Life-Writes
Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas From ... It's Called Life
1st Edition
Published on 25. May 2012
242 pages
978-1-84694-854-1 (ISBN)
Description
The second most common question a writer is asked is, "where do your ideas come from?" (The first is, "Do you make any money from it?") Experienced writers don't go looking for ideas; ideas come to them. An experienced writer just has the knack of spotting what makes a good story or what will make a good story once it's been given the right spin, because none of us, if we're honest, will let reality get in the way of a saleable piece of work. Editors are looking for an element of action, drama or surprise, even in non-fiction. It's what catches their attention and makes them pause to read further; and the key to any editor's heart is originality. Not necessarily a new departure in style or genre, but a refreshing and original slant on a popular theme. Life-Writes helps you to find and develop ideas with editor appeal.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Collective Ink
File size
1,04 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-84694-854-1 (9781846948541)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2012
John Hunt Publishing
€22.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Person
By Suzanne Ruthven
Content
- Intro
- Introduction
- Chapter One Absence of Thought
- The Reference Shelf
- What the How-To Books Don't Tell You
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Two Standard Operating Procedure
- The Writer's Diary
- The writer-editor relationship
- The writer-agent relationship
- The writer-publisher relationship
- Dear Editor, Sir or Madam, or 'To Whom It May Concern'!
- Multiple & Simultaneous Submissions
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Three Exercise of the Intellect
- Creative Pathways For Writers - the 10 Secret Steps
- Freeing the writer's inner voice
- Start an Ideas Book
- Right-hand brain reserves
- On Your Own Patch
- Point of View
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Four Looking From All Angles
- People Watching
- Body Language & Gestures
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Five Innermost Thoughts
- Life's like that!
- Stuck in the Mud
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Six Food For Thought
- Character Building
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Seven Lost in Thought
- Let's look at Janice . and Rosie
- Roots & Memories
- Personal Psychology
- Thought & Form
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Eight Ordeal By Fire
- The Sacred and the Profane
- The Creative Spirit
- Atmosphere
- Relaxation
- Here are a few simple techniques that can help you relax:
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Nine Writer's Itch
- Beautiful Things
- Closer to Home
- Man's Best Friend, and other animals
- Warning:
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Ten Dramatis Personae
- So how can we create these believable people?
- Characterisation
- Workshop:
- Creating a 'Dream World'
- Observation and participation
- Taking risks
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Eleven Cruise to Nowhere
- Phase One:
- Phase Two:
- Phase Three:
- The power of mythos
- Go with the flow
- "Needs to try harder."
- Don't throw it away ... yet!
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Twelve Have Them Rolling In The Aisles
- Subliminal messaging
- The Chaos Theory
- Sargasso Sea
- The Enemy at the Gate
- "The Name's Bond, ."
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Thirteen Mirror of the Mind
- Synopsis and Full Chapter Breakdown
- The Spin-Off
- The Writer on Radio
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Fourteen Mother of the Muses: Mnemosyne
- What's In It For Me?
- The Sacred Flame of the Muse
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Fifteen Token of Remembrance
- In the midst of Life we are in death .
- Death Comes as the End
- Death as it is lived .
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Sixteen Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel
- The Ghostess With the Mostest .
- . then there's always biography.
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Seventeen Call Back Yesterday
- Short-term Memory
- A FORGOTTEN BATTLE OF THE DESERT CAMPAIGN - November 1941
- Long-term Memory
- Is there a book in it?
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Eighteen Memory Lane
- Setting the Scene
- A Flash of Brilliant Colour
- It wasn't always blue skies
- Memories in the making
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Nineteen A Novel Idea
- Opening Gambit
- Crafting a Novel: Bones & Padding
- The Bones
- Conflict and Drama as Part of the Plot
- Conflict and Drama Through Characters
- Conflict and Drama Due to Events
- The Padding
- Selecting a period in history
- Setting the time span
- Choosing the right place
- What's Gone Wrong?
- Ambiguous endings
- Try This Exercise:
- Chapter Twenty Famous Last Words
- Other People's Ideas
