THE STORY SPOT

Take it from a guy who oughta know: sitting your squirrely butt at that keyboard or notebook for 20 minutes every day (yes, weekends too) is one true tip for finishing your writing projects. Cory Doctorow, Canadian writer extraordinaire lays it out in his feature for LOCUS Magazine for you who are convinced that there just isn’t enough time in a day to complete that insurmountable project (yes, he’s talking to me too, at times.) And you know what? He’s absolutely right.

Cory Doctorow: Writing in the Age of Distraction on Locus Online

Update (Jan.16/09): For further inspiration, see “Daily Routines,” an online compendium of how the publicly admired spend their days. Via VSL.

My advice is [that] you have to sit in the chair and you have to read other people’s stuff and you have to do it all the time. If you can do those two things, you’re well on your way.
– Donald Ray Pollock

Donald Ray Pollock is a newly published writer who was recently interviewed on Michael Silverblatt’s Bookworm. The quote above is taken from that interview.

Incidentally, authors are not usually invited to the show having published a single book. Pollack started writing in his forties, left his long-term occupation in his small town to pursue his MFA, and talks of how his life has changed as a result of his leap into the creative great beyond.

Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock on Amazon.com
Pollock on KCRW’s Bookworm
Pollock’s official site

Our very special guest, Blake Snyder, author of the bestselling (and indispensable) Save The Cat! series of books on screenwriting, offers THE STORY SPOT’s readers guidance on that notoriously difficult pillar of any story: The Midpoint. (We’ve added the product links below to help you find your way.)

Read on »

Author Billy Mernit (Writing the Romantic Comedy — a must-have in any library) posts a hilarious commentary on the pleasures of creating and discovering new and very appropriate terms for all-too-familiar character types.

Read Billy’s post at his blog:
“Living the Romantic Comedy: The Pixie and the Snidekick”

Be sure to peruse the comments and add your own.

Billy Mernit’s blog is now a part of GOOD READS featured in the widget on the right. Enjoy.

I’m a dork. Even worse, I’m a Facebook dork. And who can I tell but you, dear reader, that I’ve recently become one-FaceBook-friend-removed from James Frey.

I know. Who cares, right? But hey, this guy got literary tongues a waggin’ and for more than a blink too. Is he a big fat liar? When will his name cease to be mentioned in the same sentence as the word, “liar”? Dunno. Don’t care. This guy got people to R-E-A-D and talk about books again and he writes about Los Angeles in his new novel. Love ya, buddy.

Visit James Frey’s BigJimIndustries where you can leave a message on his cell. Then, when you’re done with that, head on over to Amazon.com and pick up your fresh copy of Bright Shiny Morning.