by Jason Joyner | Mar 20, 2011 | Blog, links, writing craft
Every so often I will post some writing related links that I have enjoyed over the last week. There’s plenty of info out there, but some of it is worth repeating.
Have you ever been told to “kill your darlings?” If so, you might be a writer, and you should check out this post from Wendy Palmer.
What kind of story do you want to tell? It may come down to if you are a dreamer or a keeper.
If you have other good articles/links, leave a comment or shoot me a message, and I can put them here.
—
by Jason Joyner | Mar 20, 2011 | Blog, links, writing craft
Every so often I will post some writing related links that I have enjoyed over the last week. There’s plenty of info out there, but some of it is worth repeating.
Have you ever been told to “kill your darlings?” If so, you might be a writer, and you should check out this post from Wendy Palmer.
What kind of story do you want to tell? It may come down to if you are a dreamer or a keeper.
If you have other good articles/links, leave a comment or shoot me a message, and I can put them here.
—
by Jason Joyner | Mar 15, 2011 | Blog, calling for more asphalt, fiction, potholes, writing craft
|
| Didn’t see it coming! |
I don’t know about where you live, but where I live the potholes this time of year have been known to eat cars.
At least it felt like it that one time.
I hit a monster-sized pit on the right side of the road one time. I noticed in the glint in my headlights a hubcap careening off into a parking lot. I pulled over to see if I could find it. Walked around to the right side of the car.
I heard a loud “hissing” sound.
It wasn’t snake season, so I looked at my car. The pothole was so bad that it caused a flat tire. I limped my car to the closed tire store, parked it, and begged a ride home. It was ready for the nice repairmen in the morning.
I hit a pothole in my writing this week as well.
I hadn’t shown much of my latest work to my lovely wife. Seeing as I have a female protaganist, I asked her to read it with an eye for the female aspect, in case I wasn’t accurately writing the female mind (tall task, I know). She came back to me last week with a look on her face that said, “I’m sorry.”
She doesn’t like my main character.
She called her a “poop” actually. Didn’t see anything nice about her. I was a little shocked. Jenna is the woman I spend the most time with aside from my wife (writers are weird like that). I couldn’t see it. I read through chapters again, observing areas where I could change a few words. I really didn’t think of any major changes.
I guess I have a blind spot.
I have a couple of friends looking at it with a critical eye now, giving me suggestions on why Jenna is acting like such a meanie. It makes me realize that writing is an activity that can’t be totally isolated. Yes, I do most of the work with me and a keyboard. I still need other imput to help my blind side and avoid potholes. Hopefully I’ve got my story in with the right mechanic that can help diagnose any problems.
For my fellow writers out there – what are some of the potholes you’ve hit in your stories?
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by Jason Joyner | Mar 15, 2011 | Blog, calling for more asphalt, fiction, potholes, writing craft
|
| Didn’t see it coming! |
I don’t know about where you live, but where I live the potholes this time of year have been known to eat cars.
At least it felt like it that one time.
I hit a monster-sized pit on the right side of the road one time. I noticed in the glint in my headlights a hubcap careening off into a parking lot. I pulled over to see if I could find it. Walked around to the right side of the car.
I heard a loud “hissing” sound.
It wasn’t snake season, so I looked at my car. The pothole was so bad that it caused a flat tire. I limped my car to the closed tire store, parked it, and begged a ride home. It was ready for the nice repairmen in the morning.
I hit a pothole in my writing this week as well.
I hadn’t shown much of my latest work to my lovely wife. Seeing as I have a female protaganist, I asked her to read it with an eye for the female aspect, in case I wasn’t accurately writing the female mind (tall task, I know). She came back to me last week with a look on her face that said, “I’m sorry.”
She doesn’t like my main character.
She called her a “poop” actually. Didn’t see anything nice about her. I was a little shocked. Jenna is the woman I spend the most time with aside from my wife (writers are weird like that). I couldn’t see it. I read through chapters again, observing areas where I could change a few words. I really didn’t think of any major changes.
I guess I have a blind spot.
I have a couple of friends looking at it with a critical eye now, giving me suggestions on why Jenna is acting like such a meanie. It makes me realize that writing is an activity that can’t be totally isolated. Yes, I do most of the work with me and a keyboard. I still need other imput to help my blind side and avoid potholes. Hopefully I’ve got my story in with the right mechanic that can help diagnose any problems.
For my fellow writers out there – what are some of the potholes you’ve hit in your stories?
