Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with writers

Why are writers people that wad ruled paper?

voronoi — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:04:28 -0800

What's the origin of the image of the frustrated writer? You know this character - crumpling his drafts into little balls and throwing them in the wastepaper basket, or staring endlessly at a blank page. What are some really early appearances of this image? If you don't know the exact origin, examples of it from film and television would help.

Perhaps a chair coated with glue?

BitterOldPunk — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:09:03 -0800

With NaNoWriMo looming ever nearer, I would like to hear your best tips, tricks, habits, and techniques for staying chained to the keyboard. Realizing that the point is to get 50,000 words written, I've jettisoned all illusions of producing quality, publishable prose. My only goal is to finish without having to copypaste "All work and no play makes BOP a dull boy" five thousand times. I have a (rather vague) outline, I have some preliminary character sketches, and I have every expectation that the first ten thousand words will flow fairly quickly. But. I suck at follow-through. I have the attention span of the common housefly. So, writers: how do I stick with it, fight through discouragment and ennui, and produce 50,000 reasonably coherent words?

Note: I'm not looking for tips like "prepare moar" or "work your plan". I'm looking for how to stay motivated when the fun stuff stops and the hard work begins.

Graphic Choices

NotMyselfRightNow — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:55:58 -0800

Academics, Researchers, and Writers: What software do you use for creating the graphics that accompany your journal (or mainstream) article submissions? I know this will be different depending on the topic, field, and journal. I'm trying to get a feel for the full range of choices.

Where is the best writing course in London?

King_Wang — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:12:33 -0800

Do you know of any excellent writing courses in London? I want to start developing the writing I've been doing for the last year, particularly a play I'm developing. I've been granted a scholarship to take an ARVON course, but it's only a week long, and I'd like something more substantial (without going back to a damn university) before going on to the Royal Court young writer's group in December.

My research has turned up a few tasty-looking courses at various colleges in London; London College of Journalism, CityLit, Brunel, Central St Martins, among others. Do any of you have experience or recommendations of places which are of particularly high quality? Suggestions for writers groups or workshops are also welcome.

I already have a portfolio of work I can show; I'm not a complete beginner, just very self-taught and looking for guidance as I get further into my play.

Any help would be hugely appreciated,

Michael H

"Based on a story by my pal Shecky"

TheSecretDecoderRing — Thu, 28 May 2009 00:02:38 -0800

How often are the stories of a comic, novel, play, TV series, movie, or song conceived by the writer's friend, relative, acquaintance, neighbor, mailman, dog, etc? Writers get all the credit for their works (except in movies, where the director often ends up with a lot; and TV is often collaborative), but just how often is a given story entirely their own idea?

I remember some old anecdote about how Charles Schulz refused to accept story ideas from fans. And for legal reasons it's probably a smart choice for professional writers. But like a lot of people, IANAPW, but still harbor ambitions of coming up with the concept for the Great American Movie. (A lot of people in America, anyway.)

Not that I plan on hounding my friendly neighborhood screenwriter, but out of sheer curiosity, do you know of any instances where the premise behind a well-known show, movie, book, etc was conceived of in detail by someone other than the credited writer/creator... just an ordinary "civilian"?

A close example would be "Lost," which was roughly conceived by a then-exec at ABC, before being fleshed out by JJ Abrams and company. Now, if the general story arc of the entire series had originally been pitched to JJ by, say, his optician... that'd be even better.

Interrogate the Mystery Writers

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:50:19 -0800

I need questions to ask a panel of mystery writers, some of them cross-dressing. I will be the moderator of a panel of mystery writers at a convention. But the writers will be acting in character as their protagonists. My job is to ask questions that lead to fun answers and conversation among the writers (characters), entertain people in the audience, and allow the writers to make themselves look good, hence selling books.

Typically getting some interaction going is easy, because you can ask the writers all the same question (What do you think of CSI? or something), and get them to agree/disagree/discuss their differences.

But with everyone acting as characters in their books, I'm having trouble coming up with questions that will foster interaction among the panelists, since it doesn't make sense for them to be talking to each other about mystery writing--because in character, they're not all writers as they are in real life. But I don't want the panel to be just a set of questions that I ask each person independently-- I want to get some back and forth going.

The books are all lightly comic, and the characters will include:

- a young 1920's girl, a Scottish member of England's royal family who to avoid a bad marriage is living on her wits in London, and ends up accidentally involved in murders;

- a cat detective (not a detector of cats, but a cat who is a Private Eye) who solves mysteries in the tradition of Sam Spade

- a contemporary female English professor who gets accidentally mixed up in the murder investigation of a student;

- a contemporary older lady who pretends to be a crossword puzzle expert (she isn't one), and ends up solving mysteries.

