MetaFilter posts tagged with writing

So what?

carsonb — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:28:39 -0800

STEP 1 Buy 100 pieces of crap from thrift stores and garage sales.
STEP 2 Get 100 authors to write a fiction about pieces of crap.
STEP 3 ???
STEP 4 Profit!
Significant Objects hosts the stories for all 100 pieces of crap/art, but the last six are still available for bidding: Blue Vase by Lauren Mechling, Umbrella Trinket by Bruce Holland Rogers, Lighter Shaped Like a Small Pool Ball by Rob Agredo, Bar Mitzvah Bookends by Stacey Levine, Geisha Bobblehead by Edward "ed" Champion, and Missouri Shotglass by Jonathan Lethem.

Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand/left-hand? The story of good and evil? H-A-T-E!

Artw — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:26:43 -0800

Robert McKee’s Unconvincing Story

Writers on writing

Kattullus — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:09:31 -0800

In How to Write a Great Novel authors such as Edwidge Danticat, Hilary Mantel, Orhan Pamuk, Junot Díaz and Margaret Atwood speak about their writing process. If you want your thoughts on writing in a longer format, you could do a lot worse than The New York Times' Writers on Writing series, which features short essays by, for example, Kurt Vonnegut, Saul Bellow, Louise Erdrich and Annie Proulx. Should you thirst for meditations longer yet, Barbara Demarco-Barrett has on her Writers on Writing radio show interviewed a boatload of authors and it is available as a podcast [iTunes link]

Bank Notes - a collection of bank robbery notes

nthdegx — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:43:20 -0800

Bank Notes - a collection of bank robbery notes, successful and otherwise.

汉字不灭，中国必亡

moorooka — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:35:52 -0800

Widely regarded as the greatest Chinese writer of the twentieth century, Lu Xun was so deeply unimpressed by the Chinese character-based writing system that he is reported to have said "if Chinese characters do not fade away, China will perish!". In his 1934 "An outsider's chats about written language" (menwai wentan）, he discussed the matter using the pseudonym Hua Yu, which means both "China's Prison" and "China's Language". Lu Xun was by no means the first Chinese scholar to blame the writing system for his nation's backwardness. Indeed, Lu Xun had been preceded by dozens of individuals from the late-Qing period onward who had devised simple and more efficient writing systems, including alphabets, for the various Chinese languages. In the essay Lu Xun favorably compares Latinization of Chinese to the kana-like phonetic Zhuyin Fuhao or bopomofo alphabet, which is still taught (although soon to be phased out) in Taiwan.

The Lurking Fear

Artw — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:13:44 -0800

Lovecraft 101: Get To Know The Master of Scifi-Horror. For more detailed insights into each of Lovecraft's tales in publication order you might want to follow the H.P.Lovecraft Literary Podcast. For another story-by-story guide to Lovecraft you might want to check out Kenneth Hite's Tour De Lovecraft (also available in expanded form as a book). China Mieville on Lovecraft and racism and a lecture at Treadwells by Archaeologist James Holloway which delves deep into Lovecraft and identity. The making of the Call of Cthulhu RPG. The making of Cthulhu (Hipsters! Ego! Madness!). Happy Halloween with H.P. Lovecraft!

How To Write Badly Well

filthy light thief — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:27:56 -0800

You have a great idea for a novel and it's almost November, so you think now is the time to get cracking. You've decided that hiring a ghostwriter is too easy, but you don't have 100 days to write your novel and the snowflake method seems too frilly. Snowflakes, those delicate little monsters that papered your car when you were stranded on the road in Minnesota. A single snowflake is beautiful, but millions make an avalanche. You were cold, so cold, yet you survived. You're not sure if you have time to read a book on what not to do (UK edition), and the search results are daunting. Forget all that, because you already know how to write, right? Embrace your awesome, magnificent, spellbinding abilities, go forward but never back, ever spinning, shake the rain off your bedspread, and now that you have brewed a delicious pot of steamy, hot, life-giving coffee, you can learn how to write badly well. [via mefi projects] NaNoWriMo, previously: 2001 (and a follow-up, plus updated East Bay Express link), 2002, 2006, 2007 (twice), 2008 No budding author was harmed in the extraction of samples. The examples are written up by MeFi's own him.

Reverse the Polarity

Artw — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:00:31 -0800

"Captain, the tech is overteching" - Ron Moore confirms everything you suspected about the Star Trek TNG approach to writing.

Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid

Artw — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:57:14 -0800

Is mysticism overtaking science in sci-fi? Does Every SF Show Need Jesus Now?

Knowing who you're writing for and why you're writing might be the most crucial factor of all

blasdelf — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 22:31:54 -0800

Before the Internet came along, most Americans never wrote anything, ever, that wasn't a school assignment. — Clive Thompson describes the results of the Stanford Study of Writing, mainly that young people today write far more than any generation before them.

