The answer is....... 42
Wow, that was wise and anticlimatic at the same time.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 'trilogy' by Douglas Adams
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
My twitter account is back! Yay!
I just got an email today that said that they reinstated my twitter account! Yay!
I'm alive and not suspended! (Happy Dance!)
But I'm going to promise myself not to go on twitter constantly, or I'll just get addicted again.
Time to go work on my novel.
Thanks to the people who work for twitter,
John Smith
P.S. -- Follow me on twitter! Please? I'll be your best friend!
There is a 99.9% chance that the Character won't die, but...
There are many novels out there that manage to put us on the edge of our seats.
I don't really understand how they do this. In novels, there is a main character. Most of the time, like 99.9% (non-accurate percentage), the main character lives on after the end of the novel. Every reader knows this. However, how is it that the author manages to write the novels in such a way that we, the reader, believe that the main character might die.
Let's use Harry Potter by JK Rowling as an example: Harry Potter is the main character. From the very first pages, we know that Harry Potter won't die. He'll live on after the seventh book has ended. He might get injured and hurt along the way, but he won't die. Let's face it, if JK Rowling killed off Harry Potter in the middle of the story, everyone (including Rowling herself) will be like "I hate you forever, JK Rowling."
So knowing that Harry Potter will continue to live, how is it that JK Rowling and other skilled authors can make it seem like their main character is going to die. We read about how they put their main characters in dangerous situations against powerful enemies, but instead of going, "Don't worry, he'll live", we're more like "please don't die, please don't die, ....." when we read that scene in the novel.
Can someone explain to me how these authors can do that? I know it has something to do with suspense and stuff, but I don't fully comprehend the technique involved. How is it that those authors can reach into the .1% and make us think, even for a second, that the main character is going to die?
If you've read this post expecting an answer from me, you looked in the wrong place. Although I do hope to someday understand the method, right now, I'm still incompetent.
Sorry for the lame post. I'm just typing this, hoping an answer will come to me. Or maybe one of you guys may know the answer and help me out.
Thanks to all my readers,
John Smith
I don't really understand how they do this. In novels, there is a main character. Most of the time, like 99.9% (non-accurate percentage), the main character lives on after the end of the novel. Every reader knows this. However, how is it that the author manages to write the novels in such a way that we, the reader, believe that the main character might die.
Let's use Harry Potter by JK Rowling as an example: Harry Potter is the main character. From the very first pages, we know that Harry Potter won't die. He'll live on after the seventh book has ended. He might get injured and hurt along the way, but he won't die. Let's face it, if JK Rowling killed off Harry Potter in the middle of the story, everyone (including Rowling herself) will be like "I hate you forever, JK Rowling."
So knowing that Harry Potter will continue to live, how is it that JK Rowling and other skilled authors can make it seem like their main character is going to die. We read about how they put their main characters in dangerous situations against powerful enemies, but instead of going, "Don't worry, he'll live", we're more like "please don't die, please don't die, ....." when we read that scene in the novel.
Can someone explain to me how these authors can do that? I know it has something to do with suspense and stuff, but I don't fully comprehend the technique involved. How is it that those authors can reach into the .1% and make us think, even for a second, that the main character is going to die?
If you've read this post expecting an answer from me, you looked in the wrong place. Although I do hope to someday understand the method, right now, I'm still incompetent.
Sorry for the lame post. I'm just typing this, hoping an answer will come to me. Or maybe one of you guys may know the answer and help me out.
Thanks to all my readers,
John Smith
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Who do you write like?
I subscribe to this awesome blog, Cafe of Dreams. And today, there was this fantastic post on that blog. This post had a link that gets you to this site, which can analyze your writing and tell you who you write like. When I tried it, I pasted one page of my horror short story on the site, and it analyzed by story. Guess who it says I write like.
Yay! That just made my future look brighter. I'm going to go now and work extra hard on my writing!
Who do you write like?
Yay! That just made my future look brighter. I'm going to go now and work extra hard on my writing!
Who do you write like?
Twitter account suspended!
For awhile now, I've been addicted to Twitter. But guess what? My Twitter account was SUSPENDED!
I've been using twitter for awhile now, trying to get friends and followers, trying to build a platform of people who would be interested in my novel and stories. So you can imagine how stunned I was when I lost contact with all those people. At first, I was really angry and desparate to get my twitter account back.
But then I realized that this is a good thing (even though I lost hundreds of followers). I was really addicted to twitter. And if you're a writer, that's a bad thing. The blue bird lures you away from your novel, and then weaves a spell of procrastination over you. But now that blue bird is gone, and I can get back to writing. Yay!
Time to get to work.
.............
.............
