MetaFilter posts tagged with novels and writing

Deionized Essence of Dan Brown

Secret Life of Gravy — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:19:34 -0800

"Five months ago, the kaleidoscope of power had been shaken, and Aringarosa was still reeling from the blow." Dan Brown's 20 Worst Sentences

The Cost of Self-Publication: Ebook vs. Print - One Person’s Story

Joe Beese — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:30:37 -0800

"I don’t know for certain what big publishers are doing to make their prices so high, or what they think they’ll get out of it. I only know that I made a deliberate pricing decision to discourage Amazon and Kindle sales because I needed Amazon’s visibility but I didn’t want to lose my shirt, bra, AND panties." [some language may be NSFW] related posts here, here, here, and here.

Susan Sontag on the moral superiority of the novel & the "task of the novelist"

patricio — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:55:27 -0800

Susan Sontag on the moral superiority of novels over the mass media. "The real force behind the argument against literature, against the book, comes, I think, from the hegemony of the narrative model proposed by television." [Sontag previously on MeFi]

Gotta Catch Em All!

RokkitNite — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 16:59:04 -0800

Booktribes is a new site from the creators of writing site Abctales where bibliophiles can compile lists of every book they've ever read. Replete with a simple, intuitive interface, compiling your life's reading list becomes strangely addictive, and for the whole of March, the best comment of the day on this as-yet underpopulated site wins a copy of David Mitchell's Black Swan Green, with the best comment of the month winning the entire 21 volume Sceptre Collection. And if you're worried your reading list isn't up to scratch, don't panic - you can always cheat.

Naughty politicians

eunoia — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 19:26:23 -0800

Should a politician's "artistic endeavors" come into play when voters go to the polls? George Allen thinks that parts of his opponent, Jim Webb's, novels are demeaning to women and contain depictions of incest. Also, Republican candidate for Texas Comptroller, Susan Combs, is being accused of writing porngraphy because of excerpts like these from a romance novel she wrote 15 years ago. And they're not the only politicians who've written naughty things.

Neil Gaiman

Pretty_Generic — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 02:53:24 -0800

Neil Gaiman 1997 essay on the myth of artistic inspiration

crog — Wed, 30 Jan 2002 22:04:06 -0800

"That's it. I'm done. Done writing books." After Stephen King publishes his next five new books, he's ending his career in publishing. Viewing his latest work as mere recycles of older novels that he has written, he's choosing to stop while he's at the top of his game rather than meet a grim end to his career. Are any fans of his work disappointed or do you feel satisfied with the body of work that he has created over his career?

rcade — Sun, 28 Oct 2001 07:15:52 -0800

Monday is the last day to declare your intention to write a 50,000-word novel during National Novel Writing Month (Nov. 1-30). "Dubious fiction writers from all nations are invited to participate," says organizer Chris Baty. So far, around 3,000 writers have pledged to bring 150 million new words into the world.

silusGROK — Thu, 27 Sep 2001 08:04:20 -0800

NaNoWriMo... Yes, boys and girls, it's time to prepare for the National Novel Writing Month! 50,000 words in 30 days. Are you up to the challenge? I'm taking the plunge... [Via Caterina.net]

aflakete — Tue, 04 Sep 2001 02:37:49 -0800

Fay Weldon writes the first corporate-sponsored novel. With Grove/Atlantic, yet.