Worderella Writes

Good-bye to Miss Snark

I bring sad news! Miss Snark { http://misssnark.blogspot.com/ } is leaving us, though not without a prize: the archive of her blog, thus allowing us to search it at will so we can learn from the snarkiest of snarks. Miss Snark, if you don’t know, is an agent with a penchant for telling the truth, as brutally as possible. A form of tough love, if you will. I suggest you look at her snarkives (a.k.a. archives two years in the making) for guidelines on how to write a proper query (any of the submisions Crap-O-Meters will give you an excellent idea of what not to write to an agent).

So good-bye, Miss Snark. Do send my regards to Killer Yapp.

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Quote: Live Writing

I often have written a hundred pages or more before there’s a paragraph that’s alive.
- Philip Roth

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Overdone and Cliche Titles

Titles, unfortunately, are usually not within the realm of control an author has (if traditionally published). The title is considered a part of the marketing of the book, same as the cover and back copy. The thing is, titles, same as covers, are at the whim of the current trend…and trends get old. That’s why they are a trend to begin with.

BookEnds, LLC the other day made a post about titles that are overdone and should never grace bookshelves again. Their list included…

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Quote: A Novel Tells the Truth

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
- G.K. Chesterton

I know it has been almost a month since my last post, and for that I apologize. My spontaneous haitus was not supposed to last this long, but ah me, such is the life of a student, right? My programming assignments have been long, a little tedius, and nothing short of infuriating. I haven’t had a chance to add to the WIP since my last post, either, which is also a little frustrating.

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Quote: Portrait of Himself

Every man’s work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself.
- Samuel Butler

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The Need to Write

If you’re feeling a little burnt out from trying to write when it isn’t coming to you, read this inspirational essay by Beth Conny. She explains that being a writer isn’t a choice, which I’m sure many of you know. Writing is hard work! All that thinking and pondering and daydreaming…and then actually taking the time to write? And the editing! Who would pick this as their hobby or livelihood? Many crazy people, apparently, if we go off the number of books we see floating around. Anyway, I thought I’d post this because it made me smile and feel a little inspired. I hope it helps you as well.

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Quote: Write, Write, and Write Some More

Word Nerd: What piece of advice helped you out the most as a writer?

FFORDE: Do it for fun. Do it for yourself. Do it because you want to write. Writers write because they can’t stop

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An Update

So. How is the WIP going? Fairly well, I would say. It’s a new month, which means I’ve printed out the previous month’s (incomplete) draft, kissed it, set it aside, and convinced my mind that I’m starting this month with a new inspired view of the WIP. I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it seems to work for me. I’m 29% complete with this draft that I call The Rewrite of Novel # 2 ™. …

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On Giving Feedback

So, as writers, we are expected to be the paragons of all that is writing and editing, yes? Goodness, I hope not. Many of us have the same trouble editing another’s work as we do our own. Here is an article by Rebecca Swift about how to give good feedback, whether you are a reader or a writer, editing your own work or a friend’s. She mentions how your mood can change your feedback, how feedback is an absolute must, and more. Take a gander, tell me what you think.

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Editing Tips

Tightening Up
You will probably find that the opening of your first draft has been more of a warming up exercise, a way of breaking yourself in gently to the often daunting task of filling that first blank page. Strangely, these initial efforts can persist through any number of drafts, and it’s only when you eliminate them and see that nothing’s been lost that you realise what has happened.

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