Learn Writing with Uncle Jim, Volume 2

JoBird

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Simple. The other authors in the anthology.

Thanks for the answer.

Sorry for the stupid question. I can't even begin to explain what I was thinking; I'm not sure I even know.
 

James D. Macdonald

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In other news, the authors' copies of the German translation of By Honor Betray'd arrived today.

The translated title is Zwischen Ehre und Treue (that is, Between Honor and Faith).

Get it, in hard copy or e-text, wherever fine books are sold (or under the counter at bus stations everywhere).
 

James D. Macdonald

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I posted this elsewhere at AW:


Put your characters in their strongest positions (that is, where they have the greatest freedom of action and support each other best) rather than in their most comfortable positions or safest positions or where they want to be, and see what develops. At the end of the book they'll have moved to where they want to be or where they should be, and be fairly comfortable. That's how you know you're at the end.

Or, if you like, us a piece of Celtic knotwork as your outline. (I do this.) That's the answer for the subplot question, too: Every time some particular thread comes to the top in the knotwork, talk about a plot that isn't your main plot (but still has a beginning, a middle, and an end).

Your subplots take up less space than your main plot, but they are still complete stories on their own. They either a) involve all or some of the main characters (Janet Evanovich does this really well), or b) use the same theme as the main plot, either to complement it or contrast with it (Shakespeare does this really well).
 

James D. Macdonald

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From the world of professional magic:

Any trick that relies for its effect on confusing your audience or boring your audience is a bad trick.

In the same way, any story that relies for its effect on confusing your readers or boring your readers....
 

James D. Macdonald

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Another bit of news:

Our Earth: The Final Conflict tie-in novel, Requiem For Boone, is coming out in electronic format this December. Unlike some tie-ins we do earn royalties off this one (part of the price for having our real names on the cover).

Since this is from our friends at Tor there won't be any DRM on this book.

Y'all can pre-order now....
 

James D. Macdonald

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Off at CNN:
Publisher's view

St. Martin's Press has now published two accounts of the bin Laden operation that have resulted in statements that they are "fabrications," in one case from the White House and in the other from Special Operations Command.


Does St. Martin's Press plan to do anything about these books as a result? A St Martin's editor e-mailed CNN that "(b)oth authors stand by their sources and their reporting of the events, and we stand by our authors," and a spokesman for St. Martin's told CNN that the Pfarrer book "continues to sell" and will be reissued in paperback in two weeks at the time of the 9/11 anniversary.
Silly CNN! Don't they know that "non-fiction" is a marketing category, not a promise from the publisher that everything (or even most things) between the covers is true?

Mark Lane's books were published as non-fiction. Immanuel Velikovsky's books were published as non-fiction. What makes CNN think these books are any different?
 

TheRob1

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I finally caught up w/ this thread. I might have missed a few things here and there. I moved pretty quick.
 

allenparker

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Off at CNN:
Silly CNN! Don't they know that "non-fiction" is a marketing category, not a promise from the publisher that everything (or even most things) between the covers is true?

There is little truth in anything the military puts out on operations. Details of covert operations are fabricated to interest and deceive the enemy. With both the ends working to make a better, believable story, I am surprised they ever look the same.
 

Kyra Wright

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Or, if you like, us a piece of Celtic knotwork as your outline. (I do this.) That's the answer for the subplot question, too: Every time some particular thread comes to the top in the knotwork, talk about a plot that isn't your main plot (but still has a beginning, a middle, and an end).
I like this idea (both because I occasionally draw Celtic knotwork, and because I have trouble with subplots). I may have to try it.
 

euclid

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Art?

Jim, I remember you said once (or twice) that we (writers) are in the entertainment business.

But is it art?
Or: Is all writing art?
Or: What constitutes art in writing?
Does it matter?
 

James D. Macdonald

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From elsewhere at AW:


Do be interesting.

Don't confuse the readers.

Do answer the readers' questions just before they ask them.

Don't tell the readers anything before they care.

Do give the readers a reason to turn this page, and the next page, and the page after that.

Readers need far less backstory than most writers think.

Write your story your way ... then find a publisher that accepts that kind of book because they know how to find the market for that kind of book.
 

James D. Macdonald

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1) Readers need far less backstory than most writers believe.

2) If your backstory is more interesting than your frontstory, you're telling the wrong story.

3) Just because you know a thing doesn't mean it belongs on the page.
 

bearilou

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2) If your backstory is more interesting than your frontstory, you're telling the wrong story.

This one always gets my attention. I got caught by it once. Followed the logical progression of its outcome, wrote the backstory as the main and was much happier for it.

Still wrote the other part. Felt it was much better for having done that as well.
 

TheRob1

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3) Just because you know a thing doesn't mean it belongs on the page.

I spent the better part of the day learning about the transition from cap and ball pistols to the metal cartridge firing pistol. Right now, in my first draft, there are several pages that are littered with references about the different types of weapons.

Whether or not those references survive to the second or third draft remains to be seen.
 

James D. Macdonald

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When we were doing the research for Timecrime, Inc. we became experts on Prohibition-era gangs. Want to know what brand of cigarettes Bugs Moran smoked? Ask me. (He died of lung cancer ... thought I'd mention.)

For our two Civil War novels we became experts on mid-Victorian underwear. We also learned what became of the sword that Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.

How much of any of those things remained on the page....

The answers are: Nothing, one line, and an entire plot.
 
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James D. Macdonald

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Tales from the Slush Mines:


One kind of story We See Too Often is the one whose real title should be "My Best D&D Game EVAH!" When the reader can hear the dice rolling and see the hex-grid through the floor that's just plain bad storytelling, not a Reader Who Doesn't Get It. The reader "gets it" all too well....
 

FOTSGreg

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I taught myself basic entomology and then detailed biophysical entomology for my novel "Hatchings". I even built a spreadsheet incorporating O2/CO2 exchange rates, tensile strength of tubular shapes under sheer stress, the square-cube law, Kleiber's law (metabolic rates), and a few other sundry bells and whistles all based on scientific fact. I also consulted with PhDs on the facts, and created an artificial, but reasonable metabolic pricess for the sequestration of hydrogen gas in plants and the enzymatic processes and cycles needed to do this.

Of course, I did stretch the facts in a few areas, but that's what makes it fiction.