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.
18 March 2008
16 March 2008
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.)
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.)
11 March 2008
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.
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.
04 March 2008
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
Apocalyptic, Holocaust, and Post-apocalypticThis 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.
Read Full Article Here.
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