I've made the decision to temporarily put the YWO blog on hiatus. I think the site is a little young for it right now. We'll come back to it in the future. Right now I think it's in the best interest for the site to focus on other things.
We'll be back! Don't you worry!
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So You Want To Be A Writer: Tough Skin
You might be the most brilliant writer to date (though I wouldn't recommend you think this of yourself), but no matter how much this might be true, it means nothing at all. Writing well and writing stuff that people want to read are entirely different things. So, when I say "writer" here, I mean writer in the published context, not the folks who sit at home and write stories, but never intend to do much beyond writing them. They may be writers, but the ones that get the recognition these days are those who sell their work to a publisher and manage to see it in the hands of someone else (the reader). If you want to be a writer for art only, then don't read beyond this, because nothing will really apply to you past this point.
So, you want to be a writer, eh? Great. Do you have tough skin?
If you don't have tough skin you should probably find another profession or develop a thick set of armor ASAP. First off, people who give REAL critiques are not going to coat their words with feathery praise, cookies, and flowers. In fact, REAL critiques are going to feel brutal and if you don't have the skin to deflect such comments and take them for what they really are--helpful--you're just going to get frustrated. Frustrated people tend to do what is called "revenge critiquing", where the offended party intentionally rips the offender's work just to get back at them. This is going to hurt you even more because suddenly you'll find yourself isolated from fellow writers. Thick skin is necessary. You have to be able to see the difference between constructive criticism, which might feel brutal, and plain mean-spiritedness. You can get angry at one, in which case you should say something, and you are just going to have to take it from the other. Constructive criticism is meant to help you see the flaws that you can't already see.
Then comes the big one: rejections. Oh no, you got a rejection. That darned editor must be a complete moron right? Well, possibly, but the likely answer to that question is complicated. No matter how much it hurts you have to realize that rejections are part of the process. Few writers have sold a story the first time they tried. A rejection can mean a lot of things:
This is why you have to really have tough skin. Editors aren't out to get you, unless you somehow pissed one off. In fact, editors have stressful jobs too. They can lose their job if they don't buy things that sell well. It's true. If they manage to buy nothing but flops a company is very unlikely to keep them around. If you're not what the editor is looking for, then that's that. If you can't take it, maybe you shouldn't be a writer at all, or at least stop trying to get published. I have a whole load of rejections. Not a single one of them has gotten to me. I don't let them. You shouldn't either.
Work on your skin. Toughen it up. That way when someone gives you a comment that points out something you did wrong, or you get a rejection letter, you can take it, shrug it off, and see it for what it really is: just part of the process.
P.S.: When I say shrug off comments I mean that you shouldn't let it get to you, but look at the comment as something that is potentially helpful. It becomes difficult to catch all the things you do wrong by yourself.
Pratchett's Alzheimer Donation
When Terry Pratchett announced his £500,000 donation towards Alzheimer research, he talked about how shamefully small the donations towards this disease are. Terry Pratchett was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer. During an Alzheimer's conference he said, “It’s a shock and a shame, then, to find out that money for research is 3% of that which goes to find cancer cures.” This best-selling author is truly raising awareness about Alzheimer.
Read Full Article Here.
WHAT ARE BLURBS FOR?
All too often I've come up with authors who have a habit of slapping down their novel onto the forum and leaving it at that. Often, I have no idea where it's going. No, it's not because I'm stupid (well...maybe), but I'm pretty sure its because the only parts I've read belonged to the first chapter, or in most cases, a prologue.
Here's a tip to raise people's interest in your work:
POST! A! FREAKIN'! BLURB!
There's a few reasons why:
1) It tells the reader or critiquer what to expect without revealing too much spoilers
2) It shows them that this might actually go somewhere.
3) It shows that you know what you're doing with this work
Yes, a lot of other things like flair, quality of grammar and plot that count for most of the novel's popularity, but first impressions also make a big difference. It helps the reader critiquing the work by stating what you plan to convey. That way, any feedback can say if you were successful at telling the story.
So, remember. Post a blurb.
(Just in case no one knew, a blurb is a shot description of the story without giving too much away. Ever read that paragraph or two behind that paperback novel? That's a blurb.)
Word of Advice: Know What You're Talking About
The title sounds simple enough, but you should all pay a lot of attention to what it's saying. Fiction is, by default, about making things up. The characters you create aren't real, though they may be based on real people, and neither is the world, even if it is just like our world. One problem I see a lot, however, is that people write about locations and places, about peoples and cultures, and come off as if they don't actually know anything about those things.
So a huge rule of thumb is this: If you don't know anything about it, research it. If you still don't know anything about it after researching, research more. If after researching and researching over and over you still don't know anything, assume you never will and don't write about that.
