writing advice
The cliché is to have a character inform another character with an info dump or a quote and have the other character react to hearing it as if they are hearing it for the first time or learning something. What is more interesting is to have the second character already know what the first person tells them. This imbues the second character with
... See moreStep 2: Imitate, then Innovate.
After collecting & understanding great ideas from great writers, it's time for real work.
• Choose the ideas you completely believe in.
• Figure out the templates your favorite writers use.
• Start putting out their ideas in your... See more
@yakshitshhtwitter.comIf you’re not like them, however, if you’re not (sad to say) a rare genius, and you wish to, gradually, over time, raise the level of the (more or less limited) talent you do have, and make it into something powerful, I believe my theory might be of some value. You toughen up your will as much as you can. And at the same time you equip and maintain
... See moreHaruki Murakami • Novelist as a Vocation
I wake up early, brew fresh coffee in the kitchen, pour some in a big mug, sit down at my desk, and boot up my computer (there are times, I must
admit, when I miss the days of manuscript sheets and my fat Montblanc fountain pen). Then I sit there and muse about what to write that day. Such moments are pure bliss. To tell the truth, I have never
... See moreHaruki Murakami • Novelist as a Vocation
When looking for details or fresh, unexpected ideas to add to a piece you are writing re-read notebooks.
Share stories we can’t google.
Tim Denning • How to Reach 300K Views on a Single Piece of Writing
Notice how in the beginning, the number of items reduces: 4, 2, 1, 0. Then in the end, the number of items increases: 1, 2, 6. Not only do the cascading numbers create momentum, but they add context, scale, and curiosity to the items that follow them.
4 Bloody Mary's ... he's looking to get wasted?
2 Grapfruits ... why two?
A pot of coffee ... by
... See moreMichael Dean • Hunter's Breakfast Myth
For the most part, novelists are trying to convert something present in their consciousness into a story. Yet there is an inevitable gap between the preexisting original and the new shape it is spawning. That creates a dynamic the novelist can use as a kind of lever in the fashioning of his narrative. This is quite a roundabout way to do things,
... See more