Writers, Start Your Muses! A BOOkish Halloween Love Story from Spike Jonze

This beautiful (and mildly kinky) stop-motion animation got my writer wheels turning. What type of inspiration rockets your muse into motion? Happy Halloween!


"On a shelf in famed Parisian bookstore Shakespeare and Company, the star-crossed love story of a klutzy skeleton and his flame-haired amour plays out amidst Designer Olympia Le-Tan’s illustrations of iconic first-edition book covers." 
READ THE STORY BEHIND THE FILM HERE


Spike Jonze: Mourir Auprès de Toi
A Tale to Pierce the Heart

Spike Jonze: Mourir Auprès de Toi on Nowness.com.

Go With Your Gut: Anne Rice Discusses Book Ideas

3 Tips For Organizing A Novel

I'm halfway through the first draft of my second novel and it took until now to find the best way for me to stay organized. Yes, I have several hand written notes in manila file folders that I never look at; single-subject, spiral-bound notebooks crammed with chicken scratch that have gone the way of the word processor; and gigabytes of electronic musings saved somewhere in RAM limbo. The result? A novel built from my notes in my one notebook. Everything else has been forgotten or eaten by moths.

Quoting Others In Your Work

I'm currently writing a nonfiction book in which I'm using quotes from a variety of sources. However, I wanted to make sure I didn't get into trouble doing so since the only bars I like are the ones that serve margaritas. Therefore, I researched the fair use act. Here it is for your legal enjoyment. And please feel free to comment with your experience using famous quotes in your own works! I live to learn!


The Fair Use Doctrine of the U.S. Copyright Statute
One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords. This right is subject to certain limitations found in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law (title 17, U. S. Code). One of the more important limitations is the doctrine of “fair use.” The doctrine of fair use has developed through a substantial number of court decisions over the years and has been codified in section 107 of the copyright law.

Widget of the Day: Agent Query

The Agent Query widget provides information on the movers and shakers in the literary agent industry. 

From AgentQuery.com: AgentQuery.com offers aspiring writers a free searchable database of literary agents seeking new talent. This widget feeds from our literary social networking site AQ Connect. Writers actively submitting their work to literary agents share their updates and experiences.

Here is the widget below as you'll see on the right side of my homepage. Feel free to click the Get Widget tab under the widget to grab the code for your own blog.

Need Help Mapping Out a Scene? Try "The Dialog Spine"

Brandy's note: I came across Mr. Westerfeld's post from 11/1/09 on his website ScottWesterfeld.com and immediately knew I had to include the post as part of my collection of writing tips. This technique is one I often use in my own writing - and now it has a name! The Dialog Spine! Original post here. 

Follow him on Twitter: @ScottWesterfeld and check out his writing.

by Scott Westerfeld
posted 11/1/09 on ScottWestferfeld.com

Many writers use the so-called “dialog spine” as a way of mapping out a scene. As a sort of “zero draft,” they write just dialog, with no setting, action, or even attribution. It’s a quick once-over of conflict and resolution in a scene, without any tricky bits to slow you down.

This, of course, assumes that you find dialog easy. For some people, writing the action/description/whatever first might make more sense. In any case, you don’t have to make your dialog (or whatever) perfect. It’s just a way of mapping out the main beats in a scene.

But there’s another trick that I use the dialog spine for: blowing out the cobwebs. And by cobwebs, I mean “writer’s block,” “general ennui,” or “an idea that just needs to be written down, but I don’t have time.”

10 Questions to Ask an Agent Before You Sign

by Chuck Sambuchino 

Original story posted here at GuidetoLiteraryAgents.com

You have spent considerable time trying to create the best impression on potential literary agents. You have done so well that an agent has contacted you—congratulations! The tables are now turned. It is time for the agent to impress you. Your objective is to hire an agent you can trust with your money, your work, and your future. It's all part of finding your perfect match. 

J.K. Rowling's Plot Spreadsheet for The Order of the Phoenix

A spreadsheet plot written out by J.K. Rowling. Her approach to spreadsheet plotting is to divide the columns by chapter number, story timeline, chapter title, main plots and subplots. 
Read the full post at WorldsStrangest.com


Good to know I'm not the only one who loves working with antiquated tools: pen & paper! :)

Where's the Beef? The Reporter Shows the Writer the Meat of the Story

by Brandy Dolce 

After college, I accepted a news reporter position at a large New Jersey newspaper. It took a while, but I learned to be less flowery when reporting on a robbery and tax evasion. As a news reporter, I’d get my story from cops, townspeople, politicians, educators and victims. I wrote in perfect sequence, describing the event and than dotting the rest of the story with “voices” or quotes from the people involved. A reporter must remain unbiased. I admit it was very difficult for me to do so. I am human after all.  I’d get so…emotional.

***

Hey, Fiction Writer. You’re staring at this white screen like it’s a barren wasteland.  Yeah, I know it’s intimidating. But does this lonely glacier have the potential for life? Hell, yes!

The Three Cosmic Rules of Writing

by Dennis Palumbo

As a veteran writer and a licensed psychotherapist specializing in writers' issues, I know enough to know there aren't any rules when it comes to writing.

Except for the following, which I modestly call the Three Cosmic Rules of Writing. I'm serious. Learn these simple rules, then burn them into your hearts and minds. It couldn't hurt. 