You can't write a story using complex quantum physics if you don't know a darn thing about quantum physics. People who know something about it will know, and those that don't know a lot will likely question. The same can be said if you want to write about a Brazilian character living in Brazil. If you don't know anything about Brazil, or about it's culture, why are you writing about it? You have to be conscious of how such a culture thinks, feels, believes, etc. If you look at a lot of Canadian literature, for example, you can see the differences between the Canada and the U.S. or even the U.K., despite our cultures being remarkably similar, in general. The differences are small, but it does serve to establish that we don't think exactly the same.
When writing, you have to be certain that you are being believable, even in fantasy (unless you're being weird for comedic effect, which is okay too). Your characters have to reflect who or what they are. If your character is American there are certain things you should be aware of. For most of us here at YWO that shouldn't be a problem, so I'll take it from another angle. If you're writing about a character who lives and is native to the U.K. you have to be completely and fully aware of what it means to live there. You can't just make it up off the top of your head, because you'll likely be horribly wrong. You have to know, even if you want to write something that might be alternate history, because even then you will find that similarities are likely to exist. The same goes if you're writing about China, Russia, or anywhere.
So the first step to making your fiction believable and creating believable characters and addressing them from their cultural perspective appropriately.
Science Fiction: Subgenres (Part Two)
Alright, so we've covered Military SF, First Contact, and Dystopias. What next?
Apocalyptic, Holocaust, and Post-apocalyptic
This is very similar to dystopian novels because many of the same elements do exist. What sets them apart is really a fine line. Basically, they are the same, but "dystopia" applies to a much wider range of similar ideas. For apocalyptic novels there is a heavy focus on, well, apocalyptic things. Super-pandemics wiping out the world, nuclear holocaust, biological warfare, etc. The list goes on. There are also post-apocalyptic, which show the after effects of whatever has gone wrong in teh world. These sorts of stories are actually rather common. You've seen more than enough to be able to rattle off a few.
Examples: 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Day After Tomorrow, The Core, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.
Cross-genre
Well, let's put it this way, have you ever read a book where it is neither fantasy and neither science fiction? It just doesn't fit into either, but it's certain odd? Think of this genre as one where you can have both things, but it's so hard to decide if it's fantasy or science fiction. You have a spaceship of humans who land on a planet filled with dragons or witches. That's sort of what cross-genre is. It tries to fit in somewhere, but can't because both elements exist!
Examples: The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
Science Fantasy/future fantasy
This is a rather vague term. It seems like it is talking about cross-genre, but it's not. What science fantasy is is sort like what science fiction used to be like when it really started to blossom. These are stories that look like science fiction but literally break all the rules of physics. We could easily lump all those stories with FTL drives in here, but we won't, cause that wouldn't be fair. Regardless, if a story defies the laws that we know exist and it is clearly trying to be science fiction (i.e. no witches or wizards in spaceships, which would be cross-genre), then it's science fantasy.
Example: Star Wars, All Golden-age Science Fiction (for the most part), and works by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
And that's that for today. If you have any suggestions to stuff into the example categories for any of the subgenres I've thus far listed, leave a comment
More rules for teens?
According to an author with many teen fans, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, parents need to be stricter when setting down rules for teenagers. It is shocking that an author that incorporates adult content in her young adult novels, believes that "children" shouldn't grow up so fast.
Read Full Article Here.
Rowling Annoyed at Twisted Fan-Author Relations
Steven Vander Ark is the manager of a Harry Potter fansite full of fan fiction and essays, as well as lots of information about the Harry Potter Universe. Now, Ark is attempting to publish an unauthorized reference book, "Harry Potter Lexicon."
Rowling has said that she is annoyed that Ark and the publisher, RDR Books, are arguing that Rowling's acceptance of unofficial Harry Potter websites is justifying the creation of the book.
She says, "I find it devastating to contemplate the possibility of such a severe alteration of author-fan relations."
Rowling intends to publish her own Harry Potter encyclopedia, the sales of which could be compromised by the publication of Ark's own lexicon.
Read the full article here.
How to take Critiques
Alright, while I’m looking for more anti-cheese tips, why don’t you guys read over these for a bit…
Azrael Domination’s Ten Tips of the Day. Topic: How to take Critiques.
(Note: this is obviously for writers only)
(Note 2: I might revisit this in the near future)
1) No matter how harsh the critique, always take it in a good way. Never take it personally, even if it does bite.
2) Acknowledge everything the critique is saying – even if they’re doing it out of spite. Remember, the people most expert at pointing out your mistakes are your enemies.
