Time to Write

Childhoods of famous authors cartoon: Francis Bacon

                                                    The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

 

Childhoods of Famous Authors: James Joyce

copyright 2012 Jurgen Wolff: The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

Childhoods of famous authors cartoon: E L James (50 Shades)

  The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                 http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

Childhoods of Famous Authors: Ian Fleming

  The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

(Would you like to learn from the advice of the greatest writers, people like Charles Dickens, Anton Chekhov, and Jane Austen, among many others? It's all in my latest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available at Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

Childhoods of famous authors: James Patterson

Childhoods of famous authors cartoon: Dan Brown

(Wouldn't it be cool if great authors like MarkTwain, Anton Chekhov and Jane Austen could be your writing coaches. Or Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Elmore Leonard? Well, all of them except Elmore are no longer with us, but their advice--and Elmore's--is in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available now from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

Childhoods of famous authors: Agatha Christie

(How would you like to get writing advice from the great authors, including Twain, Dickens, Austen, Hemingway and many more? It's all in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

Childhoods of the great authors: George Orwell (Eric Blair)

                                     copyright 2012 Jurgen Wolff

  The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

(The great writers also left behind advice for fellow writers. Find it in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," available now from Amazon, Waterstones, B & N,or your other favorite bookseller)

Childhoods of the great authors: Hemingway (Sunday Funnies)

  The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

Childhoods of the great authors: Melville (Sunday Funnies)

  The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

Childhoods of the great authors: Kafka (Sunday Funnies)

  The source of this cartoon is Jurgen Wolff's writing blog:                                                                            http://www.TimeToWrite.blogs.com

Quite Write: And there'll be another one for Christmas (Sunday Funnies)

The writer's fear of revealing too much (& ep. 5 of Sherman Writes a Book)

Are you blocked because you fear revealing too much about yourself in your works of fiction? First enjoy the 5th episode of "Sherman Writes a Book," in which he has a similar fear(it's under two minutes long), then see the tips below for beating this kind of writer's block. (To see Sherman's story from the start, go scroll down to May 1 and then watch them in order.)

 

THE FEAR OF REVEALING TOO MUCH

Sometimes writers develop a block because they suddenly fear that their book or script will reveal too much about themselves. What if everybody realizes (or just assumes) that all of the protagonist's embarrassing stuff actually is the truth about the author?

First, it's true that the best fiction often reflects some aspect of the author. It's almost impossible to write anything that doesn't have some part of you in it. Of course that's not the same as saying what happens to him or her has happened to you. After all, very few writers of mystery and crime novels have actually killed anyone, yet the best are able to get inside the mind of a killer enough to do justice to that character. If they can't do that, the book won't be very good.

You have deniability! Every author is allowed to say, 'I could imagine doing such a thing, that' doesn't mean I've done it' (even if they have). 

Also, let's face it, if you have a passion for writing, that means there's something about your life and/or your thoughts and feelings that you want to convey. As for which parts of your book reflect those, you can keep your readers guessing. 

You also have the power of opt out of interviews and other forms of self-exposure. It didn't hurt the sales of "Catcher in the Rye" that J. D. Salinger was reclusive. In a recent interview, Stephen King revealed that he regretted doing a series of American Express ads that showed his face because from then on everybody knew what he looked like. 

In short, remember that people will think whatever they want to think...but they spend far less time thinking about you then you think they do.

(There's great advice from the best writers about writer's block and a myriad of other topics in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller. Not just advice from me but from the all-time best writers like Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Anton Chekhov and many more. When you get the book, you get them as your mentors.)

Writer's block and why you need a new definition of success (including ep. 4 of Sherman Writes a Book)

This is the fourth in a series on overcoming the various kinds of writers' block, accompanies by the  "Sherman Writes a Book" animated series of episodes (all under 2 min. long) that started on May 1. You might want to go back to that post and follow Sherman's story from the beginning). 

 

 

THE 'WHAT IF IT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH?!" WRITER'S BLOCK

Some writers panic because they fear that their manuscript or script will not be good enough. What if no agent will accept it? What if no publisher wants it? What if they spent all that time writing for nothing?

I won't lie to you, it's entirely possible that you might not be able to see your finished book or script. It's a tough business and the majority of manuscripts and scripts don't sell. If profit is your only motive, I suggest going to Las Vegas and putting your life savings on red or black at the roulette table. At least there you have an (almost) 50/ 50 chance of winning.

However, if you write because you love it or you can't imagine not writing, then I'm afraid you are stuck with the risk. What might you gain even if your project doesn't sell? Well, you might learn something from its failure. You might figure out why it didn't sell and use that knowledge on your next project. Or it's possible that you grew as a person as a result. It's even possible that the process of writing it gave you pleasure! 

The question I always ask people who worry about this is, "If you stopped writing, what would you do instead?" Most of them have no idea or say something like, "I guess I'd watch more TV with the rest of the family," or "I guess I'd read more." Unless you feel like you're really short-changing your family, would you enjoy that more? Would it bring you or them closer together--especially if you secretly felt frustrated because actually you don't want to stop writing?

Do you wish Van Gogh had stopped painting because he wasn't able to sell any of his paintings in his lifetime? Was he a failure as a painter because of that?

Don't deny your fears, just expand your definition of success.

(How about some help from the greatester writers--like Chekhov, Dickens, Twain and another 100 or so more? You'll find their writing advice in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)

Overcoming writer's block (including ep. 3 of Sherman Writes a Book)

Sherman's saga began on May 1, so you may want to start there and work your way forward. Each video is under two minutes long. Below the video we look at another kind of writer's block and how to overcome it.

 

 

THE 'WHAT IF THEY RECOGNIZE THEMSELVES' BLOCK

If you're writing something that is based even loosely on real people, you may wonder whether they, like Sherman's mother, might wonder whether you're writing about them. If you have portrayed them in a less than flattering light, will they hate you? Sue you? 

Here are some tips on how to avoid that:

* Change lots of details so it's not easy to recognize your models for the characters. You can change gender, age, physical description, the setting, profession, hobbies, relationships, etc. 

* Go for hybrids. In other words, mix together the characteristics of several people so that the combination is not that much like any of them. This also gives you deniability. You can say, honestly, "No, that character was not based on you."

* Remember that actually people generally don't know themselves well enough to recognize what you've used, especially their bad traits. Lots of successful authors have commented on that. 

And if you're worried that a totally ficitonal character might accidentally be similar to a real person who coud turn around and sue you, here are a couple of tips:

* If you create somebody really hateful, give them either a common name or an obscure name. The Bill Smiths of the world are used to encountering hundreds of other Bill Smiths and they won't automatically think that an evil character with that name is modelled on them.

If you give the character a very obscure name, check Facebook and Google that name to see if anybody actually is called that. Be especially careful that you haven't give this evil character any characteristics that you spot for someone with a similar name. For instance, if your character is a sadistic dentist named Hieronymous Skitch, and you find there's a real dentist named Hieronymous Skatch, change the name totally.

Frankly, usually fears about this issue usually are overblown. Use a bit of common sense and you'll be fine.

(Want more good writing advice? Not just from me but from Charles Dickens, Anton Chekhov, and Jane Austen? It's in my newest book, "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," published by Nicholas Brealey and available from your favorite bookseller.)