The Future Is Fiction

Save Delirium

yrnewfavoriteband — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:23:19 -0700

ohfandoms:

Even though FOX rejected Delirium, it is not the end. Fans have made a petition for Delirium to either 1) be picked up again, 2) be transferred to a motion picture, or 3) be freed of the distributing rights from FOX.

Join the petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-adaptation-of-lauren-olivers-delirium-trilogy.html

Re-blogging again… keep signing!

"He was one of those doctors who run around all night with a case of hypodermic needles keeping the..."

yrnewfavoriteband — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:13:00 -0700

“He was one of those doctors who run around all night with a case of hypodermic needles keeping the local fast set from having pink elephants for breakfast.”

- Nice turn of phrase from Raymond Chandler story The Lady in the Lake

From Everyone is Jesus in Purgatory, TV Tropes

yrnewfavoriteband — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 22:32:49 -0700

From Everyone is Jesus in Purgatory, TV Tropes

Photo

yrnewfavoriteband — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 18:00:15 -0800

nevver: James Baldwin, Maggie Appleton

yrnewfavoriteband — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 22:29:00 -0800

nevver:

James Baldwin, Maggie Appleton

Photo

yrnewfavoriteband — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:56:37 -0800

Dogs, Dominance Theory and...Nazis

yrnewfavoriteband — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:17:00 -0800

It just so happens that the Cult of the Wolf played a very important part in Nazi ideology. The wolf was held up as an example, to show that the Nazis were merely trying to reorganise society according to noble, natural laws. Projecting, and without bothering to read any science or to gain any real knowledge, the Nazis (and Lorenz) depicted the wolf as a noble, wild, hardened, ruthless animal who
possessed all kinds of wonderful Nazi characteristics. The wolf lived, just like the Nazi, in a closed and elite group. He was, just like the Nazi, absolutely loyal to this group, ready to unquestioningly sacrifice his life for the sake of the group if the need arose. The group’s structure was just as hierarchical and rigid as the structure of the Nazi Party. Each wolf had a rank he strictly adhered to, submissive to those above him, ruthless to those beneath him. Most important perhaps, the wolves were led by a sort of Führer: the Alpha Leader. The Alpha Leader was a strong, always male wolf, whom all the other wolves worshipped and obeyed at all times, and who was fiercely desired by all the female wolves (yes, even the Nazis had sexual fantasies). And now come all the other things we are told about dogs. The Alpha Wolf receives deference in all things. He is always the first to eat and the first to go through a door. He is always up front in any kind of procession, and he always gets to sit or lie higher than the other wolves. The other wolves hurry out of his way when he is coming through. They are constantly giving off submissive signals in his presence. The Alpha Wolf can bite anyone he likes
without getting bitten back. He is so utterly sure of his authority that he can, when in the mood, behave mercifully towards his inferiors — for which these inferiors are then infinitely grateful and worship him all the more. The similarity to Adolph Hitler can hardly escape us.

—from “Myth 10: Dogs live in a dominance hierarchy, with the Alpha dog at the top as the absolute leader,” a section in the book The 100 Silliest Things People Say About Dogs by Alexandra Semyonova

EVERYTHING WE ~~KNOW~~ thought we knew ABOUT DOGS IS WRONG.

This is one of the coolest infographics I’ve ever seen....

yrnewfavoriteband — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:25:28 -0800

This is one of the coolest infographics I’ve ever seen. It’s an infographic explaining that statistical likelihood that the you that is you came to exist.

Inspired by a comment in Reddit/r/bestof, from a comment described “Convincing Reasons Not to End Your Life”.

merdekagroup: This one goes out to...

yrnewfavoriteband — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:00:37 -0800

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

Artist Marc Giai-Miniet | Posted by devidsketchbook.com

merdekagroup:

This one goes out to Marianna!

eisew:

WOOOOWWWWWW

devidsketchbook:

MYSTERIOUS TINY ROOMS BY MARC GIAI-MINIET

French artist Marc Giai-Miniet (Born in 1946 in Trappes) makes some of the most incredibly detailed (and disturbing!) dollhouses that we’ve ever seen. Marc started creating these disturbing shadowbox dioramas rather late in his career, recurring themes include libraries, furnaces, laboratories, submarines and intestine-like tubing in lonely, decaying spaces.

