Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with writing and novel

Please recommend books similar to Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball

reenum — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:44:05 -0800

I love Bill Simmons' "The Book of Basketball". What should I read next? I'm in the middle of Simmons NBA opus, and it fascinates as to how he's able to pack in so much info, yet have the book remain accessible. I especially love how he makes fun of and injects humor into the various characters and events in the NBA's history.

Are there other books that are basically all encompassing, sprawling accounts of a particular entity, field, event, etc., yet remain fun to read?

I know some folks might suggest Mary Roach, but I just couldn't get into her stuff.

I prefer nonfiction, but well written fiction would work too.

Thanks!

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.

What well-known novels lack any character description aside from names?

odinsdream — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:05:32 -0800

What well-known novels lack any character descriptions aside from names?

Great American Novels

Busoni — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:06:00 -0800

People talk about "writing the Great American Novel." What do you think are valid examples of the G.A.N.? What novels, American or otherwise, did you enjoy reading and wish you had written?

Is it acceptable to write a piece of fiction based on the war in Iraq?

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:29:49 -0800

Would it be seen as (and is it really) exceptionally tasteless to write a fictional novel about a soldiers' experiences in Iraq? I just wrote out a lengthy explanation, but it was all sorts of moddled and there were a thousand thoughts scattered throughout.

I'm curious to know whether it would be widely considered tasteless or offensive to write a novel set mostly in Iraq about a soldiers experiences in the war there. Of course a "war novel" can go a million different directions, so suffice to say that this would be an extremely informed endeavor, with no shortage of consultancy (I've many friends and a few relatives who have fought - really fought - in the war). It would not be a rollicking action-packed adventure or anything of the sort, but it would be very, very raw.

I suppose I don't particularly care what people would think about this, as there is such a fog about what really goes on over there, and I know many, many people who have been immensely intrigued by soldiers who have blogged about their experiences.

My only qualm is that my writing style tends to be a bit cynic, perhaps almost perverted at times (I have, as an example, received a number of comparisons to Bret Easton Ellis). There would be no amount of exploitation involved, of course, but to write from about the day to day life and thoughts of a 20-something in a warzone could certainly be offensive on the grounds of those thoughts alone, even outside the the context of the war.

What are your thoughts?

writing in windows?

gcat — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 12:16:31 -0800

software for writing (i.e., organizing) a novel on a windows machine? my question is basically this one, except for windows, not mac.

it seems that all the highly recommended options in that thread and this one are for mac only.

unfortunately i canot afford a mac at this time, although i seriously *wish* i could.

thanks!

Gay Writing

blue shadows — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 04:44:33 -0800

Can anyone recommend good novels about gay people? Not just genre fiction but actually literature? It seems to me there must be, but I've never been able to find any.

Seeking original, unique, oddball novels and stories

mizrachi — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:51:51 -0800

What are your favorite unconventional novels and short stories? In particular, I am interested in works told in unique ways, such as through correspondence, journal entries, marginalia, footnotes, diaries, multiple narrators, textual/visual manipulation and other unclassifiable approaches to novel writing.

Can I have my creative cake and eat it too?

mynameisluka — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 22:33:08 -0800

Working writers: how do you carve out time for fiction? Here's a question for working writers. I've managed to turn my passion into a full-time life as a freelance writer. I do corporate stuff, copywriting and marketing pieces, journalism, and I'm thrilled to be working for myself at something I adore. My real passion, however, is fiction, and like so many others, my real aspiration is to complete and sell the novels that have been niggling at me for years.

Trouble is, at the end of the day it's really difficult to transition from non-fiction to fiction and from have-to-I-get-paid to want-to-so-I'm-disciplined work. I find myself using my sore wrists and zonked brain as an excuse...and I'm starting to get scared that I'll never achieve my dream of being a working novelist.

I'm wondering how other writers approach this dilemma. Is "suck it up" the only answer, or are there some tips/tidbits/tweaks I'm missing?

___________

serazin — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:06:15 -0800

Why do novelists use "________" in place of a character's name? Most recently, I noticed this convention in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, but I've for sure seen this used elsewhere as well.

