Posts by Lauren Ipsum
"Turn exposition into ammunition" is shorthand for a writing technique. A quick Google turns up this article: http://michellelipton.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/mckee-on-exposition/ Money quote: “...
You have two options depending on context: 1) If it's a quick exchange and can be figured out in context, put the foreign language in italics. "As-tu le livre?" "Yes, I have the book here." or...
If you have enough cyber-friends who don't read Russian who have commented on your non-English blog, then yes, do one in English. If nothing else it will improve your facility with the language. ...
Because you can't see your own mistakes. You know, in your head, what you want your story to accomplish. You know who you want to end up with whom. You know who you want to punish, and who you wan...
I edit novels (among other works). I was having a discussion with someone (not an editor) who didn't understand my technique. What I do is read through the document, and the moment something occu...
The only thing I can see in this brief exchange to fix is: Line 2: Eh, adrenaline's unreliable. Might only give 'im a heart attack.
Close the intro. Promise yourself that you will write it last. Start a blank Scrivener page. Start writing down everything that comes into your head about the topic. Follow your thoughts whereve...
If they are abbreviations which are extremely common to the field, once per work is often enough to define them. If they are rare, invented for the piece, or really jargon, I would say once per sec...
I had an English professor once who advised me to write papers discussing a book "as if you were explaining it to a slightly stupider classmate who had also read the work in question." His advice i...
I'm just posting a second answer rather than try to force this into 500 characters: I kept your first sentence, although I punctuated it to sound like actual speech. I can certainly hear the inton...
Find a good editor, and when you hand over the manuscript, let the editor know that this is a particular issue for you, and ask the editor to keep an eye out for it. If you know that you read a lot...
I have not read it but Soon I Will Be Invincible is the closest I can think of to what you're proposing, other than the excellent short story collection If I Were an Evil Overlord, inspired by the ...
My answer is: steal a little. For example, your character needs to be a big spender, or a big gambler. If you have a friend who is impulsive in every capacity — overly generous with money, dashes...
I'm just rewriting. :) A bit of trimming, a bit of adding: "You understand — it's nothing personal." It wasn't quite a question. When Robert Jansen didn't quite provide an answer, the man turned a...
P.G. Wodehouse is a master of this. "Big chap with a small moustache and the sort of eye that can open an oyster at sixty paces." "It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a...
I like "Create a Cluster." If I'm actually RTFM, I'm usually looking for instructions on how to do something. Well, what do I want to do? I want to Create a Cluster — so that's what I'm going to lo...
You have to define the problem before attempting a solution. Are you distracted? (ambient noise, music, silence, TV, someone talking) Are you uncomfortable? (crappy chair, bad posture, headache,...
1) So, don't. Keep several books going at once. What's stopping you? Maybe you need to switch gears often to keep yourself fresh. 2) Write short stories. Easier to finish in a bite. 3) Write an o...
1) Pick any one item and take it to an extreme. "Organizing is good." Okay, can I alphabetize my spices? (bad example. I actually do that.) Uh, can I sort my vegetable drawer by size and then...
I Am Not A Lawyer, but so far as I know, you can make your will as formal or casual as you like. What matters is that it's signed as yours. I don't know the legal requirements for having it dated o...
Howzabout: The Web Product Provider's search result, "Individual Provider Map," does not... If I in fact understood that chunk of jargon correctly.
I'm not a movie expert either, but for all the same reasons Bernardo suggests, I think you should create a detailed outline and storyboards rather than either a short story or a screenplay. You wa...
Snappy headline. Compelling lead. Say what you liked. Say what you didn't like. Optional: a little analysis. Optional: compare some aspect of the film, actors, or director to something else in the...
Short answer: cynicism is a version of "playing hard-to-get," which some people find attractive. You seduce by allowing yourself to be chased. Long answer: Someone who's cynical can be an attracti...
I'm just now reading the Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin, which has plenty of good swordfights and describes the mechanics pretty well. Mercedes Lackey is good at describing tactics o...