Bookish: Find Your Next Book - Authors, Reviews, Recommendations, Lists

yrnewfavoriteband — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 18:57:08 -0800

Bookish: Find Your Next Book - Authors, Reviews, Recommendations, Lists:

thecultureofme:

Holy shit the start-up finally launched!!! Congrats guys!

chroniclebooks: What happens when the great minds...

yrnewfavoriteband — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:17:23 -0800

chroniclebooks:

What happens when the great minds of Tumblr and Chronicle Books unite? A unicorn is born! Wait, no. Awesome Tumblrs like F*ck! I’m in My Twenties and Dads Are the Original Hipsters become hilarious books.

And now, it could be your turn.

We’re looking for the next big humor book idea. This is your chance to get your idea in front of our editors.

Here’s how it works. Pitch us your laugh-out-loud funny book idea using Tumblr. You can use text, photos, animated gifs, artwork, videos—just get our attention. Then our editors will judge the entries and choose a grand-prize winner whose idea will be considered for publication. You may use an existing Tumblr or create a new Tumblr to illustrate your book idea. Just remember: we’re looking for humor.

To enter, tag a post “Tumblr Book Search” and include:

1)      The title of your humor book

2)      A written synopsis of your idea (200 words or less)

3)      Examples of the book’s concept (can be photos, animated gifs, artwork, video, text, or any media supported by Tumblr)

Then, hop over here to give us your basic contact information and the link to your post.

Hurry, the contest ends 2/28/2013. Read the official rules and submit your Tumblr entry now!

1 Grand Prize:

·         Book idea considered for publication

·         $300 of Chronicle books

·         Your Tumblr featured on Tumblr Tuesday

·         Feedback session with a Chronicle Books editor

·         Feedback session with Rachel Fershleiser, Tumblr’s Director of Literary Outreach and co-creator of the New York Times Bestselling Six-Word Memoir Book Series

·         And more!

3 Runners-Up:

·         $100 of Chronicle books

·         Written critique from Chronicle Books editors

·         Feedback session with Rachel Fershleiser

Questions? Email contests@chroniclebooks.com

The dark mood of this evokes how I would want my readers to...

yrnewfavoriteband — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:00:28 -0800

The dark mood of this evokes how I would want my readers to feel…except maybe with a laugh every now and then to ease the grime.

2headedsnake:

Diana Dihaze

“You’re afraid before the action, not during.”

yrnewfavoriteband — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 18:00:11 -0800

“You’re afraid before the action, not during.”

Via Reddit

yrnewfavoriteband — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:00:29 -0800

Via Reddit

The Oakland Museum had this wallpaper at their Arts and Crafts...

yrnewfavoriteband — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 18:00:40 -0800

The Oakland Museum had this wallpaper at their Arts and Crafts architecture exhibit and I thought it would make cool wallpaper for my desktop. But then, I’m into words and typography, so maybe it’s just me. But if ya’ dig, here’s two versions I made: one a little washed out, as the Arts & Crafts look tends to be a bit muted, and the other is at max contrast for sharpness. I uploaded these bigger than usual so you can use them for desktop wallpaper.

Right-click “Save as” to download.

HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA - WHAT'S GOING ON?!

yrnewfavoriteband — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:00:37 -0800

HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA - WHAT'S GOING ON?!:

What the…I don’t even.

Pantsers Vs Plotters

yrnewfavoriteband — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:41:08 -0800

drmakwa:

“Hey I’ve been following you for your great photos, didn’t know you were a writer too. Have to disagree—outlines don’t confine. If you’re capable of changing that first draft, you can change the outline as well. Now that I’m more than a hundred thousand words in, I wish I’d outlined more,not less. Why? Because with scenes actually written, it’s a lot harder to change stuff than when it was just in the concept phase. There are things I wouldn’t change at this point, because it would be an entirely different novel. In the outline phase, those changes could still be made. For example, say your protagonist is an alcoholic. But after making your outline, you realize she has to be on the side of the tee-totalers. It’s a small detail that will affect almost every scene. That’s a lot of scenes to rewrite. But if you’d outline first, you’d know this change needed to be made before you even got started. Of course, sometimes just writing out the scene can inspire the changes that need to be made. And sometimes writing out the scene can show me that another scene needs to be written. Good luck on your 50K!”

