You know what I love?

I love it when you leave a review for a fic writer, and they send you and email response. And then you respond to that. And a few days later, they out of the blue send you a new email, striking up new conversations about the lack of Spuffy in BTVS crossovers, and wanting to know, as a fellow fan, your opinion on Spike's attitude post-soul, and what you think of season seven, and how the series should end.

And suddenly, you find yourself with a whole new email buddy.

And I think back, and I say "Yeah, this is why I write reviews."


Rewatching it this afternoon, I had some confusion about the meaning behind a verbal exchange in the Storytellers episode, ( Read more... )

like this lil quiz...

In-Class Exercise Today

Ten Terms I Associate With Corporate Capitalism in the Middle East:

Oil
Islam
Bush
Carlisle group
Saudi businessmen
Caspian Sea
Baku
World Trade Organization
Taliban
Coporate interests
Northern Alliance

writers, writers, writer's blogging everywhere...

So I just found gaimanblog, the LJ of author Neil Gaimon, which seems to be where he answers questions that fans write to him about, along with expressing various opinions. Very cool. And in one of his recent entries he linked to the blog of fellow writer Will Shetterly, whose work I don't know myself but whose journal is an interesting read so far.

I liked this entry, because I've decided to make a more concerted effort to learn about writing, and to apply myself in that:


And since I'm thinking about writing, here are three things new writers should master:

Story structure: Initial situation, complication, resolution--and, unless you've got a great reason not to, in that order.

Point of view: One focal character per scene--and, unless you've got a great reason not to, per story. The choice of focal character usually reveals the story structure. If you're writing about a murder and your focal character is the victim, your story probably begins with the circumstances that lead to the murder and ends with the character's death. But if your focal character is a detective, your story begins with the detective learning about the death and ends with the outcome of the investigation.

Attitude: Be bold! Don't try to make the first draft perfect. Don't even try to make it good. Just write it to find out what the story's about. You can make it look like you always knew where it was going when you do the next draft.

One thing experienced writers should remember:

You never master your art. If you get blocked, just remind yourself of the three things new writers should know.

- Will Shetterly, 4:49 PM