When the Plot Refuses to Thicken

It's time to play the 'Maybe' game
by Brandy Dolce

Many of us have come to that place in our writing where the story is supposed to get more interesting, but instead throws itself off a cliff to certain death.
THUD!

So how do we thicken the plot?

Write a Book Scene by Scene

A Different Approach to Writing Stories
by Marg McAlister 

Not everyone can start writing a novel at the beginning and work straight through. Some authors prefer to pour energy into writing good scenes, then link them up later. For authors who hate to plot, but love to lose themselves in writing story scenes, the 'scene by scene' method is an inviting way to produce a finished novel. Note that this method does not give writers permission to produce sloppy fiction. It simply means that they can hit the ground running by immersing themselves in writing good scenes at the beginning, then tweak later - when the book starts to take on a life of its own.

TV Script-Writing Trick Helped Organize YA novel

By Alan Gratz

Flipping wistfully through a travel guide to Japan, I came across a photo of a man in a kimono throwing out the first pitch at a 1915 Japanese baseball tournament. 1915? I thought American GIs had introduced the sport during the Allied Occupation after World War II. I learned instead that Japan had baseball as early as 1872. The end of the samurai era had overlapped the beginning of the baseball era. Baseball? Samurai? This could be the idea that would get me published! There was only one problem: how to manage the mountain of research it would take to write it.

40 Twitter Hashtags for Writers

by Simon Kewin
If you use Twitter, you’re probably already familiar with the idea of hashtags. These are simply a way of categorizing particular tweets by including within them a keyword prefixed with the hash or “pound” (#) symbol. So, for example, tweets containing writing advice will often contain the “#writetip” tag. The point of this is to make it easier to find all tweets containing writing advice : you just search for “#writetip”. Similarly, you could find a stream of publication tips by keeping an eye on tweets with “#pubtip” in them.

How Not to Create a Villain

by Anne Marble 
Villains aren't as important to the romance novel as the hero and heroine, but in many stories, they are crucial. The villain's actions can drive the he

ro and heroine to succeed against all odds, force them to make difficult decisions, even drive them apart for a while. However, romance writers walk a delicate tightrope when creating villains. If your villain is dull, the readers won't be all that interested in your story, even if your hero and heroine are wonderful. On the other hand, if the villain is too interesting or has too many scenes, he might distract the readers from the hero and heroine -- and they should always be the main focus of a romance novel.

Anne R. Allen's Blog: 12 Do's and Dont's for Introducing your Protagonist

Great advice from Anne R. Allen! Had to post it here for quick reference!
-Brandy

One note of caution: these are rules for the final draft. When you’re first diving into a novel, you’re not introducing your characters to a reader; you’re introducing them to yourself. All kinds of information about your MC will come up, like she eats cold pizza for breakfast, grew up next to an adult book store, and feels a deep hatred for Smurfs. This stuff will spill out in your first chapters. Let it. That’s the fun part. But be aware you’ll want to cut most of the information or move it to another part of the book when you edit.

Agents, Aspiring Authors & Eloisa James

Note: I wrote this in 2005 when I worked as an advice columnist for the Asbury Park Press. I updated some of the writing resources though - I couldn't help it!  


Q: I recently finished writing a fiction novel and was wondering how to go about getting it published.

Sue, 30, West Long Branch

A: I was very excited to receive this question because it gave me the perfect opportunity to interview New York Times best-selling author, Eloisa James. Her first book was picked up by Harper Collins - something that was accomplished with the help of an agent. How? The agent submitted James' book to a few publishers, a bidding war ensued, and voila! Eloisa James was in print.
(Sigh). Sounds like a fairy tale, right? 

Story Beginnings

by Lucienne Diver


Everyone knows that a good opening can make or break a submission. With busy agents and editors getting literally hundreds of submissions a week, you want to be sure to grab their attention right away and never surrender it. I hear far too often in pitches, “but the story really starts….” In the famous words of Lewis Carroll, “Begin at the beginning and go on until you come to the end, then stop.” It seems so obvious, and yet, beginnings are not always so easy to identify. Do you start with murder or motive? Action or voice? Scene-setting or dialogue?

What 'Art of War' Can Teach Us About Plot and Characterization

by Brandy Dolce


Fear. 
It's the motivator by which Sun Tzu’s "Art of War" remains a permanent fixture on my desk. I've employed his basic principles throughout my journalism career - in my news stories, advice column and magazine articles, as well as in the manipulation of certain repugnant individuals. And I continue to use them as I work toward the completion of my first YA manuscript.


Why? Because Sun Tzu was a master deceiver, a manipulator of pawns. He played on his enemies' weaknesses, surprised them when they thought they couldn’t be misled, and offered them what they wanted only to snatch it away and entrap them. "Art of War" is a veritable gold mine for those, like myself, working to structure an exciting plot line. How? Because plot, like warfare, is the Tao of deception! Below are some of Sun Tzu's battle principles as they pertain to the art of storytelling.

Creating Character Emotion

by Pepper Basham


Good mornin’ all.


Pepper here, and I’m currently going through a great DVD series by famous scriptwriter and speaker, Michael Hauge. It’s called The Hero’s Two Journeys and is filled with fantastic info I want to share with you guys.


First of all, I’d like to ask you a question. 
Why do you read fiction? I mean, really. Bare bones answer.


If you’re really honest, one of the reasons you and I read fiction is to experience adventures we don’t experience in the everyday. To become emotionally involved in a story. To escape into someone else’s journey.