You have done so many wonderful videos. This is one of the very best! I am sure to watch this multiple times. Thank you for sharing such valuable information!!!
i remember reading Lionel Striver’s ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’. the way she led me down one path then BOOM. that huge reveal…i threw the book across the room, yelling ‘no f’king way!’. it blew me away. i did watch the film when it came out and, although i love Tilda Swinton-she couldn’t save the weak screenplay adaptation. i found the story had been truly diluted. just awful. but that book has haunted me ever since. great writing.
I'm officially in my mid-seventies. So I can safely state I've waited long enough to get serious about writing and will push hard to get something published this year. I've done some advertising and general copywriting in the past. But it's time to tackle some novel-length pieces. I'm also increasing my reading time significantly. In the past my favorite authors were Ed McBain, Anne Rice, Robert Parker, and Stephen King. At least King is still with us. I miss Parker's Spencer novels, but Mike Lupica, another seasoned novelist, has signed on to bring them back to life. There is much we can learn from studying the works of successful authors. Love your channel. Keep up the fine work.
Do it. I'm 64 and recently finished my first historical romance novel, and am sending it to literary agents. We got this, and we oldies can do it, we're not dead yet....cos then there it's never going to get done. 😅❤ Good luck dear.
When I was still very young, my grandmother used to say: "how can you write when you haven't lived yet?" In some ways, she was right. Surely, our stories only get better with age! Know thyself is one secret to writing. And knowing that death waits for no one is possibly the other. I say, write, finish and get your book published this year like your life depended on it, and you will probably feel more alive than ever. Your comment (and all of its replies) is inspiring me to do the same and I'm 54! Go team!
I still remember reading William Golding's Lord of the Flies at high school. It was the one single book - more than Pride and Prejudice, or To Kill a Mockingbird, or 1984 - that actually made me understand the power of prose language and transformed me from a kid who really struggled with high school English class to an A-grader on the exam, because I loved that book so much and wanted to understand how it had been written to be so effective. The novel is full of rich and unsettling symbolism and clever metaphor and imagery that deepens the meaning of the story and adds a timeless, almost mythic dimension so reading it feels like studying a tragic Biblical parable. It's so clear and crisp and simple in its language yet creates so much visual and emotional resonance through its figurative language.
Funnily enough Lord Of the Flies is the Golding book that I haven’t yet read but what you say holds true for all his writing I think. He was a true genius. My favourite of his is The Inheritors. A masterpiece ❤
I love to read books that conform to the standards you just set. Sadly most of the 'best seller' books I have read do not even come close to filling the bill. The books that are truly memorable, often don't sell that well and are not competitive with what the 'top names' put out. At one time I started a bakery. I wanted to give my customers the finest baked goods. They wanted donuts instead...made a lot of money out of those donuts. ( based on a true story)
I'd enjoy your analytical breakdown of Blanchot's _Thomas the Obscure_ novel (or novella, since it is so short). Does it attend to any of those tips? Cheers from Brazil.
Hi Alyssa, Can you make a video about what ten sample pages does and does not consist of? Ex. Do you count the title page and contact info, a page solely dedicated to a quote that perhaps starts your story? What if one page has extremely limited text because it is overflow from the prior chapter? What if your ten pages doesn’t end right at a chapter break?
I think one thing that really helps for writing similes and metaphors is to relate it to something you have personally seen or experienced. What do you remember seeing, feeling, hearing, etc. in that moment. Did it fill you with an emotion alongside it, remind you of something. All these can help with figurative writing.
HUGE inspirations for me are Claire Legrand for her beautiful prose, realistic characters, and creativity. Leigh Bardugo for her prose & characters. Kelly Creagh for her extremely vivid descriptions, and Sunya Mara for her powerful storytelling in such concise prose.
Something else that must be used with caution are synonyms. Used at the right times they improve the language, to many time and they become irritating.
This video strikes me as incredible - the discussion about how an author builds trust, authority, and intentionality tapped at aspects of writing that seem to me ... sublime~~TQ
Its an artform. kurt vonnegut said, when your distractions win, upon your writing is lost, - then what your writing probably no good anyway. - his office trash can caught on fire, didnt even notice ! cleaning lady put it out, then she quit, then he gave her a raise. It's an art form
Something I try to do in my writing is find ways to add world-building or immersion into the writing pros themselves. For an example, a story I'm writing takes place on a planet where the moon is tidally locked (which means the moon is always in the same place in the sky). For this reason, the moon is used to describe times of day (specifically at night). The book never says "midnight", but rather it says, "full moon", -since for them the full moon happens once a day at midnight. I do try to remind the reader what these terms mean as often as possible in subtle ways. "The night before the full moon" is a term we would use here, but this wouldn't make sense in this world. "It was nearing full moon and they still hadn't found a hotel to spend the night" gives the reader a sense of time while also reminding them that full moons happen every night rather than once a month.
