So, Neil Gaiman just kicked my ass.
As I was sitting last night, (procastinating, as usual) I noticed that Mr Gaiman was answering questions on Tumblr and decided to add one of my own just on the off chance that I might get a few words of wisdom from a favourite writer. I asked, and was answered:
I’m shockingly lazy and find it hard to get motivated to sit in front of that computer and write. Help me!
Why?
You being lazy and unmotivated and not writing allows another writer, who does sit down and write, to get published in your place. Magazines and publishers only have so many pages, so many annual publishing spots. You’re letting someone else who wants to do the work get published. Surely that’s a good thing…?
…
Ass. Kicked. Handed to me on a plate.
A few fellow Tumblr’s commented that it was a rather rude answer. I don’t think it was, he’s too good a writer for that. It did, what I assume he intended: It inspired me to get on with it.
I hope that it does the same for you.
Thank you Mr Gaiman, for kicking my ass.
How Authors Should Use Tumblr, A Five-Step Guide by Rachel Fershleiser
mediabistro.com1. Don’t get fancy with your URL. firstnamelastname.tumblr.com will make it easy for people to find you and last longer than one book’s marketing campaign. You can still make the title of the blog You Rach You Lose or Release McCracken. Your Tumblr can be your main personal website or professional homepage. It’s free and doesn’t require any technical skill. Make sure you upload an image to be your avatar so you don’t have a creepy blue default profile and choose a theme from our theme garden to customize your look.
rosalie tells me about life in a small town in alaska
This is a series in which you help me not be a dum-dum about America.
Rosalie was born and raised in Boston, and now lives with her husband and two daughters in a small town in Alaska (population: 2,000).
I met Rosalie 13 years ago, when we were living in Paris. (In fact, she was the first friend I made there!) Back then, she was working in finance and was a nationally ranked boxer. In her spare time, she took intensive cooking courses at the Ecole Escoffier and learned to prepare venison.
GalleyCat’s Top 30 Tips for Script Frenzy success
The valuable publishing resource GalleyCat did a feature throughout the month of April last year. Every day of the month they posted articles and tips for Screnzy success. Here’s the complete set. (Click through to read more about any tip on the GalleyCat site.)
- Make an Outline First
- Plotbot Streamlines Scriptwriting
- Use a Screenwriting Glossary
- Find the Scripwriters in Your Neighborhood
- Watch a Great Screenplay
- Read the Best Screenwriting Blogs
- Write on Your iPhone or iPad
- Write Your Logline
- Study Some Bad Movies
- Get a Poster for Your Script
- Use a Movie Quote Database
- Get Off the Internet & Write
- Choose the Right TV Show for Your Spec Script
- Explore Five Plot Point Breakdowns
- Follow the Slutsky-Munroe Method
- Review the previous 15 tips
- Study Great Scripts
- Donate To Script Frenzy & Young Writers Program
- Read Like Steven Soderbergh
- Explore Reddit for Screenwriting
- Find Great Writing Music
- ‘Write the Kind of Story You Like Best’
- How To Format Your Comic Book Script
- Believe in Your Dream
- Explore Photographs
- Write Your Script Backwards
- Avoid 10 Common Mistakes
- Join a Facebook Group
- Take Your Time
- Perform Your Script
Free Samples from National Book Award Finalists
mediabistro.comDid you miss out on some of this year’s National Book Award finalist because you are mortal and have a job? GalleyCat came through for us with samples of all the finalists.
As a side note, if you do read just one of these titles, I recommend Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones, a Faulkner-esque fable of an impoverished Mississippi family facing down the specter of Hurricane Katrina. It’s gorgeous. Ward’s first novel, Where the Line Bleeds, was published one of our favorite Chicago indie publishers, Agate.
