"a masterpiece of organized chaos"

You think you're a plotter?

Check out Will Self's office - click here. (Then click on photo to see next photo.)

Warning: these photos are intended for mature writers only.

Friday's Excuse Not To Write

Reprinted with permission from 101 Excuses Not to Write.
What do you do to keep yourself motivated with your writing?

On using dialogue

As a follow-up to my post about dialogue tags, I thought I would offer some links on how to write dialogue. What I found interesting in my research is that what characters say is important, but so is what they don't say. In addition, body language is a very important part of communication -- which lends itself well to avoiding the use of tags.

When writing dialogue, remember this:

Studies have shown that, in a face-to-face interaction, 58 percent of communication is through body language, 35 percent through how it was said, and a mere seven percent through the content of the message.

In addition, how well do your characters listen? Do they always understand the true meaning behind what's being said? Dialogue, and the interaction that surrounds it, can be a great tool to show your character's goals and characteristics as well as a tool to help you manipulate your story.

Here are some links:
Holly Lisle's Dialogue Workshop
Dialogue Tips
Special Tips On Dialogue For The Romance Writer
How To Improve Your Dialogue
Dialogue: The best action
Dazzling Dialogue Tips
Writing Dialogue - Part One
Writing Dialogue - Part Two
Writing Good Dialogue
Ten Tips for Writing Dialogue
Punctuating Dialogue
Writers' Toolkit - Dialogue
Writing Effective Dialogue
"Good Dialogue," the Editor Said.
Tension In Dialogue
12 Exercises for Improving Dialogue

Romance Novel TV

Okay, this is just too much fun.

Romance Novel TV

Dialogue tags NOT to use

Writing advice on dialogue often tells us to use only the word 'said' as a dialogue tag. They seldom tell us what words not to use. Here are words NOT to use as dialogue tags:

Acknowledged
Added
Admitted
Advised
Agreed
Announced
Answered
Approved
Argued

Asserted
Assumed
Assured
Asked
Babbled
Bargained
Began

Bellowed
Boasted
Bragged
Called
Claimed
Commanded
Commented
Complained
Cried
Decided

Declared
Demanded
Denied
Described
Dictated
Emphasized
Estimated
Exclaimed
Explained
Expressed
Feared
Giggled
Grinned
Grunted

Howled
Indicated
Insisted
Instructed
Laughed
Lectured
Lied
Mentioned
Moaned
Mumbled
Murmured
Nagged
Noted
Notified
Objected
Observed
Ordered
Pleaded
Pointed out
Prayed
Predicted
Questioned
Reassured
Related
Repeated
Replied
Responded
Requested
Restated
Revealed
Roared
Ruled
Scolded
Screamed
Shouted
Shrieked
Snapped
Sneered
Sobbed
Spoke
Sputtered
Stammered
Stated
Stormed
Suggested
Taunted
Thought
Told
Urged
Uttered
Vented
Vocalized
Voiced
Vowed
Wailed
Warned
Whispered

Got more?

How to Write a Book

How to Write a Book in Three Easy Steps

CLICK HERE

I command thee... I mean me

Gretchen Rubin over at The Happiness Project has made a list of 12 commandments for herself. I think that’s a great idea. I especially like her first one, ‘Be Gretchen.’ I think I’ll steal it for my own commandments (as well as a couple of others that are perfect for me).

Nienke's 10 Commandments

1. Be Nienke
2. Do it now
3. Do not let emotions rule me
4. Write every day (of course, what do you expect on a blog called The Writing Life?)
5. Stand up for myself
6. Believe in myself
7. Enjoy life – every day and every moment
8. Don’t take things personally
9. Do something nice for myself every day
10. Don’t betray myself

What would be on your list?
What would be on your protagonist's list?

Friday's Excuse Not To Write

Reprinted with permission from 101 Excuses Not to Write.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated with your writing?

And, since you're not writing, why not check out online writing magazine, Vision?

Monday is business in your bathrobe day

Meet Spice Author Jina Bacarr, author of The Blonde Geisha and Naughty Paris:



http://www.businessinyourbathrobeday.com/
http://www.webmomz.com/

Humpday Hunk

Sean Patrick Flanery

Powder is one of my favorite movies. But, really folks, can this be the same guy that played Powder??? To boot, he's credited with more than 66 shows and films! No actor's block there.

Speaking of blockages, check out this post on hacks for writing.

Me

Close the book

When a book is not being read, it should be closed.




(That's my Cairo BTW)