As a caution with this type of thing, you should over analyze how these things effect your world. The moon doesn't just effect how we think of days, but also how we think of months. The month cycle is based around the time the moon orbits the Earth. Since this world's moon is tidally locked, they don't have concepts of months like we do. So this required me to figure out another method of time-keeping rather than months.
We call the check out lane a "pinch and go..thanks for more tips...hoping soon to publish...you know everyone on Amazon..can't sell their books let alone give them away..if I went that way..could I then advertise on my own using there platform...you know maybe a billboard here and there? Cheers😀👍🖖 ps where's the puppy
Great tips, Alyssa. Thanks! Have been trying to read more myself, and most recently I have been reading John Gwynne's "The Bloodsworn" trilogy. I really love his writing style, and I definitely have learned ways to be more flexible in my own writing just by picking up on the ways he does in his books.
For any author who desires to lift their prose above the standard of an airport novel or some YA fiction, the British academic David Lodge wrote an excellent book called Modes of Modern Writing many decades ago. Although it's an old work it remains highly relevant and has not to my knowledge been bettered. He uses examples from Hemingway, Falkener, and others to show how authors can use language to pull the reader deep into the reality of the novel, prime them for certain subsequent developments, and even use supposedly "wrong" tactics to achieve specific effects.
Sorry, but I thought that excerpt from "Apples Never Fall" was just terrible writing. The "baked banana and pear bread" is overly precious and incongruous to a cafe in Tuscany. Over all, there is just too much preciousness, from the languidness of the soft rock (again, in Tuscany?) to the industriousness of the espresso machine's hissing. The best touch was the industrious hissing, but instead of showcasing this jewel in a simple setting, she buries it under a heap of verbal geegaws.
The café wasn’t in Tuscany. Moriarty was painting a word picture of a very pleasant and familiar suburban coffee shop to contrast the serious conversation taking place between physically imposing men.
Yes, there is such a thing as going too far, even with something that is good. Think about food. Too little salt, and it’s bland, but too much is even worse, it’s uneatable!
I sort of kinda agree but also disagree with what's stated here. Sure, every scene must serve a purpose to the bigger picture: to the plot or character development, if that's important to show. However I don't really agree that you have to scrap 'all fluff'. In my instance I use fluffy, and the rational me would say 'too overly flowery words' to describe some of the locations in my novel, but it serves a purpose of subconsciously telling the reader these locations are either important for the upcoming chapters so for an immersive experience, you should know what these locations look/feel and taste like or to give a general mystique about these locations, such as they are in real life. I found what works best for me is to use a story framework to hang your story in, such as the Hero's Journey, plot out which scenes are necessary to tell the story along that hero's journey (or framework of your choice), which are your bones. Then you 'put on some meat' to those scenes to give the reader an immersive/enjoyable and engaging experience. This will prevent you from either wandering off and getting lost compared to your plot or have unnecessary scenes in it that don't serve a function to the overal plot/story.
1) make every word matter
2) create small, authentic connections with the character
3) use figurative language strategically
Thank you, Alyssa, for all that you do for us, your writing community of followers. You're the BEST!🏆🥇🏆🥇
Thank you for the kind comment!
You have done so many wonderful videos. This is one of the very best! I am sure to watch this multiple times. Thank you for sharing such valuable information!!!
i remember reading Lionel Striver’s ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’. the way she led me down one path then BOOM. that huge reveal…i threw the book across the room, yelling ‘no f’king way!’. it blew me away. i did watch the film when it came out and, although i love Tilda Swinton-she couldn’t save the weak screenplay adaptation. i found the story had been truly diluted. just awful. but that book has haunted me ever since. great writing.
I'm officially in my mid-seventies. So I can safely state I've waited long enough to get serious about writing and will push hard to get something published this year.
I've done some advertising and general copywriting in the past. But it's time to tackle some novel-length pieces.
