Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with writing and novels

Political extremism in literature

thesailor — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:34:29 -0800

Novels where political extremism is an underlying theme. I'm looking for some novels that depict the protagonist descending into political extremism (any type) after some sort of extreme event or troubling past. I'm interested in the way the personalities and thoughts of these people are portrayed in writing. Something like Mishima's Runaway Horses would be good. Many 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.

"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.

To Book or not to Book?

Xurando — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:13:58 -0800

How much of book one do I have to explain in book two, if book two is part of a series I'm writing? Last year I started writing an epic novel and got through part one and eighty thousand words. Then I got busy and put the writing down expecting to pick up part two any day, but I haven't.

To get motivated again I signed up for NaNoWriMo. The problem is I can't use any previous writing in NaNoWriMo. I have to start part two like it's book two even though eventually they will be part of the same novel.

How much of book one do I have to explain? It's a complicated plot, but my preference is not to explain it all. Will this approach hurt the writing?

Novels set in the 1970s?

Potomac Avenue — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:33:47 -0800

What are some good novels set in the US of the mid-late seventies? Specifically I'm looking for ones dealing with the wild political election of 1976, the bicentennial, and assassination attempts on President Ford, but I'd be interested in anything written fairly recently set in 1974-1979 on any subject.

(Tags explain why I'm wondering!)

I need a novel-writing soundtrack

changeling — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:07:20 -0800

Can you help me set the writing soundtrack to my novels? Hi! I've avoided asking this forever -- I've gone through and sampled the songs from every related ask thread. I've used Pandora, iTunes and Rhapsody's similar music detectors, but I'm sick of artificial intelligence. I want metaintelligence.

So I write books, and I write to a soundtrack, master-planned for each book. Problem is, books take a long time to write. By the revision stages, I'm sick of the (hours-long) playlist, and what originally set the tone becomes grating. So I'm always switching out, seeking new artists that fit. But because I'm so particular on a song-by-song basis, doing so becomes another method of vacuuming the cat. I'm looking for song and artist recommendations that somehow match the tone of these books & existing songs below. I know some of the songs don't seem to match, but there must be a common thread, because they work.

Book1: Western setting. Confused (young, possibly ff) love. Lonely, moody, poignant. "Golden" by My Morning Jacket, "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell, "Crimson and Clover" by Joan Jett, "Lydia" by Staid Cleaves, "Waiting on the Stairs" by Pela. Lots of Band of Horses.

Book2: Travel abroad. Soft adventure. Flight from an unpleasant past. Learning to let go. So obviously, "Let Go" by Frou Frou. Lots of The National. "Run" by Snow Patrol. "Don't Become the Thing You Hated" by Destroyer. "All Mixed up" by Red House Painters.

I have some Tegan and Sara and Sigur Ros on both.

So please, go crazy! Popular, obscure, any genre (though obviously different species of rock fit best). I have Rhapsody. Thanks!!

Where's the great Mormon novel?

ShooBoo — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:28:19 -0800

There are about the same number of Mormons in the US as there are Jews. The founding of the Mormon religion happened relatively close to when large Jewish migration to the US began. Both Mormons and Jews had to deal with persecution. There are countless novels about the Jewish-American experience. Where's the great Mormon novel? This came up while speaking with an ex-Mormon friend, and she couldn't think of one.

Clearly, there's major cultural differences between the typical Mormon and Jewish household, and perhaps that's the reason the dearth of well-known Mormon literary works.

Is there a great Mormon novel out there? And if not, why not?

Intelligent, clever, recent novel suggestions?

stvspl — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:07:00 -0800

What are some intelligent, very clever (funny is OK, but not necessary) recent novels that are readable but not trashy? Think along the lines of Zadie Smith's White Teeth and Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Avoiding verbosity (Rushdie) and anachronism (The Great Gatsby, etc.), what's left? (forgive me if there have been a million questions on this topic - I searched forever and found very little applicable material)

What are some classic novels penned when their authors were unusually young?

scarylarry — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 00:56:34 -0800

Help me think of great novels that were written when their authors were unusually young. I'm trying to make a list of great novels that were written when when their authors were quite young--let's set the author's 27th birthday as an arbitrary cut-off date. This is a slippery area, but I'm also hoping to make a distinction between merely 'promising' novels (i.e., books that offer glimmering hints of what the writer will produce later, but aren't fully-formed works in and of themselves) and 'great' novels (books that can be recognized as such outside the context of a given author's oeuvre). Pynchon's _V_ is an example of the kind of book I'm looking for.

Also, it's not important to me that the book be the *best* work of a writer's life, just that it's vital and important as a stand-alone work (Gravity's Rainbow is better than V, IMHO, but V still applies). Thanks a lot!

How many Pages to Write a Novel?

finitejest — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 09:32:51 -0800

How many type written pages make up a novel? I'm curious to know if I was considering writing something in WORD, single spaced (I guess?). How many pages would I have to write to have it be novel sized once published?

Book recommendations that meet a specific criteria...

dobbs — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 19:08:22 -0800

Looking for inspiration in two kinds of books. Perhaps you've got some recommendations? 1) Novels with very short "chapters" or fragments or pieces, that combine to make a whole; 2) Books boldly written, whether that be a writer being bold with timelines, punctuation, language, etc. (examples of both types of books inside). I'm trying to finish up a novel. The problem is that I seem to only be able to write extremely short passages. (For example, I recently sent 3 pieces off for publication and their total word count was under 600.) Though I know I shouldn't, I'm finding (my knowledge of) the lack of work previously published like this to be rather disheartening and therefore resistence-fostering.

Have you got any examples of published novels that are the sum of a series of very short "entries"? (Note that I'm not looking for short story collections that make up "novels".) Three examples I can think of are Stephen Marche's Raymond and Hannah, Laszlo Krasznahorkai's War & War, and maybe Fernando Pessoa's Book of Disquiet.

I also seem to get much inspiration out of writers who are bold with presentation (though I don't consider myself to be). Examples would be Hubert Selby Jr, Stephen Dixon (I), James Kellman (How Late...), Kathe Koja (Kink), Julio Cortazar (Hopscotch), etc. I'm not really looking for things that are necessarily difficult or "impenetrable" to the average reader (ie, Ulysses), just writing that you'd consider bold.

Thanks!

Where Can I Find Sales Figures for Novels?

Gnostic Novelist — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 06:45:49 -0800

Where can I find sales figures for novels (new and/or classic)? I am aware of Bookscan and Publisher's Lunch, but those are very expensive.

financing the Great American Novel

lustra — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 12:14:42 -0800

I want to spend three to six months writing a novel as my primary activity. I have savings, but not enough. What kinds of work can I pick up and do, wing in and out of, make money but have maximum flexibility to do my writing? I have published two books previously and have strong well-developed skills in technology writing, web writing, some copy writing, etc., if that matters to your answer. Many thanks.

Is anybody planning to participate in nanowrimo this year?

codger — Mon, 18 Oct 2004 07:46:35 -0800

Two weeks and counting... Is anybody planning to participate in nanowrimo this year?