Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 1

Re: Quick and Easy Research for the research-challenged

Writers Digest offers a line of "Everyday Life in the _____." There a few of them and they provide the kind of informatioin you are seeking, I think. :shrug

Go to the writersdigest.com and click on the Writers Digest Bookstore. NOT the Bookclub. There are topics on the right side and click on Writer's Reference. Somewhere amid all the stuff are these books.

Hope that helps,
TJ

BTW: This thread is incredible. Thank you! Thank you! :hail (Still 78 pages of info to wade through until I am caught up!!)

Re: Quick and Dirty Research For Lazy People

Find a historic house from that period, one that gives tours. Take a tour when they're not busy--when you can pepper the guide with questions about the daily life of that period. They'll tell you stuff you won't find in the books. And you'll absorb the feel of the place, the look of the kitchen tools, the old boards and brick and horsehair-stuffed upholstery, the light coming in through old glass windows....

Your town might have a historical society that can help.

Another alternative--look at a Sears, Roebuck catalogue or an old newspaper, ads and all. They should be on microfiche in the library (although it's been a long time since I used microfiche--maybe you can find some materials on the internet).

I know you don't want to put hours of research into this. But it's been my experience that the research will yield up details that make the story less generic, more real for the reader.

Re: Quick and Dirty Research For Lazy People

I agree. Do the research. Your readers can tell if you skimped.

Let's see -- where do you live? My sister works as a reenactor at a living history museum focused around 1870. You'll find those sorts of places all over. The reenactors are very familiar with their periods, and know all kinds of things. They love getting questions on the obscure stuff -- it gives them a chance to show off -- and the authenticity it'll give your story, even if you don't use any specific detail, will pay dividends.

Or -- go to the library. Get a recent children's book on the subject. Read it, then head to the adult section to look up the areas you've identified as ones where you need specialized knowledge.

Let me recommend <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385073534/ref%3Dnosim/viablparadthewri" target="_new">The Foxfire Book</a> for old-time country life.

Re: Quick and Dirty Research For Lazy People

I can tell you how some people crapped during the time you're asking about. My paternal grandparents had a farm in Iowa then. It had an outhouse, and they wiped with corncobs.

More info sources: old newspapers in library collections (look at the ads, especially, to find out how far a dollar went and what it went for); contemporary cookbooks and books on household management.

Re: Quick and Easy Research for the research-challenged

Perhaps this thread should be entitled "Writing a novel with Uncle Jim". At a hundred and eighteen pages it's certainly getting there. I didn't read it all, but it seems to be about a bunch of aspiring writers sitting around talking about...um...'stuff'.

Throw in a serial killer and four hundred pages of padding and you'll have a thriller to rival Stephen King

Re: Quick and Easy Research for the research-challenged

Throw in a serial killer and four hundred pages of padding and you'll have a thriller to rival Stephen King

There's a bit more to it than that.

<hr>

On other notes -- while primary sources are great if you can't get the information any other way, as a writer I go to secondary sources for my initial research. I don't need to be an actual expert, I just have to look like one from out front.


Still, being a writer means you have homework every day for the rest of your life.

FYI: Google Desktop

The new Google Desktop mentioned above is a neat tool, but it is beta-software and there are some concerns:

New Google Search Tool Poses Security Risk

Re: Quick and Dirty Research For Lazy People

hey all, thanks for the information in this thread. took some time to get through, but completely worth it.

on the research question, I used to moan a bit about having to look up all kinds of things for short stories. However, it really does make the stories better and also, nothing I've learned in research has ever really been "wasted." You'd be surprised how often that odd bit of knowledge you never worked into one story comes in handy for something else, even if it's just winning at Trivial Pursuit ;-).

also, since this is my first post and I just noticed they have a Snoopy dance icon here, I have to use it: :snoopy

ok, done now.

Google Desktop

The problems with it aren't as serious as the press are trying to make them sound. Basically, they mean that anyone using your computer might be able to find out about stuff you have stored on it.

