Write On! Sudden Looming Deadlines

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Thursday June 18, 2015 · 5:04 PM PDT

2015/06/18 · 17:04

Sensho has a bit of an emergency, and asked that I post inappropriate selfies in lieu of a diary. Sadly, I don't have any, so instead I'm writing this placeholder, so Write On! won't mysteriously fail to appear this week.

Deadlines!

1) Are you working under any right now?
2) Have you missed any, with humiliatingly disastrous results? Tell us more!

Do you agree with Mark Twain that "A deadline is just a lifeline with a timeline?"

Did you ever get an email from a friend asking you to post something at 8 pm your time, but you suspect she meant 8 pm her time?

GussieFN

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Sunday July 28, 2013 · 5:18 PM PDT

2013/07/28 · 17:18

I don't care about Weiner. Is he the best choice for mayor? Then I'll support him. Is he not? I'll support someone else. To me, Weiner is not a person, he's a potential political function.

I don't care about Obama. I don't care if he 'betrayed' me. I don't care if he's an austerity-spouting corporatist or a beleaguered progressive. I support him when I agree with him. I oppose him when I disagree. To me, Obama is not a person. He's a political function.

I don't care about Snowden. Is he wise, is he righteous, are his motivations pure? I don't care. To me, Snowden is not a person. He is a source of political information.

I don't care about Yellen, I don't care about Warren, I don't care about Rubio, I don't care about Cruz. This is not personal. None of these people know that I exist. I am purely an abstraction to them—'loudmouth nobody on leftie blogs'—and they are abstractions to me. They barely exist as human beings. Any scandal they're involved in—any crappy vote, any financial shenanigan, any half-eaten body in the rec room—matters only to the extent that it affects their function.

GussieFN

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Thursday December 13, 2012 · 6:00 PM PST

2012/12/13 · 18:00

Hello, writers.

Tonight I (well, SenSho, but I'm posting this for her) want to talk about POV (point of view) slippage. But you, of course, can talk about whatever you want.

As we’ve discussed before, most fiction nowadays is written from the POV of one
character, or sometimes two characters—rarely three, and anything more than
three is really unusual. Unusual in the sense of you need to have a really good
reason for doing it.

POV slippage occurs when the writer shows us something the viewpoint character
couldn’t have seen (eg another character’s thoughts). It can happen when the POV
character witnesses something happening in another time or place—though there
are ways to work around this. You just need a plot device. A hidden camera. An
old woman who tells tales. A Pensieve.

GussieFN

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Thursday June 14, 2012 · 5:01 PM PDT

2012/06/14 · 17:01

It's a cliche that 'conflict is drama,' and like all cliches, one in the hand is worth two in the bush.

I think SenSho's done a few diaries on conflict, but I disagreed violently with all of them, so here's another. The thing is, conflict is hard. We spend days and weeks and months and minutes creating unique, fascinating characters--what kind of monster bestows these imaginary people with life, then torments them?

GussieFN

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Thursday June 07, 2012 · 4:49 PM PDT

2012/06/07 · 16:49

Everyone makes mistakes.

Writers, however, live by the mistake. Mistakes are our craft, that's why we talk in terms of drafts and edits and drafts and rewrites and drafts. (There's a word for a perfectionist writer: blocked.) Without mistakes, we've got nothing.

GussieFN

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Thursday December 23, 2010 · 5:00 PM PST

2010/12/23 · 17:00

Hello, writers.

The topic for tonight is help, largely because I need some. SenSho is still dealing with family medical issues, and I'm far too unreliable to handle Write On! myself. So if you're willing to write an installment of the series every so often, drop a comment. (Looking at you, Tara ...)

Now for the good stuff. Have you heard about microfiction, like Fifty Word Stories and Six Word Stories, Microfiction Blog, and Six Sentences?

GussieFN

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Thursday December 16, 2010 · 5:00 PM PST

2010/12/16 · 17:00

Hello, writers.

SenSho's dealing with some pretty awful family medical issues right now, so I'm back again.

Tonight, I've got two things on my mind. One is titles. Mine almost always suck. They're boring and static and so forgettable that I call my books by the main character's name instead of the title.

GussieFN

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Thursday December 09, 2010 · 5:00 PM PST

2010/12/09 · 17:00

Hello, writers.

SenSho couldn't make it this week, so she flashed the Hack-Signal over Gotham, and I answered the call. (And yes, these tights are totally riding up.)

Tonight, because a novel without romance is like a fork without a tine, we're going to talk about love--or as they say in Czech, 'hrczynavci.' However, first I wanna know: do you love any novels that don't contain any romance whatsoever?

GussieFN

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Thursday October 07, 2010 · 5:01 PM PDT

2010/10/07 · 17:01

Hello, writers. SensibleShoes is cavorting this evening, so you're stuck with the backup auxiliary diarist. I've got three questions and a challenge tonight:

How does writing affect your reading?

It occurred to me, in a conversation with pico, upon whom I have a literary crush, that writing has ruined me for reading.

I write genre stuff. I try to coddle the reader. Are things getting slow? Don't worry, I'll speed 'em up! Did the first page not fascinate you? My fault! I'll try to make the whole thing go down as easy as an inappropriate metaphor in a family diary.

GussieFN

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Thursday July 15, 2010 · 5:01 PM PDT

2010/07/15 · 17:01

Hello, writers. I'm sitting in for SensibleShoes this week, because she's stepping out. An orgiastic vacation at some sort of naturalist camp, from what I understand, with plenty of s'mores and peyote.

Because I'm a lazy, lazy man I thought we'd do something a little different tonight. Instead of wisdom, all I've got are questions:

GussieFN

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Thursday May 13, 2010 · 5:00 PM PDT

2010/05/13 · 17:00

Hello, writers. SensibleShoes is taking some fancy-pants test today, so you're stuck with me.

"What should I write about?" I asked her.

"Write what you know," she said.

GussieFN

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Thursday October 01, 2009 · 5:00 PM PDT

2009/10/01 · 17:00

Hello, writers. I'm filling in for SensibleShoes, who is attending a Saran Wrap convention this evening. I don't know what that means, either. She was vague about the details

So welcome to the off-brand version of Write On!

Tonight's subject is "How to Sell a Novel in 72 Hours (or, Failing to Succeed)." I've sold a novel in 72 hours, and in this diary I will share the secret with you. Of course, you suspect there's a caveat, and you're right: there's a tiny bit of groundwork you need to complete, first. Still, once that's outta the way, it's clear sailing.

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