, something something psychic Mainers.
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Dec 25, 2016 21:53
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change my name posted:Stephen King's steps for writing: get blasted until you can't remember how you wrote the book, include a fat woman as a villain, something something psychic Mainers. Also your main character is a writer, because you should always write what you know in the most literal sense.
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Dec 25, 2016 22:06
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yeah stephen king sucks haha what a loser
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Dec 25, 2016 22:21
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The thing I remember most from reading his book is the story of how his babysitter was abusive and how it was framed as like 'oh how whimsical and normal'. Maybe I'm just a weirdo, but the whole time I was reading it I was like 'Jesus I'm never trusting my kids with a babysitter'. Also his writing book is frontloaded with good basic writing advice and then after about, one page worth of practical advice the rest is waffling anecdotes. Which was kind of fun too I guess. The story about him getting ran over by one of his own characters was pretty great. It's also the only Stephen King book I've ever read. I did see the version of the shining he wrote though. So don't read his advice if you're gonna write for TV. cosmically_cosmic fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Dec 25, 2016 |
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Dec 25, 2016 22:39
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I enjoyed his writing book; I don't think I got anything particularly new or world-shattering from it, but it was probably the high point of my vacation this year. (which was an awful vacation) I did like the bit of him going over a draft of his, though; i like seeing process stuff ilke that. I like Stephen King, on the whole. I also like giving poo poo to Stephen King, so. 
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Dec 25, 2016 22:41
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ravenkult posted:yeah stephen king sucks haha what a loser Nah I think he's great, but I'll still rip on him because he's not perfect. I can't think of a book I've loved that didn't have at least one flaw - doesn't make it any less good. Still gonna rip on it though!
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Dec 26, 2016 04:04
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change my name posted:Stephen King's steps for writing: get blasted until you can't remember how you wrote the book, include a fat woman as a villain, something something psychic Mainers. Stephen King's "Stay the gently caress Out of Maine" Naerasa posted:Nah I think he's great, but I'll still rip on him because he's not perfect. I can't think of a book I've loved that didn't have at least one flaw - doesn't make it any less good. Still gonna rip on it though! I loving love Stephen King's idea, and he is a better selling writer and has more fans than I will ever see in ten lifetimes over because lol indy book with fans in the hundreds at best... ...but honestly, I don't like his writing 
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Dec 26, 2016 04:08
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Naerasa posted:Nah I think he's great, but I'll still rip on him because he's not perfect. I can't think of a book I've loved that didn't have at least one flaw - doesn't make it any less good. Still gonna rip on it though! Dare you to find a flaw in The Long Walk (okay so I'm sure there's some flaw to point out, but it's really loving good).
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Dec 26, 2016 19:07
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I want my book to be more than just another by-the-numbers forgettable lovely horror/thriller/suspense novel like 99.99% of the scary books out there. Now - before you laugh and call me an idiot (again and again) what I'm asking isn't "wahh wahh how come nobody loves my poo poo?" I'm asking if certain books (authors) deliberately break away from genre / cut-out-bin / forgettable poo poo because that author is amazing, (the obvious answer) or because they're writing a style/genre that goes beyond "horror" or "Suspense." TLDR? I list examples you'll probably disagree with and that's okay my point is that there are authors/books that go beyond disposable airport books. == still reading? okay. == Cormac McCarthy has written ten novels since 1968; each one a disgusting display of incredibly crafted deep symbology/theme/motif, untypical plot structure, character arc, stuff that, YES I KNOW comes from years of writing, a liberal arts degree, and stuff, but also, the overall style goes beyond typical fiction. Another example, this time a debut novel: The Girl On The Train. On goodreads, it's called "The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives." None of the characters are likable, it's an unusual style of writing, (to me at least), there's something more going on than just an author who knows a 3-act plot structure, character arc, show-don't-tell and all the typical earmarks of an author's early novels. == EDIT: In fact, let's break it out of just books. Tales like The Babadook; why do you think THAT movie is being hailed for breaking out of the typical horror genre? Is it the psychological mix? Or was/is the screenwriter pushing outside of just one genre and they succeeded? == Is the style that she's writing -- is that Spec Fiction or Fancy-Pants Literature or something that distances THAT TYPE of book from the poo poo books that show up in grocery stores? Or is it just the answer I really don't want to hear: THOSE AUTHORS ARE REALLY GOOD (or not, if you hate them) AND WORK REALLY HARD. Because if that's the answer, gently caress that noise. magnificent7 fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Dec 30, 2016 |
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Dec 30, 2016 21:06
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In the case of Girl on the Train, you could try reading a book you liked and just ripping it off.
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Dec 30, 2016 21:14
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change my name posted:In the case of Girl on the Train, you could try reading a book you liked and just ripping it off.
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Dec 30, 2016 21:16
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magnificent7 posted:Is that what that was? It's a ripoff of another story? (Gone Girl seems to come up in reviews) Was the original story similar, in the way it distanced itself from typical forgettable books? It's not a direct ripoff per-say so that was a little harsh, but yeah, the author lifts a lot of the tone and style from Gone Girl. It's more of a cash-in on the new popularity of the "bad girl/noir" genre directly.
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Dec 30, 2016 21:18
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yes it does turn out being good and spending a lot of time on your books means they come out better. i dont think it has anything to do with the genre, there's a lot of bad poo poo in every genre and a good writer knows how to make their genre work.
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Dec 30, 2016 21:20
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flerp posted:yes it does turn out being good and spending a lot of time on your books means they come out better. i dont think it has anything to do with the genre, there's a lot of bad poo poo in every genre and a good writer knows how to make their genre work. Maybe I'm over-complicating / procrastinating. NAAAAH. change my name posted:It's not a direct ripoff per-say so that was a little harsh, but yeah, the author lifts a lot of the tone and style from Gone Girl. It's more of a cash-in on the new popularity of the "bad girl/noir" genre directly.