Essentially, you ought to assume this is the case anyway. Anyone who knew what they were doing and had unmonitored access to your computer could have achieved this anyway. All Google's tool does is make it easier.

Re: Quick and Easy Research for the research-challenged

And folks should be aware of that, many aren't. Knowing just what a piece of software does lets us make an informed decision about what to put on our machines.

A Request

I am heartbroken to note that no one has yet reviewed Murder by Magic over at Amazon.

If you read it -- loved it, hated it, something in between -- please drop by and write a review. Honesty is always appreciated.

Re: Quick and Dirty Research For Lazy People

I think this thread may live as the longest thread in history. :eek It's a bit intimidating if you're looking for tips on how to write to see 119 pages of material to try and sift through. I was wondering if perhaps you had ever considered starting a new thread with just the rules, the closing that thread and sticking it at top so people wouldn't need to start new threads to ask simple questions that may have been answered already. There'd be a handy little guide right up top to look through that could be edited by the admin or moderator to add new rules as they're thought of. I have a feeling that most of my questions have been addressed somewhere here before, but 20 pages of long threads - I wish I had the time to search through them.

formatting

see the thread you started with your question---

Shawn

Speaking of Research

Speaking of research:

<a href="http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2004_10_24_digbysblog_archive.html#109864025365506773" target="_new">Writers are terrorists</a>.

Re: A Request

I think this thread may live as the longest thread in history.

Click to expand...

Eowyn, I don't think this is the longest thread in history. I think that on this board, one of the PA threads beats it. Over at TWC (haven't I seen you there? :grin ) I'm sure there are many longer ones... :ack

But this one may have the distinction of being most informative.

BTW, just to repeat: I've got the "meat" of the first seventy pages or so in a file on my computer. Email me at [email protected], and I'll send it to you.

And Uncle Jim: Sorry. Went over to Amazon.com, intending to post a review, and found that I can't do so without either a) a credit card number (to verify my real name) or b) a purchase history with Amazon.com. So...

I'll plug it here. :grin

Great book, folks. Buy it. Read it. Review it.

Re: Surprise! A Worthwhile Contest!

<a href="http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/blwc/bakeless/" target="_new">Bread Loaf Bakeless Literary Prizes</a>.

Looking for: Book length fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

Bad points: $10 entry fee.

Good points: Publication with Houghton Mifflin.

Deadline: 15 November 2004.

Full details at the link.

Re: ah ha!

Hi All,

I just finished reading all 119 pages of this thread in three days. Yes, I have that kind of free time (there are 36 hours in a day here, that's how)

It's been a pleasure living through an entire year of your lives.
Uncle Jim, what you've done is admirable. A toast to you!

Some things that i think might be helpful/entertaining in regards to this thread:

First, a funny, SHORT read you may or may not have seen before:

<a href="http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/writing.asp" target="_new">http://www.snopes.com/college/homework/writing.asp</a>
Ah, good stuff there.

Second, Nick Sparks is a friend of mine, and although he'll be the first one to tell you that he is NOT a very good writer, he has accomplished what most people on this board are trying to do; namely, have a breakout novel. And by breakout, i mean HUGE. The advance for his first published novel was $1,000,000.

Anyway, on his Web site, here:
<a href="http://www.nicholassparks.com/WritersCorner/Index.html" target="_new">http://www.nicholassparks.com/WritersCorner/Index.html</a>

...he tells in great detail how he made that happen. He even has the actual query letter he submitted for The Notebook posted, as well lots of other useful information. You regulars have answered the same questions numerous times throughout some 2000-odd posts. This link might be a good place to direct newcomers to answer a lot of the basics about publishing, writing, etc. It could save you the time of rehashing old points.

Third, I'd like to recommend the movie Adaptation, if you haven't seen it. Love it or hate it, every writer can relate to at least some aspects of the film.

Fourth, Jim: Nobody Has to Know: classic, I loved it. Wonderful work.

Well I've said enough, so thank you for listening, cheers to you all!