I'm also increasing my reading time significantly. In the past my favorite authors were Ed McBain, Anne Rice, Robert Parker, and Stephen King. At least King is still with us. I miss Parker's Spencer novels, but Mike Lupica, another seasoned novelist, has signed on to bring them back to life. There is much we can learn from studying the works of successful authors.
Love your channel. Keep up the fine work.
Don’t forget to update in the comments on this channel when you publish so we can support you!
Do it. I'm 64 and recently finished my first historical romance novel, and am sending it to literary agents. We got this, and we oldies can do it, we're not dead yet....cos then there it's never going to get done. 😅❤ Good luck dear.
Best of luck! :)
72 and hope to sell my first sf novel to a big name publishing house.
When I was still very young, my grandmother used to say: "how can you write when you haven't lived yet?" In some ways, she was right. Surely, our stories only get better with age! Know thyself is one secret to writing. And knowing that death waits for no one is possibly the other. I say, write, finish and get your book published this year like your life depended on it, and you will probably feel more alive than ever. Your comment (and all of its replies) is inspiring me to do the same and I'm 54! Go team!
"Make the figurative language your own." This is great advice.
I still remember reading William Golding's Lord of the Flies at high school. It was the one single book - more than Pride and Prejudice, or To Kill a Mockingbird, or 1984 - that actually made me understand the power of prose language and transformed me from a kid who really struggled with high school English class to an A-grader on the exam, because I loved that book so much and wanted to understand how it had been written to be so effective. The novel is full of rich and unsettling symbolism and clever metaphor and imagery that deepens the meaning of the story and adds a timeless, almost mythic dimension so reading it feels like studying a tragic Biblical parable. It's so clear and crisp and simple in its language yet creates so much visual and emotional resonance through its figurative language.
Funnily enough Lord
Of the Flies is the Golding book that I haven’t yet read but what you say holds true for all his writing I think. He was a true genius. My favourite of his is The Inheritors. A masterpiece ❤
I love to read books that conform to the standards you just set. Sadly most of the 'best seller' books I have read do not even come close to filling the bill. The books that are truly memorable, often don't sell that well and are not competitive with what the 'top names' put out. At one time I started a bakery. I wanted to give my customers the finest baked goods. They wanted donuts instead...made a lot of money out of those donuts. ( based on a true story)
I'd enjoy your analytical breakdown of Blanchot's _Thomas the Obscure_ novel (or novella, since it is so short). Does it attend to any of those tips? Cheers from Brazil.
I understand your points; however, the writers you presented as examples struck me as mundane.
Hi Alyssa,
Can you make a video about what ten sample pages does and does not consist of?
Ex. Do you count the title page and contact info, a page solely dedicated to a quote that perhaps starts your story? What if one page has extremely limited text because it is overflow from the prior chapter? What if your ten pages doesn’t end right at a chapter break?
I think one thing that really helps for writing similes and metaphors is to relate it to something you have personally seen or experienced. What do you remember seeing, feeling, hearing, etc. in that moment. Did it fill you with an emotion alongside it, remind you of something. All these can help with figurative writing.
This year I am following your guidance big time!
I am glad I have found you! Thank you algorithm.
Great, practical tips!
1. Read
2. Read
3. Write
4. Read
👍💯
I love your channel ❤️ thank you so much for all your helpful tips and advice ❤
HUGE inspirations for me are Claire Legrand for her beautiful prose, realistic characters, and creativity. Leigh Bardugo for her prose & characters. Kelly Creagh for her extremely vivid descriptions, and Sunya Mara for her powerful storytelling in such concise prose.
Something else that must be used with caution are synonyms. Used at the right times they improve the language, to many time and they become irritating.
This video strikes me as incredible - the discussion about how an author builds trust, authority, and intentionality tapped at aspects of writing that seem to me ... sublime~~TQ
If I may describe this succinctly , it's a principle of economy.
Its an artform. kurt vonnegut said, when your distractions win, upon your writing is lost, - then what your writing probably no good anyway. - his office trash can caught on fire, didnt even notice ! cleaning lady put it out, then she quit, then he gave her a raise. It's an art form
9:13 My mistress' eyes are *nothing* like the sun!
I don't agree with the necessity of brevity. I like my prose to be purple.
There's always exceptions to the rules. As she says, editors can provide feedback that we don't agree with. It can be done, if done well.
