Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with writers

Writers of Metafilter, please help me stay on track and keep going.

thinkpiece — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:07:55 -0800

Writers, and novelists or fiction writers in particular, can you share your goals, processes and timelines for each of your drafts? Ten months ago, I asked for advice on launching a writing project. I bought a dozen how-to-write-a-novel books, I carved out a schedule, I shut down my social life except for family, I covered my apartment in index cards and notebooks and inspiration. I (almost) stopped imbibing, so I could be fresh and ready every day. Thank you all for the good words of advice. And now I need some more.

I didn't actually start until January, but I am now 250 pages in to my first draft, rounding the corner into Act Three, with a 100ish more pages to "The End," by the middle of June, I hope, I hope. I plan to take a couple weeks off and then go back and start again on page one for draft two.

My goal for draft #1 was just to get a beginning, a middle and an end on paper, stack the pages. My goal for draft #2 is to have a manuscript I actually show -- the whole thing -- to a few close, trusted readers.

Questions:

Did you find yourself writing in shorter chunks as you approached The End? I was regularly logging 1000 to 1500 words a day but as I come to the conclusion, I find it's taking me the same amount of time, with a smaller word output. Any thoughts on this?

Did you try to make all chapters the same length, or let each chapter be what it is? Did you name them or simply number them?

How did you approach draft two? What were your goals? How long did the second draft take?

Did you use online support (that isn't an official class)? Sites, blogs, etc.? I've got the podcasts covered, thanks to an earlier AskMe.

Interest in writers and the writing process

okay-quiet-time — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:11:54 -0800

What films and/or podcasts would you recommend for someone interested in writing (mainly fiction and/or screenwriting)? So far, I've really enjoyed watching "Bad Writing" and "Tales from the Script."

Find Ourselves a City to Live In

muckster — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 01:30:08 -0800

We're a family of two writers and a preschooler, looking for resources & advice on picking a place in the US to move to. My wife and I are writers and freelance editors/translators, which is to say most of our work is location-independent. We're currently living in Germany (long story), but we're looking to move back to the States soon.

Before we left, we lived in New York, and my wife's family is from there, so the NY area is a likely candidate -- but we'd rather not move into the city proper again. Big city bustle isn't as important to us anymore as quality of life, a little space & quiet, and affordable rents. Health care, day care, and schools will be an issue. (The kid's turning 4 in the summer). We'd enjoy a bit of an artistic community, a few decent restaurants, maybe an art house theater and an independent book shop -- but we don't need much more than that, as long as there's Internet. A body of water or an actual beach would be a major plus.

Places we're tossing around include Jersey City, Portland, New Orleans, "somewhere in California," and what the NYT calls "Hipsturbia" (ugh).

Can you recommend specific places/neighborhoods anywhere in the US, or handy online resources for researching this? So far, I've found http://hotpads.com, http://www.myapartmentmap.com, but it seems there must be more & better.

Thank you.

Need help finding websites similar to Thought Catalog

The Biggest Dreamer — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:27:31 -0800

Are there any blog/writing websites out there that are like Thought Catalog, but slightly more... mature I guess? Without the high-school/college drama or pop culture nonsense. Sometimes I feel just slightly too old for TC's target demographic. :/ But I do enjoy reading short blog posts from a variety of authors. Thanks in advance

Details, details, details...and then BAM!

batmonkey — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 13:11:50 -0800

As a reader of fiction (especially if you're a devotee of speculative fiction), how much do you like detailed descriptions and/or lists as part of the story? What if the story switches between detail and expediency? Feel free to answer the question as asked or explore any of the expanded pondering for more targeted responses.

In moving mental obstacles out of the way of a story I've been writing for a long time, I've realised that some of what I need involves getting outside of my head more [previously: 1, 2]. In this (hopefully last) question of the series, I crave input on how much detail is actually comfortable for readers AND if my custom of switching between approaches is potentially discombobulating.

One of my tendencies when writing is to be extremely detailed, as I want to build a vibrant, tangible impression of what is being encountered or experienced. But I don't use this inexorably - there are parts where flow of events would be hideously stymied and I switch to a more action-oriented, fill-in-the-blanks-yourself style.

Examples: I find the lists in Brian Jacques's Redwall books endearing and sometimes amusing. I originally liked the incredible details in Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton, but she seemed to abandon the more artful approach to it in the jump to the other books and it became tiresome. Martha Wells used description to great advantaqe in The Bone Palace. Most know Bradbury's knack for loving and chilling details, and those are certainly part of my concept of the iconic ideal.

But getting through action and complex exchanges seems weighed down by such detail, so I move away from that. Maybe not so far as Hemingway, but certainly along the lines of Jack London. Thereabouts, anyway.

To boil it down:
Details/lists - like or dislike? Is there an ideal that encapsulates your preference? Are there exceptions to your personal rules?

