On Research... Books are not there to show how intelligent {the author is}. Books are there to show your soul.http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/10/31/8-writing-tips-from-paulo-coelho/
The audience has always wanted to absorb stories, always wanted to braid them into their social, intellectual and emotional tapestries.
...It’s about asking, “What do I want to write? What do I love? What do I want to read?” It’s about creating stories and art that are products of wonder and madness
AS AN AUDIENCE MEMBER WE HAVE A PROBLEM IN THAT WE HAVE BASE WANTS AND YET ALSO HAVE GREATER INTELLECTUAL NEEDS. SURE, WE WANT HEROES TO SUCCEED AND BE REWARDED AND ALSO WANT THE WICKED TO BE PUNISHED. WE WANT THESE THINGS BECAUSE THE AVERAGE MOVIEGOER IS SO READY TO PLACE THEMSELVES IN THE PLACE OF THE MAIN CHARACTER. SO READY TO EMPATHIZE AND SEE THROUGH THAT PERSPECTIVE. AND AS PART OF THAT, WE INSTINCTIVELY DEMAND THAT EVERYTHING FALLS IN LINE PERFECTLY WITH THE SUBCONSCIOUSLY INGRAINED EXPECTATIONS OF "HOW STORIES WORK." NOW, SOME PEOPLE MISTAKE THOSE EXPECTATIONS FOR THE CONVENTIONS OF THE THREE ACT STRUCTURE (WHICH DOESN'T EXIST) OR A HOST OF DUMB RULES, BUT IT'S MORE THE SUBCONSCIOUS RULES OF CAUSE AND EFFECT. THERE'S A RHYTHM AND INHERENT TRUTH TO THINGS AND WHEN A MOVIE VIOLATES THAT UNSPOKEN CODE OF ETHICS WE REVOLT
Don't ever make another writer's journey harder than it has to be.
PIRATING DIGITAL PROPERTY IS... taking something that someone has put effort into, in the hopes of making a living, and giving them nothing in return.
Nothing worth doing is easy... Writing is a LOT of work. Breaking into the industry is a torment worthy of the fifth or sixth circle of Hell. Face that. Expect it. Deal with it... It's difficult from the get go
...
The true reward of breaking into the industry against all the odds isn't money. It isn't fame. It it isn't respect.
It's you.
It's confidence. It's satisfaction. It's well-deserved pride. Suddenly, the other challenges in your life are going to dwindle as well, because you know you'll be able to handle them.
I am a sneaky writer. I like to think of writing less as something that should be done (and done with a capital “W”) and more as something sort of naughty that I absolutely should not be doing because there are other capital letter (and lame) things to do like Cleaning.
when characters {the readers} care about get into a situation where the rules dictate they're going to get killed, that's where they start to get really worried
A good log-line is ironic. Irony gets attention and hooks interest.
A sparkly vampire falls in love with the one girl in the world whose blood might tempt him to break his vow not to feed on humans.
picture this scenario. We notice emergency lights ahead. The oncoming traffic lane is shut down and looks like a debris field. Two mangled cars lay in ruins, and there are still figures draped with blue blankets surrounded by somber EMTs. Do you feel badly? Unless you’re a sociopath, of course you do.
Now…
You look into that same oncoming lane, and one of the cars you recognize. It belongs to the nice family you chatted with in line at Wal Mart when you had to wait 40 minutes in the customer service line. You even helped the dad load groceries and put away their cart so the mom could buckle in their babies. You had to stop for gas, but 30 minutes ago that family was alive and well and now the coroner’s van is showing on the scene.
Before you cared…now you are connected.
Do you excel at creating tension? Unpredictable plot complications? Sympathetic characters? Suspense? Romance? Historical detail?... relish the satisfaction of leaving a particular, distinguishing mark.
Poetry and science do not seem that different. They are both a way of looking at the world without preconceptions and trying to catch something vital about it as simply as possible.
*WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS*, *YOUR PROTAGONIST* *PURSUES A GOAL*. But will he succeed when *ANTAGONIST PROVIDES OPPOSITION*?
irrespective of whether you exercise vigorously, sitting for long periods is bad for you.
The strategic purpose of a denouement is to reorient the characters towards the next phase of their lives.http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/does-your-denouement-murder-your-characters
We don’t need to be told just what that new, better future is... When the plot is done, suddenly the doors of possibility are thrown wide open. The characters might now choose anything. They might do anything... You had your turn. Now it’s our turn, but only if you allow us to imagine what the characters might do next. If you imagine it for us, we can’t.
The very best time to write is right now, before you’ve had anything published, before anyone knows who you are and what your voice sounds like. You can write without any publisher (or reader) expectations. You can do whatever you want. ENJOY THIS TIME! As soon as you publish a book, that changes.
be{ing} creative first thing in the morning, before doing anything for the outside world, really sets the day up for me. It makes it feel that CREATING is my job, not answering emails.http://www.sfwa.org/2011/06/guest-post-the-no-1-habit-of-highly-creative-people/
A chapter summary is not a synopsis, btw. A synopsis has its own narrative flow. It is meant to engage, inform and basically sell your work.
