Well, we writers do TRY to take criticism…

Characterization: When the clothes make the woman.

[cross-posted on Writingscape v1.0 8/6/11]

I got the greatest laugh ever when longtime ABC drama General Hospital pulled a terrific piece of characterization out of its trick bag last week for Harbinger of Death and longtime villainess Helena Cassadine.

You see, a veteran GH viewer already knows that Helena is one of the deadliest women on daytime TV, a crown she wears proudly. She not only constricts and devours her own young on the regular, but everyone else’s young as well. Any man, woman, or child breathing is at risk, whether they purposely cross her path or not, and her own family has always suffered the most (not that any of them have been paragons of virtue, mind you).

And so, when Mrs. Cassadine slithered into the scene wearing this…

… I cracked up and found myself applauding.

The beauty of this is that the newbie GH viewer who doesn’t know Helena yet will only see a very rich woman in her palatial manor dressed to the nines in a designer outfit from somewhere on Rodeo Drive. Only later, after they see this Burmese python in action, will they realize–to their horror–that they weren’t looking at her clothes, but at her SKIN.

Bwahaha.

Love it.

Foreshadowing: Of course, he was talking about a desk job.

(Cross-posted on Writingscape V1.0, 7/14/11)

I’m sitting here watching one of my favorite episodes from one of the best classic shows ever — “The Sixth Finger” (1963) of vintage Outer Limits fame — on the Chiller Channel. And one of my favorite examples of foreshadowing just happened.

David McCallum’s poor, tragic character, disenchanted by the hopelessness of manually toiling day in and day out in the oppressive darkness of the town coal mine, takes on a job as the town scientist’s guinea pig. The project propels his human brain THOUSANDS of years into the future and evolves him from this…

To this:

And finally, to this…

… where he’s not only grown a sixth finger but can absorb text at crazy speeds, read minds, spew out intelligence a normal brain could never hope to understand, and even physically repel anything that threatens him.

THAT BRILLIANT MOMENT OF FORESHADOW: Very early into the episode, David’s character has a “hopes and dreams” moment and tells his girlfriend, “If only I could find work where I could really use my brain. I’d show them.”

Of course, he was talking about a desk job. Haha.

Carry on, peeps. Conquer your Thursday and conquer it well.

Wow. Suddenly the shoe is heading for the other foot.

The argument concerning legacy publishing (with the Big Publishing Houses Across the World) versus self-publishing and which is the better road has been raging for so long, I can’t even remember when it started. (I’ve always thought that there was NO best road, just what worked best for each individual.) And for a long time, legacy easily won out.

I have noticed, however, that across the Writing-verse as a whole, the wind is changing direction. Not just with writers I don’t personally know… but with some writers I DO personally know. Unless I’m just delirious. (Don’t get me wrong. I still have a lot of publishing house-minded friends. It’s just that the seesaw seems to have magically balanced out while I wasn’t looking. It’s not leaning towards either side.)

I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. I never begrudged anyone who self-pubbed—but it simply hasn’t been the road for me. I felt that quite strongly and have been very comfortable with that. What surprises me though is that as I sit here, I find myself actually giving the subject more thought than I ever thought I would.

Wow. Hm.

Here is more on the subject from author JA Konrath of A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.

Are You Dense? — 4/15/2011

What the hell is wrong with you?

I’m talking to you. The writers who are still thoughtlessly defending legacy publishing.

Unless you’re making over a million dollars a year with the Big 6, continuing down the legacy path is a crazy bad idea.

I see the same tired, lame arguments, over and over again. They include:

It’s hard to make decent money self-pubbing.

Guess what? It’s even harder to make decent money by legacy publishing. Legacy publishing requires a lot of waiting, and a lot of luck. If you’re lucky enough to get an agent AND lucky enough to sell the book AND lucky enough that the publisher doesn’t screw it up, you’ll have a 1 out of 10 chance at earning out your advance. Maybe….

You can read Konrath’s post in its entirety on his blogspot here.

So what is your take on this volatile subject that writers have nearly come to blows over? How does it affect your own situation?

Just the facts, ma’am. (Help for writers #13.)

Would you like to know the five ways a journalist’s training can help any novelist or short fiction writer improve his or her work?

Ask and ye shall receive.

Just lope on over to Rogue writer Shari Lopatin’s post, 4 Ways a Journalist Can Help Creative Writers. (That be FOUR ways, plus one additional way. Which makes five.)  I’m digging it.

Good luck! And don’t let your blank page mock you. Show it who’s boss.

Just the facts, ma’am. (Help for writers #12.)

[Excerpt] “You’re Doing It Wrong” by K. Mark Hoover @Apex Book Company:

But what about writing? Writing is a profession, too. All the great authors who sell books through Apex can tell you that much. So, what are the protocols for that? How does one go about writing, and doing it correctly?

Well, I’m glad you asked because it’s high time we codify a few rules for writing. First, there’s, um….there’s….Huh. Well, naturally, first you have to….Uh. Mm. Whuh?

That’s right. There are no protocols for writing, I’m sorry to say. There is no Right Way to Write. One of the questions I get from new writers is “How do I do this?” I tell them, “You write.” They look at me as if I have frogs coming out of my ears. They want a Golden Path. Funny, I’ve been writing professionally for over ten years and I too, still want a Golden Path.

Except there isn’t one. There never was one.

Interested?  You should be, whether you’re a struggling newbie or on your way to becoming a veteran. This article has VALUABLE INFO! READ ME! written all over it.

So go on. Head on over so that author K. Mark Hoover can help you not do it rong wrong. You can read his article in its entirety on the ABC site HERE…

…and thank me later.

Well, it is the truth, after all.

Sometimes that age-old problem “How in the world do I find time to write?’ can be solved by the simplest solution ever.  Perhaps it’s not an easy solution, but SIMPLE nonetheless.

Olivia Tejeda starts off her recent post on the subject thusly:

“You write by sitting down and writing.” — Bernard Malamud

And so, I’m of a mind that we all need to read her advice… and heed it.  Jump on over to her Away with Words… blog and take a gander at “Making Time To Be Quiet and Write.”

It certainly can’t hurt.