Evil Editor's Blog, page 304

Writing Exercise Results . . .

are in the posts below. The task was to write a scene in which you pitch an idea for a future writing exercise to Evil Editor.

Writing Exercise Pitch Session 4

"Ok," said Whirlochre, "so we've done hard boiled detectives, New Year resolutions, auctions, break-up scenes, bad analogies, dream sequences, Hallowe'en, Christmas, pirate talk, Valentines Day, fake queries, dark and stormy nights, gerunds, backstory, lift pitches, Bulwer Lyttons, love scenes, dialogue scenes, obituaries, autobiographies and visits to Cherry Rosenberg—"

"And lists," added Evil with a grin. "Don't forget all those lists."

The two men trilled their fingers on the desk one...

Writing Exercise Pitch Session 3

One might expect an editor to have a prestigious office and not starving artist landscapes on magnolia walls made squalid by spider webs and candle stains, beige vinyl chairs circa 1950 and gray desk. A lone secretary greeted me, wearing Fashions by Snooki and makeup by some reality-show makeup artist, all tarted up for television.

"May I help you?" Her voice crackled with the sex appeal of Selma Diamond. She noticed the blood draining from my cheeks as thoughts of success ran screaming from m...

Writing Exercise Pitch Session 2

Hey, EE. Glad I caught you in.

I coulda sworn I locked that door. Hang on while I buzz Security.

But I've got a great idea for a writing exercise.

Nobody does the writing exercises.

That's because your ideas stink.

What's your idea?

Bad analogies describing Evil Editor being killed. For example, The guillotine dropped onto Evil Editor's neck like a bocce ball dropped from the top of the leaning tower of Pisa, only sharper. Or: Like a sommelier using a corkscrew to open a sangria bottle, Borgo the D...

Writing Exercise Pitch Session 1

Midnight. Evil Editor grumbled to himself at these times for secret meetings. He was thinking the man had better show, when the door to his office crept open and a man in uniform stood, gun in hand.

"Colonel."

"Evil," said the man, scanning the office. He sat in the chair before the desk but did not holster the gun.

"We want you to do another writing exercise."

"Go on," said Evil Editor.

The Colonel drew a piece of paper from a coat pocket and unfolded it like a man who was unused to dealing with ...

Dragon Tattoo

I saw the Swedish film tonight, made from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (our June Book Chat book), and I thought it was better than the book. The story was clearer, the casting was excellent, and the dialogue was sparse enough that it was easy to read the subtitles without missing the video. No reason to believe Hollywood will do any better, and good reason to believe they'll screw it up. Check it out if you can.

Book Chat

In the comments at the top of the hour. Once in, either refresh the page frequently or make a comment to see the most recent comments.

Saturday Film Series

[image error]

Success Story

Steve Prosapio reports that his novel Dream War (Face-Lift 127), available as an e-book at Amazon.com, has been flying through the ether ever since it was featured at this sci-fi review site, as people flock to see how many of the book's ideas were stolen by the recently released film, Inception.[image error]

New Beginning 771

It was the fault of the wind, but on Xenos it often is. The wind scours Xenos's surface, stirring up the storms of dust, tearing off anything not sealed down, throwing itself against the domed skylights that light the underground cities. It batters the sensors around those hub cities, and the sensors whirl and scream their own storm of warnings into the hub networks. From this seething storm of warnings, the network processors pull their data and send it rapid fire to the exit terminals to sh...