Big things have small beginnings

Joe Beese — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:20:38 -0800

Charlotte and Branwell Brontë wrote many of their stories of Angria on tiny sheets of paper in nearly microscopic handwriting. This particular example consists of four sheets of notepaper folded into sixteen pages. The individual sheets are approximately 4 ½ inches long and 3 5/8 inches wide, and the entire text contains about nineteen thousand words.

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

Why he will not read your fucking script

Artw — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:46:32 -0800

"I will not read your fucking script."

Makes writing letters a breeze.

Korou — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:18:28 -0800

Make your handwriting into a font! Print out a template, scan and upload to fontcapture, et voila! your own personal font.

Watch the skies!

Artw — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:02:30 -0800

Who Goes There - the John W. Campbell short story which inspired the movies The Thing from Another World and, closer to the original, The Thing (which, apparently, was horribly critically mauled upon release but has since become as much as a classic as the 50s film). The story is now being reprinted alongside a treatment by Logan's Run author William F. Nolan for an unmade 1978 screen version.

A contract with US Gov.

Artw — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:29:09 -0800

The usual summary of comic book artist Will Eisner’s career follows the formula that he drew the Spirit all through the 1940s except for the war years and a bunch of ‘graphic novels’ from 1978 till the end of his life in 2005. There’s a long missing period between 1951 and 1978 during which he packaged and adapted cartoon art to commercial purposes, which has not been readily available for our scrutiny or pleasure. It is sometimes summarily dismissed as being of little interest. - Artist Eddie Campbell reappraises Will Eisner's missing years.

War Makes Monsters of Us All

netbros — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:46:04 -0800

The Warrior Writers Project brings together recent veterans and current service members to be in creative community and utilize art-making processes to express themselves. There is a deep necessity for veterans to create when so much has been shattered and stolen. A profound sense of hope comes from the ability to rebuild and transform.

King of the one (maybe two) liners

Potomac Avenue — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:31:24 -0800

Joshua Green Allen, who has been posting great internet for more than 15 years, if not longer, merges seamlessly with a new technology. If any twitter account is worth being renowned far and wide for hilarity: His Is. Also starring in: Diary of a Copywriter One stop shopping. Previously: 1, 2, 3

Hacking the Gibson

Artw — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:38:42 -0800

Aging Chrome: Cyberpunks in 2009

The Gernsback Continuum

Artw — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 22:58:08 -0800

The 2009 Hugo awards have been announced at Worldcon. Winners include Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book for best novel, Ted Chiang getting best short story and Elizabeth Bear getting best novelette. Best Related Book was snagged by MeFi's own jscalzi. The award for best semiprozine, which was to be scrapped, has been saved, this year being won by Weird Tales - a surprise upsets as it's main problem was that it had essentially become the Locus magazine award for best Locus Magazine. As well as the Hugos other awards such as the Prix Aurora award for best Canadian SF and the Chesley Awards for SF art have been announced, and Cory Doctorow accepted the Prometheus award for Libertarian SF. Convention reporter provides continuing coverage (the convention still has another day to run) and Starshipsofa spin-off Sofanauts has an excellent series of podcasts with regular Amy H. Sturgis and others reporting from the con.

"That would not kill Dracula!"

Artw — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:23:59 -0800

Vampires are over, argues Neil Gaiman. (Via the Guardian, who rather oddly suggest the similarly over-exposed zombies as a replacement)

Katie is a vampire. And?

ubermuffin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:05:21 -0800

Janet Reid is a literary agent who helps aspiring fiction writers pitch their work in a public forum. Her feedback can be kind of brutal, but there are a few winning queries in there and it illuminates a part of the writing process that we civilians don't often get to see.

Will Pique Your Curiosity in the Most Delightful Way

Potomac Avenue — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:13:06 -0800

SkyMall product reviews. Shirts! Salts! Herps! Lights! Sexy Chicks! Shifty Cats! A critical examination of products featured in America's favorite in-flight catalogue.

"Magic missile!"

Artw — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:05:54 -0800

The New York Times profiles Jack Vance (but fails to mention Vancian Magic. (Curse you Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition!)

A dark alley, a knife, and a drunk mime. Go.

Ziggy Zaga — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:49:46 -0800

WritingFilter: Got the urge to write, but not sure what to write about? Want to practice your freewriting skills? Try these short story idea generators. Short Story Ideas will randomly generate characters with attributes and personality traits, scenarios with a location, theme and an object of significance, generic titles and even a generic first line for your story. S/Cally's Short Story Ideas Generator will generate a more shallow, less-verbose character/setting/conflict combination but should still give you something to write about. Seventh Sanctum's story generator generates really off-the-wall scenarios for those on a fantastical bent. The site also has generators of many other sorts and is worth checking out. If none of these provide enough inspiration, then check out this previous FPP's links to the movie plot generator and the conspiracy theory generator.