Is this supposed to make the novel feel more "real" - as if the author is protecting the identity of some particularly heinous or vulnerable character? That makes no sense to me since I've never read a non-fiction book or essay where there was a blank (or first letter only) instead of a name.

Am I missing something obvious?

Kate Chopin's "The Awakening"

madmamasmith — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:43:24 -0800

I am trying to get a better understanding of Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" **Spoiler Alert** I see it as a woman's discovery of her freedom and independence. The main character forsakes her role as wife and mother in late 19th century society and pursues her own happiness. I don’t really understand the juxtaposition of the men in the story. Her husband ,who she escapes, is not violent or demanding and reacts to her leaving rather well by my standards; showing there was little emotional investment in their relationship. Women cant initiate divorce yet I suppose, but Edna does the next best thing by moving out. The object of her affection, Robert, refuses to be with her even though she has left her husband (because he "loves" her).But Alcee Arobin has no problem being private or public with Edna. So what do all these different male characters represent? Please let me know your ideas, Thanks!!

Which books are most representative of each city?

reenum — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:21:37 -0800

What one book will allow others to gain the truest insight into the soul of each city or region Inspired by this recent Metafilter post and blatantly stealing the idea (and some text) from this AskMe post, I have decided to try and read a book about all of the major cities in the United States and the world. I've seen AskMe's in the past about various cities, such as London and New York.

So: which single book from each city is most revealing of the lifestyle, customs, struggles, and spirit of that nation? I lived in San Francisco a while back, and I would recommend any of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City' books to get a true idea of life in the City.

Me And Bobby Eat Ghee (freedom's just another word for 'nothing left to eat')

spoobnooble — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 17:25:33 -0800

Would anyone in their right mind eat vegetable ghee, or any kind of ghee, straight from the can? Good day. A while back I posted a question looking for info regarding a minor point in a novel I'm writing. I thank everyone for their input.

So here's another (weirder) question:

In the second half of the novel the narrator (the punk rocker), now in his twenties, has married a Canadian woman of Indian descent -- her family moved to Toronto when she was three. While she is pretty westernised, her diet includes a lot of Indian staples like rice and curry. She tries to introduce her husband to some of the foods her family eats, and he ends up snacking on a certain traditional food that seems natural to him (a white guy who tends to eat mostly fast foods), but in a manner that ends up mortifying his wife and amusing his Indian in-laws.

I had it in my head several years ago that he would develop a taste for eating vegetable ghee straight from the can. The only basing I have for this idea is a commercial I saw several years ago on one of the local multi-ethnic channels in Toronto which included some shots of happy Indian men and women eating what looked like white chunks of vegetable. Upon further inspection, it seems that ghee is a kind of butter made either from dairy or vegetable products.

Not knowing the taste of ghee, I am hesitant to claim that the narrator would start eating ghee 'out of the can' (or jar, as the case seems to be). Then again, when I was a kid I loved eating peanut butter by the spoonful, and some people have told me in no uncertain terms that eating straight peanut butter was disgusting, at least to them.

So is it possible that a westerner who doesn't know better would eat ghee in this manner? Or is there another Indian foodstuff I can substitute? Either way the wife has to be dismayed and/or horrified by her husband's actions, even if he's not doing himself any real harm in eating the food in a non-normal way.

(P.S. As of this writing I still do not have a publisher for this novel. It is possible that I may end up going to Lulu.com to print out copies once it's done. I'm still hoping to publish this thing properly -- four chapters to go! -- but otherwise don't go overboard thinking that you're helping out the next Norman Mailer or Margaret Atwood or whatever. But thanks in advance nonetheless!)

Ghostwriter! Word.

Ambrosia Voyeur — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:49:44 -0800

I've been offered a ghostwriting gig. Help me with my expectations, please. So, I mentioned to several people in my life that, rather than continue in print production or bookkeeping (between now and the time I begin work on a Masters degree in Film in September), I wanted to get some experience with freelance writing and/or copyediting. I got a hit right away from my friend who works for a small publisher. Very small - nearly just a vanity project for the owner of the company, who is himself "not educated or experienced, but very smart" according to my friend. I actually designed the company logo a while back, too. Anyway, the owner wants to publish a novel based in truth about some conspiratorial figure I've never heard of, and that's about all I know so far. (Uh-oh... my Turner Diaries senses are tingling...) Sounds fun enough to me! We haven't met yet, but from my friend who runs his business, I have the impression that the job will be mine if I want it, in any case.