Any questions at all are appreciated. I have some but need better ideas and a more robust list of questions...

Active writing forums?

Ugh — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:57:59 -0800

Anyone know any active writing forums they would recommend? The last time I had time to devote to writing, I was a member of Writers Write but it appears they have since closed down their forums. I enjoy the forums at NaNoWriMo but they're not as active this time of year as I would like. Google results are overwhelming. Any suggestions for active discussion boards? I'm mainly interested in fiction (novel-length), but also in memoirs.

Bonus question, there was a forum I was part of at some point which had the author of Look Me in the Eye as an active participant. At the time, his memoir had been picked up, but not yet released. Anyone know which forum this might have been?

Author interviews

Dumsnill — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:54:09 -0800

What is the best author interview you have found? I don't care about any particular genre, all I care about is: Do you have a favorite author? If yes: Do you have a favorite interview with that person? If so, can you give me a link?

If this is too chatfiltery, remove.

21st Century Fiction

netbros — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:32:58 -0800

Who are the new exciting, young novelists of the 21st century? I suddenly find myself with a lot more time on my hands for reading. A couple months ago you gave me a good list of biographies. Now I'm looking for new writing talent that has appeared since the turn of the century. I like historical fiction and action/adventure, but generally just like a good read. Thanks, as always, for your assistance.

Looking for a good writing board

ilike — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 04:59:32 -0800

Anyone knows a friendly forum where writers hang out discussing their craft? I know of the Nanowrimo boards but I never quite liked them. The discussion there seems a little too geared towards fantasy, sci-fi and romance. Also it is so large I find it hard to filter out the useful discussions. All ideas appreciated.

Wrapped Up in Books

troika — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:25:55 -0800

I need some new favourite writers! Please recommend some ones that I'll love as much as Mark Kurlansky and Italo Calvino, etc. I've read everything that Mark Kurlansky, Michael Pollan, Jared Diamond, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Italo Calvino have ever put on paper (that I know of. I tend to get absorbed in writers). Recently I've enjoyed Boris Akunin, Umberto Eco, and Haruki Murakami. Thomas Pynchon, Simon Winchester, and Mark Monmonier are also beloved. What have you liked that are similar to any of those guys?

I really like single-item histories (like Kurlansky's Salt, Cod, etc) and geography/geology-related nonfiction.

What amazing books am I overlooking or unaware of? I need something new for my long train commute!

Thank you.

Are there successful multi-genre authors?

wackybrit — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:31:28 -0800

Are there any reasonably well-known (or even famous) writers who are truly multi-genre? It's very easy to find authors whose writing is predominantly in a single genre - horror (King, Koontz), fantasy (Tolkien, Rowling), crime (Crumley, Christie), romance, and the like. But are there any famous (or at least semi-known) authors who jump between genres regularly?

Variety doesn't seem to be a remarkable attribute in musicians (Sting, for example), but while I can think of writers who straddle or work with two distinct genres (Ballard, Dahl), I cannot think of any who have produced significant works in, say, all of horror, crime, romance, and sci-fi - and I would like to look into the works of any who have.

Women writers like Neal Stephenson, are there any?

exceptinsects — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:24:03 -0800

Women writers like Neal Stephenson, are there any? I love the way his books seem to be such a reflection of what he is interested in and wants to write about, and how he is perfectly willing to take 900 pages to explore whatever he feels like. Like, a lot of other writers would take out that section in Anathem about the folding chairs, or in Cryptonomicon about the cereal, etc. but those are some of my favorite parts.

Infinite Jest has a lot of this kind of thing too, (plus footnotes, yay).

However, lately I just feel like reading more women authors. No special reason, I guess.

So: long, digressive, complicated, somewhat humorous, fun novels that teach you stuff you didn't know about...but written by women?

Solve the Mystery!

moxiedoll — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:38:51 -0800

45 year old literary blind item - can you identify the subject? I'm reading a 1964 essay by Pauline Kael wherein she snarks:

There's a woman writer I'd be tempted to call a three-time loser: she's Catholic, Communist, and a lesbian; but she comes on more like a triple threat. She's in with so many groups that her books are rarely panned.

Any ideas?

