![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I wasn't planning to post again today, but I've been thinking about the old adage, "Show, don't tell." I suspect that just about all writers, at some point early in their careers, hears those words, or sees them scrawled next to a paragraph in their just-critiqued manuscript.
So, here's some linkage to a few blog posts I found interesting:
A guest post by Juliette Wade on The Sharp Angle about Connecting "Point of View" and "Show, Don't Tell" on The Sharp Angle. (I also really enjoyed The Sharp Angle's most recent post, Conversation Between Married Writers.) Which led to two posts on Juliette Wade's blog: "Show, Don't Tell" - Exposed! and Point of View: Reading Beyond the I's on The Internet Review of Science Fiction. I love this line from that last article: "As readers of speculative fiction we have a special talent: the ability to come into a story prepared for the strange and unexpected, ready to look for clues to when, where, and with whom the story takes place." Wow! Because we are science fiction and fantasy readers (which I suspect we all were, long before we became writers of the same), we have a special talent. Coolness. ;-D I also found "Point of View: Reading Beyond the I's" to be a fascinating look at aspects of language that are so familiar they are almost invisible to me; so much of writing happens at a level of understanding so deep it may feel almost instinctual, which makes it very hard to explain, but Wade, with her background in linguistics, has found a way to express it in easy to understand terms.
At Writer Unboxed, I read "The Intersection of Truth and Fiction," which didn't have anything to do with "Show, don't tell," but is still one of those topics that endlessly fascinate authors. How much of your fiction is true?
Also on Writer Unboxed, Juliet Marillier wrote about getting out of a writing rut in Branching Out.
On edittorrent, we get Top Ten Reasons the editor doesn't love what your critique group loves (by Alicia, I think). I'll make a comment about point 7, which is that the members of your critique group may (in general) have standards just as high as the editor's, but may be reluctant to apply them, since they (usually) want to be your friend at least as much, and maybe more, as they want to help you improve your writing. But, if you do happen to be in a critique group that doesn't seem able to help you learn and grow, maybe it's time to spread your wings. In One Funny Paragraph, Theresa looks closely at one paragraph in Iain Pears book, Stone’s Fall.
Frankie Robertson posts Religion in fiction, about how she sees religion as a crucial aspect of world-building.
Oh, and I'd like to point you to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
janni's post, The stories not written, simply because she addresses a writerly issue with great poignancy.
While I'm here, I think I'll also mention a few odds and ends I've run across recently.
Samhain Publishing, "a royalty paying ebook company," has refined their submissions criteria and are now looking for "all genres of romance and erotica, as well as fantasy, urban fantasy and science fiction with strong romantic elements." They are also looking for submissions to a Red Hot Fairy Tales Anthology, currently scheduled for summer 2010, and a Steampunk Romance Anthology, scheduled for release fall 2010.
A couple of days ago, over on Whatever, Jon Scalzi posted about Patrick Rothfuss' efforts to help Heifer International do some real life worldbuilding. (I posted an extremely concise review of Patrick Rothfuss' first novel, The Name of the Wind, back in July; this may be the best book I've read all year.)
So, here's some linkage to a few blog posts I found interesting:
A guest post by Juliette Wade on The Sharp Angle about Connecting "Point of View" and "Show, Don't Tell" on The Sharp Angle. (I also really enjoyed The Sharp Angle's most recent post, Conversation Between Married Writers.) Which led to two posts on Juliette Wade's blog: "Show, Don't Tell" - Exposed! and Point of View: Reading Beyond the I's on The Internet Review of Science Fiction. I love this line from that last article: "As readers of speculative fiction we have a special talent: the ability to come into a story prepared for the strange and unexpected, ready to look for clues to when, where, and with whom the story takes place." Wow! Because we are science fiction and fantasy readers (which I suspect we all were, long before we became writers of the same), we have a special talent. Coolness. ;-D I also found "Point of View: Reading Beyond the I's" to be a fascinating look at aspects of language that are so familiar they are almost invisible to me; so much of writing happens at a level of understanding so deep it may feel almost instinctual, which makes it very hard to explain, but Wade, with her background in linguistics, has found a way to express it in easy to understand terms.
At Writer Unboxed, I read "The Intersection of Truth and Fiction," which didn't have anything to do with "Show, don't tell," but is still one of those topics that endlessly fascinate authors. How much of your fiction is true?
Also on Writer Unboxed, Juliet Marillier wrote about getting out of a writing rut in Branching Out.
On edittorrent, we get Top Ten Reasons the editor doesn't love what your critique group loves (by Alicia, I think). I'll make a comment about point 7, which is that the members of your critique group may (in general) have standards just as high as the editor's, but may be reluctant to apply them, since they (usually) want to be your friend at least as much, and maybe more, as they want to help you improve your writing. But, if you do happen to be in a critique group that doesn't seem able to help you learn and grow, maybe it's time to spread your wings. In One Funny Paragraph, Theresa looks closely at one paragraph in Iain Pears book, Stone’s Fall.
Frankie Robertson posts Religion in fiction, about how she sees religion as a crucial aspect of world-building.
Oh, and I'd like to point you to
janni's post, The stories not written, simply because she addresses a writerly issue with great poignancy.While I'm here, I think I'll also mention a few odds and ends I've run across recently.
Samhain Publishing, "a royalty paying ebook company," has refined their submissions criteria and are now looking for "all genres of romance and erotica, as well as fantasy, urban fantasy and science fiction with strong romantic elements." They are also looking for submissions to a Red Hot Fairy Tales Anthology, currently scheduled for summer 2010, and a Steampunk Romance Anthology, scheduled for release fall 2010.
A couple of days ago, over on Whatever, Jon Scalzi posted about Patrick Rothfuss' efforts to help Heifer International do some real life worldbuilding. (I posted an extremely concise review of Patrick Rothfuss' first novel, The Name of the Wind, back in July; this may be the best book I've read all year.)