3) With respect to Tip 2, be sure to filter out any useless stuff. Treat harsh critiques like eating fish. Eat the meat…spit out the bones.
4) Then again, if the critique is totally useless, and is not constructive in any way, you have all the right to give that person a piece of your mind. Be sure to do it in a way that doesn’t make you look like a loser. Be witty, calm, and nonchalant.
5) Unless it’s totally unavoidable, or you’re just addicted to it, do NOT critique a critique. Personal opinions are personal opinions, and it’s only going to be a waste of time trying to change them. Why not change your work first, and maybe the next one won’t be so harsh.
6) Remember, there’s safety in a multitude of councilors. Look at what all the critiques you’ve gotten have in common. Most likely, they’ll all contain the suggestions to correct mistakes that everyone has noticed.
7) Don’t blindly obey a critique either. Analyze it and determine whether it’s reliable and worthwhile.
Any questions?
Science Fiction: Subgenres (Part One)
Science fiction is a widespread genre. Everything from aliens to near future to intergalactic human empires, it encompasses just about anything you can imagine that can be explained, in some manner, by science. Magic becomes psionics, fantasy monsters become genetic creations. For this post I'm going to talk about three subgenres of science fiction to give an idea what they are about. Other posts will add to these.
Military Science Fiction
Space + Military + the Future. That's basically it. The great thing about this genre is that you have a huge range of options for dealing with military battles. Interstellar wars are common, wars between humans and aliens, or even humans and humans are just as common. The most important thing about this subgenre is that the military is involved.
Imagine entire campaigns of war and you have an idea what this genre is about. It does, however, extend beyond that. If you look at Battlestar Galactica you'll see that there isn't a whole lot of actual war, at least in the first season, of which I'm familiar with. While there are battles, a lot of the episodes deal with espionage, conspiracy, and other things within the framework of a militaristic society. The military exists to protect the fledgling human civilization and has to deal with problems beyond war.
Examples: Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, Old Man's War by John Scalzi, Warhammer 40K, and Battlestar Galactica.
First Contact
Any time you read a story or see a movie in which humans meet aliens for the first time, that is a first contact story. That's the basic premise. Humans meeting aliens for the first time. Star Trek does this quite a lot, where Captain Kirk or Captain Picard find new species. That's sort of in the reverse, but you get the basic premise.
Examples: Star Trek, Mission To Mars, and Contact by Carl Sagan.
Dystopia
The infamous dystopia. Okay, it's not infamous, but it is famous. Dystopian novels are probably the most chilling of the science fiction breed because they intentionally draw upon all the darkest things you can possibly imagine about the human condition. Fallen societies, worlds crushed into the stone age, people preying on people for survival, governments ruling their people with violent force, etc.
There are enough movies and books out there to fill this genre to the tipping point. Why? Because it is a most loved genre. All that we hate about ourselves comes out in dystopian novels.
Examples: 1984 by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, V For Vendetta, and A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.
"Poetry Makes Nothing Happen"?
Is it true that "poetry makes nothing happen"?
Excerpt from http://books.guardian.co.uk/
The quotation about poetry making nothing happen is, in fact, half-remembered from the second part of Auden's In Memory of WB Yeats, that goes:
For poetry makes nothing happen: it survives
In the valley of its making where executives
Would never want to tamper; it flows south
From ranches of isolation and the busy griefs,
Raw towns that we believe and die in; it survives,
A way of happening, a mouth.
Read Full Article Here
An Interesting Character Indeed!
"Oh! You're such a Character!" or how about, "He's a character at heart." I'm sure we've all heard these phrases before; whether it was on a cheesy cartoon or in real life. What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Character? Someone who's funny? Angry? Lively? Well, to me, a character is someone with personality; someone who keeps me interested, you know? Heh...that's my definition at least, but let's see what the real one is...
Character (KARE-ec-ter): A person who is responsible for the thoughts and actions within a story, poem, or other literature. Characters are extremely important because they are the medium through which a reader interacts with a piece of literature. Every character has his or her own personality, which a creative author uses to assist in forming the plot of a story or creating a mood. The different attitudes, mannerisms, and even appearances of characters can greatly influence the other major elements in a literary work, such as theme, setting, and tone. With this understanding of the character, a reader can become more aware of other aspects of literature, such as symbolism, giving the reader a more complete understanding of the work. The character is one of the most important tools available to the author. In the ballad "Edward," for instance, the character himself sets the tone of the ballad within the first stanza. After reading the first few stanzas, one learns that Edward has murdered his father and is very distraught. His attitude changes to disgust and finally to despair when he realizes the consequences he must face for his actions. An example of the attitudes and personalities of characters determining the theme is also seen in the book of Genesis. The proud personality of Cain and the humble personality of Abel help create the conflict for this story. Cain and Abel were brothers, possibly twins, who displayed intense sibling rivalry. God was not pleased with Cain's offerings, but found pleasure in Abel's offerings. Provoked by God's displeasure with him, Cain murdered his own brother out of jealousy
New Line Cinema to Lose Big
[Excerpt from guardian.co.uk]
JRR Tolkien's estate is suing the studio behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy and threatening to block production on the planned prequel, The Hobbit over claims it has not been paid its share of profits from the massively successful fantasy series.
