Where The Heart Lies (WTHL)

pages2type: I have two hands anyway…

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:50 -0400

pages2type:

I have two hands anyway…

bookriot: Set your dials to jaw-dropping for The Library of...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:30:58 -0400

bookriot:

Set your dials to jaw-dropping for The Library of Parliament in Canada.

Tips and Tricks: On Organization (Five Tips to Stay on Track, Pt. 2)

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:30:48 -0400

So we’ve covered keeping your work safe, keeping informed on your story, and keeping from procrastinating.

What else do you need to stay on track?

4. Focus on what you want to do with your piece.

If you’re writing for a specific reason, don’t forget that. If it’s a story about love or hate or anything like that, remember what you want to say or what kind of idea you want to convey, and try to present that in the best way you can. It doesn’t have to be obvious (some of the best short stories I’ve read are actually really subtle with the big ideas), but it should be easily found. It doesn’t have to be explicitly stated in your work, and it doesn’t necessarily need to be clear, but it shouldn’t be so obscure and hidden that your readers get lost trying to find it.

5. Don’t give up.

Whatever you’re writing, don’t give up. Sometimes it’ll feel like you’ll never be able to fully put into words the ideas that you want to.

The big secret that no one really ever says: that’s okay.

It’s okay to not know where to go, to be stuck in one place and not know what to write. It’s completely okay to have Writer’s Block. It’s fine if you get up from your chair, go outside, and take a walk. It’s alright if you want to listen to music or bake cookies or read a book or watch TV.

The only thing that’s not ok is to give it up, to put down the pen and not write. If you get up and walk away, then at some point, make sure you come back, sit back down, and get those words out. If there’s a story in you, if it’s begging and kicking and screaming to come out, not sitting down and not writing a word is a surefire way to make sure it never sees the light of day. It’s hard to write when you feel like you can’t, but if you have something to say, then there’s really only one choice.

Write.

Happy Writing,

Avoiding publishing scams

Thu, 09 May 2013 13:30:50 -0400

keyboardsmashwriters:

soulothought asked you:

I’m looking to publish my work (after been told since I was 12 that I should) how do I spot the real deal from the others?

Firstly, make sure you read this post on what to do after you’ve finished your manuscript, and make sure you don’t skip a step!

If by “real deal” you mean publishers, my personal advice is that you don’t begin your search with publishers. Start with agents (which you can read about in the post I linked). Literary agents make connections to editors at publishing houses so that you don’t sit in the “slush pile”, hoping and waiting and waiting some more to be seen. The slush pile is manuscript purgatory and there’s no guarantee you’ll ever be seen.

A reputable agent will have a history of their recent sales available on a website or on publisher’s marketplace where you can easily access it. The same should apply to publishers (if you do decide to query them directly). Many agents/agencies and editors are connected through blogs and twitter. Make sure you do all your research before you submit to anyone.

Keep in mind a legitimate agent and publisher will NEVER ask for you to pay for anything before your book is sold (the case used to be a little bit different before the digital age, I’ve heard, but in all my experiences, I haven’t come across any agent ever asking for money before the book reaches the shelves). You might even find someone who reads your manuscript and tells you, “Hey, I think the big publishing houses will fall over themselves to get their hands on this, but first I need $1000 for this editing service to make it even better…” NO. This is a scam.

An agent’s goal is to make a commission off of your book when it sells (as is a publisher’s). Typically what I’ve seen of agent commissions ranges about 15%, to give you an idea of what to expect, and these terms will be plain in the contract. If anyone requests you pay before they provide you feedback, run. It might be tempting, because scam artists are really good at tempting you and they’ll know exactly what to say to hit you in the backs of your knees, but run.

Heck, the editing services may actually make your manuscript better. I’ve seen people claim this, and there are legitimate editing services that don’t operate under the guise of an agency, but the fact of the matter is that utilizing editing services (especially the predators who promise to give you the loot of a thousand publishing houses) doesn’t guarantee your manuscript will sell to anyone, and most people who buy into these scams end up $1000 poorer with (possibly) a revised manuscript that still won’t sell.

So, in short, here’s how you can typically discern the reputable from the repugnant:

Agents and editors won’t ask you for money until your book sells.

Agents and editors showcase their sales and clients where you can easily access.

Agents and editors will have positive feedback from such sites as Agent Query, Query Tracker, Absolute Write, and Literary Rambles

The great majority of agents and editors these days have websites, blogs, twitters, and/or other forms of social media.

Agents and editors do not advertise their services via google or facebook or the like — they don’t need to. Any time you see a “get your book published!” advertisement, avoid all eye contact with it.

To maximize your chances with interesting a literary agent, make sure you follow the steps of revision and critique partners I mention in the topmost link. Make sure your query is pristine. Make sure you do all your research. This could make all the difference.

