Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion

This is a thread in which to post links to articles you’ve found particularly helpful, that have to do with writing. Do not post the article itself. Discussion in the thread is welcome.

I always had a lot of trouble distinguishing between Plot Based and Character Based stories. Then I found this article and it helped me out a lot. http://timothyfish.blogspot.com/2010/...

Thanks, M!

Thank you, Ruth, for sharing. I'll read it in a while :)

I don't think I agree with that article, Ruth. Off the top of my head, "LOST" is about fairly ordinary people in a very extraordinary circumstance, and that show was entirely about the characters. The extraordinary circumstances provided backdrop to explore the characters, which rather fits the second-half the article, with the Superman analogy. Someone is put in danger when it is difficult for Superman to maintain his secret identity; characters in LOST are put an island that constantly puts pressure on who they are as a person - and each character comes from a back ground you've probably heard of (washed-out drugged-addict rock star, fugitive, the main character is a doctor with daddy issues). LOST is obviously not plot-based, because the plot is, quite frankly, insane.

Most YA and NA novels are character-based. Correct me if I'm wrong, but these type of stories have well-drawn character and is initially stuck with a dilemma but by the end of the book, you know (or feel) that this character has improved or has risen above the conflict--a character 'transformation'. It doesn't have to be an extraordinary person going through ordinary circumstances.

Examples of plot-based stories are science fiction, mystery and thrillers.

Aww, I'm bummed out that one guy's website really helped me improve my writing with many of his articles but it no longer exists. He is on Twitter though I have not gone on to any of the posts which most likely lead to sites of people he knows. His name is Unknown Screenwriter though he would come up with stuff for writers of all kinds!

These articles are about eliminating thought verbs. What do you think?

Thought Verbs by Chuck Palahniuk

Seek and Destroy: It's time to eliminate poisonous verbs from your writing

I disagree with the Timothy's Thoughts article as well, especially the closing line. "If the two are intertwined and you can’t tell, then something is wrong and the story will be weak." What sense does that make? Also, his definition of what constitutes "ordinary" is very hollow.

Chuck Palahniuk offers some great advice. The second article says essentially the same thing, though the Palahniuk article was much clearer.

I don't know how many people here play Dungeons & Dragons, but since this article deals with storytelling, I'll post it here for everyone's reading pleasure:

http://litreactor.com/columns/7-thing...

I think this article on drafting poetry is spot on:

https://roymarshall.wordpress.com/201...

I’m suspicious of people who confidently give general advice about writing. To say, “I’ve written best-selling pulp fiction, and here’s my approach to writing” is one thing, but to say, “Take my advice about writing, and you’ll be a better writer” is simply arrogance.

Writing serves a multitude of ends. What works best for a legal document may not work well for an anecdote in Reader’s Digest. Not everyone who is passionate about Jane Austen’s or F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels will find John Grisham’s or Stephenie Meyer’s style appealing.

That short sentences with active verbs are what’s selling isn’t necessarily evidence that they’re better writing. It may be that they’re what sells to a general audience that no longer has much in the way of an attention span or a taste for introspection.

I kinda fell in love with Hannah Heath's writing blog. The articles are sometimes inspiring, sometimes helpful, and always a fun read :) this one, (Writing Teenage Characters: What You're Doing Wrong) is my favorite so far:

http://hannahheath-writer.blogspot.co...