Mixing it up to further the story - preferable or disorienting? Is there anyone who does this particularly well? Especially poorly?

Thanks to bongo_x for the comment that helped me summarise!

Gene W. Banks

monocultured — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 07:35:32 -0800

What interesting writing has been done on the overlaps between Gene Wolfes "Book of the new sun and Iain M. Banks Culture novels? I'm re-reading the second volume of Wolfes New sun" books, Claw of the conciliator, and can't shake the image that there are Special Circumstance folks and droids hiding in the corners. I'm certainly not the first to make the connection —the pre-search reveals this comment — but a cursory google didn't turn up any longer text on the subject.

I've still to read the rest of the series, so it's spoilers territory, but I'm curious and already plan for my post-Wolfe withdrawal.

If someone says Tricorder....

NotMyselfRightNow — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 06:32:35 -0800

Researchers, Writers, Grad Students, and Professors: Tell me about your technical setup (hardware and software). What do you use, and what couldn't you live without? My wife's boss is going back to do a PhD, and asked me to make some hardware and software recommendations. I've got my list, but I'm sure I'm leaving things off, or not up to speed on the latest and greatest. I'm intentionally leaving this field agnostic, as I'd like to see the full range of answers.

Writer seeks not-office Toronto cafe place

lizifer — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:17:05 -0800

Help me find a great writing spot in Toronto, with some very specific requirements. The mister is a writer, and used to enjoy writing at Linux Caffe on Harbord. Tango Palace Coffee Company on Queen East also met with his approval. We have yet to find another cafe that combines the following qualities:

1. Hubbub, but not loud/live music.

2. Free wifi

3. Good espresso/americanos

4. Hard-backed chairs (not just cushy easy chairs)

5. West of Spadina

6. Relaxed atmosphere (a little cool, a little left of centre, a little "I don't give a damn", but not so crazy busy that he can never get a chair.)

7. NOT a Starbucks, Timothy's, Second Cup, or Coffee Time. Independently run, ideally.

8. Extra billion bonus points for animal protein option on the menu and gluten free baked goods.

Dark Horse on Queen East would have been great were it not for the giant family-style table with stools and the overcrowding and the East-end-ness. He's tried renting an office and the quiet, lack of coffee, and solitude drove him bonkers.

Can you help a poor sad writer find a spot?

What are the best in-person experiences for aspiring writers to develop their skills?

emkelley — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:58:21 -0800

Where are the good writers' retreats and workshops? How can I identify them? Asking for a friend: can you recommend writers' workshops? I searched through the old questions and the only notable item was the Gotham Writers' Workshop. I'll point him to the online side of their site. I think, though, an in-person retreat or ongoing workshops would be better, for multiple reasons. For a several day retreat, he'd be willing to fly pretty much anywhere, so those don't need to be location-specific.

Can you offer any advice for finding a good group?

Bonus points for: retreats/courses based on The Artist's Way
Courses/groups in the Chicagoland area.

Thanks!

Flakey editors: the norm?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:28:33 -0800

Are flakey editors and publishers the norm? This afternoon, I was fired from a writing gig for calling my publisher out on her excuses for not paying at the contractually-agreed time. I've been writing for them for 6 years; it was an ongoing problem. Last year I left another writing gig for similar unreliable-editor reasons, that was after 2 years of dealing with editorial flakiness regarding deadlines and so forth. Both are more complicated, long stories, but on my end come down to me doing what's asked, and then editors and/or publishers dropping their end of the deal.

Part of me is mad at myself for losing paid gigs, but I also feel I should be able to expect the editors and publishers to live up to their ends of the bargains when I'm filed on time and under wordcount and of acceptable quality. I'm beginning to think this is just the way things work is in the writing industry and I need to just buck up and deal with it.

So, writers, is this just a "paying my dues" thing until I get more established, or am I just finding crappy places to write for, or is this just the Usual in the publishing world and I should learn not to shake the apple cart? Or something else entirely? Should I be worried that I'm burning bridges that will hurt my future hopes as a writer?

The seed is the cage is the seed

Rory Marinich — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:26:40 -0800

Writers I like: Johan Huizenga, A. S. Neill, Christopher Alexander, Philippe Gaulier, James Paul Gee. Thoughts I'm interested in: the systemic formation of culture; how we interact with and are shaped by said systems; how those systems emerge as part of a "playful" procedure; how play is often used as a release from cultural standards. Who else will I like? What ideas will fascinate me further? Other writers I'm familiar with, though who don't inspire me quite as much:

Ian Bogost
Keith Johnstone
Celia Pearce
Jane McGonigal
Katie Salen
Jacques Lecoq
Brian Sutton-Smith
Jesper Juul

How could I convince you that I'd make a great financial writer

orange swan — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:30:48 -0800

I have a job interview for a junior/intermediate financial writer position with a financial services marketing company on Friday. This is a bit of a career jump for me as my background is mostly in legal editing with one stint at an educational publisher. Are there any MeFites with some sort of experience in financial writing who have some advice for me on how to ace the interview, or on what kind of research and prep I should be doing? To give you a little more background, the company is a start up, three or four years old, with a roster of blue chip clients. I've spoken to a friend who has done some freelance for them as well as for a friend who is a very, very experienced and well-connected editor and gotten their advice.

