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Author Craft / question for New Yorkers
« on: February 25, 2011, 03:20:13 PM »
This is hopefully a pretty easy one--on what street is the main entrance to Bergdorf Goodman located? 5th Ave or 58th St? Google isn't helping. Thanks!
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17
Author Craft / Egregious and idiotic plagiarist of the month award
« on: November 05, 2010, 07:59:12 PM »
http://nihilistic-kid.livejournal.com/1553538.html
This is just jaw-droppingly insane!
(Mods, if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move.)
This is just jaw-droppingly insane!
(Mods, if this is in the wrong place, feel free to move.)
18
Author Craft / Another awkward fight scene
« on: October 31, 2010, 01:48:12 PM »
Okay, so the opener of my current work in progress has the protagonist beating the snots out of a home invader with a bottleneck guitar slide (in lieu of brass knuckles.) I think it's kind of a cool idea, but unsure whether it could work in practice; short of actually going out and doing it, which would cause more problems than it would solve, I don't know how to test something like this. I'm open to suggestions, though, particularly from veterans of street/bar fights...anyone?
19
Author Craft / Post-traumatic writing disorder
« on: October 01, 2010, 10:36:57 PM »
Okay, so, one of my works in progress is partly from the viewpoint of a character who is currently undergoing a raging bout of delayed PTSD. He's got it all--the shakes, sleep deprivation, alcohol abuse, irritability, paranoia, memory loss, and so on. He's also started hallucinating a guy whose death he accidentally caused several years ago (one of the primary reasons for the PTSD but since he's blocked out the entire incident, he has no memory of it and thinks the guy is just somebody who recently moved in across the hall from him.) Also, he's on edge because someone burglarized his apartment a few days ago.
Now, I've been envisioning this from a very visual and cinematic POV: time slips, weird cuts, wonky, hallucinogenic Steadycam work, theramins on the soundtrack, and so on. My dilemma is how to translate this into verbal terms so that the reader will think: "Okay, this is really weird for a reason," rather than, "Whoa, where the hell was the editor?!" I guess what I'm striving for is the old "unreliable narrator" thing, so my question is: has anyone here read anything similar to this, how well does it work, and do you know of any works that have used this kind of thing? Recommendations?
FWIW, the setting is the late 1940's and PTSD has yet to be diagnosed; plus, it's set in the real, mundane world so the possibility of a paranormal (or science so advanced it might as well be paranormal) reason behind the strangeness is not even a consideration. Also, this is the second in a series, so the character is already pretty well established and any deviations should raise a few red flags with the careful reader. Any thoughts?
Now, I've been envisioning this from a very visual and cinematic POV: time slips, weird cuts, wonky, hallucinogenic Steadycam work, theramins on the soundtrack, and so on. My dilemma is how to translate this into verbal terms so that the reader will think: "Okay, this is really weird for a reason," rather than, "Whoa, where the hell was the editor?!" I guess what I'm striving for is the old "unreliable narrator" thing, so my question is: has anyone here read anything similar to this, how well does it work, and do you know of any works that have used this kind of thing? Recommendations?
FWIW, the setting is the late 1940's and PTSD has yet to be diagnosed; plus, it's set in the real, mundane world so the possibility of a paranormal (or science so advanced it might as well be paranormal) reason behind the strangeness is not even a consideration. Also, this is the second in a series, so the character is already pretty well established and any deviations should raise a few red flags with the careful reader. Any thoughts?
20
Author Craft / Request help livening up a boring exposition scene
« on: August 04, 2010, 01:42:04 PM »
Here's the basic scenario from my WIP: one of two protagonists, a private detective, has come to the realization that what appeared on the surface to be a routine bodyguard detail was in fact part of an elaborate plot to frame him for murder. In the scene in question, he's explaining all this to the other protagonist, his secretary, so the two of them can proceed to expose the plot and clear his name.
So far, it's basically a 2-3 page monologue by the PI telling her what he thinks is going on; she interrupts with the occasional question. Problem is, as written its dull, but I'm frankly stuck on how to make it more exciting. Any suggestions on how you guys handle this kind of thing would be welcome.
(If it helps, the majority of the chapters are first person from the secretary's POV; they are interspersed with a handful of third person chapters from the PI's POV. The chapter in which this occurs is one of the third person ones.)
So far, it's basically a 2-3 page monologue by the PI telling her what he thinks is going on; she interrupts with the occasional question. Problem is, as written its dull, but I'm frankly stuck on how to make it more exciting. Any suggestions on how you guys handle this kind of thing would be welcome.
(If it helps, the majority of the chapters are first person from the secretary's POV; they are interspersed with a handful of third person chapters from the PI's POV. The chapter in which this occurs is one of the third person ones.)