It's hard to put into words how helpful your videos are for me. Thank you so much!
Loved this video so much.
Something I try to do in my writing is find ways to add world-building or immersion into the writing pros themselves. For an example, a story I'm writing takes place on a planet where the moon is tidally locked (which means the moon is always in the same place in the sky). For this reason, the moon is used to describe times of day (specifically at night). The book never says "midnight", but rather it says, "full moon", -since for them the full moon happens once a day at midnight.
I do try to remind the reader what these terms mean as often as possible in subtle ways. "The night before the full moon" is a term we would use here, but this wouldn't make sense in this world. "It was nearing full moon and they still hadn't found a hotel to spend the night" gives the reader a sense of time while also reminding them that full moons happen every night rather than once a month.
As a caution with this type of thing, you should over analyze how these things effect your world. The moon doesn't just effect how we think of days, but also how we think of months. The month cycle is based around the time the moon orbits the Earth. Since this world's moon is tidally locked, they don't have concepts of months like we do. So this required me to figure out another method of time-keeping rather than months.
New writer working on my first book. How do i avoid head hopping in a fight scene the has eight characters in the fight?
As for a favourite, I think J. G. Ballard's single metaphor at the centre of the first paragraph of _Crash_ was masterful craft.
We call the check out lane a "pinch and go..thanks for more tips...hoping soon to publish...you know everyone on Amazon..can't sell their books let alone give them away..if I went that way..could I then advertise on my own using there platform...you know maybe a billboard here and there? Cheers😀👍🖖 ps where's the puppy
Happy New Ma'am!
These were great tips, Alyssa! Thank you! ❤
So glad you found them helpful! Thanks for the comment :)
Great tips, Alyssa. Thanks!
Have been trying to read more myself, and most recently I have been reading John Gwynne's "The Bloodsworn" trilogy. I really love his writing style, and I definitely have learned ways to be more flexible in my own writing just by picking up on the ways he does in his books.
For any author who desires to lift their prose above the standard of an airport novel or some YA fiction, the British academic David Lodge wrote an excellent book called Modes of Modern Writing many decades ago. Although it's an old work it remains highly relevant and has not to my knowledge been bettered. He uses examples from Hemingway, Falkener, and others to show how authors can use language to pull the reader deep into the reality of the novel, prime them for certain subsequent developments, and even use supposedly "wrong" tactics to achieve specific effects.
$17 on Amazon... probably worth it whenever I can actually afford to pay my rent first. 😅
Thank you for your videos
Sorry, but I thought that excerpt from "Apples Never Fall" was just terrible writing. The "baked banana and pear bread" is overly precious and incongruous to a cafe in Tuscany. Over all, there is just too much preciousness, from the languidness of the soft rock (again, in Tuscany?) to the industriousness of the espresso machine's hissing. The best touch was the industrious hissing, but instead of showcasing this jewel in a simple setting, she buries it under a heap of verbal geegaws.
The café wasn’t in Tuscany. Moriarty was painting a word picture of a very pleasant and familiar suburban coffee shop to contrast the serious conversation taking place between physically imposing men.
@@zeropaloobatheuber1572 Ah, the framed photo was of sunflowers in Tuscany. Nonetheless, it's all too precious and twee.
Yes, there is such a thing as going too far, even with something that is good. Think about food. Too little salt, and it’s bland, but too much is even worse, it’s uneatable!
Same! I cringed as she read it.
Glad I'm not the only one who thought so!
I sort of kinda agree but also disagree with what's stated here. Sure, every scene must serve a purpose to the bigger picture: to the plot or character development, if that's important to show. However I don't really agree that you have to scrap 'all fluff'. In my instance I use fluffy, and the rational me would say 'too overly flowery words' to describe some of the locations in my novel, but it serves a purpose of subconsciously telling the reader these locations are either important for the upcoming chapters so for an immersive experience, you should know what these locations look/feel and taste like or to give a general mystique about these locations, such as they are in real life. I found what works best for me is to use a story framework to hang your story in, such as the Hero's Journey, plot out which scenes are necessary to tell the story along that hero's journey (or framework of your choice), which are your bones. Then you 'put on some meat' to those scenes to give the reader an immersive/enjoyable and engaging experience. This will prevent you from either wandering off and getting lost compared to your plot or have unnecessary scenes in it that don't serve a function to the overal plot/story.
THANK YOU, MA'AM 🫶👏👏!!!