Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 2

zanzjan · Jun 6, 2011

James D. Macdonald said:
Yet is it not entertaining, and didn't you watch it all the way to the end, and remember it long after?

Oh, certainly. My process works for me. I just wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone else (-:

-Suzanne

James D. Macdonald · Jun 7, 2011

I am very close to throwing The Bride Collector across the room.

As Twain put in Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses:

10. [The rules of fiction] require that the author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and in their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones. But the reader of the "Deerslayer" tale dislikes the good people in it, is indifferent to the others, and wishes they would all get drowned together.

Would that Dekker had followed Twain's advice.

muravyets · Jun 7, 2011

I love Mark Twain, but I'm so happy he's dead and can't critique a book of mine.

DreamWeaver · Jun 7, 2011

When I used to work in the bookstore, whenever I needed to be cheered up I'd go to the literature section and compare Mark Twain's shelf space to Jane Austen's. It made me smile to see Austen always had three to four times the shelf space that Twain did, despite the huge difference in their literary output.

Jane Austen was another author Twain savaged. Karma is a bitch.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 8, 2011

Speaking of Jane Austen, as if the zombies weren't bad enough....

muravyets · Jun 8, 2011

Heh, I love both Austen and Twain. Twain is on my shortlist of Sources of Everything Ever Said In English That's Worth Repeating. He's brilliant even when I don't agree with him (though I totally agree with him about Cooper -- I mean, damn, man).

James D. Macdonald · Jun 9, 2011

One of our Viable Paradise students has just sold her first story. It's the lead story (“[FONT=Calibri, sans-serif]Your Cities” by Anaea Lay)[/FONT] in the current issue of Apex magazine, here.

euclid · Jun 10, 2011

Bad form

DreamWeaver said:
Jane Austen was another author Twain savaged. Karma is a bitch.

Surely it's bad form for one writer to rubbish another in public, isn't it? I can't think of another profession where this would happen nowadays.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 10, 2011

euclid said:
Surely it's bad form for one writer to rubbish another in public, isn't it?

It's done all the time, Euclid. One of the hazards of the course.

allenparker · Jun 10, 2011

James D. Macdonald said:
It's done all the time, Euclid. One of the hazards of the course.

Quoted from a link in Jim's signature. Doctor Doyle's Editorial Service

"Note:
Like the old fortune-teller who takes a look at someone's palm, shakes her head, and hands back the money, I reserve the right to refund your payment in full if I decide that I can't help you."

Why is there always a picture of me after a statement like that? And the this means you caption is a little insulting.
With tongue still embedded in my cheek, I slip away.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 12, 2011

Get a free e-book from the University of Chicago Press.

movieman · Jun 12, 2011

James D. Macdonald said:
Get a free e-book from the University of Chicago Press.

Good find. Shame they use stupid Adobe DRM on a 'free' book that prevents you from reading it in anything other than Adobe's ebook reader.

Wouldn't be so bad if Adobe didn't refuse to let you download it on a Linux system even though the software seems to run fine on Linux.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 12, 2011

DRM is a tool of the devil.

Pity that they don't know that.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 15, 2011

How To Have A Writing Career Like Mine from John Scalzi. He points out that you can't. Nor can you have a writing career like any other author's. You have a career like yours, because time, place, personality, and preceding events shape every step of the path.

He points out:

If you feel you must look at other writers’ careers, a suggestion: Look at more than one, and see what they have in common. What did Neil do that Ursula also did that Robert did too that Cherie is now doing? Look at the things that consistently appear in the careers of multiple authors, and you’ll find the things that might be worth incorporating into your own. As a warning, they are likely to be boring things like “write regularly,” or “minimize distractions” or some such, which are the “eat less, exercise more” of the writing career world. But that’s life for you.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 16, 2011

I've finished putting my backlist short fiction up at Smashwords:

These will eventually filter over to B&N, iBooks, and wherever else.

movieman · Jun 16, 2011

James D. Macdonald said:
I've finished putting my backlist short fiction up at Smashwords

Cool. I've bought a couple already, I'll have to take a look at the new ones.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 17, 2011

movieman said:
Cool. I've bought a couple already, I'll have to take a look at the new ones.

If you don't like 'em, you can tell me.

If you do like 'em, tell all your friends.

Laura_6 · Jun 17, 2011

I love that Twain quote and agree with it. (That's not to say I'd like him to review anything of mine, though...)

James D. Macdonald · Jun 19, 2011

My shortest-ever cover letter read:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Here is a story
I'm sending to you.

The story was picked up (by the first market I sent it to). You can read it yourself, for free, here.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 20, 2011

Here's some advice on author-readings at conventions and conferences.

Although it's written for the self-published, it's good advice for everyone.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 22, 2011

Cliches, my dear friends, are fertile sources of inspiration. The line between cliche and archetype is very thin. Nothing is new, and the way cliches became cliches is by being tried-and-true. The oldest engines pull the heaviest freight.

How do you make something original out of a cliche?

Two ways: Stand the cliche on its head, or put two or three cliches in a blender, switch it to 'puree', and pour out a tasty new trope.

So, having said that, here is a handy list of Horror cliches: http://www.wmsimmons.com/horror.htm

Layer 'em thinly over your favorite plot, and there you are.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 23, 2011

Yet another take on How To Get Published.

Krintar · Jun 23, 2011

I was wondering who would be the one to link that here.

jinkang · Jun 23, 2011

James D. Macdonald said:
Yet another take on How To Get Published.

Thanks Uncle Jim. I had a good laugh. (Already knew the reality, as much as I'd like to ignore it.)

Laura_6 · Jun 28, 2011

James D. Macdonald said:
My shortest-ever cover letter read:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
Here is a story
I'm sending to you.

The story was picked up (by the first market I sent it to). You can read it yourself, for free, here.

Just read it, loved it, and wrote a review. I may have been partial to it due to the fact I'm a New Yorker (well, ex-New Yorker...but once one, always one). The combination of black humor with SF can't be beat. Thanks for the great read!

Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 2

killin' all teh werds

Your Genial Uncle

Old revolutionary

Shakespearean Fool

Your Genial Uncle

Old revolutionary

Your Genial Uncle

Where did I put me specs?

Your Genial Uncle

Naked Futon Guy

Your Genial Uncle

Your Genial Uncle

Your Genial Uncle

Your Genial Uncle

Your Genial Uncle

Love what you do. Love who you are.

Your Genial Uncle

Your Genial Uncle

Your Genial Uncle

Your Genial Uncle

Learning

Love what you do. Love who you are.