Comments | sirclay: How I Write

sirclay

How I Write

Jun 11, 2006 10:01

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have amassed a sizable collection of tomes on the craft of writing. One of the more recent was Stephen King's On Writing, in which he begins with something not unlike "All books on writing are bull ( Read more... )

Comments 11

xojade June 11 2006, 15:18:05 UTC

6) Have outstanding natural ability. For it doesn't matter how many "How to" books you read, you either have it or you don't.

Your writing is compelling and thoughtful. Some of the best. I love you!

sirclay June 16 2006, 02:28:09 UTC

You're too sweet! There's probably some sisterly bias in there, but I take what I get. :)

P.S. Love you, too!

shirotsuki June 13 2006, 12:14:54 UTC

hey, that is really helpful! ^ ^ what a good idea!

sirclay June 16 2006, 02:35:15 UTC

I'm glad you found some use in it! I'm idly considering doing another list, only applied to comics instead of prose. But then again, I wonder if it's a bit self-indulgent to think people actually want advice from an unpublished author. -.o

shirotsuki June 17 2006, 18:55:28 UTC

hey, advice is advice. whether or not you choose to learn a bit, follow it mindlessly, or blow it off is up to you, right? and saying that you have to be a super success to give good advice is definately selling a lot of people short ^ ^. so just do it! if people wanna hear it, they'll hear it, and appreciate it. yay!

anonymous June 15 2006, 18:13:59 UTC

Hmm interesting. I'd have to say I do agree with many of your tips here. I haven't written any stories in a while, just columns, but I think this has reminded me to pick up the pencil and notebook once again. Oh, and, Kiseki no Umi is an awesome song. Are you a Lodoss fan? o_o;

-Mr. Lemon

sirclay June 16 2006, 02:39:25 UTC

Very much so! Record of Lodoss War (OVA) was the first complete anime series I ever watched, and it remains a solid favorite. The TV series kind of paled in comparison, but I loved it too, anyway.

Lodoss is also the source of one of my absolute favorite made-up words:

Parn - v. To bounce ineffectively off of a magical barrier or energy shield.

anonymous June 18 2006, 07:53:33 UTC

Haha I see I see. Yeah, that's a good idea...I mean, Deedlit could easily be a word.

anonymous June 18 2006, 21:41:00 UTC

most useful-Ad

storyfish June 28 2006, 23:40:55 UTC

hey clay!

how's it? sorry, i didn't mean to ignore your e-mails, it's just that they tend to come during major upheavals in my life and i'm actually very bad at online correspondence these days. ;-) i'm very happy that you "found" me again online, though. looks like you're up and running on lj!

nice thoughts about writing--my current fave is Lajos Egri's The Art of Dramatic Writing, which is for playwrights, but his discussion of developing "premise" for your story and characters is just a little mind-blowing in the way it forces you to KNOW your characters and the reason why you're writing your story.

cheers! --the girl formerly known as jellyfish

sirclay June 29 2006, 01:29:44 UTC

Hey Beth!

Don't worry about it. I didn't email you again because I figured you had bigger (jelly?) fish to fry. I hope you're doing okay, though. I know your current "major life upheaval" is a trying and heavily upsetting thing to go through. :|

But thanks for the compliment and the reading suggestion. I do not recall it from my shelf-browsing, but I'll make a mental note to look for it. Knowing your characters is very important, and something I often fail at. Oh well, here's to growing at your craft!