Herbs/supplements for academic writing?

cejl — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:01:10 -0800

I am in the last two weeks of writing my master's thesis and I was wondering what herbs or supplements others have found useful for writing. Focus is part of it, but I also need to produce and get in the flow, so to speak. It comes sometimes, but I can never force those really productive moments. I have a cupboard full of various herbs, but no time to experiment. Wondering what has worked for other, including combinations. I have tried rhodiola, ashwaghanda, piracetam, siberian ginseng, fish oils.... not sure what's working.. some of these are overstimulating.

Films with Writers as Protagonists

lrnarabic — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:37:13 -0800

I'm looking for films that have writers as the protagonists. I find the films inspiring. My favorite thus far is The Tenants (2006), which stars Dylan McDermott and Snoop Dogg! Any ideas? Thanks in advance... By the way, The Tenants is based on a just as entertaining novel by Bernard Malamud.

Blind Writers?

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:50:21 -0800

Do you know some professional writer who is blind from birth?

Writers: how do you educate clients who don't value your work?

mdiskin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:18:38 -0800

Copywriters and other creatives: how do you protect yourself when dealing with clients who suck up time with extensive revisions, general indecisiveness, or just plain bad judgment? My larger projects can handle some ballooning of time in one direction or another, and for my big national clients there is always client awareness of my expertise and what it's worth. My problem is with taking on smaller clients who seem great at first, but then balk at suggestions, revise good writing into terrible, etc... I'm a freelancer with some lovely first-tier clients. I do excellent work. I have good client skills, and I work hard at really listening to the client. I get loads of repeat business and referrals, and my clients vary from major fashion houses to technology and manufacturing.

For recent smaller clients (local/small biz), I have a sit-down or phone call where we both lay out expectations, I send over an SOW/contract (sometimes with examples of typical deliverables for that type of project), get a formal acceptance of same, and then we go through the writing-revision cycle. When I hand off work, I preface it with an "as we discussed" paragraph so that clients see the work in context of previous conversations and find it easier to see how the work has developed off those conversations

I find that small-business clients are more likely to
- change good solid writing into bad
- rewrite elegant taglines that fit their business into clunkers that make people say "wait...what?"
- spend huge amounts of time on one aspect of the project and then once invoiced say "oh we never looked at X because we didn't have time, so will revisions to X be an additional charge"?

I am willing to be edited, and to work with clients to make them happy, but I'm wondering if I need to give these smaller clients a REALLY detailed SOW stating what our working relationship should be. This seems silly to do on projects lasting <10 hrs, but not if they turn into double that. And now I have to tell one client that light edits, but not wholesale revisions, would be covered under contract (even though I probably should charge extra), and wondering how to do it kindly.

What could I be missing? Do I need to append a short statement of what is NOT covered, with examples, sort of an anti SOW? Is this a recession-economy backlash against spending money, in the sense that everyone thinks he or she can write/design, etc? How do you notify clients of approaching time limits in a way that is not burdensome (especially on small projects)? I wonder also if there is another type of question to ask clients, sort of a "what are you not telling me" or "what do you see here that you think does NOT fit your plan" that I could ask early on to avoid big problems without coming across as negative toward my own work.

Ebooks Writers

Monkeyzulu — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:17:36 -0800

Hi I am starting a ebooks community site where people can submit their books and then we will publish and sell the books for the authors. I was wondering if anyone knew a good way to reach independent authors and how to market our site to them? We are looking for writers of self help, recipes, novels, and anything else. We really want to empower writers to get their stuff out their and to help them make some money in the process. Any help on how to find people like that would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Writers similar to Salinger?

grokfest — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:51:03 -0800

Please recommend writers similar to J.D. Salinger. I've almost made my way through everything J.D. Salinger has written, including the out-of-print stories that were never anthologized. The only writings of his that will be left are a story under tight security at Princeton University, plus whatever stockpile he kept to himself that may one day be released -- who knows.

Point is, I'd like to try to find some writers or writings that are similar. Similarities along the following points, or something else you can think of, can be followed:

1) General style of writing. Salinger's writing style is fairly consistent and very distinctive, characterized by sophisticated, precise language and colloquial, realistic dialogue. I think anyone familiar with any of his works will know what I mean.