....Hey look, someone became my new friend on Facebook. I'll just pop over to that site for a few seconds before I get started writing.
P.S. - If I don't get back my old twitter account, I'll just make another one AFTER I finish writing a book.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Ways to overcome writers block
You're writing your novel and it's coming along great. You type along, fingers flying over the keyboard. But then, it comes out of nowhere... the monster that every writer fears. "Oh no! It's Writer's Block!"
It's coming at you, with its giant stinger ready to paralyze your brain with its neurotoxic chemical, preventing your mind from coming up with new creative ideas. So what can writers do when the monster comes at you. What defenses can writers carry to overcome such a mind numbing attack.
Do not worry, for I am here to load you with my armory of anti-writer's block weapons:
1) Keep on writing your novel and plow through writer's block. If you force out ideas for your novel, you might just be able to force the mind numbing stingers away, which will allow your novel ideas to eventually flow out freely (This rarely works, but try it anyway). Don't think about it, just write and plow on.
2) Write anything. When writer's block hits, try writing other things instead of your novel. Try writing some short stories or poems. Thinking up and writing new stories might spark the creative juices in your brain to think up new things for your novel.
3) Go for a run, or do some sports, or any physical activity that will burn you to exhaustion. Doing all these things will create a spark inside your body. Physical activity pumps chemicals like adrenaline, endorphins, and who knows what else, all throughout your body. All of your body's natural chemicals will rage a war with each other, until they ignite a spark of inspiration that will blow the monster away.
4) Take a break. Go watch a movie, or read my blog, or listen to music, or just sit on a park bench and go people watching. You can even do nothing and just fall asleep. Sometimes all you can do is to distract yourself from the mind numbing stingers and wait for their effects to go away.
5) Run away to another place. Sometimes you just have to run from the writer's block monster. So run away to another place and write. Sometimes changing your surroundings by going to a different place can help (make sure it's a place where you can concentrate on your writing).
6) Drink Coffee. Something as simple as a cup of coffee (caffeine) is the solution to fight off the writer's block monster's mind numbing attacks.
7) Deny everything. Close your eyes and deny that the writer's block monster even exists (I don't think this works at all, but try it if all else fails).
These are only some of the things you can do to defend yourself against writer's block. So if you're a writer, you should no longer fear the moment when writer's block will creep up on you and sting your brain.
*These anti-writer's block weapons don't always work. So prepare for the mind numbing stingers.
It's coming at you, with its giant stinger ready to paralyze your brain with its neurotoxic chemical, preventing your mind from coming up with new creative ideas. So what can writers do when the monster comes at you. What defenses can writers carry to overcome such a mind numbing attack.
Do not worry, for I am here to load you with my armory of anti-writer's block weapons:
1) Keep on writing your novel and plow through writer's block. If you force out ideas for your novel, you might just be able to force the mind numbing stingers away, which will allow your novel ideas to eventually flow out freely (This rarely works, but try it anyway). Don't think about it, just write and plow on.
2) Write anything. When writer's block hits, try writing other things instead of your novel. Try writing some short stories or poems. Thinking up and writing new stories might spark the creative juices in your brain to think up new things for your novel.
3) Go for a run, or do some sports, or any physical activity that will burn you to exhaustion. Doing all these things will create a spark inside your body. Physical activity pumps chemicals like adrenaline, endorphins, and who knows what else, all throughout your body. All of your body's natural chemicals will rage a war with each other, until they ignite a spark of inspiration that will blow the monster away.
4) Take a break. Go watch a movie, or read my blog, or listen to music, or just sit on a park bench and go people watching. You can even do nothing and just fall asleep. Sometimes all you can do is to distract yourself from the mind numbing stingers and wait for their effects to go away.
5) Run away to another place. Sometimes you just have to run from the writer's block monster. So run away to another place and write. Sometimes changing your surroundings by going to a different place can help (make sure it's a place where you can concentrate on your writing).
6) Drink Coffee. Something as simple as a cup of coffee (caffeine) is the solution to fight off the writer's block monster's mind numbing attacks.
7) Deny everything. Close your eyes and deny that the writer's block monster even exists (I don't think this works at all, but try it if all else fails).
These are only some of the things you can do to defend yourself against writer's block. So if you're a writer, you should no longer fear the moment when writer's block will creep up on you and sting your brain.
*These anti-writer's block weapons don't always work. So prepare for the mind numbing stingers.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Guest Post for Jane Friedman
Hey there blog readers,
I just wrote a guest post for Jane Friedman, who works for Writer's Digest. The post is about using poetry techniques to help write your novel.
Check it out here.
I just wrote a guest post for Jane Friedman, who works for Writer's Digest. The post is about using poetry techniques to help write your novel.
Check it out here.
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