Joss Whedon’s 10 rules for writers. Rule #1: Finish it!
Courtesy of Nathan Bransford: the publishing process, in GIF form.
I think maybe twelve people in the world will get this joke, which lies at the intersection of Avatar and Adventure Time. For those who do: excelsior!
A good friend of mine sent me 56 Quick Slang Phrases From Victorian England That We Should Start Using Again. My personal favorite: “schlemozzle,” which means a riot or a ruckus. I just like saying that word. Schlemozzle. “We put a nozzle on his schnozzle, which caused a schlemozzle.” Yeah.
That’s all for this week, friends and neighbors. See you Monday!
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Good rules from Whedon. “Finish it,” espcially. When I was in my mid-40s I had two (2) unfinished novels and no (0, zero) finished ones. To reach fifty with that situation would have been intolerable, so I placed my butt in my chair and finished both of them. Since then, riding on that good feeling, I’ve finished a series of mystery stories and a novella.
Finish it, definitely.
And I like the listen/don’t listen thing. Both are true.
I do not structure, not the way he’s talking about. I am a disciple of Robert Altman, the single biggest influence on my writing. It’s not bad advice — for some people I know it’s exactly what they need to hear — but I’ve been doing this for long enough to know that it’s not for me.
Yeah. I’m a structure nut too, but lots of authors (like Stephen King) aren’t, and it seems to work for them.