—

The Future Is Fiction

Thank you for the compliment and for your thoughtful defense of outlining! And congrats on hitting 100k words in your novel.

I tell students (when I have them) that the characters should propel the narrative rather than the demands of the plot they’ve chosen in outlines.

I’ve learned in writing this novel that it’s all tangled together in the end. I thought I was having trouble with my plot, but the plot problem turned out to be related to the question of “What does my protagonist want?” So the plot question was a character question after all.

That being said, I’m often torn between wanting to have a great plot and not wanting to write a toothless story that nails all the conventions of mass market writing. I worry that my writing group will cause me to over-analyze the story, and lead it towards more conventional genre fiction than I am otherwise striving to write.

Often, I’ve seen students use outlining as an excuse to postpone the writing process because outlining resembles writing, but it’s not actually spending time in narrative.

I certainly do this, but I also find that when that procrastination is done I’m more ready to write. It’s like I need the structure, or the empty page is too daunting. It give the scene I intend to write a form to work within, much like a poet might embrace a certain meter.

I’ve heard that outlines can be helpful in genre novels, which have certain plot-related expectations from the outset. Some writers like to keep the bigger picture in mind as they write their scenes, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. To me, though, outlining before the draft is like using Google Maps to get to know a city where you’ve never been; you can get an idea of the layout of the streets, you can use street view to look around a little, but you can’t see the elevations or the best routes until you’ve actually been there.

What a terrific metaphor. Both techniques are valid and acceptable, and I’m always one to play mediator. I’m an in-betweener myself—-I find that some magic comes in the writing itself, so I understand how fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pantsers prefer to be actually writing, instead of writing about writing.

I think if everything in my first draft will be rewritten or cut, why add an extra step before composition? But another writer might find the outline provides some momentum in slower times. I also think outlines become more useful with experience (as you’re finding in your own writing).

Thank you for sharing your process!

Thanks for taking the time to write back! Outside of the Berkeley Writers Circle, I find it hard to find other writers to talk shop with.

"An idea is not a series, and jokes are not characters […] A story is only a story if (a) it’s about..."

yrnewfavoriteband — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:46:20 -0800

“An idea is not a series, and jokes are not characters […] A story is only a story if (a) it’s about someone (singular or plural) who wants something and (b) something’s in hi (or their) way. And it’s a story worth telling only if (c) the reader has reasons to care about (a) and (b).”

- Mark Waid, on the creation of INSUFFERABLE (and also giving some print-this-out-and-hang-it-on-the-wall-where-you-work advice for writers.)

Rent Is Too Damn High, Vonnegut Edition: The Beloved Author's Apartment Woes | Brain Pickings

yrnewfavoriteband — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:58:47 -0800

Rent Is Too Damn High, Vonnegut Edition: The Beloved Author's Apartment Woes | Brain Pickings:

But you should see the apartment I have. I don’t recommend that you see it. I opened the door for the first time, and I though, ‘My God, Otis Burger has been here before me!;’ It has a vileness, a George Price uninhabitability that no amateur could achieve. I must sleep in the very first hide-a-bed ever created, which was created from the rusty wreckage of the first Stutz Bearcat. Jesus, it is ever a cruel and ugly old bed! I have a bath with a stall shower, a full kitchen, less ice-cube trays, no curtains or windowshades, and this livingroom-bedroom with the hide-a-bed. You wonder what creates beatniks? Landlords! ‘Live like a pig for $80.00 a month,’ say my surroundings. Very well. Very well.

Who pays writers?

yrnewfavoriteband — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 13:16:54 -0800

Who pays writers?:

onaissues:

A new tumblr lists “whether, and how much, magazines and websites pay their writers.” Information is posted anonymously and links to guidelines for submitting to each outlet. They also offer some business advice and tips about negotiating.