Chris Stralyn's Blog, page 3

#WritersWisdom -Rule 93- Revise For Speed

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #93- Revise For Speed. “As you revise, try to cut your manuscript by at least 10 percent - that alone should improve the pacing. If you find that for every scene you trim, there’s another you want to expand, ask yourself, ‘How does this further the plot?’ If it doesn't, let it go.”

Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)

#WritersWisdom -Rule 92- Get Distance From Your Work

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #92- Get Distance From Your Work. “Often in the throes of creation, you might write something so fabulous it blinds you to how bad it really is. Maybe it has to do with the weird hours writer keep. Whatever it is, you must remember that no one but you gets an immediate reading. You must put your work away when you’re done, and let it sit. At least a week. Start another project in the meantime so your brain can shift away from the rhythms of the old text. Then come back to it with icy objectivity.”

 Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)

#WritersWisdom -Rule 91 - Art Shows Up In Rewriting

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #91 - Art Shows Up In Rewriting.  “Revise. Revise. Revise. You never get it on the first try. Never. Unless you’re a natural like John Updike, whose prodigious volume of work would bury ten of his competitors, you’ll need many drafts before reaching a polished and professional final.”
 

Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)

Please Share!

PLEASE SHARE! I am looking for stories of real life daycare heroes - to be included in an upcoming book. If you know a childcare provider (current or retired) that goes above and beyond the call of duty - I want to hear about it! Click here for details        http://www.prlog.org/12211929.html

#WritersWisdom -Rule 90- Revise With A Critical Eye And Outside Help

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #90- Revise With A Critical Eye And Outside Help. “You can prevent your otherwise promising-to-the-point-of-perfection narrative from unraveling into stupidity by listening to the advice of your best critical reader. The one who stops you from embarrassing yourself before the work goes public. Your trusted critical reader shouldn't be your spouse, best friend, parent, or former teacher, but if you’re lucky, the smartest, harshest, least easy to impress person you know. Hand your manuscript over and then get out of the way. “

Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)

 

#WritersWisdom -Rule 89- Think About Your Readers

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #89- Think About Your Readers. “Your audience represents the most highly trained in the world. Like writers, readers must use their imaginations, keep track of subplots and backstories, analyze the psychology of characters, make sense of conflicting philosophies, apply research to science, and become emotionally involved. Reading is an art itself. You must honor it with clarity.”

Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)

#WritersWisdom -Rule 88- Writing Offers Hope

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #88- Writing Offers Hope. “You can write about blood and fire, human bodies scorched like forgotten cookies, about misery, torture, the extinction of a rare and elegant species, about shattered innocence, valiance unrewarded, and betrayal by the people we loved most. But in the end there must be a glimpse of gold, the first bright feather of a rare bird reborn from the ashes of a mythical bonfire. One of the great traditions of art is that it provides hope.”

Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)

#WritersWisdom -Rule 87- Maintain The Trance Of Verisimilitude

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #87- Maintain The Trance Of Verisimilitude. “A way to remember the definition of verisimilitude is to think of art as ‘very similar’ to real life. All writers follow the strategy. They depict some kind of authentically appointed world and hope their creation brings us into it as participants. When this happens we suspend disbelief and enter a trance that makes us part of the story, unnoticed eavesdroppers. But the trance is delicate, like being under hypnosis, and the slightest interruption will cause it to shatter.”

Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)

#WritersWisdom -Rule 86- Writing Is The Vehicle For Truth

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #86- Writing Is The Vehicle For Truth. “Story must be your motivator. Wanting to be a writer in the abstract will get you a drawer full of unpublished pages. Wanting to tell a story is something else. Think of yourself as a storyteller, and you’ll cut through to real writing.”

Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)

#WritersWisdom -Rule 85- Resolve All Conflicts By The End of The Story

Writer’s Wisdom -Rule #85- Resolve All Conflicts By The End of The Story. “A strong ending is most important because here you seal the package tight. The position demands of the author his utmost and ultimate brilliance. It is so foreboding and difficult that the anticipation of finally wrapping things up frightens us a little. There are countless writers out there with unfinished manuscripts, and this is one reason why.”

 Taken from The Writer’s Book of Wisdom - 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, by Steven Taylor Goldsberry, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Boo...)