More Writing Advice

I love quotes about writing.  This page has TWENTY of them!  From everyone from Dorothy Parker to Stephen King...

http://www.flavorwire.com/361311/20-great-writers-on-the-art-of-revision/view-all

The Most Brilliant Writing Tip Ever

I can't even expound on this. It's just the perfect singular writing tip I've ever read. Of course it would come from the incomparable Neil Gaiman. Are you ready for it? It's the only rule of writing there is.

"There are no rules. Do whatever you have to do to get the end of the thing you’re writing."
      --- Neil Gaiman

Insight on Getting Published

I know you thought it was going to be my truly inspired insight on getting published, but I thought I'd post this link to a great article by Jane Friedman on how long you should keep trying to get published by a traditional publisher.

She comments on a lot of details, including what you're trying to get published and whether it is commerically viable on a national level or if it's regional or niche.  And to me, the most important question of all: what your goals are.

Writing Exercise: Waiting for a Stranger

Your character walks into a restaurant and has a conversation with the hostess (or host).  He (or she) says he has a reservation, for two people.  Hostess says he is the first to arrive, would he like to sit down or wait in the front.  Your character has never met the person he is dining with (is it breakfast, lunch, dinner?), and he doesn't know what they look like, so he's not sure what to do, since he won't recognize them when they come in.  How does the conversation go with the host/ess?  Who is your character?  Who is the person he (or she) is meeting?  Why are they meeting?  Finish the scene when the person comes in (or doesn') and they recognize each other (or don't).  Try to be a little bit more creative than 'a blind date.'

Writing Exercise: After the Storm

Remember that person you wrote about in the last exercise and how they were preparing for an imminent storm?  When the wind dies down and the rain stops, and they come out of their hibernation, and step out into the world for the first time, what happened?  What are they faced with, damage, flooding, calm?  How did their preparations help, hinder, or have nothing to do with the the outcome of the storm?  And more importantly, how do they react to the situation?

Is there a tree down that crushed their car?
Do they have any shingles left on the roof?
Is the electricity out, and all that food in the refrigerator they bought is going to go bad anyway?

And more importantly, how do they feel about what they see?  And what do they do first?

Writing Prompt: Before the Storm

There are two courses of action I've heard the most from these days before the impending hurricane here in the northeast.  One school is all about water, milk, eggs, rice, prepared foods.  The other is wine, beer, cheese, baguette, DVDs, tortilla chips.  There's also me on a 24' ladder cleaning out the gutters that I haven't cleared in like two years, now that we might get ten inches of rain in one day.

So think about different types of people and what might be the most important things for them to take care of days before a possible hurricane.  Come up with something that is really uncommon or a person who's need is really unique.  Write up a description of their preparations through a day about two days before the hurricane "might" hit the area.  If you want to take this further, write about the day of the hurricane -- did it actually hit locally, or maybe it was a big bust and never came.  How did the preparations and the desperate need play into the results.

Writing Prompt -- Real Life

It's time for another writing prompt.  If you're one of those people who just can't get inspired to start a project, writing prompts are great.  But even if you are currently working on an ongoing project, writing prompts are great side exercises to take you away from that constant focus on your project to be free to go have fun with your writing for ten minutes, then get back to your novel, memoir, screenplay, etc.  So let's do a short little exercise.

Mine your own life, real situations, real people, real settings to draw out writing prompts.  Rather than take everything about an occurrence, take a few key details and launch into fiction.  Write into that situation for ten minutes, then read back to yourself where you took it.  If you can't come up with one of your own, here, use this one from my life right now.

I am 46 years old and found myself needing to learn a new, very complicated piece of design software.  Not having any design experience and having never used a software package like this one, it became obvious I should take a class.  So there I find myself in a classroom in the computer lab at Fashion Institute of Technology.  I've never wanted to be 'that old guy' who doesn't know about computers or technology, isn't up with the times.  But here I find myself in a classroom with 18-20 year olds.  They all get it immediately.  In fact they're opening their Facebook pages and gmail on their computers while the teacher is re-explaining steps for a few of the slower learners, which sadly includes me.  To get into this classroom, I had to walk through the very large room full of dozens of computer terminals filled with young, hip, trendy design students.  Write a short dialogue between me and the hip young girl at the next terminal to me during class.  Or write a quick interaction between me and a student or group of students during a ten minute break in the two-and-a-half hour evening class.  How's that for a fish-out-of-water story?