TIME FOR MORE STORIES

yeoja — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:49:10 -0800

Last night, I spent an hour reading the crazy, hilarious stories posted here. One hour was not enough. I need more davesecretaryatwork - or at least, more like him. Rarely do I laugh so hard at things I read, let alone things I read online. A chuckle or giggle, yes, but not the kind of laughter brought on by random stories of kyle, camping trips gone wrong, floating hoo-has and tawny cougars.

The stories ended far too soon, and according to the comments, davesecretary has moved to China with no new stories to be found. Sadly, my Google searches also found nothing new.

Where can I find more awesome, hilarious writers, bloggers or other material online like davesecretary? Not necessarily ones with the exact same writing style (though that would be great), but any that make you really, REALLY laugh out loud. I realize humor is subjective, but I'd love to hear any suggestions. The only writers I can think of are Dave Barry or Douglas Adams, but to me their styles are merely humorous than outright BUAHAHAHA awesome.

:)

Women writing SciFi: Your Picks?

taz — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 04:52:55 -0800

In your opinion, who are the best female science fiction authors? What are the best scifi books written by women? Interpret the genre as broadly as you wish - "Hard" SciFi, Space Opera, Fantasy, Time Travel, Alternate History/Universe - it matters not! I especially love Steampunk, Cyberpunk, and New Weird, and am probably least interested in romances that just seem to have an incidental scifi setting and extremely politicized writing, but the most important criterion is overall quality - as long as the work is superior, I'm interested. I am asking for women writers because while I've read a fair amount of scifi, I realize I've only read a handful by women writers (most of which I've liked very, very much), and would like to read more.

I understand that I can go to any anthology of female scifi writers to get a list of names, but I'm asking for Mefites' personal recommendations for excellent women writers in this genre as well as specific books that stand out to you. I don't care if the author is not well-known or widely recognized - or, on the other hand, if the name is so obvious that everyone knows it.

Looking for additional Mystery Writers

rmhsinc — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:13:53 -0800

I have just about exhausted the collections of my favorite mystery writers--looking for other mystery/crime writers that meet my preferences. I have been reading mysteries for over twenty years, and with increasing frequency since retirement. I have exhausted the writings of Ian Rankin and Henning Mankell ( my favorites ) as well Michael Connelly, John Conolly, Ridley Pearson, Peter Robinson, Ruth Rendell, Martha Grimes, Minnette Walters, John Lesroart, Linda Laplante, James White, Johnathon Kellerman, Dennis Lehane,and Robert Crais. The things which I find most compelling are character development and ones that are embedded in the place (Edinburgh, LA, Boston, England, Ystad Sweden etc). I prefer moody protaganists with all to human flaws and a rich interplay between the characters. I could care less if the protagonist is male or female.

I do not like Patterson, Parker, Evanovich, Lee Child or Woods. I am not at all drawn to characters with excessive "machismo or machisma". I strongly prefer mysteries that are contemporary, non historical and non cutesy. SO help me--I know there are similar questions but I am looking for a particular style and genre. If you are familiar with Rankin, Mankell or Connelly you know what I mean. Many thanks

I strongly believe in this question.

transona5 — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:19:00 -0800

"Ann Coulter doesn't even believe anything she says!" Really? Are there any cases of a writer or pundit who turned out not to believe the positions s/he took? This claim never rings true to me -- I don't think it's satisfying for most people to argue passionately for causes they don't really believe in. But perhaps this really does happen sometimes. I'm not talking about something like the Sokal Hoax, or a writer who tries to defuse a controversy by claiming, "It's just a satire." I'm looking for cases where someone strongly advocated positions s/he didn't believe for financial gain, publicity, or some other similar motive. (Although I suppose it would be hard to know for sure; the writer's later denials might be false.)

Best book publication methods?

jdroth — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:56:35 -0800

I have a web site. I want to write a book based on the topic. I have publishers/agents asking to talk to me, but I don't know if I'm ready. For one thing, I'm not convinced traditional publication is best — I'm intrigued by self-publishing and e-books. I'm looking for general advice: What are the pros and cons of each method? It seems that unless I'm lucky, traditional publishing offers the lowest dollar return. But are there other, intangible benefits I'm missing? Exposure? Having somebody who knows what they're doing guide me along? And how do I approach a discussion with agents/publishers so as to get the best deal? I'd love some hard numbers from real e-books. Have you published one? How many did you sell? How much did you make? Would you do it again? Same with self-publishing. John Reed has a great book with detailed information about the economics of self-publishing, but I'd like to know more.