Good luck!

heavygraffic: Edgar Allan Poe portrait by Cristiano Siqueira

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:30:45 -0400

heavygraffic:

Edgar Allan Poe portrait by Cristiano Siqueira

vorador: when you have ideas but no words to express them

Mon, 06 May 2013 13:30:00 -0400

vorador:

when you have ideas but no words to express them

"How odd I can have all this inside me and to you it’s just words."

Sun, 05 May 2013 13:30:51 -0400

“How odd I can have all this inside me and to you it’s just words.”

- David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King (via soundtobeat)

travelingnymph: We heard how our grandfathers chased after our grandmothers and envied it. We read...

Sat, 04 May 2013 13:30:50 -0400

travelingnymph:

We heard how our grandfathers chased after our grandmothers and envied it. We read about countless men running into a battle that they believed that they wouldn’t come out of alive. We spoke all of the words that we hoped a lover would whisper in our ear. We fell in love with a dead breed of men. We walked into the woods at night by ourselves and didn’t shake in our boots.

We became the men we wanted to marry.

7 Writing Prompts to keep you creative every day for a week

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:30:45 -0400

7 Writing Prompts to keep you creative every day for a week:

amandaonwriting:

1. It’s time for you and Writer’s Block to part ways. Write a letter breaking up with Writer’s Block, starting out with, “Dear Writer’s Block, it’s not you, it’s me … .”

2. You and your three closest friends decide to go camping. You arrive and set up camp nearly three miles away from where you left your car. Late that evening, as you sit around the campfire roasting marshmallows, one of your friends reveals a deep dark secret that turns what was to be a fun weekend into one of the scariest weekends of your life.

3. Two men stop you on your way into your local post office. One flashes a badge at you. They tell you about a top secret sting operation they are about to execute and they need your help. They can’t give you any of the details, only that you are to walk into the post office, go up to the counter with the gentleman named Bert working it, and you have to say to him, “My stamps are looking a bit square these days, if you know what I mean.” Write what happens next.

4. Pretend you are a recovering alcoholic who falls off the wagon while attending your high school reunion. Start your story with “I hadn’t had a drink in nearly 10 years” and end it with “If only I could remember where I left my pants.”

5. You’re cleaning out your garage and, hidden away in a back corner, you find an old shoebox. The box is heavier than it should be. When you open it up, you find cash—$40,000, to be exact. Where did the cash come from, who hid it there and why?

6. When you were little, you could swear there was a monster under your bed–but no one believed you. On the eve of your 30th birthday, you hear noises coming from under your bed once again. The monster is back and has an important message to deliver to you.

7. You’re late for work because you overslept, but your boss hates over-sleepers. He does love entertaining stories, so create the most outlandish excuse as to why you were late.

listen | download 01. vhs or beta - bring on the comets || 02....

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:30:59 -0400

listen | download

01. vhs or beta - bring on the comets || 02. 30 seconds to mars - kings and queens || 03. young the giant - garands || 04. the temper trap - sweet disposition || 05. gotye - eyes wide open || 06. walk the moon - anna sun || 07. snow patrol - just say yes || 08. kings of leon - the end || 09. the verve - bittersweet symphony || 10. the black keys - lonely boy || 11. of monsters and men - dirty paws || 12. onerepublic - the good life || 13. muse - starlight || 14. john mayer - edge of desire || 15. frank ocean - strawberry swing || 16. death cab for cutie - no sunlight || 17. civil twilight - letters from the sky || 18. atlas genius - on a day

New theme!

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:47:15 -0400

Changed the theme around.

I’ll try to get some more posts up later this week.

Hope you have a wonderful day/night!

amandaonwriting: Writing Advice on Writers’ Hands For Shared...

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 13:30:53 -0400

amandaonwriting:

Writing Advice on Writers’ Hands

For Shared Worlds 2013, some of speculative fiction’s finest artists, editors, and writers, were asked to write advice on their own hands and send in a picture.

Pictured here: Nnedi Okorafor, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Joe Haldeman, Garth Nix

Follow this link to see more.

Mumbling Truth: HOW TO KEEP A CHARACTER IN-CHARACTER

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:30:38 -0400

Mumbling Truth: HOW TO KEEP A CHARACTER IN-CHARACTER:

ask-happy-pinkamena:

a) Ask yourself, would the character do this? Don’t make a character do something just for the sake of the plot- the characters control the events, not the other way around. And if you want to do something that would usually be out of character for them, give them a…

sunbreaksdown: A few days ago, an anon sent me a message asking for writing advice. After mulling...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:30:46 -0400

sunbreaksdown:

A few days ago, an anon sent me a message asking for writing advice. After mulling it over for a bit, I decided that the most important thing I can say is this: all writing advice is general.

Read More

Photo

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:30:41 -0400

Tips and Tricks: On Organization (Five Tips to Stay on Track, Pt. 1)

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:01:05 -0400

So you’re a writer. If you’re anything like me, then that means you’ve got a lot of information to deal with—characters, plot, setting, random snippets of dialogue or description scribbled into notebooks and on the back of receipts and a million other places you can’t even remember anymore.