What kind of rate should I request, as someone with very little professional writing experience, writing a book that is not expected to profit enormously?

How much time should I expect to spend on a short reseach-based novel?

What complexities or stumbling blocks should I look out for in this arrangement and the adjunct relationships?

Resources for, um, how to write my first novel without personal inspiration, and on the fly?

I believe I can muddle through the copyediting and the research parts, but making the content interesting, authentic and well-structured are all problems I have no experience solving.

Any other advice, freelancers?

Thanks very much in advance!

novelfilter

spacefire — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:48:23 -0800

New Year resolution: write a novel this year. Need some resources -motivation. I have a full-time job, how can I make sure I write at least a page/day on average?
-information: the novel will be about the decline of civilization due to global warming and its effects, described through the main character's diary. As a long-time fan and reader of post-apocalyptic literature, I am pretty familiar with the topic of total collapse, but via catastrophic, quick events. I plan to describe a prolonged, agonizing collapse of basic services and disintegration of the social fabric under the threat of nature - the novel should span about two-three years.
-characterization: I want to make my character believable, I want him to evolve, and I want to flesh out the other characters in the novel with quick, striking descriptions that allow the reader to 'know' them without long expositions - remember, this is going to be an epistolar novel.

Who's written fiction within the last 5-10 years that deals realistically with the experience of American people under 40? Please recommend!

toomuchkatherine — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:04:21 -0800

Who's written fiction within the last 5-10 years, that deals realistically with the experience of American people under 40? I studied English in school so have read a lot of classics but am less familiar with the new stuff. Now I want to bone up on recent fiction (novels or short stories) that's about, and probably by, young and youngish Americans. Bonus points if it's realist; I read 'Indecision' by Ben Kunkel and 'Everything is Illuminated' by Jonathan Safran Foer in the last couple of years, and was amused by both but not blown away by either; I think I would have preferred something less cartoonish. OTOH, I really liked 'Wide Eyed' by Trinie Dalton, and it's pretty out there. Anyhoo. Tell me who's doing the important stuff, please.

Books describing men of no nation

reenum — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:16:13 -0800

I'm looking for books, fiction or nonfiction, where the main character claims no country as his/her own I've never lived in a country long enough to feel like "this is my country, this is where I belong". When I was a kid, we moved around a lot. I lived in various Asian countries before moving to the US when I was 11. Even though I'm a citizen now, I don't feel like the US is my country or homeland. I don't feel that way about my birth country either. I've always felt like an outsider, and as a result, I have a hard time identifying with patriotic people or understanding what it's all all about.

Are there books, fiction or nonfiction, about this phenomenon? Is there a term for it, besides stateless?

Should I be using LaTex instead of MS Word?

reenum — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:00:09 -0800

I'm currently writing a novel. Should I use LaTex instead of MS Word? I've been writing a novel this month, and found some stuff online about LaTex and Lyx. I've gotten tired of constantly wrestling with styles and formatting in Word and OpenOffice.

So I have a few questions for the MeFi community:

1. Is it worth it to learn LaTex if I'm doing non-scientific and non-academic writing?

2. What are some good resources to help learn how to get started?

3. What exactly is the difference between LaTex and Lyx?

4. Is there a way to be able to modify my LaTex output in MS Word if needed? This might come in handy if I'm at another person's machine and don't have LaTex/Lyx installed.

5. I've heard about templates in LaTex. Are these strictly for academic use or are there templates for regular documents like letters, resumes, etc.

Thanks for all your help!

What would a teenage boy learn about women from reading romance novels?

spoobnooble — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:16:13 -0800

What would a teenage boy learn about women from reading romance novels? I'm writing a novel featuring a 17 year old punk rocker. The story is set in southern Ontario in 1990. The punk is a virgin, and is clueless about women -- he's basically Holden Caulfield in a Meatmen tee-shirt, so you could say his personality is a big part of the problem.

