Posted by Latasha Ewell.
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May
31
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
One of the copywriters at work uses this: Visuwords
It’s a visual thesaurus/ dictionary. Not that there’s anything wrong with a regular thesaurus, this one is just a lot more fun. It also reminds me of this awesome game which has nothing to do with thesauruses, and everything to do with video game physics.
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Apr
4
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Currently in phase: character outline, with book attempt number two. Instead of letting my imagination do all of the heavy lifting I’ve started using sites to pick out people who look like characters.
Outlining actually isn’t all that bad. Now that I’ve committed to it, I’m starting to enjoy it.
Sartorialist and ffffound.com are excellent people hunting sites. Although, the people on Sartorialist tend to be really well dressed, it still functions as a good base.
I’m sure using pictures for characters isn’t …
Sep
30
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Usually, what I love most about a story is the people in them.
EX: I just talked with a friend of mine about, Katniss and Peeta from the Hunger Games, as if they were real, and not figments of Suzanne Collins imagination.
So, its odd that up until now I would usually get an idea for a story before I knew who the characters were. I would always have a, “what if the world was like this” moment, and then everything else …
Sep
7
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
I love the internet. Without it, where would you find 30 blog posts by published authors about putting together a book from start to finish?
There’s so much information to consume. I wish I could touch the computer screen to my head and learn through osmosis. But since that’s not going to happen I’ll just have to read the posts like everyone else.
The tips are NaNoWriMo themed, but Nano is about writing a book in a month so I can’t imagine why …
Sep
2
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Tobias Buckell did a series back in 2003 on Joe Blow Neopro. From what I’ve gathered, it’s about the middle of your writing career. I know 2003 is a long time ago in internet years, but it’s still referenced a lot. I couldn’t find the orginal columns that were published in Speculations but I did find the audio version.
Should make for a good listen. I’m no where near the middle of my writing career but it can’t hurt to look …
Aug
22
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
And by Saturday, I totally meant Sunday. Sorry, yesterday I got so wrapped up in “only doing what I want to do,” that I totally forgot I wanted to blog.
Either way, I’m here now.
I’ve been plowing through the Writer’s Mentor, so far I’ve found it to be useful. Interestingly, I tend to do most of what’s in there naturally, but in a half assed sort of way.
For example, I’m starting a lexicon this weekend. A lexicon is basically just a …
Aug
16
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
I can’t go into Elliott Bay without buying something, and this is what I picked up the last time I was there. Now, I do have a kindle, but I like having hard copies of books on writing and poetry. It’s just easier to interact with them in their tangible format (and it gives me an excuse to eat ice cream and browse for books).
As I mentioned before, the author has some dated ideas about the future, but her book …
Aug
11
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
There’s always more to learn about editing.
Writing Excuses 4.29: Line Editing
Writing Excuses 4.31: Line Editing Dialog
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Jul
26
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Found another video series. This one is with John Brown and Larry Correia. These guys ramble a bit before they get going so scroll through to 2:53 on the first video. I haven’t watched all of them yet, but they seem promising. Again, ignore the bad elevator music.
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Jul
23
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Janet Fitch, the author of “White Oleander,” has passed on some writing advice. I copy and pasted the content of the LA Times article here (less clicks). If you want to hear more about what she has to say, check out her blog. It looks promising.
(Thanks Jess)
1. Write the sentence, not just the story
Long ago I got a rejection from the editor of the Santa Monica Review, Jim Krusoe. It said: “Good enough story, but what’s unique about your …
Jul
22
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
I’ve been trying to transform myself into an outline writer. It hasn’t really been working. But I found some videos on youtube today that have renewed my faith.
Dan Wells, the guy who wrote I am Not a Serial Killer, goes over some basic story structure. It’s makes outlining look easy, instead of tedious and boring.
Try to ignore the bad 90’s elevator music. It only lasts for about 30 seconds.
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Jun
3
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Writing Excuses has gifted us with another interesting podcast, this one is about practical fantasy.
Basically, even though everything in your story is made up, it still has to be plausible within the laws you’ve constructed. For example: You create an awesome country, but it’ll still needs an economy to support it.
They also go over some of the common mistakes authors make in this area (that’s my favorite part)
Give it a listen.
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May
22
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
When you want to read something on your Kindle but Amazon hasn’t released a digital copy yet, check out this site.
For example: The Windup Girl isn’t available in Kindle format on Amazon yet, but you can get it here for $6.00!
That’s less than Amazon would have charged anyways.
* Pulls out debit card *
Time to see what all this Windup Girl fuss is about.
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May
21
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Sushi Go Round is oddly addictive.
Good for quick break, but easily turned into a procrastination tool. Be careful with this one.
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May
18
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
When you’re feeling bad about yourself, a lot of times you’ll be advised to stand in front of the mirror every day and say something nice.
It feels awkward and it sounds a little silly. Standing alone in the bathroom, muttering soft sweet things to yourself.
But when Jessica does it, it’s more like a preschool battle cry. In one word it’s, badass. By the end of the clip I wanted to stand up and shout, “Hell yeah. Do it, to it!”
Whatever …
May
1
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
To be honest I can’t really remember when or why I bought this book. But I saw it on my bookshelf this morning and thought, “crap, I was supposed to read you.”
It covers a lot of the basics of creative writing: sentence structure, outlines, grammar, etc…
I should warn you, the tone the author uses isn’t very entertaining. Although, I do think the book will be useful, so I’m adding it to my need-to-read pile.
(Amazon link)
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Apr
27
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
I don’t know a lot about Dean Wesley Smith but I like his Killing Cows series. A lot of it is stuff I’ve never thought about before, other things are obvious, but overall it’s pretty interesting.
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Apr
26
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
We had this crazy British professor in grad school that at any given moment would say one of two things “top banana!” or “go take a walk!”
Actually, all of the professors at one point or another harped about walking for inspiration. Saying that the last thing you should do in the creative process is sit down in front of the computer.
Everyone’s process is different and they didn’t go on about it too much. But this weekend I happened to be …
Apr
13
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Some people practice writing, some people don’t. Either way if you’re in the mood to tell a story but don’t have any fresh ideas kicking around in your notebook there’s a quick remedy.
ffffound is an intensely interesting site, and an amazing idea generator. Pick a picture that interests you and then make up a story about it, or the people in it.
For example: What would you have to say about this?
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Mar
19
Posted by Latasha Ewell.
Actual present + notable concern in the present carried to an extreme + cool techy stuff largely indistinguishable from magic = “The Future”
We’ll I’m not sure I’d call his formula, since he’s just calling out the pattern that Hollywood movies and some books tend to follow, but it is fun to play with.
It’s like an instant sci-fi story maker.
Here’s the article I found it in.
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