Science Fiction: Definition
Defining science fiction is an elusive practice. One can point to thousands of wholly different definitions and never get a full picture of what it means. Regardless, I'm going to see if I can come up with a decent enough definition for such a powerful literary genre.
What is it about?
The question should probably be "what isn't it about?" but for this argument we have to understand what makes up this genre. First, to the easy stuff:
- The Future
SF is primarily about the future, or more simply, it is about tomorrow. We can look to a vast majority of SF works and all of them have dealt with the future. When coming to this point, however, we have to note the location of literature in its written history. 1984 by George Orwell was written in 1948, roughly, and dealt with the year 1984, which was then considered to be the future. Obviously that year is long past us, but Orwell's vision is still one of the future. It doesn't matter that the year has past. For the time that it was written it had the future in mind and we have to consider its placement in the literary timeline. - Science/Technology
Well, the word science is in the name of SF, so it's pretty obvious this would be a part of it. The interesting thing about science and technology is that it is a vague point. Star Wars certainly shows a vast array of technological achievements for the semi-fantastical society that exists within the movies, but such technology is likely not rooted in science. SF only requires, for the most part, that science or technology exists. Some stories delve deeper into realistic science, while others skip past that, or ignore it.
Star Wars is science fiction because most people don't watch it and spend the whole time pointing out the logical fallacies in the science. There isn't an expectation of the story to be realistic. One can watch it and forget they are watching something that isn't real.
When you write science fiction you don't have to follow all the rules. Faster-than-light travel is, theoretically speaking, impossible. Einstein ruined that golden nugget of fun for everyone. But you can still write about FTL travel and ignore the rules. We can create wormholes and jumpdrives and warpdrives and not worry about it being completely real. FTL is a device that is, in and of itself, a fantasy, because, so far as we know, mankind will never achieve it. Even wormholes are not proven, and may very well be a fantasy too.
Science fiction, essentially, speculates upon the future, or a future. Star Wars is a possible future of a society that probably doesn't exist. Still, it's a future. Star Trek, for what it's worth, is a possible future of our world and galaxy. Spaceships, however, don't have to be a part of SF. In fact, they aren't even close to a requirement. One could easily have a story about hackers and have it be called science fiction, and in fact this has happened before. 1984 isn't a book about space travel, but about a totalitarian future. There are a million possibilities in SF.
So we have future and science/technology, and some rules about how those are incorporated. How would you define science fiction, then? Here's how I would define it:
Science fiction is a form of literature that deals with the future in some way and includes science or technology. It speculates on what might be, what could be, and what will be.
What do you think? Does that adequately describe it?
MORE TIPS, LESS CHESSE...
1) Happy scenes that make you puke.
- Please, no unrealistic weather and animal scenes, unless your novel is set in some Teletuby fantasy world
2) To name the attack, or not to name the attack?
- Unless it relates and is absolutely necessary, try not to use 'Dragon' or any other creature in the attack names TOO MUCH. People might think you have a fetish or something...
3) Boot-worthy dialogue
- Slang can get really annoying when overdone. Limit it, or sell the book to a bunch of hill-billies (no offense)
4) Crap fights
- Avoid the Dragonball Z fad when all the characters do is power-up while roaring for three episodes (or in your case, chapters) before making one move. We get it. They're powerful. And they have insanely large lungs.
5) Love scenes that inspire hate
- Go nothin' today. Come back next week
6) When Heroes turn into Half-wits
- When the good-guy takes a bullet and sacrifices himself, try not to draw too much attention on the 'weeping' characters. Yes, show they're sad, for a while. But when you fill several pages of nothing but condolence speeches, you're stepping into Cheese Territory. Be careful if you do.
7) When Antagonists turn into Addle-pates
- Honestly, does the bad guy have to monologue every single time? Well, if they have to, make sure they don't get too dramatic about it, unless you're writing a comedy and you're doing it on purpose, in which case SET THE SETTING UP before you try that
8) What characters shouldn’t do in their sleep
- The 'EWWWW' prize goes to the character who tosses and turns in their sleep before bolting upright and freaking out. Overdone into a crisp. Please.
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