Another one for the bucket list.
Filed under cartoon by author, CarToonsday, window
Critics are everywhere.
One reason the human race has such a low opinion of itself is that it gets so much of its wisdom from writers. –Wilfrid Sheed
All writing is garbage. People who come out of nowhere to try to put into words any part of what goes on in their minds are pigs. –Antonin Artaud
The noted writer Theodore Sturgeon was once asked why so much of science fiction writing was “crap.” He paused for a moment, nodded, and said, yes, 90 percent of science fiction was crap, but that “90 percent of everything is crap.” This is known as Sturgeon’s Law, and is just as true today as it was in the early 1950s when he first pronounced it.
Same is true for critics of writers and writing.
[Errata: I had originally and erroneously attributed this to Robert Heinlein, another noted writer of such classics as Stranger in a Strange Land. My apologies and thank to Tom Dupree for pointing out my error. It is good to have smarter readers dropping by to read your blog posts. May we all be so fortunate. Thank you to all who stop by, read, like, and comment. It is one of the advantages of this blog format. Thank you all. –Editor]
Filed under cartoon by author, no respect, writer
Sacred cow meeting notes: Sartre never attended a bored meeting.
In a meeting.
In a life.
Full of woe.
Full of strife.
Full of things
I do not know.
Not sure yet
which way to go.
In a meeting.
In a life.
Full of woe.
Full of strife.
Full of dimwits,
Full of “fun,”
I cannot wait
’til this day’s done.
In a meeting.
In a life.
Full of woe.
Full of strife.
But no angels
can save me now.
Nor a Brahmin,
nor sacred cow.
In a meeting.
In a life.
Full of woe.
Full of strife.
Come what may,
come what might,
this is my
gas inducing plight.
Filed under cartoon by author, Drawing conclusions, poetry by author
Sometimes it’s not the elephant in the middle of the room that’s the problem, it’s what the elephant has in his trunk.
There once was an elephant from Nantucket
whose trunk was so long he could suck it.
With full force it went in,
bending time and again.
Until election day, he’s just stuck with it.
Filed under cartoon by author, limerick, poetry by author, political humor
[Editor’s note: the essay below is taken from an e-mail newsletter sent out by the writer Bruce Hale. you can find his web site at: http://www.brucehalewritingtips.com/. You can also sign up for his e-newsletter at that site. Each electronic newsletter comes with other information, including a writing joke.]
By Bruce Hale
I’ll be honest. I never thought that Pilates class at the Y would be good for anything other than kicking (and toning) my butt. Yet, Pilates, with its emphasis on tightening and strengthening the body’s core, has something to teach us writers.
Ever encountered a “saggy middle” in your story writing? Take a tip from Pilates and strengthen your story’s core.
In my experience, when the middle sags, I’ve either lost track of my main character’s goal, or I haven’t made it hard enough for him/her to achieve. If it feels like nothing’s at stake or the issue isn’t in doubt, then it’s hard to sustain that growing sense of suspense that all stories need.
How to tone up that saggy middle? Here are five suggestions:
1. Increase the tension
What keeps us reading is a sense of concern about the hero and doubt about whether he will achieve his goal. If your story’s middle section lacks excitement, look for ways to up the “uh-oh factor.”
Throw more obstacles into your hero’s path – whether internal or external. Internally, you could set two cherished goals at odds with each other (she has to choose between being in the school musical with that hot dude and playing soccer). Externally, you could hand the opposition a major victory that sets your hero back. Or you could stage a betrayal: Someone the hero (and reader) trusts suddenly turns out to be a bad guy.
2. Tighten up the action
Maybe the bones of your story are strong, but you’ve got a bit of flab on them — unnecessary scenes that bog down the action. Look closely at every scene. If you can trim or eliminate it without affecting the story’s forward momentum, maybe you didn’t need that scene in the first place.
3. Raise the stakes
Take a good bite out of the saggy middle of your story, if you have to.
4. Spring a revelation
This is the unexpected discovery that casts new light on everything that’s gone before it. Often a revelation occurs just before the story enters its third act, as in HOLES, where we suddenly understand the connection between the past-day and present-day tales, and we get why Stanley
Yelnats is digging in the desert.
Tricky to pull off? Absolutely. But it sure packs a punch when you can do it right.
5. Pull a reverse play
Reversals tug the rug out from under your character just when it looks like he’s making serious progress. Reversals also up the tension and hook your reader. Need an example? In THE MALTESE FALCON, just when Sam Spade thinks he’s got everything figured out, the bad guy slips him a mickey, taking Sam out of the action while his enemies run off to claim the treasured falcon.
Above all, if your story middle is sagging, go back to focus on your main character and her goal. Be sure that throughout the middle, the hero is still actively pursuing (and passionate about) his goal, and that you are continuing to throw obstacles (ever-increasing, if possible) into his path. If those two elements are in place, and you stay focused on the core of your story, chances are that your saggy middle won’t need to take a trip to Pilates class.
Filed under cartoon by author, Saggy middle, writing tip, Writing Tip Wednesday
The Princess had her pea, the Frog Prince his doughnut
Filed under Cartoon, cartoon by author
Sometimes I feel lower than a defeated politician….
Next to the defeated politician, the writer is the most vocal and inventive griper on earth. He sees hardship and unfairness wherever he looks. His agent doesn’t love him (enough). The blank sheet of paper is an enemy. The publisher is a cheapskate. The critic is a philistine. The public doesn’t understand. His wife doesn’t understand him. The bartender doesn’t understand him. –PETER MAYLE
Filed under cartoon by author, no respect, writer, writing humor
Where the skies are blue and the lions, too.
If worse comes to worst, start writing verse.
A rhyme in time will take your mind
away from this cursed ‘verse.
It will take you to worlds never you knew.
It will take you to worlds never more true.
Where the skies are blue and the lions are, too.
Filed under cartoon by author, poem, rhyming poetry
Speaking Geek is not that hard.
Filed under cartoon by author, Drawing conclusions, Geek speak
Booker's Blog 