Merce Cardus

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LinkFest ~ Best Reads on Writing, Screenwriting & Self-Publishing: Excellence

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Best Reads on Writing & Selfpublishing 18

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Excellence does not require perfection. -Henry James. [/perfectpullquote]

WRITING

To set the stage for a scene, You only need a few moments to show the reader where the new scene is taking place. But rather than use dull narrative, we’ve seen how powerful it is to filter the shot through your POV character’s eyes. It’s not only great to show scenes through your character’s eyes but to use emotionally-packed descriptive words that can add power to your story. Sensory details work similarly.

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Parallelism is the practice of lining up all your verb tenses when you have a list of them in one sentence. For example, if you’re on your way to the store and you need to get apples, you might find yourself heading straight to the produce section, investigating each apple for bruises, and putting the best four you can find in your cart.

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 The only grammar book you’ll ever need.

If you are a writer who has a goal of selling books it is wise to remember that audiences are not static. They change. Their tastes change with the times and we need to understand what is “trending” if we want to connect and entertain. Many new writers look to the classics for inspiration and there isn’t anything per se wrong with that, but we must reinvent the classics, not regurgitate them.

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Point Of View

As writers, we need a lot of things to succeed…support. Time to write.  Knowledge, gosh…SO MUCH knowledge. Oceans of it, about everything–writing, marketing, publishing and so much more. (And hey, a bit of luck would be nice too.)

 

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The novella is a work of fiction that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. The acclaimed author Ian McEwan describes the novella as ‘the perfect form of prose fiction’.

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How to write a novella in 24 hours

So what does it mean for you and me that we don’t write [good] books, we rewrite them? Here’s what I’ve realized it means for me.

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Wired for story

Consider the conjunction. It’s one of the building blocks of solid prose. It links idea to idea, creates clarity, and offers emphasis in a solid punch at the center of your sentences. If it can do all that when properly handled, then you definitely want to make sure you’re not watering down your writing with unnecessarily weak conjunctions.

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Writing about sex isn’t easy, I discovered. It’s not just a question of vocabulary, though that’s a big consideration, it’s a question of tone, not to say taste. If you are writing for an imprint like Black Lace the remit is simple: readers are looking for erotica and the story must be driven by sex – which doesn’t, as I discovered, mean consummation has to take place on every page.

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 SCREENWRITING

 

When I first started screenwriting, I had three forms of paper I used for any project.

Let’s take a look at his criteria for good acting. He says, “Good actors make me believe that the actor is going through whatever his character is actually going through.” So there’s a believability.

Nothing irritates me more than the vanity of fellow writers and their precious first drafts, especially newbies who have read maybe one book, wrote two scripts, can’t take criticism, and think their shit doesn’t stink. I’m reminded of what Ernest Hemingway once wrote in a letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald: “The first draft of anything is shit. 

Movies are about visual storytelling. “A Picture Tells a Thousand Words.” We’ve all heard that one. We’ve also heard “Show Don’t Tell” and “Write Visually/Cinematically.”

For Cohen, the most satisfying aspect of his experience working on Minority Report “was simply cracking the story, finding the essence that excited both me and the players in Hollywood. It was fun making up a sci-fi world, which I did in total naiveté. 

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SELF-PUBLISHING

 

  • An efortless 10-point plan to move your business into the social media arena, Writers write | Tweet

Whether you employ 30 000 people or three, your business should have a social media presence. If you aren’t saying something about your company somebody else will say it for you, and it won’t be a conversation you can influence. 

Many writers think self-publishing consists of whipping out a manuscript and sticking it up on Amazon. And that can be true — I know there are some authors who do very well doing it that way — but in my view, smart readers can detect a lazy book from a mile off.

One way to get your books noticed is to offer them for free for a short period of time. I’ve heard arguments from both sides when it comes to authors who offer free e-book promotions.

Other things to update are contact information, writing-related organizations we belong to, any honors or awards related to our writing, etc.

But as a publishing professional who has been selling to the library market since 1996, I also know that getting into libraries takes a great deal of time and effort. It does not just “happen.” The good news? Once you get started, you will find that it is TOTALLY WORTH IT!

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