stay true @joanofarx-blog - Tumblr Blog

tfw the heroine of a YA book meets a new male character and the phrase “not much older than her” gets dropped and u stare into the camera because you know that really means HERE’S THE LOVE INTEREST, FOUND HIM, THIS IS HIM, HERE HE IS, PREPARE FOR SMIRKING AND EXCESSIVE DESCRIPTIONS OF EYE COLOR

#tfw u go out of ur way to subvert this at every possible moment ha

hamlett-deactivated20190130

my life’s ambition is to have a gucci room like the corcorans

#tsh #books #moi aussi

this movie is going to give me a heart attack

#chaos walking #the knife of never letting go #the ask and the answer #monsters of men #todd hewitt #viola eade #tiola #cw #books #bookblr #writeblr #patrick ness #my art #mine #easily my favourite trilogy the plot #the structure #the characters #amazing!#artists on tumblr

themiseducationofb

What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

#quote #books #dorian gray

jarrodis-deactivated20181204

#insp #scene insp

wulf-bird-artist

Painting a pheasant!

ziggyziggystardust

Favorite artist ever!

#art #love the colours

screenwritersguidebook-blog

How to Take Criticism on Your Writing

A big problem that writers (myself included) always have is that they’re too sensitive, so when people critique their work it’s often really hard to bite their tongue and say “thank you for tearing my work apart”. But it’s so important if you want to become a professional writer.

1. Something that I always do if someone’s critique is upsetting me, is I take a deep breath, maybe two, and then look at the critique with fresh, un-offended eyes and ask myself:

Is this a fair criticism or simply an insult?

If someone tells you that they were bored reading your story or they didn’t like it, offering no explanation or advice on how to fix it, then just say thank you and take note, but also keep in mind that that critic probably doesn’t know what they’re talking about. A lot of people tend to think that every other writer is beneath them, so instead of offering constructive criticism, they say things that will make the writer less likely to want to keep writing.

If there is advice or an explanation, then write it down somewhere. Take it to heart. Be upset about it, but rethink your writing a little. You might think that you’ve written the next Romeo and Juliet, but your opinion will always be biased.

2. Don’t try to argue or explain why you made the decisions you made, because it almost always sounds like “I get that you didn’t like it, but I wrote it, so you’re wrong.” That’s never good. It’s okay sometimes to explain your choices, but usually you should only do it if you’re asked a specific question like “Why did this character say this?” or “Why did the focus of the scene change so abruptly without explanation?”

3. Make sure to thank them every time. Someone just took time out of their day to help you improve your writing. Even if the advice hurt your feelings, you should thank them. It will be good for your image, and overall it might help you to let go of the negative feelings attached to negative criticisms.

I know that it can be extremely difficult to look at negative criticism without seeing it as a personal attack, but trust me, most critics are just trying to help you.

cover remake: the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde

#books #dorian gray

ryanpanos

Oscar Wilde’s Lipstick-Covered Tomb | Via

The practice started in the late 1990s, when somebody decided to leave a lipstick kiss on the tomb. Since then lipstick kisses and hearts have been joined by a rash of red graffiti containing expressions of love, such as: “Wilde child we remember you”, “Keep looking at the stars” and “Real beauty ends where intellect begins”. Kissing Oscar’s tomb on the Paris tourist circuit has become a cult pastime.

A fine of €9,000 ($12,000) was imposed on anyone caught kissing or damaging the historical monument, but it had no effect. It was hard to catch people in the act, and most culprits were tourists who were long gone before the police could bring them to court. Appeals from Wilde’s grandson Merlin Holland to stop the practice also fell on deaf ears. A plaque asking fans to respect the tomb instead of defacing it went in vain.

Meanwhile, those greasy red lipstick stains seeped into the stone making it harder and harder to clean. Every cleaning eroded a layer of stone rendering it even more porous, so the next cleaning had to go even deeper and wear away the stone even more.

philip-ham

I have no idea why anyone would believe Oscar Wilde isn’t delighted by this.

gwendolencorday-deactivated2023

It’s beautiful and illegal. Oscar Wilde would most certainly be delighted by such lovely vandalism.

#wilde #books #lovely

theclassicsreader

I’ve had the same editor since 1967. Many times he has said to me over the years or asked me, Why would you use a semicolon instead of a colon? And many times over the years I have said to him things like: I will never speak to you again. Forever. Goodbye. That is it. Thank you very much. And I leave. Then I read the piece and I think of his suggestions. I send him a telegram that says, OK, so you’re right. So what? Don’t ever mention this to me again. If you do, I will never speak to you again.

Maya Angelou, interviewed in The Art of Fiction No. 119 (via theclassicsreader)

😂 This sounds like one of those made-up Clickhole quotes. And yet, it’s real!

If I believed in a heaven, I’d like to think that Maya Angelou and Kurt Vonnegut were up there right now, cheerfully arguing about semicolons for eternity.

#quote #same

fictionwritingtips

The Stages of Editing

I’m in the middle of editing my current novel, so I wanted to do a post about my own editing process. Keep in mind that there are many ways to edit a novel and this is just my approach. Do some research and figure out what works best for you!

Check for Plot/Story Inconsistencies

My first run-through usually consists of checking for anything that’s not right with the plot or story. This includes locating gaping plot holes, confusing locations, inconsistent character development, etc. Does your story make sense? Is there something you wrote in the beginning that contradicts something later? Do your locations/settings match? Did you mention something about a character that is contradicted later? This is just a small and simple list, but you need to make sure your story is consistent. An outline usually helps this, so if you’ve written one try to go off that. If not, jot down some notes about important scenes, characters, locations, plotlines, etc., and go through your story again. Try to make sure it all matches up and tighten up anything that is confusing.

Flesh Out/Cut Down

Once you get your plot in order, try to focus on whether or not you need to flesh out your story or cut down your word count. I usually always have to flesh out my story, so if that’s the case for you, go through your WIP and find areas that could use more information. For example, if something doesn’t flow well or the scene needs to be longer to make sense. Try to pinpoint where you can flesh your story out to make it stronger. If your word count is too low, chances are your story is going too quickly. If you need to cut down your word count, focus on finding scenes that contain “info dumps” or see if there are any unnecessary subplots/characters, drawn out dialogue, or chunky paragraphs you can cut. If it doesn’t pertain to the overall story or help the plot move forward, it might not make sense to include it.

Analyze Sentence Structure and Pacing

It really helps to take a look at sentence structure. For example, fluctuating between simple and compound sentence. You don’t want your novel to read like this:

Amy walked to the store. She saw Sam. She walked up to him and said hi.

If there’s a better way to say something, consider switching it up. If you’re having trouble with this, please study up on sentence structure and reread your favorite books.

After focusing on sentence structure, consider spending time on improving pacing. If the story feels too quick at some points and too drawn out during other scenes, you might have a problem with pacing. Again, creating an outline can tremendously help with pacing, even after you’ve finished your first draft. Take some time to draw out a timeline and go from there.

Check for Grammar Mistakes

This is one of the last things I do when editing, but it’s an important step. A lot of agents/publishers won’t even look at your novel if they see a lot of mistakes right from the beginning. Use spell check, read over it several times, get a fresh set of eyes (beta readers), etc. No one’s perfect, but you should do your best to catch as many grammar mistakes as possible. Carve out time during the editing process to ensure this gets done to the best of your ability!

-Kris Noel

#editing