Sage Advice and Duck-Billed Platitudes

“The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.” – Linus Pauling, chemist

This quote reminds me of Bickham's advice in Writing and Selling Your Novel to list at least ten ideas as fast as you can when stuck. He says that this forces the brain to work past the obvious possibilities and move on to more interesting ones.

So much for waiting for the muse...

PW Lounge Open!

The Professional Writing lounge (Copeland 209) is open weekdays noon-1 pm. Come by to study, read, or check out books from the lending library.

We're also accepting donations for the library--books, screenplays, DVDs, magazines, etc.

Books That Sell...Cars?

Read Any Good Ads Lately? in the Washington Post explores a new trend to pay authors to write books that sell. Sell cars, luxury products, and Twinkies that is.

Apparently, Lexus hired Los Angeles writer Mark Haskell Smith to write a serial potboiler novel featuring its newest car for the company's quarterly magazine.

An excerpt from Smith's "Black Sapphire Pearl" reads:

"The Lexus loaner turned out to be a GS Hybrid. To say it was an upgrade from the battered Crown Vic I'd driven with the LAPD would be an understatement. For one, you don't need a key. You keep the remote control thing in your pocket and to start the car you just push a button on the dash. Like on a computer. In fact the car's more like a super-powered laptop on wheels than anything else."

According to the Washington Post, "There was little the company did to encroach on [Smith's] artistic freedom in writing the serial novel, other than to question his assertion that you can't find a good taco outside of Los Angeles and to nix a sex scene."

The Post mentions several other cases of advertising in fiction, pointing out that this trend started years ago with Charles Dickens and was often seen in comic books thirty years ago.

Some consider this is unethical, but product placement is commonplace in movies. Remember E.T. and his Reese's Pieces?

Whatever your opinion of product placement, this is definitely a trend for authors to keep an eye on.

Writing Romance

Need help writing romance?

At the library book sale last week, I picked up an older edition of Writing Romance by Vanessa Grant. Overall, I found Writing Romance to be a great resource for learning how to apply many of the techniques we learn in class to the romance genre.

Grant has some great ideas about developing the hero and heroine to create conflict, researching the setting, and using a computer in planning and revising. She even references Jack Bickham to explain stimulus and response and pacing.

A couple points I found helpful:

• When developing a character, think about how that character behaves in the different relationships in his/her life. Grant says, "A man behaves differently to his sister than his secretary....Looking at how my hero behaves in all his relationships enables me to understand how he will behave in my novel."
• "When your characters fall in love...their vulnerability will cause them to lose their customary mask of behavior, to react more emotionally, with less conscious control of their words and actions."

Grant provides lots of examples although most of them are from her own writing. I would have liked more examples from other authors, but I did find helpful how she walks the reader through her own process of developing characters and plot for some of her novels.

The newest edition is available on Amazon.com for about $12.00.

New Courses Posted

Looking for more help on writing? Don't forget to look outside of OU.

Gotham Writers Workshop just posted their new schedule of online classes. Here's a sample:

How to Freelance With a professional freelancer as your guide, learn strategies for selling magazine and newspaper articles on a regular basis. Now available as a four-week online seminar.

Start Writing Nonfiction Explore six popular forms of nonfiction writing — memoir, personal essay, features, profiles, travel writing, and reviews — in this six-week class.

Creative Writing 101 This is the ideal class for anyone who wants to write, but doesn't know where to start — a six-week exploration of creative writing that is sure to inspire.

Advanced Article Writing Learn techniques for crafting professional-calibre articles and pitches. Now offered online.

They also have Master Classes, which require you to submit a writing sample and apply for admission, that are geared to more serious writers. Their spring courses are:

Memoir Writing Master Class with memoirist Ana Maria Spagna
Screenwriting Master Class with screenwriter Max Adams
Science Fiction Writing Master Class with Nebula Award-nominated author Marta Randall

I have taken an introductory screenwriting course from GWW. I recommend them as a cheap, affordable way to supplement your PW studies. --- Will Prescott

Looking Under Rocks

Last Saturday, Jocelyn and I attended Mel Odom's writing workshop at the Norman Public Library.

Both of us were blown away with his knowledge and his ability to teach. As you know, he is currently teaching a section of Short Story at OU this semester.

However, you can also take classes from him at the Moore-Norman Technology Center for a fraction of OU's rates.

Or, if you prefer, you can take free classes on the internet. Click here for more information.

Point is, we all know resources are limited in the PW program at OU. However, if you broaden your sights a bit, there are other resources in the Norman/OKC area.

Any other ideas?

Sage Advice and Duck-billed Platitudes

Under this heading, let's list quotes and things that make you go "Hmm..."

Here's one:

"Great writers love to read." --Ron Stahl, 2007

Let's see what other quotes and ponderables you've run across!

--Jocelyn Pedersen

Hardest Part of Writing

At the Romance Writing Workshop held at the Norman Public Library on 2-10-07, one of the questions posed to the Panel of Romance writers was "What is the hardest part of writing?"

Here are the responses from some well-known Oklahoma authors:

Mel Odom:
o The big words.
o At first, you fall in love with the book—like bringing the baby home—at first it is cute and wonderful, then you get sick of changing the diapers (revisions!).
o Hardest part is finishing the book

Crystal Inman:
o Waiting for the check to come
o The time lag involved in the whole publishing process

Sharon Sala:
o The money thing and also the whole process of writing
o Has to challenge herself to keep herself going

Christine Rimmer:
o Editing
o Feels like “I’ll accept your child if you cut his hair and buy him shoes”

--Jocelyn Pedersen