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!
--Shaun, Admin of YWO
16 May 2008
01 April 2008
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:
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.
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:
- You're not good enough yet. It's possible. Be honest about your work. Is it REALLY up to publishing level? Really? If you think it's something that an editor would like, then it may not be this, unless you're blind.
- It's not what the editor is looking for. It happens, don't throw a fit. Sometimes editors look for a certain kind of story, and yours wasn't it.
- You didn't follow the guidelines. FOLLOW THEM TO THE T!
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.
18 March 2008
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.
Read Full Article Here.
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.
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