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Dec 30, 2016 21:33
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Mag7 you are sort of asking WHAT IS THE X FACTOR and apart from saying it's maybe literary (novel as art) vs genre (novel as predictable unit of entertainment) it really comes down to amazing writers writing amazing books. Writing the book you want to read is a good start, I guess?
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Dec 30, 2016 21:58
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You have to read what you like. The common factor with people who break the mold is that they looked at what they liked and then they asked themselves "what can I do differently in this genre?"
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Dec 30, 2016 22:02
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sebmojo posted:it's maybe literary (novel as art) vs genre (novel as predictable unit of entertainment) HIJK posted:they looked at what they liked and then they asked themselves "what can I do differently in this genre?"
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Dec 30, 2016 23:01
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good books probably come from "I need to write this story" rather than "I want to write a good story, hmmm what do readers think is good" just follow yr heart and the lord will provide
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Dec 30, 2016 23:30
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Sitting Here posted:good books probably come from "I need to write this story" rather than "I want to write a good story, hmmm what do readers think is good" not necessarily good books but at least books you like writing and have a lot of fun with it's also a great way to starve to death if you want to have a regular career and also a fantastic excuse for the fact your stuff is crap because only you want to read it It's a balancing act, like in all things.
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Dec 31, 2016 01:42
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Chokes McGee posted:not necessarily good books but at least books you like writing and have a lot of fun with actually no you acerbic goofball I mean well-regarded books that sell. For example, Frank Herbert was intensely fascinated by the Oregon dunes and flaked out on writing a research article so he could go wax on about ecology in one of the most influential scifi novels of all time. It's pretty easy to tell when an author is moved to write a story by their own longing, expertise, or curiosity, and IMO it makes the reading experience much richer. but also, yeah, a lot of people just want to write their passion and they aren't trying to hawk their words for max $$$$ on Amazon, or whatever. Some of those people will sell fiction, some won't.
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Dec 31, 2016 01:55
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There is something to be said for pursuing commercial interests with what you write, but there is very little to be said for blaming one's book tanking on not knowing the magic spell that successful authors cast.
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Dec 31, 2016 01:55
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Sitting Here posted:actually no you acerbic goofball I mean well-regarded books that sell. For example, Frank Herbert was intensely fascinated by the Oregon dunes and flaked out on writing a research article so he could go wax on about ecology in one of the most influential scifi novels of all time. It's pretty easy to tell when an author is moved to write a story by their own longing, expertise, or curiosity, and IMO it makes the reading experience much richer. The passion stories are definitely the ones that have the most staying power IMO. They also get away with things that are maddening in stories that are attempting to be "good" or "future classics" as far as I've noticed.
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Jan 2, 2017 23:56
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If you're in it for the money, something something give up now.
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Jan 3, 2017 15:02
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Sitting Here posted:actually no you acerbic goofball YOU GODDAMN SELF PUBLISHING KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN my bad
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Jan 3, 2017 17:48
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Look, we all know that there is some kind of continuum between writing solely to make money and solely to masturbate to your artistic fantasies or whatever. There's no need for people to flip out about it (in both directions) all the time. Wherever you find yourself on the continuum, fine. As long as you don't lie to yourself about it and then complain about not getting what you really want. >:-(
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Jan 6, 2017 05:03
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gimme da cash
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Jan 6, 2017 05:17
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:Look, we all know that there is some kind of continuum between writing solely to make money and solely to masturbate to your artistic fantasies or whatever. There's no need for people to flip out about it (in both directions) all the time. Look, I just want to be paid to masturbate. Is that really so wrong?
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Jan 6, 2017 05:28
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Naerasa posted:Look, I just want to be paid to masturbate. Is that really so wrong? you're literally in the wrong industry but figuratively in the write one.
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Jan 6, 2017 05:34
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gently caress books
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Jan 6, 2017 06:29
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General Battuta posted:gently caress books im not reading you on this, is this a joke?
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Jan 6, 2017 06:43
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stick your penis in a book
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Jan 6, 2017 06:50
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take a look, gently caress a book
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Jan 6, 2017 06:51
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Buy my new erotica hardcover, it's a fantasy novel that you can read if you want but it also doubles as a fleshlight.
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Jan 6, 2017 07:06
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anime was right posted:im not reading you on this, is this a joke? He is serious books are p bad my friend
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Jan 6, 2017 10:02
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this is probably a bad time to ask about the sequel to Baru Cormorant...
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Jan 6, 2017 19:30
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It's actually been going really well lately, I've just about finished a draft, but my total word count on this project over the past couple years is approaching the obscene figure of one point five million
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Jan 6, 2017 19:35
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General Battuta posted:It's actually been going really well lately, I've just about finished a draft, but my total word count on this project over the past couple years is approaching the obscene figure of one point five million Congrats on getting into Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017, by the way!
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Jan 6, 2017 19:45
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Ha, that just goes to show how weird writing can be - that was one of my oldest stories, it got ripped up in critique and took me forever to sell. You really can't predict what people will like! So you've just got to keep doing the work and submitting. One of the editors who picked the story for Year's Best rejected it from his magazine earlier that year. It just hit him differently the second time he read it. You can't let rejections get to you, they're like the weather.
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Jan 6, 2017 19:52
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General Battuta posted:Ha, that just goes to show how weird writing can be - that was one of my oldest stories, it got ripped up in critique and took me forever to sell. You really can't predict what people will like! So you've just got to keep doing the work and submitting. printing this post and framing it
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Jan 6, 2017 20:00
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