A New Installment and other News
Apr. 29th, 2014 10:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouseSo, first off, I proudly present the next installment in the continuing adventures of Alex Connor, Hughes County Coroner and magical detective: Part 6: A Dragon's Confession. The teaser this time: "In this chapter, Valentine makes a startling confession..."
Oooooh, what could it be? Go find out!!
In other news, I got asked to participate in an SF Signal's Mind-Meld again, so I'm going to be composing my answer to that soon. When it's posted over there, I'll link here. This one is actually kind of meaty, so I've been doing a lot of thinking, pre-writing. Hopefully this will NOT mean that I'll be scrambling the day before it's due (which is Sunday).
Speaking of this weekend, I'm also going to be making an appearance at the Ramsey County Library not as a page... though in a PAGE related way! I'm going to be the presenter for the Loft's "First Pages Program."
Here are the details from my website:
On Saturday, May 3, 2014 from 2:00-3:30 pm I'll once again be the Loft's "First Pages" instructor for te "Read to Write" program. This time it will be a little closer ot home at the Roseville Library (where I work as a page!). The library is located at 2180 Hamline Avenue in St. Paul, MN. For more information call (651) 724-6001 or check out: http://www.rclreads.org.
The description for the program (which is a repeat of the one I did in Chanhassen) goes like this:
Can reading The Hunger Games teach you to be a writer? You bet it can! By reading as much fiction as you can get your hands on, available right here at your public library, you can become the writer you've always wanted to be! Come learn what Harry Potter can teach you about world building in fiction; what Neil Gaiman can teach you about creating memorable characters; and what Veronica Roth's Divergent series can teach you about plot! After this 90 minute session you'll be inspired to write your own mind blowing fiction.
Which isn't AT ALL DAUNTING as a the instructor...
Last time in Chanhassen, I had a blast, but I can't say we stayed 'on topic.' I think in preparation for this event, I may solicit ideas from other people about which books taught them what. I tried to do this with the students I had on hand at Chanhassen, but that conversation petered out really quickly. We ended up having fun talking about other writing challenges and trying out some bizarre story prompters, but it wasn't 'as advertised' and I feel a bit badly about that.
So... thoughts? Are there books that taught YOU something specific about writing?
Oooooh, what could it be? Go find out!!
In other news, I got asked to participate in an SF Signal's Mind-Meld again, so I'm going to be composing my answer to that soon. When it's posted over there, I'll link here. This one is actually kind of meaty, so I've been doing a lot of thinking, pre-writing. Hopefully this will NOT mean that I'll be scrambling the day before it's due (which is Sunday).
Speaking of this weekend, I'm also going to be making an appearance at the Ramsey County Library not as a page... though in a PAGE related way! I'm going to be the presenter for the Loft's "First Pages Program."
Here are the details from my website:
On Saturday, May 3, 2014 from 2:00-3:30 pm I'll once again be the Loft's "First Pages" instructor for te "Read to Write" program. This time it will be a little closer ot home at the Roseville Library (where I work as a page!). The library is located at 2180 Hamline Avenue in St. Paul, MN. For more information call (651) 724-6001 or check out: http://www.rclreads.org.
The description for the program (which is a repeat of the one I did in Chanhassen) goes like this:
Can reading The Hunger Games teach you to be a writer? You bet it can! By reading as much fiction as you can get your hands on, available right here at your public library, you can become the writer you've always wanted to be! Come learn what Harry Potter can teach you about world building in fiction; what Neil Gaiman can teach you about creating memorable characters; and what Veronica Roth's Divergent series can teach you about plot! After this 90 minute session you'll be inspired to write your own mind blowing fiction.
Which isn't AT ALL DAUNTING as a the instructor...
Last time in Chanhassen, I had a blast, but I can't say we stayed 'on topic.' I think in preparation for this event, I may solicit ideas from other people about which books taught them what. I tried to do this with the students I had on hand at Chanhassen, but that conversation petered out really quickly. We ended up having fun talking about other writing challenges and trying out some bizarre story prompters, but it wasn't 'as advertised' and I feel a bit badly about that.
So... thoughts? Are there books that taught YOU something specific about writing?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-04-29 03:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2014-04-29 06:02 pm (UTC)Also I would toss out Charles De Lint's "Moonheart" as a nice example of urban fantasy/magical realism. Some of his stuff can be a bit of an overgrown thicket and a touch overwhelming, but that one struck just the right balance for me.
It is funny, in a way, how writing ages. Obviously Tolkien has a lot going for it, but I would be hard-pressed to point to LoTR and tell new writers "write like that". It's a classic because of what it was THEN, and certainly parts of it hold up even now, but the writing by modern tastes is clunky.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2014-04-29 06:28 pm (UTC)How not to. Divergent is terribly plotted. I'm sorry.
Actually, I've learned a lot by seeing how other writers screwed up - that's often easier to see and learn by than what other writers did right. But probably too liable to cause argument to be useful.
George R. R. Martin's early space opera stories taught me a lot about creating the sense that the world is much larger than what we're seeing via offhand mentions of events long past and cool-sounding places far away.
Louis Sachar's Holes can teach you the puzzle-box structure, in which a number of seemingly disparate stories assemble into a unified whole.
xGhiQjWghGdvGGRYUhaGPKIjSpXFoFWqN
Date: 2014-05-13 01:51 am (UTC)ZPcZoMbVJVhlnbtzA
Date: 2014-05-13 02:33 am (UTC)oTAJQpOP
Date: 2014-05-13 11:47 pm (UTC)VBXGCYOQcWkGecUkBN
Date: 2014-05-14 01:24 pm (UTC)yowUByLZsxiRnZJ
Date: 2014-05-16 03:39 am (UTC)AYfUpEkdYkKYrofxMNfUMxyeSGwRDRMjZAcrg
Date: 2014-05-17 05:18 am (UTC)pAzrxxbFcWli
Date: 2014-05-19 12:52 am (UTC)