What are the advantages of traditional publication? How much can a first-time author expect to earn, both in advance and in sales? Is my web site large enough to give me negotiating leverage? (42,000 subscribers, close to 750k monthly pageviews)

My current thought is that self-publishing in some fashion (probably an e-book) would grant me complete control over the design, layout, and content of the book. If that did well, I could still promote it to a traditional publisher. Is this an acceptable approach?

Basically, I'm looking for anecdotes and advice from people who have done this sort of thing before.

I'm sure I'll have more "how do I write a book?" questions in the next few months.

How do I find authors the same age as me?

aclevername — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:33:08 -0800

Is there any resource online that lists fiction (and possibly non-fiction) authors by age? I'm looking to find and read books by authors of a similar age to me (I'm 29). Similar to the idea that Douglas Coupland, being of Generation X, had a age-based cultural type of writing, I'm curious to read any of "my" generation (whatever that may be).

Really what I'd like is some way to search a list of authors by age or birthdate. Nothing turns up on google. Nothing I want, anyway. My searches have only turned up listings of authors by historical "age" (e.g. Elizabethan, etc).

Short of looking up individual biographies of authors, is there any way to do this?

Why are TV studios and sports teams allowed to colluded in labor negotiations?

mullacc — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:20:55 -0800

Question about the Writer's Guild strike and comparable situations in other industries: why are the studios allowed to negotiate as a single entity, the AMPTP? How does this situation compare to the various US sports leagues and the auto and airline industries? I'm having trouble connecting the dots across the various things I've read.

Here's what I think I know:
1. The AMPTP represents the studios in their negotiations with the WGA. This will likely result in a CBA that determines royalty rates for the entire industry.
2. The various sports leagues have similar arrangements, e.g., the MLBPA negotiates with the MLB, a collective representing all the teams. The MLB has an anti-trust exemption, but that just allows it to fight off competitive leagues. Other US sports leagues have no such exemptions. But all the sports leagues allow things like player trades, which I can't imagine going over too well in other industries.
3. In the auto and airline industries, each individual company negotiates directly with the various unions.

Situations 1 & 2 seem like collusion to me. Just as obvious as if Pepsi and Coke formed a collective entity to negotiate aluminum prices. So why are the studio/sports collectives allowed to negotiate against the unions? Is there a legal principle that makes my analogy inappropriate? Of course, I'm glossing over the fact that unions are themselves a form of collusion among workers, but that's a collusion blessed by law.

And, finally, is there reason that the airline and auto industries couldn't adopt the same strategy as the studio/sports collectives?

It's all here in writing

freston — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:17:22 -0800

Smallish bunch of creative writer-types (who've met up in person a couple of times) would like somewhere to hang out online: please suggest what kind of website might suit us best. So we'd like to publicise future meetings, provide links to individual websites, publish our work and receive criticism from other members. Needs to be set up such that any member can contribute, possibly membership by invitation only. Are we talking some sort of blog? Google group? Forums? Suggest away.

Movies about female writers

HSWilson — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:39:09 -0800

What movies are about real female writers? (Sylvia, etc.) Thanks.

Does WWE employ union writers?

macdara — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 04:24:02 -0800

Has WWE programming been affected by the WGA writers' strike? I've read conflicting information about whether or not the writers employed to script promos and flesh out storylines on Raw and SmackDown! are members the Writers Guild.

Most of the news on wrestling 'news' sites is unconfirmed rumour, speculation or supposition, so I can't really trust their majority assertion that WWE's writers are non-union, even though many of the writers have a background in writing for soaps and other shows.

The content of Monday's Raw broadcast, to me, is strong evidence that the writers are indeed on the picket line. Over the course of 2 hours, only two main storylines were featured, which could easily have been handled by the wrestlers and bookers themselves (which was the done thing before writers were brought in a decade ago).

But that's just guesswork on my part. Can anyone here confirm either way?

One-sitting reads?

jbickers — Fri, 04 May 2007 21:50:37 -0800

What are some great books that aren't hideously long? I'm in the throes of a major book lust phase, but find that most of the things I'm drawn to are 600+ pages long. Which just kinda wears me out. So I'm looking for really great, amazing, get-out-your-highlighter-oh-my-god-this-is-incredible works of fiction that are less than 200 pages. 100 pages or thereabouts would be ideal, as that represents a "one-sitting reading."

I'm a big fan of Paul Auster, Steve Erickson, David Mitchell, that kind of thing. I've recently purchased "The Crying of Lot 49" by Pynchon and "The Body Artist" by Don Delilo, and a bunch of older stuff by Auster, who has always been good about word economy. But what next? What are some great novels that don't meander about, something that can be absorbed in a day or two rather than a month or two?