land of daybreak |
I've never seen such violence over such small potatoes. |
-
Quote
964
Notes"The female experience is different from that of the male, and if, as a male writer, you cannot accept that basic premise, then you will never, ever, be able to write women well. A man walking alone through Midtown Manhattan at three in the morning may have concerns for his safety, but I promise you, it’s a very different experience for a woman taking the same walk, and it’s different again for a man wearing a dress. Think about it. That’s a societal factor, and it’s a gendered one, and this is not and can not be subject to debate. If you’re looking to argue that sexism is a thing of the past, that the world is gender-blind, you’re not only wrong, you’re lying to yourself.
An ignorant writer is a poor liar, and a poor liar makes for a bad crafter of fiction."Greg Rucka, in a piece for io9 (via itsinthetrees)
(via psychopathsaresexy)
-
Quote
43
Notes"Don’t let your characters get comfortable. Reveal something new often. Keep them off balance. This helps propel their journey."#writingtip (via amwriting)
(via get-scribbling)
-
Photo
7500
Notes
Ira Glass
(Source: alijayy, via lonelyassassin)
-
Quote
97
Notes"Characters can be cagey fuckers, and that — thankfully, blessedly — creates mystery for readers. Characters do not make the right decisions all the time. Nor should they. A character fails to tell others the truth about what’s going on? A character who obfuscates or lies? A character who tries to cover something up? All this goes a long way toward creating mystery in the audience. Which is a total win, if you ask me. You know what else is a win? Cupcakes. Please send me some cupcakes or I’ll blow up your house."Chuck Wendig on mysteries
(Source: get-scribbling)
-
Text
38
Notes Screenwriting Tip #993Think about your characters’ “triggers”. What’s the one thing you could say to them that would instantly penetrate their defenses and make them angry or upset?
-
Chat
41705
Notes The meaning of all the deaths in HP:James and Lily: To establish the story line as well as to show orphans of war. Cedric Diggory: To show Voldemort's mercilessness. Sirius Black: To show Harry's lack of guidance/parental figures. Albus Dumbledore: To show the death of a great leader can't stop a war. Hedwig: To show the end of Harry's childhood. Mad Eye: To show the death of a soldier. Dobby: To show even the smallest of creatures can die a Hero's death. Fred Weasley: To show that some deaths you just can't get over. And that's okay. Tonks and Remus Lupin: To reestablish orphans of war. Colin Creevey: To show that the good die young, even when they aren't supposed to. Severus Snape: To show that you can always change your ways. Always. -
Text
854
Notes Weekend Links: Writing DialogueA lot of people assume dialogue is easy to write because ‘It’s just a conversation! I have those all the time.’
But real conversations are, for the most part, really boring:
- Lots of verbal tics (uh, um, like, well, I mean)
- Lack of conflict (How was your day? Great, yours? Pretty good!)
- Cliches and repetitive phrasing
Writing dialogue that too closely mirrors real conversation will give you lots of repetition on the page. You don’t want that. Repetition is bad. It’s boring. It sucks. It’s totally lame.
All that said, here are a few essential reads re: writing dialogue that is great and awesome.
On Punctuation
On Saidisms and Dialogue Tags:
- He Said, She Shouted Loudly by Nathan Bransford
- Verbs and Dialogue Tags: Or, Stop Smiling Words by Annette Lyon
On Pacing and Creating Conflict:
- Am I Talking To Myself, Or Is This Guy Not Holding Up His End Of The Conversation? by Anne Mini
- Speak To Me, Protagonist. Or Blink Twice To Let Me Know That You’re Alive by Anne Mini
On Info-Dumping, Hollywood Narration and As You Know, Bob
(via writerleopardadvice)
-
Text
6312
Notes For all the people who ask me for writing advice…1 Write.
2 Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
3 Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
4 Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
5 Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
6 Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
7 Laugh at your own jokes.
8 The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
…
Read the whole article. It’s filled with great advice from wonderful writers…
-
Text
40
Notes Screenwriting Tip #988Remember the thing that most inspired you to write this concept in the first place (another movie, a book, an experience you had, etc.). That’s your touchstone. Keep it close and refer to it often.
-
Text
70
Notes Screenwriting Tip #987Don’t be afraid of the words that come out during the first draft. You’ll never create a startling metaphor or beautiful turn of phrase if you’re self-censoring from the start.