2) Thematic content. Common themes in Salinger stories: the value of sincerity, the phoniness of upper-class society, mystical "truth", precocious, perceptive children, isolation of the artist, social corruption, and the all-consuming nature of infatuated love. In many cases, the condition of adolescence.

3) Ending with a mysterious cliffhanger. Salinger's stories often end with an enigmatic final line that is also often the height of action. Writers who also do this would be appreciated.

4) Subject matter. Salinger's stories are mostly about upper- and upper-middle-class adolescents in or around Manhattan or as expatriates in Europe. Works similarly focused on these groups would be of interest.

5) Emotional/thematic resonance: Any other writers who have written stories or works that spoke to you on a deep level, if Salinger stories did the same for you. This caveat is important, please.

Thanks for any and all advice. A couple of writers who come to mind are F. Scott Fitzgerald and Truman Capote, for example.

Writers or artists who have killed.

fryman — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 07:39:11 -0800

Who are artists or writers who have committed murder? I'm looking for artists or writers who have killed one or more other persons.

Examples:

- Ben Jonson killed an actor in a duel.
- William S. Burroughs shot and killed his common law wife, Joan Vollmer.
- Louis Althusser strangled his wife.
- Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree, Jr. shot and killed her husband before killing herself.

I would prefer artists or writers over people like actors or rappers or politicians, but I'm not really picky.

Also, I am uninterested in whether or not their act constitutes a philosophical or legal definition of "murder", such as whether or not they were legally convicted or, for example, whether or not killing in self-defense constitutes "murder".

My only two real conditions are:

1. It has to have been another person. Suicides don't count unless they were murder-suicides.
2. The other person has to have been killed. I don't care that Norman Mailer only stabbed his second wife.

Internet writer romance scandal

little_c — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:20:43 -0800

I need help remembering a story/internet scandal thing! Details inside. I remember reading about a young female writer in New York City who had a blog on which she talked about many things, including her personal/romantic life. She was a freelance writer, and she became romantically involved with a male editor/writer from one of those Gawker-type (possibly even Gawker?) websites with celebrity sightings and all that. She wrote about the relationship on her blog and they ended up breaking up and it was very messy, and I believe she wrote a big piece about this when it happened.

I can remember only one more detail: she was a writer for one of those celebrity-sighter type websites and she was interviewed on television about it. She shrilly defended the invasion of the celebrities' privacy. I remember her writing later how awful she came across in the interview.

Anyway, that's about all I can remember! What is this woman's name? Who was the writer/editor she was linked with? Thank you!

recommended prose stylists

AceRock — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 08:18:33 -0800

Please recommend some great prose stylists! I love reading the essays of EB White, DFW, Michael Chabon, Joan Didion, Philip Lopate, Calvin Trillin, Annie Dillard, Virgnia Woolf, etc. in large part because I admire the elegance and beauty of their prose. I admire the craft. Please recommend more great prose stylists I may not have read.

I'm especially interested in contemporary writers and writers who specialize in the essay form. Not interested in writers who may write about interesting topics but who are merely competent writers (Malcolm Gladwell for example).

Work in Progress

NotMyselfRightNow — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 13:20:41 -0800

Can you recommend any blogs by writers, academics, or researchers who blog throughout their research and writing process?

Who are your favorite travel writers?

rinosaur — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 06:10:33 -0800

What is your favorite travel book/essay/blog? Who are your favorite travel writers? I'm in the beginning stages of brainstorming my thesis for my writing program, and I'm heavily considering writing a travel piece. I'd like to have a look around at some of the more successful approaches to the subject, and would like to get my hands on as much material as possible while I explore the idea a bit. I'm trying to focus heavily on creative non-fiction/personal essays rather than guide books. My own initial thoughts were books like Great Plains by Ian Fraizer or Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

I'll take recommendations on books, essays, short stories, blogs, authors, etc.

Thanks so much!

What novel is this quote from?

Zendogg — Mon, 24 May 2010 21:54:46 -0800

I'm trying to find a quote from a book I read way back in my English Lit. days. The general gist of the quote is that the best or only way to avoid the angry fist of God is to make sure that you remain in the palm of His hand. It is a quote from a book written by an African American. I'm thinking Zora Neale Hurston or Toni Morrison maybe. I can't remember the actual wording of the quote, so google is not helping. Sound familiar to anyone? Thanks much.

Movies About Writers

Gerard Sorme — Sun, 16 May 2010 13:35:22 -0800

I'm looking to develop a comprehensive list of movies about writers. I have a pretty good list that includes the likes of 'Wonder Boys', 'The Hours', 'Mrs. Parker', 'Capote' and the like. However, I know there are many small indie films that fly under the radar every year, some probably about writers. Even if you think I already have it on my list - tell me your favorite movies about writers. Thanks!