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Showing posts from August, 2011

...when all of the sudden,

I was sitting talking to my wife about stuff. Our daughter was milling around and she joined in the conversation. Then she padded off and my wife and I were sitting in the living room each doing homework, when all of the sudden I had to drop what I was doing, grab my computer and start typing. I just had the the entire plot for a book flash through my head in an instant and I had to write it down before I lost it completely and forever. All of it. Granted I still have to do the story arc, and I plan to do the big arc that Jim Butcher mentioned in his LiveJournal. But yeah, the devil is in the details, but it is there. The entire beginnings to to an entire series. I brought up my note taking app on the computer and started typing. Trying to be a little organized but not wanting to lose something while I edit-while-typing, as sometimes happens to me. There are even bits that I have noted would make for future installments to the series. A couple of installments, actually. It is weird

David Mamet's Master Class Memo to the Writers of The Unit | Movieline

I went searching and found a goldmine! I am reading Jim Butcher's livejournal. You can find it here . In it he sets out to basically teach N00bs like myself, for all intents and purposes, how to write. It is extremely insightful and well written, I highly recommend it. Anywho, in the comments, someone mentioned method acting in relation to a style of writing where the author claims not to be in the drivers seat, so to speak, and the characters tell them what to write. In the conversation contained within the comments, there was a link to some writing advice by the wiritng staff Executive Producer of a show that I really liked called "The Unit". David Mamet wrote a memo to the producers and some of the stuff in there was really thought provoking to me. I will probably write about this more later, but one thing stuck with me. He suggested a writing exercise where you pretend the characters couldn't speak and "write a silent movie." I will have to think abou

It starts...

So there I was, minding my own business, when all of the sudden I said, "I want to write a novel." Sounds simple enough. I mean, I have read a LOT of books and I like stories. If I put my mind to it, I could come up with a good story, then all I have to do is write it down, right? No.  I am, it seems, a student of all I do. I can't just start doing. I have to study it first, research it throrughly, become knowledgeable about what I am wanting to do. I need to learn how to write. But it is more than that, I need to learn to write gigantic stories. At least gigantic compared to the 10-12 page research papers that I had written in college. I need to learn the how.... So I start my research and find that a lot of writers state that if you want to be successful as a writer, you have to write...a lot. When you are not writing, read, A lot. Ok, I can do that. so far, so good. I started by reading while considering what I want to write about. I can't just start writing.