—
by Jason Joyner | Feb 25, 2011 | arts, Blog, creativity, fiction, kernels that aren't popcorn, writing craft
Most people don’t wonder about a body floating in the water.
Unless you are a writer.
|
| The body is just to the left |
That’s the image that came to me many moons ago. I saw in my mind a body floating in the water, in the ocean to be specific. Then I saw a boat run into the body, and the shocked fisherman frightened by his find.
Did I mention the man was from Thailand?
This is how my work in progress started. An image in my head. I started asking questions. Who is this person? Why are they dead? How did they end up here?
I learned that it was Travis Dawson, and that he was a missionary in Thailand. I discovered he had a sister named Jenna who was in medical school. She was a spunky younger sister type, and she didn’t take too well to the news of her brother’s death. She was impulsive enough to jet off to Asia to try and figure out what happened. Oh, and her slacker friend Derek Stephens, who had done a backpacking trip in Thailand previously, decided to tag along.
I don’t know how other authors come up with their story ideas, but I usually have images that beg to be explored. Yesterday for the end of the CSFF Tour I talked about whether a writer has their basic thrust as message-first vs. art-first. The responses from Dona, Becky, and Morgan made me think about my own process.
You have the set-up for my novel above. I thought for a time that there would be an aspect of spiritual warfare between the Christian missionaries and the strongholds in SE Asia. That didn’t fit the story though. Then I saw how Jenna had been estranged from her faith due to family trials when younger, and she would be challenged in them while dealing with something bigger than she could handle in Thailand. Travis uncovered a human trafficking ring, and this lead to his death and would be a major challenge to Jenna.
It seems that I had the story kernel that wanted told at first, and the themes of faith and human trafficking came out from there. I believe there’s always a theme when we write – otherwise what is the point of writing? Even if a writer says there’s not, there is something of their worldview getting in there.
Both the message and art pathways are valid ways to begin, and both have their strengths and weaknesses. Like I said in yesterday’s post, a message driven book must have a strong story and sparkling writing to not be bogged down by the message. It may not appear organic. But the “let’s see where the muse takes us” approach can end up with a wishy-washy theme that doesn’t give a work of fiction the power only a story can bring.
What say my writing buddies? What is your approach, and why do you do it that way?
—
by Jason Joyner | Feb 25, 2011 | arts, Blog, creativity, fiction, kernels that aren't popcorn, writing craft
Most people don’t wonder about a body floating in the water.
Unless you are a writer.
|
| The body is just to the left |
That’s the image that came to me many moons ago. I saw in my mind a body floating in the water, in the ocean to be specific. Then I saw a boat run into the body, and the shocked fisherman frightened by his find.
Did I mention the man was from Thailand?
This is how my work in progress started. An image in my head. I started asking questions. Who is this person? Why are they dead? How did they end up here?
I learned that it was Travis Dawson, and that he was a missionary in Thailand. I discovered he had a sister named Jenna who was in medical school. She was a spunky younger sister type, and she didn’t take too well to the news of her brother’s death. She was impulsive enough to jet off to Asia to try and figure out what happened. Oh, and her slacker friend Derek Stephens, who had done a backpacking trip in Thailand previously, decided to tag along.
I don’t know how other authors come up with their story ideas, but I usually have images that beg to be explored. Yesterday for the end of the CSFF Tour I talked about whether a writer has their basic thrust as message-first vs. art-first. The responses from Dona, Becky, and Morgan made me think about my own process.
You have the set-up for my novel above. I thought for a time that there would be an aspect of spiritual warfare between the Christian missionaries and the strongholds in SE Asia. That didn’t fit the story though. Then I saw how Jenna had been estranged from her faith due to family trials when younger, and she would be challenged in them while dealing with something bigger than she could handle in Thailand. Travis uncovered a human trafficking ring, and this lead to his death and would be a major challenge to Jenna.
It seems that I had the story kernel that wanted told at first, and the themes of faith and human trafficking came out from there. I believe there’s always a theme when we write – otherwise what is the point of writing? Even if a writer says there’s not, there is something of their worldview getting in there.
Both the message and art pathways are valid ways to begin, and both have their strengths and weaknesses. Like I said in yesterday’s post, a message driven book must have a strong story and sparkling writing to not be bogged down by the message. It may not appear organic. But the “let’s see where the muse takes us” approach can end up with a wishy-washy theme that doesn’t give a work of fiction the power only a story can bring.
What say my writing buddies? What is your approach, and why do you do it that way?
—