The thing is, you can’t really write like that. Sure, you could put pen to paper and get the words down, but without any organization it’s all just going to get confused and then instead of writing your story you’ll be stuck trying to figure out how to assimilate all of these random bits of information.

Organization, it seems, is key to staying on track.

1. Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe.

If it’s important to your story, treat it as such. It’s easy to just throw papers in the same general area and call it a day, but if you have all of the information in one place it’ll be a lot easier to access information or double-check on a name or age or similar factoid. Have a binder or folder specifically dedicated to each of your stories; in this binder, put everything pertaining to said story. Label it with the title of your story, and put it on a shelf or in a drawer (somewhere it won’t easily be misplaced or mistaken for something else).

2. Information is King.

For each major or main character, make a section in your binder. If you fill out any character personality tests or surveys or anything of the sort, print it out (if it’s on the computer) and file it away under their name. If you have any sudden epiphanies about this character—whatever they are—then put it in the binder. You don’t need to carry it around everywhere you go, or always have it on you, but just having it in general will be entirely more beneficial than just having it on a piece of paper somewhere, or in the depths of your computer. In each section, have all the basic information: name, age, appearance, nationality—basically, all of the important, pertinent information. That way, if you’re ever in doubt about some small detail about your character, and you’re sure you won’t be able to go on writing unless you figure out the exact shade of a character’s eyes, or the exact length and color of their hair, then you can consult your binder-notes and figure out and be on your merry way. Likewise, if you change a detail about your character, you can update your files on them and make a note of it.

Do the same with each setting—figure out the details of each room or landscape that features into your story, and then make a note of them. They don’t have to be elaborate, just a handwritten note or blueprint drawing will do; as long as they’re there and legible, it doesn’t matter what kind of condition they’re in.

3. Don’t procrastinate.

I’m guilty of not following this rule far more than I’d ever like to admit. We’re all human, after all, and we make mistakes and promise ourselves we’re going to write, and we say maybe later, and maybe later, and definitely later, and then it’s 2 in the morning and it’s only when we’re comfortable in our beds with the comforters wrapped around us that we realize, later has come and gone and we still didn’t write.

~~Then again, maybe that’s just me.~~

Either way, writing every day, or at least as often as possible, is key. Even if you have one big major project that you’re working on, like a novel or a play or something. (In that case, especially.) Does that mean that every day you have to get a major portion of that project written? Of course not. It would be nice if that happened, sure, but you don’t have to do that. Even if it’s just a page and a half or an important scene or even a short story that has absolutely nothing to do with that main project. The Muse doesn’t stop just because you’re working on a long-term project, after all, and sometimes it’s easier, if you’re having a problem, to focus on a completely different setting—on a completely different character in a completely different situation. Sometimes it’s just that bit of fresh air that you need, that step back to look at the bigger picture and see the solution.

Plus, sometimes in approaching the same problem from a different perspective you can figure out another solution.

dollshousedropin: “All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:30:47 -0400

dollshousedropin:

“All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you’re not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you’re the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no’s become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly.
AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES.”
Anon.,

Photo

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:30:52 -0400

Tips and Tricks: On World-Building (Part Two)

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:01:43 -0400

So you have your rules. How do you remember them, how do you incoporate them, how do you make them matter to the reader?

1. Write the rules down and keeping them somewhere safe where they won’t get lost/damaged/destroyed/stolen.

This goes without saying, really: if you’re making the effort to figure out the rules and write them down, then make sure they’re safe. It’ll be a lot more helpful (not to mention time-saving) if they’re all contained in one place where they can’t get damaged. Plus, if you make any changes, then you only need to go to one place to make edits.

2. Write as if those rules are true for you, too.

If the world of your novel feels artificial for the readers, the drama and action of the piece won’t be immediate. One way to make the world you’re building feel real is to write as though the rules that govern the world you’ve created affect you as well; talk about the consequences and the reason and the limits of your world and the actions your characters take. If your readers don’t know the limits of your world, they won’t know the immensity of those limits being tested and what the significance that that holds for your characters. Make the rules of your world and the actions your characters take immediate; make them matter.

3. Don’t overdo it.

Mentioning all of the ways that your world is different from the real world upfront is a sure way to make your world seem alien. Your readers need to adjust to everything in your story—from characters to settings to immediate actions, and if you pile on every little difference and discrepancy between your world and the real one on top of that, your reader will only be overwhelmed. Ease them into your world, small detail by small detail. Include only the details that are vital for the immediate scene; once you have the bare bones of the story down you can go back and see if you can add smaller details that make the story feel more real. (It’s always easier to add to a story than it is to take away, after all.)

If in doubt, ask another person to look over your work and tell you if theres anything that seems off or that needs to be explained—sometimes other people can show you things that you didn’t even catch.

Happy writing,

goodbadanduglybooks: littledallilasbookshelf: Unusual Home...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:30:40 -0400

goodbadanduglybooks:

littledallilasbookshelf:

Unusual Home Libraries

:-))

And then there’s my regular, wooden bookshelf.