Stephen King’s Top Ten Rules For Success
23 06 2018
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Tags: books, fiction, geek, horror, humor, movies, novels, promotion, reviews, writing
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
Writers: Maybe *This* Is Why You Don’t Like Self-Promotion…And A Solution.
20 06 2018Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: books, business, geek, promotion, writing
Categories : self publishing
Writers: Get This Book!
18 06 2018“The best selling character eats, nods, opens, closes, says, sleeps, types, watches, turns, runs, shoots, kisses, and dies….The most important thing to note is that in the best selling novel someone is doing something as dramatic as surviving or dying, and they are not, as their less-selling friends prefer, yawning.”
This is a quantitative analysis of best sellers. What best-selling characters are most prone to do. How the plots are structured. How men and women write differently. How the novels are titled. Down to percentages of “the” in best-selling text.
The book reinforces everything you may have seen in other writing books: active characters, dynamic plots, use of arcs, etc. But for me, this book gives a concrete foundation for all of the advice.
I’m already adapting my plots accordingly. What I have taken away so far: my characters need to express “need” in detail. I tend to underwrite. I tend to think things do not need explanations. I thought I was being economical, but I’m realizing that I’m just not committing to my characters.
Writing an action pulp series is helping me to realize I need to be bolder in my choices. This book is helping me to see that this boldness will produce results.
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Tags: books, fiction, horror, novels, reviews, writing
Categories : Books, Writing, Writing Advice
Write Towards Your Conflict, Delay Your Resolution
4 06 2018
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Tags: writers, writing
Categories : Writing, Writing Advice
Which Would Be The Better Vampire?
1 06 2018There’s a vampire who has existed for centuries. He is fluent in a dozen languages. He has traveled the world. He has been present at all major historic events. He is expert in the humanities and sciences. He plays several musical instruments so well he can move you to tears. He is suave, unflappable, and incredibly smug.
Would it better if he fed by ramming his head up his victim’s butt, or for his butt to expand cartoonishly to engulf his victim?
Update: I got one vote for each so far.
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Tags: horror, horror novels, humor, vampires
Categories : Fiction, lampreyhead, Should Have Happened, Uncategorized, Unsettling Questions