Fantasy: July 10, 2013 Issue [#5774] |
Fantasy
This week: Do You Read Enough? Edited by: Storm Machine More Newsletters By This Editor
1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions
I'm honored to be your Guest Editor this week.
"All knowledge is worth having." ~Jacqueline Carey |
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What do you read? How much? Do you finish everything you start? Do you think you have to read it, or have you found the love of words?
http://goinswriter.com/good-writers-read/
I can admit I don't read enough. It took me six months to finish the last Swedish crime fiction novel I got for my birthday, (Oops!) though I did finish a few novels in the middle of it. That also doesn't count the blogs, articles, and short fiction I do manage to get my hands on. It's not easy to juggle all of that, and sometimes it takes a backseat to getting my words in. It might be silly, but I started following a band because the lyricist used beautiful words that aren't heard in everyday conversation.
On a limited budget? Never think you have to actually buy magazines, books, or any kind of subscription to keep yourself up to date. Your library card can be your best resource even for digital materials. (Check with your local librarian for details at your library.) I know my library has given me over a dozen different magazine subscriptions for free through Zinio, digital checkouts of novels or audiobooks through Overdrive, and allows me to reserve books from the comfort of my home when the kids are asleep (and said library is closed). There are also a bunch of apps for getting news, articles, and/or blogs that can be customized to whatever topics truly interest you. (Zite and Pulse are examples.)
Why should you read anything and everything? We're writing fantasy and science fiction and that kind of stuff here, right? But we're after the love of words. We're trying to put them together to make readers laugh, cry, and feel everything else with our characters. The more we read, the more we absorb, whether we mean to or not. You might argue that a vampire, werewolf, android might feel something differently than a human, but when you find that nonhuman buying audience - let me know. We still have to translate all of that into human experiences to connect with the reader.
And if you're curious how you're doing, check out I Write Like. If you're curious, I write like James Joyce, Arthur Clark, or Isaac Asimov, depending on the sample. |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter! https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Waltz Invictus
Great information in a relatively short editorial, Storm! I subscribe to the idea that the writing process for a novel should begin with the one-sentence premise summary and expand from there. That summary can guide the rest of the process, keep a writer on track, kind of like a mission statement for a business.
Thanks. I do hope to promote coherence.
Quick-Quill
Thanks for this newsletter. I went to my book I am editing and changed the description to fit your elevator pitch. It isn't a fantasy but I think this newsletter should be an all genre fit. Everyone needs to rewrite their Brief Description or Elevator Pitch and re-post.
I agree.
D. J. Richter
I've been thinking a lot about the Elevator Pitch for my current fantasy novel and I am having difficulty. Personally, I see two ways of approaching the novel's explanation. I can present the basic outward flow of the plot, which amounts to something like "a young man with a unique ability travels to a land full of people like him", then there is the deeper message behind the book, which amounts to something more like "a young man goes on a journey of self discovery, searching for a place he can belong", or "a young man steps out into the world and discovers that nearly everything he ever thought he knew was wrong". You see what I mean? There are innumerable ways to approach such a summary, and none of them expresses the entirety of the story's essence. Would you recommend a more factual summary of the plot, or a more emotional one? Or is the goal to integrate the two?
My goal would be to integrate the two, because an emotional connection will hook a reader faster.
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry
Sometimes one ends up in a strange land.
Sometimes. |
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