21
Author Craft / The Knave Abideth
« on: January 09, 2010, 05:51:43 PM »
Suppose Shakespeare had written The Big Lebowski?
http://www.runleiarun.com/lebowski/
Hilarious and surprisingly well-written.
http://www.runleiarun.com/lebowski/
Hilarious and surprisingly well-written.
22
Author Craft / specialized writer's question
« on: December 17, 2009, 04:55:47 PM »
Does anyone here happen to know the original retail price of a 1938 Indian Chief motorcycle or where I could find this info? I've tried googling various combinations of words but can't seem to find the information I'm looking for. Thanks in advance!
23
Author Craft / This Year's Bad Sex In Literature Winners
« on: December 03, 2009, 10:14:37 PM »
HIlarious, and probably not suitable for work:
http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsexpassages.html
And the winner:
http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsex.html
http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsexpassages.html
And the winner:
http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/badsex.html
24
Author Craft / editor's wordcount (as opposed to actual wordcount)
« on: August 10, 2009, 01:48:10 PM »
Okay, I'm at a point in my manuscript where I'm about ready to hand it off to a number of beta readers for advice, but I'm also thinking that it's way too long, especially now that I've done all the formatting stuff--12 point Courier, left side justified, one inch margins, double spaced, starting each chapter halfway down a new page.
I've applied the following formula for wordcount: Number of lines per page (I'm getting 26) times average # of words per line (10) times page count (I'm at 530, which is giving me a wordcount of approx. 138,000.)
I've read on another site that no editor will even look at a first manuscript that comes in over 380 pages, and that page count is more important than wordcount. So the question is: am I doing something wrong? My actual wordcount is around 122,000, which seems much more reasonable.
I'm also thinking that I'm too hung up on this and I should just concentrate on telling the story as best I can. Sugggestions?
ETA: 380 pages comes out to substantially less than 100,000 words, so that doesn't sound right to me, either.
I've applied the following formula for wordcount: Number of lines per page (I'm getting 26) times average # of words per line (10) times page count (I'm at 530, which is giving me a wordcount of approx. 138,000.)
I've read on another site that no editor will even look at a first manuscript that comes in over 380 pages, and that page count is more important than wordcount. So the question is: am I doing something wrong? My actual wordcount is around 122,000, which seems much more reasonable.
I'm also thinking that I'm too hung up on this and I should just concentrate on telling the story as best I can. Sugggestions?
ETA: 380 pages comes out to substantially less than 100,000 words, so that doesn't sound right to me, either.
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Author Craft / Ye Old Bait & Switch -- Literary Style
« on: July 27, 2009, 01:51:06 PM »
If I were Simon Kernick, I'd be royally pissed right now:
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/book-publishers-exploit-stars/3002638.article
The community over at Smart Bitches,Trashy Books decided to run with this and came up with a Photoshop contest for cheesy, exploitative marketing. The entries are hilarious! You need to scroll about halfway down the page:
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/book-publishers-exploit-stars/3002638.article
The community over at Smart Bitches,Trashy Books decided to run with this and came up with a Photoshop contest for cheesy, exploitative marketing. The entries are hilarious! You need to scroll about halfway down the page:
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php
26
Author Craft / Boingy boingy boingy
« on: June 19, 2009, 06:17:59 PM »
Click here:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.callahans/msg/647f523abd7581ee?dmode=source&hl=en&pli=1
for some hilarious ruminations on how to write a successful erotic scene.
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.callahans/msg/647f523abd7581ee?dmode=source&hl=en&pli=1
for some hilarious ruminations on how to write a successful erotic scene.
27
Author Craft / Murder Mystery Tech Question
« on: April 22, 2009, 09:57:57 PM »
Okay, has anyone here ever known of an instance in which an individual arrested for murder was NOT held without bail, but released on bail within 24 hours of being arrested?
If so, what circumstances contributed to his/her being released?
If so, what circumstances contributed to his/her being released?
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Author Craft / Anybody know where I can find...
« on: March 29, 2009, 02:07:46 PM »
...an online list of words to describe collectors, enthusiasts, and so on? You know -- a philatelist is a stamp collector, an oenophile is a lover of fine wines, etc.
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Author Craft / How Not To Do, Part Deux
« on: March 11, 2009, 02:33:09 PM »
Click here:
http://vandonovan.livejournal.com/1088311.html
for one of the most hilariously purple passages I've ever read!
http://vandonovan.livejournal.com/1088311.html
for one of the most hilariously purple passages I've ever read!
30
Author Craft / This is seriously ****ed up
« on: January 20, 2009, 11:11:10 PM »
Apparently, a SF writer has threatened the life of an anthology editor/critic over a bad review:
http://docbrite.livejournal.com/656896.html
Kids, do NOT try this at home.
http://docbrite.livejournal.com/656896.html
Kids, do NOT try this at home.