Steph was hit by flu-like symptoms this weekend, so we had to skip our usual roundup. Sorry and all that, and get well soon Steph!
The round up should be back in its usual verbose format this Friday. In the meantime here are my tweets from last week. See if you can spot my inscrutable and lurky cat hiding out somewhere in there.
More after the jump.
As a first time novelist should you finish writing a bad book? Mystery Writing is Murder http://bit.ly/ibOJM9
Maisy watches me unnervingly. I try to ignore her and watch… on Twitpic twitpic.com/3nyqsn
A tide of cliche defeats Michael Holroyd. Let’s declare war on irritating words. Can we start with ‘pantser’ please? http://bit.ly/ihefHe
“I’d Like to Buy Your Novel, Good Sir!” – Aah! One of my favourite daydreams! McSweeney’s http://bit.ly/igznOS
Planning structure up front and leaving room for creative flexibility. Great real-world worked examples. Janice Hardy http://bit.ly/goD5P6
Whether you plan up front or in multiple drafts, separate the search for story from its rendering – @storyfix http://bit.ly/dF9Xt2
Howard Jacobson on his writing process and a previous novel: The Mighty Waltzer – http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/x3pv9/ (bbc iplayer – radio)
An entertaining ant-kindle rant at litdrift.com. I agree. I’d much rather use my ipad. http://bit.ly/e9Z6HC
You are in a dark room. Rain patters at the window. Strategies for establishing your setting. Alicia – http://bit.ly/fLNcDJ
Annie La Ganga on ritual “I used to hate writing. It was just so hard to sit still. Now that I’m fatter, I like it.” http://bit.ly/fT233L
Revision: plot versus story, focusing on structure, murdering your darlings. Great stuff. @Janice_Hardy http://bit.ly/eLNxu1
Dennis Lehane’s rules (Mystic River, etc). ‘Rewrite: That first draft is just spaghetti on the wall’ @GoIntoTheStory http://bit.ly/e9fv4y
Especially for Steph since she loves Star Wars writing links so much. An early terrible SW treatment. Via Alex Epstein http://bit.ly/eFxo6T
Work from the barest bones, and progressively fill in new layers of detail using the snowflake method. @JulieEshbaugh http://bit.ly/eAWrbP
Overcome your daily date with procrastination by warming up. @storyadaymay http://bit.ly/hza5KN
Self-publishing – what replaces the traditional quality assurance that agents and publishers offer? http://bit.ly/h61GoO
Who are we talking about now? What does ‘he’ mean? @JulietteWade on distinguishing between multiple points of view. http://bit.ly/glsjn8
At Big Other, Greg Gerke thinks the New Yorker piece on Larsson is hype which pressures and insults readers. http://bit.ly/hFiA1V
No, traveller from the past, this is not dystopia. Oh that? We call it reality TV. No, wait! McSweeney’s / David Henne http://bit.ly/gT8ye0
Juxtapose disparate concepts, develop setting, find inspiration from side characters. TN Tobias on writing ideas – http://bit.ly/i2unY7
“He opened the door” [3 pages later] “…then he clicked on the mail icon” Joan Acocella on Stieg Larsson’s appeal – http://nyr.kr/dRUrwz
Push your protagonist to the edge but perhaps make those injuries believably survivable. Biljana Likic – http://bit.ly/e5bnxW
Too much Kremlin research distracts Jeff Cohen: http://bit.ly/gRFSty . Last year C.Stross was thrown by not enough: http://bit.ly/adSe0t
Darcey Pattison on the right kind of idea for your new novel: http://bit.ly/gRFSty (hint: don’t go stale, boring, old or samey)
_Be_ the thing you aspire to be. http://bit.ly/ePvbsm – Hey, waiter! Oh, I’m sorry, I see you’re a novelist. My mistake.
A paper on writers block. http://on.io9.com/fZ19fm – guess the conclusion. Ok, it turns a bit Mornington Crescent pretty fast.
oops.. sherwood smith’s 10 rules for writing – http://bit.ly/fCgYlq. I like “try to spend more time writing than cruising the Net” – plan
Charles Stross’s first typewriter: http://bit.ly/fgCIcQ — and an Amstrad PCW! Mine was haunted and typed xwf random le5tters at wil6l
Can I make a case that Mr Plinkett’s Star Wars prequel reviews teach structure? http://on.io9.com/hE9Y2j – doubtful, but they’re stunning.