However, the punk is an avid reader. Although he usually favours sci-fi and Bukowski-style urban fiction, he finds a bunch of romance novel paperbacks in the garbage and decides to take them home to do some research (hiding the books from his mom, for obvious reasons). Assuming he gets through one or more of the books he finds, what would he most likely take away from the experience? Would he learn useful things? Would he laugh at some of the cliches in the writing? Might he be disappointed to see what women really fantasise about or expect from a man?

I'm looking forward to any and all feedback. I prefer serious responses, as this is (lazy) novel research, but I'm expecting at least a little snark.

I've got a mini-door stop, now how do I revise it?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:55:07 -0800

I've just finished my first novel, now how do I revise this thing? I've spent the past three months furiously writing my first novel. I was quite inspired, and managed to put down a little more than 90,000 words. The book is a true rough-draft.

I believe in the plot and am attached to the characters--I really think I have a good book here--but every time I sit down to start revising, I end up quitting after an hour feeling defeated. The process I've been using so far is to simply go through, one chapter at a time, and take a red pen to the printed copy before sitting down at the computer and making changes. This just doesn't seem to be cutting it. I'm bogged down and frustrated. The sheer size of what I've written overwhelms me, and though I'd like to polish it, I'm unsure how to continue.

What are some other methods that successful authors have used to revise their novels? I'd love to hear any tips or suggestions, personal or from the greats.

Breathe! Damn you, breathe!

Bookhouse — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 13:16:40 -0800

How can I revive a dead novel? I started work on a novel (my second) last year. I got down about 25,000 words, or about one third of the way through, before I decided to go back and do one more pass at my first novel. While it really helped number one, now I come back to number two and find myself cold. I still love the idea and the characters, so just running away is not an option. But I am at a loss as exactly how to restart my writing process. I could dive back in right where i started, but I feel like I have a better idea of the voice now and the first third is very different from how I think the rest of it will play out. On the other hand, just starting over and throwing those words away makes me sad.

Any hints or tricks for reviving a dead project would be welcome -- or is this just writer's block? I've been dilly-dallying for two weeks now.

How can I turn notes into something useful?

Acey — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 06:59:04 -0800

I've been noting down ideas for a potential novel for over a year. Problem is, I now have so many that it's tough to keep track of it all. How can I organise and consolidate them into something workable? These notes cover every possible aspect of the project, from content to stylistics and observations. Should I categorise them, and if so, how would I go about it/what categories would I use? I want to be left with something functional and useful so that I can incorporate the ideas as smoothly as possible. Any suggestions of how you have tackled large quantities of notes would be incredibly useful!

Does self-publishing a book impact the potential for mass-market publication?

JWright — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:38:24 -0800

Once I've made my sci-fi novel available via Lulu.com, will it still be viable to shop around to agents and editors for potential mass-market publication? Are there factors that influence it? For example, if it sells a lot, is it considered a good buy by a publisher, or has it basically had its first run?

My characters are running away with my novel!

sperose — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 21:54:30 -0800

Please help me find something to organize this monstrosity of a novel. Oh yes, there is definitely So I've been doing this Nanowrimo thing for 2 years. This will be year 3. I have a crazy cast of characters, and no actual plot line (aside from a very general idea) to speak of. What I am looking for is some type of free (preferable)/student discounted/super cheap software or internet thingy that will help me track what my characters are doing/what I want them to do. Sort of like putting notecards on a posterboard with lines going horizontally from each of the characters.

Basically, I would like to/need to have some sense of continuity in this novel that started out as a drunken joke. Plus, I'm starting to confuse myself when re-reading it.

Thanks, Mefi.

ps: Windows XP. I dig Word.

Online tools for novel-writing?

tastybrains — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:12:23 -0800

Are there any great online tools for working on writing a novel? I've seen previous posts on desktop software for this purpose, but I haven't found any nifty online tools. I want to be able to keep the text of one of my writing projects online so I can access it & work on it anywhere with an internet connection. I also do not want it to be public.

I know I can use things like Yahoo! Notepad or make private LJ posts, but I am hoping that there is some tool more appropriate for what I want to do.