So, where do I begin today? I've been collecting links for the last two days, and added a couple more this morning. It truly amazes me how much information exists out there and keeping up is nearly impossible. And I love it! There's always something new to learn or to employ in your writing to make it better.
Michael Bracken wrote a post called "Be A Prop Master" http://crimefictionwriter.blogspot.com/2010/05/be-prop-master.html Keeping track of items in your story is crucial, but what this post brought to mind for me was remembering what your character is doing, too. I once had a character sitting in a chair one minute, then the next she was in a fight, without ever leaving the chair!
Charles Gramlich has an interesting conversation going on his blog about show vs tell. http://charlesgramlich.blogspot.com/2010/05/show-versus-tell-plot-thickens.html And it's a strange thing, but when I start a story, its all tell. The show comes in the rewrite for me, that's when dialogue and actions move into a story. That's probably a back-assward way of doing it, but that how my stories come. Like I've said before - I have a weird mind.
Madeleine Robins has an interesting post about rewriting called "The Right Words". Holding together a short story can be a challenge some days, I can't imagine the struggle to hold together a novel. http://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2010/05/07/the-right-words
Over at In Reference to Murder, BV Lawson has a whole bunch of links with tips on writing, publicity and the business. She also has links to two contests - one short story and one novel. http://inreferencetomurder.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/05/tips-tricks-for-writers.html BV's blog is a great source for all things mystery so take some time and click around her site, you won't be sorry.
On SMFS this weekend there was a link posted to a month long online writers conference http://coyotecon.com/ Here's a link to their schedule to see if there's anything of interest for you http://coyotecon.com/the-schedule In order to log in for the conference click "enter the conference rooms" then click "Log In" On the third page you'll find a link to register. Not sure why there isn't a direct link to register. For those who aren't able to "attend" the panels you'd like, you'll find transcripts of the panels here http://coyotecon.com/transcripts
Looking through the schedule of this conference I noticed that they have something for just about every genre from sci-fi to romance so they've pretty much got everyone covered no matter what their writing interests.
And finally, a pair of market notes. Nefarious Muse has closed to submissions and with a tip of the hat to James Reasoner we have a new zine called Chain Story. This is an invitation only market but don't let that stop you from reading. There are stories up so far, from Nathan Long, Robert E. Vardeman, Jeffrey J. Mariotte and Michael A. Stackpole and all the genres are covered. http://chainstory.stormwolf.com/
6 comments:
Thanks for mentioning CoyoteCon! Registration is on most pages, starting with the home page. It's a form on the right hand side.
Entering the conference rooms requires a "login", which is just a user name so people know what to call you during the sessions, no password is required.
My first drafts have a lot more telling in them too, especially toward the end of the story when I'm rushing to get the facts down and then I go back to dramatize.
Thanks for the info, Coyote. It was mentioned that there was no link and :) I couldn't find one either. And we're always happy to link to sites that help writers here at the Corner.
I wonder, Charles, if it comes from the act of storytelling. We tend to tell stories when we're with friends and we don't add a lot of dialogue when doing that.
Thanks for the mention, Sandra! I've linked to your site several times, as well -- a VERY valuable resource, particularly for those of us who write and love short fiction. I really appreciate all your hard work and research.
And I yours! You have an incredible amount of information on your site and its an everyday stop for me.
Sandra, you helped us find a glitch. In some browsers, the registration form wasn't showing up. We didn't figure out why, but it's working now. Thanks!
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