Danny

PS- Jim, what's your chess rating? Or around where abouts would you say?

Sparks

he'll be the first one to tell you that he is NOT a very good writer,

Click to expand...

Really? I thought I was the one to mention that a few years ago. Never understood his success for the sake of writing ability.

His site reads like an infomercial. Now I'm really jealous, because I am so, so so the opposite. I don't like sales and all that stuff he goes on about.

Thanks for the info. I wish him, and you, well. His stories are okay, boring to me...but they've got people reading, buying books, and enjoying themselves. Good.

Re: A Request

I don't mean to put down Sparks, but yeah, I didn't think he was that good a writer and I thought his stories was somewhat cliche and "been done before." I thought "The Notebook" was a decent read, but the movie -- oh, the sap! He had some really nice moments... so I was surprised that he hit so big. Something must be right with his target audience to set off that spark (puns intended).

According to him, he was really kind of lucky to get his agent (who was just starting out after being a laywer, without much publishing experience). Apparently her agent turned out to be VERY good!

I'd say success has much to do with luck, plus some talent, business sense, etc. But luck, definitely.

Re: A Request

Sure, luck has something to do with it -- but you don't get lucky unless you have a manuscript in hand, and unless you're at a place where luck happens.

The rest is up to the readers, the darlings.

Re: Learn Writing with Uncle Jim

H Conn,

I just had ta let ya know, I really like your quote. Work fascinates me that way at times too. :coffee

runic7

Re: Sparks

Well, I know that Oprah liked "The Notebook" and that was pretty much it. Oprah's words are gold.

Opening Dilemma

Hi, Uncle Jim and everyone,

Please please, I hope you have a word of advice for me!

I'm embarking on a new project at the moment (yes, I wanna try to do this NaNoWriMo thing which is absolutely against my writing principles, but everything around me just conspires to make me write this particular book, so I'll give it a try). Still, I have this particular opening problem all the time, anyway, not just with this project, so I really need to sort it out.

The question is: every piece of writing advice under the sun seems to suggest we start the novel straight off with the Character in Trouble. Still, every novel I've read seems to start with a nice, comfortable opening describing the pre-story status quo, and only then, sometimes not even in the first chapter, the troubles start. Yes, in the first paragraph there is always a hook, and somebody in some minor story-related trouble, but overall, the novels I've read, even action thrillers, seem to start quite comfortably. Then things get worse. But not on the first page and definitely not in the first paragraph!

I have my own opening dilemma: one of the two beginnings. Which one, do you think, would work best? The protagonist is a preteen boy in Stalinist Russia who witnesses his father being arrested and then released. I can start the story straight off with the arrest scene (which will have to be quite disturbing, especially considering it's a child's POV) and proceed with the story from there. That is, if I follow the writing advice. I do want, though, to start with the release scene: the book starts with the boy waking up to a beautiful Easter morning (there will be a hook and some minor story-related problems, of course), does all sorts of little boys' things that introduce the setting, characters and problems, and in the end of this eventful, but relatively comfortable chapter his father is back -- morally broken, scared, unrecognisable. This event (not the arrest!) changes the boy's life forever, the rest of the book is just consequences.

Which beginning, do you think, would work best? I really don't want to open the book with the arrest scene. But isn't it what we're supposed to do??? :huh

Sorry it's so long! Thank you very much!

Fresie

Re: ah ha!

Dannyne330,

Thanks for the comments and for the links and welcome to this forum.:coffee

With regard to bestsellers, I have found a good book recently, and I was thinking you guys might want to check it out too:

Seven Strategies in Every Best-Seller: A 186-Page Guide to Extraordinarily Successful Writing
by Tam Mossman (Editor)

It's usually hard to find (but there is a cheap one now on Amazon - about $7).

I heartily recommend it.

Re: Learn Writing with Uncle Jim

Fresie, to me the second scene you described sounds better than the first, especially since you want to write the first one.

Edit: Abysmal typing.