Activity for One Monkey‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Edit	Post #10936	Initial revision	—	almost 5 years ago
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Answer	—	A: Beginners can break rules too? This is what I learned the hard way. The rules are there to support you in getting from A to B and do a decent job regardless of skill level. Following a set of tried and trusted rules allows you as the author room to concentrate on the aspects of a story that you find interesting. Following rules i... (more)	—	over 10 years ago
Answer	—	A: Preventing the symbolic conflict of "Hunger Games" from overshadowing widespread social plight The disconnection you point to is vital to the initial volume of the trilogy. The Hunger Games are a satirical device, the oppressive Panem actually come from the desire to frame a story around a satirical look at reality television Collins says as much in the interview printed in the tail of volume ... (more)	—	over 12 years ago
Answer	—	A: Any documentaries or other inspirational movies about creative writing? I haven't actually seen any movies specifically about writing that are particularly inspirational. Writing is not the most movie-friendly of activities. I find the movies that give me inspiration are the movies that are mostly bad, but have a couple of good ideas contained within them. This tends to... (more)	—	about 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Why should I try to create realistic fantasy characters? All stories are lies the participants conspire in, as opposed to the more harmful type where the liar tries to pass fakery off as the real thing leaving the recipient unaware. Stories are a currency whose only validity is verisimilitude and raw emotional appeal. What a storyteller does is to agree w... (more)	—	about 13 years ago
Question	—	What is a discovery writer? From an answer to this question: How do I successfully structure a long fiction piece? I think I can infer the meaning from the usage but some elaboration would be helpful. (more)	—	about 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Dialogue writing practices? A scriptwriting exercise that always helps make a nice shape out of dialogue. Follow the instructions without reading them all the way through the first time. Just do each step one at a time: 1) Take a sheet of paper and write in the margin down 20 lines the letters A and B. They don't have to just ... (more)	—	about 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Write to the finish, or edit as you go? At the risk of trying to answer the unanswerable I will share with you something I have discovered over the course of my various writings. Writing is a bit like building a bridge from one side of a chasm or other deep precipice to the other. By yourself. For this reason beginnings are tricky, middl... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Publishing a Children's Picture book -- Question about an App and a Printed version The one consideration I would probably want to factor in is that the publishing industry remains conservative. Until your app sells well enough for them to overlook your transgression of the "First Serial Publishing Rights" rule no one will likely want to buy it. The way it would be viewed is that y... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Do books have to be written in sequence? I always just write interesting parts (in sequence) and develop them until the whole thing makes sense without the boring parts ;) Or at least I try to... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Vision/dream as an effective opening? Starting a speculative or fantasy story with a vision is a venerable tradition. As the words "venerable" and "tradition" imply the tricky part is making yours stand out and not seem cliched. The absolute top a-number-one way of doing this is to not make it seem like a vision to the reader at first. ... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Complimenting on solid structure with no major flaws I was watching a movie at the weekend that made me think about this question. I think when something is "solid" and "well constructed" whether this is proper praise or faint praise depends very much on one other criterion. Whether it is plain that the author was writing to some plan they had dug up f... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Is it possible that my short novel will be boring to my readers because it only has two characters and the location doesn't change? I once read a book with a cast of thousands and an epic sweep that covered centuries of mythical action, bloody wars, magical happenings and whatnot. I read about four chapters and gave up because: - The characters were lame. - The dialogue was stilted. - The plot was generic. - The infodumps were ... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Question	—	What exactly is an editor? I recently read the assertion that many great works of fiction were chiefly down the contribution of a good editor. I must admit I was a little taken aback by this statement. I had never really thought of the writer and editor as being like the musician and producer. To what degree is this really tru... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: How should I approach possibly unfamiliar pop culture in fiction? To a certain extent it depends on how closely entwined your reference is to the intended appreciation of the story. To take the example of a pop song: if you need to listen to the song to really get the story then I would tend to leave that as an unspoken rule. Make sure people get what the song is s... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: How to make travel scenes interesting without adding needless plot diversions? One thing that should be used as a seasoning in Odyssey tales is the idea of the false destination. The idea that where the characters thought they were going is not in fact the destination and a further journey must be undertaken to complete their objective. Also, the idea of the false arrival where... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: How do I construct a plot out of my many setting/character details? The most reductionist view of a plot is: Equilibrium \> Disturbance \> Equilibrium. Or to reduce it down to two words: Something Happened. Even trying to subvert it by making your plot: Nothing Happened. Is defeated by the fact that you noted down that nothing was what happened. In this world n... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Answer	—	A: Writing first programming book In the initial stages I think you have to free yourself from the notion that you are meant to be producing anything that will resemble your finished book. As you are writing a non-fiction volume you will, of necessity, exist in an eco system of non-fiction works which surround the topic of your work... (more)	—	over 13 years ago
Question	—	Are there any techniques that make complexity work? One for the creative writers, although I suppose a lateral shift might put it within reach of journalists/technical writers. As authors we all want to write, I would imagine: 1. Something that many people will love to read. 2. Something that has some intellectual worth. However accessibility and d... (more)	—	almost 14 years ago
Answer	—	A: Are there good tips on being a better *creative* writer? The Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Plot! It would be pulpy hyperbole to say that this is the very essence of entertaining and exciting genre fiction; but there's nothing wrong with a bit of pulp. It's a short piece that reads like being constantly punched in the face. That's because there's a lot to i... (more)	—	almost 14 years ago
Answer	—	A: Resources on plotting mystery stories EDIT: In reconsidering this question and a conversation I had with a colleague the other day I believe I have something to add on this. He mentioned reading about the way Agatha Christie used to construct her stories. He made the assertion that she used to write the whole thing without actually knowi... (more)	—	almost 14 years ago
Question	—	Writers Communities? I don't mean writer's circles, or "auditioning sites", although some of these have forums tacked on as a by the by. Usually places to talk about the beardy philosophy of writing are moribund places as many writers are just not joiners. Does anyone know of a healthy writer's community that talks abou... (more)	—	almost 14 years ago